The paradigm concept, essential for comprehension and analysis of the science history, is used quite freely and easily in educational sphere nowadays when some authors discuss their views, theories and developments referring to a new paradigm. Consequently, in pedagogy, there is an illusion of pseudo-paradigmatic progress, which results from the lack of unified understanding of the given concept, and reorganization complexity.

According to the author, paradigmatic transformation in pedagogy and education mainly depends on the fundamental changes of the scientific worldview. Though, compared to the worldview alterations, paradigmatic changes take more time and effort. So, in order to overcome this lagging behind, a lot of contradicting views appear in the modern pedagogic theory.

The research methodology is based on the works by T. Coon, defining the paradigm as the complex of theoretical and methodological notions, more general than the theory, concept and attitude. In author’s opinion, turning back to the scientific interpretation of the paradigm concept can overcome the existing misunderstanding of educational experience and its prospects, and ensure the adequate perception of pedagogic reality. 

The paper analyzes the specificity, as well as flaws and faults of implementing the Grade Point Average (GPA) system of students’ personal assessment in Russian higher schools. Nowadays, the above system is regarded as the basic functional element of educational process organization at the world’s leading universities.

The author summarizes the foreign experience and demonstrates the advantages of the GPA system in comparison with the traditional domestic scale of assessment: full records of student’s assessment, objectivity, activation of responsibility for the results achieved, and self-control motivation.

The standard GPA model is demonstrated, its application systemizing both the Russian and European requirements to the higher school graduates. The author suggests his own version of the assessment scale estimating and comparing the quality of education in Russian universities and worldwide. The research findings can be of interest to the specialists in the sphere of quality measurement and educational management. 

The paper looks at the higher school management oriented on the innovative qualification structure and professional standards in the light of the competence approach. The authors demonstrate the possible ways of developing and implementing the above standards with the reference to the different categories of educational personnel: professorial and teaching, scientific, administrative and auxiliary staff. The higher school management system, based on the personnel continuing training and advancing education, can facilitate the further social and economic development. Such functional organization can overcome the urgent educational problems of harmonizing the further training requirements, developing the consistent model of qualification levels, systemizing the qualification criteria for the candidates selection, introducing the unified certification standards of the staff training and assessment, coordinating the qualification requirements within the Russian and European qualification framework. 

The paper deals with the main trends of higher school management strategy formation. The author specifies the educational changes in the modern information society determining the strategy options. For each professional training level the author denotes the set of strategic factors affecting the educational service consumers and, therefore, the effectiveness of the higher school marketing. The given factors are classified from the stand-points of the providers and consumers of educational service (enrollees, students, graduates and postgraduates).

The research methods include the statistic analysis and general methods of scientific analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, comparison, and classification. The author is convinced that the university management should develop the necessary prerequisites for raising the graduates’ competitiveness in the labor market, and stimulate the active marketing policies of the relating subdivisions and departments. In author’s opinion, the above classification of marketing strategy factors can be used as the system of values for educational service providers. 

The implementation of the new state educational standards, based on the competence approach, requires some new criteria, procedures and diagnostic tools for estimating pupils’ personal achievements. However, there is a lack of necessary guidelines and recommendations for such objective evaluation and comparative analysis of the effectiveness of educational establishments.

The urgent need for unified monitoring instruments induced the author to develop a criteria-diagnostic complex providing the options for evaluating the important personal development aspects – intellectual, value-oriented and moral. The author recommends a self-assessment method for evaluating the intellectual qualities (i.e. self-dependency, critical thinking, logics, flexibility, depth, originality, etc.), intellectual competences, and moral traits. The method is based on the tests – «Pupil in his own eyes» and «Pupil in the expert teachers’ eyes». For examining the value orientation, the author takes the classical method by M. Rokich. The approbation of the complex evaluation method was carried out in Tyumen schools and lyceums regarding the last year pupils. The research findings and proposed assessment tools can be used by headmasters and school teachers for monitoring the pupils’ personal growth. 

The author makes an attempt to interpret the social order for upbringing the spiritually and morally developed personality in the light of the new state educational standards. Such a necessity is caused by globalization processes, technogenic civilization developments, ecological challenges, contradictions and conflicts of people with opposing views representing different cultures and religious denominations. The author emphasizes the continuity and interrelations between the new challenges and classical ideas of Russian pedagogy, as well as the new trends in moral education developments. Analyzing the approximate curricula of the primary and secondary education, the author demonstrates the mechanisms for setting the socially acceptable behavior patterns and developing the spiritually and morally advanced personality. 

