Sklyarova Tatyana Vladimirovna
Position (administrative activities at PSTGU): Dean of the Faculty of Education, Professor
Honorary worker of higher professional education.
Name of area of training and (or) specialty:
1989, teacher of physics and mathematics, Astrakhan State Pedagogical Institute (1989), specialist.
1992-1995, graduate school, Moscow Pedagogical University State University, candidate's dissertation "Traditions and the current state of Orthodox education in Russia."
2008, doctoral dissertation “Professional training of social educators in confession-oriented higher educational institutions.”
Academic degree: Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences
Academic title: assistant professor
Total work experience: since 1989
Teaching experience: since 1989
Disciplines taught: Developmental psychology, Higher school pedagogy.
Data on advanced training and/or professional retraining: program “Federal State Educational Standard of Higher Professional Education in the direction 050400 – Psychological and Pedagogical Education”, 2011; program “Psychological and pedagogical competencies of specialists in the education system in the context of the implementation of the Federal State Educational Standard and FGT”, 2013; program "Managing the activities of universities. Design of funds of assessment tools in the system higher education", 2016.
Professional achievements
-
Since 2004 - scientific editor (since 2010 included in the list of refereed journals of the Higher Attestation Commission of the Russian Federation).
Since 2008 - head of the project “All-Russian Olympiad for schoolchildren on the Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture”.
Since 2009 - member of the Expert Council of the Russian Humanitarian Foundation for the comprehensive study of man, psychology, pedagogy, social problems medicine and human ecology, section “Pedagogy”.
Author of tutorials on developmental psychology, developer.
Bachelor's Program Developer teacher education“Religious culture, ethics, cultural, educational and volunteer activities at school” and master’s degree “Orthodox theology and culture in the content of education.”
Area of scientific interests –
religious upbringing, education, socialization; professional training of teachers for religiously oriented educational institutions; teaching psychological and pedagogical disciplines in theological schools of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Current page: 1 (book has 11 pages total) [available reading passage: 8 pages]
Tatyana Vladimirovna Sklyarova
Orthodox education in the context of socialization
© Sklyarova T.V., 2006
© PSTGU, 2006
Chapter 1. Incorporating research on religious education into the context of socialization theory
The process of human development in interaction with the world around him is called “socialization”. The theory of socialization has more than a hundred years of history and describes a wide range of problems associated with the process of a developing person’s entry into the world and society around him. However, addressing the issue of socialization began long before the widespread use of the corresponding term. About how a person is affected by his immediate and distant social environment, whether only the person himself changes or the world around him changes along with him - humanity asked these questions much earlier than sciences such as pedagogy, sociology and psychology appeared. Each of these branches of human knowledge explores its own specifics of the formation (or non-formation) of a person as a competent member of society.
In the twentieth century, the problems of raising a child in various sociocultural groups, the formation and development of the individual and society, intergenerational transmission of culture, and many others began to be studied within the framework of the theory of socialization. Currently, socialization is an independent interdisciplinary field of research, the problem or individual aspects of which are studied by philosophers, ethnographers, sociologists, psychologists, criminologists and representatives of other sciences.
It is noteworthy that until the second half of the twentieth century, scientists considered the social aspects of human development only in childhood, adolescence and adolescence. The end of the century brought to social and humanitarian knowledge the need to solve problems of social rehabilitation, adaptation and education of a large number of adults, as well as organizing decent care for older people of the so-called “third age”. All these circumstances have led to an appeal to the study of human socialization at all age stages, including adulthood and old age.
The variety of theoretical concepts of socialization is due to both the difference in approaches to considering the process of relationship between a person and society, and the choice of criteria for studying this process. Basically, all the numerous theories of socialization can be attributed to one of two approaches that differ from each other in recognizing the role of the person himself in relations with the outside world. Of course, this division is very conditional and quite schematized, but it allows us to analyze the specifics of the research position and the theoretical conclusions thus obtained.
First approach A.V. Mudrik (87, 6) defines as subject-object approach, considering a person as a passive participant in his own socialization. With this consideration, socialization is understood as the process of a person’s adaptation to society, which forms each of its members in accordance with its inherent culture. In this approach, society acts as a subject of influence on a person who is its object.
The subject-object approach has a long tradition and is represented by a number of scientific schools and concepts, including in domestic science. Almost all dictionaries and reference books published in Russian define socialization as “the process of assimilation by an individual throughout his life of social norms and cultural values of the society to which he belongs” (137, 316). The insufficiency and incompleteness of the subject-object approach is manifested in the fact that it underestimates and often ignores the fact that a person not only conforms to society, but also shows his activity and independence, learning not only to fulfill, but also to transform the norms of the environment and his own relationship with her.
The active position of a person in interaction with society and its constituent large and small social groups, which is manifested in the change by the person himself of social norms, rules and values, is realized in subject-subject approach to considering socialization. Second approach allows us to define the process of socialization as “the development and self-change of a person in the process of assimilation and reproduction of culture, which occurs in the interaction of a person with spontaneous, relatively directed and purposefully created living conditions at all age stages” (87, 21).
