Tolerance building in students majoring in Physical Education discipline

Фотографии: 

ˑ: 

Dr.Hab., Professor L.V. Vedernikova
PhD, Associate Professor I.K. Tsalikova
PhD, Associate Professor S.V. Pakhotina
Tyumen State University, Ishim

Keywords: foreign language, physical education, students, tolerance.

Background. One of the most obvious trends of the ongoing globalisation process is the growing cosmopolitism of the world population that is commonly and primarily interpreted as the freedom of living, working and learning in whatever place of the world taking full advantage of the growing accessibility of many countries, excellent transport services etc. In the period of January to June 2016, for instance, migration flows to Russia were reported to grow by 31.4% to the same period of the last year [3]. National statistics as of April 2016 reported 9.87 million foreign residents and non-residents being hosted by our country. This migration flow is dominated by labour immigrants from the neighbouring countries plus refugees from Ukraine. As reported by the immigration statistics of 2015, the country accepted 598.8 thousand immigrants from the neighbouring countries that is a 13.5% growth to 2014; plus 62.5 thousand immigrants from distant countries [2].

These migration trends demonstrate that the commonly known problems of interethnic relationships tend to go beyond large urban centres. As reported by the 2010 Russian Population Census, for instance, the southern population of the Tyumen region (net of the Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous regions) was 79.5% Russian, 7.65% Tatar, 1.3% Ukrainian, plus about 1% Kazakh, German, Chuvash, Azerbaijan, Armenian, etc. [4]. The growing migrant multinational communities force the local governments give an increasingly higher priority to the tolerance building policies and practices. Special attention in this context is given to young people as much more vulnerable due to their age, unstable mentality and physiology and often poorly educated and socialised. The study was designed to address the tolerance building issues in application to students majoring in the academic Physical Education discipline.

Objective of the study was to find the most promising ways and methods to build due tolerance in students majoring in Physical Education by means of the Foreign Language subject among other things.

Methods and structure of the study. The study was performed at the premises of Ishym Pedagogical Institute named after P.P. Ershov affiliated with Tyumen State University and took 10 years. It included an analysis of the relevant pedagogical and psychological literature, documentation and study data; educational monitoring; questionnaire surveys; interviews; tests and mathematical statistical data processing. Subject to the study were 240 students majoring in Physical Education and 44.03.05 (050100.62) “Pedagogical Education” sub-discipline.

Study results and discussion. E.P. Ilyin classifies athletes with a separate group describing it as the “group driven by sports as a social phenomenon that may be considered a form of social relationship in the specific sporting sector. The social sporting group is governed by its own priorities and behavioural standards, its own social values...” An athlete’s life is totally focused on the individual sport goals like qualifying for the Master of Sports title, for example, with the relevant emotional and volitional background and settings. This focus generally fuels the athlete’s activity in some specific avenue and slows down in the others largely forcing him to put aside other interests and motivations. It should be noted that such life priorities may result in a certain one-sided distortion in the personality development process [1, pp. 113-114].

Sporting activity may build up, among other things, such negative qualities as aggressiveness and excessive motivations and ambitions [8, p. 22]. Our study rated 51% of the students majoring in Physical Education with high ambition and 39% with high aggression. The increased ambitions and aggression may manifest themselves in some forms of irritation, negativism and feeling of guilt plus trigger problems in the interpersonal relationship [5, pp. 128-133], [10, pp. 128-133], [11, pp. 103-104].

It should be noted that the academic Foreign Language subject offers great opportunities for the student tolerance building initiatives for the simple reason that a foreign language involves the student in an intercultural context. Every tolerance-building initiative (including due respect to and appreciation of the social, cultural, ethnic and world-outlook-specific differences [9, pp. 22-25] is to be based, in our opinion, on the prudently selected education materials for the students to learn how the differences should be considered, analysed and acknowledged. The materials must offer role models of the tolerant attitudes, respect and flexibility demonstrated in the relevant and personally valuable environments. In studies of the Olympic movement history, for instance, due priority is to be given to the tenets of the International Fair Play Committee that awards the athletes who have demonstrated high fairness and respect to the opponents (including the Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy awarded for gestures in which an athlete impedes own performance to aid a fellow competitor). In addition, a method of cross-cultural analysis and comparison [9, pp. 26-40] may be applied to teach the students analyse and compare the intercultural differences in terms of standards, values and behavioural models. The comparative analysis helps them see the basic trends in the key perceptions by people speaking different languages and from different cultures and provide guidance in the challenging intercultural relationships. The training process includes discussions in the most appropriate formats (round tables, expert sessions etc.) to build up the ability to listen, share knowledge and opinions, put questions, prove own opinions and find different solutions to the problems.

