ISSN 0798 1015

Vol. 39 (# 21) Year 2018. Page 4

Relationships and values in high school students groups in conditions of the modern russian school

Relaciones y valores en grupos de estudiantes de secundaria en condiciones de la escuela rusa moderna

Irina Valeryevna BELASHEVA1; Valery Kirilovich SHAPOVALOV 2

Received: 12/01/2018 • Approved: 08/02/2018

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Objectives of the study

3. Methods of the study

4. Diagnostic procedure

5. Discussion of results

6. Conclusion

References

1. Introduction

The actual problem of studying the relationships and values in student groups is connected with a new stage of educational reforms in our country, which are focused on forming and realization of an appropriate concept of general education taking into account objective processes and tendencies in economy, politics and culture. A school working on the present and future must be oriented on the personality development of students through providing a high standard education, aspiration for high psychological comfort for every party of the educational process (Saeid et al., 2016), creation of free atmosphere, providing social and pre-professional adaptation of students, aspiration for a high level of self-organization of student groups.

Psychologically effective organization of a student’s upbringing in a group or by means of a group (the authors consider a class as a primary student group) needs to take into account the specific character of interpersonal relations and values on the basis of which they are built and developed. Students’ interpersonal relations including the system of aims, expectations and orientation of the group members about each other represent subjectively experienced relations between them, which are objectively manifested in character and ways of interpersonal communication (Zhuravleva, 2017).

For high school students (the stage of early youth), interpersonal communication is one of the most significant spheres of an active person. When a person is of this age, he/she usually changes the general direction and general matter of interpersonal relations. They become more selective (individualized, personalized), intimate. These relations perform the function of the major social polygon for self-expression and self-assertion of boys and girls. High school students broaden their field of communication through a considerable increase in social space, constant readiness (expectation) for communication and increase in time on the conversation. With the help of communication, high school students realize their needs in new impressions, acquiring new experience, self-representation in a new role, understanding by the people of the same age, psychological intimacy, being members of a group (Rusalov et al., 2015). Satisfying these needs is connected with the deep personal experiences of students. When high school students communicate with each other, they actively experiment with adopted models of men’s and women’s behavior (gender models). Certainly, the youths’ communicativeness is self-centered, because the need in self-expression, individualization, representation of their experiences often dominates the interest in feelings and emotions of other students and creates mutual tension in relations and dissatisfaction.

The examined peculiarities of interpersonal communication of high school students allow defining it as a leading activity (Elkonin, 1989), in which the main contradictions of the social development situation are solved, all the potentialities of the development of the cognitive and emotional-personal spheres are realized, and a central new age formation is established, that is professional self-determination. The construction of the teaching and educational process of high school students, aimed at creating the conditions for the full development of the personality through self-actualization, should be built taking into account the psychological patterns and parameters of the manifestation of the interpersonal interaction of young men and women (motivation, values, behavioral patterns, etc.). With regard to high school students, it is reasonable to talk about the quality and level of relationships in classes as one of the key components of the quality system of education.

This research was aimed at studying the peculiarities of the relationship of high school students in classes and the value orientations on which they are built, from the position of influence of two factors:

1. Education in rural and urban schools;

2. Gender differences.

This formulation of the research problem is conditioned by the fact that different values and priorities crystallize and a special positive vital meaning is attached to different objects and purposes in different sociocultural conditions, on the one hand, and in the conditions of mastering and implementing various gender patterns of behavior and experiences, on the other hand.

D.B. Elkonin (Elkonin, 1974) noted the cultural, intellectual and personal identity of a rural child's development; he pointed out the incorrectness of the transfer of the studies’ results obtained on groups of urban students to rural schoolchildren. T.E. Zalessky’s comparative studies showed that rural schoolchildren, in comparison with urban ones, are more pragmatic about science: they regard it as an area of professional activity. M.A. Menshikova identified the lower level of professional claims and the narrow professional orientation of students in rural schools. N.I. Krylov found that rural schoolchildren, realizing their potential, are less likely to continue their studies at higher educational institutions. They are less oriented in modern professions and often have a contradiction between professional intentions and academic achievement in the relevant subjects, and in general there is a relatively weak stability of professional choices (Golomb, 2004).

Research made by N.I. Eliseeva, E.V. Sidorina, S.V. Pepelyaeva (Eliseeva et al., 2014) showed that:

- for a rural child, a school is both a study, leisure, a source of cultural development, and a factor in the formation of ideas about the way of life and the place in society;

- rural schoolchildren are more likely to show concern for their loved ones, although trust in the family is valued by all children;

- among rural schoolchildren, survival issues dominate in the forecasts for the future: high concern about the future, problems of providing family needs, employment (among urban school students, consumption issues dominate).

