ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL ASPIRATIONS OF PEDAGOGICAL HUMANITIES STUDENTS IN KINSHASA

https://doi.org/10.52326/jss.utm.2022.5(4).12

UDC 37.013:331.54(672.4)

Jonathan Enguta Mwenzi, Reagan Ngonzo Kitumba, Potien Manda Beya

Abstract. This study began with the observation that the profession of primary school teacher in the Democratic Republic of Congo is devalued. Thus, it proposes to indirectly evaluate the effect of this devaluation on the educational and professional aspirations of students in the pedagogical humanities. Two main hypotheses served as the guiding principles of the study: (1)the academic aspirations of students in the pedagogical humanities would be orientedtowards fields of study that have no connection with the psycho-pedagogical fields of study,and (2) the occupations to which students in the pedagogical humanities aspire would notbe related to the professions of teacher and psychologist. This study aimed to assess theacademic and professional aspirations of students in the pedagogical humanities in Kinshasa.To do so, we used a survey method supported by a questionnaire administered to 229students of the humanities in several schools in the commune of Mont-Ngafula. The resultsobtained reveal that: (1) 20.1% of the subjects aspire to pursue their higher education inpsycho-pedagogical fields and (2) only 38.4% of the subjects aspire to psycho-pedagogicalprofessions against 61.6% who aspire to other professions, with a strong predominance ofhealth and judicial professions.

Keywords: school choice, professional choice, teaching profession, learners and vocation.

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