Early career guidance for students in the school's educational system

Abstract

Early career guidance of students in the system of educational work of a general education school represents a complex pedagogical process oriented toward forming a value-based attitude to labor, developing the ability to reflect on one’s own interests and inclinations, as well as mastering primary skills in planning a life perspective beginning from primary school age. In the conditions of labor market transformation and digitalization of professional spheres, the systematic inclusion of a career guidance component in the structure of educational activities ensures continuity and succession in the formation of an individual’s professional consciousness, integrating the efforts of class teachers, educational psychologists, teachers of additional education, and social partners. Analysis of the state of this work in educational organizations of the Central Federal District reveals a pronounced unevenness in the distribution of career guidance content across the main modules of educational activities: the greatest consistency is observed in class management and extracurricular activities, whereas integration into lesson practice, interaction with parents, student self-government, and the prevention and safety module remains significantly limited. The obtained data demonstrate a stable age-related dynamic in the formation of professional representations among students in grades 3-8, characterized by a reduction in the share of low-level representations from primary to adolescent age with a simultaneous increase in the high level; however, the retention of a significant proportion of schoolchildren with fragmentary and stereotypical representations in grades 7-8 indicates insufficient intensity of pedagogical influence at preceding stages. Teachers’ expert assessments emphasize the contradiction between high indicators of motivational attractiveness and developmental potential of such forms of work as professional trials, master classes, business and role-playing games, and project activities of career guidance orientation, and their low organizational accessibility, which leads to the predominance in school practice of less effective but technologically simpler formats, including class hours and diagnostic procedures. The study of the parental community’s position records a predominantly positive attitude toward the necessity of early career guidance, especially in middle school, while a noticeable gap is observed between readiness to discuss issues of professional choice with children and actual participation in school events, as well as a relatively low level of satisfaction with existing practice. A statistically significant relationship was identified between the degree of integration of the career guidance component into the system of educational work and the level of formation of students’ professional representations, most pronounced at the primary school age stage, where a systematic approach ensures substantial enhancement of the cognitive, value-based, and reflexive components of professional self-determination. The article’s materials allow the conclusion that overcoming the fragmentation of career guidance activities requires expanding the range of modules of the educational program involved, activating social partnership, developing methodologically supported interactive formats, and creating conditions for productive school–family interaction, which ultimately contributes to improving the quality of preparing students for a conscious choice of professional trajectory and strengthening the educational potential of the educational organization as a whole. Thus, the presented results create a foundation for determining the relevance of further research and practical developments in this field, providing specialists with the opportunity to evaluate the advisability of referring to the full text to obtain detailed data and substantiated recommendations for improving the system of early career guidance.