Introduction. A diagnostic educational purpose is an essential condition for successful realisation of any pedagogical technology, but all attempts to introduce general diagnostic purposes in the education system have failed: practically always, it is not the essential new features but the formal indicators, which become the actual target. The current article analyses the phenomenon of “degradation of the educational purpose” and actualises the question of the feasibility of efforts to achieve diagnostic evaluation of education quality. The main strategies for creating diagnostic purposes of education are considered. A forecast of further development of this process in the context of global digitalisation is proposed, which fundamentally transforms not only the procedures, but also the essence of diagnostics of educational results.

The aim of the present research is to discuss the problem of diagnostic purposes setting in education and possible ways to solve it.

Methodology and research methods. The research methodology is based on the principles of synergy. The theoretical methods include the analysis of publications, normative documents, and programmes for teaching in secondary and higherlevel education. The empirical data have been obtained through the questionnaire for school teachers and university educators, as well as through the authors’ personal experience. The survey received responses from 102 school physics teachers mainly from Ekaterinburg and theSverdlovsk region, and 131 high school physics teachers from 8 pedagogical universities and theUralFederalUniversity.

Results and scientific novelty. The study provides the examples of diagnostic purpose degradation on the level of national education system, which manifests itself in rerouting the activity towards the achievement of formal outcome indicators. The diagnostic purpose deformation is caused by dividing the functions between those who control education and those who perform it – teachers. As a result of this division, the teachers lose their subjectivity.

The key factors, which fundamentally limit the significance of diagnostic educational purposes, are highlighted. The authors propose the ways of avoiding negative side effects in the case of implementation of these goals. The potential boundaries, for which it is not advisable to spread the requirement to set diagnostic goals, are indicated.

The authors consider two strategies applied for formulation of diagnostic purposes. The first one consists in the formulation of a great number of partial diagnostic purposes, the second one – in the formulation of one general purpose. It is demonstrated that none of the strategies leads to the desired outcome, and that the formally evaluated education quality is not associated with the life experience of a person and with the economic growth of the state.

The possible solution is to give up the attempt to formulate one holistic diagnostic procedure of evaluation of the mythical education quality; to specify consistent requirements exceptionally applicable to the creation of favourable conditions for the education members, e.g. the technology of educational “digital doubles” to optimise education strategies aimed at providing each pupil with a chance to live a successful life.

Practical significance. The authors’ assessments and conclusions create methodological prerequisites for unfolding a discussion about the role of diagnostic educational purposes and the feasibility of their monitoring. The proposals to solve the problem will be useful in the process of development of Federal State Educational Standards, curricula and learning programmes at all levels of education.

The authors hope that the conclusions drawn may stimulate researchers and education administrators to focus their activity on the creation of an enabling environment for the education members and not on constructing the “Procrustean bed” for education in the form of diagnostic purposes disconnected from reality.

Introduction. The universities around the world attach great importance to acquiring self-management skills for students while training at the university. Recent studies have proven that these skills have a major role in the development of human personality and academic competencies. Communication and thinking skills are considered to be one of the most important skills that have become taught and have been included in the curricula in almost all Saudi universities. This process involves both theoretical and practical aspects, aiming to provide the student with the necessary knowledge to deal with the other, to use new technologies, to be able to think positively, and to solve problems.

The aim of the present research is to assess the impact of communication and thinking skills formation on the development of self-management skills among male and female students of the preparatory year in Northern Border University (Arar, Saudi Arabia).

Methodology and research methods. In the course of the research, the survey method was applied. The survey received responses from 400 students of eight faculties from the Northern Border University (200 male and 200 female students). To draw comparisons between male and female students’ perspectives, the Student’s t-test was used. The research hypotheses were validated, and the obtained data were statistically processed.

Results. The survey results indicate that there is a substantial difference in male and female student perspectives regarding the impact of communication and thinking skills. It was found out that male students had a much more positive perspective while considering its impact on self-development, on the development of successful social circles, and the ability to teamwork. On the other hand, according to the female students, the development of communication and thinking skills has a positive impact on problem-solving ability, mental ability, intellectual development, creative thinking, and practical life application or life realism of students.

