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Revista de Trabajo Social ISSN 2244-808X
Vol. 14 N
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Octubre-diciembre
ARTÍCULO DE INVESTIGACIÓN
Percepción profesional de los especialistas en trabajo social en la prestación
de servicios sociales y psicológicos a poblaciones vulnerables
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11149358
Burulsun Suiunalieva *, Nasiba Muratalieva
**
, Nazgul Cholponkulova ***, Tuuganbai
Konurbayev ****
Resumen
Este artículo examina las características de la percepción profesional de los especialistas
en trabajo social en la prestación de servicios sociales y psicológicos a categorías de
población vulnerables. La cuestión se aborda utilizando métodos empíricos y estadísticos
para evaluar la percepción socioprofesional de estudiantes y especialistas. El objetivo
del estudio es realizar un análisis estructural del desarrollo del potencial personal en los
futuros especialistas y en los que trabajan actualmente. Los sujetos del estudio fueron
estudiantes de la facultad de pedagogía, maestros de escuela y especialistas en
protección social. Por primera vez, se ha considerado la cuestión de la formación de
especialistas en trabajo social a nivel de formación y reciclaje. Los resultados obtenidos
sirvieron de base para la elaboración de normas profesionales para los trabajadores
sociales.
Palabras clave: percepción socioprofesional, desarrollo del potencial personal,
especialistas en trabajo social, estudiantes de la facultad de pedagogía, profesores de
escuela, análisis estructural.
Abstract
Professional perception of social work specialists in the provision of social
and psychological services to vulnerable populations
Recibido: 29/02/2024 Aceptado: 22/04/2024
*Asociación de Escuelas de Trabajo Social de Kirguistán, Kirguistán. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-
3141-0798
** Candidato de Ciencias Psicológicas, Profesor Asociado.
Universidad Nacional de Kirguistán lleva el nombre
de Jusup Balasagyn, Bishkek, Kirguistán. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8654-1964. E-mail:
nadya.muratalieva@mail.ru
*** Candidato de Ciencias Psicológicas, Profesor Asociado, Universidad Estatal Issyk-Kul que lleva el nombre
de Kasym Tynystanov, Karakol, Kirguistán. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2279-9277. E-mail:
nazgul.c_2005@rambler.ru
****
Candidato de Ciencias Psicológicas, Profesor Asociado, Academia de Educación de Kirguistán, Bishkek,
Kirguistán. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9936-2424.
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This article examines the features of professional perception by social work specialists
in providing social and psychological services to vulnerable population categories. The
issue is addressed using empirical and statistical methods for assessing social-
professional perception by students and specialists. The aim of the study is to conduct a
structural analysis of the development of personal potential in future and currently
working specialists. The subjects of the study were students of the pedagogical faculty,
school teachers, and social protection specialists. For the first time, the issue of training
social work specialists has been considered at the level of training and retraining. The
results obtained provided a basis for the development of professional standards for social
workers.
Keywords: social-professional perception, development of personal potential, social
work specialists, students of the pedagogical faculty, school teachers, structural analysis.
1. Introduction
In the context of globalization of education, the transition to digitalization processes,
and the educational focus on sustainable development, major attention in higher
education is directly given to the problem of training for the professional activities of
future specialists. Recently, the strategy of higher academic education, training, and
retraining of personnel poses challenges for every higher education institution
specializing in primary and additional specializations, in studying the assessment of
societal needs and demands, and recognizing the importance of professionally significant
personal data of a specialist, their individual features, level of communication,
professional interests, and emotional-volitional sphere.
In this regard, socio-psychological issues are raised, focusing attention on aspects
that characterize the personal potential of a social work specialist in their professional
activities. It is necessary to say that in the conditions of the Kyrgyz Republic, social work
specialists aim to define the concept of "social-professional perception" as a perception
in assessing attention to the study of the personal potential of future social work
specialists.
2. Literature review
Professional perception, as a psychological concept, appeared relatively recently. A
synonymous concept with "perception" is "apprehension". In a historical context, human
perception was first considered by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle as the
sensation of sensory perception in the process of cognition (Ebbesen et al., 2022) Later,
comparing perception with understanding the act of cognition and its connection with
other mental cognitive processes and human thinking, G.W. Leibniz considered
perception as a state of unclear consciousness, gradually transitioning under the
influence of attention into a state of clear and meaningful consciousness (Leibniz, 1951).
Considering the problem of perception in the key definition of the psychological
concept, the history of psychology has devoted a considerable period of time to the study
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of perception as one of the types of mental cognitive processes, establishing a scientific
evidential basis for the physiology of human psyche, and defining the properties and
types of perception.
