PhD, Associate Professor V.E. Zhabakov¹
PhD, Associate Professor Т.V. Zhabakova^1
1South Ural State Humanitarian Pedagogical University, Chelyabinsk

Keywords: physical education, quality management, expectations-driven model.

Background. One of the key research thrusts in the educational process management theory development process is geared to find new methodologies to improve the quality of academic education – that is in top priority today [2]. We propose applying an expectations-driven model to secure new quality of the educational process management in the physical education (PE) specialist training domain, with the model considering the physical education specialist training service quality management as the process of the trainee’s vocational expectations being shaped up and transformed in the educational process. The personal vocational expectations management system within the educational process management theory shall be governed by the educational process mission and forecast. The personal vocational expectations management process with a special emphasis on the individual motivations helps build up and improve the specialist professional competences with due process quality control motivations [4]. 

Objective of the study was to to analyze expectations (with their content and structure) as to the physical education (PE) specialist training service quality at SUSHPU.

Methods and structure of the study. The personal vocational expectations management model was piloted at the Higher School of South Ural State Humanitarian Pedagogical University (SUSHPU) in the following two stages. At the first (fact-finding) stage, we tested and analyzed (by a content analysis) the physical education specialists’ expectations. The sample was required to report their expectations in essays with a special emphasis on the physical education specialist training service quality at SUSHPU. We applied a content analysis to process the textual data and quantify it by the relevant rates. These rates included both traditional (modality-based) and special rates to profile the physical education specialist training service quality (including the teaching service as such; and its technical and tactical aspects). Each of the applied categories was broken up into units for analysis; and the modalities were grouped into positive, neutral and negative. The analytical units included knowledge, skills and abilities, with expectations quantified in the relevant units for every academic discipline. The teaching service in the individual PE specialist expectations was rated as a combination of the following units: methods, tools, teaching models, educational theories, teaching skills, teaching styles and practical background. The technical and tactical skills category includes the elements of technical and tactical skills in the sport discipline of each respondent.

The first- and fifth year students (n=150) of the Higher School of South Ural State Humanitarian Pedagogical University (SUSHPU) were surveyed, with their questionnaire survey data classified into 3 categories including 1490 lexical units for the content analysis.

At the second (analytical) stage of the study, we analyzed the sample expectations as to the PE specialist professional competency. We applied the questionnaire survey forms offered by the TUNING Project [1] to mine the data and group them by the achievement importance/ levels and by the five top-priority competences. Objective of the questionnaire survey was to rate the competence concentration, priority, tension and sustainability in the sample.  The notion of concentration was applied to the competences ranked very important with low achievability levels. Low priority competences were defined as insignificant with low achievability levels. Excessive tension refers to the competences ranked insignificant albeit with high achievability levels. And sustainability refers to the competences ranked important with high achievability levels [1].

Study findings and discussion. Let us consider the first stage of the PE specialist expectations-driven model piloting experiment. In the modality category (36.5% of the total dispersion), we found 49.3% of the sample using a positively colored lexicon (‘good competency’ with the occurrence rate 7; ‘I like it’ with the occurrence rate 9; ‘I’m happy’ with the occurrence rate 8 etc.). Neutral lexicon was applied by 38.6% of the sample (‘compliant to the requirements’ with the occurrence rate 5, ‘sufficient level’ with the occurrence rate 4 etc.). And the negative lexicon was applied by 12% of the sample (‘I don’t have enough knowledge and skills for a successful career’ with the occurrence rate 3; ‘I will fail to find a highly payable job’ with the occurrence rate 2 etc.). Therefore, the PE specialist training service quality in terms of the sample expectations was predominantly rated by the positive semantic units.

The teaching service category amounted to 25.3% of the total dispersion, with the occurrence rates of the units falling within this category grouped as follows: teaching skills (occurrence rate 9); teaching methods and tools (occurrence rate 5); teaching models (occurrence rate 3); teaching methods (occurrence rate 2); and knowledge in education, teaching skills and abilities (occurrence rate 2). It should be noted that the educational theory unit was not found in the PE sample expectations. According to the qualitative analysis of the teaching service category, the sample’s expectations as to the personality of the PE specialist include the following: attitudes to own self (demanding, critical, diligent, determined etc.); volitional qualities (decisive, insistent, self-controllable, independent etc.); and intellectual qualities (clever, quick-witted, curious etc.).

The technical and tactical skills category (17.8% of the total dispersion) included the following units: tactical thinking (occurrence rate 6); physical endurance (occurrence rate 5); training cycle (occurrence rate 5) and competitive statuses (occurrence rate 4).

The qualitative analysis of the semantic units gave us the grounds to assume that the occurrence rates of modality, teaching service, technical and tactical skills categories are group-specific (for the sport qualification groups). Using the Fisher φ* criterion [4], we found that the occurrence rates of the modality category are almost the same in CMS, MS, Class I and Class II (φ*emp= 1.28, with φ*cr= 1.64 (ρ≤ 0.05); and φ*cr = 2.31 (ρ≤ 0.01)). However, the CMS and MS subgroups were found to more often apply the notion of technical and tactical skills versus the Class I and II subgroup (φ*emp= 3.91 with φ*cr = 1.64 (ρ≤ 0.05) and φ*cr = 2.31 (ρ≤ 0.01)). Therefore, the teaching service quality in the PE specialists’ expectations is referred to as the positive-modality-colored combined teaching service system geared to master the relevant technical and tactical skills. It should be underlined that the occurrence rate of the notion of technical and tactical skills was found sport-qualification specific. This means that the subjects’ expectations imply not only their individual physical culture as such but also some sport qualification.

