2.4. Basic theories of education and personality development

Within the specific scientific level of the methodology of education, a number of scientific theories and concepts created in different years in the system of human sciences, enriched the understanding of the essence of the process of education and influenced the development of its theoretical foundations.

American sociologist Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929) created a theory that attaches great importance to how each person interprets the thoughts and feelings of other people. He believed that a personality is formed on the basis of interactions of people with the outside world, in the process of which people create their own “mirror I”, consisting of three elements: 1) how, in our opinion, we are perceived by others (“I think that all listened to my speech "; 2) how, in our opinion, they react to what they see (" I think that many did not like my performance "); 3) how we respond to the perceived reaction of others (“The next time it will be necessary to prepare better”).

From the point of view of the American psychologist George Herbert Meade (1863–1931), the process of personality formation includes three stages: 1) the stage of imitation, when children copy the behavior of adults without understanding it; 2) the game stage, when children perceive the behavior of adults as the performance of certain roles (doctor, fireman, race car driver, etc.) and play these roles in the game; 3) the stage of collective games, when children learn to realize the expectations not only of one person, but of the whole group.

Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) proceeded from the conviction that the individual is always in a state of conflict with society. According to Freud, biological impulses (especially sexual) contradict the norms of culture, and socialization is the process of curbing these impulses.

3. Freud identifies three parts in the mental structure of the personality: 1) Id ("It") is a source of energy aimed at obtaining pleasure; 2) Ego (“I”) - control over a person’s behavior, helping him orient himself in the outside world on the basis of the reality principle;

3) The superego (“Super-I”) is an idealized parent, performing a moral or evaluative function, regulating the behavior of an individual and seeking to improve it in accordance with the standards of the parents, and subsequently of society as a whole.

The Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (1896–1980) investigated cognitive development, or the process of learning to think. According to his theory, at each stage of cognitive development new skills are formed, defining the limits of what a person can be taught at this stage. Children go through these stages in a certain sequence, although not necessarily with the same speed and results: 1) during the period from birth to 2 years (the sensorimotor stage), the ability to preserve in memory the images of objects of the surrounding world is formed; 2) in the period from 2 to 7 years (pre-operational stage), children learn to distinguish between symbols and their meanings; 3) in the period from 7 to 11 years (the stage of specific operations), children learn to mentally perform actions that they previously performed only with their hands; 4) in the period from 12 to 15 years (the stage of formal operations) children can solve abstract mathematical and logical problems, comprehend moral problems, and also reflect on the future. Further development of thinking improves the skills learned at this stage.

The American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg (1927–1987) identified six stages of moral personality development that succeed one another in a strict sequence that is not related to a certain age: 1) the child has not yet learned the concept of good and bad, but only seeks to avoid punishment; 2) without distinguishing between the concepts of good and bad, the child seeks to deserve encouragement; 3) the person is clearly aware of the opinions of others and seeks to act in such a way as to win their approval;

4) a person is aware of the interests of society and the rules of behavior in it; 5) a person interprets possible contradictions between various moral convictions; 6) a person forms his own ethical feeling, universal and consistent moral principles.

The transition from one stage to another occurs as a result of improved cognitive skills and empathy. Kohlberg notes that most people reach only the third stage, and some remain morally immature for life.

In the XX century. a great authority among psychologists and educators around the world won the cultural-historical theory of the development of the personality of our compatriot Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934), in which he substantiated that the sources and determinants of human development lie in the historically developed culture. According to this theory, the determinants of mental development are not inside the body and personality of the child, but outside of it - in a situation of social interaction of the child with other people (especially adults). In the course of communication and joint activities, patterns of social behavior are not simply acquired, but basic psychological structures are also formed that determine the entire course of the personality's mental processes. Thus, the basis of the mental development of a person is to change the social situation of his life, and the conditions are the training and education.

The pedocentric concept (child in the center of attention) of the American philosopher and teacher John Dewey (1859-1952) had a great influence on the development of theories of upbringing. He argued that every idea or theory, since it is useful to this individual, is considered as an “instrument of action”. In his educational practice, the theory of instrumentalism was implemented as follows: 1) the mental and physical properties of the individual are inherited, therefore, in education they do not need to be identified and then developed through the curriculum; 2) it is necessary to subordinate the educational process to the interests and desires of the child; 3) it is not the teacher who leads the child, but the child leads the teacher after him.

