Basic methodological approaches in pedagogy. Main methodological approaches

The specific scientific methodology of each science and, accordingly, the practice it serves is revealed through specific, relatively independent approaches, or principles. In pedagogy, these are holistic, personal, activity-based, multi-subjective, cultural, ethnopedagogical, anthropological approaches, which represent its methodological principles.

A holistic approach in pedagogy has appeared as opposed to a functional one, in which any aspect is studied pedagogical process regardless of the changes that occur at the same time in him as a whole and in the individual. The essence of the functional approach is that the study of the pedagogical process is carried out without taking it into account as an integrity, as a system with a certain structure, in which each element performs its function in solving assigned tasks, and the movement of each element is subject to the laws of movement of the whole.

Functionalism in pedagogy is, to a large extent, a product of the metaphysical approach of traditional pedagogical science to the consideration of the phenomena of reality: teaching should provide a certain amount of knowledge and skills, and education should form a moral consciousness and instill a socially desirable quality. At the same time, the teacher teaches, and the educator educates.

Personality is not formed in parts, said A. S. Makarenko. Nevertheless, among the objective contradictions of modern educational practice, the main one, in our opinion, is the contradiction between the integrity of the individual and the functional approach to solving the problem of its development. Hence the need for a holistic approach, the main idea of ​​which is expressed in the fact that the properties of the whole are not the summative generation of the properties of its elements. Moreover, the properties of the whole, manifested in their real existence, may be completely absent from its elements. They are a consequence not of mechanical addition, but of the complex interaction of the properties of the elements. The system actively influences its components, transforming them according to their own nature. A change in one component inevitably causes changes in others and in the entire system as a whole.

A holistic approach as the development of a systemic one requires, when organizing the pedagogical process, an orientation towards integrative (holistic) characteristics of the individual. In this regard, the personality itself should be understood as an integrity, as a complex mental system that has its own structure, functions and internal structure.

The problem of identifying an integrative, holistic personality trait in psychology has not yet received its unambiguous solution. At the same time, researchers are unanimous that all aspects of personality are closely interconnected and interact with each other, but the dominant influence still always remains with its social side - worldview and orientation, expressing the needs, interests, ideals, aspirations, moral and aesthetic qualities of the individual . The most important criterion property of a personality is its orientation, which is considered as the core, the spiritual center of the personality.

Thus, a holistic approach focuses on highlighting pedagogical system and the developing personality, first of all, integrative invariant system-forming connections and relationships; to study and formulate what is stable and what is variable in the system, what is main and what is secondary. It involves clarifying the contribution of individual components-processes to the development of the individual as a systemic whole. In this respect it is very closely related to the personal approach.

The personal approach in pedagogy follows from the holistic approach. It affirms ideas about the social, active and creative essence of the individual. Recognition of personality as a product of socio-historical development and a bearer of culture does not allow the reduction of personality to human nature, and thereby to a thing among things, to a teachable automaton.

The idea of ​​the socially active essence of an individual, who finds his or her Self in the process of joint activity and communication, in the process of cooperation with the world of people and cultural products, draws attention to the personal meanings and semantic attitudes generated during the life of an individual in society that regulate activities and actions in different problem-conflict situations of moral choice (A.N. Leontiev).

The personal approach is not limited to focusing on the formation of personal meanings. Nevertheless, it is in them that the world appears before a person in the light of those motives for the sake of which he acts, fights and lives. In a person’s personal meanings, the meaning of the world is revealed, and not an indifferent knowledge of reality. In them, guidelines for life self-determination are born, they determine the direction of the personality, which stands out in almost all approaches to structuring the personality as its most important component.

A personal approach, regardless of the discussion regarding the structure of personality, means orientation in the design and implementation of the pedagogical process to the individual as a goal, subject, result and the main criterion of its effectiveness. It urgently demands recognition of the uniqueness of the individual, his intellectual and moral freedom, and the right to respect. It involves relying in education on the natural process of self-development of the inclinations and creative potential of the individual, creating appropriate conditions for this.

At the highest, philosophical level of methodology, from the position of materialist dialectics, it was established that activity is the basis, means and decisive condition for the development of personality. This fact necessitates the implementation in pedagogical research and practice of an activity approach closely related to the personal. Activity is transformation by people surrounding reality. The initial form of such transformation is labor. All types of material and spiritual human activity are derived from labor and carry it within them. main feature- creative transformation of the surrounding world. By transforming nature, man transforms himself, manifesting himself as the subject of his development.

The most important aspects of human existence, noted B.F. Lomov, are objective activity and communication (subject-object and subject-subject relationships). Subject activity always aimed at the creative creation of a specific material or spiritual product.

The importance of the activity approach was convincingly demonstrated in his works by A. N. Leontiev. “To master the achievements of human culture,” he wrote, “each new generation must carry out activities similar (though not identical) to those that stand behind these achievements.” That is why, in order to prepare students for independent life and varied activities, it is necessary to involve them in these types of activities to the extent possible, i.e. organize socially and morally fulfilling life activities.

