The term “adaptation” translated from Latin means “adaptation”, “adjustment”. What does it mean? In a general sense, this concept means the adaptation of the body, as well as all its functions, cells and organs, to changed environmental conditions.
Adaptation processes are vital for humans. They allow you to maintain the balanced activity of organs, systems and the mental organization of the individual in the event of changing life conditions.
Definition
Adaptation in pedagogy is the natural state of an individual, which manifests itself in habituation (adaptation) to new activities, to changed living conditions, to new social contacts and changed social roles. In general, this concept is one of the main ones considered in scientific studies of the body. The fact is that the mechanisms of this process were developed in humans throughout their entire evolution. They allow our body to exist in constantly changing conditions.
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The problem of adaptation was put forward and substantiated by Zh.B. Lamarck and C. Darwin. The term “adaptation” was first introduced by Aubert in 1865. After that, it was widely used in biological literature. Here, by adaptation, researchers understood only functional changes in analyzers and sensory organs. But gradually, as science developed, the concept of adaptation began to go beyond the theory of evolution. It began to penetrate medicine, sociology, social psychology, and cybernetics. This term can be found in other areas of knowledge.
Social adaptation
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What does the process of adaptation of an individual to the environment involve? This is not only the possibility of successful functioning of his body in changed conditions. The concept of adaptation in psychology means a person’s ability to further social and personal development. This means:
- adequate perception by the individual of the surrounding reality and himself;
- normal system of communication and relationships with others;
- ability to work and study, as well as to organize rest and leisure;
- variability of behavior in order to meet role expectations;
- the ability for self-organization and self-service, as well as for mutual service in collective relationships.
Socio-psychological adaptation and socialization in pedagogy are concepts that are quite close in meaning. They denote processes that are interdependent, interdependent, but not identical. Socialization, on the one hand, is a mechanism for assimilating social experience. On the other hand, it represents the active reproduction and expansion of interpersonal relationships and connections.
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From the very first days of his birth, a person is surrounded by other people. Communication with them allows you to include him in social interaction. All people acquire their very first ideas about interpersonal relationships even before they master speech. It is in the process of relationships with others that we all manage to gain our first social experience, which subsequently becomes an integral part of our personality. It is worth noting that socialization does not contribute to individualization. A person acquires it subjectively, experiencing situations that leave one or another mark on his psyche.
Purpose of adaptation
The process of socialization represents the formation and formation of personality through mastering social experience. But at the same time, if we consider adaptation in psychology , it is one of the defining and leading mechanisms of personality socialization. At the same time, the main criterion for the success of this process is not at all the degree of conformism and opportunism. Based on the definition of social adaptation in pedagogy, this is a person’s acquisition of confidence and independence, emancipation and independence, lack of complexes and initiative.
The main goal of this process is not at all the unification of personality. A person should not become an obedient executor of someone else's will. To successfully achieve the goals facing him, he must strive for self-realization and the development of his abilities.
Insight and reasoning
One of the learning methods within adaptation is insight. The term usually refers to a situation where an individual receives data at different points in time, which is then formed into a single picture. The resulting card is used when it is necessary to survive under conditions of adaptation, that is, in a situation completely new to the individual. Insight is, to some extent, a creative process. The solution, as a rule, appears unpredictably, spontaneously, and is original.
Reasoning is another relevant method of adaptation. They resort to it when there is no ready-made solution; trials with the possibility of making mistakes seem to be an ineffective option. The result that the reasoning individual receives is used in the future to get out of various situations.
Self-awareness
Adaptation in psychology is a rather complex process. Moreover, its study is impossible without considering the self-awareness of the individual. After all, it is thanks to him that the mechanism of self-determination (search for a position in life), self-realization (activity in various directions), self-affirmation (achieving satisfaction), and also acceptance of self-esteem is activated. Self-awareness allows an individual to know himself. At the same time, the personality acquires a certain integrity and identity.
It is worth keeping in mind that the self-awareness that manifests itself during adaptation is a controlled process. It is determined by the dynamics of acquiring social experience based on the conditions for expanding communication and the range of activities.
Despite the fact that self-awareness is considered one of the deepest intimate characteristics of the human personality, only it contributes to the constant correction of a person’s idea of himself in comparison with the opinion that others have about him. This is especially evident in adolescence.
