Sergei Anatolievich Kremen

The Value Bases for Choosing a Teaching Profession The research raises questions about the value-semantic foundations of the teaching profession in the context of professional choice. The mission of a teacher in contemporary society is to develop a person who has spiritual and moral values that make it possible to withstand global challenges. Simultaneously, the formation of a system of values by a teacher in a child is possible through the teacher’s value system of the teacher himself, which includes the values of the teaching profession. At the state level, the government recognized the need to implement the value-semantic approach in the training of teachers. Based on the analysis of Russian and foreign psychological and pedagogical research, the authors determined the main functions of values as a regulator of personality activity and a source of life and professional goals of a person. The influence of values on the professional self-determination of the future teacher is considered. Various classifications of values of the teaching profession are given. The results of interviews with 90 first-year undergraduate students of Smolensk State University studying in the area of study 44.03.05 “Pedagogical Education (with two majors) are presented”. An analysis of the responses shows that the majority of respondents note the high importance of the teaching profession in today’s society. According to the respondents, the most important characteristics of teachers that have positively affected them are professionalism and moral qualities. The motives for choosing the direction of professional training include the motives of intrinsic value (desire to work with children and interest in the subject) and altruistic motives. More than half of the students declared their desire to work as a teacher, which indicates the acceptance of these values. The conclusions noted the positive aspects and the risks of students’ awareness and acceptance of professionally significant values of the teaching profession.