Anatomical and physiological features

At high school age, boys are already confidently superior to girls in physical development. Girls 16 years old have an average height of 159.5 cm and a weight of 53 kg; for boys at 16 years old, respectively, 167-168 cm and 56-57 kg. Girls aged 17 years have a height and weight of 160-161 cm, 55-56 kg, and boys of this age, respectively, have 171-172 cm, 60-61 kg. The physical development standards for boys and girls aged 18 are no longer practically different from the physical development standards for an adult.

Nervous system. A child of senior school age acquires new skills and improves previously acquired ones. Intense neuropsychic activity is no longer as big a burden for him as before; however, he cannot yet engage in intellectual work with the activity of which an adult is capable, because gets tired faster. The student’s analytical thinking develops noticeably; in addition, he is already capable of thinking abstractly. The vocabulary increases quickly - especially if the child is accustomed to reading a lot and if he reads slowly, thoughtfully, and pronounces the words. At this age, personality is actively being formed.

The cardiovascular system. The child's pulse rate gradually decreases with age and approaches the standard of an adult; so the pulse of a 13-year-old child, according to most authors, is 72-80 beats per minute, at 14 years old the pulse is already 72-78 beats per minute, at 15 - 70-76 beats per minute, and in older schoolchildren it already fluctuates within 60-70 beats per minute, which practically corresponds to the pulse of an adult.

Blood pressure increases as the child grows older. For a 13-year-old child, the norm is a blood pressure of 105/60 mm Hg, and for a young man 18 years old, 120/70 mm Hg. (this is already the norm for an adult).

A child's blood vessels are characterized by good elasticity; they easily respond to cold and heat (contract and expand).

Respiratory system. The child's breathing rate decreases with age. At 12-13 years old, a child in a calm state makes 18-20 respiratory movements, and at 14-15 - already 17-18 respiratory movements. The number of respiratory movements in a high school student is the same as in an adult. The upper respiratory tract is well developed. The structure of the lung tissue is already well formed, the airways are quite wide and branched.

Digestive system. The digestive system functions actively. Digestive juices are secreted in approximately the same volume as in an adult. Peristaltic function is well developed. The diet of a high school student is practically no different from the diet of an adult.

Endocrine system. The gonads continue to develop, and in connection with this, noticeable changes occur in the body. In girls by the age of 12-13, menstruation begins (which is not regular for quite some time), the mammary glands enlarge, the nipples become pigmented; at 13-14 years old, hair growth is detected in the armpits; by the age of 14-15, the pelvis and buttocks take on the shape that is characteristic of an adult woman; at 15-16 years of age, menstruation becomes regular.

In boys, at about 11-12 years of age, the prostate gland begins to enlarge. At the same time, the growth of the larynx may accelerate, after which - at 13-14 years old - the so-called voice breakdown occurs. At 12-13 years of age, growth of the testicles and penis usually begins (this growth intensifies at 14 years of age); pubic hair growth, which begins at the same age, first follows the female type, and by the age of 16-17 years, the male type. At the age of 14-15 years, the first ejaculation may occur. Sperm mature at 16-17 years of age.

The immune system of children of senior school age is well developed. The body is highly resistant to infectious and other diseases. If you follow the correct daily routine, perform the necessary hygiene measures, follow the principles of rational nutrition and lead a fairly active lifestyle, the child practically does not get sick.

Skin and subcutaneous fat. The skin gradually becomes somewhat rougher. Boys begin to grow facial hair. In adolescents aged 15-16 years, so-called juvenile acne appears on the skin. With normal nutrition and normal metabolism, subcutaneous fat tissue is moderately developed. There is an increased accumulation of fat cells in girls in the chest, pubic area, and thighs; in boys - in the pubic area.

The muscular system is well developed. Since the child leads a very active lifestyle and regularly experiences moderate physical activity, his muscular system improves - muscle contractions become stronger, muscles gain endurance. A child of high school age can already compare with an adult in terms of endurance.

Skeletal system. Ossification of the pelvic bone is completed by 17-18 years. Skeletal growth in girls stops at the age of 16-18: in boys it continues until the age of 18-21, and sometimes up to 23 years. At approximately 19-20 years of age, ossification of the humerus is completed.