Types of adaptation
Thanks to the process of adaptation, the body begins to function optimally in an unusual environment. At the same time, scientists distinguish two types of adaptation. The first of them is biophysiological, and the second is socio-psychological. We are interested in the second of them. It is considered as an adaptation in pedagogy. This is nothing more than a mechanism by which people acquire a certain socio-psychological status, and also master certain socio-psychological role skills. It “turns on” during the period when a person tries to achieve harmony between the external and internal conditions of his activity and life. The result of this is an increase in the adaptability of the individual. In other words, a person becomes more adapted to new activities and living conditions.
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If we consider the definition of adaptation in pedagogy, then this is nothing more than the process of interaction of an individual with the social environment, during which a person faces various problematic situations in the field of interpersonal relationships. This allows the individual to master the norms and mechanisms of social attitudes and behavior, as well as acquire character traits that are important for their normal existence in society.
What is adaptation in pedagogy? This, by definition, is each of the stages in which an individual overcomes problematic situations. After all, in this case, a person uses mechanisms and behavioral skills that he acquired at previous stages of his socialization and development. At the same time, new ways of solving problems, plans and programs of internal psychological processes are revealed to them.
An important contribution to the development of this concept in its broad sense was made by J. Piaget. He believed that adaptation in psychology and pedagogy is one of the most important processes through which a child’s intellectual development occurs. At the same time, he identified two components of this mechanism. These are accommodation and assimilation. The first of these two components is a restructuring of mental activity. The purpose of such a process is to be able to assimilate newly incoming information. As for assimilation, it is considered to be the appropriation of an external event with its transformation into a mental one. In other words, adaptation in pedagogy is, firstly, the acquisition of skills, abilities and knowledge, mastery and competence. Secondly, a change in a person’s mental organization, affecting personal (emotions, goal setting, motivation, etc.), as well as cognitive (perceptual, sensory, etc.) processes.
Benefits and harms
You should not send your child to an educational institution too early. Even if the child can cope with the adaptation normally, being separated from the mother too quickly does not bring anything good. Scientists have found that attending kindergarten at the age of two is guaranteed to cause severe stress, affecting the baby’s physiology and psyche. This practice can lead to neurotic reactions, because the age is still too young for separation from the mother to be painless. Consequently, the baby develops slowly, and the quality of the skills acquired also becomes lower.
The child cannot adequately contact and trust his parents, since the connection was broken too early, without strengthening. Over the years, the problems only get worse, and kids face problems interacting with peers. By the age of four, children form groups to play, and until this point it is preferable to play alone. If a child finds himself in a group setting too early, he cannot develop adequately. This often has a negative effect on speech functions.
Physiological factors
This group includes the biological characteristics of a child of a certain age. These are his physiological and anatomical indicators, health status, level of working capacity and fatigue. This can also include some features that are observed in an individual in the functioning of one or another body system. Some scientists believe that the adaptation process is also influenced by factors such as heredity.
As individual characteristics that are considered during adaptation in personality psychology, the type of nervous system is taken into account, as well as the ability to adapt to changes in the usual environment. These factors, as a rule, are the reason for the differences that occur between the processes of adaptation to preschool educational institutions in different children.
Another important indicator that affects social adaptation is, in pedagogy, nothing more than the age of the child at the time of his admission to a preschool institution. According to scientists, children from 5 to 20 months adapt worst to changing conditions.
The gender of the child also influences the effectiveness of adaptation processes. According to researchers, girls adapt best to new conditions. It is much more difficult for boys to accept changes in their environment.
Children: special age, special attitude
Childhood adaptation is a particularly sensitive issue. As a rule, problems first arise when the child needs to be sent to a nursery or kindergarten. Over time, the time comes to get the child ready for school, and parents and children again face adaptation problems. The first days are the hardest. To facilitate this stage, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the baby’s age. Psychologists who specialize in the problems of children’s adaptation to educational institutions come to the aid of parents.
A special feature of adaptation in kindergarten is the abundance of negative emotions at first. Babies tend to be capricious and cry, whine. For some, the negative state is expressed in fear - the child is afraid of the unknown, new people, especially adults. Stress can trigger anger. It is possible to show aggression towards anyone and anything. During the adaptation period, some children exhibit depression, lethargy, and lethargy.