Throughout different historical periods of psychological research, perception has
been understood differently, and it has had a broad scientific range of understanding
and interpretation. In this direction, the works of scholars from various psychological
schools and directions are dedicated, including M. Wertheimer, J. Bruner, N. Wiener, W.
Wundt, J.J. Gibson, W. Köhler, K. Koffka, D. Marr, I.P. Pavlov, J. Piaget, E. Titchener,
A.I. Kovalev, and others.
Certain significance to the understanding of perception is also noted in the works of
Immanuel Kant. According to Kant, perception as an inner sense is "the sense through
which the soul contemplates itself or its inner state" (Kant, 1970, p. 93). The word "or"
here indicates that Kant, apparently, considers that the inner sense is capable of
contemplating itself both as "I" and the mental states of a person (Kant, 1786, p. 30).
Highlighting the development of psychoanalytic theory on the nature of
consciousness and the unconscious, Carl Gustav Jung considers archetypes as a form of
perception and understanding of reality. The author describes the "persona" as our
conscious personality, which represents our identity and our conscious motives, that is,
the social role a person plays in meeting the demands made on them by society, the
public face of the personality perceived by others, hiding vulnerable and painful spots,
weaknesses, flaws, intimate details, and sometimes the essence of a person's character.
Jung's "persona" is an archetype representing the mask and role we adopt in social life.
The persona is the official face of the personality. It represents the mask of the collective
psyche. It is a compromise between the individual and sociality. The persona acts as a
secondary reality, purely a compromise formation, in which others sometimes see much
more than the individual himself. The persona is a facade, a two-dimensional reality, a
balanced result of the interaction of an individual's Person archetypes and the people
interacting with them (Ebbesen et al., 2022, p. 154).
Such an approach in understanding justifies the perception in the socio-psychological
conditioning of a personality's social and individual positions as a persona. In the mid-
20th century, perception as a scientific problem of holistic reflection of the world and
internal contemplation of the human world becomes the definition of the concept of
"social perception," introduced by the American psychologist, a Harvard University
Ph.D., Jerome Bruner. In his works, he proved that perception is generated not only by
sensations but also by reason.
The introduced concept of social perception (the perception of one person by
another) became a new direction of scientific-psychological research in the second half
of the 20th century, addressing the person as both an object and subject of social
interaction. This led to a rethinking of the paradigmatic foundations of psychological
science in the field of studying perception. A deeper scientific disclosure of the
regularities of the process of human perception by another person (understanding
another person) and the role of this process in human relationships is associated with
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the name of the scientist A.A. Bodalev. In his understanding, perception is "the cognition
and mutual influence of people on each other - an essential element of any joint activity,
even if its purpose is not directly to solve educational tasks, and it is entirely aimed at
achieving some material result. How people reflect and interpret each other's appearance
and behavior and assess each other's capabilities largely determines the nature of their
interaction and the results they achieve in joint activities (Bodalev, 2015, p. 9).
In such a definition, it is necessary to consider the aspect of understanding that joint
activity implies the nature of professional activity and the specifics of the profession in
which a person is involved and with whom they interact. Today, the classical
understanding of perception is a cognitive (mental) process, the result of which is the
formation of a subjective world picture through the direct impact of an object or
phenomenon on human senses. The ability to perceive the surroundings is one of the
important properties of our psyche (Ingold, 2021).
Noting the retrospective view, it is interesting that professional perception as a
psychological concept initially originated in social psychology and is now comparable to
the concept of social perception. Social perception is a process that arises during the
interaction of people with each other and includes the perception, study, understanding,
and evaluation of social objects by people: other people, themselves, groups, or social
communities. It is determined that the process of social perception is a complex and
branched system of forming images of social objects in a person's consciousness as a
result of such methods of people's understanding of each other as perception, cognition,
understanding, and study. The term "perception," more restrictively explaining that "it
contemplates the image of the psyche internally," and does not define the formation of
an observer's representation of their interlocutor, as this is a more specific process with
a completely different psychological basis. Perception is a theoretical concept
characterizing an artificially isolated fragment of the whole process of cognition and
subjective interpretation of the world by a person. Social perception is a complex, multi-
component concept, attempting to explain the unique phenomenon of people's
understanding of each other as a whole. The concept of "social perception" includes
everything that is conventionally designated by various terms and studied separately:
the actual process of observing behavior; the interpretation of perceived behavior in
terms of the reasons for the behavior and expected consequences; emotional evaluation;
and the construction of one's own behavioral strategy (Snyder et al., 1977).
The concept emerged as a necessity for a new mental, social, and cultural reality,
understanding interpersonal communication and interaction, the importance of external
manifestations (appearance, behavior, speech) and the internal perception of oneself
(Bandura, 2006).