1 Leontyev A. N. Activity. Consciousness. Personality. - M., 1977. - P. 102.

Any activity has its own psychological structure: motive, goal, actions (operations), conditions and means, result. If, in an effort to implement the activity approach, the teacher misses some structural points when organizing the student’s activities, then he (the student) is either not a subject of the activity at all, or performs it as illusory, as separate actions. A student will master the content of education only when he has an internal need and active positive motivation for such mastery.

Recognition of the fact that personality is formed and manifested in activity, as can be seen, is not yet an activity approach. It requires special work to shape the child’s activity, to transfer him to the position of a subject of knowledge, work and communication. This, in turn, requires training in goal setting and activity planning, its organization and regulation, control, self-analysis and evaluation of activity results.

The polysubjective (dialogical) approach follows from the fact that the essence of a person is much richer, more versatile and more complex than his activities. It is not exhausted by it, cannot be reduced to it and identified with it (L. P. Bueva). In this regard, it is necessary to focus on microsociety and relationships between subjects of the educational process as the most important sources spiritual development. It is in acts of interaction that a personality acquires its human, humanistic content. In this regard, a person, in a certain sense, is a product and the result of his communication with people around him, i.e. intersubjective education.

In the interindividual aspect, therefore, a person is considered as a system of relationships characteristic of him, as a carrier of relationships and interactions social group(A.V. Petrovsky). Until recently, this fact of the dialogical content of a person’s inner world was clearly not taken into account sufficiently in pedagogical research. The main core of the personality, its psychological structure, were uniquely determined by the structure and nature of its objective and practical activity, i.e. "objectively".

The social context that determines the standards and coordinates of this activity and creates its emotional and motivational background has turned out to be practically outside the field of scientific analysis.

A significant contribution to the development of the humanistic methodology of personality cognition was made by M.M. Bakhtin and A.A. Ukhtomsky, who worked in different areas sciences and independently came to common understanding the uniqueness of the human personality, which is born and manifests itself only in dialogical communication.

M. M. Bakhtin noted that “only in communication, in the interaction of man with man, is the “man in man” revealed both for others and for oneself.” Dialogue, in his opinion, is not a means of personality formation, but its very existence.

1 Bakhtin M.M. Aesthetics of verbal creativity. - M., 1979. - P. 336.

M. M. Bakhtin’s idea about the uniqueness of learning individuals comes close to the concept of “face” of A. A. Ukhtomsky, according to whom, only where a dominant is placed on the face of another, as the most dear to a person, is the curse of the individualistic attitude to life overcome for the first time , individualistic worldview, individualistic science.

Humanistic methodology, therefore, proceeds from an intersubjective understanding of the determination of the psyche in a person and is based on faith in the positive potential of man, in his unlimited creative possibilities for constant development and self-improvement. It is important that the activity of the individual and his needs for self-improvement are not considered in isolation. They develop only in conditions of relationships with other people, built on the principle of dialogue.

The dialogical approach in unity with the personal and activity approach constitutes the essence of the methodology of humanistic pedagogy. Their use makes it possible to form a certain common psychological space and temporal extent, to create a psychological unity of subjects, thanks to which monological, objective influence gives way to creative process their mutual disclosure and mutual development, self-influence and self-development.

The culturological approach as a concrete scientific methodology for cognition and transformation of pedagogical reality has three interconnected aspects of action: axiological (value), technological and personal-creative (I.F. Isaev).

The axiological aspect of the cultural approach is due to the fact that each type of human activity, as a purposeful, motivated, culturally organized activity, has its own foundations, assessments, criteria (goals, norms, standards, etc.) and methods of assessment. This aspect of the cultural approach presupposes such an organization of the pedagogical process that would ensure the study and formation of value orientations of the individual. The latter are stable, invariant, coordinated in a certain way formations ("units") of moral consciousness, its main ideas, concepts, "value goods" that express the essence moral meaning human existence and indirectly - the most general cultural and historical conditions and prospects (T. I. Porokhovskaya).

The technological aspect of the cultural approach is associated with the understanding of culture as a specific way of human activity. It is activity that has a universal form in culture. She is her first universal certainty. The categories “culture” and “activity” are historically interdependent. It is enough to trace the evolution of human activity, its differentiation and integration, to be convinced of the adequate development of culture. Culture, in turn, being a universal characteristic of activity, sets a social-humanistic program and predetermines the direction of a particular type of activity, its value typological features and results (N.R. Stavskaya, E.I. Komarova, I.I. Bulychev). Thus, a person’s mastery of culture presupposes his mastery of methods of practical activity and vice versa.

The personal-creative aspect of the cultural approach is determined by the objective connection between the individual and culture. The individual is the bearer of culture. It not only develops on the basis of the objectified essence of man (culture), but also introduces something fundamentally new into it, i.e. becomes a subject of historical creativity (K. A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya). In this regard, in line with the personal-creative aspect of the culturological approach, the development of culture should be understood as a problem of changing the person himself, his formation as creative personality.

Creativity is always a specific human property, simultaneously generated by the needs of a developing culture and shaping the culture itself. The creative act and the personality of the creator, according to L. S. Vygotsky, must be woven into a single communicative network and comprehended in close interaction. Thus, the individual-creative aspect of the culturological approach in pedagogical theory and practice requires taking into account the connections of culture, its values ​​with personality and creative activity.

