Kovchyn N. A., Candidate of pedagogy sciences,

Senior researcher of

Institute of Pedagogy of NAES of Ukraine

A modern textbook as a means of formation of psycho - emotional personality of a student.

Today, when the world is going through global transformational changes, social as well as ecological and geopolitical , students of comprehensive schools, secondary and high school students in particular, should be provided assistance in order to insure their successful intellectual and psychological adaptation to the new complicated environment. And this is a school textbook that we should primarily rely on. It should be structured in view of changes happening in the society and the world in general as well as specific character of formation of psycho - emotional spheres of adolescents.

Challenges on the way to making a new generation of textbooks have been studied by many scientists (Bibik N.M., Nadtoka O.F., Savchenko O. Y., Topuzov O.M., Pometun A.I and others).

The issue of impact of a textbook on the process of formation of psycho - emotional spheres of teenagers still remains actual and needs further research.

A modern textbook must be based on certain strategies of new knowledge formation: interiorization, exteriorization, problematisation, and reflection. Reflection is aimed at searching for new reasons of complications and mistakes in the course of which it can be realized whether or not used attempts of the intellectual activity correspond to the level and character of the task, critical attitude toward one’s own activities and ways are formed. To realize a situation means to understand it. In contrast, reflection implies dividing into parts, performing analysis of a situation or information relative to the purpose of intellectual activity.

It is important to identify whether there are enough tasks on reflection in the textbook and whether it corresponds to intellectual abilities of students.

A textbook must realize a program of formation of general school intellectual skills meeting the following requirements:

І. Perception and comprehension of information.

1. Analysis and emphasis of primary information. 2. Comparison.

ІІ. Generalization, systematizations and evaluation.

1. Generalization and systematization. 2. Defining concepts, evaluation. 4. Argumentation and refutation.

ІІІ. Artistic skills.

Textbook content must contribute to formation of personality coping resources that enable students to cope with stressful situations.

Strategies that are used to handle stressful situations are coping resource strategies that are based on personal experience (personal recourses or coping recourses).

Coping recourses are divided into the following types:

- physical (temperament, health, stamina)

- psychological (self-evaluation, locus of control, beliefs);

- social (different kinds of social support, social connections).

Also, coping resources are divided into personal and social. The main coping resource that enables people to cope with stressful situations is personal resource:

- cognitive coping resource is knowledge, way of thinking, beliefs that enable us to adequately evaluate impact of the surrounding environment;

- «Self - concept» –concept of oneself, self-evaluation, self-regulation; there can be defined: cognitive «Self – image», and emotional valuation – attitude towards oneself;

- internal locus of control is ability and skills to control one’s own life and take responsibility for it; independently, relying on one’s own skills and abilities;

- external locus of control: hope for external factors, chances, luck, mystery, destiny, heredity;

- social competence;

- value motivational structure of personality.

Cognitive personal resource is first and foremost their accumulated primary knowledge and ways of thinking. What must be taken into account is whether a textbook content and structure provide appropriate knowledge formation, style of thinking that will assist students to overcome stressful situations in the future.

It must be considered that development of cognitive processes is a result of constant efforts of a personality to adapt to changes in the surrounding environment, nature, society, the world, therefore, it is necessary to evaluate whether the author implies developing adaptive skills and abilities of students. A textbook must contain not only logically explained scientific information but also encourage intellectual activity, necessarily activate emotional processes that promote optimization of thinking processes, improve memorizing skills, develop imagination and increase concentration.

What must be kept in mind is: а) emotionally involved students are better motivated to further learn, study and research; b) a textbook activating emotional sphere of a student promotes development of value attitude towards knowledge, towards the world as an object of cognition, towards other people; c) emotions create “a platform” for holistic knowledge to further base on; г) regulatory function of emotions in thinking manifest itself for students’ through being able to activate intellectually and emotionally important situations, facts in the textbook, encourage self - expression and self - realization.

Textbook material must be combined in such a way that it encourages both theoretical creative and theoretical conceptual thinking that co-exist in the process of students’intellectual activity. Theoretical conceptual thinking is based on concepts and use of judgments and conclusions made by others (authors or scientists) or is accompanied by their own judgments and conclusions (by algorithm offered by the author of a textbook)

In contrast, in theoretical creative thinking images not concepts are used as basis for intellectual activity. They are taken from students’ memory or creatively made in their imagination. With help of images our imagination solves tasks that are set. Therefore, a textbook must combine tasks based on concepts with tasks based on images.

Therefore, a textbook must include tasks and materials that activate both right-hand side of our brain that is emotional stimulus, color scheme, enough illustrations, photos, and left-hand side of it that is enough tables and diagrams, logical reasoning, conclusions.

Actual task of a textbook is to develop emotional intellect.

Emotional intellect is a set of skills necessary for realizing and understanding one’s own emotions as well as others’. Students with high level of emotional intellect are well aware of other people’s feelings, are able to effectively control their own emotional sphere so their behavior in our society is more adaptive, they achieve goals more easily.

These are the following components of emotional intellect:

– self-awareness (realization of one’s own emotions, self-confidence, self-respect, self-actualization);

– communicative potential (empathy, social responsibility);

– adaptation skills (ability to handle problems, overcome difficulties ect);

– anti-stress potential антистресовий потенціал (self-control, stress -resistance).

To develop emotional intellect it is important to make sure that textbooks include information, tasks, illustrations that activate emotional processes, empathy, reflection, motivation etc. All these components provide emotional development among students at its full. For example, modeling different communicative situations in a textbook content is an effective means to achieve it.

Teaching information aimed at developing emotional intellect must be presented adequately in form of modeled situations in view of age –psychological characteristics of students. After familiarizing with materials that imply revealing of certain emotions, it is reasonable to incorporate some lessons on reflection, activities that intend self-analysis of both their own emotional state and other students’.

Crucial is analysis of impact of textbook content and the way material is presented on the general state of a student. Modern psychological studies on psycho-emotional spheres reveal that there is a high level of aggression, anxiety, (both situational and personal), irritation, low level of tolerance, certain cognitive and psychological imbalance, state of stress and distress.

According to the results it is both geopolitical, social, modern phenomena and not efficiently enough organized teaching process, drawbacks of some modern textbooks in particular, that have caused such state of affairs.

Which is why, it should be emphasized that a textbook should avoid illustrations with elements of aggression or negative phenomena, as well as negative co-information that can lead to students feeling more anxious, worried and stressed should be eliminated.

Information for students about geopolitical , social , global transformational processes must be positive and contribute to stress resistance, formation of internal locus of control(being ready to overcome stress by means of one’s personal resources)

Style of material teaching, tasks, appeal etc must be positive, without psychological personality of a student being pressed and discouraged.

A textbook must contribute to formation of patriotic feelings, a civic stand, social maturity, aspiration to self-realization.

In conclusion, a modern textbook is an effective means of formation of psycho - emotional and volitional spheres of a student’s personality.