Social-psychological features of formation of leadership among high school students
Tunzala R. Musayeva
Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences,
Institute of Philosophy and Sociology
Department of Social Psychology,
Azerbaijan, Baku
e-mail: tunzala.rm@gmail.com
At the present stage of development of society, by one of the important directions of the state youth policy is ideological and educational work with young students. According to this innovative task, which is set for the national higher education system, development of leadership skills of students is that it has to create highly qualified specialists active civic stand and responsibility, ability deliberately and objectively assess events which are taking place in the country and society. Formation and development of a new personality, socially active, comprehensively developed, capable to find that place which will correspond to her abilities and features in society belongs to relevant requirements of modern society. Today, the leadership is considered as the system of the qualities reflecting the degree of focus on the subject transforming reality, including itself, which belongs to a number of the most demanded and professionally significant characteristics of the personality. In constantly changing social, economic and political conditions, which are characterized also by a condition of crisis, it is important to provide training for specialists in the sphere of psychology, capable to the organization of the professional activity in the conditions of fierce competition and also to atypical approach in the solution of current problems of society. The system of higher education underwent significant changes in the last two decades. It was influenced by peripeteia of transition to the market economy, destructions of ideological cliches, formations of a new paradigm of pedagogical activity. Similar processes brightly affect contents and the nature of the educational activity of the higher school.
The system of higher education
Education – the major public institution responsible for accumulation, storage, and dissemination of knowledge, ethical, esthetic standards, etc. and on this basis – for the preparation of intellectual and its professional potential without which further development of society is impossible. Today, conditions of development of the higher education system and the purpose of high school training quickly and sharply change under the influence of many factors, including globalization and information and communicative revolution. Their influence on the development of an education system was caused by such processes as remote education, internationalization, commercialization, privatization of education (Sergeeva 2010, p. 18).
Before an education system, especially in the sphere of training of professional heads, the problem of search, selection and vocational training of the most capable, talented youth, a problem of formation of the new intellectual elite, leaders of the XXI of the century is particularly acute. The identity of the real leader can be created in the corresponding educational and professional environment. With the development of modern information technologies, application in the educational process of active methods training and emergence of a possibility of use in the educational process of remote technologies, there was an opportunity to develop some qualities of the personality including the leader, directly on occupations with students.
The Phenomenon of Leadership
Leadership is the relation of domination and submission, influence and following to this influence in the system of the interpersonal relations in the organization. Therefore, in the broadest sense, leadership is one of the ways of the organization and management of a group that allows to unite the concepts “leader” and “head”. Despite their distinctions, development of qualities of the leader also contributes to the development of qualities of the head. As the social and psychological phenomenon, leadership acts as an element of the organization of joint activity and management in the system of interpersonal relations. The phenomenon of leadership of the personality in the conditions of group (collective) is the result of actions of a complex of factors as objective and situational (the purposes and tasks of group in a concrete situation), and subjective, personal and social and psychological (interests and requirements, individual and typological features and valuable orientations of contact group). These factors objectively and subjectively cause themselves actions of the leader as initiator and organizer of group activity and interaction. Formation of leadership is a process and result of the development of the structure of the internal psychological organization of the personality in the unity of their manifestation in personal organizing and her communicative readiness for external management of communication and activity of members of the group and collective (Larionov & Melnikov, 2001).
The leadership of the personality in a student's community is formed based on the superiority of personal qualities of separate subjects of activity and interaction in the group, at psychological readiness of the personality to solve a group problem in a practical field of activity. “The leader is a member of the group who spontaneously moves the forward group for a role of the informal head in the conditions of certain specific and, as a rule, rather significant situation to allow the organization join a collective activity of people for the fastest and successful achievement of the common goal facing this group” (Naletova 2004, p.57). Today's student can be a head-on division of the enterprise, the organization, etc. tomorrow. Therefore, it is an important task to teach young people to combine successfully the future formal position, a role of the formal leader, with qualities of the leader informal. System approaches to the training of leaders are for this purpose necessary: development of the training programs, social projects.
