Introduction. A university professor is the major actor of the preparation of future specialists, the carrier of significant amount of implicit knowledge, which due to objective reasons cannot be formalised. For the full functioning of the higher school and its development, it is necessary to form and support the affective system of uninterruptable reproduction of qualified scientific and pedagogical personnel. The growing problem of ageing of higher-education teaching personnel (i.e. faculty) of Russian universities, which is not isolated from other negative trends, causes a threat to the overall human potential of the country.

Aim. Within the scope of a further scientific discussion1, the aims of the article are the following: to comprehensively discuss the crisis situation in the field of higher education HR in Russia, to identify the key causes of the crisis and to indicate the possibilities of overcoming it.

Methodology and research methods. The methodological framework is based on systematic approach, which includes general scientific methods (deduction, induction, generalisation, comparative analysis, etc.) and special research methods (historical method, correlation and regression analysis, statistical analysis, etc.).

Results and scientific novelty. The causes of demographic crisis of the Russian higher education institution are considered: a) the rapid ageing of highereducation teaching personnel; b) the outflow of young teachers to other sectors of employment; c) the reluctance of graduates of master programmes to build their career in the field of higher education; d) the lack of the general interest in postgraduate school as a traditional institute for the training of scientific and pedagogical personnel of the highest qualification in Russia; e) the reduced efficiency of the functioning of the institute of postgraduate education; f) the long period of becoming young teachers as candidates of science. The crisis is continuously increasing against the background of: a) the growth in the number of potential applicants – young people aged 18 to 24; b) the low income level of young university teachers, including most of the leading universities; c) the lack of the system of state support and stimulation of young teachers. There are currently no economic prerequisites for the use of “soviet” experience in terms of a significant increase in the financial attractiveness of postgraduate school and perspectives of scientific and pedagogical activities. Therefore, it is necessary to propose the measures at the federal level, taking into account modern realities. To resolve the problem mentioned above, the author’s concept of the state programme “Future Associate Professors” is proposed, which should be realised by organising two promotion trajectories: a) “student → assistant and postgraduate student → preparation and dissertation defence → associate professor”; b) “a practicing specialist with experience in the department’s profile → teacher and postgraduate student → preparation and dissertation defence → associate professor”. The innovations designed to ensure successful implementation of the programme are formulated and justified: a) state subsidies for a part of the cost of students’ and young specialists’ participation in the programme; b) targeted “teaching” budget places for postgraduate studies; c) the introduction of an additional criterion for evaluating universities in the framework of annual monitoring.

Practical significance. The research results and proposals can be used by the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, as well as by the heads of Russian universities to increase the effectiveness of their activities at the national and local levels.

Introduction. In today’s knowledge society, the amount of scientificapplied information, which university graduates have to acquire, continues to increase continuously. There is a concurrent reduction in the number of study hours to undertake educational programmes in order to increase the hours for students’ independent work. Against this background, higher school is required to increase future experts’ competencies. Therefore, the content of fundamental and special disciplines of entire period of training and independent work of students should be thoroughly coordinated by increasing students’ motivation to self-education and self-development. Classroom-based and independent learning of disciplines and sections of fundamental academic courses, especially chemistry, is impossible without formation of students’ scientific thinking. Today, it is difficult to consider the activity of most professionals without the ability to think scientifically: active expansion of science into professional sphere has a strong tendency to be increased.

The aim of the present research is to show the possibilities of formation and development of scientific thinking in the students of natural-scientific and technical directions of education using the example of studying of one of the elements of programmes in chemistry (the method of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis).

Methodology and research methods. The research was carried out on the basis of competency-based, systematic and interdisciplinary approaches. The methods of analysis, synthesis, integration, differentiation and compactification of fundamental knowledge and training material were used.

