The Low Level of Personal Change-Readiness as Psychological Obstacle for Effective Migrants' Lifelong Learning

Abstract

Problem. Since lifelong learning programs prepare migrants to their successful professional activity, very important question is How to help migrants to overtake socio-cultural and psychological types of obstacles and prepare them to lifelong learning? Therefore, the purpose of our research is to identify, describe the main obstacles and thus to work out the course How to succeed in lifelong learning for migrants. We suppose that one of the main psychological obstacle to effective lifelong learning is the low level of migrant's personal change-readiness. Theoretical background. We develop our research methodology, based on ideas of psychological obstacles, by K. Levin, K. Rogers, K. Horney, R. Shakurov, and psychological obstacles to learning process by P. Galperin. Methodology. To study this problem, we asked to migrants form Central Asia (195 participants) to fill Personal change-readiness survey (PCRS), which was worked out by A. Rolnic, S. Heather, M. Gold, C. Hull. It noticed that PCRS is useful to measure attitudes during stress and life changes. We applied the PCRS translated by N. Bazanova& G. Bardier. Results, that we obtained, demonstrated the migrants' low level of such scales as adaptability, self-confidence and tolerance for ambiguity. Theoretical significance. The main conclusion, based on research results, is that migrants, who involved onto lifelong learning programs, need to do a special step towards the study process. Otherwise, they would face the problems like low concentration of attention/uncertainty about the correctness of their answers, failure to learn the cognitive complicated information. Hence, the supporting course like How to succeed in lifelong learning? should delivered to migrants before they start to acquire a new skills and knowledges. Practical implication. This course should aimed to eliminate or reduce the uncertainty, stressed migrants, and familiarize them with typical organization cultures of Russian companies, desirable and undesirable behavior at work place, preferable at Russian organizations group norms and regulations. To solve those tasks means to change migrants' negative attitudes to uncertainties of professional life, and thus help them to overtake psychological obstacles, produced by their low level of personal change-readiness. Consequently, applied approach is useful instrument, which may presented, and recommended to teachers, who deliver classes for migrants.