Dr.Sc.Philos., Professor E.Yu. Novikova¹
Dr.Sc.Hist., Professor I.M. Kornilova¹
PhD, Associate Professor Е.V. Malakhova¹
PhD, Associate Professor A.V. Galukhin^2
1Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Moscow
²Psychological Institute of the Russian Academy of Education, Moscow

Keywords: sports, competencies, profession, culture, personality, student.

Background. University students’ attitudes to professional competences form a basis for their learning motivations, individual education trajectories and career expectations and paths; this is the reason why analyses of these attitudes help improve the physical education and sport (PES) specialist training service quality.

Objective of the study was to rate the priority attitudes of university students to the professional competences.

Methods and structure of the study. The study methodology were designed based on the following provisions: (1) competency-building approach that implies cognitive, practical and personality education components being harmonized; (2) professional and general cultural competences need to be integrated in the specialist training process; (3) the competences building process will be geared to attain both specific professional and social goals; and (4) the humanitarian values and competences will be ranked among the key professional motivations. Applied for the study purposes were a questionnaire survey and a test works analysis to rank the professional competences and future career versions/ expectations. Sampled for the study were students (n=150) of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, with the competences rated in percentage terms.

Study findings and discussion. The study found 90% the sample appreciating high competences and skills as a key factor for success in their future careers; albeit the importance of the research and theoretical competences and disciplines was recognized only by 50% of the sample. Practical/ applied competences and knowledge were ranked high by 86% of the sample. Knowledge in the PES-related disciplines was ranked high by 98%; and management competences by 85% of the sample. Rankings of the general cultural and humanitarian competences were found dependent on the academic progress rates, academic specialties and career expectations of the trainees. The high-progress academic subgroup was found to rate high (72%) the humanitarian competences and knowledge of a human nature, with their career expectations focused on the high social and professional statuses and active socializing priorities. The average- and low-progress academic subgroups were found to rate the general cultural competences low (under 40%), with the rank of each competence depending on the expected career version. The students focused on the research or academic careers were found to rank the general cultural competences 15-20% higher than the other subgroups. On the whole the survey found certain dichotomy between the highly rated professional competences and lower rated general cultural competences.

The competences ranking imbalances are recommended to be addressed in the relevant interdisciplinary special courses making an emphasis on the socio-cultural contexts of the modern PES service. The courses may be designed to prioritize the following aspects.

First, they must overview the modern research methodologies to support the modern PES service [1]. The revolutions that still happen in modern sports are often triggered by intellectual, innovative solutions and breakthroughs in fundamental research. It is the general cultural competences and philosophical methods that shall provide a basis for every research project. As demonstrated by the actual practice, losses in the research process priorities with the studies increasingly focused on some specific empirical issues rather than fundamental and general ones (often associated with regresses in the academic research activity) – are always detrimental to competitive progress of the leading sport teams [4].

Second, the humanitarian competences help build up the facilitating social environment for the PES service to address a variety of social needs and at the same time provide the necessary motor fields, physical agents and space-time (chronotope) [6]. The national sport community is increasingly concerned about the negative developments in the academic PES environments for the last 30 years that often force the young promising athletes to retire before they reach the sport excellence stage. New sport projects shall give a high priority to the patriotism cultivation and sport environment advancement initiatives, with the humanitarian competences viewed as a foundation for the spiritual values supportive of the athletic progress including civic responsibility, pride for the team, country, national history and accomplishments.

Third, the general cultural and humanitarian competence building in the professional sport specialist training system may have a synergic effect on a variety of other, traditionally highly ranked competences. Thus, the global approach to the fitness technologies is driven by a systemic analysis of the PES activity with its motor, cognitive and mental components in the context of the priority health strategies [7]. Motor skills in the modern sports are mastered via the relevant verbal communication and intellectual efforts, with the athletic progress driven not only by the operational and physical aspects but also the key values and priorities [2].

Fourth, the modern world outlook with the relevant spiritual values and priorities needs to be formed to facilitate the individual athletic progress [3, 5, 8]. Studies of the individual athletic cultures with their synergic cognitive, reflective, social, communication, emotional, volitional and axiological components shall be in high priority for the reason that it is the sound spiritual values that form a basis for every element of a modern sporting culture. Every element of the individual sporting culture is determined by the individual ethical and axiological core [3]. This approach to the PES activity and individual sporting culture requires the sound general cultural and humanitarian competences being formed.

Conclusion. The study demonstrates that the initiatives to bridge the gaps between the specific professional competences and the general cultural competences shall be designed using  the following integrated educational methods: (1) research methods to support athletic progress; ( 2) methods to establish facilitating social environments for the physical education and sports sector; (3) methods to secure due synergy of the general cultural competences in a professional athletic training system; and (4) methods to shape up the modern world outlook in the individual sporting cultures.

References

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Corresponding author: fizkult@teoriya.ru

Abstract

The study analyzes the student sport managers’ attitudes to the professional competencies in the context of the individual professional career strategies and the relevant educational paths. The study found the students rating high the competences cultivated by the educational process for their professional careers; with the certain dichotomy between the highly rated professional competences and lower rated general cultural competences as reflected in the individual learning behaviour and strategies. The high academic progress rates were found correlated with the high rates of the general cultural competences and high priority given to the elective humanitarian special courses. The students with high research and/or educational ambitions were tested to rate higher the general cultural competences. The initiatives to bridge the gaps in the specific professional versus general cultural competency rates shall be designed based on the relevant integrated education methodologies as follows: (1) research methodologies to support the athletic progress; ( 2) facilitating social environment building for the physical education and sports sector; (3) securing due synergy in the general cultural competency building in the professional sport training system; and (4) modern world outlook building in the individual sports-prioritizing cultures.