The student's environment is that resource in which formation of leaders (i.e. representatives of different elite groups of society) is optimum in terms of age and the level of knowledge: this group only enters active life. Nevertheless, it already has certain knowledge. The main thing – at this group - is vital ambition without which leadership is also impossible, as well as without knowledge. Despite a significant increase in students in absolute and relative numbers in comparison with the Soviet period, the competition at entering higher education institutions is notable: not all persons are interested in become students. Therefore, the youth pass through the system of tough “selection” at entering a higher education institution, where qualities of a future leader can help to be “accepted”. It is represented that in the course of selection, there is already an opportunity to prove that young people have leadership skills. A task of higher education institutions – to reveal them on the first year of training and help to develop leader potentialities, and then – at a job placement – to provide a possibility of implementation of the gained knowledge and the acquired skills.
Social-psychological features of leadership
In the formation and development skills in students in the higher education system, the body of the Student Government is of particular importance. As the important place in realization of all directions of educational activity is allocated to student government, it needs to be considered not only as initial activity of students directed to the solution of important questions in various spheres of student's life, but, first of all, as one of forms of educational work in higher education institution. “Student government” is the active form of the organization of activity of students contributing to the development of their independence in decision-making and responsibility for the received results on achievement socially and personally significant purposes (Mikhailichenko 2004, p.115). Development of leadership skills is a purposeful process of creative interaction of students with one another, with teachers, social partners, the qualities of the personality connected with the leader status, to gain the experience of leader behavior allowing to develop.
Having acknowledged the possibility of development of leadership, it is necessary to understand which leadership skills need to be developed as to how to reconstruct an educational system of students, the culture of education in general in time to reveal future leaders, to bring up them, to support and advance their leadership potential. It is necessary to provide a possibility of creation of pedagogical conditions for the formation of leadership skills in students in the course of their training in a higher education institution.
It is quite fair that the basis of the process of formation of leadership skills of the personality for a the modern student is made up of: first, objective macro factors of a social order (public relations and social and economic environment); secondly, meso factors of action of the next Wednesday (moral and psychological unity of heads and subordinates, social and official position, official functions of leadership team, etc.); thirdly, micro factors (the personal and psychological conditions influencing process of formation of leadership skills of the personality). The main criteria of identification of leadership are psychological readiness of the personality for leadership (internal criterion) and real manifestation of leadership skills of the personality in activity and interaction with the collective (external criterion) (Hogg 2007). These criteria allow to see objectively the effectiveness of the process of formation of leadership skills in students, a phenomenon of leadership as it is shown in the behavior of future experts as the leader.
Socially - pedagogical conditions allow to develop leadership skills of students through a vigorous socially important activity. The active socially important activity provides the conscious, purposeful action focused on a relevant concrete situation, built based on own motivation of conscious decision-making and understanding of responsibility for consequences of the actions. Psychological features of the development of leadership skills of students in the course of training in higher education institutions are the features of socialization and adaptation of the personality, development of consciousness, the feature of activity, the interaction of students and teachers, features of intragroup interaction of students. Socialization of the personality in student's years in many respects depends on adaptation to a group. In this period, the identity of a student faces different representatives of students in an intellectual and cultural plan. Some students, carriers of the best examples of behavior, morality, intelligence, can contribute to the development of leadership skills, others, on the contrary, will give outdated stereotypes, defective views, the negative principles, which can negatively affect the current level of development of leadership skills. Therefore, the process of adaptation and entry of the personality into a student's community has to be under observation and control, otherwise, the distribution of negative trends that will interfere with consecutive development of leadership skills are not excluded. Development of leadership skills of future experts is possible to master also on the condition of the creation of a system of the educational and practical situations aimed at the development of ability in them independently new experience, to analyze the activity, to make decisions which are as close as possible to real professional activity. All this can be realized in the course of the application of the active personal focused forms of education. However, it should be noted that by the end of the training there are already created leaders who take the responsibility for the decisions made, are more active on occupations, often make answers when performing tasks of the teacher while the rest of the group is more passive. Therefore, a teacher should consider the developed groups and apply such methods of work, which would allow students to show the knowledge, to especially diffident students.
Conclusion
The most specific abilities can be developed through participation in student's organizations and public work, especially in the activity of student government. Thus, the model of development of leadership skills of students inactivity of student government represents a complex of the interconnected, dynamically developing blocks of open type, which are flexibly built in a context of inquiries of labor market and the state on training of the competitive, professionally mobile university graduates, ready to manifestation of the leadership skills in the course of the solution, not of standard problems of professional and personal activity.
