Requirements for professional preparedness and personality of a specialist are always determined by the specifics of professional activity. Below are some psychological and pedagogical differences in the activities of a professional in the field of physical education (PE) and adaptive physical education (APC).
1. The object and subject of pedagogical activity, including physical education teachers and trainers, is a person (A.N. Leontiev, 1975), and the subject of the activity of a specialist in the field of physical education is a person (child or adult) with limited physical and mental abilities.
Professional activity in the field of physical activity is largely associated with helping this category of people in the formation of positive self-esteem based on creating for them a situation of success in physical activity.
In the structure of the activity of a physical education teacher, the communicative component takes on a special role: the advantage of speech (verbal) communication over nonverbal when interacting with people with visual deprivation, the need to speak sign language when working with people with hearing deprivation, etc., as well as gnostic (cognitive) component in connection with the mandatory monitoring of changes in the health status of those involved.
The activities of an AF specialist are characterized by a higher degree of mental tension compared to the activities of a FC professional.
The selection and use by the AFK teacher of preparatory and leading exercises in the process of teaching the technique of motor actions, physical assistance techniques and insurance, taking into account the real capabilities of the group members, depending on the severity of the defect (physical, sensory, mental) is a more complex task than in FC.
An AFK professional has a better chance of implementing an individual approach due to, as a rule, the small number of members of the group.
It is necessary for the personal assessment criterion (“today is better than yesterday”) to prevail over the normative and comparative criteria in the activities of a physical education teacher in comparison with the activities of a physical education teacher.
Encouraging the efforts and diligence of people with limited physical and mental capabilities, no less, but even more than their real successes, is due to the fact that there may not be positive dynamics for a long time.
The relationship in the “teacher-doctor” system is more important for AFC, while medical knowledge is professionally important for a specialist in this field.
The above-mentioned psycho-pedagogical features of the activity of a PFC specialist are of a general nature. At the same time, each type of physical education - adaptive physical education, adaptive sports, adaptive physical recreation, physical rehabilitation, creative (artistic and musical) body-oriented practices and extreme types of physical activity - places special demands on the activities of a professional.
For example, it is important for a coach to help disabled athletes develop identification with the role of an athlete, i.e. help to accept the social role of an athlete. Treating yourself as an athlete means treating yourself as confident, strong, responsible for your successes and failures, etc., contributes to a number of positive changes in the personality of a disabled person (A.D. Cheremnykh, 1998). One of the features of its activities also includes the intermittent nature of sports activities for people with disabilities due to the need to continue treatment, carry out preventive measures, prosthetics, etc.
General and special psychological and pedagogical features of the activity of a physical education specialist determine a system of professionally important knowledge and skills, i.e. professional preparedness. The first attempts to describe the model of an ROS specialist were made by T.V. Fedorova (1998), but today this problem is being solved.
Professionally important personality qualities are the specific abilities of a professional, stable characteristics of a specialist that correspond to his main activity.
Speaking about the personality of a teacher, including in the field of physical education, it should be noted that “a teacher is most often considered as a simple arithmetic sum of the virtues that he should have. He has them at 100% - an excellent teacher, 75% - good, 50% - mediocre, below 50% - bad. Of course, this is not so: every teacher... is a personality, a certain character, a special breed - each in his own style. Each teacher must determine what breed he is in order to know both his strengths and weaknesses, and all the features of his weapon, i.e. his personality as a teacher and educator" 3.
General professionally important personality qualities (regardless of the specifics of work) are conscientiousness and emotional stability, which ensure success of activities according to any criteria (Salgado, 1997), as well as the integral quality of psychological stability (hardiness) (S. Kobassa, 1979, 1982).
Conscientiousness, as a manifestation of commitment, commitment, and persistence, is considered a strong predictor of professionalism (Barrick & Mount, 1991).
