KEYWORDS: graduate studies, psychology of education, practice-oriented approach.

ABSTRACT: The paper discusses specific aspects of Psychology of Education graduate degree program development at Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University. The author describes the first steps and results of graduate students’ academic process in terms of student-centered and practice-oriented approaches.

For many Russian universities, graduate (master) schools are a new academic endeavor. The Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University launched graduate degree programs four years ago. Their formation and development raised two organizational and content-related problems taking into account the specific characteristics of graduate students.

The first problem raised the question concerning the choice of specialization and an academic content of graduate studies. The second was purely technological and related to appropriate ways and strategies of academic training within the chosen specialization.

Here is how these problems were solved in shaping the Psychology of Education graduate degree program.

This academic degree program was launched at the Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University in 2011. Enrollment was available to graduates with the degree of specialist (a traditional level of university education in Russia, five years of training) who have majored in any subject.

The Russian Ministry of Education and Science allocated a certain number of state funded vacancies for each specialization. In the first year, the Psychology of Education graduate degree program had 5 state-funded students. By now this number has doubled.

Prospective applicants are required to take a competitive entrance exam in psychology. The graduate degree program involves two years of studies.

As a result, starting from the first year, our graduate students came with different levels of psychological training, age, and motivation. For example, in 2014, the first-year graduate students were aged between 23 and 54, and their prior academic training in psychology ranged from core programs (psychology in education) to optional self-study courses of psychology offered to students of various civil engineering specializations.

The analysis of two cohorts of graduates showed that the school administrators had to reconsider their core objectives. Consequently, the Psychology of Education graduate degree program got its practical implementation in the Applied Psychology of Education academic programs.

It meant that all the courses within that specialization were primarily aimed at teaching a set of practically oriented skills (within the content of specified theoretical knowledge) necessary for professional psychological activity in the sphere of education (Education is understood here in the broad sense including preschool, comprehensive school, optional, family, vocational, and corporate education). This approach correlates with A.A. Margolis’ concept of educational psychology training [1], which is popular among Russian psychologists.

The concept is based on increased practically oriented training of future teachers and psychologists enabling them to realize their professional development via students’ mini-research projects integrated into their professional activity and subsequent reflection.

Considering that our graduate students demonstrate various levels of psychological competence and motivation and the fact that most of them combine studies with part-time or full-time employment, the graduate school administration introduced a number of organizational solutions:

• Classes are scheduled in the evening
• Students have individual academic plans supervised by research advisors (acting as tutors)
• Various distant forms of learning are involved.

Consequently, the logic of launching the instruction process is arranged the following way:

• An introductory lecture on the development of education in Russia
• Orientation towards a problem-based task implying graduate students’ interaction with school children
• Teaching is set in a real academic environment
• Students’ reflection about the knowledge and skills they lacked when completing the tasks is involved
• Students are encouraged to formulate their own problems and questions
• Students’ questions are reformulated in accordance with their significance as seen by professors
• Teaching certain courses and classes
• When necessary an assessment of knowledge is being provided
• A final course assessment of practical skills is conducted
• Analytical support of learning during weekly group reflection sessions and regular consultations with the faculty.

Let us take a closer look at some elements of this strategy.

A problem-based task implying graduate students’ interaction with comprehensive school students in a real academic environment meant that the graduate students were to interview individual school students and find out as much as possible about them. The results were presented in an informal way.

The next class was devoted to the analysis of the task and involved the following procedures. First, one of the graduate students would read his/her notes about how the task was executed. Then his/her classmates would hold a group discussion and try to clarify all the meaningful points and find out what was missing to properly complete the task. To go even deeper in the discussion, we recommended splitting into pairs. Based on the pair work results, students formulated questions and problems for their professors to cover during the graduate classes in psychology. The final results were summarized and brought to the attention of the graduate studies’ administration and later on used as a source of course development.

The importance of such an approach (from a real-life problem situation prompted by the task to its reflection and further requests for the faculty) can be seen in the students’ feedback after the first week of studies. Here are some examples from our students:

“I find it important to have assignments related to the interaction with children in educational institutions.” “Analysis and formulation of requests for further knowledge as well as professional and analytical skills are necessary.” “The students’ work in pairs is useful because it enables us to reflect on our own experience of interaction with schoolchildren and the deficit of our knowledge.”

The aforementioned allows to conclude that we have successfully achieved the goal of launching a student-centered and practice-oriented graduate degree program with a major in Psychology of Education and that it meets the needs of our specific target group.

References

1. Margolis A.A. Trebovanija k modernizacii osnovnyh professional'nyh obrazovatel'nyh programm (OPOP) podgotovki pedagogicheskih kadrov v sootvetstvii s professional'nym standartom pedagoga: predlozhenija k realizacii dejatel'nostnogo podhoda v podgotovke pedagogicheskih kadrov // Psihologicheskaja nauka i obrazovanie [Modernization requirements of core vocational academic programs for teacher training in accordance with the professional standard of the teacher: ideas to implement the activity-based approach in teacher training // Psychological Science and Education]. 2014, Vol.#1.