Olga KHUKHLAEVA
Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences

Psychological health of students
as the purpose of school work
psychological service

The reader is invited to describe our experience in building a psychological service at school. The bulk of the material was collected at the Lomonosov School in Moscow. We express our deep gratitude to its creative leader M.A. Ziganov, the entire teaching staff, administration, fellow psychologists, and especially N.G. Virakhovskaya, A.S. Krivtsova, L.A. Kobzeva, T.V. Makarova, with whom we worked on the materials included in this book. We are also grateful to the psychologists of the South-Eastern District of Moscow.

The text below is part of a book that is being prepared for publication by Genesis Publishing House.

I. The purpose and objectives of the psychologist’s work with students

Today, there are some disagreements among psychologists in understanding the purpose of school psychological services. We believe that the goal of school psychological services is to create conditions for the harmonious development of students in the process of school education. In this definition, the word “conditions” is fundamental. We believe that we can only talk about creating conditions, since development, in addition to school, is influenced by the family and social environment, and if the family can be influenced to some extent, then the influence of the economic and cultural living conditions of children can only be taken into account in the process of work .

What kind of person can be considered harmoniously developing? In our understanding, this is a person who is generally satisfied with himself and his environment. He knows how to overcome life's difficulties without psychological trauma, using them as experience in later life. Its development does not stop with the cessation of schooling and is carried out until the last days within the framework accepted by a given culture and society. And of course, such a person will be able to successfully perform social and family functions appropriate to his age and external conditions, since he is not only adapted to the environment, but is also able to creatively change it. Based on this, we can say that harmonious development is:

The presence of harmony (coherence) both internal and external;

The ability to overcome life’s difficulties and use them for your development;

The presence of prerequisites for subsequent development in the process of life;

Formation of the main age-related neoplasms;

The ability to fully function, that is, to perform age-appropriate social and family functions.

Accordingly, the dynamic set of mental properties that ensure harmonious development can be called psychological health.

Mental health model

The generalized model of psychological health includes axiological, instrumental-technological, need-motivational, developmental and socio-cultural components.

Axiological the component is meaningfully represented by the values ​​of the “I” of the person himself and the “I” of other people. It presupposes a person’s awareness of the value and uniqueness of himself and those around him, identification with both living and inanimate objects, unity with the entirety of the world. This implies the presence of a positive image of “I”, a person’s absolute acceptance of himself with a sufficiently complete knowledge of himself, as well as the acceptance of other people, regardless of gender, age, cultural characteristics. An absolute prerequisite for this is personal integrity, as well as the ability to accept one’s “dark beginning” and enter into dialogue with it. In addition, a necessary quality is the ability to discern a “bright beginning” in each of those around, even if it is not immediately noticeable, if possible, interact with this “bright beginning” and give the right to exist to the “dark beginning” in another, just as in to yourself.

Instrumental the component presupposes mastery of reflection as a means of self-knowledge, the ability to concentrate consciousness on oneself, the inner world and one’s place in relationships with others. This corresponds to a person’s ability to understand and describe their emotional states and the states of other people, the ability to freely and openly express feelings without causing harm to others, awareness of the causes and consequences of both their behavior and the behavior of others, the ability to find resources for action in difficult situations and problem solving , the ability to see their educational impact.

Need-motivational the component determines whether a person has a need for self-development, that is, for self-change and personal growth. This means that a person becomes the subject of his life activity, has internal source activity, acting as the engine of its development. He takes full responsibility for his life and becomes the “author of his own biography.”

Developmental component presupposes the presence of such dynamics in mental, personal, social and physical development, which fits within the boundaries of the norm inherent in given historical and cultural conditions, and does not create prerequisites for the occurrence of psychosomatic diseases.

Socio-cultural component determines a person’s ability to function successfully in the socio-cultural conditions surrounding him, introducing a person to national spiritual values, which, in turn, are part of universal knowledge. This means that a person has the ability to understand people of different cultures and interact with them.

Main criteria

The following can be identified as the main criteria for psychological health.

Positive sense of self (positive core emotional mood background), a positive perception of the surrounding world.

High level of development of reflection.

Having a desire to improve the quality of basic types of activities.

Successful passage of age-related crises.

Adaptation to society (if this is a child, then to family and school), the ability to fulfill basic social and family roles.

It is clear that the presented image of a psychologically healthy person should be considered as ideal, as a standard. For the most part, children have certain deviations from it, and this is normal. But significant psychological health problems are often encountered. Let's look briefly at the most likely violations.

Typology of psychological health disorders

As the basis for identifying types of psychological health disorders, we will use the time of its appearance in ontogenesis and the predominant style of the child’s response to internal conflict: active or passive.

Style active	Appearance time and main content internal conflict	Style passive
Protective aggressiveness	Infancy. Feelings of insecurity, desire for security	Fear of destruction (death)
Destructive aggressiveness	Early age. Feeling of lack of freedom, dependence - desire for independence	Social fears (not conforming to norms, patterns of behavior)
Demonstrative aggressiveness	Preschool age. Feelings of loneliness, desire for intimacy, belonging	Fear of self-expression
Compensatory aggressiveness	Junior school age. Feelings of ineptitude, inferiority - desire for a sense of self-worth, value	Fear of growing up
Denial aggressiveness	Adolescence. Feeling of anxiety from dissociation, blurriness of the “I” - the desire to feel the integrity of the “I”	Fear of self-determination (fear of making independent decisions)

Let us briefly consider each of the psychological health disorders presented in this table.

If the consequence of a child’s development in infancy is the consolidation of a sense of insecurity and fear of the world around him, then if there is an active position in the child’s behavior, defensive aggressiveness will clearly manifest itself. The main function of aggression in this case is protection from the outside world, which seems unsafe to the child. Therefore, such children in one form or another have a fear of death, which they, as a rule, deny. If passive forms predominate in children response to an internal conflict, then, as a defense against feelings of insecurity and the resulting anxiety, the child demonstrates various fears, externally manifested as fear of the dark, fear of being left alone at home, etc.

Let's move on to a discussion of psychological health disorders, the origins of which lie at an early age. If a child lacks autonomy, the ability to make independent choices, judgments, and evaluations, then in the active version he manifests demonstrative aggressiveness, in the passive - social fears do not conform to generally accepted norms and patterns of behavior. Moreover, both options are characterized by the presence of a problem with the manifestation of anger, since its origins also relate to an early age.

Children with social fears are easy to identify - they are usually timid, neat, please others, strive to hear words of encouragement, but destructive aggressiveness is not always noticeable, since it often manifests itself indirectly, in the form of ridicule of others, encouraging others to act aggressively, theft or sudden outbursts rage against the backdrop of general good behavior. The main function of aggression in this case is the desire to express one’s desires, needs, to get out from under the tutelage of the social environment; the main form is the destruction of something.

The result of a child’s developmental disorder in preschool age is the formation of a feeling of loneliness due to the inability, for one reason or another, to maintain close emotional relationships with significant adults. Then the actively reacting child resorts to demonstrative aggressiveness - attracting attention by any means available to him. In the passive version, he develops a fear of self-expression. The child withdraws into himself and refuses to talk to adults about his problems. As a rule, after some time, bodily changes become noticeable: stiffness of movements, monotony of voice, avoidance of eye contact. The child seems to be wearing a protective mask.

If the origins of the problems lie in early school age, then the child, as a rule, experiences a pronounced sense of his own inferiority. In this case, in the active version, he seeks to compensate for this feeling through the manifestation of aggression towards those who are weaker than him. These can be peers, and sometimes even parents and teachers. Most often, aggression manifests itself in the form of ridicule, bullying, and the use of profanity. Of particular interest in this case is the humiliation of another person, and the negative reaction of others only strengthens the child’s desire for these actions, since it serves as proof of his own usefulness. It can be assumed that compensatory aggressiveness underlies many forms of antisocial behavior.

The feeling of inferiority in the passive version takes the form of fear of growing up, when a teenager avoids making his own decisions, demonstrates an infantile position and social immaturity.

Psychological health disorders, the origins of which lie in adolescence, are associated with complications of the normative adolescent crisis, which is commonly called an identity crisis - the idea of ​​oneself, one’s strengths, capabilities, position in relation to the world around us. In this case, the teenager experiences a feeling of anxiety due to the inability to feel the integrity of his “I”. Then, if there is an active position - and at this age it is most typical - the teenager resists any socializing influences: he refuses to study, maintain discipline in class, or go to a psychologist. It’s as if he puts on a protective mask of “I’m fine,” hiding, first of all, from himself, a deep feeling of anxiety. In the most difficult situations teenagers completely lose focus on the future and live one day at a time.

In the passive version, with external compliance with norms and rules, there is also a refusal of the future in the form of fear of self-determination, reluctance to think about choosing a family and professional role, the desire to “cling” to parents and fear of making independent decisions.

So, we have examined the most typical manifestations of psychological health disorders that arise during the development of a child. Before moving on to the next topic, two more questions need to be answered. Can the same child display either an active or a passive response style in different situations? Can he have several disorders at the same time? The answer to both questions is yes. A child may, for example, be super obedient at home and show destructive aggression at school, or vice versa. And, of course, it may have a “set” of violations, although one may prevail.

It is important for us to determine own attitude to psychological health problems in children. Should we view them as a deep pathology, as a kind of “cross” on a child, or in some other way? It seems to us that a fairy tale, which we use in working with children, can become a metaphor for the perception of a child’s problem. This tale may also be of interest to adults.

I'm going to my star (G. Kononenko)

Once upon a time there lived a Veterok. He walked around the world, flew over fields, forests and seas. The grass and flowers bowed at his touch. Sometimes, if he really wanted, he could whistle in the trees and swing them in different directions.

One day Veterok was walking over the field. Suddenly, in the distance, he saw a man walking along the road somewhere. “Let me make fun of him,” thought Veterok. “Let’s see how quickly he obeys me.”

The breeze flew closer and began to blow lightly... It seemed that the man did not notice this. The wind blew stronger, then even stronger and even stronger - but the man kept walking and walking. “This is too much,” thought Veterok. And he gathered all his strength and began to blow like never before. Everything around began to stir and begin to move. The wheat bent anxiously to the ground - the Wind had not appeared in these places for a long time. And Veterok kept blowing and blowing, a real storm began, such as Veterok himself had never seen. The breeze turned into a hurricane, no one could resist... But the man kept walking and walking along the road. Finally, Veterok got tired.

What is this? - he exclaimed. - How can this be?

He flew up to the man, landed and walked next to him.

Hey, Man, why don't you listen to me?

“I’m walking along the road,” the man answered quietly.

So what! I'm also walking along the road. Many people walked along the roads, but they obeyed me, who turned off, who stopped, and who returned.

“I’m going to my star,” the man said in response.

Interesting... - Veterok was silent for a while. - Wait a minute, it’s daytime, there are no stars, only the sun is shining.

Yes, I know, but I'm going to my star.

“What kind of star is this? - thought Veterok. “He goes and goes to her, and I can’t do anything with him.”

“Thank you,” the man said unexpectedly.

For what? - Veterok was surprised.

Because you created such a storm, now the star burns brighter, and it illuminates my path.

“Wow,” thought Veterok. “And thank you for the storm!”

Listen, Man, where is this star of yours? Show it to me.

The man didn’t answer, he just turned to Veterok and looked him straight in the eyes. And Veterok saw the man’s eyes, they were so bright that they seemed to glow.

I understand!!! - Veterok shouted joyfully. - I realized where your star is! I understood everything!

And with joy he jumped and flew to the very sky.

And the man kept walking and walking along the road. He was walking towards his star.

II. Organizational Basics
activities of a psychologist at school

Pyramid of activities

To describe the general organization of a psychologist’s work in a school, we will use the so-called “pyramid of activity.”

It is based on the maximum number of possible types of activities, which are determined place psychological service in school and professional training of practical psychologists in education in general. The next step is those types of activities that are determined by the specifics of a particular school and its need for certain services. And the top one contains the real activity that is possible taking into account the time and physical resources of the psychologist, the number of students with whom he actually has to work, as well as his personal professional training.

The base of the pyramid, or the possible activities of a school psychologist, is well described in the literature. It is useful to familiarize yourself with them before starting work at school. They are briefly presented in Appendix 1 in the form of a “Sample Job Description for a Psychologist”, developed by us for psychologists whose main goal is to preserve and develop the psychological health of schoolchildren.

However, each school has its own needs depending on the type (private, public, gymnasium, etc.), region, and the administration’s idea of ​​the priorities of the educational process. Therefore, it is very important to have a request from school management about what result they want to get from the psychologist’s activities. Otherwise, later it is possible to predict the emergence of various conflict situations.

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Firstly, school administration often focuses more on the process of the psychologist’s activity than on the result. Since a person with a pedagogical education is in charge of a school, he can make the same demands on psychological activities as on purely pedagogical ones, and evaluate them accordingly. A conflict arises if the psychologist does not fit into the school leader’s idea of ​​what needs to be done. For example, the head of an elementary school may be dissatisfied that the psychologist does not go for a walk with the children or does not spend recess with them, and the head high school- the fact that the psychologist is not always on duty during recess in his assigned place.

However, even if the director is results-oriented, this does not mean that problems will not arise, since the ideas of the psychologist and the director may differ significantly. Often, a manager expects unrealistic results from a psychologist: “You’ve been working for a year now, and the children are still fighting.” In some cases, he himself does not have a very good idea of ​​what he wants. for example, he sends a psychologist to a class with a weak class teacher and poor discipline with the words: “Do something.”

Therefore, it is necessary to put it in writing and agree on what exactly you would like to get in the end. An approximate description of the expected result of the work is given in Appendix 2.

When discussing the result, it is necessary to immediately specify and narrow the tasks, taking into account the third upper step of the pyramid - the real time and physical capabilities of the psychologist. In our experience, it is possible to implement all types of activities presented in the “Sample Job Description” by working with 40–50 children, which is real life rarely feasible.

Possible results psychological work need to be discussed with teachers and parents, using a presentation of the work of the psychological service, seminars, articles (posted on special stands or the school website). This will help avoid manipulation by teachers and parents, who often try to shift responsibility for violations of discipline or a decrease in students’ educational motivation to the psychologist: “The child does not study well (violates discipline) because the psychologist does not work well with him.”

It is important to remember that the professional success of a psychologist is largely determined by the presence of not only good theoretical training, but also practical experience. Therefore, graduates of institutions where there was no well-organized practice should think about options for postgraduate practical training.

Having determined the real scope of his activity (the third step of the “pyramid”), it makes sense for the psychologist to draw up a list of his functional responsibilities and have it approved by the director, even if the school director does not require this. Otherwise, there is a risk of finding yourself in the role of a “hole plugger” - the psychologist will be used to accompany children on excursions, prepare wall newspapers, etc.

Work planning

Taking into account the functional responsibilities and current tasks of the school, an annual work plan is drawn up.

The weekly work plan usually follows from the annual one, which is adjusted taking into account currently relevant activities.

Often a psychologist has difficulties maintaining current documentation. It also makes sense to agree on its contents with the school administration. Usually, in addition to drawing up plans, the psychologist keeps a journal of group sessions, in which he indicates the date, topic of the lesson and notes attendance; a log of individual sessions with students (indicating the date, general topic and summary of the meeting); a log of meetings and significant telephone conversations with parents (indicating the date, general topic and summary of the meeting or conversation); journal of observations of students during lessons, breaks, walks.

Clarity and consistency in organizing the interaction between the psychologist and teachers is very important. Teachers are not subordinate to the psychologist, so it is worth discussing who from the school administration will oversee interaction and determine the powers of psychologists in this area. More often this is done by the Deputy Director for Academic Affairs, but it is possible various options depending on the type of school. Next, you should consider how this supervision will be carried out procedurally. For example, long-term supervision is possible at the level of discussing work plans for a year, a quarter, and, if necessary, a week. The result is the introduction by the curator of events regarding these events as mandatory.

In addition to specific events, such as seminars, consultations, the plan must include thematic cycles of lesson visits, indicating the approximate time, topic, tasks and expected results of the visits. For example, visiting lessons in September is usually aimed at solving problems such as identifying students who have difficulty adapting to school (first, fifth grades, new students) when studying certain subjects (new or difficult subjects, new teachers). The expected result will be the identification of measures to increase adaptation (one-time or regular work with the child, development of recommendations for optimizing learning conditions with a teacher, etc.).

Often a problem for a school psychologist is the distribution of responsibility for the situation in the classroom between him and the class teacher or subject teacher. For teachers, the following reaction is quite typical: “Everything is good in the class - I did a good job, bad - the psychologist did a bad job.” Therefore, whenever possible, interaction with teachers should be formalized. For example, create a “psychological folder” for the class teacher, where all data on the class, recommendations, etc. will be filed. Then the responsibility of the psychologist will be to prepare these materials, discuss them with teachers and place them in the folder. The implementation of the recommendations will be carried out by the teacher, and the verification will be carried out by the school administration. This is important, since the administration often pushes the psychologist to check the teacher on certain parameters, which contradicts the professional position of the psychologist.

