Foreign Students’ Adaptation to the Social and Educational Environment of a Small City as a Condition of Undergraduate Teachers’Cultural and Professional Competency Formation

The modern global trend in education is determined by globalization of scientific knowledge and pedagogical technologies. As a consequence, a huge number of people who seek to get a good education flow from the countries with a less developed level of science and technology into those where qualitative indicators of social advancement are higher. A similar situation is observed in Russia, where young people from Central Asia come to get a University education.In quite a different socio-cultural and educational environment, foreign students are experiencing serious ethnic, cultural, household, etc. difficulties. In a megalopolis, these problems are hardly noticeable, aided by a tolerant environment. Foreign students are in a more difficult situation trying to adapt to the social and educational environment of a small city (Elabuga).It is possible to resolve the ensuing problem through a set of measures that enable foreign students to get accustomed to the state education system by means of establishing joint education. In this regard, our research aims to study the ways of foreign students’ adaptation to the social and educational environment of a small city, formation of undergraduate teachers’ professional competencies, to analyze the tasks set for them, the university and the city, and find ways to solve the ensuing problems.The results of the study show the importance of working out a strategy of effective integration of foreign students into the educational and socio-cultural environment of the Institute with the aim of forming their social, personal, and professional competencies and tolerant attitude to them.