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DOI 10.14526/2070-4798-2018-13-4-101-108
Art-therapy as health-saving technology in social-psychological adaptation
support among young teachers
Liliya A. Belozerova*, Lubov V. Guryleva
Ulyanov State Pedagogical University, Ulyanovsk, Russia bla-130880@yandex.ru*, lubagur@mail.ru
Abstract: During professionalization young teachers face several problems, which prevent their effective adaptation to the conditions of educational establishment and professional activity, lead to disadaptive changes, psychological and physical health disorders and cause the desire not to continue further work in the system of education. That is why the program on the basis of art-therapy methods creation and use as health-saving technology, directed toward social-psychological adaptation among young teachers is very important. Materials and methods. The work presents the results of testing the program of social-psychological adaptation support as psychological health index among young teachers during professionalization. This program is based on art- therapeutic technologies. Created by the author program includes three interconnected modules. "Who am I" module includes the blocks, directed toward personal identity ("I am personality" block) realization and professional orientation and identity formation ("I am the future teacher" block). "We are the group" module includes the exercises, the aim of which is to form membership of a students' group and professional identity. "Adaptive behavior in life and profession" module includes the exercises. They form realized attitude to life and professional difficulties and provide personal and environmental resources activation for their overcoming. The effectiveness of support program was estimated with the help of social-psychological adaptedness questionnaire (K. Rogers and D. Diamond) and "HAM" methodology (health, activity, mood). Results. The program mastering by young teachers led to considerable adaptability, self-acceptance indices increase, acceptance of other people, emotional comfort improvement. A positive dynamics was also revealed for the components of psycho-emotional state: state of health, activity and mood. We can say about the level of psychological health increase, which is the part of a person's general health and one of the healthy life style aims. Conclusion. The received results prove effectiveness of the created social-psychological adaptation program support as the index of psychological health among young teachers at the stage of professionalization and prove the effectiveness of art-therapy use as a health-saving technology.
Keywords: social-psychological adaptation, health-saving technologies, psychological health, professionalization, students, young teachers.
For citation: Liliya A. Belozerova, Lubov V. Guryleva. Art-therapy as health-saving technology in social-psychological adaptation support among young teachers. The Russian Journal of Physical Education and Sport. 2018; 13 (4): 83-88. DOI 10.14526/2070-4798-2018-13-4-101-108
Introduction
The most important aspect of educational system modernization in Russia is an integral personal development of a teacher in terms of continuous professionalization. Such kind of an approach helps young teachers not only to develop their own professionally important qualities. It also provides successful adaptation during the whole professional career and preserves teachers' psychological health.
Research works show that young teachers leave schools after two-three years of working. One of the reasons for this negative tendency is inability of a young teacher to "enter" school collective or the absence of desire to accept a young teacher among teachers with great experience [1]. As a result, we have real adaptation violation among young teachers to the conditions of professional activity, self-judgement level decrease. Young teachers become unsatisfied with themselves and own professional activity. Their level of anxiety increases and young teachers' adaptive abilities to new professional and personal objectives become weaker. Adaptation mechanisms undergo great tension and it influences individual and social levels of an integral personality. It leads to psychological health disorders as the part of a person's general health state. Facing difficulties a young teacher gets into an "endless circle" of disadaptive processes: social conditions
have negative influence on personal qualities (psychological disadaptation). They decrease social adaptation abilities to professional environment of an educational establishment (social disadaptation). Being in this "endless circle", young teachers very often don't see their opportunities and have no notion of the resources. Resources can help them to preserve psychological health.
Social-psychological aspect of adaptive process is characterized by the introduction of a person into a new social environment with existing system of communication, hierarchy, roles system, group structure [2]. The main aims of social-psychological adaptation are the following: mastering new social norms, social contacts setting with the participants of educational process, own status presentation and support in the collective, among children and their parents. Being integral, continuous, dynamic process social-psychological adaptation helps to set correspondence between the level of urgent needs and the degree of their satisfaction in terms of educational establishment. It provides an integral and harmonious development of a young teacher [3,4]. Thus, successful social-psychological adaptation is the marker of preserved psychological health in particular and healthy life style in general.
The problem analysis of psychological adaptation among young teachers during professionalization shows that this process organization at educational establishments is not very effective. That is why introduction into a new pedagogical profession is realized mainly owing to inner reserves of a teacher-beginner [5]. Hence, available program of young teachers support creation and realization is directed toward their social-psychological disadaptation prevention and overcoming, their psychological health preservation. It presents the urgency of this research work.