In a sociological research made by K.L. Shirokova and M.M. Zinyakova (Shirokova et al., 2006) is noted the deterioration of the situation of rural residents in basic life-supporting conditions, including the destruction of the social infrastructure due to the lack of adequate funding for preschool and school education, health care, culture, and consumer services. Therefore, it is quite natural that there is a lack of motivation for living in rural areas, and the refusal of young professionals to seek for employment in the countryside after training, and also the dominance of values related to life support.

When considering the influence of gender on the values and relationships of high school students, the authors rely on the results of pedagogical, psychological and sociological research aimed at studying the specific features of mastering the educational material, individual psychological characteristics, the characteristics of the response in situations of uncertainty, social roles, behavior patterns, and professional preferences. All of them confirm the presence of corresponding differences between males and females, with a reference to the fact that in the formation of gender differences a leading role belongs to the process of socialization, that is, gender differences can be adequately explained only if social circumstances that mediate their emergence and manifestation are taken into account (Malkina-Pyh, 2006; Slobodskaya, 2017).

School is the most important institution of the child’s socialization, being responsible for the task of reproduction of social relations, the formation of social attitudes, patterns of behavior, including the gender ones. School experience helps to master the laws of life of the adult world and adequate ways of living within the boundaries of these laws. The transfer of social knowledge and the formation of social skills are carried out in real interaction in class. By studying the characteristics of relationships in classes and the values that determine them, one can talk about the degree of correspondence of the content of school life and organizational forms not only to the norms of social relations, but also to the notions of psychological security and the comfort of the educational environment.

2. Objectives of the study

1. To identify the peculiarities of relationships and values in classes based on the sample of high school students of Stavropol Territory (Russia).

2. To conduct a comparative analysis of the indicators of the level and quality of relationships and values in classes of high school students studying in rural and urban schools.

3. To identify the impact of gender characteristics of high school students on self-assessment, relationships and values in classes.

3. Methods of the study

Description of the sample of the study

To calculate the sample size, the authors used the method of generalizing indicators (allows characterizing the age and gender structure of pupils of the senior classes of Stavropol Territory with the help of absolute and relative values) and methods of interpolation and extrapolation.

The sample size in accordance with the requirements of representativeness is 542 respondents, which makes up 1.1% of the total population – the high school students of Stavropol Territory (49,273 schoolchildren). The average sampling error is 4.19%. The calculation of the average sampling error for the self-incidental, non-repeatable method of selecting respondents was done according to the formula:

The respondents were chosen by the method of a random, non-repeatable route selection “with a step offset”. The value of the “sampling step” was 5 units. The formation of the sample was based on the principle of a three-stage zoned (stratified) proportional sample of high school students in municipal educational institutions of Stavropol Territory and the quota procedure for gender and age. In accordance with this, senior students of 15 schools from three regions of Stavropol Territory (Arzgirsky, Levokumsky, Budennovskiy regions) and Stavropol city took part in the study, including:

- 274 schoolchildren studying in rural schools, 268 schoolchildren studying in urban schools;

- 291 young girls; 251 young boys.

4. Diagnostic procedure

The peculiarities of relationships and values in classes were studied using the first part of P. Luchisano’s questionnaire (the Sapienza University of Rome). The structure of the questionnaire includes 9 scales (the scales are given in the author's interpretation), measuring the leadership ability (organizational abilities), openness to novelty, self-consciousness, consistency (correspondence of actions to beliefs and values), obligation, representation of tendencies to compare oneself with others, a common goal (sense of community with the class), cooperation, citizenship (orientation to inclusion in the class). The questionnaire consists of 54 statements that require a response (evaluation) from the range: “completely disagree”, “rather disagree”, “difficult to answer”, “rather agree”, “completely agree” based on the subjective self-report of each party.

The interview procedure (interviewing and filling in the questionnaire form) complied with the requirements of the instruction and norms of the Federal Act “On Personal Data” No. 152-FZ of July 27, 2006.

Statistical processing of data was carried out using SPSS_Statistics_22_win32 software (frequency analysis, analysis of multiple answers, H-Kruskal-Wallace criterion for the differences, F-Livin's criterion for the equality of variances, t-criterion for the equality of means).

5. Discussion of results

Analysis of high school students research results for the level and quality of relationships and values in class (P. Luchisano’s questionnaire, Part 1) revealed a prevalence of high values on all scales questionnaire (Table 1): the leadership ability (organizational abilities), openness to novelty, self-consciousness, consistency (correspondence of actions to beliefs and values), obligation, representation of tendencies to compare oneself with others, a common goal (sense of community with the class), cooperation, citizenship (orientation to integration in class).

