1.6. EDUCATION AS A SOCIAL PHENOMENA

The existence and development of any society depends on the extent to which its members follow the values ​​and rules adopted in it, determined by specific natural and socio-historical conditions. Mastering these values ​​and norms occurs in the processes of socialization and education. Education means a single process of physical and spiritual personality formation, a process of socialization, consciously focused on some ideal images, on historically determined social standards (for example, a Spartan warrior, an energetic entrepreneur). [Slastenin]. In this case, education is an integral part of the life of society and all its members.

Education as a way of socialization, personal development arose with the advent of society, and developed along with the development of work, thinking and language. From the time when the process of transferring knowledge and social experience separated into a separate sphere from other types of life activity and became the subject of activity of persons specially engaged in education and training, it has become a sphere of social life.

In primitive society, education was woven into the system of social-production activity, the functions of education and training were carried out by all adults directly in the process of familiarizing children to work and social duties. Education was inseparable from society. In the later stages of development of primitive society, in connection with the emergence of private property and the separation of the family, there was a transition from public education to family education. The main goal of education was the education of a good owner.

In the period of the slave-owning society, the state forms of education are replacing family forms. Public schools appear in which children of the ruling class study. The most developed state educational institutions received in ancient Sparta and Athens. Together with public schools, family, temple, and other forms of education were common.

The increasing complexity of production required the allocation of education as a special process of preparing for future work and creating schools that are accessible to the majority of the population. At the stage of early feudalism , church schools appear, aimed at strengthening the influence of the church in society. However, the increasing complexity of social life required more and more educated people. Therefore, in the XII — XIII centuries. universities appeared in Europe that trained doctors, lawyers, and government officials. These institutions were autonomous in relation to the church and city magistrates. In the period of late feudalism, education served mainly a humanistic, educational function, without having a significant impact on the economy and production. However, in the future, with the development of large-scale machine industry and the change of the old mode of production, education becomes an important factor in the economic development of society.

In connection with the needs of the increasingly complex machine production in the period of the capitalist development of society, there are real schools and technical schools, higher technical educational institutions. At the end of the 19th century, laws on compulsory primary education were passed in the most developed countries.

The development of education in the XX century. characterized by an increase in the duration of compulsory schooling, the expansion of school programs at the expense of natural sciences, the introduction of free primary and secondary education. In the second half of the XX century. Education is becoming a prerequisite for the reproduction of the labor force of society and is characterized by a significant coverage of children, youth and adults by various forms of education.

The current stage in the development of society puts forward new requirements for education. In the world education system at the end of the 20th century certain global trends are traced: striving for a democratic education system (i.e., accessible to the entire population of the country); the growth of the educational services market; expanding the network of higher education and changing the social composition of students (it is becoming more democratic); education becomes a priority object of financing in the developed countries of the world; the search for a compromise between rigid centralization and full autonomy in the field of education management; a departure from the orientation towards the “average student”, an increased interest in gifted children and young people, in the peculiarities of the development of their abilities in the process and means of education; search for additional resources for the education of children with developmental disabilities, children with disabilities. These trends are characteristic of the education of all countries of the world, including education in Russia.

So, education as a social phenomenon is first of all a social value. The potential of society depends on the level of development of the educational sphere. However, education, having a social nature and a social nature, is in turn due to the historical type of society, it reflects the tasks of social development, the level of economy and culture in society, the nature of its political and ideological attitudes.