Such an examination of the socialization process provides grounds for research into various parameters of its course, as well as the study of the mutual influence of a person and society depending (context) on the parameters being studied. Essence characterized in this way socialization consists of a combination of adaptation and isolation of a person in the conditions of a particular society.
Adaptation presupposes the coordination of society's requirements for a person with his attitudes and social behavior, as well as the coordination of a person's self-esteem and aspirations with his capabilities and with the realities of the social environment. Separation is understood as the process of autonomization of a person in society. The result of this process A.V. Mudrik calls the formed needs:
– a person’s need to have his own views and the presence of such (value autonomy);
– the need to have one’s own attachments, chosen independently of others (emotional autonomy);
– the need to independently resolve issues affecting him personally;
– ability to resist life situations(behavioral autonomy) (87, 22).
The theory of socialization logically defines the following paradox: a person who is maximally adapted to society loses his individuality; at the same time, a person who is extremely isolated from society ceases to be a member of society. Thus, the process of socialization contains an internal contradiction between the degree of a person’s adaptation to society and the degree of his isolation in society. A solution to this paradox is possible, in our opinion, by considering various types education, and primarily religious education.
Philosophical and pedagogical analysis of the upbringing process allows us to identify three types of upbringing, differing in the nature of the relationship between the subjects of this process. This:
– family education (Family Education),
– religious education (Religious Education) and
– social education (Social Education), carried out both in various educational institutions and in society (Community Education) (86, 220).
The unity and interconnection of these three facets of human development allows the growing personality to:
– have physical and psychological space for the development of one’s own personal qualities(family education);
– gain meaning in understanding the world around you and yourself (religious education);
– as well as master the skills of interaction with others like you in equal and hierarchical relationships (social education).
The three named types of education are in a hierarchical relationship, and a violation of the hierarchy of a single educational process leads to distortions in the development of personality.
Including research on religious education in the context of socialization theory helps resolve contradictions like the socialization paradox. Overcoming the duality between the degree of isolation and the degree of adaptation of a person in society can be quite effectively resolved in integrated studies of religious educational concepts and human socialization.
Thus identified features of the theoretical study of the process of socialization, on the one hand, and the theory of religious education, on the other, allow us to name a number of problem areas in modern pedagogical research. These primarily include:
– definition and essential characteristics of religious education;
– study of the relationship between family, social and religious education;
– study of the influence of the theory and practice of family and religious education on the development of the concept of socialization;
– the role, place and significance of Orthodox education in the context of socialization of the younger generation in the history of Russia and at the present time.
Named directions theoretical research in pedagogy are partly reflected in the works of E.P. Belozertseva, E.V. Bondarevskaya, O.S. Gazmana, A.V. Mudrika, L.I. Novikova, T.I. Petrakova, V.A. Slastenina and others. However, most of the problems formulated above still remain unresolved.
In this work, an attempt is made to identify the role and place of Orthodox education in the context of socialization through analysis historical material and modern educational process. Understanding the significance of Orthodoxy for the history of Russian education, the religious aspect pedagogical activity Russian emigration, as well as trends in the revival of Orthodox traditions of education in modern Russia made it possible to conclude about the presence and signs of an Orthodox education system. The definition and identification of the structure of religious education (using the example of Orthodox education) made it possible to characterize the specifics of Orthodox educational systems. This, in turn, made it possible to consider the processes of socialization and desocialization in line with the theory of religious education.
Chapter 2. Religious education
In our opinion, the structure of religious education has a two-level component. First level - rational, second - spiritual (or mystical). In every religious tradition there is a sphere of what can be defined in words - what can be taught, what can be conveyed, what, ultimately, can be analyzed, predicted and organized. This is the rational level of religious education in this denomination. At the same time, each religion has its own spiritual component - this is an area that is not usually dissected by scientific methods, because it relates to sacred values. It is the spiritual level that determines the unique specificity of each confession, especially when comparing their rational levels. At the rational level, behavioral traditions of a social nature are transmitted, including moral laws: do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not commit adultery, honor your father and mother, do not make an idol for yourself - which are similar to the traditions of other faiths. However, let us repeat, the mystical life in each confession is unique, and therefore we can assume that the only things that can be common at this level are:
– fostering a sense of reverence and veneration for shrines (which are sacred in nature),
– prayer,
- sacraments.
It is possible to study manifestations (projections) of the spiritual level on a rational level and in this case describe intellectual, emotional, behavioral and other changes in the characteristics of the pupil, taking into account the presence of a spiritual component.
In Orthodoxy, religious education in the above context can be characterized as follows.
Rational level In our opinion, the following components are determined: informational, moral teaching, activity.
Information the component of moral education characterizes the amount of knowledge that students receive in Sacred history, Church history, theology, church art (music, icon painting, literature, painting, architecture, etc.).
Moral learning contains the basics of developing Christian morality. Pupils are taught to identify manifestations of the spiritual world in their own everyday experience. Virtuous habits are formed and good habits, the child is taught to fight vicious tendencies in his character and the harmful influence of the surrounding reality.