Emotional stability as balance, a tendency toward calmness, and self-control is associated with productivity and job satisfaction. The higher the level of stability, the better the productivity and the higher the satisfaction. Professionals with low levels of stability (i.e., high levels of instability or neuroticism) tend to experience significantly less satisfaction with workload, relationships with colleagues, and pay, and also experience significantly greater emotional distress (Organ, 1975; A. Fernheim, 2001).
Increased instability and a suboptimal motivational complex of a teacher are interconnected.
Emotional instability can cause a decrease in satisfaction with the profession in a number of cases. And vice versa, the more the teacher’s activity is determined by the motives of avoidance, blame, the desire to “not get into trouble” due to low satisfaction (failures, intrapersonal conflict, etc.), the higher the level of emotional instability (A.A. Rean, 1990) .
Professional activity, including that of a AFK specialist, is associated with professional stress. A high level of psychological stability is determined by the integrative personal quality of “hardiness”, i.e. courageous, daring, “a tough nut to crack”, persistent, with the power of confrontation. This quality, which includes three components: taking on unconditional obligations (commitment), control (control) and challenge (challenge), helps a person to successfully resolve stressful situations and maintain health at the same time (Fig. 2).
Control as the ability to resist failure is associated with internal locus control, i.e. any difficult situation is controllable and not a blow of fate, therefore, it can be somehow transformed to your advantage. The third component - challenge - involves treating any difficult and unfavorable event in your professional and life career as an incentive to develop your own capabilities, as an opportunity to express yourself.
Regardless of the specifics of pedagogical activity (and therefore in the field of physical education), the influence of character on the state of a professional increases with increasing complexity of the activity: a) at the initial stage of the lesson (lesson); b) among young specialists compared to older and more experienced ones; c) in a situation of conflict (A.O. Prokhorov, T.N. Vasilyeva, 2001).
The main character traits that ensure the emergence and maintenance of favorable states of the teacher (emotional uplift, enthusiasm, etc.) are: discipline, conscientiousness, accuracy, organization, activity, responsibility, diligence. Character traits that allow a teacher to feel optimally in a conflict situation include: tolerance, tenderness, caring, attentiveness, kindness, affection, affection, etc.
The professional and personal qualities of the AFK specialist were considered, first of all, as part of the motivation of future professionals.
PSYCHOLOGICAL STABILITY INTEGRATIVE QUALITY “HARDY”
Successfully resolving stressful situations and maintaining health
Rice. 2. Integrative quality “Hardy” (according to Kobassa, 1979, 1982)
The main motives that stimulate the professional self-determination of students in this specialty are the motives of personal prestige, professionalism, pragmatic and cognitive motives. The high expression of these groups of motives (with the exception of pragmatic ones) contributes to the formation in the majority of first-year students of a general semantic orientation towards working with people with disabilities. Pragmatic motives (the wishes of parents, avoidance of military service, etc.) have a negative impact on the success of students’ learning, which necessitates the formation of adequate professional motivation (T.V. Fedorova, 1999).
We can talk about some professionally important personality traits of an AFK specialist.
The personal qualities necessary for working with disabled children were studied by interviewing 26 2nd year students specializing in the AFC SPbGAFK im. P.F. Lesgafta, with little experience in teaching practice (“students”), and 10 employees of the R. McDonald’s Children’s Charitable Foundation, with experience in conducting recreational activities (“employees”), who ranked ten personal qualities in terms of their importance for their own professional activities (see table). At the same time, the list of qualities could be increased or decreased, one trait could be replaced with another. Thus, “employees” replaced “sympathy” with “respect”, considering this a more appropriate definition of attitude towards “special” children.
The most significant personality traits included patience, kindness, and empathy/respect. At the same time, patience is a more important quality, according to “students”, and goodwill – according to “employees” (rank 1).