1 See: Vygotsky L. S. Psychology of Art. - M., 1968. - P. 40-41.

A person, a child lives and studies in a specific sociocultural environment, belongs to a specific ethnic group. In this regard, the cultural approach is transformed into an ethnopedagogical one. This transformation reveals the unity of the international (universal), national and individual.

IN last years The importance of the national element in the education of the younger generation was underestimated. Moreover, there was a tendency to ignore the rich heritage of national cultures. By now, the contradiction between the great educational capabilities of national cultures, in particular folk pedagogy, and their insufficient use due to the lack of scientifically based recommendations has become acutely exposed.

Meanwhile, the cultural approach presupposes the need to resolve this contradiction. An organic combination of youth’s “entry” into world culture and education based on the national traditions of the people, their culture, national-ethnic rituals, customs, habits - a condition for the implementation of the ethnopedagogical approach to the design and organization of the pedagogical process.

National culture gives a specific flavor to the environment in which various educational institutions operate. The task of teachers in this regard is, on the one hand, to study and shape this environment, and on the other, to make maximum use of its educational capabilities.

One of the reviving approaches is the anthropological approach, which was first developed and substantiated by K.D. Ushinsky. In his understanding, it meant the systematic use of data from all sciences about man as a subject of education and their consideration in the construction and implementation of the pedagogical process. K.D. Ushinsky included human anatomy, physiology and pathology, psychology, logic, philosophy, geography (studying the earth as a human dwelling, human being as an inhabitant) to the wide range of anthropological sciences globe), statistics, political economy and history in a broad sense (history of religion, civilization, philosophical systems, literature, arts and education). In all these sciences, as he believed, facts and those relationships in which the properties of the subject of education are revealed, are presented, compared and grouped, i.e. person. “If pedagogy wants to educate a person in all respects, then it must first get to know him in all respects” - this position of K.D. Ushinsky was and remains an invariable truth for modern pedagogy. Both the sciences of education and new forms of educational practice in society are in dire need of their human science foundation.

The relevance of the anthropological approach lies in the need to overcome the “childlessness” of pedagogy, which does not allow it to discover scientific laws and design new models of educational practice on their basis. Knowing little about the nature of its object and its subject, pedagogy cannot perform a constructive function in managing the processes being studied. Her return of the anthropological approach is a condition for the integration of pedagogy with psychology, sociology, cultural and philosophical anthropology, human biology and other sciences.

The identified methodological principles (approaches) of pedagogy as a branch of humanitarian knowledge allow, firstly, to identify not imaginary, but real problems and thereby determine the strategy and main ways to resolve them. Secondly, this makes it possible to analyze holistically and in dialectical unity the entire set of the most significant educational problems and establish their hierarchy. And finally, thirdly, these methodological principles make it possible, in the most general form, to predict the greatest likelihood of obtaining objective knowledge and to move away from previously dominant pedagogical paradigms.

The word "personality" comes from the Latin "persona". Originally this word meant the masks that actors wore during theatrical performance V ancient Greek drama. A slave was not considered as a person; for this you had to be a free person. The expression “losing face,” which is found in many languages, means losing one’s place and status in a certain hierarchy. In Russian, the term “lik” has long been used to describe the image of a face on an icon.

It should be noted that in oriental languages ​​(Chinese, Japanese) the concept of personality is associated not only and not so much with a person’s face, but also with his entire body. IN European tradition the face is considered in opposition to the body, since the face symbolizes the human soul, and Chinese thinking is characterized by the concept of “vitality,” which includes both the spiritual and physical qualities of the individual.

In both Eastern and Western thinking, preserving one’s “face,” i.e., personality, is a categorical imperative human dignity, without which our civilization would lose the right to be called human. At the end of the 20th century, this became a real problem for hundreds of millions of people, due to the severity social conflicts And global problems humanity, which can wipe man off the face of the earth.

Thus, from the very beginning the concept of “personality” included the external, superficial social image, which individuality assumes when it plays certain life roles - a certain “guise”, a public face addressed to others.

The formation of personality occurs in the process of people assimilating the experience and value orientations of a given society, which is called socialization. A person learns to fulfill special social roles, that is, learns to behave in accordance with the role of a child, student, husband, etc. they all have a pronounced cultural context and, in particular, significantly depend on the stereotype of thinking. If there are no severe congenital defects in brain development, consequences of birth trauma or illness, then the formation of personality is the result of interaction between a person and society.

The first facet of the Self is the so-called bodily or physical Self, the experience of one’s body as the embodiment of the Self, the image of the body, the experience of physical defects, the consciousness of health or illness.

The second facet of the Self is the social-role Self, expressed in the feeling of being a bearer of certain social roles and functions.

The third facet is the psychological self. It includes the perception of one’s own traits, dispositions, motives, needs and abilities and answers the question “what am I?”

The fourth facet of the Self is the feeling of oneself as a source of activity or, conversely, a passive object of influence, the experience of one’s freedom or lack of freedom.

Finally, the fifth facet of the Self is self-attitude or the meaning of Self. The most superficial manifestation of self-attitude is self-esteem - a general “+” or “-” attitude towards oneself. One should distinguish between self-respect - an attitude towards oneself as if from the outside, conditioned by some of my real merits or shortcomings - and self-acceptance - a direct emotional attitude towards oneself, independent of whether there are any traits in me that explain this attitude.