A.L. Fatykhova and A.S. Lisina considered the social-perceptual competence of a
teacher as an essential prerequisite for purposeful activity, which allows them to perform
their professional duties using existing experience, knowledge, personal qualities, and
also to adapt their activities in various situations as a stable characteristic of personality,
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including the following components: motivational, cognitive, emotional, and operational-
activity (Fatykhova et al., 2017).
In this article, we explore social-professional perception in terms of not only its role
and significance but also its meaningful content in studying the nature of professional
activity. Living in a profession, life within a profession, occupies every specialist, with a
life orientation towards the new, changing, and stable development in the profession.
A vivid example was the scientist V.V. Solozhenkin, who in his work raised issues
about the psychological basis of the activity of future doctors, defining the "persona of
the doctor" proposed a structural pedagogical model, in which he showed how primary
representations, self-awareness skills, and group consolidation are formed, where
students learn about the functioning of individual spheres of human psyche in norm
(Kolominsky, 1986). This allowed the scientist to help students "acclimate" to the
profession of a doctor, to feel a sense of the profession, to love it, understand their role,
believe in their professional achievements, be resilient and dedicated to the profession,
and not to lose its appeal. Demanding resilience and firmness from his proteges, the
scientist himself treated his students with tender care.
The interpretable attitude of the scientist towards his professional activity clearly
delineated his professional position in feelings and faith, consciousness and thinking,
attitude and worldview. There are many such examples among psychologists -
professionals, when we talk about schools of well-known scientists. For Kyrgyzstan,
these names are associated, first of all, with the names of psychologists such as N.N.
Palagina, A.A. Brudny, E.S. Orozaliev, A.A. Chazova, Ch.A. Shakeeva, T.A. Konurbaeva,
D.M. London, and others.
The problem of educating a person by a person, as noted by A.A. Rean (Rean, 1999;
2002), Y.L. Kolominskiy (Kolominsky, 1986) has become extremely popular in world
psychology over the last 30-35 years. Many works dedicated to it have been published
in our country and abroad (Kuzmina, 1999, p. 232).
One of the most important mechanisms of interpersonal cognition is stereotyping.
Under the influence of others and due to interaction with them, each person forms more
or less concrete standards, using which, they assess other people. Regardless of whether
a person is aware of it or not, they always perceive those around them through the prism
of existing stereotypes (Rean, 2002).
Our research concentrated on the aspects of pedagogical professional perception.
The objective was to explore how prospective teachers (namely, students) view the
character traits of a primary school teacher and the self-perception held by primary
school teachers.
3. Methods and Materials
To address the central research question, the study employed a pedagogical strategy
known as the "cluster strategy" from the pedagogical technology framework "Developing
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Critical Thinking through Reading and Writing" (Still et al., 1988, pp. 66-70). This
strategy, which supports non-linear and unrestricted thought, facilitates free and open
thinking on a given topic.
Participants included future primary school teachers in their fifth year of education,
recent graduates, and practicing primary school teachers, amounting to a total of 30
individuals. Participants were instructed to place the term "primary school teacher" at
the center of a sheet of paper and freely associate words and ideas that they connect
with this role. They were then asked to articulate as many related concepts as occurred
to them and, subsequently, to formulate their personal definitions of a "primary school
teacher."
The study's analysis was grounded in the theory of reflexive-perceptual abilities as
detailed by Y.L. Kolominskiy (Kolominsky, 1986) and N.V. Kuzmina (Kuzmina, 1999).
These abilities pertain to how individuals interpret the dynamics of subject-object
relationships within educational environments and relate to the teacher's sensitivity to
both their own persona and that of their colleagues. The efficacy of a teacher's self-
awareness and comprehension of others’ personalities, especially prospective teachers,
is therefore posited to hinge on these faculties.
Following the data collection, a comparative analysis of responses was conducted to
discern patterns and draw insights regarding the professional perception among
educators at various stages in their careers.
4. Results and Discussion
The Table 1 presents a comparative analysis of the collected data, which provides an
evaluative perspective on the pedagogical professional perception among future and
current primary school teachers. This analysis is instrumental in understanding the
dynamics of self-perception and the perceived identity of a primary school teacher within
the educational profession.
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Table 1
Results of the Data on Associations Obtained
Self-Perception
Perception of others
The teacher's
personality is a
source of light,
around which rays
spread into the
darkness.
The teacher's
personality is the
builder of the
'tower' of
knowledge and
success.
The teacher's
personality is the
'face' of society.
I see the teacher's
personality, first and
foremost, as a
highly moral
member of society,
honest, open,
conscious, capable
of creative thinking
and 'advancing' the
thoughts of
children.
