Pedagogical support for professional self-determination of high school students in IT professions

Introduction. The formation of professional self-determination of high school students and the associated choice of vocational education is an urgent problem of the modern school. This paper examines the possibility of pedagogical support to solve this problem by the example of the formation of ideas about IT education and IT professions at a level sufficient for their conscious choice in Russia. The tools discussed are the school Computer Science course and, more broadly, teacher-led non-formal education in the field of computing.The aim of this article was to analyse the factors affecting the conscious choice of high school graduates of IT professions and types of professional IT education, and the possibilities of pedagogical support for the formation of this choice by means of informatics education, implemented by means of a modern information and educational environment.Methodology, methods and materials. A systematic approach was applied, i.e. not only school but also subsequent stages of professional development of students were analysed. The leading theoretical methods were the analysis of the knowledge system, generalisation, identification and resolution of contradictions in the process of self-determination of students in the IT profession. Empirical methods for collecting, analysing and interpreting empirical data were also employed. The analysis of academic publications, documents and statistical data was carried out.Results. It is shown that the main reasons for the low level of formation of the professional self-determination of high school students in the IT profession are the following factors: insufficient attention paid in the school Computer Science course to the technological aspects that underlie most of the IT professions; lack of awareness of labour functions in IT professions; lack of awareness of the content of training in various areas of higher IT education and the focus of these areas on specific IT professions; ignorance of the real demand for the country’s economy in various IT professions.The school course in Computer Science can become a system-forming beginning in the formation of professional self-determination of high school students in the IT profession, but in its current state, it does not fully fulfill this function. The reasons are the inability to provide everyone, who wants to study Computer Science in high school at an in-depth level, the neglect in this course of the technological aspects of computing that underlie most of the IT professions, and insufficient use of the information resources of the information and educational environment of modern non-formal education.One of the ways to solve this problem is to supplement the Computer Science course with a special pre-professional training module, which will purposefully acquaint students with IT professions, with information technologies that underlie these professions, as well as the types and the content of the most popular areas of professional IT education and their connections with IT professions. To implement such a module, in addition to traditional forms of education, distance and network learning can be used, including with the involvement of university teachers and employees of leading IT companies.Scientific novelty. For the first time, the problem of pedagogical support for the formation of professional self-determination of senior high school students in the IT profession has been investigated.Practical significance. The obtained results can become the basis for improving school informatics education for the full fulfillment of the task to develop the professional self-determination of students in the IT profession.