Some schools also use the practice of written requests from teachers to psychologists, which set out questions, requests for help in determining the causes of learning difficulties, behavioral characteristics, and to develop recommendations for the class as a whole or for a specific child. This practice makes the interaction between teachers and psychologists quite open and transparent, free from manipulation on both sides.

Performance assessment

A very important but difficult question is assessing the effectiveness of a psychologist. The difficulties are caused by a number of objective reasons. Firstly, the activity of a psychologist is aimed at the development of the child, but his influence, like any other, creates only the conditions for this process (the child is a subject, but not an object of development). The pace of development of children is individual, and changes may not appear immediately. It is necessary for teachers and parents to realize that the results of a psychologist’s work can be delayed and often become noticeable only after some time.

The second problem is related to the fact that developmental or psychological health parameters are often not externally manifested, and the behavioral changes that accompany them are not always socially desirable and may not suit teachers and parents. For example, a child whose level of social fears decreases will become less “convenient” for some adults. Sometimes a psychologist sees changes taking place, but does not know how to describe them in a language understandable to parents and teachers.

This problem can be solved using direct and indirect methods. Direct ones are based on a comparative analysis of the diagnostic results of parameters that are selected by the psychologist as control ones (depending on the age of the students and the nature of the work being carried out). For example, in the first grade, this parameter may be the child’s adaptability to school and his level of school anxiety. You can use measures of psychological health or cognitive activity. If a psychologist conducts regular group classes, then, using the children’s final work, you can tell teachers and parents about the skills that the students have acquired (for example, by studying the topic “Aggression” in the 6th grade, students learn ways to respond constructively to aggression).

Indirect methods include surveying students and parents on their satisfaction with interaction with a psychologist. It is clear that surveying students should be indirect; it is better to conduct it in the form of unfinished sentences.

The effectiveness of a psychologist’s work is indirectly evidenced by his representation in the subject space of the school: it is desirable to visually display the process and results of psychological activity. For example, regularly update information on a psychological stand for parents, where you can highlight the content of group classes, psychological games etc. ( see Appendix 3). If resources allow, it is helpful to have a booth for educators. In addition, many psychologists create photo albums that reflect their current activities. If the school has its own website, you can also present the most interesting materials there.

So, demonstrating the effectiveness of a psychologist is not easy, but it is possible. The main thing is not to wait for the administration to evaluate the psychologist according to pedagogical criteria, but to offer your own, psychological ones.

The final issue to be discussed in this chapter is the dual subordination of the psychologist. On the one hand, he, like all school employees, reports to the director; it is the director who largely determines the level of his workload and wages. On the other hand, to psychological leadership (heads of centers, methodological rooms). Such double subordination often leads to the fact that many people strive to manage psychologists (deputy directors for academic work, educational work, class teachers). This question is removed if the functional responsibilities psychologist and his work plan was approved by both authorities. In addition, the psychologist, as a professional in interacting with people, must be able to gently and convincingly disobey someone who should not.

Clear organization of a psychologist’s activities at school is an important condition for the effectiveness of his work, as well as personal satisfaction with his professional activities.

III. Organization of children's admission to school

Types of admission, goals and criteria

Organization of admission to school is carried out in two main options:

a) as a result of the selection of children;

b) without selection.

If admission to a school is based on selection children, first of all you should determine it criteria. They can be different and are determined by the requirements for the qualities of students necessary for successful learning in a particular school. For example, in schools with a high intellectual load, the criteria should be be considered not only intellectual indicators, but also the presence of high efficiency and pace of activity. High fatigue and low pace of activity, even with a high level of development of the child, will make it difficult for him to study at school. School will become a stressful factor, which can cause significant impairments in the child’s psychological and physical health, reducing educational motivation and the effectiveness of educational activities. Schools with in-depth study of a foreign language place increased demands on a child’s speech skills.

Having determined the criteria, the psychologist selects the appropriate diagnostic techniques, allowing you to evaluate the results quantitatively.

Methods for determining school readiness, traditionally used for selection, can be divided into two groups:

a) aimed at identifying the level of development of cognitive processes;

b) intended to assess the child’s skills (reading, counting, etc.).

In foreign literature, the former are called development tests, the latter - readiness tests. These groups of techniques should be discussed separately because they have different objectives and limitations.

Developmental tests assess abilities that are significantly related to a child's subsequent academic performance. Readiness tests assess the skills needed to study in specific programs. They are good at predicting a child's early performance but are not intended to predict outcomes.

Children who do poorly on readiness tests can catch up at the end of the year if they score well on developmental tests and have good educational practices. Therefore, when selecting children for schools with high intellectual load, it is preferable to use development tests, and use readiness tests to plan subsequent education. This division of test methods will help avoid conflict situations with parents in the event that a child studied in the preparatory department at school, and then he is denied admission, since studying in the preparatory department provides high results on readiness tests, and the main criterion is the results on development tests.

If all children are accepted to school without restrictions , then the main task of entrance testing becomes the identification of children requiring special education. In this case, developmental tests are also used, and readiness tests can be included for planning training. It is useful to give tasks that allow you to identify the personal characteristics of children. They cannot be used as selection criteria, but are necessary for subsequent recruitment of classes.

Before organizing entrance testing, it must be carried out jointly with the school administration. parent meeting, at which the purpose of testing and the procedure for conducting it should be explained to parents. Let's give sample text speeches by a psychologist.

Dear parents!

Your children will have to take an entrance test. Before we talk about the procedure for carrying it out, let's talk about why it is necessary. It would seem, why is it needed, if earlier in classes in kindergarten, in preparatory courses, did your child also study at home with you?

To answer this question, let’s think about why preliminary training was necessary? Is it really so important for life to be able to shade shapes without going over the edge? Or know that a baby elephant is called a baby elephant, and a horse is called a foal?

Of course not. The child learns in order to develop. Training is aimed at development. However, is there always a strict relationship between them? How much have you taught and how much have you developed? Again, no. The pace of development is influenced by many factors: the physiological, emotional and personal characteristics of the child, health status and much more.

It is the level of development, not learning, that must be determined during testing. The classroom-lesson system presupposes that the teacher, when constructing a lesson, focuses primarily on the level of development of the majority of students, and not on training. Therefore, the child who currently has a lower level of development will find himself in a situation of chronic failure with all the ensuing negative consequences.

In order to protect such children and determine the optimal learning path for them, we suggest that you bring your child for testing.

It is important not to frighten the child, not to aim him at a mandatory successful result - this will only hinder him. Tell him that they want to meet him school teachers. You will definitely be present, but sit behind the child, because many mothers are very worried, tugging at the child and causing him anxiety. The best option is for both parents to be present during testing.

Features of testing for admission to school

Testing, depending on the chosen methods, can be carried out individually or in a group. If there is a speech therapist at the school, this will be supplemented by identifying the level of speech development.

But for the child’s subsequent education at school, it is important to know not only about the level of his development, but also about the nature of his interests, his preferences, ways of stimulating and punishing a child accepted into the family. Therefore, during the entrance testing, parents can be offered a questionnaire containing, in addition to those mentioned, questions about the qualities of the child that the parents would like to see in him.

Today, the arsenal of methods that can be used in school admissions is quite large, and a psychologist has the opportunity to choose. The only thing that needs to be remembered in the conditions of our multinational country and the growth of migration flows is that test tasks and drawings should be as close as possible to the child’s real experience. It is advisable to use culture-independent methods based on geometric material (Raven) or allowing the child to use his own symbols (for example, Leontiev’s indirect memorization technique).

The next question is how to present diagnostic results to parents? It depends on the purpose for which the testing was carried out. If it was aimed at selection for school, in order to reduce the level of anxiety, parents should be given a form with brief results expressed in point form (the diagnosed parameters in this case are better presented in points, and not by levels - low, medium, high). If significant developmental problems are identified, you can gently inform your parents about this.

In cases where there is no selection for a school, written submission of results is not necessary. However, it is worth paying attention to students with problems, telling parents in detail about the identified violations, and outlining ways to help children in the near future.

The completion of the school admission procedure should be acquisition classes carried out by the head teacher of the school together with a psychologist, and a parent meeting. When staffing classes, one should take into account not only the intellectual level, but also the personal characteristics and physiological capabilities of students. It is advisable to distribute children with pronounced demonstrativeness evenly among classes, since during lessons they will require a lot of attention from the teacher. It is also worth evenly dividing students with increased physical activity - potential “discipline violators”. Children with severe social anxieties should be placed in a classroom with a calm, gentle teacher.

In schools with a mixed ethnocultural composition, it is necessary to take into account the ethnic characteristics of students and form classes so that they are diverse in national composition, otherwise “ethnic groupings” may subsequently develop. At the same time, it is impossible to separate relatives and children belonging to the same nationality if there are only two of them. You should not place children belonging to ethnic groups that are aggressive towards each other in the same class. Children may not have problems, but their parents are likely to have them.

Many modern parents experience severe anxiety about entering school, “infecting” their child with it and complicating his subsequent adaptation to school. In the preschool period, such parents often perform chaotic actions that, in their opinion, should better prepare the child for school, for example, they urgently teach him to read, count, and speak English. To reduce their anxiety and form a more adequate attitude towards the process of entering school, you can hold a parent meeting-discussion in April-May on the topic “How to prepare a child for school.” Admission of children to school is a significant stage in establishing interaction with parents, and it is very important during this period to be able to establish trusting relationships with them.

IV. Organization of work with junior schoolchildren

Tasks of a psychologist

The beginning of systematic schooling significantly influences the development of children. There are two main factors that determine this process. The first is the gradual construction of an integral, coherent cognitive system in them, with the help of which they organize the world around them (J. Piaget). The second is the entry of children into a system of organized social relations determined by the norms of a particular culture.

During this period, the characteristics of thinking change - its logical components develop. The process of cognition, due to the development of self-regulation, becomes more and more voluntary and conscious. Significant changes occur in the child’s personal and social sphere: self-awareness develops, the ability to interact with significant adults, and communicate with peers. However, along with positive gains, negative ones also appear - self-doubt, decreased self-esteem, demonstrative aggressiveness. They can reduce the success of schooling, worsen the child’s attitude towards school and, most importantly, significantly disrupt the child’s development in subsequent ages. Therefore, adult control over the dynamics of development of primary school students is necessary.

It follows from this first task psychologist in working with primary schoolchildren - tracking student development dynamics in school settings for the timely identification of delays or problems in the personal and cognitive sphere.

As already mentioned, primary school age is an important stage in the socialization of a child. At this stage, it is possible to correct the negative consequences of gaps in preschool education and develop social qualities that are important for the child. This becomes possible due to the fact that children gradually move away from an egocentric position, begin to take into account the opinions and interests of others, and actively interact with them. Through interaction, self-regulation develops in interpersonal relationships with adults and peers. It also has a significant impact on the development of self-esteem and the ability to establish long-term friendships. Therefore, the quality of the social environment for younger schoolchildren is very important. Thus, second task psychologist - optimization of the social environment(parents, teachers, peers) to create conditions for maintaining and improving the level.

Psychological health is also influenced by the quality of educational activities, or more precisely, by its compliance with the individual characteristics of students. That's why optimization of educational activities can be seen as third task psychologist's work with schoolchildren.

Fourth task - prevention of mental health disorders students and improving their level. It is best solved within group psychological sessions.

And, of course, children with significant psychological health problems should not be left without support. Organization of correctional work such children are treated as fifth task psychologist (it is best done individually).

1. TRACKING THE DYNAMICS OF STUDENTS’ DEVELOPMENT
IN SCHOOL TEACHING CONDITIONS

Forms of work

To solve this problem, it is necessary to regularly conduct diagnostics on significant parameters of personal and cognitive development students (using diagnostic methods, observing the child, talking with teachers) and comparing the data obtained in different periods of time with each other. As a result of such a comparison, the main trends in the development of the child become obvious.

The following trends are identified: positive development (gradual improvement in results in all parameters), partially positive (stagnation in development in some parameters), negative (decrease in results in certain parameters).

If a negative trend in development is recorded, then in-depth diagnostics and conversations with the child and with adults (teachers and parents) are carried out to determine its possible causes. After this, individual work is organized with the child or with the educational or social environment around him.

If partially positive trends in development are identified, the child falls into the group of special attention of the psychologist, and his development is carefully monitored. However, no action has yet been taken in relation to it, since in accordance with the law of heterochrony (unevenness), children's development can occur at different rates.

The parameters allocated for analyzing the dynamics of student development must correspond to the age characteristics of the children. In addition, it is important that they are sufficiently informative and reflect the overall picture: the dynamics identified by the selected parameters should, with a high degree of probability, give an idea of ​​the dynamics of the child’s development as a whole.

As such universal parameters for primary schools, we suggest choosing psychological health and cognitive activity.

Basic criteria for psychological health(selected taking into account its main components):

The child has a positive self-image, that is, a positive sense of self, as well as a generally positive perception of the world around him;

A high level of development of reflection, that is, the ability to be aware of one’s internal state, the causes and consequences of one’s behavior, knowledge of one’s personal qualities, problems and resources;

The desire to improve the quality of basic activities - communication, study, sports, etc.;

Formation of age-appropriate neoplasms;

Adaptation to society, that is, to the conditions of school education.

The level of psychological health is determined using a set of diagnostic procedures, including the methods “Self-Description”, “Unfinished Sentences”, “School Anxiety” (A. Prikhozhan).

“Self-Description” technique. Children are invited to write (for first-graders to compose an oral story) on the topic “What am I like and how do I differ from others.”

“Unfinished sentences” technique includes the following phrases:

I dream that I am better...

In the future I want...

When I get older...

I would like for me to improve...

I try to succeed more often...

The characteristics of the “I” image are determined based on the “Self-Description” method. The predominance of positive qualities will indicate a positive image of the “I”, the predominance of negative ones will indicate a negative image.

The level of development of reflection is determined by the number of qualities mentioned by the child in the “Self-Description” technique.

The presence of a desire for development is determined using the “Unfinished Sentences” technique: the number of activities that the child wants to improve is recorded.

Adaptation to school will be indicated by low results according to the methodology "School Anxiety".

Diagnostics are carried out with a group of students (with first-graders - individually).

Let's define criteria for the presence of cognitive activity. In human activity, there are usually two main components - initiative and responsibility, between which an approximate balance must be maintained. In relation to cognitive activity, this means that the child needs to have both developed cognitive initiative and responsibility in learning activities. Consequently, when determining the criteria for the presence of cognitive activity, we must equally take into account both of these components.

Criteria for the presence of cognitive activity:

The need for knowledge and proactive actions to satisfy it;

The need for educational achievements necessary to maintain self-esteem (not only for encouragement by adults);

Voluntariness developed in accordance with age as a necessary condition for overcoming educational difficulties;

Age-appropriate independence in the classroom and responsibility for the results of one’s work.

The cognitive activity of students is determined on the basis of observations by a psychologist in the classroom and subsequent conversations with teachers.

2. OPTIMIZATION OF THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT FOR CREATION
CONDITIONS FOR PRESERVING AND INCREASING LEVEL
PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH OF STUDENTS

First, it is necessary to determine what social environment is necessary to maintain and improve the level of psychological health of students. Based on the identified components of psychological health, it should have the following qualities:

Provide the child with a feeling of love and acceptance by others in order to promote his positive sense of self, giving him the opportunity to show the same feeling towards others;

Encourage the child to understand himself, other people, the causes and consequences of his behavior, set goals, think about ways to achieve them;

Encourage the child to self-improvement, self-development in activities that are significant to him - studying, communicating with peers and adults, sports, etc.;

Create conditions for the development of age-related neoplasms;

To correspond to the age and individual characteristics of students so that they have the opportunity to successfully adapt to the environment, while gaining experience in overcoming difficulties and, as a result, self-confidence.

The social environment, considered within the framework of the school psychological service, is determined by the complex interaction of peers, teachers, parents, therefore we will conditionally divide the forms of work to optimize it into three directions: peers, teachers, parents.

PEERS

The optimal form of working with children is group psychological classes (see Appendix 4). To provide a child with a feeling of love and acceptance by peers, to give him the opportunity to show the same feelings towards others, classes should regularly include tasks that allow students to see interesting, strong sides of each other, encourage them to talk out loud about what they notice valuable in each other. each other, and accordingly give everyone the opportunity to hear the class’s opinion about themselves.

