Introduction. The digitalisation of the education system has increased the importance of acquiring digital competencies. At the same time, soft-competencies changed their structure and acquired a specific digital component. Didactic communications, based on the acquisition of all three groups of competencies - soft, hard and digital, have been changed, especially in the field of information technology. Those cognitive and communicative difficulties, which were previously easily solved with direct contact, now require special soft-competencies of the teacher. The processes of the search for solutions to problems and the formulation of such problems become more acute. There is an urgent need to find ways to solve the problem of raising the effectiveness of cognitive interactions. Therefore, one such way could be the method for analysing the leading type of cognitive interactions in training through a hermeneutic approach.

The aims of the present research are the following: to reveal scientific and methodological aspects of application of the hermeneutic approach in didactic communications training for vocational teachers; to demonstrate the example of a graphical representation of the model of the hermeneutic circle concerning cognitive processes for studying regulatory texts; to form the main provisions for the theory of preparation for effective professional communications as a tool for acquiring workplace flexibility skills.

Methodology and research methods. The theoretical and methodological component of the research is based on hermeneutic, system-activity and integrative approaches. The main research findings are drawn upon the cognitive theory (theory of cognitive processes). Empirical research data were obtained through the included observation method, as well as through testing among the trainees.

Results. A hermeneutic circle model was demonstrated. Such a model is the basis of the authors’ methodology for teaching didactic communications in the field of information technologies. The basics of the theory of preparation for effective professional communications were developed. A fundamental tool was described showing the effectiveness of the application of the hermeneutic approach. The publication discloses a mechanism for understanding and interpreting a user algorithm. For the first time, the hermeneutic circle model is presented for understanding and interpreting user instructions by people of socionomic professions. The obtained theoretical and practical results can be interpolated into any scientific sphere, which is studied in the framework of primary vocational education in university or college degree programmes.

Scientific novelty. The publication considers the hermeneutic circle model as a visual image that illustrates the specifics of cognitive processes when studying user algorithms as the basis for information exchange in the field of IT. The model demonstrates the reasons for the appearance of “weaknesses” when providing training for teachers in didactic communications in the field of IT.

Practical significance. Since the issue of teaching workplace flexibility skills remains open at the level of theoretical and practical tools, there are some prerequisites for its development. The publication can be recommended to educators involved in the development of integrative disciplines aimed at improving communication skills. The main theoretical provisions are considered through the example of didactic communications in the field of IT.

Introduction. The implementation of work-based learning in the process of joint vocational instruction by enterprises and VET (vocational education and training) institutions is the most important focus of the educational policy in developed countries. In the Russian Federation, over the past decade, such kind of partnership has been developing both through spontaneous self-organisation and purposefully in the form of several government projects. VET education policy was focused mainly on implementing the World Skills championship movement in the domestic field. As a result, no fundamental changes in institutional and economic structure were implemented to make apprenticeship training compelling for enterprises. Nevertheless, no full-fledged accumulation of information on the dynamics of the development of various forms of work-based learning was carried out to prevent the decent assessment of the current state of apprenticeship training in the Russian Federation and to conduct a comparative international analysis.

The present article aims to determine the current status of interaction between enterprises and VET institutions, fulfil the lack of quantitative information on the topic, and test the hypothesis that under the current institutional conditions the interaction frequency and intensity between enterprises and VET institutions in the Russian Federation lag behind similar international indicators.

Methodology and research methods. In the course of the research, the methods of socio-historical analysis, the instruments of theoretical and methodological analysis, hypothesis building, assessment and generalisation methods were applied. The empirical part of the present research was formed by the methods of secondary analysis of the Russian and foreign studies on the development of the VET and its interaction with the labour market. In addition, the method of comparative and retrospective analysis of statistical data from Russian and international studies was employed. Finally, the method of questionnaire survey and the method of content analysis of websites of educational institutions and enterprises were used. The study involved 603 VET institutions from 29 constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Results and scientific novelty. One of the most significant research findings is a systemic description of the current status of the partnership between VET institutions and enterprises in the Russian Federation. Main directions and forms of interaction between VET institutions and enterprises in Russia at the end of the second decade of the XXI century were outlined (curricula development, internship for students, and participation in education results assessment). The prospects for the development of partnership between VET institutions and enterprises and the influencing factors (economic and institutional) were determined. The particular Russian characteristics of the interaction between the VET system and the labour market were identified and described as an inharmonious partnership with the employer’s active articulation of a request for a high-quality human resource without proportionate participation in its instruction. The quantitative assessment of current interaction between enterprises and VET institutions in Russia allowed comparative analysis with the indicators of foreign countries to be conducted. In our country, the authors revealed a lower level of enterprises investments (especially financial ones) in the students’ human capital development.