To somewhat smooth out the transition, positive emotions should be provided, and they should be associated for the child with the new place. An abundant option is a selection of incentives, games, and rewards that the baby receives for adequate behavior. Over time, negative emotions will completely give way to positive ones. Parents should be prepared for the fact that the child will have trouble sleeping for the first time after starting to attend a child care facility, even if such difficulties have not previously been observed. Restless sleep, waking up in tears or screaming is a problem that ends on its own by the time the adaptation stage is completed.
Individual psychological factors
This group includes the level of development of the child’s intelligence, self-esteem, emotional state, as well as the stability of certain character traits. According to scientists, admission to a preschool educational institution leads to an effective sharpening of the child’s characteristic temperament. At the same time, phlegmatic children feel the greatest discomfort. Cholerics adapt most quickly to a changing environment.
In addition, adaptation in pedagogy is a mechanism that is influenced by:
- the degree of attachment of the child to his parents;
- the specifics of the child’s development of communication skills;
- the child’s tendency to demonstrate independence;
- degree of mental development;
- existing habits.
Social and psychological factors
In psychology and pedagogy, adaptation is a process influenced by:
- social attitudes;
- the nature of the child’s environment before entering the preschool educational institution;
- specifics of the kindergarten environment.
The presence of the above factors allows children to most effectively establish contacts in a new interpersonal interaction.
According to some researchers, the main criterion by which the level of social adaptation in pedagogy can be determined is nothing more than the child’s absence of permanent disturbances in his behavior, which border on a neurological disorder. If such a situation does occur, then we can say that the baby is maladapting. He has not yet been able to adapt to the new conditions of the preschool educational institution.
Vicarious and latent adaptation
Vicarious adaptation presupposes the assimilation of a certain model of behavior, an understanding of its relevance and the consequences of the actions taken. Typically, such adaptation is observed after becoming familiar with the behavior patterns of famous and famous, successful individuals. Some imitate movie characters or their friends.
Latent adaptation is based on receiving signals from the surrounding space. Some of them are conscious, others are not clearly perceived, and others are not perceived by consciousness at all. The brain forms a cognitive map of the world in which the individual is forced to survive, and determines what response to the situation in the new environment will be optimal. This development of adaptation was confirmed by conducting excrement experiments with rats that were able to detect their way to food through a maze. In particular, scientists first taught the road, then filled the labyrinth with water. The animal still got to food, although it was forced to use other motor reactions to do this.
Types of socio-psychological adaptation
Considering the concept of adaptation in pedagogy, we can talk about the existence of the following:
- Progressive socio-psychological adaptation. It is characterized by the achievement of unity of interests of the individual and the goals of groups in society.
- Regressive socio-psychological adaptation. This type is formal. Moreover, such adaptation does not meet the interests of society, as well as the development of the individual and social group.
According to some psychologists, the regressive type of adaptation to new conditions does not allow an individual to self-realize and demonstrate the creative abilities given to him by nature. Socialization of the individual is possible only with progressive adaptation. Otherwise, the child will develop a tendency to systematically violate norms of behavior, which will cause new problematic life situations to arise, to which the lack of experience will not allow him to adapt.
Types of maladjustment
There are three types of personality maladjustment:
- Temporary maladjustment;
- Sustained situational maladjustment;
- General stable maladjustment.
Temporary maladjustment is characterized by an imbalance between the individual and the environment, which generates adaptive activity of the individual. Stable situational maladaptation of a person is distinguished by the absence of adaptation mechanisms, the presence of desire, but the inability to adapt. General stable maladaptation is manifested by a state of permanent frustration, activating pathological mechanisms and leading to the development of neuroses and psychoses.
As you can see, maladaptation is the very condition that can harm the human psyche. If you have difficulties with social and mental adaptation, seek help.
Adaptation problems
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The process of children adapting to a new environment at 4-5 years old has practically no differences. However, if we consider social adaptation for older preschoolers in psychology and pedagogy, it is a mechanism that significantly expands the level of problems that arise when a child masters a new living space for him. The thing is that at the age of six, children are already quite close to moving to a new educational institution. This leads to a change in their social status, which increases problems with adaptation. This may also be related to the development of the child’s mental apparatus. Most often in this case, teachers note the lack of attention, hyperactivity and aggressive behavior of the student.
The problem of school adaptation in pedagogy is not a new topic. At the same time, today we can say that its relevance has increased many times. This is due to globalization and mobility, political and economic changes, new approaches to the structure of the education system, etc.
