Peculiarities of formation of social activity of university students

Implementation of socio-political and socio-economic reforms in the state necessitates the search for practical ways of organizing the successful socialization of student youth, creating the appropriate conditions for self-actualization, formation of social activity. It is substantiated that creative selfrealization of the personality is impossible without its social activity in important spheres of vital activity. Qualitative indicators of social activity of students are determined by curiosity, creative interest, emotionality, enthusiasm, aspiration for creative achievements, aspiration for leadership, aspiration for a high external evaluation, sense of responsibility and responsibility, personal significance of creative activity, aspiration for selfeducation, self-education of creative abilities.

The forms and methods of socio-pedagogical work on the development of social activity of student youth of the university have been experimentally checked (organization of volunteer activity, development of social projects, work in the organs of student self-government, development and implementation of social-pedagogical projects, involvement of students in creative activity). The qualitative indicators of social activity of students were determined by us: curiosity, creative interest, emotionality, enthusiasm, aspiration for creative achievements, aspiration for leadership, aspiration for obtaining a high external evaluation, a sense of responsibility and responsibility, personal significance of creative activity, a desire for selfeducation, self-education of creative abilities.

Social activity we understand as the quality of personality, which manifests itself in various types of socially significant activities. Socially significant activities served as a connecting link between the theoretical training of future social educators and their independent work in social care institutions and facilitated the acquisition of socially valuable experience by students. In today's Ukraine, the actual problem is the lack of gifted, creative and socially active workers - high level specialists in various fields. This poses a problem for educators to find practical ways of organizing the successful socialization of student youth, creating the appropriate conditions for selfactualization, and the formation of social activity. Creative selfrealization of personality is impossible without its social activity in important spheres of life. That is why the formation of social activity of youth is one of the most important tasks of social pedagogy, including social education and social education in general. To quantitative indicators of social activity of students can be attributed: their high overall activity, high performance, the presence of motivation to succeed in the activity, high level of claims and adequate self-esteem. All of them were diagnosed with appropriate techniques. It is established that the development of social activity of young people promotes their attraction to socially significant activities, namely: work in the organs of student self-government; volunteer activity; socio-pedagogical design; activity in artistic groups, club of fun and smart.

Key words: social activity, development, student, university, socio-pedagogical work.

General statement of the problem. Formation of Ukrainian statehood, integration into European and world community, the development of civil society, the transition to a market economy assume the orientation on the formation of personality, which is capable of selfeducation and self-development, is able to apply the acquired knowledge, to think critically, to process information, seek to improve their own lives and the life of the state. A high level of intellectual and creative potential of each person becomes the factor that significantly affects the overall economic development of the country. Particularly acute is felt at the present stage of development of Ukraine, because today is not yet able to solve actual problems of education of youth. Among the reasons for such a situation is called a lack of intellectual readiness of the subjects (teachers) to adopt a complex and at the same time, creative solutions; the actual problem remains a shortage of gifted, creative and socially active professionals high - level professionals in various industries.

However, implementation of socio-political and socio-economic reforms in the conditions of the modern sovereign Ukraine requires not only substantiate the theoretical bases of training of specialists with advanced professional skills who are able to think creatively and to extrapolate new ideas on the present and the future, but also predetermines the necessity of finding practical ways of successful socialization of young people, including students, creation of appropriate conditions for its actualization, the formation of social activity.

A systematic analysis of the socio-pedagogical and psychological literature on the specified problem has revealed that in the works of scientists revealed the structure of endowments and the basic principles of work with gifted children (M. Hnatko, 2015)1; features of social development of students in extracurricular time in higher education (Shashenko S., 2013); socio-pedagogical analysis of the socialization of young people in the industrial region (P. Plotnikov, 2014); prospects for the development of self-realization independence of students in their self-regulation strategies (Pajares, F., Valiante, G., 2002); a study of the mathematical achievements through strategies of self-regulation, as well as the organization of educational process in the regular math classes (F. Perels, Dignatth C., Schmitz B., 2009); educational standards for the education of the individual and the training of teachers to achieve it (Torian- Baska, J., Johnsen S., 2007).