Let us now consider the findings of the second stage of the PE expectations-driven model piloting study. In the 1st-year students’ expectations, the competences rated insignificant with low achievability rates were as follows: written and verbal communication in the native language; initiative; entrepreneurial spirit; tolerance to people’s differences; multicultural tolerance etc. In the 5th-year students’ expectations, the following competences were rated insignificant (low-priority): second language; multidisciplinary teamwork ability; acceptance of foreign cultures and traditions etc. It should be emphasized that the top-priority competences with low achievability rates were notably different in the 1st- and 5th-year subgroups.

Competence concentration was not found in the 1st-year subgroup; whilst the 5th-year subgroup mentioned a few competences required for success in their professional careers albeit unaddressed in the academic curriculum – including the ability to work in international environments; comprehensive competence in professional knowledgebase; adaptability to new challenging situations; creativity (ideas-generation skills); and quality control skills. 

Excessive tension of competences was found dominating in the 1st-year subgroup. Thus the insignificant competences with high achievability rates included: basic knowledge in different fields; ability to apply knowledge in practice; adaptability to new challenging situations; creativity (ideas-generation skills); and self-reliant work ability. In the 5th-year subgroup, only one excessively tense competence was found, namely the success-focused mindset.

Sustainability may be referred to as the most important specification of a competence indicative of the competence importance in the group opinions. Thus the competences ranked important with high achievability rates by the 1st-year subgroup were as follows: self-discipline and planning skills; comprehensive competence in professional knowledgebase; second language; data management skills; decision-making skills; multidisciplinary teamwork ability; and success-focused mindset. In the 5th-year subgroup, these competences included basic knowledge in different fields; ability to apply knowledge in practice; self-reliant work ability; and data management skills.

Therefore, the questionnaire survey data generated with application of the TUNING Project forms [1] showed the competence-ranking opinions in the sample being age-specific, i.e. different in the 1st-year versus 5th-year student subgroups. This trend may be explained, in our opinion, by the natural transformations in the academic educational process with changes in the self-ratings, vocational identifications and own professional capacity ratings.

Conclusion. The personal and interpersonal expectations rating data are indicative of the respondents’ life goals and potential achievements and, hence, provide an insight to the expectations formation mechanisms and the relevant socio-psychological factors of influence on the expectations in specific life periods. It is the combinations of individual values and priorities that create the individual ‘subjectivity’ manifested in the personal choice. When the existential-level control mechanisms are not mature enough, the individual evolves under external influences with the individual adaptation to the environment being limited, and this is the reason why the professional expectations building process is so socially sensitive.

References

1. Baydenko V.I. Bolonskiy protsess: poisk obshchnosti evropeyskikh sistem vysshego obrazovaniya (proekt TUNING) [Bologna Process: allocation of common features of European higher education systems (TUNING project)]. Moscow: Research Center for Quality Problems in Specialist Training publ., 2006, 211 p.
2. Bermus A.G. Upravlenie kachestvom professionalno-pedagogicheskogo obrazovaniy [Quality management of vocational teacher education]. Rostov-on-Don: RSPU publ., 2002, 288 p.
3. Solomin V.P. [ed.] Monitoring kachestva obrazovaniya. Metod. posobie [Monitoring of Education Quality. Teaching aid]. St. Petersburg: Herzen RSPU publ., 2008, 261 p.
4. Tyshkovskiy, A. V. (2003) Sotsialno-psikhologicheskiye osnovy formirovaniya i realizatsii ozhidaniy v professionalnom vybore i karyere. Dis. dokt. Psikh. nauk [Socio-psychological bases of formation and realization of expectations in professional choice and career. Doctoral diss. (Psych.)]. Moscow, 1999, 481 p.

Corresponding author: gabakovvu@yandex.ru

Abstract

Objective of study was to analyze expectations (with their content and structure) as to the physical education specialist training service quality at South Ural State Humanitarian Pedagogical University (SUSHPU). The questionnaire survey data with the content analysis of assays made it possible to profile personal and interpersonal expectations as to the physical education specialist training quality. The questionnaire survey was also designed to rate the physical education specialist competences by their importance levels. Subject to the survey were the 1st and 5th year students (n=150) of the SUSHPU Physical Education and Sports Department. The personal and interpersonal expectations rating data were indicative of the respondents’ life goals and potential achievements and, hence, providing an insight to the expectations formation mechanisms and the relevant socio-psychological factors of influence on the expectations in specific life periods. It is the combinations of individual values and priorities that create the individual ‘subjectivity’ manifested in the personal choice. When the existential-level control mechanisms are not mature enough, the individual evolves under external influences with the individual adaptation to the environment being limited, and this is the reason why the professional expectations building process is so socially sensitive.