Entering school, studying there, and moving from class to class require special efforts from children. However, the most acute issue of a child’s adaptation is precisely when moving to a new educational institution. This is caused by the following:
School adaptation in pedagogy is considered a process during which a child assimilates and accepts a new social situation for himself, masters his new status as a student and acquires skills in new interaction systems (“child-peer”, “child-teacher”). At the same time, the little person begins to develop new behavioral characteristics.
If we consider the concept of school adaptation in psychology, it is worth noting that it is characterized by the following criteria:
Social adaptation presupposes the child’s ability to:
- respond to the teacher;
- listen;
- perform assigned exercises independently;
- analyze and organize the execution of tasks.
An important aspect will be the ability to maintain contacts with peers and give an adequate assessment of both oneself and others.
In the process of adaptation to school, the physical preparation of the body is also important, because a rather impressive load falls on the child. His body begins to work to the limit. This poses a risk of overwork.
In addition, school adaptation in pedagogy is also considered from a psychological point of view. The degree of rapid adaptation to new conditions largely depends on the child’s readiness to enter school, that is, on his:
- desire to learn new knowledge and complete teacher assignments;
- desire to successfully master them.
The ability to process information and remember is also important.
The essence of the concept of “school adaptation” and its main criteria
The essence of the concept of “school adaptation”
and its main criteria
School adaptation is defined in psychology and pedagogy as the process and result of a child’s active adaptation to the conditions of a new environment, associated with a change in leading activity and social environment (Ya.L. Kolominsky, E.A. Panko; V.S. Mukhina; I.V. Dubrovina, etc.).
Dubrovina I.V. defines adaptation as the process of a child getting used to school requirements and routines, to a new environment for him, to new living conditions.
Adaptation to school
- restructuring of the cognitive, motivational and emotional-volitional spheres of the child during the transition to systematic organized schooling. “A favorable combination of social external conditions leads to adaptation, an unfavorable combination leads to maladjustment.”
Adaptation of a child to school is a rather long process associated with significant stress on all body systems. Lasts 5-6 weeks.
The problem of school adaptation is considered in close connection with ideas about the child’s psychological readiness for school education, since the development of this psychological education in a child is, on the one hand, one of the most important prerequisites for his successful adaptation, and on the other hand, it determines the stages and content of correctional work in initial period of training.
Main indicators of socio-psychological adaptation:
1) Formation of the “internal position of the student”;
The child’s desire to occupy a new social position leads to the formation of his internal position. A child ready for school wants to learn, since the fusion of two needs - cognitive and the need to communicate with adults at a new level, contributes to the emergence of a new attitude of the child to the environment, called L.I. Bozovic "the inner position of a schoolchild."
2) Formation of adequate behavior.
Productive educational activity presupposes an adequate attitude of the child to his abilities, work results, behavior, i.e. a certain level of development of self-awareness.
3) Mastering the skills of educational activities.
Mastering the skills of educational activities presupposes that the child has an outlook and a stock of specific knowledge. The child must have systematic and dissected perception, elements of a theoretical attitude to the material being studied, generalized forms of thinking and basic logical operations, and semantic memorization. Intellectual readiness also presupposes the development in a child of initial skills in the field of educational activity, in particular, the ability to identify an educational task and turn it into an independent goal of activity.
4) Establishment of adequate forms of interpersonal relationships in the “student-student”, “student-teacher”, “student-parent” systems. Another pressing problem of a child’s socio-psychological readiness is the problem of developing qualities in children, thanks to which they could communicate with other children and the teacher. A child comes to school, a class in which children are engaged in a common task and he needs to have fairly flexible ways of establishing relationships with other children, he needs the ability to enter the children's society, act together with others, the ability to retreat and defend himself.
Many authors believe that when a child enters school, noticeable changes in behavior appear. The positive effect of adaptation to school is reflected in the achievement of relative compliance of behavior with the requirements of the new environment and is ensured by psychological readiness to perform the tasks facing the child. In this case, we are talking about developing the most adequate forms of behavior in a changing micro-social environment.
An indicator of the difficulty of the adaptation process in the behavior of children can be excessive excitement and even aggressiveness, or maybe, on the contrary, lethargy or depression. A feeling of fear and reluctance to go to school may also arise (especially in unfavorable situations). All these changes in the child’s behavior reflect the characteristics of psychological adaptation to school.
