The dissertation presents a theoretical generalization and experimental solution to the issue of forming social experience in early adolescents under the conditions of extracurricular activity.
At a secondary educational institution, the educational process does not fully satisfy the need of the state to form a personality that is able to coexist actively with others and has an opportunity to meet his/her own needs and, at the same time, to make a certain positive impact on his/her environment. A favourable basis for this is the extracurricular activity aimed at helping adolescents in self-determination, cultural identification and self-realization of social needs, interests and abilities. The analysis of the theory and practice of the issue under study allowed us to reveal contradictions between the objective need of society in the socialized citizens and the level of social experience formation in pupils; the awareness of the importance to have a favourable social environment for the formation of social experience in pupils and the lack of optimal pedagogical conditions for its creation and functioning; the capabilities of the teaching staff to form pupils’ social experience and the lack of an effectively organized system to use these capabilities in the educational environment at school.
The research novelty and theoretical significance are as follows: the pedagogical system for the formation of social experience in early adolescents under the conditions of extracurricular activity was developed and theoretically substantiated for the first time; we developed and substantiated the pedagogical conditions for the formation of social experience in early adolescents under the conditions of extracurricular activity; the essential content of such concepts as “social experience in early adolescents”, “formation of social experience in early adolescents” was determined; we specified and substantiated the criteria, indicators and levels demonstrating the formation of social experience in early adolescents; the structural components of the social experience in early adolescents were specified; the scientific-theoretical and methodological foundations of social experience in early adolescents under the conditions of extracurricular activity received further development.
The practical significance of the research is to develop and implement the pedagogical system for the formation of social experience in early adolescents under the conditions of extracurricular activity in the educational process at school, including the Program for the formation of social experience in early adolescents under the conditions of extracurricular activity, the author’s and modified diagnostic techniques to study the level of social experience formation in early adolescents; the opportunities to use the results of the study for further development of mechanisms and conditions for the formation of social experience of pupils; implementation of results in the activities of social and psychological services at secondary educational institutions.
The research defines the essence of the concept of “social experience in early adolescents” which is considered to be a set of knowledge, skills and abilities acquired on the basis and in the process of direct social and communicative activities in the course of interaction between the family members (or people replacing them), actors of the educational process, peers, respected adults, the background (including the difficult one) and which helps to form (both spontaneously and purposefully) social values and norms, ideas, beliefs, attitudes, ways of thinking, patterns of behaviour, feelings, emotions that become the basis for the sensory cognition of social worlds.
It has been found that the formation of social experience in early adolescents is a process that directs and regulates the social experience which is spontaneously gained by early adolescents in the course of interaction with negative and positive factors of the social environment by creating favourable conditions for pupils to learn and comprehend the knowledge of social phenomena, social abilities and skills, attitudes and beliefs accepted in society, the formation of social reflection, skills of adaptation to the external environment, a positive attitude to social reality and the ability to transform and express this attitude in the practice of public life.
Special attention is paid to the essence, content and relationship between the basic concepts and categories characteristic of the institution of social interaction, in particular those of social experience, social memory, social capital, and values.