Activity component moral education contains the whole complex of “good deeds”. This may include performing works of mercy, preparing for participation in worship, helping in decorating the temple, church creativity - sewing, singing, making items necessary in the church (candlesticks, frames for icons, devices for fastening lamps, etc.), preparing gifts for the holidays , household chores during pilgrimage trips or hikes. It is almost impossible to list everything that can be classified as “useful activity.” Here it is much more important to understand the criterion by which any matter falls into the mainstream of Orthodox education. In the Russian tradition there is a clear sign of a charitable work, when it is done “for God”, “for Christ’s sake”, there is a huge difference in educational orientation: for example, in one case a beautiful frame is made for participation in an art exhibition, in another - in order to make a frame for the icon in the temple.
Spiritual level determine following points: preparation and participation in church sacraments, church and home prayer, repentance, cultivating a sense of reverence and veneration of shrines.
Preparation and participation in church sacraments. “A sacrament is such a sacred action through which the grace of the Holy Spirit or the saving power of God is given to a person in an invisible way” (156, 428). The Orthodox Church performs four sacraments - baptism, confirmation, communion and repentance (confession). For children, the sacrament of confession is performed, as a rule, after seven years.
The Catholic Church allows in the infantile and unconscious childhood only the sacrament of baptism. Confirmation and acceptance of the Holy Gifts (Holy Communion is also called otherwise) occurs after a certain age (10–14 years), when a person, according to the Catholic Church, is able to realize the importance of the event taking place. This event is called confirmation and marks the first communion and the first anointing. Confirmation is usually festively organized, often combined with some other family or church holiday - the birthday or day of the Angel of the child or the patronal feast of this church. In some Catholic countries, for many decades there have been various confirmation rituals, which at the same time symbolize the celebration of transition to a different age category.
In Orthodoxy, it is customary to give communion to a child and perform the sacrament of confirmation almost from birth. The problem of the effectiveness of unconscious baptism and communion in childhood is solved in Orthodoxy from a spiritual point of view. According to teaching Orthodox Church, in the sacraments, a person, in a mystical way, incomprehensible to reason, receives Divine grace. This happens not only by awareness, but also by the faith of the person who begins the sacrament, or by the faith of the person who brings the child to this sacrament. How baptism in childhood, even in infancy, occurs according to the faith of the parents and successors (i.e. godfathers and mothers who take responsibility for bringing the child to faith), and communion in childhood, unconsciously, is also an act of faith of adults who bring or bring the child to the temple. It is considered unacceptable to deprive a child of the saving power of God: a child, just like an adult who is not protected by the grace of the sacraments, will be affected by forces of a different, negative nature.
The first sacrament of repentance in Orthodoxy is usually performed at the age of seven, in some cases, at the discretion of the priest, at a later age (8–10 years). Starting from this age, the sacrament of communion must begin only after the sacrament of repentance (confession).
Each age has its own measure of preparation for the sacraments of confession and communion. This is described in more detail in the books of Archpriest Gleb Kaleda, S.S. Kulomzina (157; 70). An important point In preparing a child for confession and communion, the teacher or parent determines the extent of their competence and responsibility. Archpriest Vladislav Sveshnikov warns about a very common mistake these days: “... a mistake in a prayerful, generally religious attitude towards what God can do and what you can do. The error is quite ordinary, but very serious. It consisted most often in the fact that many took upon themselves the functions of God, but did not fulfill their functions. They strove to do for themselves what was best left to God, and what they absolutely had to do out of responsibility and duty themselves, they supposedly gave it to God, and even with a reservation, with our usual Orthodox reservation: “The will of God, what God decides is okay! » – but in fact, they gave it not to God, but to the street or school” (158, 23).
Church and home prayer. One of the main things Orthodox man is prayer. “Prayer is a conversation with God, it is “standing before God.” Prayer requires the sincere diligence of a person with the help of God’s grace. In a sense, one is taught to pray in the same way as one is taught to speak... First, the child prays with others, acquires the habit of praying daily, and then prayer can become a living experience... Memorizing prayers is, of course, useful, but this is not learning to pray. The best way to introduce a child to the experience of prayer is to pray with him,” writes Sofya Sergeevna Kulomzina in the book “Our Church and Our Children” (70, 86) (italics added – T.S.). At a rational level, the child is taught the words of prayer, the types of prayers are explained - petition, thanksgiving, holiday prayers, cell and church prayers. The main teaching of prayer occurs in the family. Orthodox pedagogy believes that it is in the process of joint prayer between a child and an adult that the child comprehends the basic essence of prayer, which is also accomplished in a secret, incomprehensible way.
A child’s church prayer, if we consider it on a rational level, is largely determined by the unique decoration of the temple - the colors and faces of icons, lit candles, the vestments of clergy, the smell of incense, fragrant oils, the sounds of chants - all this affects the consciousness and subconscious of children even in infancy . Accordingly, the child’s prayerful attitude also changes - church prayer is distinguished by special solemnity, alternating reading and singing prayers, burning incense in the temple and sprinkling with holy water, which is performed by the priest. The presence of unfamiliar adults who also pray has a great influence on the child.
