The article presents the results of a comparative historical study of the role of institutional factors of education in the content of the social situation of the development of Soviet and modern primary school students. As an objective component of the social situation of the development of schoolchildren, the laws on education corresponding to the historical period regulating the relationship between family and school were considered. The parameters of the subjective component of the social situation of development were motivational preferences, self-esteem and the level of claims, anxiety of younger schoolchildren. It is shown that the modality of institutional factors has a significant impact both on the educational environment itself and on the child’s attitude to the new system of social relations for him.

The article presents the results of a comparative historical study of the age and sociocultural characteristics of professional attitudes among modern and young students and their peers in the late 20th century. It is shown that the personal attitude to the situation of professional choice of modern high school and college students is characterized by high self-esteem and selfconfidence, unlike their peers of the 1980s. which were less determined and more dependent on external factors. Gender changes in attitudes towards the situation of professional choice have been identified.