Levels of adaptation of first-graders
The first weeks of schooling are characterized by a child’s low level and instability of performance, a very high level of tension in the cardiovascular system, the sympathoadrenal system, as well as a low rate of coordination (interaction) of various body systems with each other. A discrepancy between the child's requirements and capabilities leads to unfavorable changes in the functional state of the central nervous system, a sharp drop in educational activity, and a decrease in performance. A significant proportion of schoolchildren experience pronounced fatigue at the end of school hours.
Only after 5-6 weeks of training do performance indicators gradually increase and become more stable, and the tension in the body’s main life-support systems (central nervous, cardiovascular, sympathoadrenal) decreases, i.e. a relatively stable adaptation to the entire complex of loads associated with learning occurs. However, this phase of relatively stable adaptation lasts up to 9 weeks, i.e. lasts more than 2 months. And although it is believed that the period of acute physiological adaptation of the body to the training load ends at 5-6 weeks of training, the entire first year (if we compare the indicators in subsequent periods of training) can be considered a period of unstable and intense regulation of all body systems.
Emotional stress in first-graders, due to the incompleteness of the morphological and functional maturation of the body, often leads to the formation of functional disorders of the central nervous system in the form of neurotic reactions. With easy adaptation, the state of tension in the body is compensated during the first quarter. With adaptation of moderate severity, disturbances in well-being and health are more pronounced and can be observed during the first half of the year, which can be considered a natural reaction of the body to changed living conditions. Some children have difficulty adapting to school. At the same time, significant health problems increase from the beginning to the end of the school year, and this indicates that the educational load and training regime are unbearable for the body of this first-grader.
Assessment of the level of school adaptation consists of the following blocks:
- Intellectual development indicator - carries information about the level of development of higher mental functions, the ability to learn and self-regulation of the child’s intellectual activity.
- Indicator of emotional development - reflects the level of emotional and expressive development of the child, his personal growth.
3.Indicator of the development of communication skills (taking into account the psychological neoplasms of the 7-year crisis: self-esteem and level of aspirations).
4. The level of school maturity of the child in the preschool period.
Research results by G.M. Chutkina showed that based on the level of development of each of the listed indicators, three levels of socio-psychological adaptation to school can be distinguished. In the description of each level of adaptation, the age-psychological characteristics of six- and seven-year-old students will be highlighted.
1. High level of adaptation.
The first-grader has a positive attitude towards school and perceives the requirements adequately; learns educational material easily; deeply and completely masters the program material; solves complex problems, is diligent, listens carefully to the teacher’s instructions and explanations, carries out assignments without external control; shows great interest in independent educational work (always prepares for all lessons), carries out public assignments willingly and conscientiously; occupies a favorable status position in the class.
As follows from the description, the levels of development of all indicators listed earlier are high. The characteristics of a child with a high level of adaptation to school correspond to the characteristics of a child who is ready for school and has experienced a crisis of 7 years, since in this case there are indications of formed volition, learning motivation, a positive attitude towards school, and developed communication skills. Based on the data of some researchers, a six-year-old first-grader cannot be classified as a high level due to the underdevelopment of such aspects of adaptation as readiness for school learning (in terms of arbitrariness of behavior, ability to generalize, educational motivation, etc.), immaturity of personal new formations of the 7-year-old crisis ( self-esteem and level of aspirations) without the necessary intervention of teachers and psychologists.
2. Average level of adaptation
A first-grader has a positive attitude towards school, visiting it does not cause negative experiences, understands the educational material if the teacher presents it in detail and clearly, masters the main content of the curriculum, independently solves standard problems, is focused and attentive when completing tasks, instructions, instructions from an adult, but its control; is concentrated only when he is busy with something interesting to him (preparing for lessons and doing homework almost always); He carries out public assignments conscientiously and is friends with many of his classmates.
3. Low level of adaptation.
A first-grader has a negative or indifferent attitude towards school; complaints of ill health are common; depressed mood dominates; violations of discipline are observed; understands the material explained by the teacher in fragments; independent work with the textbook is difficult; shows no interest when completing independent learning tasks; prepares for lessons irregularly; constant monitoring, systematic reminders and encouragement from the teacher and parents are required; maintains efficiency and attention during extended pauses for rest; understanding new things and solving problems according to the model requires significant educational assistance from the teacher and parents; carries out public assignments under control, without much desire, is passive; has no close friends, knows only some of his classmates by first and last names.