Repentance. A child who has become familiar with the experience of prayer sooner or later comes to the realization of his own imperfection, he comprehends a feeling of repentance. In the spiritual aspect, repentance is seen as rebirth, the desire to transform oneself with the help of God's grace, and a change in one's own spiritual experience. In what ways does a feeling of repentance arise? It is almost impossible to give a comprehensive answer to this question. At a rational level, you can lead the student to change his spiritual experience. Such a change is also possible during the learning process.
“Pedagogical support for man’s innate need to know the Truth and communicate with God is the essence of education. If a person’s internal needs are “grounded” from childhood, if teachers and parents in the process of communication convey to children a sense of animal self-sufficiency, depriving them of the bread of heaven, learning stops and is replaced by the process of socialization and professionalization, which can be called not training, but adaptation. In the process of adaptation, there is no change in spiritual experience, but it serves as an indicator of whether the learning process is taking place or not. The Orthodox meaning of such a change is determined by the word “repentance.” We tend to view learning as special case repentance" (159, 36). Cultivating a sense of reverence and veneration for shrines. Distinctive feature These feelings are precisely their spiritual origin. This is the difference, for example, from respect, which can be entirely characterized by rational reasons. It is in an initially incomprehensible, spiritual way that the attitude of children in a family of believers towards their parents is formed. “A son is always smaller than his father. Even if he is greater than his father, he still does not know about it... for he reveres his father” (94, 112).
A sacred (sacred) attitude towards the Motherland, the world, people, nature is also brought up in the child by instilling reverence for what God has created and what cannot be fully defined and known. One of the ways to cultivate a sense of reverence is to teach a person to venerate shrines. Christian shrines include the Cross, the Gospel, icons, relics of saints, places associated with Sacred history. Just as in teaching prayer, the determining factor for a student is the reverent attitude of the teacher or parent towards the shrine. And how the emergence of sacred awe in the soul of a child occurs is not possible for anyone to comprehend.
The given characteristics of religious education in the Orthodox tradition reflect the sphere of pedagogical influence on the student and the sphere in which the teacher is unclaimed. When designating the structure of religious education, it is necessary to determine the area of application of pedagogical efforts and the area where the influence of another person is unacceptable. For the most important principle of education in every world religion is the recognition of the individual freedom of the student.
“Age-related pedagogy and psychology”: Publishing house “Pokrov”; Moscow; 2004
Developmental pedagogy and psychology
Introduction. Goals and objectives
The proposed manual is based on materials from lectures given to students of the pedagogical faculty of the Orthodox St. Tikhon Theological Institute by one of the authors of this book - Tatyana Vladimirovna Sklyarova, head. Department of Social Pedagogy, and the practical and theoretical activities of another teacher - Olga Leonidovna Yanushkyavichene, the author of famous works on pedagogy 1. This course is integrated, as it includes the foundations of several psychological and pedagogical programs and is built on basic courses in Christian anthropology, developmental pedagogy, developmental psychology, Orthodox pedagogy, psychology of personality development, and gerontology.
The authors’ own children also helped them comprehend the material presented in the manual. The manual contains a number of real observations of their lives. The names of the young heroes: Sema, Sasha, Anya, Anton, Lena.
A special feature of this course is the consideration from a psychological and pedagogical perspective of all age stages in the life of the human person - from conception to old age and death. This circumstance is dictated by modern requirements for the training of specialists in various fields human relations- priests, teachers, psychologists, social workers. Pedagogical and social services should employ professionals who are familiar with the peculiarities of each age stage in a person’s life, especially since future priests need such knowledge. The traditional consideration in pedagogy of personality development only up to its adolescence does not meet the requirements set by life. Each age stage in a person’s life, including old age and the transition to death, has its own psychological and pedagogical characteristics.
The spiritual characteristics of personality development, their characteristics and assessment are not specifically considered here, since the authors proceed from the statement of St. Theophan the Recluse that “Christian life is not a natural life” (34, 14) 2, therefore, the consideration of age characteristics given in the manual is a description of “natural life,” in which there is always the opportunity to “laid the beginning of a life according to the spirit” (ibid.). However, based on the basic principles of Christian anthropology, using the experience of Orthodox teachers, their own pedagogical and maternal experience, the authors formulated pedagogical tasks and methods of spiritual education that are most adequate for each age.
The main purpose of the proposed course is to describe age characteristics personality development, taking into account the basic principles of Orthodox anthropology and modern psychology personality development.
Course objectives:
describe the psychological characteristics of the individual for each age stage;
formulate pedagogical tasks determined by the psychological characteristics of age;
suggest the most adequate given psychological - pedagogical characteristics methods of spiritual education, based on the basic principles of Christian anthropology.
I. Spiritual and moral characteristics of the processes of personality formation
Key provisions of Orthodox anthropology used in the manual
The main, key provisions of Orthodox anthropology, on which the authors rely in this work, are: 1) the presence of the image of God in man, his given likeness to God; 2) freedom of moral self-determination of a person; 3) damage to human nature by original sin and human exposure to demonic forces; 4) the idea of salvation as the result of the action of God's grace and free human will.
