METHODOLOGY PROBLEMS
Introduction. In the context of modernisation in modern education, a deeper (by contrast to interdisciplinary) transdisciplinary level of cognition is becoming prevalent. Transdisciplinary level generates a universal methodology capable of addressing the complex multi-factorial interdisciplinary problems of nature and society. The result is transdisciplinary branches of science such as cybernetics, disaster theory, synergetics, artificial intelligence, big data, etc. All these concepts have been developed on the basis of the achievements of mathematics over the past 70-80 years, the era of mathematical sciences. As a consequence, mathematics has become the basis of the language of information technologies and processes, and, thereby, this science has given rise to a global digital transformation of society based on the use of the unique computer capabilities.
The aim of the present research was to explore the role of mathematics in the transdisciplinary trend in updating the content of education with a view to bringing education to a higher (by contrast to interdisciplinary) level, based on the inclusion of modern mathematical theories and methods in the content of education and their applications depending on the direction and profile of the student training.
Methodology and research methods. In the course of research, the systemic, cultural, and meta-subject approaches were employed to analyse the role of mathematics in education and to solve the transdisciplinary problems of education content modernisation (based on the most striking manifestations of modern mathematical culture). As a result of the synthesis of these approaches, a holistic scientific worldview emerges, which not only goes beyond the traditional disciplines and methods, but also appears above them.
Results and scientific novelty. The analysis of transdisciplinary trend in postindustrial education was carried out. Mathematical and pedagogical aspects of the implementation of systemic, cultural and meta-subject approaches were investigated in order to achieve a higher level of educational process. At the same time, the authors justified the use of mathematical modelling, discrete mathematics, computational processes and artificial intelligence in the training, i.e. formation of a new superdisciplinary way of thinking in students, acquisition of a general cultural cognitive strategy to perform professional and transprofessional tasks.
Practical importance. The findings of the current publication contribute to the realisation of the transdisciplinary trend in the content of student training, and will be of interest to both educational theorists and teachers, who train students in many fields. Moreover, this work will be useful for all those interested in the future advancement of the system of education.
GENERAL EDUCATION
Introduction. A wide range of valuable and active aspects related to citizenship remain not relevant, which leads to the atomisation of society, weakening of the institutional foundations of the state. Today, the development of the civic education system is an important social issue. Therefore, turning to the experience of other countries, including in terms of building their priorities in this area, contributes to the solution of both theoretical and practical problems in national education. It is customary to associate the civic component in the Russian educational system with the implementation of state educational standards aimed at obtaining formal knowledge about society and the state by schoolchildren, as well as with the systematic educational work carried out in educational institutions, focusing on the development of patriotism. As a result, the structure of youth civic orientations is dominated by intentions to consciously distance oneself from politics, the state, a narrowly formalised understanding of citizenship as a set of rights and obligations fixed by law, and patriotism mainly in its protective-military form.
The aim of the present research was to comparatively study the opinions of teachers in 22 countries (including Russia) on the priorities of civic education in schools.
Methodology and research methods. A secondary analysis of the data of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, implemented under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievements (IEA), serves as a research method. The empirical base of the study is a questionnaire survey of teachers from 22 countries (including Russia). The total sample size was 36674 respondents - 8849 teachers (24% of the sample size), implementing programmes of social sciences, 27825 teachers (76% of the sample size) not directly involved in civic education.
Results and scientific novelty. As a result of the comparative study undertaken, the specificity of the opinion of teachers in Russia and other countries regarding the importance of certain areas of civic education in schools was revealed. The answers to a special question were analysed, suggesting the choice of the most priority options from the proposed ones. At the first stage, a ranking procedure was implemented, which allowed to identify the structure of priorities in each country. In most of them, the formation among students of independent, critical thinking occupies the first position in the ranking. This goal is especially significant in the Scandinavian countries, as well as in Finland. In Russia, the level of support for this priority is one of the lowest (36%) - less than only in South Korea (24%). At the second stage, the target settings of teachers involved in civic education are classified. Using cluster analysis, the types of orientations are determined, that is, a combination of various combinations of answers, and their prevalence among civilian educators. Seven types of orientations have been identified and described: critical, socialisation, social studies, participatory, environmental, conflictological, particularistic. The features of their representation in different countries are described.
Practical significance. The results and conclusions presented in the article, the proposed typology can be used in the process of further development of the issues of civic education, training and education of citizenship, including in other empirical studies. The quantitative data provided can be used as an information base for the development of civic education programmes at various levels, as well as the design of curricula and content of disciplines of civic studies.
Introduction. To keep in pace and remain competitive in today's environment, the lecturer must do innovation in educational process. However, encouraging lecturers' willingness to do innovative teaching is challenging in higher education due to the dual roles as teachers and researchers, which makes the excessive workload and leads to the teacher-researcher role conflict (TRC). Therefore, it is crucial to analyse the impact of TRC on the innovative teaching of lecturers. The present study utilises the job demands-resources (JDR) model due to its high popularity but rarely used in higher education.
Aim. This study is aimed to explore the predictor of innovative teaching by utilising the JDR model as a theoretical anchor.