For first-graders, body-oriented exercises are of particular importance, for example, “Kitten” (one child is a small frightened kitten, the rest take turns approaching it, stroking it, saying kind words). Also useful are tasks that create trusting relationships in the classroom and allow children to share important problems with each other quite frankly.

If there are problems in the class with the acceptance of one or more children by the rest of the children, group classes should be conducted using children’s work in small groups, stimulating their ability to negotiate. An example of such a lesson for grades 1–2 is given in Appendix 5. In classes where there are outcasts, it is worth conducting special gaming programs together with teachers.

In addition to regular psychological classes, to optimize relationships in children's environment, they can be used communication games. They are carried out both within one class and in parallel or with several parallels, depending on the goals. For example, for fourth-graders it is useful to play together with 5th-graders, in which mixed teams are created. This game will allow them to get to know fifth-graders better and have familiar kids next year in high school. And in games with first-graders, third-graders can be involved as hosts. For the former, this enlivens the game; for the older guys, it gives them a sense of pride, and helps build their self-confidence.

Group classes are also used to develop students' reflection. From the first grade, children become familiar with the concept of “feeling” and learn to understand their own feelings and the feelings of others. Then they move on to the study of personal qualities (honesty, cordiality, tenderness, etc.). We believe that it is necessary to focus on introducing children to positive qualities, since adults most often pay attention to negative ones, and as a result, many children simply do not see positive qualities either in themselves or in their peers.

To encourage the child to self-improvement and self-development in significant activities, in addition to the noted forms, game goal setting is used. In one of the group sessions, students are asked to think about what they want to change about themselves to make themselves better. After that, they draw their desire and use the drawing to tell the class about it. The psychologist writes down the children's stories and signs the drawings. From time to time, adults (teachers and psychologists) remind children of the goals they have set. And after a certain time (usually a month) back side In the drawing, a ladder with five steps is pasted on. Children are asked to evaluate their progress towards their intended goal. This procedure can be repeated many times. It is important that adults encourage even the slightest progress of the child towards the goal and provide him with support if for some reason he was unable to do this.

It is important to create conditions for students to develop age-related neoplasms. Which ones appear among your peers? Firstly, the ability to find a compromise in relationships, show leadership, but at the same time adapt to the requirements of the children's environment. Secondly, the development of the first stereotypes of perception of people of a close social group and the first stable patterns of behavior.

Therefore, the main requirement for a children's environment is its presence and sufficient freedom from adult interference. Children need to be given time and space to communicate freely with each other. They should be able to interact with each other themselves, without adults, to resolve conflict situations, show leadership qualities, tolerate insults. This is also important for building their self-confidence.

Indeed, self-confidence is formed on the basis of experience in which the child was able to resolve some difficult situation himself, to do something meaningful for himself. Therefore, we believe that adults should intervene in children’s conflicts only in situations where children’s health is threatened.

To speed up children’s experience in conflict resolution, you can use “Psychological Mail” (developed by L.M. Novikova). Children who have difficulty communicating write notes to the psychologist asking for a meeting, at which they then discuss the current situation and possible ways to resolve it.

Particular attention should be paid to children who are in the process of adapting to school (first graders). A set of adaptation measures is usually carried out with them. In addition to first-graders, newcomers may also have problems with adaptation: some of them find it difficult to meet other children, find their place in the class, and integrate into already established relationships. We need to help the children see the good qualities of the new child, learn something interesting about him (for example, you can invite the child to tell about his hobby). If several new students come to the class, then we can expect a change in the social structure of the class, an increase in conflicts, and a redistribution of leadership. In this case, children should be helped to understand the changes that have occurred, and in addition, during this period, exercises for working in pairs and small groups should be included in classes, changing their composition so that children have the opportunity to communicate with many classmates. This prevents the emergence of gangs.

In general, during communication with peers, the child develops an idea of ​​how the social environment treats him (“I am real in the eyes of others”), how he would like to be treated (“I am ideal in the eyes of others”), how to behave in order to achieve the desired position.

TEACHERS

Teachers play an important role in ensuring an optimal social environment for a child’s development. This is especially true for elementary school, when the teacher is very important to the child. We can say that, to some extent, children deify him, believing that he is always right, has no shortcomings, and when he was little, he was an excellent student. The teacher is so loved and respected that his interaction with the child can significantly optimize his development, and can cause the appearance of various negative neoplasms in him - social fears, school anxiety, feelings of inferiority, a negative attitude towards school, up to its complete rejection.

It is necessary for the child to feel accepted by the teachers. Let us emphasize that this is not about whether the adult really accepts it, but about how the child feels. This doesn't always match. Each child comes to school with his own individual experience of interpreting verbal and non-verbal signals, on the basis of which he decides whether an adult accepts him. It is clear that he receives this experience in his family. And if the mother’s verbal and non-verbal signals that he is good, that he is loved and accepted, do not coincide with the teacher’s signals, the child may decide that the teacher is dissatisfied with him. It is clear that the mother and the teacher play different roles for the child, and the teacher cannot be in the maternal role for all students at the same time. But it is necessary to raise the question with teachers that they need to make children feel that their teachers accept them.

This issue is especially acute in first grade. Therefore, even before the start of the school year, it is useful to gather parents and find out verbally or using a questionnaire in what ways they tell the child that they are happy with him, how they show their love, and how acutely the child experiences the adult’s reproach. And then prepare teachers to be able to find an individual approach to children. It is useful to monitor throughout the year how children perceive the teacher’s attitude towards themselves, inviting them, for example, at the beginning and end of the year to draw a picture on the topic “Me and my teacher.”

If a child has strong social fears, he may be afraid of the teacher, his anger, in situations where something is done wrong (forgot his notebook, drew more cells than necessary). It is important to explain to the teacher that the child needs informal contacts to reduce fear, for example, you can talk to him during recess about his favorite activities or something else. Even a slight rise in voice is unacceptable.

The attitude of teachers towards the child is very significant for students in grades 2–4. Therefore, you should delicately find out how children perceive teachers, and, if possible, provide them with general information about the problems of the class. Students in 2nd grade can read the fairy tale “About a Girl and a Strict Teacher” (see “The Path to Your Self - Elementary School.” - M.: Genesis, 2004), and students in grades 3–4 can be asked to complete the sentences:

The student must be...

The teacher must be...

The student can...

The teacher can...

In doing so, they should use as many words as possible to complete.

In addition, during the holidays you can conduct seminars and trainings with teachers to optimize pedagogical interaction with students.

In elementary school, children begin to form the foundations of intellectual self-regulation - an important component of intellectual development. It influences a child’s academic success no less strongly than his intellectual abilities, but often falls out of the attention of adults. The development of children’s self-regulation occurs with the direct participation of teachers, in the classroom, and therefore psychologists should, together with teachers, think through methods for such work.

M.A. Kholodnaya highlights the following types of intellectual self-regulation:

Involuntary intellectual control;

Voluntary intellectual control;

Metacognitive awareness.

The first of them assumes that the child knows how to suppress impulsive reactions if necessary.

The second involves a set of the following abilities:

Plan intellectual activity, that is, set goals, think through the means of their implementation (goal setting);

Subjectively determine the quality of individual stages of intellectual activity.

The third includes:

Knowledge of intellectual self-tuning techniques, that is, ways to increase the efficiency of intellectual activity;

The ability to accept one’s intellectual qualities in general, knowledge of their characteristics - difficulties and resources (for example, I know how I remember better).

The development of involuntary and voluntary intellectual control should be carried out mainly in the classroom. To do this, teachers use methods in the classroom that enable children to set goals, plan the means to achieve them, evaluate results, as well as the reasons for success or failure. It is useful at the beginning of the lesson to invite children to set personal goals for the lesson and ask several students about their content, and at the end of the lesson - about how successful they were in achieving them.

Intellectual control (involuntary and voluntary), with the support of the teacher, gradually develops throughout all years of primary school.

The development of a child’s metacognitive awareness occurs with the participation of psychologists. Starting from 2nd grade, they gradually introduce children to the features of their cognitive sphere. At the same time, they provide this information to the teacher so that he can take into account the characteristics of the children in the lessons, as well as during their self-preparation.

Gradually mastering intellectual control, children acquire the following skills.

1st class:

Ability to prepare a workplace;

The ability to restrain your impulsiveness (involuntary intellectual control).

2nd class:

Ability to evaluate the success of actions performed;

Ability to act according to a ready-made plan, including a diary, assignment;

The ability to check yourself.

3rd grade:

Knowledge of your typical mistakes and difficulties in a particular subject;

Knowledge of my individual intellectual qualities (how I remember better, for example);

The ability to plan, put forward goals for intellectual activity, think through the means of their implementation, build a sequence of one’s own actions (beginning of formation).

4th grade:

Knowledge of intellectual self-tuning techniques;

The ability to plan, put forward goals for intellectual activity, think through the means of their implementation, and build a sequence of one’s own actions.

We should not forget that at school a child, in addition to acquiring knowledge and skills, matures and develops in all spheres of life - cognitive, personal, social. However, traditionally, the focus of teachers is only on the accumulation of knowledge and skills. They should be helped to see other aspects of the child's development. To do this, at the beginning of each school year, age-related development goals for students and pedagogical conditions, optimal for the formation of age-related neoplasms in children.

There are critical periods for development when it can sharply increase its pace, or it can slow down. These periods often coincide with periods of adaptation. In order for the adaptation process of first-graders to be successful, it is necessary that teachers be psychologically prepared to work with children of this age.

Meanwhile, as a rule, first-graders are taught by teachers who have graduated from the 4th grade and are accustomed to relationships with older children. Therefore, before the start of the school year, it is necessary to conduct psychological training that will help teachers tune in to young children, remember playful forms of teaching, and discuss methods of maintaining discipline.

Based on the entrance testing materials, it is possible to prepare brief characteristics of students for teachers, describing their individual characteristics and preferences.

In general, it should be emphasized once again that the teacher in primary school is a central figure who has the opportunity to influence all aspects of the child’s development.

PARENTS

The issue of optimizing the interaction between parents and children in the field of schooling today is not possible to solve as we would like. Individual characteristics of students are usually discussed at parent-teacher meetings or during separate consultations. Many parents are not yet ready for group forms of interaction.

Problems in parent-child relationships can lead to the following negative consequences.

- Decreased child self-esteem, for whom the assessment of the results of his studies acts as a criterion for assessing him as a whole. This is a consequence of parents’ inability to demonstrate their unconditional love to their child, which does not depend on the quality of his educational activities. Students with successful parents are also at risk. Since children compare themselves with them, trying to be like them, any educational failure is experienced very acutely by them. In this case, the need for educational achievements necessary to maintain self-esteem is not formed. The child learns, focusing only on the encouragement of adults.

- Delay in the development of voluntariness. This is a consequence of children’s lack of experience in overcoming difficulties outside of school and the ability to make volitional efforts.

- Lack of development of independence and responsibility for the results of educational work. The overprotection of adults and the child’s lack of opportunity to have his own opinion, make decisions independently, and carry out actions lead to the formation of a fear of independent action and the desire to shift responsibility for one’s failures onto others.

School staff cannot solve these and other problems in the development of children without interaction with parents, and not at the individual level - time resources will not allow - but at the class level. Currently increasingly used various methods interactions with parents. Due to the special importance of this issue, it will be discussed in a separate book.

Before we talk about optimizing educational activities, we will discuss how its results affect the development of certain aspects of personality in particular and psychological health in general. For this purpose, we use the work of domestic and foreign researchers.

As mentioned earlier, one of the most important conditions for the formation of psychological health is the presence of a generally positive mood in the child. However, the emotional well-being of younger schoolchildren largely depends on the assessment of the child by significant adults: first of all, parents, as well as educators and teachers. But what is assessed in a child? Socially significant qualities, that is, those qualities that, according to the social environment, should be inherent in a child. In modern Russian society, the educational success of a child comes to the fore. What is the impact of this situation?

Let us remember that by the age of three, children develop such a new formation as a focus on results. When a child manages to get the desired result, he has a feeling of joy and pride in his achievements. There is an opinion that this pride largely determines the future sense of self-respect, activity, and faith in one’s capabilities. However, the successful result of educational activities has a significant higher value than the result of any other activity.

Firstly, this is a socially assessed activity, that is, society, through established norms, for example, the pace of reading, evaluates the child’s success. Secondly, in educational activities the child has the opportunity to compare himself with others and thereby realizes his “non-omnipotence”. Thirdly (this applies only to primary schoolchildren), the assessment of educational activities is carried out by the teacher, who is almost a “god” for children. Fourthly, assessment of educational activity, that is, the success or failure of a child in learning, acquires special importance for parents. Some parents compensate for their feelings of inferiority at the expense of the child, demanding academic success from him, regardless of his actual capabilities. And for others, their own fear of school may become actualized. And this fear of parents will also lead to the fact that mandatory success will be required from the child; any failure will cause negative sanctions. Thus, it can be assumed that failures in learning will be accompanied by negative emotional experiences due to the child’s universal human focus on achieving the desired result in activity, as well as the special significance of this achievement due to the broad (country) and narrow (family) demands of this from the child. social environment.

Therefore, it can be argued that the psychological health of younger schoolchildren is associated with success or failure in educational activities. In order to reveal the content of this relationship, let us discuss the problem of failure in learning in more detail.

Failure in learning

We consider educational activities as activities aimed at mastering the science and culture accumulated by humanity. In this case, the subject of educational activity is the child, that is, the subject himself carrying out this activity. The structure of educational activities usually includes:

A learning task is something that the student must directly learn;

Educational actions - changes in educational material necessary for the student to master it;

Control actions - indications of whether the student performs educational actions correctly;

Assessment activities - determining whether the student has achieved the required outcome.

Based on this, failure in learning should be understood as a determination based on assessment actions that the result obtained by the child does not correspond to the required one. However, such a definition cannot be called complete, since not every discrepancy with the result will cause the child to be subjectively dissatisfied with his activity. In our opinion, in addition to the discrepancy between the obtained result and the necessary one, it is also important that the child experiences this discrepancy and the subsequent change in behavior. Thus, let us define failure in learning How discrepancy between the result of educational activity obtained by the child and the necessary one, causing emotional experience and subsequent change in behavior.

In Russian psychology, failures in learning have not been studied independently, but this problem has been indirectly touched upon in the study of student failure - the difficulty or impossibility of them mastering the curriculum. According to many experts (L.I. Bozhovich, Z.I. Kalmykova, L.S. Slavina, V.S. Tseitlin, etc.), among low-achieving students, only a small part of children have reduced learning ability, the rest are pedagogically neglected children , in whom systematic failures in learning led to a decrease in self-esteem, educational motivation and, ultimately, to indifference to successes and failures in learning.

In the works of A.I. Arshavsky, I.S. Korostyleva, V.S. Rotenberg, failures are considered as situations in which a person’s actions aimed at achieving a goal do not lead to the desired result. Following one after another, failures acquire greater emotional significance or personal meaning for a person than achieving a goal. This leads to the development of a passive strategy of behavior, the so-called “learned helplessness,” which appears as a result of a long-term feeling of uncontrollability of the situation, independence of the result from efforts. If a child does not understand why some of his actions are correct and others are wrong, he begins to perceive the situation as beyond his control.

It is also important what a person attributes to the reasons for failure. If he believes that he himself is to blame for failures, then the opportunity opens up for the formation of “learned helplessness.” In addition, a person may begin to perceive his failures as the norm and believe that they will haunt him not only in the present, but also in the future.

In foreign psychology, the problem of failure is considered in the context of studying the motivation of behavior. In the likelihood of success or failure for a person, it is necessary to distinguish objective and subjective components. The objective component refers to the presence or absence of a person’s real skills and abilities required to achieve success. The subjective component is a person’s idea of ​​the degree of his ability to completing the task, providing motivation for activity. From this point of view, people can be divided into two groups: those with a success orientation (their efforts are aimed at achieving success) and those with an orientation to avoid failure.

Interestingly, there are differences in learning activities among representatives of these groups. People with a success motivation prefer tasks with an average probability of success and, as a result, have a realistic level of aspiration. Those motivated to fail tend to choose either very easy or very difficult tasks and show greater persistence in solving them, although in general those motivated to succeed demonstrate greater persistence than “losers.”

There are also differences in how they assess their abilities. “Losers” assess their abilities less adequately than success-oriented individuals. But perhaps the most important difference between the two selected groups is in their behavioral response to failure. It turns out that for individuals striving for success, failure increases learning motivation, while for individuals focused on avoiding failure, it significantly reduces it.

The psychological health of younger schoolchildren is directly related to success or failure in educational activities. A child's prolonged stay in a situation of educational failure, a subjective feeling of uncontrollability of the result, can lead to the expectation of failure (the “loser” scenario), contribute to the formation of increased anxiety, neurotic social fears, and decreased self-esteem.

