Even in the period of the earliest anthropogenesis, the process of social production arose, which could not do without the need to take into account the professional orientation. When ancient people were just starting to live in a community, labor was quickly divided, because even the most primitive economy must be supported and protected from all threats, which at all times were in abundance.
How labor was divided
Professional orientation requires taking into account the inclinations given to a person by nature, his physical data and abilities that were acquired in the process of growing up. Each subject performed a specific social task in their activities for the benefit of the tribal community. A team of strong men, for example, initially had a professional focus on protecting the clan from attacks by large animals and people from other tribes, and it was they who got food - hunted. And the women worked at home -raised offspring, cooked food, made skins for clothes and the like.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were right when they talked about deepening social knowledge through a materialistic understanding of things. The nature of every social process is purely activity-oriented, and here the professional orientation plays the first violin. Life is an activity pursuing goals set by a person. This is the most general and most fundamental concept, denoting the social forms of matter and its movement.
The nature of life includes all the features of the species with its generic features, and the freedom of conscious activity is the generic characteristic of a person. Even the stage of the birth of society in its most primitive form shows that it is common for every person to engage in some particular type of labor activity for the benefit of society. Such a division of labor is the professional orientation of the individual, whatever the historical formation of the given time.
Self-Determination from the Ancient World
Gradually, this problem of the professional orientation of the individual acquired a new relevance, since the requirements of social development were constantly changing. Increased material production, which required specialists. The spheres of application of labor were divided both quantitatively and qualitatively. In connection with the professional orientation, a person could be engaged in construction, agriculture, military protection, irrigation of lands, and finally, management of an ever-growinghousekeeping.
Now the question arose of special training of people for a specific activity. In addition to the acquired skills, an internal predisposition was also required, an orientation professionally applied to one or another narrower speci alty. The moral, intellectual and physical properties of people were considered the most valuable (remember Sparta and the preparation of boys for adulthood).
Many ancient sages wrote about the professional orientation of physical culture: Aristotle, Plato, Marcus Aurelius and other thinkers of Ancient Greece and Rome, later medieval theologians stopped at the same: St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and other famous scientists of the Renaissance. The works of statesmen and scientists J. Locke, N. Machiavelli are still relevant. And in the New Age, the same postulates regarding the development of professional orientation were noted by F. Hegel and E. Kant, along with other famous researchers of their time.
And what about a time closer to us?
Orientation and professional activities in the 19th and 20th centuries
It must be said that the thinkers of the past expressed the idea of special education in moral and ethical positions, where the requirements were made for a specific type of professional orientation, and the psychological component was not taken into account. Each person was obliged to participate in the processes of social activity. And it's all. The most important nuance, most of all influencing the result of activity, was missed. Completely formed the conceptorientation and professional activity of psychologists in the second half of the 19th century, when this science was born along with its own experimental method. And it is psychologists who are still dealing with these issues.
The task of a teacher's professional orientation, for example, is seen as a purely psychological phenomenon. The term "orientation" appeared in the last quarter of the 19th century and is still used today, denoting a whole range of motives that help to engage in one or another type of activity. True, this term was widely used already in 1911, when the works of the famous scientist V. Stern appeared. He interpreted orientation as a propensity for a particular activity. Classical psychologists and educators S. L. Rubinshtein, A. Maslow, B. G. Ananiev and many other researchers studied the essence of orientation from the same sources, who determined the structure and essence of this concept.
Proceedings of S. L. Rubinstein
The definition of professional orientation is of great importance for a scientific approach to this problem. According to Rubinshtein, the orientation of the individual is closer to dynamic tendencies that motivationally determine human activity in close connection with its tasks and goals. The scientist perceived this as an integrative holistic property that not only regulates activity, but also awakens activity. In the essence of orientation, he identified two main aspects of mutual subject content. The formation of a professional orientation occurs in connection with special attention to any subject,and also due to the tension that this creates.
The scientist also noted that the direction can be expressed in trends that are constantly expanding and enriching, serving as a source of versatile and diverse activities. In this process, outgoing motives change, enrich, restructure, acquire new content. According to him, this is a whole system of motives or motives that should determine the field of human activity.
Action orientation
What determined the professional orientation of physical culture in ancient Greece or in the ancient world? Of course, the demands of society: endless wars were fought, and a he althy mind is in a he althy body. First interests, then ideals, and very quickly it develops into a need. It is hardly possible to find something more important than what determines the professional and applied orientation of physical he alth. And at the forefront is the motivation of the subject's activity, which helps to overcome any difficulties and even obstacles on the way to the chosen profession.
For example, the professional orientation of a teacher is an orientation towards action aimed at developing the personality of the younger generation, the desire to become a teacher, to be one and remain one in any situation, even the most unfavorable (when this profession ceases to be respected and prestigious, when not pay enough money to meet the most basic needs, and so on). Society is constantly changing, and so are its priorities. According to the latesttrends, there will soon be no good teachers left in our country.