Methodology and research methods. This study uses structural equation modelling (SEM) to examine the research model on a random sample of 233 respondents.
Results. The results indicated that teacher-researcher role conflict negatively predicted the innovative teaching of the lecturer. Besides, the occupational well-being is a mediating variable to explain the influence of teacher-researcher role conflict on innovative teaching.
Scientific novelty. This study reveals innovative teaching predictors in higher education by using the JDR model as a theoretical anchor. The authors found out that teacher-researcher role conflict (TRC) was significantly related to innovative teaching. The high-level expression of TRC will reduce the lecturer's innovative behaviour on teaching activity, and vice versa.
Practical significance. The current study provides critical insight into the related stakeholders, such as the universities and related ministries, regarding the negative predictor of innovative teaching. They should discover approaches to reduce the negative effect of TRC on the innovation behaviour of lecturer teaching activity and to address the problem of job role conflict.
Introduction. The modern, rapidly changing world needs specialists with creative thinking skills, who are able to show rapidity, flexibility and originality in solving complex and extraordinary problems. When a specialist finds himself in such a situation where he faces extraordinary problems, he does not know how to solve them and is at a loss. It is impossible to acquire creative thinking skills without preparation. Therefore, a student, a future specialist, must be taught these skills. However, the difficulty lies in the fact that without developing students' skills such as analysis, synthesis, abstract, associative and combinatorial thinking, selective comparison, generalisation of information, system vision, assessment of ideas, the ability to ask right questions, to visualise and to draw conclusions, it will be difficult to further develop creative thinking in students.
Aim. The aim of the study is to discover the relationship between various types of thinking and creative thinking, to determine the types of thought operations and the list of prerequisites that precede creative thinking, which will contribute to the formation of creative thinking in students.
Methodology and research methods. General logical reasoning methods and some scientific research methods were applied. The phenomenological method was employed to understand the process of creative thinking. Based on the determination of the main parameters and properties of each type of thinking, it became possible to model the process of creative thinking activity, to investigate this mental process and draw certain conclusions. The use of the explanatory method also makes it possible to substantiate the need for the following prerequisites for the formation of creative thinking.
Results and scientific novelty. Based on the analysis, it was discovered that various types of thinking are related to creative thinking, the types of thought operations were determined and a list of prerequisites was proposed. The list of prerequisites includes the following types of thinking: positive, synergetic, associative, abstract, visual, algorithmic, divergent, lateral, Janusian, questioning style, combinatorial, intuitive, systemic, and critical. The research results show the importance and necessity of prerequisites for creative thinking and also determine the trajectory of creative thinking activity.
Practical significance. The research results can be useful for teachers of higher educational institutions with the aim of applying them in the learning process.
PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Introduction. Nowadays, the increasing Internet influence on the personality and the ambiguous nature of this impact frequently result in such negative consequences as Internet addiction, reduced self-control, and dysregulation of the Internet-activity. Therefore, it is becoming more and more relevant to investigate the characteristics of personality regulation of students' network activity.
The aim of the current research was to identify personality characteristics, which determine the network activity of students.
Methodology and research methods. The current research is based on a subject-personal approach. The following methods were applied: Internet Behaviour Questionnaire (by A. E. Zhichkina); Self-Organisation Activities Questionnaire by E. Yu. Mandrikova (OSD); modified questionnaire (by O. N. Arezdova, L. N. Babanin, A. E. Voiskunsky); questionnaire “Attitudes towards the Internet” (by E. Gubenko); Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire in the adaptation of O. L. Pisareva and A. Gritsenko; the technique of M. Kernis and A. Paradise “The Contingent Self-Esteem Scale” adapted by T. N. Savchenko, A. G. Faustova; personality questionnaire (TIPI-RU) (by A. S. Sergeeva, B. A. Kirillov, A. F. Dzhumagulova).
Results and scientific novelty. For the first time, personality regulation of network activity is considered as a system of personality formation, which includes the following components in its structure: regulatory-behavioural, need-motivational, cognitive-emotional, and reflective-evaluative. General trends in the identified components and the connection of network behaviour strategies with personality characteristics of the student audience are determined. Students are characterised by an understanding of their own goals and their desire to achieve them, a tendency to be consistent and to follow the scheduled structure of the organisation of events, the manifestation of will to achieve goals and developed tactical planning skills. The Internet for students is above all a comfortable environment, where it is possible to feel calm and security, to expand social contacts, to find a new experience. Students are more likely to use effective strategies for cognitive emotion regulation, which are aimed at searching for the ways to overcome adverse situations, at recognising the positive significance of the event for personal growth, as well as at accepting the situation. Respondents' self-esteem is moderately reactive to the impact of situational factors.
Students, who prefer network behaviour strategy “Activity in action”, have a generally positive personality profile, they tend to choose favourable strategies of cognitive emotion regulation, and they have personality characteristics such as determination, perseverance, extroversion, openness to new experience. The personal characteristics of young people with the strategy “Activity in the perception of alternatives” and “Internet addiction” are represented by the choice of negative cognitive emotion regulation strategies, situational conditioning of self-attitude, and attitudes toward problematic Internet use.