That is why we believe that the main task of optimizing learning in primary school is not so much in organizing the educational process, in which the teacher selects adequate methods, techniques, and pace of learning that correspond to the individual characteristics of students (although this is, of course, important), but in creating children have a feeling of success in school in general. This task may seem paradoxical, but it is during this period that children develop educational motivation, attitude towards learning, and an idea of ​​their own capabilities. And if, with a positive attitude, a child learns to write and count over time, then it will be much more difficult to restore his lost faith in himself and get rid of his fears. Therefore, it is more important to teach a child to learn without fear of failures and mistakes than to achieve ideal academic results from him.

To solve this problem, it is necessary to identify the parameters that determine how students experience failure in learning and their reaction to it, carry out diagnostics and, based on its results, identify a risk group - children who are not resistant to school failures. Next, we need to develop ways to increase resilience to school failure.

Factors influencing the experience of academic failure

First of all this self-esteem. In children with unstable self-esteem, failure in learning can negatively affect educational motivation and quality of work, up to complete disorganization of activities. Outwardly, this can be expressed in the form of laziness, excessive slowness, and refusal of difficult tasks. At the same time, for children who are self-confident and have a stable positive self-esteem, failure not only does not disorganize their activities, it can be perceived by them constructively, opening up the opportunity for the formation of a more adequate self-esteem aimed at overcoming difficulties.

The next factor is fears, increased anxiety . Psychologists working in the psychoanalytic direction argue that fears of the outside world (darkness, Baba Yaga, etc.) at this age lose their meaning for the child and the emerging anxiety of the Superego, which has its source in consciousness, comes first. and manifests itself mostly in feelings of guilt. Thus, when a child, especially a junior schoolchild, experiences failure in his studies, he will be accompanied by a feeling of guilt before authority figures.

However, guilt will be complemented by other feelings. Thus, A. Freud came to the conclusion that at the beginning of primary school age a child not only experiences a feeling of guilt when he fails in his studies, but also finds himself in a situation of deep internal conflict, accompanied by feelings of despair and hopelessness. In our opinion, this is a conflict between the desire to be successful in school and the impossibility of realizing this desire in real life.

Children with disabilities are at risk for experiencing educational failure. weak type of nervous system. These students are prone to psychosomatic reactions to learning difficulties. Negative assessment does not increase, but greatly reduces the quality of academic work. It is difficult for such children to quickly switch from one type of work to another. And high fatigue reduces the quality of work at the end of the lesson, school day, week.

An important factor is also the predominant locus of control. Right-hemisphere children will be at risk due to their cognitive and personal development characteristics. They may experience a delay in the development of phonemic hearing and spatial skills, and as a result, difficulties in mastering reading and writing. They find it difficult to quickly switch from one type of activity to another, which manifests itself in “getting stuck” at the beginning of work. High emotionality and the desire for creativity require emotionally charged interesting process training (in the first grade - gaming). In lessons where this is not the case, there may be a decrease in motivation, high distractibility, and a tendency to self-entertainment. An authoritarian style of pedagogical interaction can cause severe anxiety, disorganization of educational activities, and psychosomatic reactions.

The degree of expression of these factors is studied by a psychologist and entered into the student’s individual record ( Appendix 6).

After this, in each class a risk group is identified in terms of experiencing failure in learning. The psychologist, together with teachers, are thinking about ways to compensate for it.

TECHNIQUES FOR WORKING WITH UNSUCCESSFUL CHILDREN

A very good way is to ensure the success of such children by periodically giving them individual tasks, which they can definitely complete without mistakes, for which they will be publicly verbally rewarded. This technique is called “Islands of Success”.

The next area of ​​work is reducing the level of negative emotional response for mistakes. Children need to be explained the educational role of mistakes and their importance emphasized. Tasks in which the child must find and correct mistakes are useful (especially if these mistakes were made by the teacher). Although the child understands the artificiality of this situation, he notes with pleasure that the teacher can also make a mistake.

Children with very high levels of anxiety need to reduce their feelings of insecurity by creating a sense of control over their environment. To do this, it is worth discussing with them the daily routine (which lesson will follow which, what needs to be done). And before leaving home, briefly discuss tomorrow.

It is important to prevent these children from developing fear of the teacher. This is possible because their threshold for fear is very low. They may become afraid even if the teacher scolds another child. Therefore, teachers are advised to periodically “step off their pedestal” somewhat, to step out of their role, for example, to play with a child during recess. Such children usually feel more relaxed around cheerful teachers who allow themselves to laugh and joke.

It seems to us that individualization of education in primary school is not only a means of increasing educational success in the present, but the most important condition for maintaining high educational motivation in high school, preventing violations of norms, school rules, and the development of compensatory aggressiveness in students (as compensation for school failure).

4. CREATION OF CONDITIONS,
HELPING PREVENT VIOLATIONS
PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH OF STUDENTS
(ORGANIZATION OF GROUP CLASSES)

Group classes for primary schoolchildren are organized based on the following principles.

The principle of non-directiveness in the formation of psychological health. Adults do not program specific changes and the timing of their appearance in children, but create the conditions for changes by organizing a certain phenomenal field around children. Developmental activities are provided to all children to provide opportunities for development and change, but change is not considered mandatory.

The principle of relying on internal resources and independence children involves encouraging children to independently search for solutions, emphasizing their responsibility for their own choices. Its implementation is ensured by the use of specially composed therapeutic metaphors in almost every lesson, the core of which is the reliance on internal resources.

The principle of life optimism is based on a statement about a person’s ability and desire to develop towards personal maturity even in unfavorable circumstances. It is in close connection with the principle of joy as the most important condition and criterion for the effectiveness of the process of formation of psychological health.

These principles determine the strategy and tactics for the prevention and development of children’s psychological health.

To organize group work with students, you can use various programs. We rely on the “Path to Your Self” program, designed for four years of children’s stay in primary school. The program involves including all primary schoolchildren in weekly psychology classes. The program should, on the one hand, ensure the formation of psychological health in accordance with its three-component structure, which we identified earlier, and on the other hand, ensure the fulfillment of age-related development tasks. Therefore, we can distinguish four main areas, work with which is carried out in parallel, in almost every lesson, with an emphasis on one of them.

Axiological the direction involves developing the ability to accept oneself and other people, while adequately recognizing one’s own and others’ strengths and weaknesses.

Instrumental direction - the formation of the ability to understand one’s feelings, the reasons for behavior, the consequences of actions, to build life plans, that is, the formation of personal reflection.

Need-motivational direction - developing the ability to find strength within oneself in difficult situations, to take responsibility for one’s life on oneself, the ability to make choices, the need for self-change and personal growth.

Developmental direction involves the formation of a sense of “skill,” “competence” (E. Erikson), a qualitative new level of development of voluntary regulation of behavior and activity, and contributes to the reorientation of children from adult assessments to assessments of a peer group.

The following can be distinguished conditional stages of the formation of psychological health(see table).

Table

Main stages of formation
structural components psychological health

Directions	Stages of work and their main content
Axiological	Interiorization of the questions “What am I?”, “What are they like?”	Awareness of one's own strengths and the advantages of others	Awareness of one's shortcomings, awareness that all people have shortcomings	Integration of various parts of the “I” into a holistic image of the “I”, developing the ability to see the holistic image of another
Instrumental	Mastery of psychological vocabulary (knowledge of feelings, qualities)	Mastering the ability to be aware of your feelings, qualities, and understand their presence in other people	Awareness of the causes and consequences of your behavior and the behavior of others
Need- motivational	Interiorization of a self-help mechanism in difficult situations of searching for resources within oneself	Awareness of self-change and desire for self-realization	Awareness of the ideals of “I”
Developmental	Awareness of the student’s positions, school difficulties, ways to overcome	Awareness of your place in society: relationships with peers, teachers, parents

It is clear that these steps are conditional and are presented here only to demonstrate the general logic of the process.

Classes within the framework of this program are described in detail in the manual “The Path to Your Self.”

5. ORGANIZATION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSISTANCE FOR STUDENTS,
FOR THOSE WITH SIGNIFICANT PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS
HEALTH (INDIVIDUAL CORRECTION WORK)

Individual correctional work is carried out with students who have personal problems:

Reduces learning success;

Interferes with successful functioning in school, including adherence to school standards;

Reduces the learning success or comfort of functioning of other students;

Negatively affects the process of personality development or is a prerequisite for psychosomatic diseases.

The decision to refer a child to a psychologist-consultant is made by a psychological and pedagogical council (August) consisting of: class teachers, subject teachers, psychologist, administration. The initiator of the referral may be the class teacher, subject teacher, or psychologist. To do this, before the consultation, they prepare a written request with a detailed justification of the reason for the referral.

The consultation also determines the area of ​​pedagogical responsibility of class teachers and subject teachers in relation to the child: what pedagogical influences will be carried out and along what strategic lines.

After the consultation, mini-consiliums are held for each child with the invitation of parents and with the participation of the class teacher and psychologist, where the parent is informed of the decision of the consultation on the need for correctional work with the child. If the parent agrees with the opinion of the council, he is given the opportunity to meet individually with a psychologist, at which the boundaries and criteria for the effectiveness of correctional work are discussed.

Based on the results of consultations, with the help of class teachers, a schedule of student consultations is drawn up, which is provided to the head of the psychological service or the school director.

In the process of working with a child, the psychologist develops written recommendations for organizing pedagogical influences, which he provides to the class teacher. The class teacher monitors the effectiveness of their implementation by subject teachers.

The class teacher has the right to contact a psychologist during the year for information about the logic of working with the child.

The psychologist, on his own initiative, maintains contact with parents and the class teacher throughout the year.

To determine the effectiveness of individual work, at the end of the year, final mini-consultations are held for individual children, consisting of: a class teacher, a psychologist-consultant, and a psychologist-supervisor, where a conclusion is drawn about the child’s personal development. After this, the psychologist holds a final meeting with parents, at which the effectiveness of the work done is assessed.

V. Organization of work with primary school students

Tasks of a psychologist

During high school, students go through the most important crisis for human development - adolescence, therefore the main task of the psychologist is psychological support for teenagers during this period. It is the nature of the crisis that now affects other types of activities, including educational activities. The success of studies and the possibility of normal learning at school (compliance with the rules and norms of the school) now depend not so much on the intellectual properties of the student or his personal qualities, but on the teenager’s ability to cope with deep inner experiences. We can say that by helping teenagers smoothly go through the stages of a crisis, a psychologist increases their social and educational effectiveness.

It is known that during a crisis the influence of the social environment on its resolution is enormous. Many researchers argue that the main activity of a teenager is communication with other people, especially with peers. However, communication with adults - teachers and parents - is also undergoing qualitative changes. Therefore, the second most important task can be called optimization of a teenager’s social environment.

In high school, a teenager must master a huge amount of information, as well as how to use it. Therefore, it remains important for psychological services task of optimizing educational activities teenager.

Many people call adolescence a sensitive period for personal development. Children discover their inner world, strive to study it, and are open to self-knowledge. Therefore, psychological studies reach a new level of significance. The organization of regular thematic group classes aimed at the development of students can be considered the third most important task of the psychological service.

At the same time, adolescence can be called a “litmus test” for development - a time when many previously forgotten difficulties begin to openly manifest themselves in various forms. Therefore, there is an opportunity to work with them. The fourth task is organization of psychological assistance to students with significant psychological health problems.

In schools where specialized education is conducted in grades 10–11, the psychologist faces an additional task - preparing students for choosing a profile. It can be called the fifth task of a psychologist’s work with high school students. However, we propose to expand it somewhat and use it in schools even without a profile. Replace it with the task of gradually preparing students for high school education. We will present its relevance when considering possible ways to solve this problem.

If we compare the identified tasks with the tasks defined in primary school, we can see that there is no need to monitor the dynamics of student development in order to timely identify delays or problems in the personal and cognitive sphere. And this is understandable, since development in adolescence is already determined not only by calendar age, but also by physiological, the level of physiological maturation. And it varies too much from one student to another. Therefore, it is worth talking not about neoplasms that should arise by a certain age, but about neoplasms of a certain fairly wide age period. Consequently, tracking the dynamics of development in relation to calendar age becomes useless.

1. PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT FOR ADOLESCENTS
DURING A CRISIS

Forms of work

The beginning of any age crisis is accompanied by the appearance in a person of strong, depressing feelings - melancholy, anger, fear, loneliness. And teenagers need to be given the opportunity to express their feelings. If this does not happen, they will unconsciously look for ways to manifest them, provoking conflicts with peers and adults, including identifying outcasts among their peers. These feelings will disrupt the productive activities of adolescents until they are completely disorganized. That is why, as already noted, it seems useless to directly increase educational motivation at this time.

The first thing that 5th grade students need is to communicate with a person to whom they can trust their feelings in symbolic form or verbally. It is clear that a psychologist should have in his arsenal tools that will encourage a teenager to express feelings, since most of them do not have such experience. The specifics of our culture, which is built on their denial, will make it difficult to express feelings. In families, this is often considered a sign of weakness. In addition, a teenager’s own inner world seems still too fragile, so he tries in every possible way to protect it from invasion, especially from adults. Therefore, the psychologist has a difficult job - to gain trust and first, through familiar forms that are safe for a teenager - drawings, modeling, etc. - to teach him to express feelings. To achieve this, ideally all fifth-graders should have the opportunity to meet face-to-face with a psychologist. These meetings can be carried out in pairs, sometimes in triplets - with those peers who trust each other. Sometimes teenagers themselves refuse personal meetings, preferring to come with someone. It makes sense in this case to agree with them.

So, the first line in working with teenagers, especially younger ones, is to help them express and understand their feelings.

In these same classes, a teenager has the opportunity to receive the most important resource for getting through a crisis - absolute acceptance by an adult. Since a teenager usually seems like an “ugly duckling” to himself, and the adults around him are often afraid and deny changes in him, the teenager simply needs someone to accept him and show him this. Therefore, the second line of work can be considered increasing the resource capabilities of adolescents.

The third line of work is helping teenagers understand what is happening to them. It is important for them to know that the changes occurring to them are normal, that they occur in almost all their peers, but at different times, and to understand the prospects for their development. Such assistance can be provided to adolescents either in individual meetings or through discussion of the most common issues in group classes (see example of a lesson with fifth graders in Appendix 7).

To successfully resolve a teenage crisis, it requires developed reflection, or more precisely, the ability to organize internal dialogue. A prerequisite for this may be external dialogue. Therefore, throughout adolescence, the psychologist acts as the organizer of such a dialogue. Thus, throughout all years of high school, adolescents should have the opportunity to meet individually with a psychologist. As already mentioned, in 5th grade these meetings are initiated by adults and are practically mandatory for all students. Starting from the 6th grade, when teenagers have experience of psychological meetings and trust in a psychologist, regular classes are organized for individual students by agreement with them, others have the opportunity to contact a psychologist if necessary.

2. OPTIMIZATION OF THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT OF TEENAGERS

Based on the identified components of psychological health, we can conclude that, just like for younger schoolchildren, the social environment should:

Provide the teenager with a feeling of love and acceptance by others in order to promote his positive sense of self, give him the opportunity to show the same feeling towards others;

Encourage a teenager to understand himself, other people, the causes and consequences of his behavior, set goals, think about ways to achieve them;

To encourage self-improvement, self-development in activities that are significant to him - studying, communicating with peers and adults, sports, etc.

Provide conditions for the development of age-related neoplasms;

Comply with the age and individual adaptation characteristics of students.

PEERS

Dealing with Conflicts

The most important thing for teenagers is the peer environment. At the same time, it becomes more conflict-ridden than in elementary school due to increased general level internal aggressiveness at this age. In addition, as already noted, any initial stage of a crisis is destruction. This also applies to interpersonal relationships. Therefore, from the 5th grade, habitual friendships are often destroyed, outcasts appear, and intense competition for leadership arises.

Often conflicts with peers are an opportunity for teenagers to throw out aggression that they accumulate towards their parents and do not have the opportunity to come out. In this case, conflicts are simply necessary for them. If you help resolve a conflict with one of your peers, the teenager will find another. If you transfer an outcast to another class, another one will immediately be chosen to take his place. Therefore, it is impossible to demand that a psychologist create a completely accepting environment for a teenager; this does not meet age characteristics, and most importantly, the needs of adolescents. One can raise the question of creating a partially accepting environment, ensuring that each teenager is accepted by several peers. To do this, it is necessary to monitor the dynamics of relationships in the classroom.

In grades 5 and 6 twice a year, in grades 7–9 once a year it is necessary to conduct sociometry and analyze the presence of mutual choices. Students who do not have them should come under the special attention of a psychologist, who first determines the cause of the situation - in the teenager himself or in the specifics of the situation in the class. Then, depending on the cause, the necessary interventions are carried out.