Abstract
The availability of leadership capabilities is determined by such personal features as logical thinking, emotional stability, courage and independence, managerial ability, and also pragmatism, practicality, and realness. Training of future leaders is a strategic task not only in a higher education institution but also in the state in general. The solution of this problem is connected with providing the corresponding psychology and pedagogical and organizational conditions to form leadership skills and develop of leadership potential within a teaching and educational process. The importance of forming leadership skills is determined by the development of capabilities of a reflection, rendering a positive impact on people, an active and responsible attitude to society and socially significant activities.
Keywords: leadership, leadership skills, student, student's self-government, education, development
References
1. Dempster, N. & Lizzio, A. (2007) Student leadership: Necessary research, Australian Journal of Education, 51(3), pp.276-285
2. Dugan, J. P., &Komives, S. R. (2007). Developing leadership capacity in college students.College Park, Md.: National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs Retrieved June, 21, 2012. Retrieved from http://mslreviewteam.wiki.usfca.edu/file/view/MSLReport+06.pdf
3. Gaponyuk Z.G, (2008) Pedagogical conditions of formation of leadership qualities of students of liberal arts colleges // Diss. cand. Education Sciences. Moscow.
4. Hogg, M. A. (2007). Social psychology of leadership. In A. W. Kruglanski & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Social psychology: A handbook of basic principles (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
5. Hackman, J. R., & Wageman, R. (2007). Asking the right questions about leadership: Discussion and conclusions.American Psychologist, 62.
6. Kuzyakin A.P, (2000) What is a leader and leadership? // Education.
7. Krivensheva, E.N (2009) Axiology youth leadership in /E.N region. Krivensheva // regionology. -. - №3. - S.221-229.
8. Larionov V.G, Melnikov O.N (2001) Approaches to the study of leadership and leadership qualities // Russian Entrepreneurship, number 5.
9. Mikhailichenko T.Y (2004) Organization of student government in high school. - Moscow.
10. Naletova I.V (2004) Modern higher education: theoretical and methodological foundations and experience of applied research: monograph. Tambov.
11. Sergeeva T.S. (2010) The development of leadership skills of students // Vocational Education. Capital. № 9, p. 40-41
Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences,
Institute of Philosophy and Sociology
Department of Social Psychology,
Azerbaijan, Baku
e-mail: tunzala.rm@gmail.com
At the present stage of development of society, by one of the important directions of the state youth policy is ideological and educational work with young students. According to this innovative task, which is set for the national higher education system, development of leadership skills of students is that it has to create highly qualified specialists active civic stand and responsibility, ability deliberately and objectively assess events which are taking place in the country and society. Formation and development of a new personality, socially active, comprehensively developed, capable to find that place which will correspond to her abilities and features in society belongs to relevant requirements of modern society. Today, the leadership is considered as the system of the qualities reflecting the degree of focus on the subject transforming reality, including itself, which belongs to a number of the most demanded and professionally significant characteristics of the personality. In constantly changing social, economic and political conditions, which are characterized also by a condition of crisis, it is important to provide training for specialists in the sphere of psychology, capable to the organization of the professional activity in the conditions of fierce competition and also to atypical approach in the solution of current problems of society. The system of higher education underwent significant changes in the last two decades. It was influenced by peripeteia of transition to the market economy, destructions of ideological cliches, formations of a new paradigm of pedagogical activity. Similar processes brightly affect contents and the nature of the educational activity of the higher school.
The system of higher education
Education – the major public institution responsible for accumulation, storage, and dissemination of knowledge, ethical, esthetic standards, etc. and on this basis – for the preparation of intellectual and its professional potential without which further development of society is impossible. Today, conditions of development of the higher education system and the purpose of high school training quickly and sharply change under the influence of many factors, including globalization and information and communicative revolution. Their influence on the development of an education system was caused by such processes as remote education, internationalization, commercialization, privatization of education (Sergeeva 2010, p. 18).
Before an education system, especially in the sphere of training of professional heads, the problem of search, selection and vocational training of the most capable, talented youth, a problem of formation of the new intellectual elite, leaders of the XXI of the century is particularly acute. The identity of the real leader can be created in the corresponding educational and professional environment. With the development of modern information technologies, application in the educational process of active methods training and emergence of a possibility of use in the educational process of remote technologies, there was an opportunity to develop some qualities of the personality including the leader, directly on occupations with students.