Psychological characteristics

General characteristics of age. Senior school age, or early adolescence, covers the period of development of children from 15 to 17 years, which corresponds to the age of students in grades IX-X of secondary school. By the end of this age, the student acquires the degree of mental maturity that is sufficient to begin an independent life, further study at a university or industrial work after graduation.

Senior school age is the period of a person’s civic formation, his social self-determination, active inclusion in public life, and the formation of the spiritual qualities of a citizen and patriot. The personality of a boy and a girl is formed under the influence of a completely new position, which they begin to occupy in comparison with a teenager, in society, in the team. The position of elders in school and the acquisition of experience in serious social activities have a decisive impact on the development of the personality of students in grades IX-X.

By the end of high school age, boys and girls usually reach a certain degree of physical maturity. The period of rapid growth and development of the body characteristic of adolescence ends, a relatively calm period of physical development begins, puberty finally ends, the discrepancy in the growth of the heart and blood vessels characteristic of adolescence is leveled out, blood pressure is balanced, and the rhythmic functioning of the endocrine glands is established. The rate of body growth slows down, muscle strength increases noticeably, the volume of the chest increases, and ossification of the skeleton ends. However, full physical and mental maturity occurs a little later in boys and girls. Only by the age of 18 does the necessary degree of physical, spiritual, and civic maturity occur.

Learning activity and mental development. The educational activities of older schoolchildren differ significantly in nature and content from the educational activities of adolescents. The point is not only that the content of training is deepened. The main difference is that the educational activities of high school students place much higher demands on their mental activity and independence. In order to deeply assimilate program material, a sufficiently high level of development of generalizing, conceptual thinking is necessary. The difficulties that a high school student often experiences in the process of learning are primarily related to the inability to learn in these new conditions, and not to a reluctance to learn.

As for the attitude of older schoolchildren to learning, certain shifts are observed here too. Students grow up, their experience is enriched: they realize that they are on the threshold of an independent life. Their conscious attitude towards learning is growing. The study acquires immediate life meaning, since high school students are clearly aware that a necessary condition for full participation in the future working life of society is the available fund of knowledge, skills and abilities, the ability to independently acquire knowledge acquired at school.

It should be noted that older schoolchildren have a selective attitude towards academic subjects. It is much less common to have an equally equal attitude towards all academic subjects. This is clearly observed in adolescents. But there is one significant difference. The selective attitude towards academic subjects among teenagers is almost entirely determined by the quality, level of teaching, and the personality of the teacher. This also occurs among older schoolchildren. However, the more important reason for a selective attitude towards academic subjects is different - the presence of established interests among many high school students related to their professional orientation. On this basis, a very undesirable phenomenon is sometimes observed - older schoolchildren are interested in two or three subjects relevant to their future profession, with indifference and indifference to the rest.

At this age, boys and girls usually determine their specific, sustainable interest in a particular science, branch of knowledge, or field of activity. Such interest in late school years leads to the formation of a person’s cognitive and professional orientation, determines the choice of profession, and the life path of a boy or girl after graduation. The presence of such a specific interest stimulates a constant desire to expand and deepen knowledge in the relevant field: a senior student actively gets acquainted with the literature on a subject that interests him, willingly participates in relevant circles, seeks the opportunity to attend lectures and reports, and meet people of interest to him.

The broad and diverse interests of senior schoolchildren are evidenced by the large number of scientific and technical clubs of all kinds, the massive participation of senior schoolchildren in mathematical, physical, chemical, biological, historical Olympiads - district, city, regional, television.

All this provides optimal opportunities for developing the abilities of older schoolchildren. It must be said that high school age is very favorable for the development of not only artistic, visual and musical, but also mathematical, literary, constructive, technical, and scientific abilities.

The development of cognitive interests and the growth of a conscious attitude towards learning stimulate the further development of the arbitrariness of cognitive processes, the ability to manage them, and consciously regulate them. At the end of older age, students in this sense master their cognitive processes (perception, memory, imagination, as well as attention), subordinating their organization to certain tasks of life and activity.

Under the influence of the organization of educational activities specific to older schoolchildren, the mental activity of older schoolchildren and the nature of their mental work change significantly. Lessons such as lectures, independent performance of laboratory and other practical work are becoming more and more important; more and more often, high school students have to independently understand the material being studied. In this regard, their thinking becomes increasingly active, independent and creative. The mental activity of high school students is characterized, compared to adolescence, by a higher level of generalization and abstraction, a growing tendency towards a causal explanation of phenomena, the ability to argue judgments, prove the truth or falsity of individual provisions, draw deep conclusions and generalizations, and connect what is being studied into a system. Critical thinking develops. All these are prerequisites for the formation of theoretical thinking, the ability to understand the general laws of the surrounding world, the laws of nature and social development.

