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28HEURISTIC METHODS OF TEACHING AS A MEANS OF CREATIVE SELF-REALIZATION IN EFL CLASSROOM
Abstract
The relevance of the problem is due to the grow'ng popularity and efficiency of the use of modern teaching methods. The purpose of the article is to theoretically identify and by experimental work to test the effectiveness of the use of heuristic methods. The leading methods to study this problem are modeling of pedagogical conditions, pedagogical observation, testing, ranking. With the help of the experiment it was proved that heuristic methods have a positive effect on the cognitive independence of the student, as well as on his motivation and creative self-realization. The materials of the article can be useful for teachers of English as a foreign language in school.
Keywords
heuristic method, creative self-realization, pedagogical action, creativity
AUTHORS
Ayagul Ye. Serikbayeva
Master student, L.N.Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Nur-Sultan 2, st. Satpayev, Nur-Sultan, 010008, Kazakhstan E-mail: [email protected]
Lyazzat Zh. Beisenbayeva
PhD Doctor, L.N.Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Nur-Sultan 2, st. Satpayev, Nur-Sultan, 010008, Kazakhstan E-mail: [email protected]
1. Introduction
In the conditions of modern society, experiencing a time of radical changes in the economic, cultural, political and educational spheres, there is a need for well-educated creative people, competent professionals who are able, if necessary, to rebuild the direction of their activities. In this regard, it is difficult to overestimate the role of a foreign language as a means of communication.
The basis of teaching a foreign language are certain means, methods and forms, technologies, principles and laws used by the teacher to achieve the goal of mastering a foreign language by students at the level of their native language. One way to achieve this goal is to use heuristic methods in foreign language classes, which allow to develop cognitive, creative and organizational abilities of students.
The urgency of research is defined by the fact that heuristic methods in the educational process involves the rejection of rejection of ready-made knowledge, from their reproduction, based on the search for information, the flow of which in modern conditions increases every year (Khutorskoy, 1998). The growth of the volume of information requires the modern man such qualities as initiative, ingenuity, creativity, and it is impossible without the ability to work creatively and independently.
The term "heuristics" comes from the Greek "heuresko" - "to look for, to open". Several meanings of the term are currently used. Heuristics can be understood as:
- scientific and applied discipline that studies creative activity (at the same time, it should be recognized that the founders of the theory and generally accepted guidelines do not exist);
- methods of solving problematic (creative, non-standard) tasks in conditions of uncertainty, which are usually opposed to formal methods of solving, based, for example, on accurate mathematical algorithms (Kapterev, 1990);
- teaching method;
- one of the ways of creating computer programs.
Heuristics and heuristic methods have a rich history. For the first time, the heuristic associated with the system of the dialogues, conversations, skillfully used by Socrates (469-399 BC), from whose name comes the term "Socratic conversation". Socrates, through special questions and considerations, helped the interlocutor independently come to a certain conclusion, as a result of which the truth was revealed not only to the student, but also to the teacher. The definition of "socratic conversation" will later be interpreted as "heuristic conversation". Henry Bush, in his work "Dialogue and creativity" states that "Dialogue is a specific way to realize the essence of man" (Bush,1985).
The internal need for creative activity is considered by psychologists and educators as an objective law of development of the individual. According to G.K. Selevko, creativity is the norm of children's development, the tendency to creativity in general is inherent to any child. However, taking part in creative activities, a person can act on the basis of a certain model (passive imitation activity), can choose one (active imitation) from many proposed solutions, and, finally, he can come up with a qualitatively new model (creative activity). Each student at a certain stage is capable of some of these activities to a greater or less extent. This should be taken into account by the teacher (Selevko, 1998).
The theoretical basis of heuristics formation proved the necessity of heuristic methods application in practice, which required scientists, teachers and psychologists to take certain measures to solve this scientific problem, which is still insufficiently developed. Thus, heuristics has a rich centuries-old history, during which there was a gradual development of heuristics as a science of creating a new methodology of heuristic activity (Fomin, 2005). Knowledge of the history of heuristics helps to realize and understand modern problems and reasons of insufficient implementation of heuristic methods and to find conditions and ways to solve this problem.
