Abstract
The aim of the study was to distinguish the ways and criteria to diagnose the research competence levels of future counselors in the specialty “Social pedagogy and self-knowledge” and to describe diagnostic tools in accordance with each criterion. The research engaged 103 students acquiring master’s degree in social pedagogy at two Kazakh universities. The participants’ research competence was gauged by 4 criteria and assessed by the “Motives definition of the teaching students of higher educational institutions” test, “The attitude to the research competence of future social workers” test; “Significant attitude to research” test, methods of self-assessment of readiness for professional activity, “Intellectual lability” test, “Assessment of the level of development of research skills of students” test, Common European Framework of Reference for English Language, and the “Diagnostics of the reflexive development level” test. The usefulness of diagnostic tools was approbated for assessment of students’ competence in other pedagogical specialties.