The main methodological approaches in pedagogy are:

1) systemic;

2) personal;

3) active;

4) polysubjective (dialogical);

5) axiological;

6) cultural;

7) anthropological;

8) ethnopedagogical.

Systems approach used in the study of complex objects that represent an organic whole. To study a pedagogical object from the perspective of a systems approach means to analyze the internal and external connections and relationships of the object, to consider all its elements, taking into account their place and functions in it. The basic principles for implementing the systems approach, which clarify its essence, are:

The principle of integrity, which reflects the specificity of the properties of the system, the dependence of each element, property and relationship within the system on their place and functions within the whole;

The principle of structurality, which makes it possible to describe systems as structures through the disclosure of a set of connections and relationships between its elements;

The principle of interdependence of external and internal factors of the system;

The principle of hierarchy, which involves considering an object in three aspects: as an independent system, as an element of a higher-level system, as a system of a higher hierarchical level in relation to its elements, considered, in turn, as systems;

The principle of multiple representation of a system, meaning the need to create multiple models to describe a system object;

The principle of historicism, which requires the study of the system and its elements not only as static, but also as dynamic, having a history of its development.

With a systems approach, for example, the education system and the process of its functioning are considered as a set of the following interrelated components: the goals of education; its content; forms, methods, means of implementing this content (technologies of teaching, mastering, learning); subjects of the education system (teachers, students, parents); educational institutions as structural elements of the entire educational system and the pedagogical processes functioning in them; material resources as a means of the education system.

Personal approach in pedagogy it affirms ideas about the social, active and creative essence of man as an individual. Recognition of personality as a product of socio-historical development and a bearer of culture does not allow the reduction of personality to human nature, and thereby to a thing among things, to a teachable automaton.

A personal approach means focusing the design and implementation of the pedagogical process on the individual as a goal, subject, result and the main criterion of its effectiveness. It urgently demands recognition of the uniqueness of the individual, his intellectual and moral freedom, and the right to respect. Within the framework of this approach, it is assumed that education will rely on the natural process of self-development of the inclinations and creative potential of the individual, and the creation of appropriate conditions for this.

Activity approach. It has been established that activity is the basis, means and factor of personality development. This fact necessitates the implementation in pedagogical research and practice of an activity-based approach closely related to the personal.

The activity approach involves considering the object under study within the framework of a system of activity, its genesis, evolution, and development. Activity as a form of human activity, expressed in his research, transformative and practical attitude towards the world and himself, is the leading category of the activity approach. Activity is a way of existence and development of society and man, a comprehensive process of transforming nature and social reality(including himself).

To carry out a transformation, a person needs to change the ideal image of his actions, the intention of his activity. In this regard, he uses a special means - thinking, the degree of development of which determines the degree of human well-being and freedom. It is a conscious attitude towards the world that allows a person to realize his function as a subject of activity, actively transforming the world and himself on the basis of mastery processes universal human culture and culture creation, self-analysis of performance results. Transformative activity includes both idealization and implementation of a plan, which is a factor in the development of a person’s reflexive abilities aimed at introspection, self-esteem, correction of activities, the results of one’s own work, and relationships with the surrounding society.

The activity approach, for example, in relation to the study of the process of a child’s formation means that play, learning, work, communication are the most important factors formation and development of a growing child. At the same time, the most important pedagogical requirements for the organization of education are the determination of the content of the relevant activity, the development of ways to activate and transfer the child to the position of a subject of knowledge, work, and communication. This, in turn, involves teaching the child to choose a goal and plan an activity, its organization and regulation, self-control, self-analysis and self-assessment of the results of the activity.

Polysubjective (dialogical) approach means that the essence of personality is much more versatile and complex than the process of activity in which the personality is included. Personality acquires its “human” content precisely in communication with others. In this regard, personality is a product and result of communication with other people.

Therefore, a person is considered as a system of relationships characteristic of him, as a carrier of relationships and interactions of a social group. The dialogical approach, in unity with the personal and activity approach, makes it possible to create a psychological and pedagogical unity of subjects, thanks to which “objective” influence gives way to the creative process of mutual development and self-development.

Axiological (or value) approach acts as a kind of “bridge” between theory and practice, i.e. acts as a mechanism of connection between the practical and abstract-theoretical levels of knowledge and relationships to the surrounding world (society, nature, culture, oneself). 1) The axiological approach in pedagogy means the recognition and implementation in society of the values ​​of human life, education and training, pedagogical activity, education in general. 2) The idea of ​​harmonious developed personality, associated with the idea of ​​a fair society that can actually provide every person with the conditions for the maximum realization of their inherent potential. 3) With changes in socio-economic living conditions, pedagogical values ​​are also transformed. Thus, in the process of development of pedagogical science and practice, changes are identified that are associated, firstly, with the change from scholastic teaching theories to explanatory-illustrative and later to problem-developmental and personality-oriented; secondly, with the transition from command-regulatory education to personal-humane education. Axiological approaches in pedagogy, based on humanistic values, are the methodological basis for the development of pedagogical science and the improvement of educational practice.