The formation of personality and socio-political conditions
The dynamic side of the direction highlighted by Rubinstein suggests changes in the direction of the individual in connection with the modification of social realities. The famous scientist B. G. Ananiev also noted this in his works, speaking about the dependencies in changing goals, motives, levels, methods, results from the class position, in particular, the child’s family or, in general, the entire social formation.
It is these conditions that determine the specific form of labor: will it be physical or mental and what will be the system of production relations. The socio-political environment in which the formation of the personality takes place most directly affects the results of the subject's choice of profession and his further functioning on one path or another.
The conclusions of the outstanding scientist A. Maslow, the author of the wonderful pyramid of needs, presented mankind with the classification of groups, which describes the dynamics of personality transformation under the influence of the created conditions. It was he who made the conclusion about the priority needs that need to be met: first the simplest and most urgent - food, housing, then the rest with the transition from level to level. This is what determines the behavior and professional orientation of the subject.
Motivational Attitudes
The classics of psychology laid the foundation for the development of the main areas of study of issues of professional choice and professionalactivities, making a classification of needs and establishing patterns of the emergence of the motivational component. Also, the dependence of the choice of profession on social conditions and the political situation, on the abilities and inclinations of the individual was identified and clearly indicated. This contributed to a further, even deeper study of such an important issue.
For example, the famous psychologist D. McLelland defined desire as a need (hence the term "motive"). Desires can act as a motivational attitude, a propensity to achieve a goal, to success, to power. And also desire (or motive) is considered as a representation of the result (in scientific terms, this sounds like an anticipatory, affectively charged goal state). It becomes relevant if certain incentives influence. Motive is a recurring interest in a target condition and is based on the most natural impulse.
Motivating factors
Scientist F. Herzberg defined incentives as "hygienic" factors, the presence of which will not motivate employees, but will prevent a feeling of dissatisfaction with one's own work. High motivation should provide not only "hygienic" incentives, but also motivating factors, only in the aggregate of their people receive a source of orientation to the profession. It most of all depends on specific people - their requests and needs, and people are all different. That is why a variety of methods are used to motivatefactors: this is material reward, favorable conditions created in the workplace, which include interpersonal relationships (employees among themselves and the boss with subordinates).
Living conditions, climatic conditions, and stability in the economy during the period when the contract is in effect, and the availability of social guarantees, and compliance with all requirements of regional labor legislation, and much more are important. The main motives were categorized, and on their basis the theory of motivation for professional activity was projected. Herzberg considers the concept of "motive" in exactly the same way as the process of moving towards the goal, and also emphasizes its dependence on the individual needs of the subject. Thus, taking into account the needs contributes to fruitful activity in a particular profession. Already in the second half of the twentieth century, scientists developed the main process theories of motivation.
Expectancy Theory
In 1964, the theory of motivation was outlined in the scientific work of the American researcher Victor Vroom "Work and Motivation", which is currently considered fundamental. The stimulating effect, according to this theory, is produced not by the presence of certain needs of the individual, but by the thought process when reality is assessed in achieving the goal that has been set, as well as receiving one or another reward for this (this can be material we alth or the satisfaction of ambition - not that important).
AfterwardsW. Vroom's model was significantly supplemented by well-known scientists E. Lawler and L. Porter. They conducted joint research and found out what determines the results that the subject achieves in one or another type of activity. It depends on the "cost", that is, the value of the reward, on the degree of satisfaction in reality, on perceived and actually expended efforts, on the individual characteristics and abilities of a person (no motivation will help a pianist who is not adapted to the keys to grow long fingers, like Chopin, or become a ballerina if you were not born with a high and flexible instep). In addition, a person must be clearly aware of his role in the labor process (role perception).
From this concept, we can conclude that the results of professional activity should lead to an increase in human satisfaction, and this is the strongest motive. But there is also an inverse relationship. There is also satisfaction with a simple sense of accomplishment, which also greatly accompanies further performance, develops a creative approach to professional duties and increases the value of the work invested. It should be noted that scientists in the USSR devoted a lot of work to this topic, and their research was no less successful than the work of their foreign colleagues.
Conclusions
Based on all of the above, the orientation of a person to a particular profession can be considered a certain internal predisposition, inclinations, inclinations, abilities, motivation for a particular occupation. It's inaggregates - individual traits and properties of a person, his qualities, value orientations, motives and views. And at the same time, professional claims specific to a particular activity, a willingness to apply all of these components while performing job duties.
The components of professional orientation include the ability to this type of activity, as well as many individual qualities of a person, his worldview, which includes the value system, his ideals, dominant motives with motivating needs in all their diversity. Here, certain "hygienic" factors are also needed to ensure the success of work in the chosen field of activity.