In the concept of Maria Montessori (1870–1952), the main thing is that the child achieves higher development under the condition of greatest freedom. In the school organized by M. Montessori, classes on the education of feelings were aimed at the development of organs of perception. The kids learned to differentiate between warm and cold water, a rough and smooth surface (thermal sensation), weight and pressure (baric sensation), smells, colors, sizes of objects, sounds. Creativity, interest, entertaining, individuality, independence, freedom constituted the basis of the Montessori education system (for more information, see 3.4).

The outstanding teacher of the Soviet period, Anton Semenovich Makarenko (1888–1939), created in practice and scientifically substantiated the theory of the education of the individual in a collective, in which the norms, lifestyle and relationships inherent in uniting people form. In the pedagogical theory and practice of A. S. Makarenko: 1) the definition of the essence of the collective is given (unity of purpose, joint activity, relations of responsible dependence); 2) the main features of the team were formulated (presence of elected bodies, sense of security, continuity and traditions); 3) describes the technology of team building, which includes three stages:

a) the law of the collective life is formulated (movement is the life form of the collective, stop is the form of its death);

b) the principles of collective development are defined (publicity, responsible dependence, presence of promising lines); c) a mechanism of interaction between the individual and the collective has been developed (the method of parallel action based on the fact that both the collective and the teacher have common requirements for the individual); 4) the mechanism for the implementation of the pedagogical concept (the child-adult community, the system of unequal-age squads, the method of parallel action) was investigated; 5) clearly demonstrated models of pedagogical actions in "live" communication (speaking before the pedagogical community with an analysis of the experience of creating educational teams); 6) in artistic and pedagogical works (“Pedagogical Poem”, “Flags on Towers”, “March of the Thirtieth Year”), practical experience has been comprehended (for more detail, see 3.4).

The famous Polish teacher Janusz Korczak (Heinrich Goldschmidt) (1878–1942) created the concept of upbringing in which the main concepts are the child as a person and his benefit. Contrary to the accepted notion that a child is only a future person, and childhood is a preparatory stage of adult life, Korchak substantiated the thesis about the child's usefulness as a person and about the intrinsic value of childhood as a true, not a preliminary stage of the future "real" life. He argued that children are the same people as adults, but with a different scale of concepts, a different store of experience, different attractions, a different play of feelings. Hence, the goal of education is the full, free and harmonious development of the internal strengths and abilities of each individual child, the formation of a personality “in respect for good, beauty, freedom”, an individual free from egocentrism, respecting the norms of human society and the dignity of another independence and self-esteem.

The outstanding Russian teacher Vasily Alexandrovich Sukhomlinsky (1918–1970) introduced the concept of the educational team as a community and co-creation of teachers and students. The activities of the educational team described by V. A. Sukhomlinsky on the example of the secondary school he leads in the village of Pavlysh (Ukraine) relied on the following principles: 1) trustful, active, creative interaction of teachers and pupils, creating a "collective spiritual life of the school"; 2) installation on the "unity of thought and feeling" as the goal of the incomplete process of education of the individual; 3) the development of talents, education of the mind and creative abilities of each person, since "every child is unique in its own way"; 4) the ability of the teacher to "see the talent of the child, to determine the scope of the application of his intellectual and creative forces"; 5) providing the individual with a vast choice of opportunities for individual development and self-improvement, creating an “atmosphere of diverse creative work”; 6) maximum use of the specific possibilities of the sociocultural environment for solving problems of personal education (“School in the open air”, “Mother’s holiday”, “First bread festival”, etc.).

In the late 1990s. In the works of a number of Russian scientists (B. T. Likhachev, V. G. Maralov, V. A. Sitarov and others) the idea of pedagogy of non-violence was developed . Its starting point is the proposition that the educational influence stimulates the forming personality itself to consciously go on volitional self-action and self-restraint, temporarily difficult and unpleasant, but necessary. This is possible only if, in parallel with the joyful prospects, the teacher succeeds in developing and strengthening the will of the pupil, his ability for self-control. The pedagogy of non-violence is effective and justified only when not only the teacher himself is prepared for non-violent interaction, but also children who are eager to meet him. To this end, in relationships with children, it is necessary to develop their critical thinking, the ability to independently analyze and evaluate life events, to make decisions independent of external pressures.