It should be noted that the educational process for the development of creative abilities are built taking into account the creative activity of students. The planned pedagogical situation is thought out on the basis of the achievements of students, what they know and comprehend, taking into account their abilities (Kitaigorodskaya, 1998).
According to the didactics, abilities serve as a prerequisite for acquisition of knowledge and skills, as a result, and the criterion level of learning (Lubart, Sternberg, 1999). With regard to the situation of school education, creative abilities are manifested in solving problems, but the optimal condition for ensuring the intensive development of creative abilities of schoolchildren is not an episodic solution of individual creative cognitive tasks, but a systematic, purposeful presentation of them in the system.
Creative activity is the creation of a qualitatively new, never before existed idea (MacKinnon, 2002). The incentive to creative activity is a problem situation that can not be solved by traditional methods. The original product of activity is obtained as a result of the formulation of a non-standard hypothesis, the choice of non-traditional relationships of elements of the problem situation, the attraction of implicitly related elements, the establishment of new types of interdependence between them.
The elements of creative abilities (Sternberg, Lubart, 2000):
- vision of a new problem in a familiar situation;
- transfer of knowledge and skills in a non-standard situation;
- vision of a new (hidden) features of known objects;
- vision of all the relationships in the object structure;
- vision of alternative and variable ways of solving the problem;
- combining known methods of action and creating a new method on this basis;
- construction of a fundamentally new method of solution, different from the known.
Methodological basis of research is theoretical background and elements of heuristic
learning (J.J. Rousseau, L.N. Tolstoy, R. Steiner, G.S. Altshuller, M.I. Makhmutov, etc.); V.I. Andreev, V.J. Laudes, D. Poiya, A.V. Khutorskoy, solved problems heuristic methods of teaching; theoretical background of the process of self-realization (K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya, L.I. Antsiferova, A.A. Idinov, L.N. Kogan, V.I. Mulyar, A.V. Shinkin etc.); the idea of freedom of children's creativity (L. Vygotsky); ideas about the relationship between intelligence and creativity (I.A. Beskov); research on the education of active, independent and creative person (V.S. Lednev); on the problem of pedagogical creativity of the teacher (V. I. Andreev, D.B. Bogoyavlenskaya, V.A. Kan-Kalik, V.G. Ryndak, A.V. Khutorskoy); research on methodology, theory and practice of foreign language acquisition and stimulate cognitive and creative activity of pupils (N.B. Baryshnikov, V. G. Gulchevskaya, M.M.Gahlinger, V.V. Oschepkova, P.A. Razin); the conceptual provisions of a student-centered approach in the educational system (E.V. Bondarevskaya, V.L. Karakovskiy, I.S.Yakimanskaya, N.A. Alekseev, E.V. Bondarevskaya, M.V. Klarin, V.V. Serikov).
The study of psychological and pedagogical literature on the topic of the study allowed to put forward the following hypothesis: it is assumed that the educational process will be carried out more effectively with the use of heuristic methods, the conditions of which are: the development of motivation among pupils on the solution of heuristic tasks and mastering heuristic methods; step-by-step introduction to training heuristic methods and heuristic problems of increasing complexity and difficulty; creating a situation of success in the classroom, contributing to the transformation of students from learning objects into subjects of cognitive activity.
2. Materials and Methods
In accordance with the objective and hypothesis of the research the following tasks were defined: to analyze psychological and pedagogical literature on the research problem, to consider the concept of "heuristic method" in psychological and pedagogical literature, to reveal peculiarities of heuristic method usage in educational process, experimentally test the effectiveness of the conditions of heuristic method in the educational process.
To test the hypothesis a set of different methods were used:
- theoretical - literature analysis, comparison and classification of heuristic problems and modeling of pedagogical conditions.