If there is an obvious outcast in the class - a student who is not accepted by any of the students, who is constantly exposed to verbal and non-verbal aggression, then it is most effective to start working with him and his parents. Paradoxically, in most situations he himself provokes aggression from others. The image of “I am in the eyes of others” for such a teenager is filled with negative feelings (“They think I’m an idiot,” “They think I’m a fool”). Because of this, he sees in the guys’ addresses to him a much greater share of ill will than is actually present, and reacts to their comments inadequately - either he gets offended and cries, or starts to fight. This position of the teenager, as a rule, is reinforced by the family, which considers him unfairly offended and refuses to see in him the real reason for the current situation.

Without changing the position of distrust of others to the position of gradually initiating contacts with them by the teenager himself and his family, nothing will happen. It’s not bad, for example, to invite the guys to visit, etc. (a good literary description of this process is presented in the book by L. Ulitskaya “Stories about animals and people.” - M., 2006. P. 188).

If you try to change the attitude of your classmates towards this teenager, without working with the “outcast” and his family, then you can only make the children resentful towards the adult: “Why are they protecting him, because he is...” It is only possible to partially neutralize rejection and reduce the level of physical aggression. To do this, you should sit the teenagers in a circle and honestly admit that the student they do not accept provokes them and they have difficulty with him. This position of an adult will be unexpected for teenagers, but it will seem fair. Further, using examples, it can be shown that they succumb to his provocations and actually provide the “outcast” with the reactions that he expects from them. When children realize that this looks like manipulation, they will have a desire not to succumb to these provocations. Relations after such conversations do not become more friendly, but become significantly less conflicting.

If there are no obvious outcasts in the class, but there are many students who are dissatisfied with their relationships with their peers, you should, together with the class teacher, select small groups in which it is possible to optimize relationships, and involve all school employees in this. In such cases, teachers need to stimulate mutual assistance in the classroom, and to do this, use so-called cooperative learning situations. Work in small groups takes place in these cases in two versions - with distributed and with personal responsibility.

Distributed responsibility presupposes that the group completely solves a certain problem, and its members come to an agreement with each other spontaneously. In groups with personal responsibility, the teacher assigns leaders to perform various tasks - so that they are constantly changing. The “composite picture puzzle” method is useful. Teachers encourage students to work together, which will be tested at the test. Groups are created in which each participant is provided with only part of the information necessary to solve a common problem. Thus, everyone takes turns teaching each other. In addition to group work, educational discussions are useful. They combine cooperativeness and adult-controlled conflict.

In grades 5–7, conflict in relationships between boys and girls may increase due to their emerging interest in each other and their inability to adequately express it.

In the 5th grade, it is worth having a conversation with boys to help them understand their new interests and note that girls do not at all like the desire to express them through aggressive forms. You can also explain to girls that boys do not yet fully know how to express their feelings.

In grades 6–7, conflicts may arise due to the fact that boys will resort to too active and free touching of girls. For boys, this is not yet a manifestation of sexual impulses, but rather of their maturity, “coolness.” Girls are usually in the dual position here. On the one hand, they provoke boys, laughing when they touch them, because boys' attention indicates their developing femininity. On the other hand, the attention of boys can go too far, it violates the individual space of girls, causing them to be offended. Here it makes sense to ask your parents for help. First, outline the situations for them, then invite them to talk at home with a boy as a man or a girl as a woman about acceptable forms of manifestation of masculinity and femininity at school. It is possible to conduct special classes for boys and girls.

Working with Self-Awareness

It is much easier than optimizing the environment to create an environment that encourages teenagers to think and reflect on themselves, because they really want to. In group classes, they enjoy participating in discussions. Moreover, one can observe a warming-up effect in terms of increasing the level of trust in the class. The frankness of some encourages others to speak. It becomes possible, for example, to discuss in class the attitude towards parents’ divorce. The criterion for the presence of an environment that encourages reflection on oneself can be considered the desire of students for individual meetings. Indeed, if a psychologist is just starting to work with teenagers, he usually has to overcome the resistance of students when invited to the office. Later, meetings with psychologists should become, if not prestigious, then initiated by the students themselves.

As already mentioned, communication with peers is the leading activity of adolescents and significantly influences the development of age-related neoplasms. The most important thing is gender identity, that is, the idea of ​​oneself as a being of a certain gender, having a certain sexual attractiveness. It is she who largely influences the formation of general self-confidence during this period, which subsequently affects family and social success.

However, despite the fact that boys and girls attend school together, many develop disturbances in their gender identity during adolescence. This, as already mentioned, can manifest itself in younger adolescents in the desire to openly demonstrate sexual behavior without the presence of real sexual impulses. In older people - sexual promiscuity, the desire to satisfy sexual needs beyond the control of consciousness. Or, on the contrary, in intellectualization - their overcontrol and outwardly manifested ignorance. The reason for this, in our opinion, is the lack of experience of intergender communication among adolescents.

It is interesting to note that in traditional culture there were special forms training young people. In many cultures, games that stimulate erotic expressions are widespread. For example, among the Slavs, such games were an obligatory element of youth gatherings, which were held indoors in the fall or winter and were often combined with the performance of one kind of work or another.

We believe that starting in 7th grade, group activities should include discussions of topics such as friendship, attraction, love, and being in love to provide opportunities for teenagers to express their feelings and for boys and girls to understand each other. It is helpful to include activities that allow teens to touch each other in a playful way. These tasks tend to bring them great joy. It is also useful in the 7th grade, which is the peak of emotional intergender activity with still immature consciousness, to hold meetings in same-sex groups - boys and girls separately - to discuss “hot” topics.

In addition, throughout all years of school, adolescents should have the opportunity to discuss with a psychologist in private their feelings and actions in the process of teenage “romances,” to which adults usually attach little importance, not realizing that they acutely hurt the teenager. This is especially significant for girls, who may develop quite serious feelings towards older boys, which can frighten teachers and parents. They need to be reassured, and the girls should be given the opportunity to work with a psychologist. The importance of such work should not be underestimated; it is directly related to the success of adolescents’ educational activities.

The orientation of adolescents primarily towards their peers places special demands on the professional position of a psychologist. Regardless of age, it is most effective for a psychologist to take the position of a significant peer, to communicate with a teenager “as an equal”, without guardianship, emphasizing respect for his developing adulthood. However, flirting should be avoided. Teenagers have a good sense of those around them, and only a sincere open position of an adult will earn their respect.

TEACHERS

Working with feelings

The role of teachers in terms of social influence on adolescents, at first glance, seems less than for younger schoolchildren. However, this is simply less apparent in outward form. Indeed, teenagers do not look at teachers, as in elementary school, “with eyes in love,” but often criticize them among themselves, and sometimes open aggressive attacks are possible. The teenage crisis with its accompanying reactions of emancipation from adults is clearly manifested in the attitude towards teachers. Sometimes this behavior is demonstrated at school before it appears at home, and sometimes it is noticeably more severe. As a rule, this is typical for teenagers raised in overprotective or overcontrolling families. In addition, next to the teacher, adolescents are in a group in which they strive to demonstrate to each other their own maturity, which they see primarily as disobedience, disobedience to significant adults. In the same group, again with the teacher, they test their new capabilities.

Therefore, when starting to work with teenagers, a teacher faces objective difficulties. On the one hand, he needs to accept teenagers and demonstrate this acceptance. On the other hand, to cope with one’s own irritation, anger, and resentment associated with students transferring difficult feelings onto him and with corresponding non-normative behavior. As already mentioned, adolescents transfer negative feelings associated with emancipation reactions to teachers. We must understand that these feelings only appear in relation to them, but are not directed at them. It is necessary to find forms of pedagogical influence that, in terms of the degree of authoritarianism, correspond to the age characteristics of students. This can be facilitated by special training sessions with teachers (see. Appendix 8).

It seems to us that the most difficult, but important condition - the “foundation” of all interaction - is the teacher’s ability to cope with his own feelings. This refers to the teacher’s ability to recognize them, admit their existence in himself and express them openly and sincerely. Such a manifestation of feelings by teachers, externally taking different forms - from aggression to tears, but corresponding to the situation, that is, the strength of teenage aggression - is perceived by the latter with respect. It is important that the teacher, having shown feelings, is able to “reset” them and subsequently interact with the teenager more or less calmly and confidently. In this case, the teenager feels in a safe, protected position. He understands that the teacher rejects only his specific actions, but not himself. The teenager appreciates that he can always help him cope with his negative feelings, which he still cannot do at the beginning of the crisis period - his feelings command him. This leads to a seemingly paradoxical conclusion. In order for a teenager to feel accepted by a teacher, what is needed is not so much an external demonstration of this (as was the case with younger schoolchildren), but the ability to openly show one’s attitude (even non-acceptance) to the teenager’s individual actions. Although, of course, external demonstration of acceptance is sometimes necessary.

Therefore, if a teacher gets “stuck” in negative feelings for a long time, the teenager may feel this as a lack of acceptance of himself by the teacher and begin to behave in a way that justifies this rejection, that is, to provoke the adult in various ways.

But the most difficult case is when the teacher does not give himself the right to have negative feelings towards students and crowds them out. Then these feelings manifest themselves in the form of indirect situational aggression; its strength, as a rule, does not correspond to the teenager’s act that caused it. Therefore, such actions of the teacher seem unfair and offensive to the teenager. The student interprets their repetition as the teacher’s non-acceptance of him as a person.

A possible option is for the teacher to “flirt” with teenagers, the desire to communicate as if on equal terms, practically without the use of disciplinary measures. But this attitude does not give the teenager a sense of security. He does not feel there is a person next to him who will help him cope with his own destructive tendencies. Moreover, he may interpret this as a personal weakness of the teacher.

Thus, a psychologist needs to train teachers working with teenagers to cope with their feelings, as well as to effectively respond to aggressive manifestations on the part of teenagers.

The next important aspect is the correspondence of the degree of authoritarian influence of teachers to the age characteristics of students. By authoritarianism we will understand the expectation of a person influencing another to fulfill direct requests, instructions, orders.

According to the degree of authoritarianism, the following levels can be distinguished:

Level 3 - non-authoritarian - a request to perform actions, direct (I ask you to do) or indirect (could you do...); proposal, that is, providing the opportunity to discuss options for resolving problems (I would like you to do this... Maybe it makes sense to do this...).

Level 4 - democratic - persuasion, appeal to the teenager’s existing attitudes and values ​​to prove his own rightness and motivate him to make a decision.

Influences of the first level - authoritarian - give the student a feeling of security and confidence in the adult taking responsibility for the correctness of his decisions. Therefore, they are especially necessary for fifth graders and partially retain their importance in the 6th grade. In high school, they need to be limited, since, on the one hand, they will not allow students to fully develop their independence, and on the other, they will cause resistance among the adolescents themselves.

Influences of the second level - partially authoritarian - contribute to the formation of reflection in adolescents, giving them the feeling that teachers know and accept their emerging sense of adulthood. After all, in justifying his position, the teacher appeals to the consciousness of the teenager. Such influences should prevail in the 6th grade.

Influences of the third level - non-authoritarian - help to increase the teenager’s self-worth, who is asked for something, and indicate the teacher’s complete transition to communication according to the Adult-Adult scheme. Starting from the 7th grade, it is necessary to increasingly include this kind of influence.

The influences of the fourth level - democratic - help to increase adolescents' awareness of the choice of behavior, acceptance of responsibility for the consequences of choice, and also contribute to the formation of internal motivators for the desired behavior (I act not because I am forced, but I want to). This kind of interaction can begin to be taught to adolescents in those situations where it is appropriate, from the 6th–7th grade, so that by the 9th grade it becomes predominant.

The most difficult level to implement in practice is the fourth level, since teachers do not always know the methods of persuasion. It is worth reminding them of this (for this you can use the reminder presented in Appendix 9). It is clear that in order to introduce it into pedagogical practice, it is necessary to hold a special seminar in which to practice using these types of persuasion.

Help in self-development

As already mentioned, it is important that the teacher can encourage adolescents to self-improvement, self-development in activities that are significant to them - studying, communicating with peers and adults, sports, etc. It seems to us that for this he has the only opportunity - to develop himself. However, for many, the “mid-life” crisis becomes a big obstacle to development. This crisis, just like the teenage crisis, on the one hand, can cause emotional problems and psychosomatic diseases, and on the other hand, stimulate development. But, unlike adolescence, the crisis of adulthood is little described in the literature, and was not previously included in the psychology curriculum for pedagogical universities. Therefore, many teachers approach it unprepared, which, of course, leads to a decrease in their effectiveness. professional activities, and often to professional combustion.

The teacher should be aware of the existence of not only the teenage crisis, but also the crisis of mature people. What forms should I choose to inform them about this? It is difficult to give universal recommendations here. It is important to keep in mind that discussing this issue may cause resistance among teachers, expressed aggressively. Therefore, you should act as carefully as possible.

However, any crisis is, on the one hand, a situation of choosing a future path, and on the other hand, the discovery of new opportunities for development. The result of this crisis is the active development of the inner world. At the same time, a person gains access to his spiritual powers and capabilities to such an extent that they can compensate for the gradual decrease in physical strength and capabilities in the second half of maturity. Therefore, any form of work is useful for teachers - lectures, seminars, trainings - that encourage self-exploration and study of one’s emotional world.

Such forms of work are difficult for a psychologist, but necessary, because only a developing teacher, who successfully solves his own development problems and adequately lives through his crises, is able to form adolescents’ needs for self-development.

If we talk about teachers providing students with conditions for the development of age-related neoplasms, then the main thing should be the development of reflection in adolescents. This means, first of all, an incentive to meaningfully evaluate the results of one’s educational activities, a reflective assessment of “who I was” and “who I became,” what results I achieved and what path I took to these achievements, what difficulties I experienced and how I overcame them. It is also necessary to teach the teenager to determine the boundaries of his ignorance and make a targeted request to different sources(to adults, peers, literary sources) to eliminate it. And, of course, the most important condition is to provide students with the experience of self-assessment through various forms .

The next thing a teacher can do is verbalize (verbalize) the teenager’s feelings in a given situation. Thus, the teacher, on the one hand, helps the teenager to better understand himself, on the other hand, shows that he understands his condition. For example: “I understand that you are upset when you received a bad grade, and you are offended that this happened to you.”

Of course, it is important that the teacher has a good understanding of his own feelings and understands them, thereby giving the teenager a model of a well-reflecting adult. In this case, it will be useful to master the so-called “I-statements”, which shift the emphasis in a given difficult situation from condemning the culprit to the feelings that this situation aroused in the teacher. For example, being late for class in this case will not be accompanied by remarks like “You’re late again. When will this stop?”, but with the phrases “I’m upset that you missed an important point in the lesson” or “I’m angry with you for being late”, “I’m worried that you won’t learn the topic”, etc.

From the above it follows that a psychologist needs to organize a number of training seminars, the task of which is for teachers to master “I-statements” and positive vocabulary. When you subsequently attend lessons, you should pay attention to the teacher’s ability to encourage teenagers to reflect on their educational activities, as well as areas of communication.

In connection with the development of reflection, it is necessary to recall the assessment of adolescents. They perceive the injustice of an assessment with particular acuteness, remember it for a long time, take offense at the teacher and often take revenge on him. Moreover, in reality, the teacher may be right, and the assessment corresponds to the real situation. Therefore, it is very important for the teacher to be able to justify the assessment and the criteria for assigning it so that the teenager understands this. It should be borne in mind that he perceives the mark as an assessment of his own personality, and not as an assessment of the result of his work.

Therefore, it is necessary to clearly formulate in them an idea of ​​what quality of work is being graded. There should not be a thesis: “The student did not understand me,” but only: “I was unable to explain to him in such a way that he understood me.” But a special feeling of resentment and humiliation is caused in a teenager by comparative assessment when his successes are compared with the successes of a friend.

In this regard, a psychologist should raise the question of the need for teachers to provide arguments for assessing adolescents at teacher councils.

PARENTS

Particularly important in primary school is work with parents, the content of which is determined by helping them rebuild their relationship with the child. As is known, adolescence corresponds to the most important crisis of separation of the child from the family and family from the child. Achieving this is the establishment of new partnerships between the teenager and the family, which is necessary for the teenager to develop adult independence and take responsibility for his life. However, many families, for various reasons, are not ready to let the teenager go. The consequence of this is strong reactions of emancipation among adolescents and increased conflict in communication with parents. And in the most difficult cases - the formation of social immaturity in them, which can manifest itself in different ways:

Like having a childish sense of omnipotence: everything is under control now, everything is accessible, easily achievable (I will be a president, ambassador, etc.), this may be accompanied by a feeling of defenselessness in an unfamiliar environment, an inability to face limitations;

Like the desire to follow momentary desires without thinking about the consequences.

