The article reveals the essence, content and features of professional education in the process of training social teachers on the basis of personal, systemic, environmental and personal-activity approaches. Various approaches to understanding the essence of professional education of students are presented. The author's understanding of professional education of students is revealed as a process of ensuring the purposeful formation of a student's culture for a professional purpose. The article characterizes the understanding of the professional culture of a social teacher as a result of his professional training, as well as ensuring its purposeful development at the university. The internal and external components of the professional culture of a social teacher are revealed. The basic aspects of the professional training of social teachers at the university, in the formation of which professional education is necessary, are highlighted: pedagogical worldview; deontological foundations of personality; awareness of the socio-role position as a social teacher; culture of professional and pedagogical behavior; individual style of professional activity and civic position. Дана характеристика каждого выделенного аспекта и раскрыты особенности реализации потенциала профессионального воспитания студентов в процессе их формирования в поликультурной среде вуза.