Orthodox anthropology is based on the doctrine of the image of God in man. Each person bears in his personality the image and likeness of God. The image of God was given to man from the very beginning; it is the ontological basis of the existence of a person’s personality, his life and creativity. The entire pedagogy of Orthodoxy is built on the teaching about the image of God in man. As the outstanding Orthodox thinker, theologian and teacher Archpriest Vasily Zenkovsky said, “this is boundless faith in man, this feeling that nothing can completely cross out the image of God in man, this is a firm confession that no one will ever waste the treasure that he has concluded.” The Lord into our souls" (22, 42). And if the image of God is given to the human person, then likeness to God is given, and its achievement is the main meaning of the life of an Orthodox believer.
Freedom of moral self-determination of a person is the most important condition man’s aspiration towards God, the achievement of that ideal that was originally inherent in man - God-likeness. Thanks to the freedom given by God, man is not completely subject to the law of necessity. As the teacher of the Moscow Orthodox Theological Academy, Archimandrite Platon (Igumnov), writes in his work, “he is the culprit of his formation, since he has freedom, it is in his power to change and direct the process of his formation and development. He himself is the cause of his condition. Using the gift of freedom, a person imparts meaning to the process of his formation, preferring one or another law of existence...” (1, 106). However, “freedom is the individual’s ability to creatively develop within the boundaries of those possibilities that are determined by God” (ibid.).
The doctrine of original sin is not the main one in Orthodox anthropology in understanding human essence, but it helps to understand man in his real earthly life, in his destiny. The word “sin” (amartia) in Greek means failure. Professor V.V. Zenkovsky in his work “Problems of education in the light of Christian anthropology” writes that “sinfulness, of course, penetrated into the entire composition of man, into all his functions, which is why a fundamental duality was created in man, in his depths, goodness in man was so inexplicably intertwined with evil..." (22, 40). Sin (as deviation, delusion, fall) prevents a person from fulfilling true goal his life. The process of overcoming sin and eliminating it from personal life lays the foundation for salvation.
Under what conditions is it possible to save a person? What is the role of human freedom in the dispensation of salvation? Orthodox dogmatic theology answers these questions as follows: salvation is possible subject to the direction of the human will towards God and the free opening of the heart to accept grace (41, 200). “The Lord says: Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with Me (Rev. 3:20). The Monk Macarius of Egypt speaks about this (“Spiritual Conversations”): “The human will is, as it were, essential condition“If there is no will, God Himself does nothing, although He can according to His freedom.” Saint John Chrysostom teaches the same thing: “Grace, although it is grace, saves those who wish, and not those who do not want it and turn away from it, constantly fight against it and resist it”; “God does not force anyone; “If He wants, but we don’t want, then our salvation is impossible, not because His will was powerless, but because He does not want to force anyone.” Thus, grace is not a force that acts irresistibly in a person. The Eastern Fathers assert that man can freely direct his will in spite of grace” (ibid., 201).
In order to acquire God’s gracious presence, a person must constantly make his own efforts. Orthodox anthropology teaches about synergy (common action in one direction) of Divine grace and human effort. The need for spiritual achievement for salvation is an indispensable condition for any human life. At the same time free human activity provides necessary but by no means sufficient conditions for salvation. It is the presence of God’s grace that is a necessary (main) condition in the matter of salvation.
Human personality in the spheres of existence
The concept of personality. The course does not contain a definition of the concept of personality. One of the main provisions in the study of moral theology is the recognition that personality cannot be explained by any external - extrapersonal - elements. “Personality cannot be an object of scientific study in the same completeness and volume as objects of the external world. She always remains incomprehensible in her ultimate, deep essence... As the image of God, personality does not need any causal-genetic explanation. The only way to explain personality in the complete indivisibility and indestructibility of its existential structure is to recognize the dogmatic truth about its creation by God out of nothing” (1, 17). The object of scientific research can be the empirical content of a person’s life.
A scientific consideration of human life is possible in three spheres of his existence - the sphere of his natural existence, the sphere of socio-cultural life and religious church life (1, 19). The field of study of psychological and pedagogical disciplines is the processes occurring in the intellectual, emotional, spiritual spheres of a person’s personality, his behavior and relationships with the surrounding reality. These processes are characterized by the following definitions.
Personal development. A process inherent in the internal structure of personality, describing changes occurring in the personality. Personal development is understood as a process of manifestation of what was originally present in it, what was given, and the emergence of something new, something that was not there before.
Education is the cultivation of a person, taking into account all three spheres of his personality. Defined as assistance in the nutrition of all constituent aspects of the personality, education involves an impact on the physical, mental and spiritual spheres of human existence. Creation favorable conditions for the formation of personality under the grace-filled care of the Church is one of the most important tasks of Orthodox education. Education in Orthodox anthropology is understood as assistance in salvation. Archpriest Evgeniy Shestun: “Only in such a setting does education acquire its meaning as preparation for life on earth” (35, 31).