- empirical - pedagogical observation, testing. ranking, analysis of students' work, diagnosis of levels of heuristic thinking.
Experimental work to identify the level of readiness of students for creative self-realization was held on the basis of school-gymnasium №34 named after A.Taimanov.
First stage was aimed at the study of psychological, pedagogical and methodical literature on the problem of research, which was a theoretical reconsideration of the topic, object and subject of research, work proposal hypothesis was determined.
During the second phase the conditions for the effective use of heuristic methods of teaching in the process of learning a foreign language in order to form a readiness for creative self-realization of students were identified. The basic provisions of the hypothesis were tested, psychological and pedagogical bases of the organization of formation of
readiness for creative self-realization of pupils with application of heuristic methods of training were controlled.
Third phase was devoted to the analysis and synthesis of research results, theoretical understanding of the scientific work, the formulation of conclusions and design work.
At the stage of the ascertaining experiment, we developed a questionnaire, which consisted of three sections, each of which corresponded to certain indicators allocated by us to identify the level of creative self-realization of students, the formation of independent cognitive skills for students, the level of formation of heuristic abilities, creative thinking, motivation for creative activity and reflection.
The ascertaining experiment was aimed at solving the following tasks: to determine the degree of readiness of students for creative self-realization through heuristic methods of teaching; to develop a criteria-based assessment tool to identify the degree of readiness of students for creative self-realization through heuristic methods of teaching, identify indicators, develop criteria, determine the level scale; choose the diagnosing techniques to determine the level of readiness of students for creative self-realization. The analysis of the diagnostic tasks and techniques allowed to reveal the level of readiness of pupils for creative self-realization of pupils (18.2 % of students have a low level of readiness for creative self-realization, which is 4; 81.8 % of students have an average level of readiness for creative self-realization, which is 18).The high level of readiness of students for creative self-realization is not revealed. Thus, according to the results of the ascertaining experiment, we came to the conclusion that it is necessary to increase the level of readiness of students for creative self-realization through the use of heuristic methods of teaching a foreign language at the next stage of experimental work. The purpose of the formative experiment was carried out to identify psycho-pedagogical conditions for the formation of self-actualization of students through heuristic teaching methods in the process of learning a foreign language. In this regard, for the formation of heuristic abilities, work was carried out to improve the creative, cognitive and methodological abilities of students.
3. Results
At the final stage of experimental work of the diagnosing methods to identify the degree of readiness of students to creative self-actualization through heuristic teaching methods with the purpose of organization of monitoring of the effectiveness of these methods and technologies of education were conducted .
Analysis of the results of the work was aimed at solving the following tasks:
- to determine the degree of readiness of students for creative self-realization after the forming experiment;
- to analyze and process the obtained results of the conducted survey;
- to draw appropriate conclusions about the effectiveness of heuristic methods of teaching foreign language lessons in the creative self-realization of students.
As a general conclusion on the first two tasks of the analysis of experimental work, it can be determined that after the implementation of the experiment, the level of proficiency in cognitive independence increased in 4 people, and accordingly the high level began to be 63.6 %. A high level of heuristic abilities development was revealed in 8 people, which was 36.4 %. Creative thinking of students after the implementation of the formative experiment was 27.2 % of students with a high level.
Motivation for creative activity of students was 8, which corresponds to 36.4 %. The ability to reflect their own activities revealed in 10 people, which was 45.5 %.
The results of the survey prove the effectiveness of heuristic methods of teaching a foreign language in the formation of creative self-realization of students.
Analysis of the results obtained after the forming experiment made it possible to determine that:
- the high level of readiness for creative self-realization was determined by 10 people, which corresponds to 45.5 % of the group of students, which is 45.5 % more than at the stage of the ascertaining experiment, so students with a high level of readiness for creative self-realization at the stage of the ascertaining experiment were not revealed;
- the average level of readiness of students for creative self-realization was found in 45.5 % of students, as many students with an average level of readiness for creative self-realization after the implementation of the forming experiment, showed high results, and accordingly, began to have a high level of readiness for creative self-realization;
- the low level of readiness of students for creative self-realization was 9%, which is twice less than at the stage of ascertaining experiment.