Social-psychological adaptation support among young teachers in terms of professionalization can be realized in several directions:
□ the level of adaptation diagnostics for the features of disadaptation revelation;
□ prevention and correction with the cases of adaptation violation revelation among young specialists at the initial stages of professional development [6];
□ psychological counseling concerning the problems of professional adaptation. They are caused by the process of personal feelings and an individual strategy and trajectory of professional development selection;
□ educating young specialists in the sphere of professionally important qualities development, opportunities of professional and career development. Educating them problems of adaptation at an educational establishment and other spheres [7];
□ a teacher's portfolio formation, which helps a young specialist to realize his achievements, how his professional growth happens. It helps to define the prospects of own development [8];
□ involving young specialists into the contests of professional mastery, which help them to realize themselves as a real member of the collective at an educational establishment, increase own qualification and self-estimation [9];
□ tutorship organization concerning young specialists support in order to help them in adaptation to corporate culture of educational establishment, for the best traditions of school and rules of behavior mastering. To help youth specialists to realized and creative attitude formation to duties fulfillment [10].
Young teachers' psychological health strengthening during professionalization can be realized by means of introduction into the programs of health-saving technologies support, among which art-therapy is one of the most effective ones. It activates inner mechanisms of self-regulation and healing and provides a fundamental need for self-actualization realization.
Materials and Methods
The research work presents the results of the created program (further Program) of social-psychological activity support test among young teachers during professionalization. It can be used for disorders prevention in adaptation process and correction work among young specialists at an educational
establishment [11].
The aim of the Program is an effective adaptation of young teachers to professional activity conditions, realized attitude formation to the profession, psychological and emotional steadiness development to professional loads, psychological health preservation.
The Program includes three connected modules. "Who am I" module includes the blocks, directed toward personal identity ("I am personality" block) realization and professional orientation and identity formation ("I am the future teacher" block). "We are the group" module includes the exercises. Their aim is to form membership of a students' group and professional identity. "Adaptive behavior in life and profession" module includes the exercises. They form realized attitude to life and professional difficulties and provide personal and environmental resources activation for their overcoming.
Each module of the Program has its own objectives. Their realization helps to achieve general aim, mentioned above. The objectives of "I am personality" block are the following: own personal qualities, "weak" and "strong" points realization, own axiological orientations specification, own notions of oneself as a personality broadening, all sides of own personality acceptance.
The second block "I am the future teacher" is directed toward the following: the notion of professional qualities broadening, own qualities realization. They help to be effective in profession, the notions of oneself as a professional formation.
The main objectives of "We are the group" module are the following: group membership of students, group unity formation, realizing oneself as the member of "teachers" professional society and group professional identity formation.
"Adaptive behavior in life and profession" module includes the following: a realized attitude formation to life and professional difficulties, personal and environmental resources realization for life and professional difficulties overcoming, mastering the ways of psycho-emotional tension prevention and effective behavioral copings formation.
Module structure of the Program makes it flexible and variable in use. It helps the participants to deal with the definite blocks as logically complete units. Creators change the order of modules and add other modules into the program if necessary.
Innovative feature of this program is in the fact that the adaptation activity is based on the following principles:
- transformation, which happens in the unconscious and further results of transformational processes realization;
- personal and environmental resources intensification;
- realized attitude to life and professional problems.
The Program is based on different art-therapeutic technologies: picture techniques, techniques of phototherapy: spectrum maps, collage, soul-collage method [11,12,13,14,15,16,17]. Art-therapy technique has its advantages. The main of them are the following: "ecological compatibility" for a personality, gradual immersion into the problem; unlimitedness of the problems. They are solved by its methods; the absence of strict age-related, social, professional restrictions; it gives an opportunity self-actualization. In the work with the definite art-therapeutic methodologies stress is on interaction with the created image, deep emergence into the essence of the image. It helps participants to feel different, feel one's abilities, environment abilities for social-psychological adaptation of teachers-beginners.
The experimental group included 20 senior students of pedagogical University. Before the on-the-job pedagogical training they studied according to the created Program of support in a form of a intensive-training in order to prevent social-psychological disadaptation during professionalization and psychological health preservation.
Psychological diagnostics of social-psychological adaptation among the participants of the Program was held with the help of social-psychological adaptability questioner (K. Rodgers and D. Diamond) before
and after the experiment [16]. The received results are presented in table 1. Psycho-emotional state indices estimation in the experimental group was realized according to "HAM methodology - health, activity, mood". For validity estimation of indices differences, received according to the methodologies, before and after the Program, Mann Whitney U-test was used.
Results and Discussion
Statistical analysis of K. Rodgers and D. Diamond methodology results on the basis of Mann Whitney U-test use revealed significant differences in social-psychological adaptability indices in the experimental group before and after the Program.