The paper explores the concept of vocational educational environment combining vocational training, professional development and professional world. The research is aimed at the self-determination analysis of an individual in the above environment. The authors observe the two existing trends of self-development analysis, corresponding with the subjective activity and culturally historical approaches.

The empirical research results involve the students’ subjective individual characteristics and factors influencing the self-development strategy selection. The research findings prove the earlier hypothesis of the self- development phenomenon being determined by the two mutually conditioned factors: personal self-control ability and interrelation of the above mentioned components of the vocational educational environment.

The authors make the conclusion that the self-development prospects are determined by the internal and external motivation, professional mobility and striving for success. The determination specificity of professional self- development, identified by the authors, can provide the psychological basis for future specialists training. 

The paper is devoted to the comparative analysis of the archaic and modern options for understanding creativity, carried out with the involvement of the theological instruments. Examining the above problem, the author refers to the legacy of Martin Luthera bright theologian representing the social and individual worldview transformation - as well as the works by other thinkers: L. Shestov, J. Bataille, M. Buber, M. Bakhtin, E. Lévinas, M. Blanchot, G. Marcel, M. Foucault, Z. Bauman, G. Aganben, V. Podoroga, etc. The author attempts to interpret the determination of creativity on the non-mystified basis of human education. The research findings include the recognition of theology transformation into the post-theology, and overcoming the community dominant in social life formation, as well as reconsidering the nature of and limits to the human creativity. The research materials can be used in further studies into the peculiarities of modern society and its ideological dominants, as well as the place of education in individual and social life. 

The paper is devoted to analyzing the specifics of culture studies, and development of this scientific sphere and relating higher school discipline in the last two decades. Given the need for integration of the humanities subjects, culture studies can provide the necessary ground for such consolidation, being aimed at the analysis and synthesis of socio-cultural conformities.

The problematic field of culture studies is defined along with the modern trends of scientific research in pedagogy. In author’s opinion, the culturology analysis of educational practices should be regarded as the important direction of culture studies. The culturology approach to educational standards and academic curricula development can provide the ground for overcoming the educational and pedagogic crisis. 

The paper considers the European experience of the citizenship education developmentan important aspect of internal policy in the most countries. The education in question is considered to be the democratic citizenship training aimed at developing the loyal attitude to different value priorities in society, social responsibility, active citizenship position, awareness of democratic rights, capability of using and protecting them.

The author looks at the transformation of citizenship education concept in the last three decades from the civics education (i.e. history, political science, law, etc.) to the democratic citizen education. The paper analyzes differ- ent approaches to citizenship education in several European countries including the post-soviet ones. It is emphasized that both in western and eastern Europe a lot of effort is made for spreading and supporting the education in question. The author recommends considering the foreign experience of integrating the democratic citizenship education into the state academic curricula at the primary, secondary and higher school levels. 

The paper deals with the system of bilingual education, its development history, causes and effects of transformation of multi-ethnical education into polycultural one. The correlation between the bilingual and polycultural teaching is emphasized, its intensification resulting from the historical and socio-cultural background, as well as the global trends in philosophy, pedagogy and psychology.

The author specifies the term of bilingual teaching; examines its various models emphasizing that their preferences depend on the particular socio-lingual backgrounds; demonstrates the relevance of bilingual teaching resulted from the general trend of economic, cultural and political integration. The advantages of bilingual education are enumerated: the access to information in various spheres and in a broader scale, continuing educational growth and competitiveness in the European and world labor markets. 

The paper, devoted to the communicative competence development, regards it as the key element of professional competence. Modern specialists in any sphere of professional activity need the necessary information and communication skills (i.e. the ability to use the principles of busyness communication for planning and analysis, goal-setting, choosing strategies, understanding the partners’ intentions and modifying the communication ways). The author highlights the labor market requirements to communication skills of the higher school graduates, and insists on introducing the theoretical and practical methods of communication competence development into the educational curricula.

The paper specifies the aspects of perception and reflection in interpersonal contacts, and describes the group training methods with the main emphasis on such collective forms as role plays, group discussions, and training sessions. The outlines of the training program in business communication are given along with its approbation results including the improvements in students’ self-assessment, group communication, feelings, moods, activity, self-control in conflict situations, etc.