Cultural approach as a methodology for cognition and transformation of pedagogical reality, it is based on axiology - the doctrine of values ​​and the value structure of the world.

The culturological approach is determined by the objective connection of a person with culture as a system of values. A person contains a part of culture. He not only develops on the basis of the culture he has mastered, but also introduces something fundamentally new into it, that is, he becomes the creator of new elements of culture. In this regard, the development of culture as a system of values ​​represents, firstly, the development of the person himself and, secondly, his formation as a creative personality.

Ethnopedagogical The approach involves organizing and implementing the educational process based on the national traditions of the people, their culture, national-ethnic rituals, customs, and habits. National culture gives a specific flavor to the environment in which a child grows and is formed, and various educational institutions operate. The implementation of an ethnopedagogical approach to the design and organization of the pedagogical process requires teachers to resolve the following tasks: firstly, to study and shape this environment, and secondly, to make maximum use of its educational capabilities.

Anthropological approach was first developed and substantiated by K.D. Ushinsky (1824–1870). In his understanding, this is the systematic use of data from all human sciences and their consideration in the construction and implementation of the pedagogical process.

“If pedagogy wants to educate a person in all respects, then it must first get to know him in all respects.” This is the position of K.D. Ushinsky remains relevant for modern pedagogy.

The main ideas of modern pedagogical anthropology, which are the methodological foundations of research in the field of pedagogy:

Education is an attribute of human existence (human existence is considered in education);

– the goals and means of education are derived from the essence of man; expansion of traditional concepts with such categories as “life”, “freedom”, “meaning”, “creativity”, “event”, “anthropological space”, “anthropological time”, “self-formation”;

– the use of an anthropological approach to teaching and studying specific human sciences (history as historical anthropology, biology as biological anthropology, etc.);

– the conditions and technologies of education and training are set from an anthropological perspective and are aimed at developing the generic qualities of the student’s personality;

– the nature of education is dialogical;

– childhood is valuable in itself, a child is the key to understanding a person.

The use of an anthropological approach when studying, for example, the pedagogical process of a school, involves considering such anthroposystems as students, teachers, student and teaching teams. At the same time, they are presented as open, self-developing personal and social systems; and the teacher is an anthropologist who owns the means, “tools” for managing the process of developing the student’s personality.

Thus, the use of methodological approaches to pedagogy allows, firstly, to identify its scientific and theoretical problems, establish their hierarchy, develop a strategy and basic ways to resolve them, and secondly, to justify, create and implement technological mechanisms for the modernization of educational practice; and also to forecast the development of pedagogical science and practice.

Related information.

One of the eternal problems that has passed through millennia is the problem of the individual, his rights, freedoms and responsibilities. Human life acquires meaning only in conditions of true freedom, and only in conditions of freedom does a person receive the opportunity for his harmonious improvement. Therefore, before answering the question about the relationship between freedom and responsibility, we should consider the problem of personality, its nature and essence.

Almost all social sciences and humanities deal with the problem of personality, to one degree or another. For this reason alone, the concept of personality has far from unambiguous use. Some people identify the traits of a person as an individual with personality. Others identify the personality with its character, others - with social status and functions, fourth - with the generic essence, fifth - with a set of different levels: from physical qualities to spiritual content. This discord is aggravated, or more precisely, multiplied by different ideas about the timing and possibilities of achieving the property of “being a person”: some consider this property to be inherent almost initially, from the first “I am myself” of the child; others point out that personality is not born immediately, not once, but several times; Finally, there is an opinion (mainly held by philosophers) that the concept of personality has a meaning close to an ideal to which one must strive, but which is by no means achievable by everyone. Personality is a specific individual living system having a certain socio-historical structure in her individual life and activities .

As a specific individuality, the human personality has a set of properties, characteristics, features, the essence of which is revealed on the basis and in the conditions of human life and activity in a given specific human era. The concepts of individual and personality are closely related. Personality is always tied to the individual. Personality is a separate person, an individual. And at the same time, the content of these concepts is different. In the concept of an individual, one simply thinks of a person, and in the concept of a personality - a separate person with certain socially significant properties.

Philosophy, as is known, from ancient times discovered three forms of existence of reality: general, special and individual. The dialectic of the relationship between the general, the particular and the individual fully applies to man.

Man as a “social animal” represents the unity of the natural and social, physical and spiritual, united in a complex biosocial structure, covering all aspects of his life and activity: from physiological to the highest manifestations of spiritual wealth. In this case, the concept of “man” is a generic concept, characteristic of the entire human race.

At the same time, it is known that in his empirical existence “man” acts directly as a separate, individual person, as an individual. Consequently, all communities of people: racial, national, age, professional, etc. are the essence of aggregates of individuals, although they have their own properties and characteristics.

The concept of "individual" we apply, as a rule, to an individual person. In relation to a living organism, the concept of “individual” is generally used, and in relation to an inorganic or human-made object, the concept of “instance” or “thing” is used. All these terms express the general property of reality - singularity. Man expresses the general in his nature, especially in his essence, and the individual in his individuality.