Personality formation. “Formation is what resists the law of decay, which leads to overcoming chaos and to the formation of life into a stable and integral structure” (1, 20). Defining formation as the process of becoming a personality, shaping the structure of its existence, we proceed from the fact that the impact on a person (from parents, teachers, society, etc.), including upbringing, is only a part, one of the factors of this large-scale process. Realizing the formation of personality as its physical, mental and spiritual formation, Orthodox anthropology recognizes the priority of the spiritual principle as the universal reality of human life. The spirit is immaterial, therefore intangible and invisible. But it is the spirit that is the core, the system-forming component that forms a person as a single whole, as a person created in the image and likeness of God.
Differences in approaches to considering personality formation. In pedagogical literature, it is customary to consider the spontaneous and purposeful formation of personality. And while a lot has been written and said about purposeful formation, spontaneous formation is often identified with the process of socialization. However, it is not. The socialization process has its own theory (see below). Clarification of the essence of formation is necessary for the correct setting of pedagogical goals and objectives.
Any educational concept is based on a certain set of anthropological ideas. Anthropology answers the questions: what is a person? what is his physical, mental, moral essence? what is his place in the world and his highest existential purpose?
Dominant for a long time In our country, materialist ideology led to the development of anthropological ideas that human existence is entirely determined by biological and social factors. This allowed us to believe that the process of human formation could be completely predictable and controllable. The term “formation” has become increasingly used to mean the process of purposeful influence on a person from the outside. In psychology, ideas were born about the formation of the qualities of a person’s mental activity - his thinking, memory, imagination, perception. A theory of the gradual formation of mental activity was created. Pedagogy formalized methods for the formation of intellectual, aesthetic, moral, patriotic and other qualities of a student’s personality. The collapse of Soviet ideology also entailed the state's refusal to have a monopoly in the education of its citizens. Education as a single system collapsed and turned into a field for experiments and various “innovations.”
Democratic changes in society have led to the fact that the most widespread educational concept at present is based on the philosophy of humanism. Rejection of hierarchy in educational process, inherent in the pedagogy of humanism, determined the development of “pedagogy of cooperation” with its principle of equality of the educator and the educated and the main task - self-actualization of the individual.
Self-actualization of the student’s personality as the embodiment of his potential capabilities and abilities is the main problem in the educational concept of humanism. It is implicit that everything in a person is positive. Humanistic psychology and pedagogy recognize the original harmony of the human being, and also accept the plurality and equality of value orientations (the so-called pluralism of opinions). The teacher and the student may have different moral values, but this will not prevent their cooperation. The function of the educator is reduced to the role of an assistant (stimulator, amplifier), facilitating the disclosure and implementation of the motives, needs and interests of the group and each of its members (32, 114). In this regard, the principle of a tolerant attitude towards the pupil 3 becomes fundamental.
Undoubtedly, the pedagogy of cooperation is more humane in comparison with the “pedagogy of formation”; it is often called “pedagogy of non-violence”. The positive aspect of this pedagogical approach is helping the student to discover his talents, taking into account individual characteristics and inclinations; pupils are not exposed to the formative influence of the teacher for the sake of “abstract pedagogical ideas" The pedagogy of nonviolence preserves a certain integrity of the individual, helping to spontaneously shape the structure of his being.
Personal salvation as the ultimate goal of education. Orthodox pedagogy recognizes the uniqueness of each person and the inscrutable ways of the Lord, but this does not mean that it does not know the final goals of education. Without encroaching on the divine freedom of man and reverently before the mystery of his destiny, the Orthodox teacher nevertheless makes efforts to ensure that spiritually healthy tendencies prevail in the formation of the student’s personality. Professing a hierarchical rather than a harmonious approach to education, Orthodox pedagogy believes that a person should not “develop” and “realize,” but be saved. And because of this, in Orthodoxy the role of the educator and teacher, his activity and responsibility for the consequences of the influences with which he addresses his students, is incredibly increasing.
It is difficult not to agree that “the idea of spiritual help is more seductive than anything, especially when expressed in lofty words” (2, 184). It is very easy, in a noble impulse, to imagine oneself as a kind of builder, a mason of human souls, shaping the future inhabitants of the Kingdom of Heaven (similar to how the builders of communism were once formed). But in this approach violence will manifest itself, and, like any violence, this can create irreparable consequences in the future. In the ontological depth of every person lives the secret of freedom, and another person can never be the object of violent influence, no matter how high the goals are set. The Lord Himself did not limit human freedom even when His disciple, Judas, made his choice: Then Jesus said to him: whatever you do, do it quickly (John 13:27). Human freedom is immeasurably great and lofty, but also terrible - this is man’s greatest responsibility before God. The Son of Man follows his destiny, but woe to the man by whom He is betrayed (Luke 22:22).
