Cooperation in the implementation of extracurricular educational activities: Formation of psychological readiness in future teachers

Abstract

In recent years, teacher–student cooperation in the field of extracurricular activities has come to the fore. This trend is reflected in the professional standards for teachers as regards the requirements for extracurricular educational activities. In particular, teachers are expected to show readiness to design interactive settings and situations that develop the semantic sphere of school students. The study aims to determine the content of psychological readiness for the implementation of extracurricular educational activities and the stages of its formation. At the first stage, the respondents were asked to assess their readiness for cooperation; at the second, to solve cases describing the cooperation of teachers and other education stakeholders with students in extracurricular activities; at the third, to simulate possible hindrances and develop a relevant action program; at the fourth stage, to develop a project that includes a step-by-step program of an educational event based on the cooperation of education stakeholders; at the fifth stage, to assess one’s readiness for cooperation. The study identified the content of psychological readiness for extracurricular educational activities. It includes: 1) awareness of content, structure, forms and functions of cooperation; 2) management of psychological conditions at different stages of an educational event; 3) skillful use of different cooperation patterns; 4) attitude to cooperation with education stakeholders; 5) reflection and evaluation of extracurricular educational events. The study also identified the stages of readiness formation: 1) while doing courses in psychology and education through project-based and case teaching; 2) while doing internships through development of projects, i.e., cooperation-based educational events. The subjective assessment revealed low and average (68.2%) levels of readiness for cooperation in educational activities. The formation of psychological readiness at the first stage identified difficulties in solving cases (67% of students experience difficulties); 28% of participants had experiences of cooperation-based relationships; 11% of participants successfully designed a step-by-step program of an extracurricular education event. To conclude, the formation of psychological readiness for educational activities will definitely benefit from 1) project-based and case teaching of psychological and pedagogical disciplines, 2) development and implementation of projects as part of teaching internships, 3) cooperation practices as part of research and educational activities.