Table 1 - Social-psychological adaptation indices among the participants of the Program
Social-psychological adaptation scale Values before the experiment Values after the experiment
Adaptability 62,2±9,5 117,7±15,3*
Disadaptability 162,7±19,7 103,3±24,5*
Integral index "Adaptation" 27,66 % 53,26 %
Self-acceptance 23,5±9,9 47,7±12,8*
Self-rejection 36,7±4,22 24,0±6,0*
Integral index "Self-perception" 28,58 % 55,40 %
Accepting other people 14,6±5,2 28,6±3,4*
Not accepting other people 35,3±4,8 19,6±5,3*
Integral index "Accepting other people" 33,17 % 63,79 %
Emotional comfort 16,7±4,2 27,8±4,1*
Emotional discomfort 39,6±3,0 23,1±5,0*
Integral index "Emotional comfort" 29,66 % 54,62 %
Inner control 43,95±9,6 45,75±10,9
Outer control 43,1±5,0 41,8±6,2
Integral index "Internality" 42,14 % 43,88 %
Domination 11,3±2,3 10,7±2,4
The level of being under control 19,8±4,8 20,8±5,1
Integral index "Desire to dominate" 53,30 % 50,71 %
Escapism (escaping the problems) 25,3±3,4 24,8±3,6
Note: * - differences between the indices before and after the experiment are statistically valid (p<o,oi)
After the Program the respondents had the increase in "Adaptability" scale. It proves correspondence level increase between the demands of social environment and needs, motives, interests, abilities of the personality itself (the personality's adaptation level to social environment). As a result of the Program realization there was "Disadaptability" scale indices decrease among young teachers. This scale reflects inability of a personality to adapt to different situations. They appear in social environment, some frustration, inner and outer conflicts, pathologic defense mechanisms and neurotic disorders.
86 Comparative analysis shows valid increase according to the following scales: "Self-acceptance"
and "Accepting other people" and simultaneous indices decrease according to the following scales: "Self-rejection" and "Not accepting other people" among students after the experiment. These results help to define that after the Program students were more satisfied with themselves and own professional characteristics and social role, they had the need for communication and interaction with social environment increase.
During the research it was stated that young teachers had the values increase according to "Emotional comfort" scale. But their indices decreased according to "Emotional discomfort" scale and it proves uncertainty, anxiety, fear transformation into positive attitude to the future profession and professional environment.
Comparative analysis also showed that the results of the Program participants according to "Inner control", "Outer control", "Dominating", "The level of being under control" and "Escapism" scales after the experiment didn't change considerably and were within the limits of the average values.
Integral indices of social adaptation after the program increased considerably and achieved the average values according to the following indices: "Adaptation", "Self-perception", "Emotional comfort" and high values according to "Accepting other people" index. It proves positive dynamics of adaptive process among the participants of the Program during professionalization.
Psycho-emotional state diagnostics with the help of "HAM" methodology showed that before the Program young teachers had prevailing unfavorable states according to "Activity" (3,1) and "Mood" (3,7) scales and moderate state according to "Health" scale (4,2). The program led to positive dynamics according to all scales: Health (5,1), activity (5,1) and mood (6,2). Significance of psycho-emotional state indices differences before and after the Program was proved by U-criterion values, which were the following: 72 for "Activity" scale, 45 for "Mood" scale (p<0,0i) and 136,5 for "Mood" scale (p<0,05). These results according to "HAM" methodology were also proved by subjective estimation of the program participants. They underlined that the following indices improved: "interest in subjects", "general emotional state", "energy and power", "being upset over no reason". The received results prove general psychological state improvement among the participants of the Program.
Conclusion
The received results prove effectiveness of the created social-psychological adaptation support program as the index of psychological health among young teachers at the stage of professionalization and prove the effectiveness of art-therapy use as a health-saving technology. Psychological health preservation helps to make the first step to healthy life style as an integral philosophy of physical and psychological health preservation. It takes into account personal resources. They were created and developed during the created program organization. The effectiveness of the held work depends on the definite topics inside the Program organization. It depends on the principles, it is based on and also modifications use of non-specific for social-psychological adaptation aims art- therapeutic techniques. They help to work thoroughly and leads to steady changes in behavior.
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Submitted: 19.11.2018
Author's information:
Liliya A. Belozerova* - Candidate of Biologics, Ulyanov State Pedagogical University, Ulyanovsk, Russia, Lenin square, House 4/5, 432071, e-mail: bla-130880@yandex.ru*
Lubov V. Guryleva - Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Ulyanov State Pedagogical University, Ulyanovsk, Russia, Lenin square, House 4/5,432071, e-mail: lubagur@mail.ru