Thus, despite relevant research in pedagogical science in Ukraine and abroad, today there is a need for such scientific works that would disclose the peculiarities of mechanisms of social and pedagogical interaction in order to optimize the development of social activity of students - future social educators.

Research methods. 434 students, pedagogical staff and administration of the Izmail State Humanitarian University (Izmail, Ukraine) were involved in the pedagogical experiment on the development of social activity of the student's youth of the University. Diagnostic methods were used to determine the level of social activity of student youth of the university: the test «Are you sufficient enough» to establish the general activity of students? «Test Questionnaire Measuring Achievement Motivation» to identify the motive for striving for success and avoiding failure; Method «Schwarzlander Motor Test» for diagnosing the level of claims; «Express- diagnostics of self-esteem of boys» for studying student self-esteem; «Orientation questionnaire» to study the orientation of the individual; The «Your creative potential» test to set up students' set-up for creativity.

During the organization of socio-pedagogical work, a number of forms and methods were used (volunteer work organization, work in student self-government bodies, development and implementation of socio-pedagogical projects, involvement of students in artistic and creative activities, etc.).

Results. In order to determine the level of social activity of student youth, at the stage of the pedagogical experiment, two groups of students of the Izmail State Humanitarian University (Izmail, Ukraine) were interviewed: experimental (268 students of day-time education at the Faculty of Pedagogy) and control (266 full-time students of the faculty management, administration and information activities).

Consequently, the quantitative data of the confirmatory experiment confirmed the inadequate social activity of university students. Referring to the experimental data, we conclude that in a higher education institution it is necessary to optimize educational work on the development of social activity of students, the means of which may include the inclusion of youth in volunteer work, the activities of student self-government bodies and artistic groups, the development and implementation of them socially -pedagogical projects.

Discussion. As for the development of social activity of youth as a special pedagogical condition for successful socialization, it should be noted that creative self-realization of the individual is impossible without its social activity in important spheres of life. That is why formation of social activity of youth is one of the most important tasks of social pedagogy, including social education and social education in general. At the same time, as Plotnikov P. (2014, p.177) rightly observes, «the process of formation of social activity of a young person takes place under the influence of two interrelated moments - the conditions created by a democratic society for revealing the creative possibilities of the individual and rational and efficient use of these conditions by the person».

That is, the social activity of the individual acts as its ability to social interaction, in general, responding to the social nature of man. After all, people are not only an object, but also a subject of social relations. Thus, we can state that in modern literature, social activity is revealed in three aspects: as a state of the subject, as a quality, personality trait (we have identified it as a criterion for socialization); as a relation to the activity, the relationship of the subject with the environment and how the degree of manifestation of the social capacity of man. That is why one can agree with Antonova O. (2016), who states that social activity in the modern university is the main quality of socialization.

The qualitative indicators of social activity of students were determined by us: curiosity, creative interest, emotionality, enthusiasm, aspiration for creative achievements, aspiration for leadership, aspiration for obtaining a high external evaluation, a sense of responsibility and responsibility, personal significance of creative activity, a desire for self-education, selfeducation of creative abilities.

Social activity we understand as the quality of personality, which manifests itself in various types of socially significant activities. Socially significant activities served as a connecting link between the theoretical training of future social educators and their independent work in social care institutions and facilitated the acquisition of socially valuable experience by students.

Work in the organs of student self-governmen. If we disclose the possibility of involving students in such a socially important activity as work in the organs of student selfgovernment, it should be noted that this not only promotes the disclosure of their desires, abilities, creative potential. Undoubtedly, students with organizational or leadership giftedness have the opportunity to show themselves as leaders in student self-government (old-age, student's dean's office, student trade union committee). At the same time, their activities also allow active attention to social protection, promote better education, upbringing and selfeducation, discipline, humane relations, and enhance the cultural and spiritual level of other students (Feldhusen J., 2007). In addition, it ensures the formation of such a professionally important quality as social responsibility.