In fact, this is already an indicator of “school maladjustment.” In this case, it is difficult to identify age-related characteristics, since we are dealing with disorders of the child’s somatic and mental health, which may be a determining factor in the low level of development of generalization processes, attention functions of other mental processes, and properties included in the selected adaptation indicators.
Thus, due to age characteristics, first-graders of six years of age can achieve only an average level of adaptation to school in the absence of special organization of the educational process and psychological support by the teacher.
Reasons for maladjustment in younger schoolchildren
In the psychological literature there are different interpretations of the term “school maladjustment”:
- disruption of the student’s personality’s adaptation to the complex, changing learning conditions at school; learning adjustment disorder;
- new demands that exceed the child’s capabilities, changing the state of the emotional sphere;
- Kagan V.E. understands school maladaptation as “created by multidimensional and multi-level relationships, the inability for a child to find “his place” in the space of school learning;
- Chirkov V.I. and Bodenko B.N. the degree of adaptation of a child is judged by adaptation indicators: anxious shyness, deviant behavior, learning problems;
In addition to the concept of “school maladaptation,” the literature contains the terms “school phobia,” “school neurosis,” and “didactogenic neurosis.” As a rule, school neuroses manifest themselves in unreasonable aggressiveness, fear of going to school, refusal to attend classes, etc. More often, a state of school anxiety is observed, which manifests itself in excitement, increased anxiety in educational situations, anticipation of a bad attitude towards oneself, negative evaluation from others. teachers, peers.
Pedagogical research identifies such leading causes of school maladjustment as the lack of development of skills in educational activities and educational motivation in younger schoolchildren.
According to R.V. Ovcharov, a decrease in the level of school motivation can serve as a criterion for a child’s school maladaptation, and its increase can serve as a positive dynamic in learning and development. In the latter case, the child quickly adapts to school. He successfully masters the social role - the role of a student, accepts new requirements, masters new activities for him, and actively enters into new relationships.
The reasons for school maladjustment are the inability to adapt to the pace of school life. Most often this happens in children with minimal brain dysfunction, in those who are somatically weakened. However, the latter does not constitute the cause of socio-psychological maladjustment. The reason may lie in the peculiarities of family upbringing, in the “greenhouse” living conditions of the child. “Typical” maladjustment manifests itself in different ways: in long (until late evening to the detriment of walks) preparation of lessons, sometimes in chronic lateness to school, often in consoling the child at the end of the school day, at the end of the school week. Inability to voluntarily regulate behavior, attention, and educational activities, which manifests itself in disorganization, inattention, and dependence on adults.
The reason for the insufficient level of development of voluntary behavior of a child in the absence of primary violations is most often sought in the characteristics of family upbringing: this is either condoning hyperprotection (permissiveness, lack of restrictions and norms), or dominant hyperprotection (full control of the child’s actions by an adult).
Another reason for maladaptive behavior may be excessive fatigue and overload. Just entering school is a turning point in a child’s life. The success of his education at school depends on the characteristics of his upbringing in the family, his level of preparedness for school.
A number of authors believe that the main cause of school maladjustment is not the failures themselves in educational activities or the child’s relationship with the teacher, but feelings about these failures and relationships.
A striking example of school maladaptation is the socio-pedagogical neglect of children, which is caused, first of all, by socio-psychological maladjustment.
Efimova S.L. and Bezrukikh M.M. identify groups of children who experience the greatest difficulties in the adaptation process.
Children at risk:
■ children with attention deficit disorder (hyperactive). Such children are characterized by: excessive activity, fussiness, and inability to concentrate. Hyperactivity is a whole complex of disorders that are manifested by poor performance at school, problems in relationships with peers, and frequent conflicts with parents. It is observed in 3-5% of school-age children, 5 times more often in boys.
■ Left-handed child. Such children are characterized by a reduced ability of visual-motor coordination. Children are bad at copying images, have poor handwriting, and cannot keep a line. Distortion of form, mirroring of writing. Skipping and rearranging letters when writing. Errors in determining “right” and “left”. A special strategy for processing information. Emotional instability, resentment, anxiety, decreased performance. For adaptation, special conditions are required: a right-handed turn in the notebook, do not require continuous writing, it is recommended to sit by the window, on the left at the desk.
