Structural-Functional Model for the Formation of Soft Skills among 6th–7th Grade Students in Technology Lessons in Secondary School

Abstract

The article addresses the problem of purposeful soft skills formation among 6th–7th grade students within the subject “Technology” in secondary school. The relevance of the study is determined by the transformation of contemporary society’s and the labour market’s requirements for school graduates: the digital economy demands not only subject-specific knowledge but also communicative, teamwork, regulatory, and adaptive competencies. In current practice, however, the potential of the “Technology” subject for the purposeful formation of soft skills is realised largely spontaneously, without reliance on a theoretically grounded model, which defines the problem of the study. The purpose of the article is to develop and theoretically substantiate a structural-functional model for the formation of soft skills among 6th–7th grade students by means of the subject “Technology”. The methodology and research methods are reflected in the application of a poly-paradigmatic approach combining systemic, competency-based, personality-activity, and technological approaches: the systemic approach allows soft skills formation to be viewed as an integral pedagogical system, the competency-based approach orients the process toward educational outcomes expressed in activity-based categories, the personality-activity approach ensures the priority of the student’s active subject position, and the technological approach ensures the reproducibility of the pedagogical process. Theoretical methods (analysis and synthesis of domestic and foreign literature, comparative analysis, modelling) and empirical methods (generalisation of pedagogical experience, analysis of normative documents) were applied. The results of the study are presented through the author’s interpretation of the concept of “soft skills of 6th–7th grade students” as a system of supra-subject personal competencies ensuring effective communication, joint activity, critical thinking, self-regulation, and adaptation. A four-block structural-functional model has been developed (conceptual, content-related, procedural, and evaluative blocks); five clusters of soft skills (communicative, teamwork, cognitive, regulatory, adaptive) and five organisational-pedagogical conditions for the model’s implementation are characterised. A graphic representation of the model in the form of a structural-functional scheme is proposed, reflecting the logic of movement from the social order to the diagnosable result. In conclusion, the practical significance of the developed model is substantiated: it is intended for use by technology teachers in designing an educational process that ensures the systematic development of soft skills among 6th–7th grade students as a condition for their successful socialisation and professional self-determination in the digital economy.