Results and scientific novelty. The high potential of chemical education for formation of scientific thinking, subject content (chemical), natural-scientific and holistic scientific thinking is emphasised. However, chemistry education in higher education institution is complicated by the absence of the unified structure of fundamental preparation, the preservation of extensive approach to the content of chemical disciplines, the irrational organisation of students’ independent work, which now is accounted for a half of instructional time. Overcoming these problems lies in the dialectic unity of fundamental and practice-oriented knowledge, which is provided by the compliance with the principles of continuity and interdisciplinarity. It is necessary to provide deductive structurisation of training material in order to give integrity and systemacity to the content of education, without which it is impossible to create a comprehensive natural-scientific picture of the world in students. The key initial element of vocational training stimulating the formation of reflexive skills and scientific thinking of future experts is mastering by students of a categoricalconceptual framework of science, which is consistently and comprehensively revealed throughout a high school stage of education. The authors designated phases of development of scientific thinking (formal-logical, reflexive-theoretical, hypotheticodeductive thinking), which are not clearly differentiated due to interpenetration and entanglement of their components and identity of thought processes in terms of their speed and quality. However, the allocation of these stages allows to structure and to correct the content of educational material taking into account the characteristics and the level of students’ readiness. From these standpoints, the expediency of more detailed examination of the NMR method is proved within the disciplines such as “Chemistry”, “General Chemistry”, “Inorganic Chemistry” and “Analytical Chemistry” (a part of material about the NMR method can be worked out by students independently). This method, based on one phenomenon, includes hundreds of various types of the experiments, which are intended for receiving particular information. The NMR method is widely used both in scientific research, including master’s thesis, and in the most various manufacturing spheres. Today, the spectroscopy of NMR is recognised as the most powerful informative and perspective method of structural analysis of substance. The fundamental nature, interdisciplinarity and universality of the method provide students with basic professional knowledge on physics, chemistry, medicine, biology, technology and ecology. The authors of the present research propose the option of configuration of educational information on NMR. According to the suggested version, the principle of work is the following: firstly, bachelors study the system of key concepts and terms, moving gradually from formal-logical to substantial generalisations; then, students learn to explain the phenomena scientifically and to make forecasts, and, as a result, they become the “owners” of hypothetico-deductive thinking. The acquired competencies are the key to professional literacy, which is improved in master’s degree programme, when the previously compactified scientific knowledge in a contracted form is developed in the form suitable for an optimal solution of a particular research or practical aim. The similar scheme of vocational training makes it possible to overcome traditional orientation of high school programmes of the natural-science block (i.e. retention of permanently growing amount of factual material).

Practical significance. The research materials can be useful for methodologists of the higher school, for experts engaged in methodological development and the organisation of educational process, for high school teachers of chemistry and related disciplines, for post-graduate students and master’s students of chemical and chemico-technological specialties as well.

Introduction. Today, official international and State Russian documents require ensuring equal access to quality education for all citizens regardless of place of residence and social status. In this regard, it becomes relevant to determine the quality of school environment and its potential in terms of compliance with the requirements of delivery of quality education services for all representatives of the oncoming generation.

The aim of the present research is to study the educational environment of Moscow schools in the context of ensuring equal access to quality education.

Methodology and research methods. An international assessment tool – the SACERS scale – was chosen as the main method of the research. The SACERS scale was modified by the employees of Laboratory of Educational Infrastructures of the Institute of System Projects of Moscow City University (MCU). The data were processed using descriptive statistics methods, dispersion and regression analysis, T-student’s criterion in the modification of Welch.

Results and scientific novelty. On the basis of random sample (22 educational complexes), the peculiarities of educational conditions in different Moscow schools were diagnosed; the quality index of their educational environment and its structural components were determined (n = 58). The study sample revealed the “heterogeneity” of secondary educational establishments in the organisation of the subject-spatial environment of schools, extracurricular activities and additional education, as well as availability of educational infrastructure for students with special educational needs. Sufficiently equal indicators of educational conditions were identified: “Attendance”, “Space for Gross Motor Activities”, “Discipline”, “Peer Interactions”, “Interactions between Staff and Parents”, “Opportunities for Professional Growth”. Six “homogeneous” and ten “inhomogeneous” complexes were revealed in the studied sample. In “homogeneous” complexes, there are educational conditions, which provide relatively equal access to quality education, as compared with “heterogeneous” complexes. This fact is confirmed by the range of values of the quality index of the educational environment and the values of standard deviation.

Practical significance. The present research allowed the authors to obtain a differentiated understanding of the existing educational conditions of Moscow schools, which formed the basis to solve the management problem in the development of education system, which guarantees quality education for all students.

Introduction. Nowadays, digital transformation of higher vocational education brings to the agenda questions about the ways and forms, which are adequate to the current state of society and the tasks of innovative development of the economy, to train specialists in the areas related to information and communication technologies (specialists of IT areas). One of the ways to solve the problem can be an active interaction of teaching staff and students with the engineering centres created at universities as points of effective application, development and commercialisation of new technologies.