Personality development in high school age. As a result of the gradual acquisition of experience in social behavior, the growth of moral consciousness and social beliefs, the study of the fundamentals of science at school, and the formation of theoretical thinking, a worldview begins to take shape in older schoolchildren.

The self-awareness of older schoolchildren acquires a qualitatively new character; it is associated with the need to understand and evaluate the moral and psychological properties of their personality in terms of specific life goals and aspirations. If a teenager evaluates himself in relation to the present, then a senior school student evaluates himself in relation to the future.

A specific feature of moral development in high school age is the strengthening of the role of moral beliefs and moral consciousness in behavior. It is here that the ability to choose the right line of behavior in various conditions and circumstances is formed, the need to act, to act in accordance with one’s own moral code, with one’s own moral guidelines and rules, and to consciously be guided by them in one’s behavior.

High school students, in comparison with teenagers, have a much deeper awareness and understanding of the moral qualities of an individual, understand the subtlest shades of the relevant concepts: “You cannot call a person honest who has not done anything bad in life, but indifferently passed by the dishonest actions of others”; “Sensitivity is not only the ability to see a person’s need and provide help, but also the ability to feel what kind of help is needed, the ability to provide this help tactfully, so as not to offend the person.”

However, in some cases, as a result of improper upbringing, the influence of people who are carriers of the remnants and prejudices of the old society or ugly forms of “modern” behavior, some boys and girls may develop moral errors and prejudices.

The feeling of adulthood in high school age, on the one hand, becomes deeper and sharper. Older schoolchildren are even less inclined than teenagers to put up with the belittling of their adulthood, with being treated as “small”. On the other hand, towards the end of this age, as it approaches objective adulthood, it transforms into a peculiar feeling of self-affirmation, self-expression, manifested in the desire to express one’s individuality. If earlier, in adolescence, a schoolchild sought to be recognized as an adult, sought to stand next to adults, to be no different from them, now he wants to be recognized for his individuality, originality, originality, originality, his right to stand out in some way from the total mass of adults. Hence the exaggeration of fashion, the ostentatious passion for abstract art.

Chapter I. Creative tasks in literature lessons in high school

Psychological characteristics of high school students

Each age represents a qualitatively special period of mental development and is characterized by many properties. One of the difficult periods in human ontogenesis is older adolescence.

Analysis of the nature of young experiences shows what a powerful role in them is played by the desire to clarify one’s personality, to one’s own discovery of the idea that ordinary people are not able to understand her extraordinary nature. The trait of quest is inherent in youth as its typical feature.

Interest in the subjective world, the inner world, like the big world, as a constant phenomenon, opens precisely in youth.

Early adolescence, high school age - the period of life from adolescence to adulthood (age boundaries are arbitrary - from 15-16 to 21-25 years, early adolescence - up to 18-19 years). At this age, a young person has the problem of choosing life values. A high school student strives to form an internal position towards himself, towards other people, and towards moral values. As for cognitive changes in youth, the abstract philosophical orientation of youthful thinking is determined by the development of formal logical operations and the peculiarities of the emotional world of early youth. The development of attention is characterized by contradictory trends. The volume of attention, the ability to maintain its intensity for a long time and switch it from one subject to another increases with age. At the same time, attention becomes more selective, depending on the direction of interests. The development of intelligence is closely related to the development of creative abilities, which involve not only the assimilation of information, but the manifestation of intellectual initiative and the creation of something new. The mental development of a high school student consists not so much in the accumulation of skills and changes in individual properties of intelligence, but in the formation of an individual style of mental activity. In early youth, learning continues to be one of the main activities of high school students. Due to the fact that in high school the range of knowledge expands and that students use this knowledge to explain many facts of reality, they begin to approach learning more consciously. At this age, there are two types of students: some are characterized by evenly distributed interests, others are distinguished by a pronounced interest in one science.

The difference in attitude to teaching is determined by the nature of the motives. Motives related to students’ life plans, their intentions in the future, worldview and self-determination come first. In terms of their structure, the motives of senior schoolchildren are characterized by the presence of leaders who are valuable for their motives. Increasingly, a senior student begins to be guided by a consciously set goal, a desire to deepen knowledge in a certain area appears, and a desire for self-education arises.