■ Emotional disturbance in primary school age
- aggressive children
- emotionally disinhibited children
- too shy, vulnerable, touchy, timid, anxious children.
Children belonging to the emotionally disinhibited type react too violently to everything: if they express delight, then as a result of their expressive behavior they turn on the whole class; if they suffer, their crying and moaning will be too loud and provocative.
Children who are too shy, vulnerable, touchy, timid, and anxious are embarrassed to express emotions loudly and clearly, quietly worry about their problems, afraid to draw attention to themselves.
What is common to all three groups of children with emotional disorders is that inadequate affective reactions (manifesting differently in different types of children) in each child are of a protective, compensatory nature.
■ Children with temporary mental retardation
Children with temporary mental retardation have difficulty understanding what is required of them, cannot quickly switch to a new type of activity, and do not master reading, writing, and mathematics well. It also happens that only reading, only writing, or only mathematics is not given. Each case of “delay” has its own cause and its own manifestations.
By the time they enter school, these children, in comparison with their peers, have an insufficient supply of knowledge, information, and skills, and their speech is extremely poor. These children do not recognize themselves as students. Their behavior is dominated by childishness, spontaneity, playful interests, and the desire only for pleasure. During lessons, they immediately become lethargic, passive, or, conversely, excessively restless, and are completely unable to concentrate on the task.
Some first-graders experience difficulties in establishing relationships with the teacher and classmates, which is often accompanied by a low level of mastery of the school curriculum. They get lost when answering a teacher’s question, often make mistakes when completing assignments, and spend breaks alone, preferring not to leave the classroom but to do something while sitting at their desk. Their facial expressions reflect emotional discomfort: sadness, anxiety, tension are typical for them.
For many children, starting school can be a difficult experience. With at least one of the following problems
Every child faces:
- regime difficulties (they consist of a relatively low level of arbitrariness in the regulation of behavior and organization);
- communication difficulties (most often observed in children who have little experience communicating with peers, manifested in the difficulty of getting used to the class group, to their place in this group);
- relationship problems with the teacher;
- problems associated with changes in family situation.
Thus, school adaptation is the process of restructuring the cognitive, motivational and emotional-volitional spheres of the child during the transition to systematic, organized school education. The success of such a restructuring, from a psychological point of view, depends on the level of development of intellectual functions, the emotional-volitional sphere, the development of communication skills, etc. The immaturity of any of these areas is one of the reasons that can lead to one or another form of maladaptation .
According to the existing classification of forms of maladaptation, violations of the adaptation process to school can manifest themselves in the form of:
- unformed elements of educational activity;
- lack of formation of learning motivation;
- inability to voluntarily regulate behavior, attention, and educational activities;
- inability to adapt to the pace of school life.
Conditions for adaptation of first-graders to primary school
In modern science, the problem of developing the identification of conditions for successful adaptation at primary school age is one of the most pressing and, accordingly, the most developed. It is known that the most important task for primary schools at present is related to solving the problem of organizing effective work to create conditions for children’s adaptation.
In this regard, today in science there are numerous and very diverse scientific approaches and concepts.
Let us consider the points of view and positions of individual scientists on this issue.
For a deeper understanding of the problem under study, the scientific position of researcher M.I. is of particular importance to us. Rozhkova. The scientist identified criteria and developed indicators of the effectiveness of the activities of a comprehensive school in creating conditions for adaptation and overcoming maladaptation of children:
- cognitive criterion (knowledge of: the characteristics and development of the child’s personality and the formation of his individuality; the level of development of modern society; the families of pupils and relationships in them; the problem of maladjustment of children and the causes of it; features of the spread of maladaptation in their school; understanding of the reasons for the deviating behavior of children at school level).
— procedural criterion (ability to: conduct diagnostic work, make a sociological analysis of the level of adaptation, characteristics of maladaptation and its causes at the school level; make a scientifically based forecast of the development of behavioral manifestations in individual and group lessons; skills in using various methods and forms of preventive and correctional work) .
- a criterion for the psychological and pedagogical comfort of relationships (flexibility of orientation in a challenging environment, a creative approach to the tasks being solved, taking into account the child’s positions, his desires, interests and needs in the work, the ability to build relationships with children and their parents on the basis of trust, mutual understanding, creative dialogue, implementation of a socially protective approach to the child and his family).