The aim of the present article was to analyse the process of approbation and obtained preliminary results of the preparation of bachelors of IT-directions on the basis of interaction between the pedagogical staff of Tula State University named after Lev Tolstoy (TSPU L. N. Tolstoy) and the university engineering centre “Digital Means of Production”.

Methodology and research methods. The systematic and competency-based approaches became the leading approaches to the study of the problem under discussion. The authors applied the methods of socio-historical and theoretical-methodological analysis, modelling, studying and summarising the advanced Russian and foreign experience of educational organisations. In the course of approbation of innovative methods of training, interviews, questionnaires, testing and pedagogical experiment were carried out.

Results and scientific novelty. The scientific and methodological support of organisational interaction between the TSPU L. N. Tolstoy and the engineering centre “Digital Means of Production” is briefly described in the article. The tasks and principles of this interaction are formulated: the principle of activity; the consolidation of efforts of interested parties with the defining position of the university; the correlation of the objects of professional activity and types of professional tasks designed for students with the requirements of the main educational programme; the scientific character and information-methodological support; ensuring the information security of a personality when addressing the research tasks and creating intellectual products. The efficiency and prospects of interaction between an educational organisation and a commercial structure, which is engaged in advancement and implementation of scientific and technological projects, is demonstrated. Through students’ involvement (as a part of group of its developers) in the entire cycle of production of a programme product, the following results are achieved: education of bachelors of the IT directions has gained more practice-focused character; students’ motivation to implementation of scientific research has been increased; additional resources for development and skills of teamwork have appeared; the level of readiness of graduates for the future professional activity has been considerably increased. The pedagogical experiment revealed cause-and-effect relations between participation of students in the solution of real practical engineering tasks and the level of formation of their professional competencies, which are in short supply in the labour market.

The practical significance of the present research work lies in the potential possibilities of using the obtained data to improve the forms and methods for the formation of professional competencies among bachelors of IT areas in universities. Research materials may be of interest to university teachers of informatics and software engineering, Moreover, the research materials could be applied by the heads of professional education organisations.

Introduction. The didactic principle of education-in-studies is one of the most important instruments of quality education at all levels. Compliance with this principle enhances the results of methodological means educators choose. A positive example is considered a widely recognised and effective method of education and upbringing. As such examples, in education it is recommended to use personal and scientific biographies of scholars whose names became a part of scientific eponyms – terms meaning phenomena, laws, theories, inventions, etc. derived from the names of their originators. Eponyms are researched from the prospective of many sciences, including pedagogy. According to the principles of humanisation and historicism declared in governmental documents on education, eponyms can be utilised as means of upbringing while studying natural and other disciplines. However, the research data about this role of eponyms are scarce. In particular, it is unknown how students perceive this component of language and if there is a difference in perception between school and university students. This gap in methodology and teaching technique applies to a number of disciplines including chemistry.

The aims of this research publication were to study attitudes of university students in two countries – Belarus and the USA – to chemical eponyms, and to identify correlations between their reflective cognition and solid knowledge of the future professionals.

Methodology and research methods. A 27-item questionnaire with different types of answers was developed by the author of the present research. The questionnaire was administered via the Internet for the survey of students at University of Oregon and Belarusian State University. Analysis of the data collected was done in IBM® SPSS® package using descriptive (mean, standard deviation, variance) and inferential (Mann–Whitney and Pearson tests) statistics.

Results and scientific novelty. The survey showed that students in both countries recognise chemical eponyms by association better than by their content. Belarusian respondents exhibited a bit higher level of eponym knowledge than American respondents, which is explained by populations (the former one had more chemistry majors), timing and duration of chemistry courses. Recognition of chemical eponyms differs; it is promoted by their repeatability, uniqueness, and phoneticity. The majority of students in both countries perceive eponyms non-reflexively, and the students’ attitude towards eponyms is mostly uncertain. It was found that the determinant factor for good knowledge and reflective positive attitude towards eponyms is the student’s motivation for learning. This motivation, in turn, is determined by the chosen major. Naturally, the profile majors “Chemistry” and “Chemistry Teaching” motivate students the most. It has been concluded that on the one hand, for implementation of the humanisation and historicism principles, one should not rely exclusively on eponyms. To avoid mistakes, one should keep a systemic approach that implies a set of pedagogical means and methods. On the other hand, systematic, regular work with chemical eponyms helps to get an in-depth understanding of chemical phenomena and to get the chemical theory-and-practice synthesis quick and balanced. Unfortunately, less and less attention is paid in educational literature to both eponyms and scholar personalities as their sources, and that is fundamentally wrong.