Senior school age is the period of completion of puberty and at the same time the initial stage of physical maturity. Boys begin to understand the meaning of the word “man,” and girls begin to understand the meaning of the word “woman.” High school students are trying to draw attention to their own dissimilarity and uniqueness, trying to emphasize this by all possible means. It is typical for a high school student to be ready for physical and mental stress. Physical development favors the formation of skills and abilities in work and sports, and opens up wide opportunities for choosing a profession.

A significant change in self-awareness occurs - the importance of one’s own values ​​increases, private self-assessments of one’s own personality traits develop into a holistic attitude towards oneself. A person realizes that he belongs to the world.

A senior schoolchild is on the verge of entering an independent life. This creates a new social situation of development. The task of self-determination and choosing one’s life path confronts a high school student as a task of paramount importance. High school students are looking to the future. This new social position changes for them the significance of the teaching, its tasks and content. Senior schoolchildren evaluate the educational process from the point of view of what it provides for their future. They begin to look at school differently than teenagers. If teenagers look at the future from the perspective of the present, then older schoolchildren look at the present from the perspective of the future.

At high school age, a fairly strong connection is established between professional and educational interests. For a teenager, educational interests determine the choice of profession, but for older schoolchildren the opposite is observed: the choice of profession contributes to the formation of educational interests and a change in attitude towards educational activities. Due to the need for self-determination, schoolchildren have a need to understand their surroundings and themselves, to find the meaning of what is happening.

Senior schoolchildren place very high demands on a person’s moral character. This is due to the fact that at high school age a more holistic idea of ​​oneself and the personality of others is created, and the range of perceived socio-psychological qualities of people expands. Early adolescence is a time for further strengthening of the will, the development of such traits of volitional activity as determination, perseverance, and initiative. At this age, self-control and self-control are strengthened, control over movement and gestures is enhanced, due to which high school students become more fit in appearance than teenagers.

Thus, by reaching this age, the student reaches physical maturity, must acquire spiritual maturity, and be ready for independent life. The leading type of activity is educational and professional. The choice of profession becomes the center of the social situation of a high school student’s development. The choice of profession is formed under the influence of parents, peers, demands of society, and prestige. In grades 10-11 there is a problem of professional self-determination and preparation for exams. Changes occur in the development of personality, a change in the student’s position at school, in the system of social relations. A high school student is trying to develop personality traits. The “feeling of adulthood” turns into a sense of self-confidence and self-respect, manifested in one’s self-individuality.

During this period of life, the “image of the self” is formed, which includes 3 main components: cognitive, emotional, behavioral. The self-image is formed in the process of communication, and primarily communication with peers. Among the main new formations of senior school age, one can highlight the worldview, independence of judgment, the formation of one’s own self-esteem, the desire for self-education, an individual style of educational and professional activity, professional and personal self-determination.

Features of personality formation in early adolescence. Social and psychological conditions for the formation of personality, psychological foundations for the formation of social orientation. Formation and development of morality. Formation of worldview. Development of self-awareness and self-image. Motives and value orientations. Moral self-determination. The problem of leading activities. Professional orientation as a leading new formation in adolescence. Psychological characteristics of choosing a profession and the readiness of a senior school student for professional self-determination.

Psychology of adolescence

Characteristics of the social situation of the development of adolescence. Main characteristics of the development of the cognitive sphere of high school students.

Senior school age: early adolescence (from 15 to 17 years old)

The teenager quickly went beyond the boundaries of school interests and, feeling like an adult, tries in various ways to join the life of his elders. But, having acquired much greater independence than before, he remained a schoolboy, still dependent on his parents. He remained at the level of his teenage subculture. In fact, adolescence is a protracted childhood from which the child “grows out” with great difficulty. A new age stage - early adolescence - is considered the third world, existing between childhood and adulthood. At this time, the child finds himself on the threshold of real adult life.

Transition period. 15 (or 14-16) years is the transition period between adolescence and adolescence. The question of future life is being decided: what to do - continue studying at school, go to college or work? Essentially, society requires professional self-determination, albeit initial, from older adolescents.