Practical significance. The sociological toolkit and schemes of dynamic and comparative analysis developed in the course of the research can be used in further research on the education system and on the related issues. The research findings can be applied while planning and implementing educational policy measures.

Introduction. The transformation of the educational system and the labour market determines the need for objective procedures for independent assessment of qualifications that meet the needs of all stakeholders. The need to overcome the qualification gap is becoming more acute, and it is necessary to change the configuration of connections and relationships in the process of qualifications assessment, which determines the relevance of the current research.

Aim. The present publication is aimed to analyse social processes related to the development of practices for evaluating qualifications obtained in both formal and non-formal education in Russia.

Methodology and research methods. The methodological framework of the research is based on the principles of the activity approach and the concept of structuration, in which the practice of qualifications assessment is viewed as a combination of social relations between individual and collective actors in the space of social and labour relations. Data collection and analysis was carried out using a qualitative methodology of the sociological approach. A semi-formal interview was selected as the method of expert survey. Twenty-four experts from various sectors of the economy (Moscow, Ekaterinburg and Tyumen) took part in the interviews.

Results and scientific novelty. The possibilities and constraints of existing practices for qualifications assessment were identified: assessment centres, qualification assessment centres, internal certification, professional evaluation of working professions within the framework of the “WorldSkills” programme in Russia. The analysis of international experience is presented. Based on expert assessments, it was established that practices specific to the industrial model of the economy prevail in Russia. Thus, the infrastructure and regulatory field were established for the development of new practices of independent qualification assessment. However, the main participants of the process are not involved enough in mutual interaction. The primary sector of the economy hinders the development of the high-technology manufacturing industry and the employers who are interested in creating a competency framework. According to experts, the importance of non-formal education in the development of relevant competencies is increasing, and new mechanisms for qualifications assessment obtained in both formal and informal training are required. The authors presented the cases, which illustrate new configurations of participants’ relationships, when independent assessment of qualifications is integrated with the formal educational system at the stage of state final certification, ensuring the interrelated procedures. The article reveals the contradictions, which are manifested in the interaction between applicants/employees, employers and the state. It is concluded that such contradictions affect the institutional mechanisms for the formation of a national system of independent qualification assessment.

Practical significance. The analysis of alternative models for qualifications assessment revealed the interests of different stakeholders involved in this process, the possibility of using “hybrid” forms of qualifications assessment, as well as a number of contradictions related to regulatory, functional and institutional features. The results of the study can be useful for managers of educational institutions and employers to synchronise the processes for mutual assessment of qualifications. As a result, recommendations for the development of an independent qualification assessment system in Russia are proposed, and the prospects for further research are outlined.

Introduction. This article examines the modern educational approach in the field of liberal arts and practical finance, democratisation of the decision-making system in educational institutions through the active engagement of students on the example of US schools and universities. This approach is based on initiative, or participatory budgeting, i.e. students are involved in the process of allocation of budgetary funds of schools and universities. Such participatory practice has educational and administrative objectives, as it serves to improve the quality management in educational institutions through the involvement of students in major decisions. Taking into account the fact that students are the key beneficiaries of the education system, their opinions lead to increased efficiency in educational institutions.

Aim. On the basis of real cases, the current research is aimed to identify and describe participatory techniques that can integrate the teaching of theoretical knowledge in the field of civil society with the formation of practical skills in this area.

Methodology and research methods. Desk research method of analysing primary and secondary sources (websites of educational institutions, academic publications, and articles in the media) and the field sociological method of expert interviews were used. Expert interviews with representatives of schools and universities, teachers, officers from educational institutions, consultants from the Participatory Budgeting Project, the leading consulting organisation in North America were conducted.

Results. The results of the study reveal several participatory techniques for students’ engagement in the allocation of budgetary funds of schools and universities that are applied in New York and Arizona. The identified and described technologies of participation contribute to the formation of students’ knowledge of socio-economic disciplines, practical finance and civics, project management skills, as well as an increase in civic engagement.

Scientific novelty. The present study expands the ideas about how to improve the process of teaching social and economic disciplines at schools and universities, practical finance and project management. The method of improving the efficiency of educational institutions through democratic practices is identified.

Practical significance. In the future, the proposed approach can be applied in Russian educational institutions.

Introduction. The attachment is viewed as the base for assessment of individual adaptation variation throughout life. In the capacity of the core indicator of the person’s unison with external environment, the psychological well-being combines the different aspects of child life. The assessment of the psychological well-being is based on three indicators: evidence of life satisfaction; life quality assessment; difficulty levels of external and internal spectrum.

The aim of the current publication is to investigate the influence of features of attachment to mother on psychological well-being of primary school-age children.