Table 1
Frequency analysis of questionnaires values of high school students

However, for a number of scales (leadership ability, openness to novelty, cooperation, citizenship (orientation toward integration in class)), high frequencies of low values and values from the uncertainty zone are observed (Table 1), which indicates the representation of different positions of high school students on the problems discussed. It also shows the presence of certain factors of influence on the formation of relationships in class and values, which are their determinants.

The authors studied the impact of teaching in rural and urban schools and gender characteristics on the indicators of the level and quality of relationships and values in classes of high school students.

Table 2
Comparative analysis of gender differences (F-Livin's criterion for the equality of
variances) in the values of the indicators of high school students (P. Luchisano),
aimed at studying relationships and values in classes

An analysis of gender differences in high school students in assessing the relationships and values in class using the Livin's statistical criterion for equality of variance (Table 2) showed that for most of the parameters of the questionnaire (citizenship (group orientation) (p≤ 0.01), a common goal (sense of community with the group) (p≤0.05), the tendency to the comparison (p≤0.01), obligation (p≤0.01), consistency (p≤0.01), openness to novelty (p≤0.01), leadership ability (p≤0,01)) girls and boys occupy close positions. The exception is the indicators of cooperation, reflecting the orientation of high school students to positive interaction, when either their goals and interests coincide, or the achievement of the ones’ goals is possible only through taking into account the aspirations and interests of others. Self-consciousness indicators reflecting the level of formation in the high school students of self-image and self-regulation are also the exceptions. According to the parameter of self-consciousness (p≤ 0.01) statistically significant differences between girls and boys were diagnosed (H-Kruskal-Wallace criterion). Since H-Kruskal-Wallace criterion allows establishing the differences between 2 or more groups, and the direction of these differences does not fix, the authors compared the mean values (MX) on the scale “Self-consciousness” in young boys (Mx = 4.05) and girls (Mx = 3.93) and found that young men are more able to determine their priorities, they trust themselves more, they tend to think that they know themselves and can describe their own personality, their “similarity – dissimilarity” to others, they express themselves more easily (or more actively).

Table 3
Comparative analysis of multiple responses on the
scale “Self-consciousness” of young boys and girls

A comparative analysis of multiple answers on the scale of “Self-Consciousness” (Table 3) showed that young girls often choose answers from the uncertainty zone: “difficult to answer”, “rather disagree”, “rather agree”, while young boys tend to give “pole” answers: “completely agree”, “completely disagree”, that indicates a clearer formation of ideas about themselves and the positions corresponding to these views.

On the “Cooperation” scale, statistically significant differences between boys and girls were not diagnosed, so a mismatch of positions can be accidental.

An analysis of assessments of relationships and values in classes of high school students studying in urban schools and those from rural schools showed significant differences (H-Kruskal-Wallace criterion) in a number of parameters: citizenship (group orientation) (p≤ 0.01), a tendency to the comparison (p≤ 0.05), consistency (p≤ 0.05), openness to novelty (p≤ 0.05). A comparative analysis of the average values of these parameters in rural and urban schoolchildren (Table 4) revealed a number of trends:

1. High school students from rural schools are more focused on integration in the group than those from urban schools.

2. High school students studying in urban schools have a more pronounced focus on comparing themselves with their classmates and searching for differences. They are more open to the perception of the others’ opinions and are willing to share their own thoughts.

3. High school students from urban schools often assess their behavior as consistent with their beliefs, it is important for them to correlate their actions and personal values.

4. High school students from rural schools are more open to novelty.

Table 4
Analysis of the average values of the questionnaires of
high school students studying in urban and rural schools

Due to the fact that on the scales of “tendency to comparison”, “consistency”, “openness to novelty”, the significance level of differences between high school students enrolled in rural and urban schools is p≤0.05, i.е., an estimate of the probability of the first kind error falls into the uncertainty zone, in the interval [0,01; 0,1], the authors performed a comparative analysis of multiple responses of these scales. As a result, the authors found the following features: greater homogeneity of responses in a group of rural schoolchildren; high frequency of pole responses “completely disagree” or “completely agree” to questions within the same scale in urban schoolchildren; “difficult to answer” is a frequency chosen answer the group of urban schoolchildren (Table 5).

Table 5
Comparative analysis of multiple answers of high school students from urban and
rural schools on the basis of “tendency to comparison”, “consistency”, “openness to novelty”

Notes: US – urban schoolchildren, RS – rural schoolchildren

Thus, as indicated by the analysis of differences (H-criterion of Kruskal-Wallace), the trends for high school students in rural schools are more stable than for high school students from urban schools.

According to the parameters of cooperation (p≤0.01), a common goal (sense of community with a group) (p≤0.01), obligation (p≤0.01), self-consciousness (p≤0.01), leadership ability (p ≤ 0.01), high school students studying in rural and urban schools have close positions (Table 6).

