In article psikhologo-pedagogical criteria of the concept «personal development of the child» are considered. As the phenomenon of the personality and personal development in pedagogical science is among basic, but at the same time a problem of objective definition of essence of the personality, her interpretation, and also identifications of factors of personal development is today one of the most difficult. According to the author, growth of number of children with the detained option of intellectual development aggravated a problem of studying, training and education of this category of children.
The highest value of our society is a human. Attention to the education of the child, taking care of allround development of his abilities, improving of personal qualities is among actual today's problems. The main task of the educational process of any educational institution is to form a full-fledged personality. The phenomenon of personality and personality development in pedagogic science is rated as fundamental, but at the same time, the problem of objective determination of the personality essence, its interpretation, and identification of the factors of personality development is one of the most difficult. The basis of the personality formation, its development and establishment happens on the stage of preschool education.
The analysis of scientific literature on this problem has allowed to establish the essential characteristics of this concept, as well as dependency and conditioning of personal development process of child from his individualage peculiarities. Thus, the basis of the human personality is the totality of his social relations, implemented through a variety of activities. The society is considered not just as any external environment of personality, it is objectively included in the system of social relations, and it determines the formation of the basic structures of personality. As the conditions of child development in the literature on this issue, are identified the following sources: the influence of adults and peers, satisfaction of needs for recognition, gender identity, etc. The keynote of the findings of scientists engaged in this issue is based on the hierarchical position of the following concepts: the personal development of the child performs the function of categorizing his age and individual characteristics that must be considered in the process of upbringing and education [1].
In the logic of this context let’s reveal the contents of the modern pedagogical concepts: age and individual characteristics of the child.
Taking into consideration age peculiarities of children development the pedagogy is largely based on aggregate data of physiology and psychology. Summarizing idea about the age peculiarities is proposition about existing of the physiological and age-specific psychology, typical for each age. The criteria of the agespecific development are the anatomical, physiological, physical, and pedagogical indicators of the child’s state at each age interval of his life.
Herewith pedagogical criteria of the age-specific development characterize possibility of upbringing and education in different periods of child’s life. With age is also connected character, the nature of human activities, the peculiarities of his thinking, the range of his inquiries, interests, and social manifestations. However, each age has its own possibilities and limitations in the development. Also each age has inherent peculiarities and limits of development. With the concept of agerelated problem is inextricably connected child's identity. Indeed, age-specific peculiarities of children development manifest themselves differently in their individual formation. And the development of each of them in turn, is characterized by significant individual characteristics that must be considered in the process of education and training.
Similarly to the concept of age-specific peculiarities of child the concept of individuality and individual characteristics is examined by scientists from different perspectives:
- the philosophical propositions about human and his personality were lit up in the writings of scholars such as N. Berdyaev, A.F. Losev, I.I. Rezvitsky, V.M. Rusalov, V.S. Soloviev and others;
- the ideas of philosophical and pedagogical anthropology, humanistic pedagogy and psychology were examined by V.V. Zenkovsky, N.I. Pirogov, V. Rozanov, V.A. Sukhomlinsky, K.D. Ushinsky,
- Burns, J. Korczak, A.G. Maslow, Carl Rogers, C. Freinet, Erich Fromm, and others;
- the basis of psychological and pedagogical theory of personality and its development process are set forth in the writings of B.G. Ananyev, A.G. Asmolova, L.S. Vygotsky, E.A. Golubeva,
- Grebenuk, T.B. Grebenuk, E.I. Isaev, V.S. Merlin, V.D. Nebylitsyn, Y.M. Orlova, S.D. Polyakov, S.L. Rubinstein, V.M. Rusalova, V.I. Slobodchikova, L.N. Sobchik, D.I. Feldstein, etc.);
- the understanding of individuality within the frames of theory and concept of education, including the ideas of person-centered pedagogical interaction is revealed in works of A. Amonashvili, L.V. Baiborodova, E.V. Bondarevskaya, O.S. Gazman, I.D. Demakovoj, I.P. Ivanov, V.A. Karakovsky, L.M. Luzin, A.V. Mudrik, L.I. Novikova, M.I. Rozhkov, N.L. Selivanov, V.V. Serikova, E.N. Stepanova, E.V. Titova, A.P. Tryapitsyna, N.E. Schurkovoy, I.S. Yakimanskaya etc.