By the end of the 9th grade, not all older teenagers can choose a profession and the further path of education associated with it. Many of them are anxious, emotionally stressed and afraid of any choice. At this time, the importance of one’s own values ​​increases, although children are still largely subject to external influences. In connection with the development of self-awareness, the attitude towards oneself becomes more complicated. If previously teenagers judged themselves categorically, quite straightforwardly, now they judge themselves more subtly. Vague, ambivalent value judgments and anxiety appear. The increase in the level of this kind of anxiety compared to the VIII grade is caused mainly by the special situation of the graduating class, the upcoming exams, selection for the X grade and, possibly, the beginning of a new life path. Anxiety is therefore equally high in both girls and boys.

During the transition period, the sharpness of perception of peers becomes dulled. Of greater interest are adults, whose experience and knowledge help to navigate issues related to future life.

Ninth-graders are interested in their future life, first of all, from a professional point of view.

As for interpersonal relationships, family relationships, they become less significant.

Ninth-graders, absorbed in questions of professional self-determination, neutrally, without much interest, mention family roles: “a good family man,” “a loving wife and mother.” This side of life recedes into the background for them.

Development conditions. Often youth is considered turbulent, combining it into one period with adolescence. The search for the meaning of life and your place in this world can become especially intense. New intellectual and social needs arise, the satisfaction of which will become possible only in the future, sometimes internal conflicts and difficulties in relationships with others.

But not all children find this period stressful. On the contrary, some high school students smoothly and gradually move towards a turning point in their lives, and then are relatively easily included in a new system of relationships. They are not characterized by romantic impulses, usually associated with youth; they are pleased with a calm, orderly way of life. They are more interested in generally accepted values, are more oriented towards the assessment of others, and rely on authority. They usually have good relationships with their parents, and they cause virtually no trouble to their teachers.

However, with such a successful course of early adolescence, there are also some disadvantages in personal development. Children are less independent, more passive, and sometimes more superficial in their attachments and hobbies. In general, it is believed that the searches and doubts characteristic of adolescence lead to the full development of personality. Those who have gone through them are usually more independent, creative, and have more flexible thinking that allows them to make independent decisions in difficult situations - compared to those for whom the process of personality formation was easy at that time.

The dynamics of development in early adolescence depend on a number of conditions. First of all, these are the features of communication with significant people, which significantly influence the process of self-determination. Already in the transition period from adolescence to adolescence, children develop a special interest in communication with adults. In high school this trend intensifies.

With a favorable style of relationships in the family after adolescence - the stage of emancipation from adults - emotional contacts with parents are usually restored, and at a higher, conscious level. Relationships with adults, although they become trusting, maintain a certain distance.

Communication with peers is also necessary for the formation of self-determination in early youth, but it has other functions. If a high school student resorts to confidential communication with an adult mainly in problematic situations, when he himself finds it difficult to make a decision related to his plans for the future, then communication with friends remains intimate, personal, confessional.

Youthful friendship is unique; it occupies an exceptional position among other attachments. Youth is considered the privileged age of friendship.

The emotional intensity of friendship decreases when love. Youthful love involves a greater degree of intimacy than friendship, and it seems to include friendship.

The capacity for intimate youthful friendships and romantic love that emerges during this period will have an impact in future adult life. These deepest relationships will determine important aspects of personality development, moral self-determination, and who and how an adult will love.

High school student personality. Early youth is characterized by a focus on the future. If at the age of 15 life has not changed radically and the older teenager remained in school, he thereby delayed for two years his entry into adulthood and, as a rule, the choice of his future path. In this relatively short period of time it is necessary to create life plan - resolve the issues of who to be (professional self-determination) and what to be (personal or moral self-determination).

In the senior year, children focus on professional self-determination. A high school student has to navigate various professions, which is not at all easy, since the basis for attitudes towards professions is not one’s own, but someone else’s experience - information received from parents, friends, acquaintances, from television programs, etc.

Self-determination both professional and personal, becomes central neoplasm early youth. This is a new internal position, including awareness of oneself as a member of society, acceptance of one’s place in it.

Awareness of the time perspective and making life plans require self-confidence, in your strengths and capabilities.

Due to changes in self-esteem in the 11th grade, anxiety increases.

Self-regulation develops intensively, control over one’s behavior and expression of emotions increases. The mood in early adolescence becomes more stable and conscious. Children aged 16-17, regardless of temperament, look more restrained and balanced than those aged 11-15.