Tolerance building, however, cannot be limited by the ability to analyse, compare and discuss differences and conflict situations. As provided by I.L. Pluzhnik, tolerant attitudes may also manifest themselves in empathy, flexibility and prudence in opinions [9, pp. 22-25]. Empathy means the ability to sympathise, understand other people's feelings and respect them in communication process [5, p. 316]. Generally, empathy is expressed in communication by encouraging phrases, attentive support, and positively coloured language. Flexibility is interpreted as gentleness and open-mindedness in behaviour plus high adaptability. This quality normally manifests itself in the verbal/ nonverbal behaviour being flexibly adjusted to the actual situation. Prudence in opinions means, among other things, the ability to avoid criticism in judging other people and assess their specific actions rather than personal qualities using indirect and careful language.

The above qualities may be developed by a variety of special exercises including: Verbalise the same ideas less categorically; Differentiate categorical and non-categorical forms; Keep up communication by mini-dialogues with test replies; Make the following dialogue less formal; Give examples how to express partial agreement.

We believe that it is the group/ game activity types that are the most promising for the tolerant attitude building purposes. Efficient teamwork helps the students realize that each person is different in how he/she perceives, interprets and rates one or another situation. The teamwork fosters their ability to fairly rate and analyse each situation, listen to the partner, keep track of his/her logics and intentions; and thereby their tolerance to a variety of opinions and positions is successfully developed.

Game practices are intended to create a positive communication environment in the sessions to cope with the natural psychological barriers. Actual experience modelling exercises may be used to develop habitual verbal/ nonverbal behavioural models and empathy to people of different culture. It is highly important in the game process that a special attention is given to the socio cultural context of the game. For example: You stay at a hotel. You see a nice girl and want to get acquainted with her. What should you say? How should you introduce yourself? What should you tell her about yourself?

The tolerance building process also includes a due reflexivity development component to give the student a chance to see himself/herself through other's eyes and to assess own verbal culture, body language and behavioural models; plus analyse own actions from the standpoint of a person raised in a different cultural environment. Every task in the training process is guided by the relevant questions like: What problems have you faced? What if any role your own experience has played in fulfilling the task? What have you learnt from the discussion?

Conclusion. The cultural potential of the academic Foreign Language discipline and its benefits for the academic tolerance building process to improve relations with the people of other ethnic, cultural and religious groups and social traditions cannot be overestimated. Special verbal communication modelling forms make it possible – in the situation of the common shortage of everyday communication in foreign languages and, hence, the widespread misunderstanding of foreign cultures and traditions – to at least familiarise the trainees with other countries, traditions and cultures and thereby expand and improve their knowledge of the world and help them learn basics of a constructive intercultural communication and understanding.