The analysis of the scientific literature on the studying problem revealed the complexity and ambiguity of understanding and explanation of the phenomenon of personality and individual characteristics of the child. First of all, the individual characteristics of the child have been linked to the type of its neural activity, which is a hereditary form, as well as the study of children nature. At the same time the concept of individual features in pedagogy includes features such as the ability and propensity or disposition (mental, physical) of the child. Studying the individual characteristics scientists pay more attention to the physical condition which affects the level of overall performance. Also pay attention to the sensory-emotional sphere of the child: identify the level of irritability, negativism, the degree of susceptibility of pedagogical influences, etc. In this case, the main way of studying the individual characteristics of preschool children is the systematic observation of the child's personality manifestations.
In its turn, age and individual characteristics are the substantive content of an individual approach to children. Individual approach, as derived from individual age-specific features has been designed in educational activities to call upon the individual abilities of children (temperament, character, motives, interests, aptitudes, etc.) and on their basis to form personal qualities either [2]. The essence of an individual approach in early education is in choice of certain methods and techniques of training and education, and also in selection and application of the accessible for children activities and games. As a consequence, the requirements to the teacher (including the teacher of preschool educational institutions) in the implementation of individual approach are the following:
- The teacher must constantly learn and be familiar with the individual characteristics of temperament, personal traits, attitudes, tastes, habits of their pupils;
- The teacher should be able to diagnose and to know the real level of development of children's personality traits (motives, interests, attitudes, personality orientation, attitudes toward work, values, etc.);
- The mentor must constantly attract each pupil to feasible for him and the increasingly complex challenges for educational activities to ensure the progressive development of the individual;
- The teacher must rely on their own as individual activity;
- The teacher should develop independence, initiative, and not so much lead as skillfully organize and direct the activities leading to success;
- The mentor must be able quickly change the tactics of education depending on the prevailing circumstances.
Despite the large number of papers devoted to the problem of the personal development of children of preschool age, as a manifestation of his individual age differences, we must note their similarity and identity. These authors are combined by the unique approach to solving the problem: questions of personal development of the child are viewed through the prism of his age and individual personality features. At the same time must be noted superficiality, lack of causal explanation of variation displays the individual characteristics of the children. Modern pedagogical theories of personality are incomplete, one-sided, the parameters of personal development, personal development of the individual options, not differentiated. The principle of using an individual approach to early childhood education is prevalent in the educational process, and very few take into account the complexity of the learning process.
Particular the failure of these theories are tested in the framework of non-legislative options for personal development of children of preschool age. The traditional understanding of the term «personality» in the case of practical work with children of the mentioned category allows teachers only state individual displays, but does not allow them to explain, and, therefore, to overcome the unfavorable options for the children (negativism, reduced cognitive interest, decreased interest, narrow motivational sphere, etc.), the difficulties that arise in their interpersonal communication. At the same time we have to state the facts of the failure of some children in the learning process. Thus, in the practice of pre-school educational institutions, subject to the principle of individual approach, there is a discrepancy between the expected and actual results.
