PEDAGOGICAL TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING SOFT SKILLS OF PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN A PHYSICAL EDUCATION LESSON

Abstract

Problem. The article substantiates a pedagogical technology for the formation of soft skills in children of primary school age during physical education lessons. It is emphasized that contemporary physical education should go beyond the traditional focus on motor training by integrating the development of critical thinking, adaptability, creativity, leadership abilities, and teamwork into the structure of the educational process. The conceptual foundations of the technology are revealed; it is based on theories of management, adaptation, and the systems approach and provides for a harmonious integration of the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development of schoolchildren. The principles governing the functioning of the technology are specified, including the integrity of personality development, scientific validity, systemic and sequential organization, conscious and reflective learning, activity and independence, accessibility and age appropriateness, emotional safety, the pedagogical expediency of play and gamification, partnership-based cooperation, and content integration. Considerable attention is given to the teacher’s didactic repertoire, which encompasses verbal, visual, practical, and interactive teaching methods and tools aimed at developing soft skills. Innovative approaches to lesson organization are outlined, such as the use of gamification, paradoxical instructions, problem-based and situational tasks, digital resources, and narrative-symbolic means.

The developed technology ensures an effective integration of the development of physical qualities and socially significant competencies, aligns with the concept of the New Ukrainian School, and contributes to the harmonious formation of the primary school student’s personality.

Methodology. The methodology of the article is based on systemic, learner-centered, and activitybased approaches, which ensure a comprehensive analysis of the formation of soft skills in children of primary school age in physical education lessons. Theoretical methods – analysis, synthesis, generalization, and systematization of the works of leading Ukrainian, American, and European scholars – made it possible to determine the conceptual foundations of the pedagogical technology. The empirical component involved pedagogical modeling, design, and approbation of the technology in primary school settings. Its structure comprised conceptual – target, procedural – content, diagnostic, and outcome blocks, which ensured the consistency and reproducibility of pedagogical influences.

Scientific novelty. The scientific novelty lies in the theoretical substantiation and development of a holistic pedagogical technology for the formation of soft skills in children of primary school age during physical education lessons, which ensures an organic integration of physical development and soft skills formation within the structure of the lesson. For the first time, the didactic repertoire of the physical education teacher has been systematized and adapted as a tool for the purposeful development of soft skills, and pedagogical conditions and mechanisms for their formation through motor activity have been identified. The obtained results expand scientific understanding of the functional interaction between hard and soft skills and conceptual foundations for the modernization of physical education lessons in accordance with the requirements of the New Ukrainian School.

Conclusions. The review of scientific and theoretical sources provided grounds to state that the issue of integrating soft skills into physical education lessons remains insufficiently explored, which highlighted the need to develop a dedicated pedagogical technology. The proposed technology is based on contemporary views on personality development, a set of didactic principles, and the idea of holistic integration of pupils’ physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development within physical education classes. Its structural and logical design the identification of interrelated blocks: the conceptual-and-goal block, the procedural-and-content block, the diagnostic block, and the outcome-and-goal block. An essential component of the technology is a diagnostic toolkit aimed at assessing the formation of key soft skills components, including critical thinking, adaptability, creativity, leadership qualities, and teamwork.

Thus, the developed pedagogical technology ensures the achievement of the research objective, demonstrates scientific novelty through rethinking the physical education lesson as a pedagogical environment for soft skills development, and has significant practical potential for implementation in general secondary education institutions, in the training of future teachers, and in the system of professional development for teaching staff.