The Phenomenon of Leadership
Leadership is the relation of domination and submission, influence and following to this influence in the system of the interpersonal relations in the organization. Therefore, in the broadest sense, leadership is one of the ways of the organization and management of a group that allows to unite the concepts “leader” and “head”. Despite their distinctions, development of qualities of the leader also contributes to the development of qualities of the head. As the social and psychological phenomenon, leadership acts as an element of the organization of joint activity and management in the system of interpersonal relations. The phenomenon of leadership of the personality in the conditions of group (collective) is the result of actions of a complex of factors as objective and situational (the purposes and tasks of group in a concrete situation), and subjective, personal and social and psychological (interests and requirements, individual and typological features and valuable orientations of contact group). These factors objectively and subjectively cause themselves actions of the leader as initiator and organizer of group activity and interaction. Formation of leadership is a process and result of the development of the structure of the internal psychological organization of the personality in the unity of their manifestation in personal organizing and her communicative readiness for external management of communication and activity of members of the group and collective (Larionov & Melnikov, 2001).
The leadership of the personality in a student's community is formed based on the superiority of personal qualities of separate subjects of activity and interaction in the group, at psychological readiness of the personality to solve a group problem in a practical field of activity. “The leader is a member of the group who spontaneously moves the forward group for a role of the informal head in the conditions of certain specific and, as a rule, rather significant situation to allow the organization join a collective activity of people for the fastest and successful achievement of the common goal facing this group” (Naletova 2004, p.57). Today's student can be a head-on division of the enterprise, the organization, etc. tomorrow. Therefore, it is an important task to teach young people to combine successfully the future formal position, a role of the formal leader, with qualities of the leader informal. System approaches to the training of leaders are for this purpose necessary: development of the training programs, social projects.
The student's environment is that resource in which formation of leaders (i.e. representatives of different elite groups of society) is optimum in terms of age and the level of knowledge: this group only enters active life. Nevertheless, it already has certain knowledge. The main thing – at this group - is vital ambition without which leadership is also impossible, as well as without knowledge. Despite a significant increase in students in absolute and relative numbers in comparison with the Soviet period, the competition at entering higher education institutions is notable: not all persons are interested in become students. Therefore, the youth pass through the system of tough “selection” at entering a higher education institution, where qualities of a future leader can help to be “accepted”. It is represented that in the course of selection, there is already an opportunity to prove that young people have leadership skills. A task of higher education institutions – to reveal them on the first year of training and help to develop leader potentialities, and then – at a job placement – to provide a possibility of implementation of the gained knowledge and the acquired skills.
Social-psychological features of leadership
In the formation and development skills in students in the higher education system, the body of the Student Government is of particular importance. As the important place in realization of all directions of educational activity is allocated to student government, it needs to be considered not only as initial activity of students directed to the solution of important questions in various spheres of student's life, but, first of all, as one of forms of educational work in higher education institution. “Student government” is the active form of the organization of activity of students contributing to the development of their independence in decision-making and responsibility for the received results on achievement socially and personally significant purposes (Mikhailichenko 2004, p.115). Development of leadership skills is a purposeful process of creative interaction of students with one another, with teachers, social partners, the qualities of the personality connected with the leader status, to gain the experience of leader behavior allowing to develop.
Having acknowledged the possibility of development of leadership, it is necessary to understand which leadership skills need to be developed as to how to reconstruct an educational system of students, the culture of education in general in time to reveal future leaders, to bring up them, to support and advance their leadership potential. It is necessary to provide a possibility of creation of pedagogical conditions for the formation of leadership skills in students in the course of their training in a higher education institution.
It is quite fair that the basis of the process of formation of leadership skills of the personality for a the modern student is made up of: first, objective macro factors of a social order (public relations and social and economic environment); secondly, meso factors of action of the next Wednesday (moral and psychological unity of heads and subordinates, social and official position, official functions of leadership team, etc.); thirdly, micro factors (the personal and psychological conditions influencing process of formation of leadership skills of the personality). The main criteria of identification of leadership are psychological readiness of the personality for leadership (internal criterion) and real manifestation of leadership skills of the personality in activity and interaction with the collective (external criterion) (Hogg 2007). These criteria allow to see objectively the effectiveness of the process of formation of leadership skills in students, a phenomenon of leadership as it is shown in the behavior of future experts as the leader.