Secular pedagogy and psychology try to help a person, bypassing the problem of good and evil. Orthodox teachers and psychologists who know about the deep spiritual life of a person cannot afford this. Talking about the principles of helping another person, psychologist G.S. Abramova writes: “Spiritual help differs from psychological help, just as the essence of a person differs from the manifestations of his “I”. Spiritual help can be understood as helping a person gain conscience, freedom, responsibility, faith and love for God. How possible is it under the influence of another person?.. No matter how many psychological theories there are in the world, they cannot ignore the fact of a person’s spiritual work. What could be causing it? What is the other person’s role in it?” (2, 184–185).
The questions posed cannot be answered unambiguously, and therefore, when addressing a child, one must always remember them so as not to overstep the boundaries of what is permitted, in order to always remember the requirement of Hippocrates - do no harm.
However, where are the boundaries, so to speak, of what is permitted for a person, where is the area of doing? This is the man himself, his aspiration to a high ideal. He has only one path - self-improvement, and only on this path will the world around him change, and with it the people around him. In the history of Christian holiness, there is the most amazing evidence of how the personality of one person, striving for a godly life, changed the circumstances of life and the very lives of many hundreds of people. Examples of the lives of the holy righteous Matrona of Moscow and St. Seraphim of Vyritsky, close to our time, will help us understand how, through the efforts of one holy ascetic, in an atmosphere of hostilities, despair and grief, courageous calm, peace and hope in the Lord were created in the soul.
During the Great Patriotic War in German-occupied Vyritsa (near Leningrad, besieged by the siege), services did not stop in the church where Father Seraphim Vyritsky served. Not only the residents of Vyritsa themselves joined the priest’s prayer - soldiers of the German army came to the church service. And in this town the war seemed to have disappeared. Also, according to the recollections of contemporaries, the ascetic Matronushka of Moscow helped people with spiritual advice and the example of her godly life.
The basic principle of Orthodox education. It is not for nothing that St. Seraphim of Sarov taught: “Acquire a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved.” This, precisely the problem of salvation, is the goal of Orthodox pedagogy. Of course, real teachers are far from holiness, but in pedagogy there is a principle: to educate becoming by becoming. A living search for a living person, someone who is next to you, who is not indifferent to you, who is your friend, who understands you, perhaps better than you yourself, rejoices in all your successes and mourns your downfalls, cannot help but educate . Such an attitude towards the student is, of course, a feat, but if the teacher is not ready for such a feat, then it is better for him not to take on education, but to do something else. Let us remember the Apostle James, who called: My brothers! Not many become teachers, knowing that we will be subject to greater condemnation. For we all sin a lot (James 3:1-2).
In Christianity, God is personal. In the very ontological essence of the Holy Trinity lies the concept of Hypostasis. And this is it personal beginning inherent in every person as the image of God. Therefore, the fundamental principle of Orthodox pedagogy is the meeting of the individual with the individual. If a teacher sees the image of God in each child and, realizing his weakness, turns to God in prayer for help, then love will tell him what to do in each situation. specific situation. The main thing here is to remember that it is not you (teacher, parent) who saves the child, but your own salvation depends on your attitude towards him.
Socialization is a person’s mastery of social norms and rules of behavior, communication and interaction with society. The essence of socialization is that in the process a person is formed as a member of the society to which he belongs. The process of human socialization occurs with the help of many factors ( necessary conditions for this process to occur) (42). These are microfactors - family, religious community, peer society, neighbors and all those social groups in which a person lives directly and which influence him, and mesofactors. Mesofactors include the so-called “intermediate” factors that influence a person indirectly - type of settlement, means of mass communication, ethnicity. The theory of socialization, taking into account the influence of macro- and megafactors on the process of human socialization, nevertheless notes that situations are possible when a well-mannered person may not be fully socialized, and vice versa, well-socialized individuals are often ill-mannered.
Developmental pedagogy and psychology
Introduction. Goals and objectives
The proposed manual is based on materials from lectures given to students of the pedagogical faculty of the Orthodox St. Tikhon Theological Institute by one of the authors of this book - Tatyana Vladimirovna Sklyarova, head. Department of Social Pedagogy, and the practical and theoretical activities of another teacher - Olga Leonidovna Yanushkyavichene, author of famous works on pedagogy. This course is integrated, as it includes the foundations of several psychological and pedagogical programs and is built on basic courses in Christian anthropology, developmental pedagogy, developmental psychology, Orthodox pedagogy, psychology of personality development, and gerontology.
The authors’ own children also helped them comprehend the material presented in the manual. The manual contains a number of real observations of their lives. The names of the young heroes: Sema, Sasha, Anya, Anton, Lena.
A special feature of this course is the consideration from a psychological and pedagogical perspective of all age stages in the life of the human person - from conception to old age and death. This circumstance is dictated by modern requirements for the training of specialists in various fields of human relations - priests, teachers, psychologists, social workers. Pedagogical and social services should employ professionals who are familiar with the peculiarities of each age stage in a person’s life, especially since future priests need such knowledge. The traditional consideration in pedagogy of personality development only up to its adolescence does not meet the requirements set by life. Each age stage in a person’s life, including old age and the transition to death, has its own psychological and pedagogical characteristics.