The teacher's
personality is primarily
a flexible individual who
can apply their
knowledge and skills not
only in the field of
educational activities
but also in other areas:
in business, medicine,
construction,
communications, etc.,
should have at least a
second specialty and
know at least 1-2
foreign languages.
Degree of Attractiveness
Degree of Unattractiveness
The teacher's
personality is the
'divine' beginning
of a growing
'human being,' you
could say, the
spiritual side that
determines the
child's further life
potential.
The teacher's
personality is the
'measure' of a
child's external and
internal life,
maintaining the
degree of balance in
the child's life.
The teacher's
personality should
be focused on the
process of a child's
development and
the outcome of
their activities, not
on attending
lessons, frequency
of responses in
class, or their own
subjective
preparation.
In the classroom, it
should not be the
teacher working, but
the children, who, I
assure you, are capable
of taking responsibility
for learning. In the
classroom, we often see
the opposite.
Disappointment in the
profession.
As noted by A.A. Rean and Y.L. Kolominsky, "The reflexive-perceptive skills of a
teacher form a limited complex: to recognize one's own individual-psychological
characteristics, to assess one's psychological state, and to carry out a multifaceted
perception and adequate understanding of the student's personality. Like any skills in
general, they are based on a system of corresponding knowledge (laws and mechanisms
of interpersonal cognition and reflection, age psychology of children, adolescents, youth)
and certain skills. No matter how extensive and varied the mentioned knowledge might
be, without the presence of a complete complex of corresponding skills, reflexive-
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perceptive abilities cannot be formed. The complex of so-called reflexive-perceptive skills
allows a teacher to perform some actions related to the cognition of a student's
personality without conscious element-by-element regulation and control. In our view,
the structure of these skills includes three types - socio-perceptive, reflexive, and
intellectual. The latter presuppose the automatization of methods for solving individual
pedagogical tasks on self-knowledge and cognition of students' personalities"
(Solozhenkin, 1997, p. 321).
The above fully applies to the objectives of our study, where we tried to explore the
features of perceptual activity in the profession of primary school teachers among future
primary school teachers, as well as among real teachers who have been working in the
field of professional activity for several years.
Overall, as our research has shown, in compiling the cluster, both students and
teachers formed associations in four groups of directions: self-perception, perception of
others, degrees of attractiveness, and unattractiveness.
All associations related to the key concept of "teacher personality" in both groups of
respondents are somewhat similar to each other and in some cases very different.
For the groups of associations related to "self-perception" and "degree of
unattractiveness," both groups of respondents have developed a significant number of
associations, while for the groups "self-perception" and "relationships of others,"
significantly fewer associations were identified. In our view, this is because the first two
groups of associations touch more on personally significant emotional aspects, whereas
the latter concern the business side of professional activity.
An interesting direction for further work could be to explore our study by raising
questions about the professional training of a future specialist - a practical psychologist
and the functioning of psychological services in various organizations.
The recognition of the importance of psychological knowledge for practice in
education and training in higher education is determined by the emergence of increased
public interest in psychological help. Understanding that there is an objective necessity
and pressing need for psychological knowledge in the educational system, recognizing
and accepting the fact that conceptual views have the potential to solve problems in the
process of education and training in higher education institutions becomes logical and
justified.
5. Conclusion
Thus, from the retrospective analysis of the definition of the psychological concept,
three moments can be highlighted:
Perception was considered as a psychological cognitive process, experiencing
of senses, living through these feelings;
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Perception as the perception of people by each other, the social component
in interacting with each other, interpersonal relationships, considered as
social perception;
Perception as self-relationship in one's profession.
Considering the trends of the educational paradigm within the competency-based
approach and the humanization of modern education, professional perception acts as a
phenomenon of perceiving a profession in education, in assessing the needs for choosing
a future profession, personally significant characteristics, and value-meaningful
relationships to the profession.
Looking at the problem of the concept of forming and developing the personal
potential of the subject in education, the future specialist, professional perception
becomes an active way of knowing one's future profession, allowing to perceive its
attractiveness, demand, and dedication to one's work, emotional comfort from the
usefulness of one's labor, and internal resilience to one's professional business.
It is also significant that well-developed personal-professional qualities have the
opportunity to develop and act as a relevant component of regulation of actions and
deeds in professional activity (Chazova, 1999).
Professional perception is nothing else but living one's future profession, a holistic
subjective reflection of the real situation in achieving success, showing professional
interest, defining personal-professional qualities and values, motivation, communication,
interaction, professional reflection, and reflection of professional mastery and
experience.
It can be said that such professional perception as a psychological concept is more
inherent in understanding the stability of processes of formation and development of
professional activity of future specialists.
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