Socially - pedagogical conditions allow to develop leadership skills of students through a vigorous socially important activity. The active socially important activity provides the conscious, purposeful action focused on a relevant concrete situation, built based on own motivation of conscious decision-making and understanding of responsibility for consequences of the actions. Psychological features of the development of leadership skills of students in the course of training in higher education institutions are the features of socialization and adaptation of the personality, development of consciousness, the feature of activity, the interaction of students and teachers, features of intragroup interaction of students. Socialization of the personality in student's years in many respects depends on adaptation to a group. In this period, the identity of a student faces different representatives of students in an intellectual and cultural plan. Some students, carriers of the best examples of behavior, morality, intelligence, can contribute to the development of leadership skills, others, on the contrary, will give outdated stereotypes, defective views, the negative principles, which can negatively affect the current level of development of leadership skills. Therefore, the process of adaptation and entry of the personality into a student's community has to be under observation and control, otherwise, the distribution of negative trends that will interfere with consecutive development of leadership skills are not excluded. Development of leadership skills of future experts is possible to master also on the condition of the creation of a system of the educational and practical situations aimed at the development of ability in them independently new experience, to analyze the activity, to make decisions which are as close as possible to real professional activity. All this can be realized in the course of the application of the active personal focused forms of education. However, it should be noted that by the end of the training there are already created leaders who take the responsibility for the decisions made, are more active on occupations, often make answers when performing tasks of the teacher while the rest of the group is more passive. Therefore, a teacher should consider the developed groups and apply such methods of work, which would allow students to show the knowledge, to especially diffident students.
Conclusion
The most specific abilities can be developed through participation in student's organizations and public work, especially in the activity of student government. Thus, the model of development of leadership skills of students inactivity of student government represents a complex of the interconnected, dynamically developing blocks of open type, which are flexibly built in a context of inquiries of labor market and the state on training of the competitive, professionally mobile university graduates, ready to manifestation of the leadership skills in the course of the solution, not of standard problems of professional and personal activity.
Abstract
The availability of leadership capabilities is determined by such personal features as logical thinking, emotional stability, courage and independence, managerial ability, and also pragmatism, practicality, and realness. Training of future leaders is a strategic task not only in a higher education institution but also in the state in general. The solution of this problem is connected with providing the corresponding psychology and pedagogical and organizational conditions to form leadership skills and develop of leadership potential within a teaching and educational process. The importance of forming leadership skills is determined by the development of capabilities of a reflection, rendering a positive impact on people, an active and responsible attitude to society and socially significant activities.
Keywords: leadership, leadership skills, student, student's self-government, education, development
References
1. Dempster, N. & Lizzio, A. (2007) Student leadership: Necessary research, Australian Journal of Education, 51(3), pp.276-285
2. Dugan, J. P., &Komives, S. R. (2007). Developing leadership capacity in college students.College Park, Md.: National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs Retrieved June, 21, 2012. Retrieved from http://mslreviewteam.wiki.usfca.edu/file/view/MSLReport+06.pdf
3. Gaponyuk Z.G, (2008) Pedagogical conditions of formation of leadership qualities of students of liberal arts colleges // Diss. cand. Education Sciences. Moscow.
4. Hogg, M. A. (2007). Social psychology of leadership. In A. W. Kruglanski & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Social psychology: A handbook of basic principles (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
5. Hackman, J. R., & Wageman, R. (2007). Asking the right questions about leadership: Discussion and conclusions.American Psychologist, 62.
6. Kuzyakin A.P, (2000) What is a leader and leadership? // Education.
7. Krivensheva, E.N (2009) Axiology youth leadership in /E.N region. Krivensheva // regionology. -. - №3. - S.221-229.
8. Larionov V.G, Melnikov O.N (2001) Approaches to the study of leadership and leadership qualities // Russian Entrepreneurship, number 5.
9. Mikhailichenko T.Y (2004) Organization of student government in high school. - Moscow.
10. Naletova I.V (2004) Modern higher education: theoretical and methodological foundations and experience of applied research: monograph. Tambov.
11. Sergeeva T.S. (2010) The development of leadership skills of students // Vocational Education. Capital. № 9, p. 40-41