The concept of individuality should be distinguished from the concept of individual. This difference is not limited to the fact that individuality is a property of the individual, that the individual is the bearer of individuality. The concept of “individual” captures the property of individuality and the presence of individual differences. But a person is not only an individual, but also an individuality, that is, something unique. Knowing the property of a microparticle or chemical element, we thereby know how any similar particle or element will behave under the same conditions.

Knowing the behavior of an animal or a pair of animals of the same species, we know almost everything about the behavior of all animals of this species, because it is basically the same; if there are differences in their behavior, they are small. This means that animals are deprived (or almost deprived) of individuality. A person has a significant amount of freedom in his behavior, although the difference in freedom lies within the boundaries of behavior inherent in a profession, class or social community in general. It is from this point of view that a person has an individuality that develops and becomes more clearly expressed with the development of culture. In addition, individuality finds its expression in the natural inclinations and mental properties of a person (in the characteristics of memory, imagination, temperament, character and in all the diversity of the human appearance and his life activity).

But the concept of individuality is not limited to this, it is connected with the problem of “I”, which is still absent in the concept of the individual. A separate animal is an individual (individual). But the animal is merged with its life activity; it does not distinguish itself from the latter. It means that it does not have a subjective “I”. After all, to have an “I” means to be aware of your difference from other people and from your own activities. To have your own “I” means to recognize yourself as a certain center around which everything around you revolves. The whole world, including the people around me, is something external for me, existing only insofar as I perceive it.

It is known that people primitive society did not have a developed personality. On this basis, some authors deny the identity of a person under those conditions. From our point of view, such views are incorrect in two respects. Firstly, the weak development of something is not its absence. Secondly, the concepts of personality and individuality cannot be identified, since individuality is only one of the characteristics of personality.

This is where it begins the main problem in determining the status of an individual, the essence of which is the search for an objective criterion. In other words, where is the objective criterion or approach by which one can unambiguously determine the “socially significant properties” of a person who has formed as a personality? Should they be socially significant for the entire history of human development or only for society at a certain stage of its development? Based on these considerations, a person as an individual is a person who has a very specific worldview, certain moral positions, a certain level of culture and knowledge and is aware of his rights in relation to society and the nature surrounding him, and has an appropriate level of civic maturity.

In this regard, the gradual formation of personality occurs in ontogenesis under the spontaneous or purposeful influence of the micro- and macroenvironment. Moreover, the structure of such a personality can be represented by the following diagram:

1) Social status (a person’s place in the system of social relations);

2) Social role (a pattern of behavior that is normatively approved and appropriate social status);

3) Focus (needs, interests, views, ideals, motives of behavior).

However, it should be borne in mind that the formation of a developed personality is determined not only by the environment. It no less requires one’s own activity in practical activities, which fully corresponds to the popular proverb: you cannot become a man by lying on the stove. The main stimulus for behavioral activity is needs, which act as necessary conditions existence of every person. It is the satisfaction of biological, material, spiritual, social needs that motivate a person to active socially useful activities, acting as interests and reasons for social actions behind the needs.

That is why personality is an individual, and not a person in general, since the “sets” of essential human traits, on the one hand, and personality-forming properties, on the other, are different. For example, the ability to think in concepts, articulate speech, the goal-oriented nature of activity and other generic properties of a person are not personality-forming properties. Personality refers mainly to such essential properties that can be acquired by specific individuals who differ significantly in their intelligence. Let's say that rationality, as emphasized above, is inherent in every person. But the degree of intelligence is not the same for all people. Moreover, rationality in social sphere can be addressed to both positive and negative actions, that is, differ in their directions and qualitative results. It is precisely these circumstances that make rationality one of the characteristics of personality.

In the same way, love of freedom can lead both to strict compliance with the norms and requirements of the law, and to anarchism, to antisocial (criminal) behavior. On the other hand, the degree of responsibility for an entrusted or assumed obligation can fluctuate over a very wide range, sometimes descending in the conditions of law enforcement activities even to irresponsibility, that is, to its opposite. Therefore, understanding the essence of freedom and responsibility are also signs of personality.

In addition, the personality at all stages of the development of society had an axiological (value) aspect. Personality has always been a high concept in the history of most peoples of the world - to be an expression, an ideal of a person, as they wanted to see him both in the present and in the future. True, in this sense, the question of the dominants of personality development is important, since in each historical era first one or another of the components of that “set” of socially significant characteristics that peoples and civilizations associated with the concept of personality came to the fore. These dominant features, as a rule, in social philosophy are called the dominant representations of personality of a particular era.

For example, myths ancient Hellas They portray to us as the ideal of a man of that era - a mighty hero who defeats the most terrible enemies, but is not very picky about the goals and moral means of achieving them. Ideal " harmonious person", attributed to this era, concerns primarily the physical development of man.

Ancient Rome During the period of ancient democracy, he considered citizenship to be the main virtue of a free person. Christianity put forward the concept of the soul as the only value in man as opposed to the despicable and base flesh. Feudal medieval knighthood cultivated class honor and loyalty of the vassal to the overlord, service to the lady and contempt for the “rabble”.