Practical significance. The research results can be used to improve distance learning programmes, additional education courses, as well as to increase the efficacy of regulation of student's network activity in order to prevent Internet addiction.
SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Introduction. In spring 2020, Russia, as all other countries around the world, faced the challenge of massive shift of schools to online learning. This shift revealed the lack of existing empirical data on technological and instructional readiness of the local teaching communities to such learning format. Having regulatory and platform capacities for distance education at the national level, there was a widening gap between local teaching communities regarding their facilities and readiness to transform traditional learning process.
Aim. This research is aimed at defining the attitude of teachers to the shift to distance learning, as well as their estimates of its potential for the learning process.
Methodology and research methods. The current research is based on the ideas of innovation and technology acceptance, as well as planed behaviour that have been suggested by F. Davis, T. Guskey, M. Fishbein and I. Ajzen, and R. Puentedura. The research materials were collected via a survey completed by 239 learners of the online upskilling programme “Digitization of the educational process”. The survey was conducted in March-April 2020. Texts collected for the open-ended questions in the survey were subjected to the content analysis.
Results. Judging from the survey results, local teaching communities multiplied their usage of online platforms and other e-learning technologies (messaging services, videoconferencing, etc.). Teachers highly evaluated their technological and instructional competencies for distance learning as early as in April 2020, while they perceived their pupils' readiness to such learning as moderate. At the same time, teachers moderately valued the state's contribution into the support of schools when they shift into massive distance learning, and showed significant interest in the non-state educational platforms. The majority of teachers believe that digital educational technologies are sufficient for high-quality teaching of their disciplines and achieving their learning objectives. The survey results demonstrated significant internal potential of the regional education system for a change, technological and instructional development.
Scientific novelty consists of a deep analysis of a specific local pedagogical community, based on the collection of material about the reflection of school staff on technological and methodological changes in education specifically in the period of active transformational changes. A high internal potential of the local pedagogical community for transformation on the basis of operational empirical measurements has been recorded.
Practical significance. The present research shows that respondents, who perform remote teaching during the Covid-19 quarantine, perceive digital technologies as approachable, helpful and already date-to-date tools; the regional teachers proved to be self-reflexing and flexible. The deficits and growing points that the teachers defined, should be used to navigate the actions of the decision makers responsible for distance learning at school during and after the quarantine.
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
Introduction. The institutionalisation of inclusion in higher education determines new requirements for university teachers, what is also found in the field of psychological readiness for the implementation of the educational process with the participation of students with disabilities.
Aim. The present research was aimed to develop theoretical framework and experimental verification of the model of psychological readiness of academic teaching staff for the implementation of an inclusive educational process.
Methodology and research methods. Methodologically, the research was based on the idea that the true implementation of inclusive higher education is conditioned by the formation of an inclusive culture of university teachers, which serves as the foundation for the implementation of inclusive practices and policies and one of the immanent attributes of which is psychological readiness to implement the educational process with the participation of disabled students.
In the diagnostic and methodological terms, the current study relied on the authors' questionnaire containing the blocks of questions built using a 5-point Likert scale and characterising the severity of the various components of such readiness among university teachers in relation to working with disabled students of diverse nosological groups.
The survey results were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively using the Cronbach Alpha coefficient, Shapiro-Wilk, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Mann-Whitney tests, and the median test applying the Pearson test. To check the consistency of the proposed theoretical model of the psychological readiness of university teachers to implement an inclusive educational process, structural equation modelling (or SEM - the method of asymptotically non-parametric assessment) was employed. For statistical calculations, the program IBM SPSS Statistics ver.23 and the AMOS module were used.
Results. The integrative model of the psychological readiness of faculty for the implementation of an inclusive educational process has been theoretically substantiated and experimentally confirmed. This model includes a motivational-value component (the acceptance of the values of an inclusive culture, beliefs and attitudes of the teacher regarding inclusive education), an affective component (the emotional acceptance of the situation of inclusive education and its subjects) and an operational component (the teacher's assessment of own skills in using the tools of inclusive education). In the presented model, the teacher's methodical preparedness for teaching students with disabilities acts as a cognitive component, and the resulting component is the implementation of inclusive practice based on the willingness and ability to interact with students with disabilities.
It was found that, to the greatest extent, university teachers have formed a motivational readiness to implement inclusive education, but they experience a deficit of operational skills, when working with students with disabilities. At the same time, the level of psychological readiness to implement an inclusive educational process significantly differs depending on the subject specialisation of teachers and the presence / absence of previous experience of interaction with people with disabilities.
Scientific novelty. The model of the psychological readiness of teachers for the implementation of inclusive education in Russia was developed and empirically confirmed.
Practical significance. The findings of this research highlight the significance of the stages of the formation of university teachers' psychological readiness for inclusive education. The following stages are determined: from providing basic methodological readiness in the framework of professional development through the creation of internal conditions for readiness for inclusive education, examining the experiences and psychological difficulties in interacting with people with disabilities, and, finally, to accompanying the actual inclusive teaching practice.
ISSN 2310-5828 (Online)