We have found that when students are included in student self-government bodies it is expedient, first of all, to familiarize them with the structure of these bodies, to clarify the functions and responsibilities, directions of work. It will promote more conscious motivation of students to active activity in such bodies, participation in research activities, conferences, competitions, exhibitions, competitions.

During the experiment we carried out the inclusion of persons in the structural units of self-government on the activities (educational, cultural, informational, legal, etc.). During these activities students have gained significant experience in organizational work, taking part in the decision of certain questions of training and education, organization of meaningful leisure time. In addition, given the fact that along with common interests, students are endowed with individual inclinations, preferences, Hobbies, in parallel, we stimulated the incorporation of clubs, studios on interests. Thus, in particular, in the Izmail state humanitarian University (Ukraine) has the following Studio interests: vocal Studio «Kantylena», Studio of author's song and dance Studio «Renaissance», theatre Studio, the image of the Centre of folk-literary Studio. Conducted educational work among students and the corresponding motivation has allowed not only to involve them in the work of these studios. A number of students took an active part in such University activities as an intellectual game «What? Where? When?» on the topic: «The history of the University: past and present», «Night of the guitar», the issue of the monthly wall newspaper «University» and «Forty». Properly organized experimental research work contributed to the fact that the system of student government acted as special form of individual initiative, independence, responsibility of students, directed them to the solution of key problems of life as a student youth, development of their public activity, support for social initiatives. In particular, with the participation of members of student government were held themed events such as «Autumn ball», «Day of knowledge», «the Day of dedication of freshmen in students», «Open doors Day», «Feast of the last bell», «Day of education», «Ceremonial presentation of diplomas to the graduates».

Inclusion of students in volunteering activities. The next way of developing the social activity of students is to attract them to another type of socially significant activity - volunteer. As practice has shown, inclusion of students in volunteer activity is possible in two directions: firstly, within the limits of passing of social and pedagogical practice - it is so-called organized or obligatory participation; secondly, it is the creation of volunteer groups, clubs, schools, whose participants volunteer to implement programs of centers for social services for the family, children and youth, implementation of projects of public organizations for the reform of the system of care, etc.

As for the first direction, within this framework, we were working with students mainly at the stage of motivation and for some time at the stage of activity. At the same time, we used the most typical forms of working with groups of volunteers (Zvyeryeva I., 2012): lectures as a basic method for volunteering (for example, «Volunteer Street Work Technologies»); conversations at volunteer classes for more fruitful pedagogical interaction, for fixing material and learning new ones (eg, «How to assess your volunteer potential, or Who can I help»); business games on practical classes in various areas of social and pedagogical activity for effective mastering of material and acquiring practical skills; «Brainstorming» in order to stimulate, study one or another topic and more effective learning (for example, Free Love: say «yes» or «no»); discussions with volunteers on the most pressing, acute issues, topics (for example, «How to abandon the supply of drugs»); workshops for volunteers with the aim of further learning theoretical knowledge (for example, «Forms and methods of working with groups of adolescent students for the prevention of substance abuse»); socio-psychological training for the purpose of coverage and analysis of socio-pedagogical problems of interpersonal communication (for example, «Assertiveness, communication, emotional self-regulation»); conferences (scientific-practical, reading, press conferences, for example, «Social problems through the prism of periodicals»); «Round tables» for volunteers with the involvement of state and community structures in order to discuss the interaction on the issues of the functioning of the volunteer school, the development of a volunteer movement (for example, «Volunteer Movement of Ukraine - Traditions and Present»); fees for the exchange of experience and the development of new forms of work with different categories of the population.