Methodology and research methods. The methodological research framework was based on the main provisions of the attachment theory (J. Bowlby, M. Ainsworth). “Mother-Child Attachment Style Measure Questionnaire” method (Pupyreva, 2007) was employed to identify attachment features. The measure of psychological well-being was carried out by means of “Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale” (Toporkova, Slobodskaya et al., 2015), “Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory” and “Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire” (Goodman, Slobodskaya, Knyazev, 2005) methods. 178 primary school-age children (85 boys and 93 girls) aged 10 to 11 (mean age = 10.2) participated in the research.

Results. The analysis of the results showed that secure attachment among children reduces life satisfaction, facilitates the behavioural disorders and psycho-emotional reactions, impacts on limitation of social contacts and life quality. Using the regression analysis, it was revealed that the quality of the correlation between attachment indicators and psychological well-being vary depending on degree of attachment security. It is demonstrated that maternal responsiveness and attentiveness is an absolute predictor of life satisfaction, physical and social well-being and life quality in the primary school-age period, irrespective of the child’s attachment types. The absence of mother-child closeness is the predictor for disruption of physical, emotional and social functioning, low level of life quality in insecure attachment in primary school-aged children.

Scientific novelty. The specificity of psychological well-being of primary school-aged children with different types of attachment to their mother is determined. It is shown for the first time that characteristics of attachment are the predictors of life satisfaction, quality of life, and mental health of primary school-aged children.

Practical significance. By identifying different regression models for the description of psychological well-being on the basis of child-mother attachment indicators, it may be possible to provide interventions to improve psychological well-being based on the characteristics of attachment.

Introduction. The ongoing socio-economic transformations in society and science education actualise the modern educational policy in the field of personality formation of students who are capable of self-development and self-realisation. In these conditions, the primary school provides an integral system of knowledge, skills, and experience of independent activity and personal responsibility of students. The article deals with the problem of development of self-esteem in primary school children.

Aim. The aim of this research was to investigate the relationship between self-esteem and academic performance among primary school children.

Methodology and research methods. The present research is based on systemic, personal, axiological, and activity methodological approaches. The article includes the study of the types of self-esteem of primary school children, and the level of aspirations. 107 school pupils participated in the research. At the ascertaining stage, diagnostics of the level of formation of self-esteem of younger schoolchildren was carried out. A number of pedagogical conditions to improve the cognitive, evaluative, and behavioural components were implemented at the training stage of the research.

Results. The authors define the following concepts: self-assessment, types of self-assessment, self-assessment of primary school children, the level of claims, and criteria assessment. The programme of diagnostics of the level of formation of self-esteem of primary school children is presented. The indicators (cognitive, evaluative, and behavioural) and levels of formation of self-esteem of the primary school children (low, adequate, overestimated) are defined. The article presents the results of experimental work on the implementation of pedagogical conditions (including primary school children in the process of self-knowledge; gradual involvement of primary school children in self-assessment and reflexive activities; participation of primary school children in the formation of criteria-based assessment) to increase the level of self-esteem of primary school children.

Scientific novelty. The pedagogical conditions, which contribute to the self-esteem of primary school children, are presented for the first time.

Practical significance. The materials of the article are of practical value for teachers engaged in the development of lectures, seminars, assignments for independent work. 

Introduction. New digital technology in education and its constantly evolving paradigm have completely transformed the model of learning and the learning methods. E-learning has become an important tool for teaching and learning environments. Moreover, virtual learning has become a required alternative teaching method in educational system change during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for learners in elementary schools.

Aim. This research aimed to explore the necessities, lack, and want of learning English, which is done virtually at home.

Methodology and research methods. This research employs descriptive methods using questionnaires and interviews as instruments to get responses from teachers and students about their learning needs. In the course of the needs analysis process, the importance and priority of teachers’ and students’ needs are discussed. The participants of this study were second-grade elementary school students, and the sample was 40 students and 2 English teachers for 10 months.

Results. The research results demonstrate a gap between the needs of learners and current conditions; therefore, the whole language approach, the multimedia, and technology-based English teaching materials will become an inevitable need and even become a solution in the world of education.

Scientific novelty. Further research is needed to study educational system change during the COVID-19 pandemic or after, especially in designing teaching materials in various disciplines and at different educational stages. Future studies could be generalised by these research findings to other populations in different learning contexts, and the findings presented in thisarticle should be further explored. In particular, technology-based and multimedia-based teaching materials must be explored more deeply. Furthermore, further research should focus on utilising a different model for needs analysis in language education to verify the need for effective English learning in changing the education system during the pandemic and after.

Practical significance. It is thought that this study will contribute to the stakeholders in terms to provide empirical evidence of what necessities, lack, and want should be considered when a teacher will design and develop teaching materials during the COVID-19 period or afte.