— an effective and practical criterion (the ability to analyze information received about a child and his family or a group of children and organize work on its basis, the ability to organize preventive and corrective work based on the activity of children and their parents, providing conditions for the successful study of a schoolchild, organizing children’s leisure time and their families, the ability to develop and implement programs of preventive and corrective work with children and promptly make changes to them depending on the changing situation.[45]
Further, as part of the implementation of the goals and objectives of our research, we considered it necessary to analyze the research of R.V. Ovcharova. Scientists suggest considering the conditions for successful adaptation in three areas:
1. Changing the conditions of family upbringing of a child:
— increasing the psychological and pedagogical literacy of parents and relationships;
- creation of educational situations in the family, active inclusion of parents in the educational process;
— individual consultations, assistance to parents in raising positive and overcoming negative qualities of the child;
— control over the organization of a normal regime for the child, eliminating his neglect;
— assistance in organizing the child’s rational activities (play, work, creativity, knowledge of the world around him, his communication in the family);
— measures to eliminate violations of family education, restore the educational potential of the family;
2. Improving educational work with the class:
— correction of the teacher’s attitude towards the child, recommending methods of working with him, active use of methods of positive stimulation of the child, relieving psychological stress;
- humanization of interpersonal relationships in the children's team, creation of a favorable psychological microclimate in the classroom, promoting the emotional comfort of all children;
— interaction between teachers and parents in the pedagogical process;
3. Helping the child with personal growth.
— organizing a psychological examination of the child and providing him with the necessary psychological assistance;
— individual work to smooth out deficiencies in the intellectual, moral, emotional and volitional spheres;
- inclusion of the child in active activities based on the use of his positive interests;
— overcoming negative motivation for learning;
— organizing the child’s success in mastering the general education program.
It should be noted the results of the study by T.L. Ulyanova, based on which the development of the child’s educational and motivational sphere, good performance and functional maturity sufficient for school loads play a crucial role in mastering educational activities. High educational motivation and high performance determine the success of mastering educational activities, and therefore satisfaction with the results of the efforts made. This ensures the child’s psychological well-being and, therefore, his successful adaptation to school.
The teacher needs to constantly work to increase the level of educational motivation, creating situations for the child to succeed in class, during recess, in extracurricular activities, and in communicating with classmates.
Activities to organize a favorable adaptation environment should be aimed at:
1) maximum provision of physical activity for children at school;
2) the creation at school of a developmental subject environment, which is essentially a continuation of the one to which children are accustomed in kindergarten and which is distinguished by brightness, colorfulness, clarity, and the inclusion of playful and fairy-tale motifs;
3) widespread use of gaming techniques in educational and educational work, the creation of emotionally significant situations and conditions for independent practical activity;
4) changing the style of interaction between adults and children from authoritarian to a style of trusting cooperation;
5) introduction of various types of children's creative activities into the pedagogical process;
6) the use of diverse forms of extracurricular education;
7) ensuring the relationship between educational activities and life;
creation of a gentle regime of educational activities;
9) establishing a trusting, good relationship between the teacher and children.
Adaptation of schoolchildren with developmental disabilities
According to available data, more than 80% of modern children experience learning difficulties due to certain health conditions. That is why adaptation is also considered in special pedagogy. This makes it possible to solve the problems of a child with developmental disabilities and eliminate his isolation from the society in which he grows and lives.
Disorders of social adaptation affect children's attitude towards their environment. They become anxious and gloomy, depressed and touchy. As a result, they develop isolation. Children begin to avoid a wide range of social circles. They isolate themselves within “four walls,” where they may experience hidden (masked) depression.
Growing up, a child with disabilities begins to realize that he is not like everyone else. This contributes to the formation of low self-esteem, social passivity and a narrowing of the scope of active activity.
Adaptation in correctional pedagogy is, first of all, the psychological rehabilitation of children with learning difficulties. It may represent a release of nervous tension. In addition, the teacher should strive to correct his pupil’s self-esteem, develop his memory and mental functions, imagination and thinking, attention and overcome passivity. At the same time, it will be necessary to develop in the child responsibility and independence, an active life position, help him overcome alienation and develop communication skills.
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