PhD, Associate Professor E.Y. Mikhaylova¹
Dr.Hab., Associate Professor N.G. Zakrevskaya¹
Dr.Hab., Associate Professor E.V. Utisheva¹
E.Y. Komeva^1
1Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health, St. Petersburg

Keywords: professional stratification and mobility, professional education, physical education and sport sector, specialty, advanced education service, graduates, physical education and sport sector specialists.

Background. Professional community shows a growing interest in analysis of the modern social conceptions of the physical education and sport training, professional physical education and sport specialist statuses and new opportunities offered by the multilevel vocational education model. The ongoing educational system reforms factor in the fast changes in the social demand for the physical education and sport professional services on the one hand and facilitate the professional progress of the qualified physical education and sport specialists on the other hand – to help them in the personality growth, socializing and professional mobility domains.

Objective of the study was to analyze some modern social trends in the physical education and sport professional service domain in the context of the new education service standards development and implementation process.

Results and discussion. The physical education and sport education system responsibilities in the context of the ongoing socio-economic transformations in the national society are rather specific in many aspects. It should be mentioned first of all that the reputation of the physical education and sport sector and physical education and sport education was very high in the Soviet period and is still high nowadays. Second, the social role and scope of responsibilities of the physical education and sport system in the modern society have notably expanded whilst the modern sports have become much more complicated, demanding and split up into many categories including the traditional health sports, professional sports, elite sports, post-retirement health sports, sporting subcultures etc. As things now stand in the Russian Federation, 14 federal physical education universities and more than 120 departmental universities offer trainings in 49.00.00 Physical Education and Sports discipline with its many specialties. Popular motivations for the physical education and sport have remained high and stable for the last few decades. Socially sensitive today are the questions of how much of the trained physical education and sport human resource flow actually goes into the national physical education and sport sector and really motivated for the professional careers in the context of the growing social demand for the trained physical education and sport specialists, and what provisions need to be put in place to prevent a potential outflow. We would mention in this context the relevant studies in 1990s when the national crisis forced analyses of the demand-and-supply situation of the physical education and sport specialist training system; and the same analyses are needed nowadays due to the ongoing reforms in the national education sector on the whole and the physical education and sport specialist training system in particular.

We have run a questionnaire survey to analyze the Lesgaft National State University students’ motivations for physical education and sport careers in their professional fields. It should be noted that findings of the study report by E.Y. Mikhaylova [2] on the issue fully agree with the study by E.V. Utisheva [3] and  N.G. Zakrevskaya [1].

Table 1. The 1990s questionnaire survey of the Lesgaft NSU students: ‘Are you going to work in your professional service field?’, %

Table 2. The 2009 questionnaire survey of the Lesgaft NSU students: ‘Are you going to work in your professional service field?’, %

Table 3. The 2018 questionnaire survey of the Lesgaft NSU students: ‘Are you going to work in your professional service field?’, %

Having analyzed the survey data, we found the students’ motivations for the professional service to grow since 1990 and remain high and stable under a variety of external impacts. The students’ motivations are still dominated by the professional progress opportunities and prospects determined by the academic physical education and sport education quality.

Presently the physical education and sport specialist service is regulated by eleven professional standards, with five of them regulating the academic physical education and sport education quality and the other six regulating the vocational physical education and sport training levels and services of the non-sport specialists. The national physical education and sport sector shows a growing demand for a few specialties including the sport-discipline-specific training; consulting coaching service and coaching physiologist’s service specialists. The changing demand-and-supply situation urges the physical education and sport sector management to timely adjust the physical education and sport specialist training service to the changing social demands.

Conclusion. Further studies, as we believe, should give a high priority to the following qualities and competences: (1) Vocational identification that shall shape up the vocational world outlook and commitment in students for success. The vocational world outlook and commitment shall be build up since the first days of the physical education and sport training to secure a high professional mobility and competitiveness with the ability to effectively plan the own professional path and progress with a high vocational versatility in terms of the knowledge, skills and the service efficiency; and (2) Fundamental professional physical education and sport competences, with due understanding that only a fundamental education with the efficient theoretical thinking culture and style forms a foundation for professional progress.

References

1. Zakrevskaya N.G. Faktory mobilnosti, vliyayushchie na vosproizvodstvo nauchnogo potentsiala [Mobility factors to affect scientific potential implementation]. LNSUPESH, St. Petersburg. Uchenye zapiski universiteta im. P.F. Lesgafta. 2009. no. 3 (49). pp. 21-23.
2. Mikhaylova E.Ya. Osobennosti professionalnoy mobilnosti spetsialistov v sfere fizicheskoy kultury i sporta [Features of professional mobility of physical education and sport specialists]. Sport, chelovek, zdorove [Sport, man, health]. VIII intern. congress, 12-14 October 2017. St. Petersburg, 2017. pp. 381-383.
3. Utisheva E.V. Metodicheskiy podkhod k korrektirovke planirovaniya vypuska spetsialistov sportivnogo profilya v sovremennykh usloviyakh [Methodical approach to adjustment of planning of sports specialists production in modern conditions]. Pedagogicheskie problemy vospitaniya i podgotovki fizkulturnykh kadrov [Educational problems of education and]. Proc. extram. inter-un. res.-pract. conf.. St. Petersburg, 1998. pp. 92-94.

Corresponding author: yanverovna@yandex.ru

Abstract

Professional community shows a growing interest in analysis of the modern social conceptions of the physical education and sport training, professional physical education and sport specialist statuses and new opportunities offered by the multilevel vocational education model. Subject to analysis in the study were the issues of physical education and sport specialties apprehension by the modern Russian society analyzed by a few practical methods, with the stratification approach given a special priority as the most accurate in the authors’ opinion. It was found that the society is highly sensitive to the issues of vocational identification and educational motivations of the sector graduates with a special attention the educational service factors and provisions facilitating the post-graduate professional progress.

It was further found that the modern formal and informal professional requirements to the highly-skilled physical education and sport specialist give a high priority to the following qualities and competences: (1) Vocational identification that shall shape up the vocational world outlook and commitment in students for success. The vocational world outlook and commitment shall be build up since the first days of the physical education and sport training to secure a high professional mobility and competitiveness with the ability to effectively plan the own professional path and progress with a high vocational versatility in terms of the knowledge, skills and the service efficiency; and (2) Fundamental professional physical education and sport competences, with due understanding that only a fundamental education with the efficient theoretical thinking culture and style forms a foundation for professional progress.