Reflections of pedagogy students on their future profession and the job search process

Abstract

In recent years, preparation of youth for their future profession and the job search process have become the leading topics in social sciences and an inevitable segment of a number of European policies in the field of education. The goal of our research was to obtain a more comprehensive insight into the ways in which pedagogy students perceive their preparation for the future profession and the opportunities for finding a job in their field of study. The sample comprised fifty-three third- and fourth-year students from the Department of Pedagogy of the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade. For the purposes of the research, a questionnaire with open-ended questions was constructed. Since our study is explorative in nature, we opted for qualitative analysis of the collected material. Research findings indicate that the majority of students predominantly believe that the acquired knowledge and skills are insufficiently usable in future professional work. Such beliefs lead towards the feeling of low competence for performing the future professional role. It was established that students use the 'usual' methods for job search. However, the choice of these activities is not various enough, which consequently reduces the chances of pedagogy students to find employment. Negative perceptions of one's own preparation for future profession point out to the necessity of a more efficient preparation of pedagogy students for their future job through establishing cooperation between institutions in the field of high education, research centres and world of labour. Key words: pedagogy students, personal meanings, high education, professional competences and the job search process.

U poslednjih nekoliko godina, priprema mladih za buduću profesiju i proces traženja posla postaju vodeće teme u društvenim naukama i nezaobilazni segment brojnih evropskih politika u oblasti obrazovanja. Cilj našeg istraživanja bio je da se dobije potpuniji uvid u načine na koje studenti pedagogije opažaju vlastitu pripremljenost za budući profesionalni poziv i mogućnosti za pronalaženje posla u struci. Uzorkom je obuhvaćeno pedeset i tri studenta treće i četvrte godine Filozofskog fakulteta u Beogradu sa Odeljenja za pedagogiju. Za potrebe istraživanja konstruisan je upitnik sa pitanjima otvorenog tipa. S obzirom na to da je naša studija eksplorativnog karaktera, opredelili smo se za kvalitativnu analizu prikupljenog materijala. Nalazi istraživanja pokazuju da kod većine studenata preovlađuje uverenje o nedovoljnoj upotrebljivosti stečenih znanja i veština u budućem profesionalnom radu. Takvo uverenje studenata vodi doživljaju niske kompetentnosti za obavljanje buduće profesionalne uloge. Utvrđeno je da studenti koriste 'uobičajne' načine za traženje posla. Međutim, izbor ovih aktivnosti nije u dovoljnoj meri raznovrstan, pa su šanse studenata pedagogije za zaposlenje umanjene. Negativne percepcije vlastite pripremljenosti za buduću profesiju ukazuju na neophodnost efikasnije pripreme studenata pedagogije za budući poziv kroz uspostavljanje saradnje između institucija iz oblasti visokog obrazovanja, istraživačkih centara i sveta rada.