Value-motivational sphere of student teachers and the university educational environment

Introduction. The article addresses the development of the value-motivational sphere of future teachers within the transforming university educational environment. The study is relevant due to the need for designing a new educational environment in teacher training universities that considers the specific characteristics of the value-motivational sphere of modern students. Empirical data on the comparative specifics of future teachers and students from other fields are currently insufficient. The study aims to identify the specifics of value orientations, academic motivation, and the level of spiritual well-being among students in pedagogical and non-pedagogical fields. Materials and methods. The research methods included: I.G. Senin's Terminal Values Questionnaire ("OTsTs"), the "Spiritual Well-Being Scale", and the method for diagnosing student academic motivation (by A.A. Rean and V.A. Yakunin, modified by N.Ts. Badmaeva). The sample consisted of 1,827 students. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for group comparison. Results. The results revealed statistically significant differences between the groups. Student teachers demonstrated a higher importance of the values of achievement, self-development, and preservation of individuality, as well as a higher overall level of spiritual well-being. Key spheres of self-realization for them are public life, hobbies, and studies. It was found that the academic motivation of future teachers is more associated with motives for creative self-realization and prestige, while professional motives are of low significance. Discussion and conclusions. The discussion of the results allowed for formulating key pedagogical conditions for designing a new educational environment in a teacher training university: 1) expanding opportunities for social activities and self-realization; 2) developing a flexible system for rewarding academic and extracurricular achievements; 3) targeted work to enhance the professional component of academic motivation through practice-oriented forms of learning. The obtained data substantiate the necessity of considering the identified specifics of the students' value-motivational sphere when building educational work at the university for the effective professional development of future teachers.