Psychological determinants of camp counselor effectiveness: towards an integrative model

Abstract

The psychological determinants of the effective activity of counselor at children’s health camp have been considered. Based on a theoretical analysis of counselor’s professional activity, professionally important qualities category, and modern research on pedagogical effectiveness, an integrative five-component model has been proposed, which includes communicative-perceptual, regulatory, subjective-personal, organizational-leadership, and reflexive components. Each of them has been correlated with the specifics of counselor’s work (round-the-clock mode, intensive group interaction, increased responsibility for children’s lives and health, chronic sleep deficiency, and other factors characteristic of the profession). It has been shown that the combination of regulatory and subjective-personal components (emotional stability and the internal locus of control) forms the core of counselor’s psychological stability in a stressful professional environment. A proven diagnostic toolkit has been proposed for each component, which makes it possible to operationalize the effectiveness concept and creates the basis for subsequent empirical research. The correspondence of the components to the three functional blocks of activity (‘Guardian’, ‘Animator’, and ‘Mentor’) has been presented in the form of an analytical matrix. The present study contributes to developing the psychology of pedagogical work in relation to the context of children’s health camp and can serve as a theoretical basis for developing programs for selection and professional training of counselors.