Practical significance. The research materials and the results obtained in this research will be useful for teachers and instructors of chemistry in the development of lessons, lectures, seminars and laboratory classes as well as in writing tutorials and textbooks.

Introduction. At present, psychotherapeutic practices based on theological and philosophical ideas about the human logos nature have become widespread. The human logos nature is not only expressed in the human ability to make articulated speech, but also in common characteristic for homo sapiens occupation – search for meaning in life and meaning of various events and situations, in which an individual finds himself or herself, and, the acts, which he or she performs. Similar types of psychotherapy include logotherapy, some types of cognitive-behavioural therapy and the methodology of the Russian teacher S. A. Rachinsky. These methods and practices can be called psycho-pedagogical and, also, can be considered as a separate area of pedagogy, because unlike classical psychological practices (often practicing ethical relativism), they recognise and promote traditional moral and spiritual values of Christianity.

The aim of the present article is to consider attitudinal grounds and content characteristics of psychological practices based on religious and philosophical ideas about the human logos nature, from a pedagogical point of view, as the task of education and self-education.

Methodology and research methods. The theoretical framework of the research was based on the explified philosophical and theological doctrines, as well as on academic writings of V. Frankl (founder of logotherapy) and M. Scheler (founder of philosophical anthropology). The empirical base consists of the materials of available documents and published sources of information, as well as of the materials obtained in the course of surveys and unformalised interviews with teachers and psychologists practicing church-psychological methods for the healing of psycho-somatic disorders and the correction of behavioural patterns. The collected and summarised information was processed by the methods of philosophical and anthropological analysis.

Results and scientific novelty. For the first time, an attempt was made to describe and analyse the methods of psychological-corrective work and spiritual-moral education, representing a synthesis of psychological practices, Christian value-ideological and theological concepts. The particular examples of effective implementation of these methods are described: the school of cognitive-behavioural therapy in Vladivostok, organised by Archpriest Rostislav Moroz; the technique to heal stuttering according to the method of S. A. Rachinsky, innovatively applied by Hieromonk Ioannes (Zayats) in Kamchatka. The main result of the study is the identification of modern aspects for improving psycho-pedagogical methods in church-theological reception.

Practical significance. The authors’ conclusions and research materials on modern methods of psychological correction of behavioural and psychophysiological disorders can be used when developing and designing the courses of cognitivebehavioural therapy, treatment of stuttering, in practical psycho-educational support and social work.

Introduction. The revaluation of the tasks and results of school foreign-language education in our country updated the role of the emotionally-valuable component (EVC) of the content of foreign-language courses. There is broad agreement that the compliance of its criteria today is the most important prerequisite of foreign languages viability.

The aim of this article is to provide a scientific answer to the question if there is necessary background for the implementation of the EVC of the content of foreign-language education in the current study course “Spotlight”.

Methodology and research methods. As the fundamental methodological tool the emotionally-valuable (axiological) approach to the study was applied. A number of complementary methods were used: a theoretical systemic-structural and comparative analysis; an analytical experiment – the content-analysis of the current English-language study course for a secondary school; a constructive (creative) experiment (experiential learning); a method and principles of visibility (a tabular and graphical presentation of information); methods of mathematical statistics.

Results and scientific novelty. It is proved that the EVC in the linear structure of the school subject “A foreign-language” is able to ensure an integral formation of a student’s personality with developed intellectual, volitional and emotionally-valuable spheres. A practical implementation of this component is possible through students’ work with speech patterns of emotionally-valuable context. The indicators of emotional value of teaching materials are selected. The contentanalysis of the text library of the study course “Spotlight” showed that it does not fully meet the requirements for super-phrasal units of the EVC, intended to maintain an appropriate level of language skills and encourage the acquisition of various kinds of foreign-language speech activities: speaking, listening, reading and written speech. Therefore, additional adjustment of a number of speech samples is required in order to create all the necessary background for the exploitation of the EVC of the school programme content at different stages of foreign-language training. The results of experiential learning a foreign language, involving carefully selected texts of a sufficient and high degree of emotional value, and the use by teachers of special techniques of work, adequate to the axiological potential of speech samples, prove the appropriateness of such an approach to the organisation of an educational process. The axiological orientation of the training content significantly improves students’ speech activities and contributes to the development of their emotionally-valuable relations with the surrounding world.

Practical significance. The materials in this publication may be in demand when making constructive changes and additions to the content and technologies of school foreign-language education.