Scientific novelty. The present study confirms the importance of the implication of academic programmes aimed at students’ self-development; as such training programmes allow students to cope with the challenges of the era of technology and remote communication. In addition to training programmes directed to positive thinking in the light of the challenges facing the world such as terrorism, extremist ideology, and racism, this study comes as an important step towards enhancing self-development skills in the field of communication and human reasoning for undergraduate students.

Practical significance. The authors formulated the recommendations to reform the system of particular educational services, to improve their quality due to the fastest, synchronous implementation of technological innovations and modern equipment, and to support teachers’ competencies at the proper level. The importance of media education development actualises the creation of academic programmes at universities for the training of qualified teachers in the field of specific education, especially for countries, which do not have the same experience of training, since media education is becoming compulsory in the contemporary world, increasingly affecting the formation of individuals, culture, and society. Several proposals have been made to promote further research in this direction.

Introduction. Modern technologies are generating new types of production and transformation of old ones, which results in the loss of jobs, income and status among the representatives of elder generation and leads to a professional loss crisis. All these factors make it necessary to study the peculiarities of professional development in late adulthood.

The aim of the current publication is to investigate psychological peculiarities of professional development in late adulthood.

Methodology and research methods. The conceptual idea of the research methodology is the subject-based approach, which considers an individual as an active subject of labour, who is able to successfully and effectively realise various occupational activities, thus ensuring a decent standard of living. A standardised questionnaire “Motivation of Professional Activity” by K. Zamfir in modification of A. A. Rean was used to assess the level of internal and external motivation. The “WHO Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF)” was applied to determine the level of quality of life. The parameters of professional development were evaluated employing a questionnaire with closed-type questions – adapted method “Questionnaire of a Working Pensioner” by N. S. Glukhanyuk and T. B. Sergeeva. The study involved 77 professional respondents aged from 50 to 74 years (19 men and 58 women). The Mann-Whitney U-test, Spearman rank correlation coefficient were used for statistical analysis of the obtained data. Maximum likelihood factor analysis was used as well.

Results. The comparison of motivation among the respondents of various age groups demonstrated that the employees over 60 years are more motivated to stability and working conditions than the employees aged 50-60. The comparison of professional experience showed that employees with more than 30 years of working experience rated their physical and mental health and well-being higher than employees with 21-30 years of professional experience. Correlation analysis confirmed the research hypothesis about the correlation between the quality of life and work motivation with the characteristics of professional development. It was also confirmed that the quality of life in late adulthood is associated with the ability to overcome workplace challenges. Factor analysis revealed the factors of psychological preparedness for mentoring (“Need for Mentoring”, “Benefits of Mentoring”, “Impact of Mentoring on the Main Place of Work”, “Cons of mentoring”), the factors of self-assessment of work activity (“Social Aspect”, “Professional Aspect”, “Continuation of Work”, “Demand in the Labour Market”) and the factors of psychological difficulties in late adulthood (“Age Changes”, “Impact of Experience”, “Psychophysiological difficulties”, “Cognitive Changes”). Scientific novelty. For the first time in developmental psychology, the relationship between motivation and quality of life at a later age is discussed; the most significant factors of professional development are analysed. It is established that the most important characteristic of the quality of life for professional development is the environment. The results of the study prove the validity of considering late adulthood as the age of development, which contains the necessary psychological resources to overcome age-related changes and realise oneself in professional activities.

Practical significance. The data obtained are important for developing a strategy of professional development in late adulthood, which will allow for determining the methods of the psychological support of employees, the improvement of productivity and the reduction of occupational injuries. Based on the specifics of motivation of professional activity in late adulthood and the characteristics of quality of life, the relevant programmes can be developed to overcome the professional loss crisis.

Introduction. Nowadays, digital transformation of society is inevitably accompanied by a set of problems and challenges. Under universal transition to an online format, it is important to analyse how parents assess internet risks for their children and themselves.

The aim of the present research is to reveal parents’ perceptions of main trends and structural features of children internet addiction.

Methodology and research methods. The research is based on the results of a mass survey. The survey was conducted in 2019 according to a multi-stage sample (by gender, age, type of settlement) consisted of the adult population of the Tyumen region. The authors carried out a detailed socio-statistical analysis of internet risks for children based on the self-assessments of all respondents (with the identification of socio-demographic groups), risk assessments for children, according to parents. The structure of “Parents” sub-sample on gender and settlement type is proportional to the structure of the main sample. Under the heading “Children”, the authors mean minor children of respondents. The risk of internet addiction is included in the structure of 12 internet risks and examined on the basis of 4 components (behavioural, cognitive, social and affective). In the course of analysis, Alpha Cronbach consistency ratings, index method, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients, Pearson’s Goodness-of-Fit Test, F-Test for equality of several means, case classification and triangulation method were applied.

