49-55
THE DYNAMICS AND THE ROLE OF THE STUDENTS GROUP IN THEIR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (preliminaries for an in-depth qualitative study)
Authors: Tatiana REPIDA, Natalia COJOCARU

Number of views: 412
The academic environment appears as a complex system of social groups, including student groups, characterized by shared norms and values, social roles and positions, an entire network of interactions and reciprocal influences.
Yet, unlike the pupil groups, little scholarly attention has been paid to student groups as a medium for training and development, their configuration, processes and dynamics, the social influences and pressures exercised by the group on the members being remarkably understudied. The need to learn more about the psychosocial aspects of the student group processes derives from the fact that the group may act as a positive force field (inducing cooperation, solidarity and mutual support) but also as a negative one (intragroup conflicts, lack of competition, peer issues), impacting significantly on the learning processes and social-affective climate of the group. Therefore, a complex and elaborate study on the functioning of these groups will provide premises for a better understanding of the potential group implications on the personality of the student. In this article, we intend to analyze only one of these – the role of student groups in the professional development, namely, student opinions and perceptions with reference to this issue.