On the basis of these and a number of other theories, educational concepts were created, among which the concepts of free education, youth communist education, and collective creative education are of the greatest interest.

The concept of free education is a direction in pedagogical theory and practice that considers education as an aid to the nature of a child, naturally developing in the process of learning about the world and freely self-determining in it. The leading principles of the concept of free education are: 1) the teacher’s faith in the creative abilities of the child, combined with the conviction that any external (even the most beneficial) influence on the creative potential of the child has an inhibiting effect; 2) focusing the efforts of the educator on the child’s own experience, which is the basis for the full development of the personality; 3) stimulation of an active attitude towards life, culture, educational and cognitive activity and the need for systematic self-education and self-education; 4) the interpretation of the school as a living organism, continuously developing in accordance with the nature of children; 5) understanding of the role of the teacher as an elder companion of his pupils, who organizes the educational and educational environment for the free expression by children of their creative possibilities; 6) the organization of the life of the school community on the basis of true self-government (by type of community).

The founder of the concept of free education is the French writer and philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), who believed that the personality initially contained favorable trends in self-development, suppressed by authoritarian education and distorted by society. None of the existing educational systems can be considered ideal, since it is based on an unnatural social environment for a person, ignoring his nature. For upbringing to go effectively, it is necessary for each individual to create a special developmental environment that establishes a balance between its real capabilities and natural needs. In such an environment, a person does not receive ready-made knowledge, but learns to extract it in the process of observing wildlife, based on his own experience. At the same time, as Rousseau noted, the main source of personality development is not the vastness of knowledge, but the ability to independently and effectively dispose of them. In such a specially created environment, personality traits, developed by “nature-like” upbringing, allow it to preserve internal freedom, independence from the prejudices and delusions of society.

Among educators who advocated the concept of free education should be called John Dewey (1859–1952), who proclaimed the child “the sun, around which all means of education revolve; he is the center around which they organize. ”

The great Russian writer Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828–1910) acted as the true ancestor of free education in Russia. In his opinion, a school should be created for the child and help his free development. The Yasnopolyanskaya school, created by L.N. Tolstoy, was based on the following principles: 1) education as the deliberate formation of people according to well-known patterns is unproductive, illegal, impossible; 2) education spoils, not corrects people; 3) the more the child is spoiled, the less he needs to be raised, the more freedom he needs.

The concept of the communist education of youth dominated in Russian pedagogy throughout the Soviet period of its development and was aimed at preparing the social individual as part of a collective whole. According to this concept, the pupil was considered as an object of purposeful and strictly regulated management, whose own desires, interests and activity were not taken into account. The main features of the educational process, organized on the basis of the concept of communist education of young people, were: 1) standardization of the educational process, in which the content of education is necessary and invariable for all age groups of students; 2) universality in the construction of methods of educational influence, ignoring the individual and gender and age characteristics of pupils; 3) the imperative style of managing the activities of pupils, which is characterized by authoritarian influence, suppression of their initiative and creativity; 4) the representation of the pupil as an object of pedagogical influences, and the educator - as a functionary, i.e., an executor of the directives of management bodies; 5) monologized impact, in which the main method of education is the conversation; 6) role interaction in the pedagogical process, when each of its participants is assigned certain functional duties, a departure from which is considered as a violation of the regulatory framework of behavior and activities; 7) ignoring the inner world of the individual, arbitrariness, the teacher imposing its laws in the exercise of pedagogical influence; 8) the implementation of the educational process as a set of "activities for children", and not as an activity of the children themselves.

In the second half of the XX century. In our country, the concept of collective creative education developed by Igor Petrovich Ivanov (1925-1991) has become generally recognized. The main idea of ​​his concept is the relationship of educators and students. The main means of upbringing and developing a child is activity, because by his activity a person changes the world around him and himself. The deeper a person improves the surrounding life, the more fully and deeper develops himself as a builder, a caring worker, a friend of other people (for more information, see 7.3).

At the present stage of development of pedagogical science, a new humanistic concept of education of the individual is being created, in which the constructive positions of humanistic psychology, pedagogy of cooperation and non-violence are creatively used. The new concept reflects the idea of ​​the unity of socialization and individualization of the individual, self-realization of the individual in terms of collective activities and relationships, the development of self-government and creativity in the educational process.