Professionally important personality traits of a AFK specialist
|
Significance degree |
Personality qualities |
|
|
"Students" |
"Employees" |
|
|
Most important qualities (ranks 1–3) |
· patience · kindness · compassion |
· kindness · patience · respect |
|
Important Qualities (Ranks 4–7) |
· empathy · confidence · flexibility · demanding of oneself and others |
· flexibility · confidence · demanding of oneself and others · tact |
|
Least Important Qualities (Ranks 8–10) |
· sociability · tactfulness · desire for self-improvement |
· desire for self-improvement · empathy · sociability |
Empathy as the ability to understand the emotional state of another through empathy was included in the group of important personality qualities among “students,” while “employees” consider it the least significant (rank 9). Apparently, this is due to the specifics of their activities, first of all, the variability of the children's contingent.
Tactfulness, flexibility as the ability to act depending on the situation, the desire for self-improvement are more important for “employees” than for “students,” although in general they constituted a group of important qualities.
Sociability, according to both “students” and “employees,” is the least important character trait.
Confidence associated with positive self-esteem in the hierarchy of professional personal characteristics belongs to the group of important qualities (rank 5), which is most likely due to the insufficiently high level of professional preparedness of the study participants.
Thus, the personality of a professional has a certain influence on his activities. At the same time, there is also a reverse influence. The positive impact of activity on the personality is associated with the formation of an individual style of activity, and the negative impact is associated with professional disadaptation, and specifically with professional deformation (R.M. Granovskaya, Yu.S. Krizhanskaya, 1994) and the development of the “mental burnout” syndrome. (N.E. Vodopyanova, 2001; G. Craig, 2001).
The syndrome of “mental burnout” deserves special attention, which is due to the specific nature of the activity of a AFK specialist.
According to the model of K. Maslach and S. Jackson, “burnout” (“burnout”) is understood as a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduction of personal achievements. Emotional exhaustion is the main component, which manifests itself both in a reduced emotional background, indifference to people (emotional adaptation), and in emotional incontinence (emotional satiety). Depersonalization manifests itself in changes in relationships with other people (dependence or, conversely, unacceptable attitudes in working with people, the desire to humiliate, etc.). The reduction of personal achievements is associated with a negative assessment of one’s own results, oneself as a professional, or the limitation of one’s capabilities, responsibilities in relation to others, i.e. with a decrease in self-esteem (N.E. Vodopyanova, 2001).
The risk of this syndrome occurring in a professional in the field of ROS is quite high, which requires special research regarding its development and ways of prevention and correction.
Test questions and assignments
1. Describe such personality traits as conscientiousness and emotional stability.
2. How do you understand the integrative personal quality of “hardy”?
What character traits are important for an adaptive physical education teacher?
Reveal the difference in the ranking of professionally important personal qualities of an AFK specialist by “students” and “employees”.
5. What is “mental burnout” syndrome?
Adaptive physical education(abbr. AFK) is a set of sports and recreational measures aimed at rehabilitation and adaptation to the normal social environment of people with disabilities, overcoming psychological barriers that impede the feeling of a full life, as well as the awareness of the need for one’s personal contribution to the social development of society. https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_physical_culture
Currently, only exercise therapy doctors (with medical education) or AFC specialists (pedagogical education) are approved by the laws of the Russian Federation, and graduates after graduating from specialized universities, going into practice, as a rule, are faced with the so-called average “disability standard”, who have mild or an average degree of impairment in one of the nosological forms, and if a child has multiple impairments, a complicated pathology, or a rare genetic disease, then having received the necessary medical care, and having failed to be cured to a “normal” state, he is sent home. And here a problem arises when medicine, as a separate system not related to pedagogy, cannot provide the entire list of necessary services to the child. It turns out that exercise therapy is not suitable for many people for medical reasons, and for AFC it is still necessary to obtain medical recommendations, which are not available for children with multiple disorders and rare diseases. Who can I get help from and where? This is where a “social hole” formed. And these AFK/physical therapy specialists, in order to do their work, are forced to learn anew - “European methods”, find out how rehabilitation is done in other countries, and adopt international experience. Why?! Simply because throughout the world, rehabilitation is a complex of “medical and pedagogical” measures, and all specialists work closely with each other, having a common goal - the rehabilitation of the child. Therefore, increasingly, under these modest abbreviations AFC, exercise therapy, good occupational therapists, physical therapists, bobat therapists, dolphin therapists, specialists in sensory integration and kinesitherapy are hidden.. the list goes on, the point is that none of them are listed in the State register of professions Russian Federation, and cannot officially work in their specialty on the territory of the Russian Federation, but at the same time, Russia really needs such specialists, which is why social entrepreneurship is now beginning to develop https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_entrepreneurship_in_Russia (privately, non-profit enterprises, or autonomous organizations, individual entrepreneurs). Many who used their services confirmed the qualitative difference from budgetary structures.