At this time, the moral stability of the individual begins to develop. In his behavior, a high school student is increasingly guided by his own views and beliefs, which are formed on the basis of acquired knowledge and his own, albeit not very large, life experience. Knowledge about the world around him and moral standards are combined in his mind into a single picture. Thanks to this, moral self-regulation becomes more complete and meaningful.

As you know, in adolescence, a child discovers his inner world. At the same time, he reaches the level of formal logical thinking. Intellectual development, accompanied by the accumulation and systematization of knowledge about the world, and interest in the individual, reflection, turn out to be the basis on which worldviews are built in early youth.

Of course, not all high school students develop a worldview—a system of clear, stable beliefs. The absence of this choice, the confusion of values, does not allow the individual to find his place in the world of human relationships and does not contribute to his mental health.

Another point related to self-determination is a change in educational motivation, on the threshold of true adulthood, he is all directed towards the future, which attracts and worries him. Without sufficient self-confidence and self-acceptance, he will not be able to take the necessary step or determine his future path. Therefore, self-esteem in early adolescence is higher than in adolescence. In general, adolescence is a period of personality stabilization. At this time, a system of stable views on the world and one’s place in it—a worldview—is formed. The associated youthful maximalism in assessments and passion in defending one’s point of view are known. The central new formation of the period is self-determination, professional and personal. A high school student decides who to be and how to be in his future life.

Social situation of development. Young people face the need for self-determination and choice of life path as a task of paramount importance. The choice of profession becomes the psychological center of the development situation of high school students, creating in them a timely internal position. The new social position of a high school student changes for him the significance of learning, its tasks, goals, and content. They evaluate the educational process from the point of view of what it gives for their future, therefore, high school students look at the present from the perspective of the future.

Leading activity. The leading activity is educational and professional (professional self-determination). High school students develop a fairly strong connection between professional and academic interests. If for a teenager, educational interests determine the choice of profession, then for older schoolchildren, the choice of profession contributes to the formation of educational interests; older schoolchildren begin to be interested in those subjects that they need in connection with their chosen profession.

Characteristics of mental development. High school students can think logically, engage in theoretical reasoning and self-analysis. High school students have a tendency to draw general conclusions based on particular premises and, on the contrary, move on to particular conclusions based on general premises, i.e. ability of induction and deduction.

The formation of theoretical or complex logical thinking is noted. Intellectualization of all cognitive processes.

The ability to use rational memorization techniques, the emergence of a research attitude to the subject. They love to explore, experiment, create and create something new and original.

Personal development. During this period, it is necessary to create a life plan - to resolve the issues of who to be and how to be. In the graduating class, children focus on professional self-affirmation, both professional and personal, becoming the central new formation of early adolescence. This is a new internal position, including awareness of oneself as a number in society, acceptance of one’s place in it. Since at high school age plans and desires appear, the implementation of which is delayed, and significant adjustments are possible in youth, sometimes it is not self-determination itself that is considered a new formation, but psychological readiness for it.

A psychological feature of early adolescence is a focus on the future. The most important factor in personality development in early adolescence is the desire of a high school student to make life plans and comprehend the construction of a life perspective.

Life plan is a broad concept that covers the entire sphere of personal self-determination (occupation, lifestyle, level of aspirations, income level, etc.). For high school students, their life plans are often still very vague and cannot be separated from their dreams.

We can talk about life plans in the precise sense of the word only when they include not only goals, but also ways to achieve them, when a young person seeks to evaluate his own subjective and objective resources. L.S. Vygotsky considered life plans as an indicator of a person’s mastery of his inner world and as a system of adaptation to reality, and associated with them “targeted” regulation of a fundamentally new type. Preliminary self-determination, making life plans for the future - central psychological neoplasm adolescence.

Characteristics of communication and interpersonal relationships. Life prospects, mainly professional ones, are discussed with parents at this time. They discuss their life plans with teachers and with their adult acquaintances, whose opinion is important to them. A high school student treats a close adult as an ideal.

Communication with peers is also necessary for the development of self-determination in early adolescence, but it has other functions. Communication is intimate and personal, confidential, confessional.

Senior school age(youth) covers children from 16 to 18 years old (grades IX-XI). Students of secondary specialized educational institutions also belong to this age.