4. Discussions
Comparing the obtained results at the stage of ascertaining and final stage of forming experiment, it is possible to draw a conclusion about efficiency of applied heuristic methods of teaching foreign language in formation of readiness of pupils for creative self-realization.
At the stage of ascertaining experiment, the degree of readiness of students for creative self-realization was determined: the level of creative thinking, the level of formation of heuristic methods and skills of cognitive independence, the degree of motivation for creative activity and reflection of their own activities.
The results showed that students have insufficient level of readiness for creative self-realization.
In order to increase the degree of readiness for creative self-realization at the stage of the forming experiment, a set of heuristic tasks in a foreign language were implemented. The lessons were of non-standard forms with the use of modern technologies and methods of teaching a foreign language in order to improve the readiness of students for creative self-realization.
Analysis of the results showed an increase in the degree of readiness of students for creative self-realization: their cognitive independent activity and motivation for creative activity of students were noticeably intensified. And, accordingly, the creative thinking of students develops.
Today, not all secondary schools are ready to teach a gifted child qualitatively, without harming, but on the contrary, fully developing, taking into account all the features of such talent. Teachers face a real problem, which is, first, to identify the tendency of the child to non-standard thinking, secondly, the need to develop an individual trajectory of its development. Of course, in addition to good subject training, teachers should teach the child psychological self-control, as well as the ability to use the entire resource of knowledge and skills.
5. Conclusion
The study revealed psychological and pedagogical conditions of creative self-realization of students through heuristic methods of teaching foreign language lessons and after school:
- heuristic methods should be integrated into the educational process, which will create a real language environment and solve the corresponding didactic tasks;
- the applied methods of heuristic training are aimed at the formation of cognitive, intellectual, creative and methodological activities are the main pedagogical condition of creative self-realization of students;
- complex implementation of the system of non-standard forms of training with the use of modern technologies and heuristic exercises promotes creative self-realization of students.
Thus, in the course of the study, the tasks were solved and the provisions of the hypothesis were confirmed. The study does not claim to be exhaustive and can be continued in the following directions: heuristic development in the process of learning a foreign language, the study of the level of heuristics of students of other age groups, problematic and developing training in heuristic technologies in foreign language lessons, the use of modern pedagogical technologies in heuristic learning.
REFERENCES
Bush H. (1985) Dialogue and Creativity, 236.
Fomin M. M. (2005) Pedagogical heuristics as a methodology of modern education. Socialization of personality in the XXI century, 257-259.
Lubart T.I. Sternberg R. (1999) Creativity across cultures/Handbook of creativity, 212.
MacKinnon D.W. (2002) The nature and nurture of creative thinking talent,155.
Kapterev P. F. (1990) Heuristic form of education in the people's school // anthology of pedagogical thought of Russia in the second half of XlX-early XX century, 218-221.
Kitaigorodskaya, G. A. (1988) Principles of intensive learning foreign languages, 260.
Khutorskoy A.V. (1998) Heuristic training, 345.
Selevko G. K. (1998) Modern educational technologies: textbook for pedagogical universities and institutes of advanced training, 55.
Sternberg R., Lubart T.I. (2000) Creative giftedness: A multivariate investment approach, Gifted Child Quartely, 287.
ABOUT RUSSIAN VERSION OF HISTORICAL PROGRESS
Abstract
The article provides an analysis of the views of Russian thinkers on historical progress; the concepts of freedom-opportunity, freedom-necessity, time and space are explored. Comparing the western and domestic approaches to the formation of the so-called "national idea", the author formulates his own hypothesis of progress, based on the creativity of the Person as conciliar unity.
Keywords
progress, history of Russia, Russian philosophy, national idea, freedom, creativity, religious philosophy, social ethics, philosophy of history, ideology