“Why should we pay for rehabilitation? How long do we have to endure this disgrace? Children with disabilities should be provided with high-quality services at public expense!”, and other slogans of mothers are fair, but as a rule they do not change anything in the quality of life of their children.
In the meantime, a huge amount of scientific work is being carried out, and everything does not stand still. For example, Germany generously shares all its experience in this area, and has greatly changed our views on medicine, laying the foundation for modern rehabilitation in the 90s. But this is not enough. And we are introducing European experience in working with children with multiple developmental disabilities, adapting methods to the needs of children with severe defects and rare genetic diseases that government agencies refuse to work with, and proving that there are no uneducable children.
After all, it is not the state or individual institutions that change the world, they only assert, but the people themselves, who understand that they need changes now.
We are living through time in our country - the formation of rehabilitation and habilitation, but for now we will simply call ourselves AFKexpert, since good specialists know each other by sight, know and love their job, meet at seminars, discuss new trends, and methods - real fans your business! And in this new time, everyone has their own choice: start living here and now, or wait for the state to solve all our problems.
We offer an interview with Mikhail Dmitrievich Ripa, professor of the Department of Adaptive Physical Culture at Moscow State Pedagogical University. Our conversation is about specialists in adaptive physical culture.
Average salary: 20,100 rubles per month
Demand
Payability
Competition
Entry barrier
Prospects
There are professions that we have heard a lot about: or programmer. And there are no less interesting and important, but not so “promoted”. In order to expand our readers’ understanding of existing professions, we present an interview with Mikhail Dmitrievich Ripa.
- Mikhail Dmitrievich, we know what physical education is. What is adaptive physical culture?
Adaptive physical education, or, in short, adaptive physical education, is physical education for people with limited physical capabilities (disabled people), also for those who have serious health conditions, for example, a bad heart, poor eyesight, poor hearing - and, finally, for people who are simply not physically developed enough. For example, a person has been sitting at the computer a lot since childhood, his chest is compressed and therefore has insufficient volume, his muscles are weak, and his posture is poor. He seems to be healthy, but in physical education class he cannot run the distance along with others. Here it must first be brought, so to speak, to the “basic” level.
As for disabled people, we must keep in mind that we are talking about completely different types of pathology. This includes amputees (those without arms or legs), the blind and visually impaired, the deaf and hard of hearing, people diagnosed with cerebral palsy (cerebral palsy), with intellectual disabilities, etc.
At the same time, large differences are also possible within one diagnosis. For example, amputees may have a limb missing completely or partially; with some forms of cerebral palsy, people do not walk, but have free use of their hands, can play ball - which means they can participate in outdoor games and competitions, and with other forms - they are deprived of this 
possibilities; mentally retarded people are, say, physically healthy, but they remember very poorly, so it may take them longer to learn running skills, for example, than the blind. When working with children suffering from such an illness, it is very important to know, for example, that theatrical lessons are more effective, and when holding competitions for such children, it is necessary that they all receive awards.
An adaptive physical education specialist in his work relies on the opinions of doctors, psychologists, speech therapists, speech therapists and other specialists, uses proven methods - and at the same time applies an individual approach to each student. But at the same time, it is absolutely important for everyone to thoroughly develop fine motor skills, because this will help people master working on a computer, master writing, sewing, and household skills.
- So, a specialist in physical activity is physical education for people with health defects?