Features of age development

Senior school age is characterized by the continuation of the process of growth and development, which is expressed in its relatively calm and uniform occurrence in individual organs and systems. At the same time, puberty ends. In this regard, gender and individual differences are clearly manifested in both the structure and functions of the body. At this age, body growth in length and an increase in its size in width, as well as weight gain, slow down. The differences between boys and girls in body sizes and shapes reach their maximum. Boys surpass girls in height and body weight. Boys (on average) are 10-12 cm taller than girls and 5-8 kg heavier. The mass of their muscles in relation to the mass of the whole body is 13% greater, and the mass of subcutaneous adipose tissue is 10% less than that of girls. The body of boys is slightly shorter, and the arms and legs are longer than those of girls.

In older schoolchildren, the process of ossification of most of the skeleton is almost complete. The growth of tubular bones in width increases, and in length slows down. The chest develops intensively, especially in young men. The skeleton is able to withstand significant loads. The development of the bone apparatus is accompanied by the formation of muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Muscles develop evenly and quickly, as a result of which muscle mass increases and strength increases. At this age, there is an asymmetry in the increase in muscle strength of the right and left half of the body. This involves a targeted impact (with a greater bias on the left side) with the aim of symmetrically developing the muscles of the right and left sides of the body. At this age, favorable opportunities arise for developing muscle strength and endurance.

In girls, unlike boys, there is a significantly smaller increase in muscle mass, the shoulder girdle noticeably lags behind in development, but the pelvic girdle and pelvic floor muscles develop intensively. The chest, heart, lungs, vital capacity, respiratory muscle strength, maximum pulmonary ventilation and oxygen consumption are also less developed than in young men. Because of this, the functionality of their circulatory and respiratory organs is much lower.

The heart of boys is 10-15% larger in volume and weight than that of girls; the pulse is 6-8 beats/min slower, the heart contractions are stronger, which causes a greater release of blood into the vessels and higher blood pressure. Girls breathe more often and not as deeply as boys; the vital capacity of their lungs is approximately 100 cm3 less.

At the age of 15-17, schoolchildren complete the formation of their cognitive sphere. The greatest changes occur in mental activity. In children of senior school age, the ability to understand the structure of movements, accurately reproduce and differentiate individual (force, time and space) movements, and carry out motor actions in general increases.

High school students can show quite high volitional activity, for example, persistence in achieving a set goal, the ability to be patient against the background of fatigue and exhaustion. However, girls' courage decreases, which creates certain difficulties in physical education.

In high school age, compared with previous age groups, there is a decrease in the growth in the development of conditioning and coordination abilities (Tables 20-22).

Table 20

Growth rates of various physical abilities in children
senior school age (%)

Physical abilities	Average annual growth		Total growth
Express
General Stamina
Speed ​​endurance
Strength endurance

Kholodov Zh. K., Kuznetsov V. S. Theory and methodology of physical education and sports.- M.: Academy, 2003.pp. 198-199.

Age characteristics of children of senior school age

In the periodization of personality development, senior school age is correlated with the period of early adolescence. Many problems arise regarding the time frame of adolescence. Most often, researchers define early adolescence as a time frame from 14 - 15 to 18 years, and late adolescence - from 18 to 23 years.

It should be noted that in high school the development cognitive processes children reach such a level that they are practically ready to perform all types of mental work of an adult, including the most complex ones. Cognitive processes become more perfect and flexible, and the development of the means of cognition very often outstrips personal development itself.

At senior school age, the enhanced development of logical logic continues thinking . At this age, children show greater ability for theoretical reasoning and self-analysis. They acquire a large number of scientific concepts and learn to use them in solving various kinds of problems.

Senior school age is also characterized by the rapid development of abstract logical thinking. As a result of this, boys and girls have a need to discuss topics in class that are abstracted from the educational material. However, the views of high school students on moral, philosophical, political problems and approaches to solving them are not yet sufficiently systematized. A.A. Rean notes that “for many children of senior school age, interest in reasoning about abstract concepts exceeds interest in educational material, which significantly reduces motivation for educational activities.”

Perception in high school age is a complex intellectual process. Its arbitrary form fades into the background in terms of frequency of manifestation, giving way to arbitrary perception. It should be noted that perception in adolescence comes down not only to deliberate observation of objects in the surrounding reality, but is also aimed at the properties of one’s own personality, at one’s actions, experiences, thoughts and forms of behavior.