Social immaturity significantly reduces the success of learning and is the cause of many disciplinary violations. It is more common among boys, since masculine qualities: activity, independence, desire for risk - even with preschool age many were stopped by adults. In boys, it may be superimposed by the problem of general self-doubt.

In high school, social immaturity is manifested in the presence of infantile ideas about the future (I will have everything I need without any effort on my part), in the absence of a psychological perspective, goal setting, and in the inability to withstand stress; Some high school students are just beginning to realize the problem of separation from their family, which is why they are in a depressed state.

However, as already mentioned, this time corresponds to the most important personal crisis, which is also externally accompanied by increasing conflict, uncontrollability, increased irritability and resentment. Not understanding what is happening to the child, parents often try in various ways to regain control over him, that is, they slow down his development.

Therefore, for parents of grades 5–7, two or three times a year (depending on the resources of the psychological service), it is necessary to organize round tables “with a frame” on topics relevant for a given age or grade. And also hold parent-child games once a year.

3. OPTIMIZATION OF LEARNING ACTIVITIES

A necessary condition for optimizing educational activities is an individual approach to students, based on teachers’ knowledge of their cognitive and personal characteristics, presented in individual cards. These features are identified by psychologists based on diagnostics and observations of students. Using the analysis of psychological literature, general strategies for taking them into account in educational activities are determined.

In addition, psychological and pedagogical consultations are important forms of work. Introductory consultations, which are held before the start of the school year, become mandatory in each class. They discuss the age characteristics of students that teachers need to know to effectively organize a lesson, as well as ways to increase learning motivation that are applicable to the class. Problem areas and resource capabilities of the class, students requiring special attention are identified.

During the year, consultations are held for individual students or for classes that require adjustments to pedagogical influences.

Quite often such consultations are required for 5th grades; they are held in October based on the results of the first observations of students.

An important aspect of optimizing educational activities is the psychologist’s visiting and analyzing lessons from various points of view. In September, we monitor how well students are involved in the educational process after the summer. In case of difficulties, the causes are analyzed and certain interventions are developed for students, teachers or parents.

Let's look at this using the example of 7th grade. As a rule, over the summer, many students, especially girls, experience physiological changes, so during lessons in September, teenagers look at each other with attention and begin to flirt. This requires talking to boys and girls separately to reduce some of the tension associated with interaction between the sexes.

A new subject appears in the same class - physics. The psychologist needs to help the teacher get to know the class, its specifics, and organize the lesson so that the children can understand it and find it interesting.

Physiological changes in seventh graders are usually accompanied by increased emotional excitability and touchiness, which can cause anxiety and misunderstanding among parents. Therefore, it is useful to hold a round table with parents “with a frame” on the topic “How to help increase the educational motivation of seventh-graders”, where to discuss the most effective actions of parents.

During the year, when attending lessons, the psychologist sets other tasks. This could be to improve the effectiveness of teaching difficult students or “good students.”

If the psychologist is in good contact with subject teachers, then the latter have an idea of ​​the capabilities of the psychological service and, if necessary, make requests for one or another additional diagnosis of the individual characteristics of students, knowledge of which will increase the effectiveness of learning.

4. PREPARATION FOR STUDYING IN HIGH SCHOOL

In the basic school, student learning and development continues, aimed at creating the opportunity to study effectively in high school.

The following blocks can be distinguished in students' readiness to study in high school.

Personal readiness implies:

Completion of the teenage crisis, formation of a mature identity;

Formation of a psychological perspective that allows you to make an informed, responsible choice of study profile in high school.

Communication readiness:

Ability to collaborate (work in a team).

Cognitive readiness includes:

Knowledge and skills in accordance with the requirements of the training programs;

Availability of developed convergent and divergent abilities;

The presence of partially formed intellectual control, which presupposes knowledge of one’s characteristics, difficulties and resources, as well as methods of intellectual self-tuning, that is, ways to increase the effectiveness of one’s intellectual activity.

Formation of personal readiness

The importance of this work is determined by the presence in modern society such a phenomenon as mass infantilization, that is, the preservation in many adults of a “childish position” - the inability to accept responsibility for oneself. This is largely a consequence of the fact that the period of childhood stretches, the time of education increases, and financial independence appears at a later age. In relation to adolescence, this is expressed in an infantile perception of the future. Many teenagers believe that in the future they will realize all their today's desires, without any effort on their part in the present. Others do not think about the future at all, they live as if it does not exist - today, which also allows them to focus only on the pleasures of today.

The main goal of working with teenagers here is to help them concretize their image of the future, correlate it with their capabilities and choose the profile in which they will study in high school.

It can be divided into a number of stages, distinguished by their particular tasks, content and possible forms of work.

Main tasks preparatory stage can be called helping students in grades 5-6 in overcoming the age crisis and the crisis of “separation from the family”, building new, adult relationships with parents. This stage can be considered the foundation of pre-profile work, since the future can only be discussed with emotionally mature teenagers who are ready to make independent decisions. Here we can recommend group classes, individual consultations - everything aimed at self-knowledge of adolescents. To optimize interaction with parents, parent-child games are very useful.

First stage real pre-profile work should begin with seventh graders - take as its task the motivation of adolescents to think about the future, that is, its actualization in the present, filled with emotionally charged values ​​of intergender communication. It is important to avoid edification and boredom, and to introduce the future into the circle of interests of adolescents using emotionally vivid, possibly playful “strokes.” Here you can also use parent-child games, but not for the purpose of optimizing communication, but for playfully staging an image of the future. You can hold a competition of fantastic projects - the project is the future of my classmate, school, city.

At this stage it is also useful to emphasize the increasing status of adolescents. To do this, involve them, in particular, in organizing game programs with first-graders or including them in other socially significant activities.

The eighth grade should be devoted to filling the future with content. To do this, organize a series of classes in which the future is discussed in the light of life goals, priority values, interests and abilities. The main result of these classes should be to encourage adolescents to make life choices, and the first of them is the choice of a study profile. Teenagers realize that the choice must be independent, informed, and with responsibility for it.

In the ninth grade, professional fulfillment of the distant future is carried out, and ways to achieve it are determined. Various types of career guidance games are used here (drawing up various classifications of professions, writing a resume, game application for a job, etc.)

At the beginning of the ninth grade, it is useful, together with the school administration, to conduct an activation interview with students with a written record of its results about the intended choice of profile. In April - a similar one with the participation of parents.

If students have the opportunity, targeted outreach programs are useful (for example, the “Choice” program developed by M.R. Bityanova).

Formation of communicative readiness

Due to the heavy workload of the school day, schoolchildren have the opportunity to gain communication skills only during elective courses. However, the ability to act in a team is almost impossible to develop in elective courses, so it is necessary to plan two mandatory field programs (for 7th and 8th grades) aimed at teaching business cooperation.

The main line of work of a psychologist is to draw up maps of individual cognitive style together with students. Two stages of work can be distinguished. In the first (second half of the 7th grade), a class hour is held in which teenagers are told what an individual cognitive style is and how it affects learning. Next, individual interviews are organized, during which the psychologist informs the students of the results of diagnostics of the cognitive sphere that they understand, which the schoolchildren enter into their cards. There are also recommendations about possible ways optimization of individual cognitive style. While attending lessons, the psychologist identifies students who find it difficult to make the most of their opportunities, and draws the attention of teachers and the students themselves to this. At the second stage (8th grade), individual meetings of students with subject teachers are organized in the presence of a psychologist.

VI. Organization of work with high school students

(written together with Kobzeva L.A.)

Tasks of a psychologist

In high school, the training and development of students is completed, which should ensure their readiness for subsequent mastery of the social functions of an adult.

Readiness for adulthood can be divided into three components - personal, communicative and cognitive. Let's consider them sequentially.

Personal readiness implies the presence of the following basic neoplasms in students:

Needs for self-determination (L.I. Bozhovich), which includes the need to form a certain semantic system that unites ideas about the world and about oneself, and implies finding an answer about the meaning of one’s own existence;

Psychological perspective as the ability to mentally see oneself in the future in social and family terms;

Internal position as the ability to objectively assess one’s capabilities, compare them with the desired position and build steps between the present and the future;

Goal setting as the ability to mobilize one’s resources to move along these “steps”.

Communicative readiness assumes the presence of:

- partnership interaction;

- ability to collaborate (work in a team);

Constructive conflict resolution.

Cognitive readiness includes the presence of:

Knowledge and skills determined by the requirements of the training programs;

Age-appropriate convergent and divergent abilities;

Fully formed intellectual control, which presupposes the ability to plan intellectual activity, that is, set goals, think through the means of their implementation, subjectively determine the quality of individual stages of intellectual activity, and knowledge of one’s own characteristics, difficulties and resources, as well as methods of intellectual self-tuning, that is, ways to increase the effectiveness of one’s intellectual activity.

It is clear that the formation of various aspects of readiness begins in the first grade and continues throughout schooling. However, high school must provide the opportunity to complete their formation. Therefore, the main task of the high school psychological service is to create conditions for this.

Forms, directions and stages of work

The organization of the work of a psychologist in a high school has significant differences from the junior and basic ones due to the specific age of the students.

Students in grades 10–11 are older teenagers who have already completed their teenage crisis, have formed a sense of adulthood, and in terms of mental actions have made the transition to the stage of formal operations. A new level of development of the personal and cognitive sphere requires a revision of the organization of psychological support towards increasing his subjectivity. Maintaining an object-based attitude towards students will slow down the process of their personal development, in particular, conditions will be created for the consolidation of infantilism.

Therefore, the emphasis should shift from direct impact on students to indirect, that is, to organizing an environment around them that promotes the development of personal, communicative and intellectual competence. Hence, main line The psychological service in high school is working with teachers.

It is possible to highlight three main stages.

The first includes the target direction of teachers. At a special seminar, the identified components of readiness for adulthood and the criteria for their presence or absence, the specifics of their manifestation in educational activities or interaction are discussed with them.

To stimulate the personal development of students, we need to remember that they have completed the teenage crisis and are in a period when they need models of identification in the person of personally mature, significant adults. They focus on them when building their adult behavior patterns. More often, students look to their parents as identification models. But this does not always happen; in addition, not all parents can present models of mature behavior to teenagers. Consequently, to create conditions for optimal development of students in high school, personally mature teachers must work. It is clear that this is not always possible. But it is necessary to discuss with teachers the degree of their responsibility for the personal development of students. They should also be encouraged to demonstrate their value priorities as openly as possible in the classroom (What kind of teacher am I... What is important to me... What is unacceptable to me... What do I value in the work and behavior of students...).

Since we are talking about developing individuals, it is necessary to raise the question of the significance and forms of teacher support for students. Teachers are required to be able to show interest in the student’s personality, demonstrate faith in his strength and capabilities (I’m interested in you... I care... We have common goals... We have common interests... I will listen to you carefully... I understand your feelings...) . It is equally important, remembering that adolescents perceive teachers as models of identification, to demonstrate self-confidence and a positive attitude towards themselves, as well as constructiveness in solving educational problems.

It is important to consider changing lesson methods so that students have the opportunity to be active and also take responsibility for the results of their own work.

To stimulate communicative development, partnership interaction between teachers and students is mandatory, that is, conscious actions of teachers and students to achieve a common goal - obtaining an education and preparing for final exams - and an approximately equal distribution of responsibility for the result. Such interaction includes:

Show respect for the student’s personality and opinion;

Knowledge of the age and personal characteristics of students, the use of appropriate interaction techniques;

Awareness of the student’s own goals and goals (awareness of the place and role of “their” subject for each student and the use of appropriate methods of motivation);

Awareness of one’s own resources and those of the student (his individual style of learning activity);

Division of responsibility (on the one hand, creating conditions under which a student can work productively, on the other, being demanding of students in their area of ​​responsibility).

It is important to note that partnership interaction is always carried out according to clear rules known to both partners. Therefore, teachers need to think about how they will convey these rules to students and explain their usefulness and necessity. In particular, this means:

Requirements for oral answers, written work, notebook keeping, behavior in class;

Subject grading system;

Forms and methods of control on the subject;

Possible incentives, “bonuses” for good work;

Possible negative consequences of poor studies and behavior;

Deadlines and methods for correcting marks, etc.

The most important aspect of the implementation of partnership interaction is the mastery of methods of persuasion, which are based on the obligatory argumentation of one’s own position, as well as on the use of positive vocabulary that encourages a teenager to change: “freedom, responsibility, right, respect for boundaries, consistency, constructiveness”, etc. With persuasion, you can also appeal to the teenager’s new adult position, refer to a conversation about the future, or use examples - stories about similar cases.

To stimulate cognitive development, it is necessary to optimize the student’s individual style of learning activity. This includes the teacher’s analysis of the student’s strengths and weaknesses, revealing the essence of the processes that have a negative impact on academic performance.

It is also useful for teachers to assist students in mastering the ability to analyze their emotional and psychological state, as well as cope with stressful situations caused by the student’s own psychological tension or objective circumstances. Important aspects in the activities of teachers are stimulating students' independence, overcoming the habit of relying on teachers and parents for everything, as well as developing in them the ability to plan their activities.

Second The stage of working with teachers involves specifying the efforts of teachers in relation to certain students. To do this, they get acquainted with the individual cards of adolescents compiled at the beginning of high school (see. Appendix 10). Based on observation and diagnostics, they reflect the characteristics of students’ personal, communicative and cognitive development, allowing them to see the main developmental tasks that need to be solved in high school.

Familiarity with the cards is carried out at an introductory psychological and pedagogical consultation before the start of the school year. At the same council, it is useful to remember the general age characteristics of high school students, especially if some of the teachers are starting to work in high school for the first time (or after a long break). It is also useful to discuss the requirements for teachers’ self-presentation (psychological image), as well as the requirements for their methods of control and influence on students.

The third - main - stage of work continues throughout the entire time students are studying in high school. It comes down, on the one hand, to the psychologist visiting lessons, analyzing them in the light of the students’ development goals, and on the other hand, to proactive requests from teachers to the psychologist regarding the individualization of student learning. This refers to requests from teachers to determine the most effective ways to motivate, evaluate students, and take into account their individual priorities and values. Here it is important to get teachers to understand that the main task of individualizing education in high school is the student’s ability to get his or her results in each subject.

A useful form of work is discussing the results of student surveys with teachers. It allows them to make corrections to their own actions. Approximate form For questionnaires see Appendix 11.

An important condition for this is the position of the class teacher, delegating certain powers to students in resolving educational difficulties and excluding petty supervision. Therefore, the psychologist regularly meets with class teachers and discusses this issue. .

In addition to working with teachers, interaction with students remains important in high school. However, unlike the main school, it becomes more intimate and individual. Bright group forms are losing their relevance. In addition, there is usually no time left for them. Individual consultations are often aimed at supporting students and helping them find learning resources. How to be able to come to an agreement with teachers, how to organize your time, how to set priorities? These and similar questions lead students to a psychologist. But for some, the issues of choosing a life path and filling it with specific content remain significant. Others continue to solve various personal problems - the final resolution of the teenage crisis, difficulties in relationships with parents, etc.

Even general events are often held individually. For example, in the first half of the 10th grade, it is useful to conduct an individual activating interview “The Road of Life. Designing the future." The main task of such an interview is the emotional concretization of the future to facilitate the formation of a psychological perspective, internal position and goal setting.

Of the group programs in high school, it makes sense to keep only the following.

The program “You and Me. We are a team” is an on-site psychological training for team building, which is necessary due to the fact that students begin to work in shift groups. It is held in September-October in 10th grade.

Program “I can overcome. Working with stress" - three developmental classes. They can be held in the second half of 10th grade. Their task is to introduce students to methods of self-regulation in conditions of intense intellectual activity.

Man is a reflection of two hypostases - biological and social. They are in dialectical unity and contradiction. This always happens when the biological state depends on the social one, and the social one, in turn, on the biological one. Currently, it is customary to distinguish several components (types) in the concept of “health”:

The first level - biological health is associated with the body and depends on the dynamic balance of the functions of all internal organs, their adequate response to environmental influences. In other words, this is the perfection of self-regulation in the body and maximum adaptation (in the biological sense) to the environment. Health at the biological level has two components:

Somatic health is the current state of the organs and systems of the human body, the basis of which is the biological program of individual development.

Physical health is the level of growth and development of organs and systems of the body. It is based on morphological and functional reserves that provide adaptive reactions.

The second level - mental health is associated with the individual and depends on the development of the emotional-volitional and motivational-need spheres of the individual, on the development of the individual’s self-awareness and on the awareness of the value for the individual of one’s own health and a healthy lifestyle. Mental health is a state of general mental comfort that provides an adequate behavioral response. Mental or mental health refers to the mind, intellect, emotions (psychological well-being, levels of anxiety and depression, control of emotions and behavior, cognitive functions).