The reform of the education system produces innovative processes also in early childhood education. Recent years have been characterized by actuality of the question of the improving the quality of training and education of preschool children. Special urgency get, issues of analysis, detection and elimination of the causes of the failure of some children in their assimilation of the program material preschool educational institutions, which in turn requires:
- Firstly, the analysis of the factors of the child's at present stage;
- Secondly, the consideration of the psycho-physiological mechanism of the manifestations of the individual characteristics of the child, as the factors causing variation in productive personal development;
- Clarifying the content of this concept by the values of the individual characteristics of children, due to their rate of mental development;
- Enhance of its performance by excluding mental condition of the child, as a certain level of efficiency, the pace and quality of mental functioning, providing a level of dynamic interaction of its body with the environment in the course of
Development as the basis category of pedagogic is characterized by dialectic transition of quantitative changes into qualitative, transformation of physical, psychological and spiritual characteristics. The child learns new behaviors and activities, through which he became a member of human society. A child acquires a relatively stable internal world, which gives reason to name the child personality, able to make further improvements.
Studying human development, the researchers found a number of important relationships that express the natural connections between the process of development and its result on the one hand and the factors influencing them on the other (A. Gesell, N. Miller, D. Bowlby, J. Stern, L. Vygotsky, S. Rubinstein and others) these studies enable us to derive a general pattern: that human development is determined by internal and external conditions. The internal factor is heredity. The external conditions — the environment in which lives and develops personality, the conditions of its training and education.
Analysis of internal and external factors allows to establish their precise relationship. Base form birth and inherited predisposition to develop under the influence of the major external influences — environment and education.
In logic of this context let’s analyze modern condition of source of children individuality. Inborn peculiarities.
Implementation of mass preventive examinations of children shows that every second child is sick. Annually, there are nearly 5 million cases of children diseases. The main groups of diseases are: neoplasm, diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs, endocrine diseases, mental disorders, diseases of the nervous system, respiratory system, digestive system, skin and subcutaneous tissue, diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue. Thus, in the annual preventive medical examinations of more than 53 % (2011), 51 % (2012), 52 % (2013) of the number of diagnosed children suffer from diseases of the digestive system, eyes, musculoskeletal, respiratory, nervous and endocrine systems. A level of child disability remains high. So, for the first 9 months of 2012 primary disability among children was 5.2 million children (in 2011 — 5.7 million children). In the structure of children disability prevalent congenital malformations (32.9 %), diseases of the nervous system (23.9 %) [3].
The studies conducted in the Republic of Kazakhstan, have shown that low levels of the health of children make them vulnerable to development. Psychophysiological mechanism of this dependence is the inhibitory effect of weakened physical state on the process of maturation of the central nervous system. The main features of this influence are mainly emotional, behavioral disorders, as well as a slower rate of mental development. In order to determine the individual characteristics of pre-school children with impaired physical health , we carried out an experimental study (as a diagnostic test material were used for the study of cognitive tasks sphere, projective techniques and questionnaires for parents and caregivers of children), which includes the study of cognition, personality and interpersonal relationships, and emotional and volitional children. The study involved 360 children involved in the dispensary for health professionals from the following: allergist, endocrinologist, nephrologists, cardiologist, neurologist, gastroenterologist, 360 children out of the narrow view of the dispensary medical professionals, but applied to doctors in various fields of 8 up to 10 times a year, and 360 children benefited from the services of care from 1 to 2 times a year (more often of the seasonal influenza) revealed the following results.
The study showed a reduction in cognitive areas such mental processes as speech (limited vocabulary, voice activity is low, the lack of formation of lexical and grammatical structure of the speech), attention (instability, reduced volume, the lack of attention to the distribution function). In preschool children was found insufficient memory and thinking.
The behavior of children from dispensary group differs by decreased activity, weakness of selfregulation processes, increased dependence on adults, self-service skills are at a low level, the level of efficiency is not high (37 %). In a situation of fatigue often observed inadequately high spirits, motor disinhibition (18). Disciplinary control usually has the effect of protest reaction of child, which is manifested in various forms — stubbornness, refusal to work, etc. (46 %) Personal development is characterized by the presence of features such as shyness, fearfulness, anxiety, moodiness (23 %). In the senior school age have been identified various fears (24 %).
