ACADEMIC MOTIVATION OF STUDENTS MAJORING IN “SPECIAL EDUCATION”

The article deals with the issue of academic motivation of students of higher educational institutions. The effec-tiveness of professional training of future special educators largely depends on their academic motivation in the cor-responding specialty. The purpose of the article is to analyse the results of the study of academic motivation of stu-dents majoring in “Special Education” in the process of mastering the profession, and determine the ways of forming profession-related academic motivation. To study the specifics of academic motivation of future special educators the following methods were used: Academic Motivation Inventory (modified by A. Rean, V. Yakunіn), a specially designed author's questionnaire. According to the results of the first method, the dominant motive is a cognitive one, in particu-lar “becoming a highly skilled specialist” and “acquiring profound knowledge”. Another predominant social aca-demic motive is “obtaining a diploma”. The results of the survey using a specially designed questionnaire have shown that most of students make their choice of the future profession unconsciously, which is reflected in the lack of active attitude to studying. The predominance of cognitive motives has been revealed. In general, students understand the significance of the profession of a special educator. However, the positive attitude to the profession does not contrib-ute to the formation of stable professional motives, beliefs about further work in the specialty, which is due to the reasons for dissatisfaction with the profession. The generalized analysis of the results has shown the need for the formation of profession-related academic motivation, and the ways of its development in students have been present-ed.