Results. The internet transformation of society can be considered an accomplished fact, since the vast majority of people of all ages spend hours online daily. Every fourth respondent notes that their children use the internet from three to four hours a day. The ambivalence of parental attitudes toward internet addiction is manifested in high estimates of its risk for children and young people “in general”, and in significantly lower estimates for own children, regardless of the amount of time children spend on the internet, whether they have friends outside the network. Parents clearly articulate negative connotations “in general”, but at the same time give very low estimates of dangers in behavioural variables.

Scientific novelty. New empirical data, classified on the basis of internet behaviour of children and their parents, as well as parental attitude to this behaviour, have been introduced into the research discourse. An important social issue is identified: in spite of parents’ declarations about the risks of dysfunctional (to the detriment of personal interaction, outdoor games and other kinds of activities) internet use by children, the consensus on the features and dangers of internet addiction in society has not been reached yet.

Practical significance. The weak articulation and ambivalence of internet addiction problem perception in Russian society is being proved. Insufficient parental awareness of potential internet addiction dangers for children is demonstrated.

Introduction. Improving the theory and practice of modern school dictates the need to take into account the historical and pedagogical heritage. There is a request for an in-depth and unbiased review of the history of Russian education and training. The search for effective pedagogical solutions actualises the appeal to the historical experience of Russian pedagogy, to the ideas and practices of classical education, which undeservedly remain outside the field of vision of Russian scholars and reformers of the modern Russian school.

Aim and main research questions. The aim of the present research is to study the genesis of the Russian classical gymnasium in the first quarter of the 19th century. The study is an attempt at a dialogue with the past of Russian education, prompted by the intention to look into its future.

This research work involves the analysis of the issues related to social and pedagogical factors, events in the process of the foundation and development of the Russian gymnasium as a new type of educational institution, and the comparison of its genesis with similar educational institutions in the West, taking into account the current problems of Russian school and education.

The hypothesis of the research consists in scientific argumentation of the assessments of the foundation of the Russian classical gymnasium in the first quarter of the 19th century as a qualitatively new and important phenomenon of Russian education, which significantly influenced the further development of the Russian school.

Methodology and research methods. The object of the study is the education system in Russia in the first quarter of the 19th century, and its subject is the classical gymnasium education of the indicated period. The foundation of a classical gymnasium is studied on the basis of the methodology of history of pedagogy and comparative pedagogy. The main methodological principles of historical and pedagogical science were taken into account – objectivity, historicism, comprehensiveness and consistency. In accordance with the methodology of objective positivism, the authors have made an attempt to scientifically understand and generalise the research findings and phenomena. The formulation of scientific ideas and judgments also required an appeal to the philosophy of relativism. The implementation of the methodology of comparative pedagogy provided for the search for similarities and differences, common and specific in the experience of the Russian classical gymnasium and secondary educational institutions of classical education in the West in the first quarter of the 19th century.

When choosing research methods, the authors conducted the analysis of the presentation range of documents. The authors analysed more than 20 previously unpublished and unknown sources of archival holdings of the Russian State Historical Archive (St. Petersburg). Also, the authors analysed the Russian and foreign research papers published from the 19th century to the early 21st century.

Research results. The genesis of the classical Russian gymnasium in the first quarter of the 19th century is presented for the first time in a holistic form: the establishment of a gymnasium under the Charter of 1804, the contribution of S. S. Uvarov to the creation of a classical gymnasium and his experiment in the St. Petersburg provincial gymnasium of 1811, the curriculum of gymnasiums of 1819, the official policy as a factor in the development of classical education. The authors compared the genesis of the Russian classical gymnasium and institutions of classical secondary education in the West in the first quarter of the 19th century.