Emotional and volitional sphere is characterized by frequent changes of mood, mild emotional vulnerability, increased impressionability, irritability. Emotions of these children are primitive and unstable.
Conditions of life activity and upbringing.
A huge impact on a child's development during the preschool years has family. It is his primary social and educational environment. Modern family is experiencing the increasing stress and stops to cope with the implementation of social and educational functions. According to the result of interviewing families it was stated that the education of children is primarily the mother’s hands the same in full or in single-parent families. At the same time, in two-parent families fathers engaged in raising a child only periodically, every day they pay attention to a child less than 1 hour per day. It should be noted the weak continuity between generations in the education of children, both in total and single-parent families. Typical for the modern family is the presence of serious family conflicts and adverse psychological climate of the family situation. According to the results of the survey in 1650 our family was made up of socio-pedagogical passport modern family, which reflects the main problem aspects of the functioning of a modern family:
- information on the education of parents (only the mother has higher education — 65 %, only the father has higher education — 54 %, both parents have higher education — 36 %);
- information on the availability of family home ownership (families do not have their own homes — 36 %);
- information on the child's actual residence (living with grandparents — 47 %, lives with her sisters, brothers and others — 12 %);
- information on the composition of the family (single parent family — 48 %, a large family (three or more children) — 12 %, a single mother remarried — 37 %);
- information on the employment of parents (one parent employed — 45 %, employed one of the family members (grandparents and others) — 25 %);
- information on the living conditions of the family (poor — 27 %);
- information on the financial security of the family (poor — 44 %, the average material wealth — 53 %);
- information on the interpersonal relationships of family members (family with daily conflict situations — 83 %);
- information on the terms of the interests of the family (the parent of a socially acceptable interest or hobby — 9 %, families who do not have permanent interests of the socially acceptable — 87 %, the dominant interest of the child — children's television — 93 %);
- information on the educational and training opportunities for families (families, assign responsibility for the upbringing of children in pre-school educational institution — 65 % of the family, to the education children about one to two hours per day — 76 %, families experiencing difficulties in raising a child — 96 %);
- information about quality problems in the education of children (with the presence of family problems causing difficulties in solving them — 92 %);
- information on options for addressing the problems causing difficulties in the education and training of children (penalty — 79 %, taking the position indifference — 18 %, an appeal to the professionals (teachers of pre-school educational institutions) — 32 %);
- information on the results of the educational guidance of preschool teachers (family, which helped consultation in addressing training and education of children — 8 %).
As can be seen, while reducing educational and learning opportunities of the modern family and its social problems is registered the rise of psychological and pedagogical problems associated with raising children.
Variability of the inherent characteristics indicators, living conditions and upbringing cause the individual characteristics of the children. To the individual peculiarities are referred uniqueness of perception, thinking, memory, imagination, especially the interests, aptitudes, abilities, temperament and character of the individual. Individual differences affect the development of personality. They are largely due to the formation of all its qualities. Individual differences of children are primarily manifested in the rate of mental development, as well as the mental states of the latter. Children with the same chronological age may be at different stages of maturity, that is to have a different biological age, a different degree of formation of mental functions and personality structures, and therefore the possibility of achieving different goals of training and education, since some children have a mental advance development, and some, on the contrary, its delay.
It should be noted in the individual differences of children, which are manifested in the rate of mental development, is influenced not only environmental and congenital factors, but also the mental state of the latter. Accounting of children's mental states is a necessary condition for their effective teaching and learning. Normal mental state of a child — is a cheerful mood, curiosity, desire for fun and pranks. A healthy child has a high activity of life. In the study were identified common to all pre-school children (3–7 years old) typical mental states (16 in total): happiness, surprise, anxiety / anxiety, fear, carelessness, activity, cheerfulness, interest, aggression, resentment, desire for knowledge, affection, tenderness, courage, helplessness and friendliness. However, if the life of the child is accompanied by prolonged traumatic situations (interpersonal conflict parents’ hyperprotection, authoritarian parenting style, etc.) normal mental condition of the child is replaced by abnormal mental state — neuroticism. This condition is characterized by emotional instability, anxiety, fearfulness. At the same time it is characterized by the fact that easily goes into mental illness — neuroses. Neurosis — a form of neuro-psychiatric disorders, affective disorders manifested (fear, anxiety, depression, mood swings, etc.) and movement disorders.