You know, in popular literature and in works in the fantasy genre, the concept of “parallel world” is quite often encountered. This is either a subtle world that exists simultaneously with us, but is not visible to us, or a world in which we live, but our destinies turn out differently. I have a feeling that the people we are talking about now live as if in such a parallel world, and a sighted person cannot fully experience how life is for a blind person. He can close his eyes and try to imagine what it's like; but he is unable to understand what it is like to constantly live in the dark. But then he returned from Afghanistan, he became blind - and he immediately understood everything and felt everything.
And so it seems to me that a specialist in adaptive physical culture is a person who does not necessarily need to go through Afghanistan to understand how life is “on the other side of the river”; he is a person who builds bridges and connects both banks into a single city. After all, sick and disabled people often find themselves isolated from the ordinary life of society, sometimes it is an existence within four walls. The task of an AFC specialist is, as in yoga, to improve a person’s mental state and cultivate his need for self-development and, at the same time, increase the level of his physical abilities.
At the same time, an adaptive physical education specialist must be very well educated, especially in his field.
However, those whose work involves direct communication with people - teachers, coaches, directors - must be good psychologists. And the profession we are talking about here, taking into account the characteristics of the contingent, doubly presupposes in a person not only the presence of innate qualities of a psychologist, but also the possession of scientific psychological methods, with the help of which he can competently influence the personality of the student. For example, in a group attended by totally blind or visually impaired people, an ordinary teacher will enter, say hello and, perhaps, introduce himself. And the adaptive physical education specialist will approach everyone, introduce himself first, ask their name, and shake hands. Through this tactile contact, the student will better feel and perceive his mentor. This will simplify their interaction in the future.
An adaptive physical education specialist must be a good trainer, and therefore a teacher, that is, he must properly train his ward. Thus, it requires excellent knowledge not only of the methods of physical education and sports training, but also of the didactic principles of using these methods. An incorrectly selected load can harm your health and lead to very undesirable consequences. For example, people with hearing impairments can learn to swim, but they should not be allowed to jump into the water from a stand upside down, because the water puts strong pressure on the eardrums and this can harm the learner.
He is not a specialist in adaptive physical culture, but it is clear that his activities are directly related to medicine. If in big sports the achievement of the highest results is largely due to developments in the field of sports medicine, then a specialist in physical fitness should even more so have an excellent understanding of the characteristics of a particular ailment. It depends on him what type of load should be chosen in a particular case and how to dose it correctly . For example, a “core” person, performing the “pump” exercise (bending to the sides with alternately pulling the arms along the body), will do it 6-8 times, and for diseases of the respiratory system, a greater number of bends is recommended, with an extended exhalation and pronouncing vowels and consonant sounds.
All the work of a specialist should be aimed at correcting, correcting, improving the moral and physical condition of the patient, increasing his psychological and physical performance, and therefore should contribute to better adaptation, adaptability to life in the real, and not in the “parallel” world.
- Tell me, should a coach feel sorry for his ward, give in to him, follow his lead?
Regret in what sense? I mean, resting your chin on your fist and sighing pitifully, of course, no. And to take into account the specifics, try to understand the reason for this or that reaction, of course, yes. The coach needs to have great patience, be very tactful, he must have great power of suggestion, sometimes even create a situation of artificial success in order to encourage the student - and, perhaps most importantly, he must respect his student. I personally feel sorry for alcoholics and drug addicts, because they suffer from the most terrible illness - loss of personality. And you can learn a lot from my students in terms of fortitude.
By the way, an illustrative example of the socialization of a disabled person is Yuri Vereskov. Much has been said and written about his life. I knew him personally. He then walked with a crutch. Yuri lost his leg as a child, but did not become despondent, but on the contrary, began to engage in intense physical exercise, and first learned to ride a two-wheeled bicycle, turning the pedal with one foot. Subsequently he became a coach and an active Paralympic athlete.
At that time, the concept of adaptive physical culture did not exist, but there were people who had the knowledge and desire to help. This was the beginning. And today, the successes of our Paralympians in the world prove that their timely entry into adaptive physical education and adaptive sports allowed them not only to significantly improve their health, develop physical qualities, but also to reveal their sporting talents, achieve high results, and most importantly - to convincingly prove to themselves and others that a person is always capable of more.
