The main trends in the development of the world educational system

Since the education system is one of the social institutions, its development is completely predetermined by the changing needs of society, due to the nature and achievements of scientific, technical and social progress. The dynamics of modern social development are characterized by rapid and profound changes in all areas of human life and activity — in science and technology, in economics and politics, in education and culture, in the organization of production and in its management. Education as one of the most important social institutions is also subject to continuous development in accordance with the changing goals and needs of society, with the development and introduction of high technologies. At the same time, the response of educational systems to the social challenges of the time does not occur automatically, but indirectly, in the process of developing public opinion and the activity of teachers, public and state figures, distinguished by a certain inertia.

These circumstances determine the need for constant search, research and monitoring of both general civilization processes and processes of functioning of educational systems in order to harmonize their basic parameters with social changes, with leading trends and trends in scientific, technical and social progress. At the same time, the most radical modernization requires such an element of education as its content, since it is the content of basic education that forms the foundation and possibilities for improving the training programs for students in senior and vocational schools, which predetermines the level and quality of higher education. The content of vocational education directly affects the nature of the development and use of the productive forces of society, the material and spiritual culture, and the well-being of the population.

By the beginning of the 21st century, the following global trends emerged in the world education system :

1) the general desire to democratize the education system is enhanced, ensuring the availability of education for the entire population of the country, primarily for capable talented young people, regardless of their social origin and material status, and the continuity of levels and levels of education;

2) there is a clear desire to ensure the right to education for everyone, that is, a real opportunity and equal chances for every person to get an education in an educational institution of any type and level, regardless of nationality, race, political views or religion;

3) there is a gradual increase in the overall duration and improvement of the quality of preschool education and upbringing of children. As evidenced by the experience of educational systems of the French-speaking countries of Europe and the Soviet system of education, preschool institutions greatly facilitate the successful work of all subsequent levels of education;

4) there is a noticeable increase in the efficiency of the primary school through the revision of its curriculum and the content of education, involving mainly university graduates, rather than pedagogical colleges, in pedagogical work;

5) there is a restructuring of the main (basic) school. It consists in laying the foundation of basic knowledge and skills simultaneously with providing trainees with the widest possible educational and vocational guidance. It is characteristic that today no developed country in the world provides a successful connection of the general education of children and their high-level professional training in the school during the period of study in it;

6) the general trend for developed countries is the gradual complication of vocational education systems, the creation and use of its new options, most of which are designed for young people aged 18-23. The tendency of expanding the vocational education system to a contingent of adults who have to change their profession, as well as the rejection of too “narrow” occupations or occupations, and the preparation of a young person in several specialties, which are mastered in a short time after hiring, is also clearly visible. ;

7) the withdrawal of the school from the orientation towards the “average” student and its increased interest in gifted children and young people, to the peculiarities of the disclosure and development of their abilities and creative potential in the learning process by means of education become noticeable;

8) additional resources are being sought to provide education for children with special needs, that is, children with developmental disabilities and disabled children;

9) there is a gradual expansion of the market of educational services and the expansion of their spectrum;

10) education becomes a priority object of financing in all developed countries of the world, there is an awareness of the prospects of investment in human capital;

11) in the field of education management, there is a search for a reasonable compromise between rigid centralization and standardization of education, on the one hand, and full autonomy of educational institutions, on the other;

12) the range of educational and organizational activities is constantly expanding, aimed at meeting both diverse interests and developing trainees' abilities;

13) there is a development of a multi-level education system that provides wider mobility in the pace of learning and in the choice of future specialty by students. It forms the trainee’s ability and desire to develop new specialties and professions on the basis of the university education acquired;

14) for the educational process in universities is characterized by a powerful enrichment of modern information technologies, the widespread inclusion in the Internet with its rich information resources and the intensive development of distance learning students;

15) in the world educational system, the humanitarian component of the training of specialists in general increases significantly, as well as through the introduction of new person-oriented scientific and academic disciplines: philosophy, psychology, political science, sociology, cultural studies, ecology, ergonomics, and economics;

16) university higher education and integration processes of all higher educational institutions into the system of leading universities in the country and in the world are intensified, which leads to the emergence of powerful university complexes, scientific and educational megalopolises of state, continental and interregional importance;

17) there is also a union of universities with industrial complexes. As a result, a base is being formed for scientific research and targeted training of unique specialists for modern firms and enterprises;

18) the goals, content and technologies of higher professional education are regularly updated, curriculum adjustments are made taking into account the achievements of scientific, technical and social progress and the requirements of world education standards;

19) interstate cooperation in the field of education is deepening. The development of this process depends on the potential of the national education system and on ensuring equal conditions for the partnership of states and individual participants in this cooperation;

20) innovations are becoming widespread while preserving the existing national traditions and national identity of countries and regions. Because of this, the educational space becomes multicultural and socially focused on the development of man and civilization as a whole, more open to the formation of an international educational environment, national in culture and supranational in the nature of knowledge, familiarizing the person with world values ​​and the treasury of general civilizational achievements.

The considered world trends in the development of education are quite general in nature. At the same time, practically for the development of each type and level of education, there are also their own specific trends, due to their own goals, characteristics, implementation and new social requirements for the level of training of relevant graduates. Thus, the following trends are most characteristic of the development of the world system of higher technical education today (Fig. 24).

First , there is a humanization of engineering education, with the main goal of “humanizing” equipment and technology. This tendency is a reflection of the general change in the goals and nature of social production and its orientation towards the needs and interests of a person, as well as awareness in society of the determining role of the personality factor in ensuring high production efficiency. The system of engineering education pays increasing attention to the formation of students' understanding of the role of moral norms and values ​​in their future professional activity. It is this that ensures their sense of personal responsibility to current and future generations for the possible results of this activity.