References

  1. Ilyin E.P. Psihofiziologiya fizicheskogo vospitaniya (faktory, vliyayushchie na effektivnost sportivnoy deyatelnosti). Ucheb. posobie dlya stud. ped. in-tov po spets. # 2114 «Fiz. vospitanie» [Psychophysiology of physical education (factors of efficiency of sports activities). Study guide for students of ped. institutes majoring in physical education]. Moscow: Prosveshchenie publ., 1983, 223 p.
  2. Migratsionnye itogi 2015 goda: kto priezzhaet i uezzhaet iz Rossii? [Russian migration results of 2015: inflow and outflow]. Available at: http://proved.rf/analytics/research/34147-migpatsionnye-itogi-2015-goda-... (Accessed 24.11.2016).
  3. Migratsionny prirost naseleniya Rossii uvelichilsya v yanvare-iyune 2016 goda v 1,3 raza [1.3 times migration gain in Russia in January-June 2016]. Available at: http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2016/0697/barom01.php (Accessed 24.11.2016).
  4. Naselenie Tyumenskoy oblasti [Population of the Tyumen region]. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naselenie_Tyumenskoy_oblasti] (Accessed 24.11.2016).
  5. Nemo R.S. Prakticheskaya psikhologiya: Poznanie sebya: Vliyanie na lyudey. Posobie dlya uch-sya [Practical Psychology: Self-knowledge: Impact on people: students' manual]. Moscow: VLADOS publ., 2001, 320 p.
  6. Pakhotina S.V. Osobennosti obucheniya inostrannomu yazyku studentov fakulteta fizicheskoy kultury pedagogicheskogo vuza [Specifics of teaching foreign language at physical education faculty of pedagogical university]. Novy universitet: Aktualnye problemy gumanitarnykh i obshchestvennykh nauk [New University: Actual problems of humanities and social sciences], Yoshkar-Ola, 2013, no. 4, pp. 4-8.
  7. Pakhotina S.V., Tsalikova I.K. Formirovanie tolerantnosti na zanyatiyakh po inostrannomu yazyku [Tolerance cultivation at foreign language lessons]. European Social Science Journal. Moscow, 2015, no. 1 (52), pp. 140-147.
  8. Perepelkina J.V. Teoreticheskie i metodicheskie osnovy formirovaniya gotovnosti k ispolzovaniyu inostrannogo yazyika v protsesse professionalnoy podgotovki spetsialistov po fizicheskoy kulture. Avtoref. dis. dok. ped. nauk [Theoretical and methodical grounds of formation of readiness to use foreign language during vocational training of physical education specialists. Doctoral diss. abstract (Hab.)]. St. Petersburg, 2000, 55 p.
  9. Pluzhnik I.L. Formirovanie mezhkulturnoy kommunikativnoy kompetentsii studentov gumanitarnogo profilya v protsesse professionalnoy podgotovki. Avtoref. dis. dok. ped. nauk [Intercultural communicative competence building in humanities students in vocational training process. Doctoral diss. abstract (Hab.)]. Moscow, 2003, 46 p.
  10. Ratanova T.A., Zolotoreva L.I., Shlyakhta N.F. Psikhodiagnosticheskie metody izucheniya lichnosti. Ucheb. posobie. 2-e izd. pererab. i dop. [Psychodiagnostic methods for personality studies. Study guide. 2nd ed. Rev. and ext.]. Moscow: MPSI: Flinta publ., 1998, 264 p.
  11. Shilov S.P., Vedernikova L.V., Pakhotina S.V. O motivatsii izucheniya neprofilnykh distsiplin budushchimi spetsialistami v sfere fizicheskoy kultury i sporta [Motivation to study non-core disciplines in future specialists in physical culture and sports]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2016, no. 5, pp.103-104.

Corresponding author: wedernikowa@mail.ru           

Abstract

Objective of the study was to find the most promising ways and methods to build due tolerance in students majoring in the academic Physical Education discipline by means of the Foreign Language subject among other things. The study was performed at the premises  Ishym Pedagogical Institute named after P.P. Ershov affiliated with Tyumen State University and took 10 years. It included an analysis of the relevant pedagogical and psychological literature, documentation and study data; educational monitoring; questionnaire surveys; interviews; tests and mathematical statistical data processing. Subject to the study were 240 students majoring in Physical Education and 44.03.05 (050100.62) “Pedagogical Education” sub-discipline.

We believe that it is the group/ game activity types that are the most promising for the tolerant attitude building purposes. Efficient group work helps the students realize that each person is different in how he/she perceives, interprets and rates one or another situation. The teamwork fosters their ability to fairly rate and analyse each situation, listen to the partner, keep track of his/her logics and intentions; and thereby their tolerance to a variety of opinions and positions is successfully developed. The tolerance building process also includes due reflexivity development component to give the student a chance to see himself/herself through other's eyes and to assess own verbal culture, body language and behavioural models; plus analyse his/her actions from the standpoint of a person raised in a different cultural environment. The training process includes discussions in the most appropriate formats (round tables, expert sessions etc.) to build up the ability to listen, share the knowledge and opinions, put questions, substantiate own opinions and find different solutions to problems.