The research results demonstrate that the researched period was the key for the foundation of the classical Russian pre-revolutionary gymnasium. In Russia, a new sector of the education system was created, being in tune with the European pedagogical trends of the era. A shift of the Russian gymnasium by the end of the first quarter of the 19th century away from the encyclopedic curriculum of the beginning of the century to the strengthening of classicism was identified. The similarities and differences of the processes of its foundation compared to the genesis of complete general education in the West, especially in Prussia, are shown.

Practical and scientific significance. The possibilities of updating the experience of Russian classical education in modern conditions are outlined. Turning to such experience allows us to more successfully solve not only the specific problems of the revived gymnasiums and gymnasium classes in modern Russia, but also, in general, to comprehend the prospects of classical education in the post-industrial era.

Introduction. The relevance of the present research is determined by the need to create a system of measures to support and develop the institution of fatherhood, the formation of parental competence, effective models of paternal behaviour among modern youth and insufficient study of this phenomenon from psychological positions. The problem of the research is to resolve the contradiction between the requirement of modern society to form a value-positive attitude towards fatherhood among students’ youth and the need to identify psychological factors in the formation of ideas about fatherhood, parental attitudes, motivation for parenthood, and acceptance of the father’s role at the stage of entering adulthood.

The aim of the research is to reveal the interrelation of ideas about fatherhood (“ideal father”, “I am an expectant father”) with gender, age and structure of valuable orientations among modern students.

Methodology and research methods. The theoretical and methodological framework of the research is based on cultural-historical theory of development of the psyche and the doctrine of psychological age by L. S. Vygotsky; age-psychological approach to the analysis of mental development in ontogenesis (by L. S. Vygotsky, D. B. Elkonin, L. I. Bozhovich, O. A. Karabanova,

E. I. Zakharova, G. V. Burmenskaya, et al.); the doctrine of the indicative activities by P. Y. Galperin. The research methods involve theoretical-methodological literature analysis, questionnaire method, psycho-diagnostic methods, and mathematical and statistical data processing methods.

Results. The authors described and compared the content of ideas about fatherhood among young men and young women depending on the structure of valuable orientations at different stages of age development. Three homogeneous clusters  were  identifi      using  divisive  clustering  of  an  empirical  sample:

1)  orientation towards the values of professional self-realisation (193 respondents, 17.8%); 2) orientation towards gnostic and aesthetic values (274 respondents, 25.2%); 3) orientation towards the values of personal life (619 respondents, 57%). The interrelation of ideas about fatherhood (“ideal father”, “I am an expectant father”) with gender, age, and structure of valuable orientations of modern students is revealed. The image of the ideal father is generally characterised by fragmentary and incomplete representations, and, in some cases, by cognitive distortions.

Scientific novelty of the research is to reveal the interrelation of ideas about fatherhood with the structure of valuable orientations of young men and women in adolescence and early adulthood.

Practical significance. The obtained results actualise the importance and necessity of psychological and pedagogical support of the process of family self-determination of students, the formation of complete and adequate ideas about fatherhood allowing for the development of its educational potential in the conditions of the educational environment of the university.

Introduction. The  problem  of  the  relatively  small  number of women professionally employed in computing (computer science and information technology) is relevant throughout the world. Despite the fact that IT professionals are widely in demand, women in many countries, including theUSA andRussia, make up no more than a quarter of their total number, which requires explanation. One of the major reasons for this phenomenon, according to the authors, lies in the education system.

The aim of this article was to analyse the factors affecting gender imbalance in IT professions, by comparing two countries in which information technology has historically played an important role, and which are very different from each other in many ways – economic, political, educational system and others.

Research methodology. The present research is based on the comparison of data on IT education in schools and universities, and the degree of involvement of girls and women in computing in theUSA andRussia.

Results. Both in theUSA and inRussia, gender imbalances in IT professions are formed largely in the field of education. Cultural stereotypes about computing as a male-dominated profession are produced by the media. Such stereotypes can discourage some girls and young women from studying computer science and also result in imbalance formation. The education system needs to increase the confidence of girls and young women in the possibilities of realising their abilities in the field of computer science and information technologies. Educational institutions should help to eliminate the negative attitude towards girls’ choice of IT professions.

Scientific novelty. For the first time, general factors in the field of education were identified that affect gender imbalances among IT professionals inRussia and theUSA – the countries with significantly different traditions and educational systems.

Practical significance of the present work is to justify the conditions for improving school and university education to solve the problem of gender inequality in IT industry.