Fig. 24. Major global trends
engineering education systems

Secondly , the role of the fundamentalization of engineering education is increasing. With the substantial acceleration of scientific and technological progress and the rapid change of generations of equipment and technologies for the development of new high technologies and their successful use in the process of creating modern competitive products, specialized knowledge alone is not enough. A modern specialist should deeply master the physical, chemical and biological fundamentals of technology and always be ready to use new effects in their development, while applying methods of mathematical modeling based on computer technology and information technology. This is very important for accelerating the development of promising high technologies and bringing them to commercial use.

Thirdly , the increase in professional and social mobility as one of the defining features of the modern person's lifestyle requires the rejection of narrow specialization and the transition to universalization , to the preparation of a broad profile specialist. This allows graduates to freely navigate in a fairly wide range of problems in the field of professional activity, to quickly adapt to the inevitable changes in products, technologies, conditions and the nature of production.

Fourthly , a serious complication of the ecological situation, the problems of which are becoming global today, requires a corresponding greening of engineering education. This trend is manifested, on the one hand, in enhancing environmental education and instilling environmental culture to all engineers, and on the other, in organizing the training of fundamentally new quality engineers - specialists in the field of environmental monitoring and environmental protection. This is what makes it possible to ensure the harmonization of relations in the “man-society-nature-technosphere” system.

Fifth , the intensification of globalization of world economic relations based on the principles of a market economy predetermines the need to strengthen the economic and legal training of engineers . Without this, they cannot properly assess the technical and economic characteristics of their products, indicators of their competitiveness, as well as provide legal protection for their inventions and other scientific and technical developments, their intellectual property.

Sixth , due to a serious change in the goals, nature and structure of the professional activity of a modern engineer and the increasing role of the personality factor, the role of management competence and functions of training, retraining and educating personnel is significantly enhanced. This circumstance necessitates the introduction of appropriate changes in the content of their vocational education. It is, in particular, a serious improvement in the quality of managerial and psychological-pedagogical training of engineers . Today, relevant knowledge becomes not just an element of the engineer’s general culture, but an integral part of its professional competence.

The problem of mutual recognition and equivalence of periods of study, educational qualification levels and documents on obtaining educational qualifications (certificates and diplomas) as well as academic degrees and titles is closely related to the development trends of the world education system. For a successful solution of the problem by international experts, the features and characteristics of each national higher education system must be taken into account, which in this case must also comply with the standardized description and be used for an objective assessment of the quality of education and final educational qualifications.

To date, the following basic models of educational systems have developed in the world.

The American model includes a junior high school — a high school — a high school — a two-year college — a four-year college within a university — a magistracy — a graduate school.

The French model includes a single college - technological, vocational and general lyceum - university - magistracy - graduate school.

German model: a general school - a real school, a gymnasium and a primary school - an institute and a university - a graduate school.

English model: united school - grammar and modern school-college - university - magistracy - postgraduate study.

Russian model: secondary school - complete secondary school, gymnasium and lyceum - college - institute, university and academy - postgraduate study - doctoral studies.

The Ukrainian model is basically the same as the Russian one, with the difference that after graduation from the institute, university or academy, the magistracy should follow. The search and development of new models of education continues, and this process is continuous.

The effectiveness of a particular model can only be confirmed by educational practice.

Major international projects and programs become important in addressing the problems of world education, since they necessarily involve the joint participation of educational institutions and teachers from various educational systems.

Among the most famous modern large international projects and programs, the following should be noted.

The Erasmus project , whose task is to ensure the mobility of students from countries of the European Council (for example, under this program, up to 10% of university students must pass part of their studies at a university in another European country).

Project Lingua is a program designed to improve the efficiency of learning foreign languages. It is designed for a different contingent, starting with students of lower grades.

The project is Eureka , whose task is to coordinate the scientific research of universities of the Member States of the European Union with universities in Eastern Europe.

The Esprit project aims to unite the efforts of European universities, research organizations and computer companies in the creation of new information technologies and their use in the further improvement of education.

The Tempus project is one of the most powerful pan-European programs focused on the development of university education mobility and increasing its competitiveness in the global labor market.

The Iris program is a system of projects aimed at expanding opportunities for women to obtain vocational education and their further employment.

As a result of world integration processes, by the end of the 20th century, separate types of regions were formed on the basis of international cooperation in the field of education and the degree of influence on the development of education in other countries and regions. These include the region of Western Europe, the USA and Canada, Latin America, Africa (except South Africa), the Asia-Pacific region and the region of the former USSR and Eastern Europe.

The function of coordination and regulatory support of the development of the world educational space is successfully fulfilled by UNESCO today. This organization develops for all countries international legal acts of both a global and regional nature. The international legal acts of UNESCO globalize modern education, bringing to the level of the primary tasks of human civilization the problems of educating people in the spirit of peace, democracy and humanism, tolerance and respect for human rights, historical and cultural values ​​and traditions of other peoples, preservation of the environment.

UNESCO's normative work is aimed at:

- creation of conditions for expanding the cooperation of peoples in the field of education, science and culture;

- ensuring universal respect for the rule of law and human rights;

- involvement of a larger number of countries in the process of preparing the legal framework for international integration in the field of education;

- study of the state of education in the world, forecasting the most effective ways of development and integration;

- promotion of adopted conventions and recommendations;

- collecting and systematizing the annual reports of the member states of this organization on the state of education.

In conclusion, it should be emphasized that the modern world educational space is characterized by such qualities as dynamism and internationalization of education, different density of contacts and connections between the individual components of the international educational system, increased concentration of educational systems.