Table 6
Comparative analysis of equality (F-Livin's criterion for the equality of variances)
values of the indicators of the questionnaire of high school students (P. Luchisano),
who study in urban and rural schools

That is, the formation of a sense of community with the group, obligation as a personal quality, organizational abilities and the mental image of “I” does not depend on the school where a senior student studies. These parameters basically have psychological mechanisms of development and their factors or the predictors are inclusion in the activity as a subject and the characteristics of an individual-personal response.

6. Conclusion

This study showed the relevance of specifying values and modern high school students’ relations in classes which have been built on their basis because that promotes understanding of the ways of an individual student’s development on the one hand, and the directions of organization development of the system of school educational environment aimed at implementing some educational needs, activation of self-development mechanisms, formation of an integrated and adequate outlook of schoolchildren, on the other hand.

Trends in the relationships of high school students identified in the study point to the special importance of interpersonal communication in classes in the realization of the need-motivational states, such as: desire for self-leadership, desire to have an influence on classmates, openness to new experience, structuring and refinement of their own ideas, striving for consistency between own actions and beliefs, desire for the self-assessment as a reliable comrade, estimated trends of comparing yourself with the others, sense of community with a class, cooperation orientation.

Training in rural or urban schools has an impact on the severity of the orientation of high school students in a group, the estimated trends in finding similarities and differences with themselves and their classmates, the intrapersonal determination of behavior, and openness to novelty. It is noteworthy that high school students from rural schools are more oriented towards integration in the group and are open to novelty, and urban schoolchildren have a more pronounced focus on comparing themselves with their classmates, being more open to accepting the others’ opinions and ready to express their own opinions. They more often consider their behavior as appropriate to their inner convictions and personal values. Moreover, the indicated tendencies are more stable among rural high school students and are probably related to the fact that the specific socio-cultural situation of development (early involvement in adult activities, lack of broad social alternatives, and traditional way of life) directs rural high school students to survive in the group and deprives the growing need for additional sources of development. The pragmatic approach to knowledge and activity is conditioned by the pronounced dependence on living conditions in the countryside.

Gender differences manifest themselves in a more clearly defined self-image, a more pronounced ability to determine their priorities, more active self-expression among young boys. For most of the studied parameters of the relationships in class, young boys and girls have close positions.

The analysis of the peculiarities of the relations between Russian high school students, which are formed in the student collectives (classes) and the values that determine them, set a whole new set of research tasks, including the organization of a similar study on groups of high school students studying at Italian schools (P. Luchisano’s questionnaire was tested on the Italian sample) with the subsequent comparative analysis of the influence of the educational environment of schools in Russia and Italy on the system of student relations in classes.

References

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Elkonin, D.B. (1974). Uluchshenie kachestva raboty sel'skoy shkoly i zadachi psikhologii. [Improving the quality of the rural school and the tasks of psychology]. Voprosy psikhologii, 1, 23-32.

Elkonin, D.B. (1989). Izbrannye psikhologicheskie trudy. [Selected psychological works]. Pedagogika (pp. 560).

Golomb, С. (2004). The Child's Creation of a Pictorial World. 2nd ed. New Jersey, London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

Malkina-Pyh, I.G. (2006). Gendernaya terapiya. Spravochnik prakticheskogo psikhologa. [Gender therapy. Directory of practical psychologist]. Eksmo (pp. 968).

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Saeid, M., Aliakbar, A.B., & Kourosh, F. (2016). Comparative Comparison of Implementing School-Based Management in Developed Countries in the Historical Context: From Theory to Practice. International Education Studies, 9(9).

Shirokova, T.S., & Zinyakova, M.M. (2006). Realii rossiyskoy derevni. [Realities of the Russian village]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya, 7, 70-78.

Slobodskaya, E.R. (2017). Vklad pola, vozrasta i chuvstvitel'nosti k podkrepleniyu v strukturu lichnostnykh chert i rasprostranennykh psikhologicheskikh problem detey i podrostkov. [The Contribution of Gender, Age, and Reinforcement Sensitivity to the Structure of Personality Traits and Problem Behaviors in Children and Adolescents]. Psikhologiya. Zhurnal Vysshey shkoly ekonomiki, 1, 123-139.

Zhuravleva, N.A. (2017). Sotsial'no-psikhologicheskie faktory tolerantnogo otnosheniya k vzglyadam i mneniyam drugikh lyudey. [Socio-psychological factors of tolerant attitude to views and opinions to others]. Psikhologicheskiy zhurnal, 2, 32-43.

1. FSAEI HE “North-Caucasus Federal University”, 355009, Russia, Stavropol, Pushkin Street, 1.E-mail: magistratura_ioisn@mail.ru

2. FSAEI HE “North-Caucasus Federal University”, 355009, Russia, Stavropol, Pushkin Street, 1