The components of mental health include moral health - a complex of emotional-volitional and motivational-need properties of an individual, a system of values, attitudes and motives for an individual’s behavior in society. Moral health determines a person’s spirituality. As the Greeks said: “A healthy mind in a healthy body.”

The third level - social health is associated with the influence on the personality of other people, society as a whole and depends on the place and role of a person in interpersonal relationships, on the moral health of society. Social health - measure social activity and, above all, ability to work. This is a form of an active, active attitude towards the world. The social component of health is influenced by parents, friends, classmates at school, fellow students at university, work colleagues, housemates, etc. and reflects social connections, resources, interpersonal contacts.

The distinction between mental and social health is conditional; mental qualities of an individual do not exist outside the system of social relations. People with a healthy psyche feel quite confident and prosperous in any society. In a healthy society, as a rule, healthy individuals are formed. Disadvantages of upbringing and unfavorable environmental influences can cause personality degradation. A person with developed consciousness and self-awareness can withstand the influence of external conditions, fight difficulties and remain healthy physically, mentally and socially.

One of the things that unites social and mental health is the creative component of health. The presence of elements of creativity in work is considered as a source of health. The more in labor activity creativity and initiative are expressed, personal abilities and knowledge are used, the more satisfaction it brings, the more noticeable its healing effect. And vice versa, the less work captivates a person with its content and method of execution, the lower the satisfaction from it, the sooner, through negative emotions, it can become a source of various diseases. Work characteristics that influence health include: creativity, learning new things. Work can be a source of health promotion, because... it gives a feeling of belonging to society, a sense of need, value, the opportunity to express one’s abilities, and reveal one’s personality. Development spiritual world a person, his creative abilities, a creative attitude towards himself, loved ones, work, and leisure - is a strategic change in lifestyle towards individual health.

Health is not only the absence of acute or chronic diseases of the body, mental disorders, but also the absence of emotional suffering and social ill-being. Of course, it is better to be healthy and rich than to be poor and sick. But often a person is either very generously endowed or equally deprived. When some people asked Khoja Nasreddin to provide them with nuts in a divine way, he gave one one, a handful to another, and to the third everything that was left in the bag, and said that this is exactly how people are endowed in life in a divine way, and not in a human way .

Components of human health

1. Physical health presupposes the anatomical integrity and functional usefulness of all organs and systems. Heart, blood vessels, lungs, digestive tract, urinary, reproductive system are connected into a single complex by the nervous system, and are also regulated endocrine system, producing hormones and releasing factors. The immune system at the cellular and systemic levels ensures the safety of the physical component of human health. The musculoskeletal system provides vital activity and protective function.

2. Mental health is the key to a person’s normal integration into the external environment. In particular, to society. Disturbances in speech, memory, and thinking make a person unsuitable for external contacts and turn him into a being isolated from others.
Excessive emotionality, a violent reaction to any external influence or internal experience also destabilizes the system.

3. A person’s psychological health is inextricably linked with his internal compliance with the morality of the society in which he exists. Any discrepancy leads to psychological discomfort and, under certain circumstances, can go into the area psychiatric diseases in one form or another.

Interaction of components of human health

You cannot disrupt the health of one level in the body without it causing disruptions in other interconnected systems. This explains the mechanism of development of almost any disease or injury, the consequences of brain accidents, heart attacks or extensive injuries. The system constantly strives for stability, cutting off everything that could disrupt this stability. Unfavorable external factors trigger the highest tension of all the body's resources, called stress. This is a way to survive in extreme conditions. But if the stress lasts for a long time, then a breakdown in compensatory capabilities occurs. The physical component of human health begins to “crumble” and fail in all directions.

European ideas about health claim that a healthy mind is in a healthy body. But Eastern sages know that the spirit can perform true miracles over the body. The pure victory of the spirit lies in the will to force the body to improve its health, cope with illnesses and live fully. In order to fully experience the aspects of the interaction between the physical and mental components of human health, you can, during which specialists will help you understand all aspects of progressive modern methods of human health.

Maintaining, preserving and correcting the psychological health of children and adolescents is one of the most important tasks of children's educational and educational institutions. The concept of “psychological health” was introduced into scientific circulation by the famous Russian psychologist I. V. Dubrovina.

Let us turn to consider the content of this concept. First of all, it is necessary to correlate it with related concepts: “health” and “mental health”.

Based on existing definitions, health can be understood as the dynamic balance of a person with the surrounding nature and social environment, which allows him to fully perform social functions.

Mental health as a component of health as a whole, it includes a set of mental characteristics that ensure this dynamic balance and the ability to perform social functions. Consequently, a mentally healthy person is adapted to society and can function successfully in it.

What, then, is meant by psychological health? As is known, psychological health- one of the most important characteristics of a person’s personality. It reflects the characteristics of genesis and mental development. The basis of psychological health is complete mental development at all stages of ontogenesis. Consequently, the definition of this concept should include the possibility of human development throughout his life path. It is also necessary to add the requirement of harmony not only between a person and the environment, but also between the various components of his personality - rational and emotional, mental and physical, mind and intuition, etc. Based on the above, psychological health can be defined as a dynamic set of mental properties ensuring: a) harmony between various aspects of a person’s personality, as well as between a person and society; b) the possibility of full functioning of a person in the process of life.

Let's clarify the concept development. First of all, the difference between “development” and “change” should be emphasized. Development, in contrast to change, presupposes not only the absence of stagnation and the presence of movement, but also the goal that determines the consistent accumulation of positive new formations by a person. Of course, the question of the purpose of development is one of the most controversial and is resolved differently depending on one’s belonging to a particular psychological school. It may even go beyond psychology and should be considered in an interdisciplinary context. We believe that a person’s fulfillment of his or her life program or task can be taken as a development goal. By the latter we mean finding your own unique path, following which you can achieve the realization of your own capabilities to ensure the progressive process of development on Earth as a whole.

Thus, it becomes clear that the key word characterizing psychological health is harmony- harmony of a person with himself and with the environment: other people, nature, space.

Based on this definition psychological health, let us turn to identifying its core characteristics. Since, as already mentioned, psychological health presupposes a balance between the various qualities of a person’s personality, as well as between him and the world in which he lives, self-regulation should be called one of the main manifestations of personality. There are two types of self-regulation: internal and external.

Internal self-regulation- this is a personality property that makes available a free and easy transition from one functional level to another, makes it possible to be at a level that requires less psychological stress, and then return to a higher level again. Such transitions, according to L. I. Antsyferova, make it possible to free up a person’s functional capabilities for further creative development, to set new goals, and are also a form of autopsychotherapy. At the same time, internal self-regulation allows you to achieve harmony with yourself, manage your emotions and relationships.

External self-regulation provides the possibility of adequate adaptation to both favorable and unfavorable conditions, environmental influences. Here we should focus on the difficulties of adaptation specifically to favorable situations. Traditionally it is believed that good man always ready and positive emotions do not require much effort, but this is not always the case. Often a sudden change in the situation for the better becomes the cause of a serious crisis: personal or family. In addition, adaptation is a combination of two processes: active influence on the situation, and therefore external changes, and adaptation to it, i.e. internal changes. Let us dwell in more detail on external and internal changes.

In order to make external changes, it is necessary to have developed activity. Based on the research of K. A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya, developed activity can be considered as a quality of the subject of activity, including self-regulation and complex mobilization. At the same time, activity acts as a special higher personal education that influences the entire life path of a person and manifests itself in his life position, in the concept of life. This understanding of activity should be taken into account when considering the problem of psychological health.

Psychological health corresponds to an increase in a person’s activity to overcome difficulties, awareness of the interconnection of various life tasks, the ability to mobilize volitional tension and adapt to a wide range of social changes. Increased activity is achieved not through personality changes, but through the actualization of one’s own internal potential. But, speaking about activity, it is necessary to remember that it should be conditioned only by socially necessary activities based on universal human values.

In the literature, the possibility of a person’s adaptation to difficult situations is defined through the concept of “stress resistance,” i.e., adaptation without harm to health. However, today it is necessary to take a fresh look at the role of stress in the development of personality in general and for its psychological health in particular.

It is known that stress mechanisms of both biological and social levels are indispensable participants in the process of improvement and renewal of all forms of living things. Individual development and world evolution occur not only under stress, but primarily due to stress. According to most researchers, such an important characteristic of psychological health as stress resistance must be replaced by “stress variability,” which implies not only the preservation of health, but also the ability of a person to use stress for self-change, personal growth and development. Then overcoming life’s difficulties will necessarily be accompanied by positive personality changes, and life’s difficulties themselves will no longer be a source of only negative experiences.

One of the most important issues for solving the problem of psychological health is the question of the role of changes in a person’s life. According to modern research, changes in life are a powerful traumatic factor (stressor), so a person must have opportunities for internal and external stabilization. However, it seems to us that the opposite is true. Significant changes in the programming properties of the individual serve as a condition for the progressive development of a person, his qualitative change. The fundamental thing here is the meaning that difficulties acquire for the formation of a personality: it is depending on this meaning that they act as either a stressor or, conversely, a condition for the self-realization of the individual.

So, self-regulation as a characteristic that ensures harmony within a person and between him and the environment can be internal, regulating various aspects of a person’s personality and condition, and external, including both his impact on the situation and self-change.

As already mentioned, in addition to harmony, psychological health presupposes the possibility of full functioning and development of a person. Analysis of the literature and our research suggest that this requires certain interrelated conditions.

The presence of a positive image of one’s own Self, that is, a person’s absolute acceptance of himself with sufficiently complete self-awareness, as well as a positive image of the Other - acceptance of other people, regardless of gender, age, cultural characteristics, etc., and therefore a deep conviction in the value of human life - both one's own and that of others. An unconditional prerequisite for this is personal integrity, the ability to accept your negative qualities and discern positive traits in each of those around you, even if they are not immediately noticeable. It is very important to interact with this bright beginning in another person and give the right to exist to negative properties in another as well as in oneself.

Mastery of reflection as a means of self-knowledge, the ability to concentrate one’s consciousness on oneself, one’s own inner world and one’s place in relationships with others. The ability to understand and describe one’s own emotional states and the states of other people, to freely and openly express feelings without causing harm to others, to be aware of the causes and consequences of one’s behavior and the actions of others.

Having a need for self-development. This means that a person becomes the subject of his life activity, has an internal source of activity that contributes to his further development. He takes full responsibility for his life and becomes the “author of his own biography.”

Thus, a person’s psychological health includes: a) the ability for self-regulation, b) the presence of positive images of one’s own Self and the Other, c) possession of reflection as a means of self-knowledge, d) the need for self-development.

Having considered the main characteristics of psychological health, we will try to determine how interconnected it is with physical health. The very use of the term “psychological health” emphasizes the inseparability of the physical and mental in a person, the importance of both for full functioning. It is no coincidence that in recent years a new scientific direction has emerged - health psychology, the science of psychological reasons health, about methods and means of its preservation, strengthening and development. Within the framework of this direction, the influence of mental factors on the preservation of health and the onset of disease is examined in detail. At the same time, health itself is considered not as an end in itself, but as a condition for the self-realization of a person on Earth, for the fulfillment of his intended mission.

Based on the principles of health psychology, it can be assumed that psychological health is a prerequisite for physical health. In other words, if we exclude the influence of genetic factors, accidents, natural disasters, etc., then a psychologically healthy person will most likely be physically healthy.

Psychosomatic medicine studies the mechanisms of the influence of the psyche on bodily functions; it systematizes psychosomatic disorders, determines methods of their prevention and treatment. According to research in this area, there is a tendency to expand the range of psychosomatic diseases, that is, those in which their mental conditioning can be traced.

Therefore, speaking about psychological health, one cannot help but touch upon the influence of psychological factors on the development and course of the disease. It is necessary to identify psychological factors or complexes of such factors that may serve as a prerequisite for certain diseases. This issue is debatable, so we will present the most common views on this problem.

Thus, F. Dunbar in 1948 substantiated the theory of “personality profile”. Considering emotional reactions to be derived from the patient’s personality traits, the author draws attention to their connection with the likelihood of developing various somatic diseases. In particular, he concludes that there are coronary, hypertensive, allergic and damage-prone personality types. And although this theory did not find clear confirmation, subsequent attempts were made more than once to connect the prerequisites for somatic diseases with personality characteristics.

Domestic authors (Yu. M. Gubachev, D. I. Viktorova, etc.) believe that all accumulated experience psychological analysis different groups of patients with psychosomatic diseases indicates the lack of specificity of personal structures and conflicts that determine psychological risk factors for the development of the disease. They tend to consider it more justified to identify a nonspecific psychosomatic personality type, which is characterized by the presence of a wide area of ​​violations in different systems of relations - the inability to mobilize mechanisms psychological protection, frustration instability, egocentrism, tendency to block the external expression of an emotional state. This implies the possibility of preventing illness in the presence of these characteristics through changes in value orientations and personal attitudes.

The most important subject of psychosomatics is the extremely common hypertensive conditions. The main form of these disorders is hypertension. The frequency of hypertensive diseases increases as we approach the urbanized centers of civilization, and every year the contingent of patients becomes younger. More and more children of primary school and even preschool age are beginning to suffer from this particular form of psychosomatic illness. Many studies indicate a relationship between hypertension and suppressed feelings of anger (aggression). Some authors note that high blood pressure may be accompanied by inadequate self-confidence or, conversely, inadequate humility. The bulk of observations indicate that patients with hypertension are characterized by the manifestation of anger. In our opinion, such manifestations of diseases are interrelated: increased hostility is, as a rule, an external expression of the weakness of the personal self.

Perhaps the most significant individual prerequisite for psychosomatics is alexithymia. This psychological symptom complex should be considered in particular detail, since its presence is typical for people suffering from psychosomatic disorders. According to the generally accepted understanding, alexithymia- is a set of psychological characteristics that predispose to diseases of psychosomatic specificity. The first of these characteristics is weak differentiation of the emotional sphere, the inability to recognize and describe one’s emotions and the emotions of other people, a person’s inability to express in words his inner experiences, to distinguish between feelings and bodily sensations. There may be inhibitions about feeling or outwardly displaying a feeling, such as fear or anger.

The second characteristic is the predominance of visual-effective thinking, its weak symbolization and imagery, rigidity and concreteness. Often there is insufficient reflexivity, for example, about one’s needs and motives, as a result of which the ability of self-regulation is reduced, and affective breakdowns are possible, the causes of which are poorly understood by the person.

Having different ideas about the relationship between a person’s psychological characteristics and his state of health, researchers are unanimous in the opinion that not only “a healthy mind in a healthy body,” but also mental health determines physical health.

However, health alone is not enough for a person to live a full life. I want to live my life not only healthy, but also happy. Is there a relationship between psychological health and happiness in life? Let's try to answer this question.

The problem of happiness in life has become especially acute in modern Russia. Based on the results of interactive surveys conducted during the reform period of the 90s. XX century, a very depressing picture of the social well-being of the citizens of our country is emerging. Moreover, the survey data, despite some discrepancies in wording, practically coincide. Over the past years, the number of those dissatisfied with life has remained steadily at the level of 73 - 75%, while only 3% of respondents are in a good mood. Thus, according to the results of a survey of sociologists in 2001 in 41 constituent entities of the Russian Federation, only 13.8% of Russians considered themselves happy people. This is a catastrophically low figure. True, the question may arise as to how much it corresponds to the real situation, because happiness, like life satisfaction, is an evaluative category, this is the opinion of the subjects themselves about their experiences and perception of life from the point of view of their own internal criteria and standards, regardless of what other people think about it and how these standards correspond to generally accepted views and standards.

As the famous English psychologist M. Argyll rightly notes, if people claim that they are happy, even living in adobe huts and on stilts, or, on the contrary, they experience depression and dissatisfaction when external signs well-being, then this is the case, regardless of what we think about it.

So, in Russia there are not very many happy people. Let's try to substantiate the influence of psychological health on the subjective feeling of satisfaction with life.

A number of studies by foreign authors have revealed a connection between general satisfaction and happiness with certain personal parameters, such as self-esteem and respect for other people, a sense of “internal control”, the ability to reflect, plan personal time, etc. A psychologically healthy person also feels the need for self-development.

The discussion about what happiness is in the context of a person’s life path has been going on for a long time. Even the ancient Greek philosophers identified two understandings of happiness, according to which the most general typological differences between happy people are determined. One of them was called “eudaimonism”, the other - “hedonism”.