The era of bourgeois revolutions connected the idea of ​​personality with the desire for freedom and the fight for it. Victorious capitalism also raised the idea of ​​individualism as the greatest human value to unprecedented heights. And finally, the ideal of the philosophy of Marxism becomes a person of a collective nature, ready to fight for public interests even at the cost of his own life.

Thus, considering the different personality types corresponding to different stages social development, one cannot help but dwell on the problem historical figures who have made a significant contribution to social reality, moving society forward or slowing down its further movement. In order not to be unfounded, we will name a few historical names that cannot be denied the status of “personality”. Here are just a few of them: Alexander the Great, Tamerlane, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, A. Suvorov, V.I. Lenin, etc.

It is undeniable that Genghis Khan is perceived as an outstanding personality. But the significance of this personality in history does not have the same assessment. If even among the living Mongols this is a national hero, then for many peoples this name is associated with bloody and centuries-long enslavement. Or if the name A.V. Most Russians associate Suvorov with the personality of an outstanding commander who made an invaluable contribution to the history of the formation of the Russian state, then for Polish people This name is associated with the bloody suppression of the national liberation uprising led by Kosciuszko. Similar examples can be continued.

For us in this case, it is important that these are undoubtedly historical figures, whose names are associated with specific historical contradictions and the main ways and means of resolving them.

However, as we know, the absolute majority of people who have lived and are living on earth cannot claim the status of “historical figures,” although they have the right to be individuals. Without claiming an indisputable solution to this problem, it is important to keep in mind that personality, like a person, in its essence has not only a social, but also a biological component on the path of a particular individual’s transition to a personal state.

Taking this feature into account, it should immediately be noted that in contrast to the concepts of Freudianism and behaviorism, which absolutize the natural (biological) not only in man, but also in the individual, we firmly adhere to the principle that in the concept of personality, the social is predominant. But, at the same time, we take into account that a real, living person is constantly experiencing the influence and influence of a natural, biological factor.

In other words, in social practice, a person encounters certain restrictions arising from the objective and subjective properties and conditions of external nature and society, the properties of his own body, the properties and conditions of the collective in which it occurs. Practical activities personality. It is objective, for example, that fear is inherent in every living creature with a psyche. Moreover, only a mentally ill person is not afraid of danger, and hence it is quite natural that fear sometimes and often protects life. However, it is no secret that the fear of difficulties and dangers associated both in the fight against natural and social phenomena and processes, in a number of cases, gives rise to cowards, alarmists, flatterers, sycophants, people-pleasers, careerists, etc. among people.

In this sense, the biopsychic moment (meaning not only physiology, but also the human psyche) in the formation of the personality of a modern person is expressed even more distinctly and clearly than in a generic person. A lot of statistical data can be collected to confirm this conclusion. But such statistics cannot reassure an individual, just as the classical syllogism cannot satisfy his love of life: “all people are mortal, I am a man, therefore I am mortal.” Therefore, despite all the enormous diversity, the personality of a modern person remains a social phenomenon and it is called upon to fulfill the demands placed on a person by society, and not by nature, therefore, the “concessions” that a person sometimes makes to his own nature are not the main thing in the shortcomings of the individual, including from law enforcement officials.

Personality deformation in this area occurs primarily not through the “fault” of human nature, but through the fault of society, the “social environment.” For example, the general increase in crime, the emergence of organized crime, contract killings and terrorist attacks in modern stage development Russian society It is impossible today to explain that this is the result of “bad heredity” and only the “decline in the morals of Russians.”

Many of the crimes committed in our society are, as a rule, an indicator of trouble, the “disease” of our society. For example, in the 70-80s. twentieth century in the USSR, for a population of 300 million, the annual number of murders was approximately 14-16 thousand people. IN modern Russia with a population of 140 million people, 30 thousand people are killed annually, and the number of suicides is 15 thousand people.

These statistics are evidence that there is a lot of trouble in our Fatherland, which arose instead of the USSR, as the President of Russia has repeatedly emphasized. It is this disadvantage that is primarily reflected in the position of the human personality, that is, the personality is precisely the force that society puts forward to counteract its vices. According to Hegel, it fully corresponds to its concept to the extent that it resists the pressure of negative social mores. Therefore, favorable development of the individual is impossible without overcoming all forms of alienation from society.

In this regard, it is very important to understand the essence of the concept of “alienation,” which is not new, but very acute in modern social reality, during which, both in the past and today, human activity, together with its results, turns into an independent force that dominates him and hostile to him. Indeed, modern man has become a slave to the things he produces, property and money. He has turned into an instrument of other people's goals; his own activity is emasculated of its creative content. This is hampered, first of all, by the total spread of private property on a huge scale in one hand, the omnipotence of the bureaucracy and officials dictating their demands to citizens, the unprecedented diminishment of the role of material forces in the development of each individual (in Russia the lowest wage among the bourgeois states of Europe).