There are many other examples where people who have been disabled since childhood, suffering from cerebral palsy and other ailments, become scientists, teachers, and specialists in various fields.
Thus, the possibilities of adaptive physical education are very wide, but provided that the adaptation process is under the guidance and control of qualified and professionally trained specialists.
- Where and how can you get such a profession?
In physical education institutes at the relevant faculties, in some pedagogical universities, in medical universities. High school graduates study both full-time and part-time for 4 years, and after graduating from a medical or sports pedagogical college - 3 years.
The range of training disciplines is very wide. This is caused by the need, as mentioned above, to understand a wide variety of issues: from therapeutic massage methods to medical examination of work ability; from the subtleties of psychological counseling to safety precautions when engaging in physical education and sports activities.
There are general professional disciplines: theory and methodology of physical culture, theory and organization of adaptive physical culture, developmental psychology, basic types of motor activity and teaching methods, anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, general pathology. And that's not all. There are also main disciplines for this specialty: private pathology, psychology of illness and disability, age-related psychopathology, physical rehabilitation, massage, special pedagogy, adaptive physical education, private physical exercise techniques and much more. And, of course, there are cycles in the humanities, socio-economics, mathematics and natural sciences.
- What should an applicant pay attention to when choosing this specialty?
- This profession can be chosen by those girls and boys who are involved in physical education and sports. I don’t mean that they necessarily have high sports titles. I believe that the road to this profession is open to those who love physical education and believe in it as a life-giving source of health, personality development and self-affirmation in our difficult world.
You need to pass the Unified State Examination in Russian well, have a good knowledge of biology and social studies, and be in good physical shape, since universities can test the physical fitness of future students - for example, running 1000 and 100 m, standing jump, lifting the body from a prone position, bending forward from a sitting position, pull-ups on a high bar for boys and on a low bar for girls.
- To be objective, let’s talk about the difficulties of this profession...
Our direction in Russia is relatively young, so there are objectively difficulties along the way of this profession that need to be overcome. In particular, not all heads of educational institutions are yet aware of the importance and necessity of AFC. Let me explain: sometimes university graduates, when applying to a school for employment issues, are faced with the fact that there are wages for physical education teachers, there are a lot of sick students, but there are no clearly stated regulations about who the physical education specialist at the school is.
- Mikhail Dmitrievich, how insurmountable are these difficulties and what are more in this profession: pros or cons?
Since there is an objective need to train highly qualified personnel in adaptive and therapeutic physical culture, I am convinced that the issues of regulating the legal status, employment, and financing will be resolved. And today we can already say with a high degree of confidence that the chosen course of training for specialists is bearing fruit. It probably cannot be otherwise, because students, for example, of our university with a specialty in physical education quite successfully undergo serious organizational and pedagogical practice on the basis of leading rehabilitation centers and correctional institutions of various types. There they manage to combine the acquired theoretical knowledge with the development of practical skills and skills of their future profession. Students who have distinguished themselves most during their internship often receive the opportunity to find employment in the same institutions.
- Where do AFK specialists generally work?
How to get a job? You can contact the health or educational authorities, which receive requests for specialists in this profile, you can obtain information via the Internet or in those educational institutions from which you graduated. In general, in the usual way.
Such specialists are needed in all educational institutions where there are students assigned to a special medical group. They are needed in special educational institutions - we are talking, first of all, about boarding schools for children with developmental defects, about orphanages, about psychoneurological dispensaries, about correction classes and about correctional kindergartens. There are also children's and youth sports schools for people with health problems, federations, and clubs. And in addition, a specialist in adaptive physical culture will find a job in sports, health and rehabilitation centers, medical institutions, sanatoriums, and rest homes.
In general, he can work as a teacher, coach, methodologist. Can conduct research work and be a consultant. He can also work in physical education and sports management bodies - at the federal, republican or regional levels.