The spiritual characteristics of personality development, their characteristics and assessment are not specifically considered here, since the authors proceed from the statement of St. Theophan the Recluse that “Christian life is not a natural life” (34, 14), therefore the consideration of age characteristics given in the manual is a description “natural life”, in which there is always the opportunity to “laid the beginning of life according to the spirit” (ibid.). However, based on the basic principles of Christian anthropology, using the experience of Orthodox teachers, their own pedagogical and maternal experience, the authors formulated pedagogical tasks and methods of spiritual education that are most adequate for each age.
The main goal of the proposed course is to describe the age-related characteristics of personality development, taking into account the basic principles of Orthodox anthropology and modern psychology of personality development.
Course objectives:
describe the psychological characteristics of the individual for each age stage;
formulate pedagogical tasks determined by the psychological characteristics of age;
propose methods of spiritual education that are most adequate to the given psychological and pedagogical characteristics, based on the basic principles of Christian anthropology.
I. Spiritual and moral characteristics of the processes of personality formation
Key provisions of Orthodox anthropology used in the manual
The main, key provisions of Orthodox anthropology, on which the authors rely in this work, are: 1) the presence of the image of God in man, his given Godlikeness; 2) freedom of moral self-determination of a person; 3) damage to human nature by original sin and human exposure to demonic forces; 4) the idea of salvation as the result of the action of God's grace and free human will.
Orthodox anthropology is based on the doctrine of the image of God in man. Each person bears in his personality the image and likeness of God. The image of God was given to man from the very beginning; it is the ontological basis of the existence of a person’s personality, his life and creativity. The entire pedagogy of Orthodoxy is built on the teaching about the image of God in man. As the outstanding Orthodox thinker, theologian and teacher Archpriest Vasily Zenkovsky said, “this is boundless faith in man, this feeling that nothing can completely cross out the image of God in man, this is a firm confession that no one will ever waste the treasure that he has concluded.” The Lord into our souls" (22, 42). And if the image of God is given to the human person, then likeness to God is given, and its achievement is the main meaning of the life of an Orthodox believer.
- + - Midlife crisis. Maturity. Old age [unavailable]
A fully formed, mature person, often already having a family and a profession, who has managed to do something in his life, suddenly discovers doubt in himself: “Who am I?”, “Do I live like this?”, “What is my real purpose in life? " Researchers argue that the crisis of adulthood matures unnoticed and lasts a long time. Several reasons for the crisis are named, and the hierarchy of reasons varies among different authors. In general, three main trends are noticeable in explaining the causes of the crisis. The first trend explains the cause of crisis phenomena in the decline of a person’s physical strength in the second half of the thirties. Against the background of still good health, a person leading a busy life suddenly shows the first signs that he is not omnipotent, that the body has its own “margin of safety”, and the first signs of physical fatigue and malaise appear. Thus, G. Sheehy writes: “Loss of youth, fading of physical strength, change in habitual roles - any of these moments can give the transition the character of a crisis. The age between thirty-five and forty-five is a time of danger and great opportunity.”
The publication is currently unavailable. http://www.portal-slovo.ru/pedagogy/44145.php
- + - Basic principles of Orthodox anthropology in the course of developmental psychology [unavailable]
Orthodox anthropology is based on the doctrine of the image of God in man. Each person bears in his personality the image and likeness of God. The image of God was given to man from the very beginning; it is the ontological basis of the existence of a person’s personality, his life and creativity. The entire pedagogy of Orthodoxy is built on the teaching about the image of God in man. As the outstanding Orthodox thinker, theologian and teacher Archpriest Vasily Zenkovsky said, “this is boundless faith in man, this feeling that nothing can completely cross out the image of God in man, this is a firm confession that no one will ever waste the treasure that he has concluded.” Lord into our souls." And if the image of God is given to the human person, then likeness to God is given, and its achievement is the main meaning of the life of an Orthodox believer. Freedom of moral self-determination of a person is the most important condition for a person’s aspiration towards God, the achievement of that ideal that was originally inherent in a person - God-likeness. Thanks to the freedom given by God, man is not completely subject to the law of necessity.
The publication is currently unavailable. http://www.portal-slovo.ru/pedagogy/42685.php
- + - Theories of mental development [unavailable]
The main theories of mental development received their form in the psychology of the twentieth century, which is directly related to the methodological crisis of psychology at the beginning of that century. The search for objective research methods exposed the problem ultimate goal psychological research. Scientific discussions have revealed differences in the understanding of mental development, as well as the patterns and conditions of its occurrence. The difference in approaches gave rise to the construction of different concepts about the role of biological and social factors, about the importance of heredity and environment in personality development. At the same time, the emergence of various scientific schools in developmental psychology contributed to the further accumulation and systematization of empirical data on human development in different periods life. The construction of theories of mental development made it possible to explain the characteristics of behavior and identify the mechanisms of formation of certain mental qualities of the individual. Western psychology traditionally considers mental development human in line with the established schools of psychoanalysis, behaviorism, Gestalt psychology, genetic and humanistic psychology.