Development process attention at senior school age has a dual character. On the one hand, all properties of attention (stability, concentration, volume, switchability, distribution) reach a high degree of development in adolescence. On the other hand, the attention of older schoolchildren is highly dependent on their interests, which often leads to a less developed ability of boys and girls to concentrate their attention on educational material.

Such properties memory , how voluntariness and productivity reach very high development in adolescence. The development of logical memory is improved. In addition, there is a significant increase in the productivity of the process of memorizing abstract material. At senior school age, children realize that they can control their memory, and therefore are able to develop their own ways and techniques for memorizing the necessary information.

Senior school age is the main period in a person’s life for the development of creativity . The fact is that in adolescence, a person’s imagination is already characterized by greater productivity than the imagination of teenage children.

However, it should be noted that the personality traits that underlie the development of creative abilities in children of senior school age can vary significantly. For example, high school students engaged in scientific creativity have the most developed intellectual abilities, in particular the ability for abstract logical thinking. High school students involved in artistic activities have more developed imaginative thinking.

It should be noted that most often the creative abilities of children of senior school age manifest themselves outside of school. In addition, the success of the development of creative abilities in boys and girls largely depends on the conditions of upbringing and on the role of family and school in it.

In adolescence, a particularly important process occurs in the cognitive sphere of human personality development - formation of an individual style of mental activity . E.A. Klimov gives the following definition of the individual style of activity: “this is an individually unique system of psychological means to which a person consciously or spontaneously resorts in order to best balance his (typologically conditioned) individuality with objects and external conditions of activity.”

Many psychologists believe that the individual style of mental activity depends on the type of nervous system of a high school student. An inert type of nervous system predetermines poorer learning of educational material under overload conditions. Good performance in academic subjects in such conditions characterizes students with a mobile nervous system.

However, the disadvantages of the type of nervous system can be compensated by its other properties. For example, boys and girls who have an inert type of nervous system may be capable of careful planning and control of their activities, which helps them achieve success in mastering educational material.

For emotional life youth is characterized not only by the experience of objective feelings (directed at a specific event, person, phenomenon), but also by the formation of generalized feelings in young people (a sense of beauty, a sense of tragedy, a sense of humor, etc.). These feelings already express general, more or less stable worldviews of the individual.

At senior school age, children undergo a process formation of a general emotional orientation , that is, consolidating the hierarchy of certain experiences according to their value for the individual himself. B.I. Dodonov identifies 10 types of general emotional orientation of a person:

1. Altruistic type. (Valuable are the emotions of tenderness, tenderness, sympathy, empathy when carrying out activities that, in the opinion of a person, are useful for others.)

2. Communicative type. (The most valuable feelings for this type of people are a feeling of sympathy. Disposition, respect, adoration, a feeling of appreciation, gratitude in the process of communication.)

3. Praxic type. (The most valuable emotional component of activity is the desire for the intended goal, as well as a kind of emotional “capture” of progress towards it, satisfaction from achievements along this path.)

4. Gnostic type. (The most valuable emotion is considered to be the satisfaction of the desire to solve a complex cognitive problem.)

5. Romantic type. (Feelings of mystery, enigma, and awareness of something exciting are most valued)

6. Pugnic type. (The most attractive thing for this type of people is danger, the situation of fighting it and winning over it.)

7. Aesthetic type. (The feeling of beauty, gracefulness, and beauty is most valued. Favorite emotional states are lyrical, bright sadness, and thoughtfulness.)

8. Gloric type. (Valuable is the awareness of universal recognition, universal admiration for the qualities and properties of a person belonging to a given type.)

9. Active type. (The satisfaction of accumulating something has the greatest emotional value.)

10. Hedonic type. (This type of people puts above all else the pleasure from satisfying organic needs: pleasure from delicious food, serenity, fun, voluptuousness).

In addition, at high school age a person develops the basics emotional culture personality, that is, the “training” of emotions. K.G. Izard identifies the following as the main characteristic features:

· Emotional responsiveness to everything that happens in the surrounding reality;

· Developed ability to understand, appreciate and respect the feelings and experiences of other people;

· Ability to sympathize and empathize;

· A sense of responsibility for your experiences to yourself and the people around you.

According to many psychologists, leading activities senior schoolchildren are study and work. However, there is an opinion that the main type of activity in adolescence is professional orientation, the main motive of which is considered to be the desire to take a certain place in society among adults.