Implementation Mechanisms and Development Stages of Junior Skills as a Promising Program of Students' Early Professional Self-Determination

The presented study actualizes and solves the problem of developing and implementing the Junior Skills program, which gives schoolchildren an opportunity for early professional self-determination through self-testing in various professional fields by learning from professionals. A meta-analysis of psychological, pedagogical and sociological literature was made, which allowed recording the definition of the Junior Skills program for the Russian educational practice. Comparative and retrospective analyses were carried out and allowed identifying the stages and mechanisms for implementing the Junior Skills program. The study determined the relevance of developing tools and mechanisms for the massive introduction of the Junior Skills program into schools' information and education environment. The relevance is explained by existing problems and deficiencies in schoolchildren's professional self-determination such as the widening gap between the labor market demands and the professional choice of young people or the lack of systemic work to improve the image of vocational professions. The implementation of the tasks of developing an integrated system of working with schoolchildren and creating an integrated infrastructure of the Junior Skills program forms the basis of the substantive part of the programs on the formation of motivational, organizational and control skills and abilities on the stages of early professional self-determination of schoolchildren and teachers. The study highlighted the indicators and made a comparison of all levels of the organization to promote the professional development of the WorldSkills movement - WorldSkills International, WorldSkills Russia, Junior Skills (Junior Pro) and WorldSkills Junior. The study systematized information on the development and distribution of the Junior Skills program in Russian education. Three stages of the development of the Junior Skills program in Russia were identified: (1) the strategic stage that consisted in the development of a strategy for the Junior Skills movement; (2) the pilot stage was the stage of the Russian initiative's launch at the international level; (3) the tactical stage is the consolidation of the Junior Skills early vocational orientation program in the non-profit organization WorldSkills and the acquisition of the status of international competitions WorldSkills Junior. The beginning of the fourth stage is the spread of effective competitive practices in Russia and abroad. In conclusion, the need for psychological, motivational and practical training of schoolchildren in professional self-determination that is implemented in the Russian Federation through the relevant Junior Skills programs is emphasized. The Junior Skills program was defined as a system of massive professional training and practice for schoolchildren aged 10 to 17. Research materials prove that the Junior Skills program is a unique development of Russian education which has gone through several stages of development. It is established that this program is beginning to actively spread at the international level: in Belarus, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The Junior Skills program is an integral part of the WorldSkills movement and can be considered as a promising educational practice of schoolchildren's personal and professional self-determination.

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