“Removing” alienation in our society is possible only on the basis of the full implementation of the provisions of all individual rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation: education and medical care and freedom to choose their forms, the right to housing and a normal living environment, the right to freedom of thought, conscience, beliefs, the right to participate in making and implementing decisions in the sphere of production, politics, culture; the right to freely elect and be elected to various bodies of political power; the right to freely participate in rallies, demonstrations, and meetings. In a word, the modern political elite in power must fully realize that the individual is not a passive “product” of society, he is capable of actively influencing the course of the historical process. Therefore, when developing the problem of interaction between society and the individual, it is important to take into account that this is most clearly manifested in the implementation of such personality-forming characteristics as freedom and responsibility, and not on the basis of teaching a person methods of raking in unfairly “earned” money, fooling a person, political manipulation to please ruling class, which during the period of privatization left the majority of citizens without property, means of subsistence and without work in most industrial enterprises and the agricultural sector.

Methodology of pedagogy and its levels.

In pedagogy, methodology is usually defined as the doctrine of the principles, methods, forms and procedures of cognition and transformation of pedagogical reality. The teacher-researcher must clearly understand what goal he wants to achieve, what his work serves and what result he wants to get. The methodology of science characterizes the components of scientific research of its object, subject of analysis, research objectives, totality research funds necessary to solve them, and also forms an idea of ​​the sequence of movement of the researcher in the process of solving research problems.

It is customary to highlight four levels of methodology(E.G. Yudin and others):

Second level – general scientific methodology, theoretical concepts applicable to all or most scientific disciplines. (system approach, ontological approach, characteristics of different types scientific research, their stages and elements: hypothesis, object and subject of research, goal, objectives, etc.).

Third level – specific scientific methodology, i.e. a set of methods and principles of research used in a specific scientific discipline, for example, in pedagogy. The methodology of a special science includes initial theoretical concepts.

Fourth level (technological) – includes research methodology and technology, i.e. a set of procedures that ensure the receipt of reliable empirical material and its primary processing. At this level, methodological knowledge has a clearly defined normative character.

All levels of the methodology form a complex system, within which there is a certain subordination between them. At the same time, the philosophical level acts as the substantive basis of any methodological knowledge, defining ideological approaches to the process of cognition and transformation of reality.

Personal approach recognizes the individual as a product of socio-historical development and a carrier of culture, and does not allow the individual to be reduced to an object of pedagogical influence. Personality is the goal, subject, result and main criterion for the effectiveness of the pedagogical process. The uniqueness of an individual lies in her intellectual moral freedom and responsibility for the results of her activities. The task of the educator is to create favorable conditions for the self-development of inclinations and creative potential of the individual.

The personal approach urgently requires recognition of the uniqueness of the individual, his intellectual and moral freedom, and the right to respect. It involves relying in education on the natural process of self-development of the inclinations and creative potential of the individual, creating appropriate conditions for this. Activity approach plays a subordinate role in the system of methodological knowledge. For a long time in pedagogy and psychology its importance was exaggerated. All pedagogical phenomena, processes and facts were explained only from the point of view of the postulates and principles of the activity approach. The student's activity was thought of as the result of pedagogical influence. From this position, the diverse world of interpersonal relationships and interactions of the child with the surrounding cultural environment acquired an increasingly instrumental, formal, algorithmic character. Education programs long years were built on the basis of an activity approach. Activity is only one side of human life, the existence of a person. At a certain stage of personality development, the relationship between the personality and the basis that generates it (activity in society) changes. Cooperative activity

in a specific social system still determines the development of personality; but the personality, becoming more and more individualized, itself chooses the type of activity and the way of life that determine its further development and improvement. is based on the proposition that the essence of a person is richer than his activities. Personality is the product and result of communication with people and the relationships that characterize it. What is important here is not so much the substantive, material result of the activity, but the relationships that have developed between the participants in educational interaction, their nature and content. This fact of the “dialogical” content of a person’s inner world was clearly not taken into account enough in pedagogy, although it was reflected in folk pedagogy (“tell me who your friend is...”, “who will you get along with...”, etc.). The teacher’s task is to regularly monitor relationships in the children’s team, promote humane interpersonal relationships, and establish a favorable psychological climate in the team.

The dialogical approach in unity with the personal and ontological is the essence of the methodology of humanistic pedagogy. Humanistic approach in pedagogy and education is based on the theory of I.M. Sechenov and I.P. Pavlov about the perfection of the human body, capable of self-development, self-change and self-renewal. The task of the family and teachers is to purposefully form healthy mental forces of the body, starting from an early age.

Cultural approach based on axiology - the doctrine of values ​​and the value structure of the world and is conditioned by the objective connection of man with culture as a system of values ​​​​developed by humanity. A person’s mastery of culture represents the development of the person himself and his formation as a creative personality. The modern system of education and upbringing has a pronounced cultural character. This means that the culture of life, creativity and language of the student himself is at the center of the educational process. The task of the educator is to introduce them to cultural potential and activate free creative development on this basis.

Ethnopedagogical approach considers the process of personal development from the point of view national traditions, culture, customs that have developed in the ethnic environment of the child’s residence. The task of the educator is to familiarize the personality of a growing person with historical and cultural traditions native land, maximum use of its educational capabilities.

Anthropological approach was substantiated by the great Russian teacher K.D. Ushinsky in the 60s. ХΙХ century This is the systematic use of data from all human sciences and their consideration in the construction and implementation of the pedagogical process.

The identified methodological approaches of pedagogy as a branch of humanitarian knowledge make it possible to implement the humanistic paradigm of education.