In its content, the term “eudaimonia”, which was widely used by ancient thinkers, means bliss, the highest good. In accordance with this meaning, happiness is associated not with subjective experiences and emotions of joy, delight, pleasure, etc., but with approaching the ideal, with “ideal guidelines.” Happiness as a state of bliss and supreme perfection presupposes a person’s desire to live up to his destiny. Everyone finds their destiny through the development of all those potentialities that are not only inherent in the general nature of the human race, but are also uniquely represented in each individual person. Thus, eudaimonism means not only the general principle of worldview, but also the idea of ​​self-improvement of the individual, the realization by a person of himself as a spiritual, rational being. These conclusions of ancient thinkers turned out to be the most promising; they were further developed in modern humanistic theories of personality with their ideas about its self-actualization and the search for the meaning of life as the basis of human happiness.

The principle of happiness, called “hedonism” (hedone - pleasure) in ancient Greek philosophy, determined the highest good and purpose of human life to be sensual pleasures, the desire for pleasure. It is pleasures and pleasures, their duration, intensity and variety, that, according to hedonists, constitute the maximum of human desires.

No matter how far modern Russia is in time from Ancient Greece, the main options for people’s understanding of happiness fit perfectly into the definitions of ancient philosophers. Without going deeper into the discussion on this issue, we will join the opinion of the classic of Russian psychology S. L. Rubinstein. When life, he wrote, turns “into the pursuit of pleasure, turning a person away from solving his life problems, this is not life, but its perversion, leading to its inevitable devastation.” Thus, we can conclude that a person who is continuously developing and striving with all his might to fulfill his destiny feels happy.

This brief analysis illustrates a clear relationship between a Person’s sense of satisfaction with their life and psychological health. And psychological health is a necessary condition for a full life until old age.

Related information.

In the physiological sense, the concept of “health” is usually identified with the concept of “norm”, which means the absence of significant deviations from the standard characteristics.

At the highest level of generalization, two approaches to understanding health can be distinguished. The first understanding interprets health as the absence of disease. A disease is understood as an excess of the norm, which, in turn, is understood as a specific norm - a physiological or psychophysiological norm, general and strictly defined for everyone (norm of vision, hearing, etc.). The most studied and used in practice, despite a number of shortcomings, are the nosocentric and normocentric approaches.

Within the framework of the nosocentric approach, the following definition can be given: health is “the state of the human body when the functions of all its organs and systems are balanced with the external environment and there are no painful changes.”

One criterion of mental health that is actually used in clinical practice is the absence of mental illness. It's about about the ability to maintain mental balance in changing life conditions. A healthy person, unlike a sick person, is able to manage the world of his mental phenomena and keep them under control.

The normocentric approach can be most fully reflected in the following definitions:

Human health is the ability to maintain age-appropriate stability in the face of sudden changes in the quantitative and qualitative parameters of sensory, verbal and structural information.

“Human health is a spiritualized, purposeful life that meets the requirements of the internal (biological) and external (social, labor and everyday) environment.”

A mentally healthy person, unlike a sick person, is able to regulate his actions and behavior within boundaries social norms.

With this approach, average statistical indicators of the norm are calculated. The body is healthy if its indicators are within the upper and lower limits of normal. However, not every deviation from the norm is a disease. The boundary between normal and abnormal (disease) is not rigid or dividing. It is vague and quite individual.

Based on the nosocentric and normocentric approaches, the process of disease occurrence can be divided into stages: health - pre-disease - disease or normal - pre-pathology - pathology. The norm is a criterion that allows you to assess the degree of harmony of the body with the external environment. With a static approach to health, that is, defining it as a “state,” the concept of “norm” and the concept of “health” are identified, and any deviation from the generally accepted norm is considered as pathology (disease). The norm is not only the quantitative physiological characteristics of a person (height, weight, blood pressure), but also qualitative indicators of the deep processes of human life at all levels and at all stages of the development of the individual as a social being.

In relation to physical health, the following levels are distinguished: absolute health; health with minor morphofunctional abnormalities; chronic disease in the compensation stage; chronic disease in the subcompensation stage; chronic disease in the stage of decompensation.

Regarding mental health, Frolov B.S. and Semichev S.B. The following approaches are distinguished:

healthy; practically healthy; unfavorable prognostic signs; sick (not able to control his actions); sick (cannot manage his business, poses a danger to others);

ideal norm; average statistical norm (typical of the population as a whole); constitutional norm; accentuation; prepathology or level of increased risk (functional norm); pre-disease (dysfunctional state, subclinical signs).

B.S. Bratus and his co-authors identify the following levels of mental health: the highest level - personal-semantic or level of personal health, which determines the quality of semantic relationships; individual level - its assessment depends on a person’s ability to adequately realize semantic aspirations; the basic level - psychophysiological - is determined by the characteristics of the internal, cerebral, neurophysiological organization of acts of mental activity. Since there are different levels of mental health, the authors consider it legitimate to say that the latter may suffer due to disturbances at one of them.

Health also refers to the level of activity of the subject, ensuring the unhindered realization of his personal potential. In this case, the norm can be interpreted as a certain relative, conditional boundary separating the average level of activity inherent in the majority, and the extreme - maximum and minimum - activity indicators. This understanding of the norm is more typical for its mental components, in relation to which the norm is often determined based on the normal law of distribution of random variables. For example, the importance of performing basic social functions is emphasized in definitions of health from the standpoint of personal activity.

It should be noted that individual health today does not have a single generally accepted definition. A number of authors have different views on the essence of the concept of “health”. Let us give the following definitions.

Health is the state of optimal functioning of a subject, the presence of prerequisites and conditions for its comprehensive and long-term activity in the areas of social practice.

Health is the optimal state of his body, ensuring the implementation of genetic programs, unconditional reflex, instinctive, generative functions and mental activity, realizing phenotypic behavior aimed at the social and cultural spheres.

Health is a dynamic state, the process of maintaining and developing biological, physiological and mental functions, optimal working capacity, social activity with maximum life expectancy.

Health is an integral characteristic that reflects the influence various conditions(both external and internal environment) on the success of human adaptation.

In order to achieve the greatest possible clarity on this issue, it seems advisable for us to use as a starting position the interpretation of the Charter of the World Health Organization, according to which: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not just the absence of disease and physical defects.” Although in this definition the first part has a pronounced subjective character with the ensuing difficulties of its objective assessment, it is at least understandable to every person.

For many years, human mental health was considered only within the framework of medical science - psychiatry(the main trends and features of the course and treatment of mental illnesses - schizophrenia, epilepsy, manic-depressive psychosis, psychopathy, etc. were studied) and neuropathology(mental disorders with various neuroses and other pathological disorders of the functioning of the nervous system), which considered and continues to consider them as “spiritual applications” to bodily breakdowns, or as a consequence of the imperfection of the world.

The beginning of understanding psychological health, as we know, was laid by S. Freud, who understood many mental disorders as a consequence of intrapersonal conflicts that disturb even healthy people. He believed that the entire spectrum of negative emotional experiences (depression, anxiety, etc.) is the subjective side of these conflicts that arise when there is a mismatch between the goals that a person sets for himself and the means of achieving them [cit. from: 31].

As a consequence of this, in recent decades, human psychological health has become the subject of research in other sciences about man and society, and, above all, psychology. A person’s psychological health is associated with personality characteristics, integrating all aspects of a person’s inner world and the ways of its external manifestations into a single whole. Psychological health is an important component of a person’s social well-being, on the one hand, and his vitality, on the other. At the same time, many problems that arise in humans are not an indicator of mental illness and can be solved in other non-medical ways (improving memory, attention, thinking; creating the necessary level of communication; self-presentation; the desire to realize one’s capabilities; solving intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts; liberation from anxiety, stress, frustration, various types of mental addictions, etc.)

The term “mental health” was introduced into the scientific lexicon in the 20th century. I.V. Dubrovina, who specified it by distinguishing the categories of “mental health”, which, in fact, relates to individual mental processes and the mechanisms of “psychological health” and characterizes the personality as a whole, is also in direct connection with the manifestations of the human spirit, and allows us to highlight the actual psychological aspect of the problem of mental health. The author emphasizes that psychological health does not exist in reality as a separate aspect, however, the introduction of the term allows psychology to distinguish its research niche in contrast to medical, sociological, philosophical and other aspects.

I.V. Dubrovina notes that “psychological health makes a person self-sufficient, it equips him with the means of self-understanding, self-acceptance and self-development in the context of interaction with other people and in the conditions of cultural, social, economic and environmental realities of the surrounding world” [cit. from: 19:4]. This approach is based on understanding mental health not in a negative way, as the absence of shortcomings, but as the presence of certain advantages in the personality structure.

The term “psychological health” reflects the inseparability of the physical and mental in a person, emphasizing the need for both for full life. Within the framework of a new scientific direction - health psychology - the psychological components of health, methods and means of its preservation, strengthening and development are studied, the influence of mental factors on the preservation of health and on the occurrence of disease is studied in detail. Based on this, it can be argued that psychological health is a prerequisite for physical health. That is, if we exclude the influence of genetic factors, catastrophes, natural disasters, etc., then a psychologically healthy person will most likely be physically healthy.

As a positive example of the influence of a mental factor on the full functioning of a person, we can cite the results of Jewett’s research, who studied the psychological characteristics of people who successfully lived to be 80-90 years old. It turned out that they were all distinguished by optimism, emotional calm, the ability to rejoice, self-sufficiency and the ability to adapt to difficult life circumstances, which fully fits into the “portrait” of a psychologically healthy person, which is given by many researchers.

Psychological health is a dynamic set of human mental properties that ensure harmony between the needs of the individual and society, which is one of the main conditions for successful self-realization; presupposes interest in life, freedom of thought and initiative, passion for any area of ​​activity, activity and independence; responsibility and ability to take risks, self-confidence and respect for others, discernment in the means of achieving goals, the ability to have strong feelings and experiences, awareness of one’s individuality.

The central characteristic of a psychologically healthy person is the ability to self-regulate, adapt to favorable and unfavorable conditions and influences. It is traditionally believed that a person is always ready for a favorable situation, and it will not require psycho-emotional stress. The main function of psychological health is to maintain an active dynamic balance between a person and the environment in situations that require the mobilization of personal resources.

A person with a healthy psyche is, first of all, a well-mannered, socially well-adapted person who does not commit actions that contradict accepted social norms of behavior.

I.V. Dubrovina argues that psychological health should include the spiritual principle, an orientation toward absolute values: Truth, Beauty, Goodness. Thus, if a person does not have an ethical system, then it is impossible to talk about his psychological health.

If you draw up a generalized “portrait” of a psychologically healthy person, you can get the following. A psychologically healthy person is, first of all, a person who is spontaneous and creative, cheerful and cheerful, open and aware of himself and the world around him not only with his mind, but also with his feelings and intuition. He fully accepts himself and at the same time recognizes the value and uniqueness of the people around him. Such a person places responsibility for his life, first of all, on himself and learns lessons from unfavorable situations. His life is filled with meaning, although he does not always formulate it for himself. It is in constant development and, of course, contributes to the development of other people. His life path may not be entirely easy, and sometimes quite difficult, but he adapts perfectly to rapidly changing living conditions. And what is important is that he knows how to be in a situation of uncertainty, trusting what will happen to him tomorrow. Thus, we can say that the “key” word to describe psychological health is the word “harmony”, or “balance”. And, first of all, this is harmony between the various components of the person himself: emotional and intellectual, physical and mental, etc.

Below we describe the components of psychological health identified by domestic psychologists.

From the point of view of O.V. Khukhlaeva, the components of psychological health are: axiological, instrumental, need-motivational, developmental and socio-cultural components.

Axiological component meaningfully represented by the values ​​of the “I” of the person himself and the “I” of other people. It presupposes a person’s awareness of his own value and uniqueness, as well as the value and uniqueness, as well as the value and uniqueness of others, identification, both with living and inanimate objects, of unity with the world. This implies the presence of a positive image of “I”, that is, a person’s absolute acceptance of himself with a sufficiently complete knowledge of himself, as well as acceptance of other people, regardless of gender, age, cultural characteristics, etc. An unconditional prerequisite for this is personal integrity, and also the ability to accept your “dark beginning” and enter into dialogue with it. Besides, necessary qualities- the ability to discern a “bright beginning” in each of those around you, even if it is not immediately noticeable, to interact, if possible, with this “bright beginning” and give the right to exist to the “dark beginning” in others as well as in yourself.

Instrument component presupposes mastery of reflection as a means of self-knowledge, the ability to concentrate consciousness on oneself, one’s inner world and the place of relationships with others. This corresponds to a person’s ability to understand and describe their emotional states and the states of other people, the ability to freely and openly express feelings without causing harm to others, awareness of the causes and consequences of both their behavior and the behavior of others.

Need - motivational component determines whether a person has a need for self-development, that is, for self-change and personal growth. This means that a person becomes the subject of his life activity, has an internal source of activity that acts as the engine of his development. He fully accepts responsibility for his life and becomes “the author of his biography” (Slobodchikov V.I.).

Developmental component presupposes the presence of such dynamics in mental, personal, social, physical development, which fits within the boundaries of the norm inherent in given historical and cultural conditions, and does not create prerequisites for the occurrence of psychosomatic diseases.

Socio-cultural component determines a person’s ability to function successfully in the social and cultural conditions surrounding him. At the same time, it involves introducing a person to national spiritual values, which, in turn, are part of universal knowledge. This means that a person has multicultural social competence - the ability to understand people of different cultures and interact with them.

The components of psychological health are interconnected or, more precisely, dynamically interact. To develop positive rather than neurotic reflection, a person must have a positive self-attitude. In turn, a person’s self-development contributes to a change in self-attitude. And personal reflection is a mechanism of self-development. Accordingly, we can conclude that self-attitude, reflection and self-development are interdependent and are in constant interaction.

Also, according to O.V. Khukhlaeva There are the following levels of psychological health.

The highest level of psychological health - creative - includes people with stable adaptation to the environment, the presence of a reserve of strength to overcome stressful situations and an active creative attitude to reality, the presence of a creative position. Such people do not need psychological help.

The average level - adaptive - includes people who are generally adapted to society, but who have slightly increased anxiety. Such people can be classified as a risk group because they do not have a margin of safety in psychological health and can be included in group work with a preventive and developmental focus.

The lowest level is maladaptive. It includes people who strive to adapt to external circumstances to the detriment of their desires and capabilities, and people who strive to subordinate the environment to their needs. People classified at this level of psychological health need individual psychological help.

Psychological health presupposes resistance to stressful situations, so let’s consider those psychological characteristics that determine reduced resistance to stress.

The following properties of temperament, according to A. Thomas, contribute to the formation of low stress resistance: low adaptive ability, tendency to avoid, predominance of bad mood, fear of new situations, excessive stubbornness, excessive distractibility, increased or decreased activity [cit. from: 30:26].

Reactivity is a factor influencing psychological health. Reactivity is understood as the ratio of the strength of the reaction to the triggering stimulus. Accordingly, highly reactive children are those who react strongly even to small stimuli, weakly reactive children are those with a weak intensity of reactions. Reduced resistance to stress is also associated with certain personality factors.

Cheerful people are the most psychologically stable; accordingly, people with low mood levels are less stable.

Externalists, who see most events as the result of chance and do not associate them with personal participation, are more susceptible to stress. Internals cope with stress more successfully.

Self-esteem is a sense of one's own purpose and one's own capabilities. People with low self-esteem have higher levels of fear or anxiety. They perceive themselves as having insufficient abilities to cope with the threat. Accordingly, they are less energetic in taking preventive measures and strive to avoid difficulties, because they are convinced that they cannot cope with them. If people rate themselves highly enough, it is unlikely that they will interpret many events as emotionally difficult or stressful. In addition, if stress arises, they show greater initiative and therefore cope with it more successfully.

The relationship between the desire for risk and for safety, for change and for maintaining stability, for accepting uncertainty and for controlling events is a significant risk factor for maintaining psychological health. Only an equilibrium state will allow a person to develop, change, on the one hand, and prevent self-destruction, on the other.

Thus, there are two approaches to defining what health is: nosocentric and normocentric. The first understands health as the absence of disease. The normocentric approach believes that health is the state of the human body when the functions of all its organs and systems are balanced with the external environment and there are no painful changes.

Mental health is the absence of mental illness. We are talking about the ability to maintain mental balance in changing life conditions. A healthy person, unlike a sick person, is able to manage the world of his mental phenomena and keep them under control.

We define psychological health as a dynamic set of mental properties of a person that ensure harmony between the needs of the individual and society; presupposes interest in life, freedom of thought and initiative, passion for any area of ​​activity, activity and independence; responsibility and ability to take risks, self-confidence and respect for others, discernment in the means of achieving goals, the ability to have strong feelings and experiences, awareness of one’s individuality.

Psychological health can also be described as a system that includes axiological, instrumental and need-motivational components.

The central characteristics of a psychologically healthy person include adaptation, low anxiety and emotional stability.