The personal agency of modern adolescents: Developmental opportunities in a socially enriched environment

Abstract

The article reveals the problem of the development of personal agency of adolescents in a socially enriched environment of additional education. It deals with the theoretical aspects of the problem. Attention is drawn to significant characteristics of personal agency, such as multi-leveledness, reflexivity, motivation, initiative and realization through interaction with others. Special features of adolescence as a sensitive period for the development of personal agency are revealed. The article provides the review of the development of personal agency of adolescents at a socially individual, socially-communicative, socially-interactive and socio-moral levels. It describes methods of studying the development of personal agency of adolescents at a socially individual level, which fix the level of cognitive activity of adolescents and their ability for self-development, allowing to identify five stages of development of personal agency-"observer", "student", "apprentice", "master", "creator". The results of the ascertaining stage of the experimental study of personal agency of adolescents in different educational organizations (secondary school, additional education centre) are presented. They reveal that there are certain discrepancies in the control and experimental groups both in the formation of personal agency and in the level of adolescents' need for self-development as one of the leading indicators of personal agency. The issues of creating pedagogical conditions in the environment of additional education for the development of personal agency of adolescents are discussed. The article also substantiates the necessity of using special technologies to increase the personal agency of adolescents.