Among our graduates there are employees of famous fitness centers, physical education and sports clubs, clinics and hospitals, teachers of lyceums and gymnasiums, exercise therapy instructors, and sports managers. Many of them are engaged in private practice, fluent in the techniques of various types of massage.
And in general, a specialist in adaptive physical culture has a great opportunity to apply himself. Why? Because in modern conditions, many weakened and sick people want to play football and basketball, do weightlifting and golf, swim, and go on long hikes like their healthy peers. Until recently, many people had never heard of all this. But today people with disabilities are engaged in mastering computer technology, acquiring interesting professions and crafts, and want to be citizens useful to society.
Adaptive physical education (AFK) in essence, it is physical education for people with disabilities, for people with various health problems, or for those who, due to sedentary work, need to increase the level of their physical condition.
People with disabilities doing physical activity may have a variety of pathologies– from amputations and cerebral palsy to poor vision.
It is a specialist in adaptive physical culture, based on medical reports, recommendations of psychologists and defectologists has the opportunity, using special techniques, to individually approach everyone who engages in such physical education.
For example, he can focus on the development of hand motor skills, or general strengthening exercises. Thus, a physical education specialist is not just a physical education teacher for people with health problems, he is a person whose responsibilities include helping such people adapt and improving their psychological state.
AFK specialist must be a good psychologist, must be able to competently influence the wards, choose an approach to each. First of all, he is not a coach, but a teacher who not only selects physical activity taking into account the characteristics of the body, but also helps guide the student towards self-development.
Of course, he is not a doctor, although related to medicine After all, he must understand diseases in order to choose the load correctly and not cause harm. First of all, its tasks include correcting the condition of the student, improving the physical and psychological state.
AFC coach must be correct towards his wards, patient and able to express respect, because only the strong in spirit are ready to work through pain and strive for success. Take, for example, the Paralympians, who prove that with the help of such physical education a person becomes capable of much, and not only in sports, because physical education can become an impetus for achievements in all areas of life.
Where do they train to become an AFK specialist?
In universities of physical education, medical universities and some pedagogical institutes, as a rule, there are departments involved in the training of such specialists. The duration of training is four years, and the range of disciplines is quite wide.
This is due to the need to obtain a knowledge base, including safety precautions, therapeutic massage, the ability to conduct an examination of performance, psychological interaction, and building an individual approach to the student in physical fitness classes.
Of course, they are studying general disciplines, such as the theory of physical education, developmental psychology, physiology, private pathology, pedagogy, various techniques and others. Naturally, the humanities and socio-economic subjects are not ignored.
Who should go into this profession?
For young people who decide to associate themselves with activities in the field of physical fitness, there is no need at all to have sporting achievements, they just need to believe that physical education can be one of the sources of the health of the body and allows a person to improve himself. In order to become a specialist, you must have decent physical shape, good knowledge of biology and social studies. And, of course, be stress-resistant and patient.
During training, students practiced in leading rehabilitation and correctional institutions of various types. Thus, theoretical knowledge and practice are combined, experience is gained. Often, those who have shown themselves well will subsequently be invited to work in these institutions.
Where do AFK specialists work?
As a rule, institutions send requests for such specialists to territorial government agencies of education and healthcare, as well as to the universities themselves that train these specialists.
In AFC specialists many educational institutions need, in particular, educational institutions for children with special needs. Their skills are needed in psychoneurological, kindergartens, and sports schools. Of course, they are in demand in various institutions involved in health improvement and rehabilitation, sanatoriums and rest homes.
An AFC specialist can work as a coach with a special group or individually, as well as as a methodologist or teacher.
Graduates often find jobs in fitness centers, professional sports clubs, hospitals and clinics, physical therapy rooms. Some go into private practice, providing services as a massage therapist or preparing tourists for hiking trips with increased physical activity. Also, one of the areas of activity available to them is the governing bodies of physical education and sports.
So the specialist will find use for his knowledge, because in our time, physically weakened people want to improve their health and look equal to others, acquire new skills and be useful to society.