The main neurotic manifestations in children are: anxiety neurosis, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depressive neurosis, hysterical neurosis, asthenic neurosis, hypochondriacal neurosis, neurasthenia, neurotic stuttering, neurotic tics, neurotic eating disorders, neurotic enuresis, encopresis neurotic, pathological habitual actions.
At the present stage, the relevance of accounting problems of mental states in the pedagogical process of pre-school children due to the large number of negative mental states in the general picture of the past: 4–5 years — 37.5 %, 3–4 years — 36 %, 5–6 years — 31.8 %, 6–7 years — 40 %, while the actualization of negative states due to both common causes (dysfunctional background of life, the impact of wrong teaching adults, the lack of uniformity of requirements and the mismatch in the methods of education, lack of attention, ignoring the emotional expressions child, etc.) and physiological disorders, physical development of the child. At the same time been an increase in neuroticism pre-school children [4].
Studying the relationship of mental and nervous states with the mental processes of preschool children (760 children), revealed that almost all age levels of children of preschool age are characterized by significant correlations between the states and their cognitive processes. Characteristics of the relationship represented revealed the highest correlations between the states and mental processes such as memory and attention, as well as between nervous states and mental processes.
Thus, the decline in environmental and congenital factors, the presence of a large number of negative mental states, and the growth of neuroticism preschoolers cause slowing of cognitive development, which will cause various individual characteristics of children of preschool age, affecting the process of training and education.
As the analysis of different types of tempo mental development of children, they have revealed the specific features of psychopedagogical nature is very diverse in nature (difficulties in any regulation of its activity, the weakness of memory, and play new material, distractibility, reduced cognitive interest, depletion of game activity, reduction of self-control, etc.), but when analyzing the causes of these difficulties can be seen that all of them depend on the development of some aspect of mental activity — perception, memory, attention, thinking, emotional and volitional. In turn, the immaturity of the emotionalvolitional, delayed mental development of the child cause the originality of his personal development: the limited range of interests, the narrowness of the motivational sphere, a reduced level of criticality, etc. Consequently, it is a slower rate of cognitive, emotional and volitional processes to a greater extent explains the difficulties of children in the course of their training and education. For example, the slow rate of mental activity, and reduced peculiarities of children’s memory determine their difficulties in the process of solving the problems associated with components such as analysis, synthesis, and generalization. The cause of the difficulty in counting of these children is reduced possibilities of attention and memory. The revealed abnormalities in the children's behavior (inability to perform tasks as instructed, subject to the requirements of adults, critical of the comments of the older, adjust their behavior depending on the situation, etc.) are explained by underdevelopment of the individual, as a higher level of mental development.
At the present stage in the deterioration of the ecological environment, the increasing incidence of children, as well as lower social and educational function of the family can be noticed variation in the scores of individual characteristics of preschool age children, causing a variety of options for personal development and manifest themselves in different pace cognitive development. The growing number of children with delayed mental development has exacerbated the problem of learning, teaching and educating these children. The solution of this problem must involve the implementation of a number of problems related to the definition of psychological, pedagogical features of the development, training and education of the studied groups of children, the development of variational principles, methods and tools for their education and upbringing.
References
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- Chirkova T. Pre-school education, 2006, 5, p. 38–42.
- Kaldybaeva T.Sh. Sociological research, 2000, 4, p. 66–70.
- Galkin K.Yu. Neuroticism in children and adolescents, Moscow: Medicina, 2010, 176