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MODELS OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS' NETWORKING
O. N. Shilova
The importance of educational institutions' networking in modern sociocultural conditions and a definition of networking in education are presented in the article. The results of research levels, methods and models of educational institutions' networking are presented and substantially disclosed.
Key words: networking, networking model, new educational result.
The world we live is constantly changing. It is multipolar and heterogeneous. Philosophers consider the main characteristic of the modern age to be transitivity. And this is transitivity which places human science, to which pedagogy belongs, in a challenging situation. "Modern cultural forms of self-determination of a person are such forms as the worldwide network and autonomous personality," - says
S.A. Smirnov. And he continues, reflecting on these forms as extreme examples of human existence: "...on the one hand, there is a new environment as modern human habitat - worldwide networks. And on the other hand, it's possible... to have such reality as the trajectory of atomic personalities along this worldwide network. ...On the one hand, atomic personality is always possible as determined by itself, while the other hand, the network serves as the actual analogue of the open world" [1]. V. M. Rozin, analyzing education under conditions of modernization and uncertainty, outlines four main educational systems: European traditional, American pragmatic, the religious and esoteric, and networking one, which is being formed at present. The networking system "...is oriented on the ideas of corporativity, constructivity, reflexivity, projectivity and some others" [2, p. 24-25].
The educational system must play an important role in the transition of a country to an innovative way of development. Social transformations, which have been happening in Russian society for the last decades, and multiple contradictions within the system, have revealed significant defects in the formed management system. For example, the awkwardness of the system, its extremely slow response, interruption of communication between links in the chain, and underdevelopment of democratic management procedures. Moreover, there is evident imbalance between external, directive and internal, self-organizing elements of social life, which has led to imbalance between the administration institute and public self-governance.
One of the possible responses to the stated challenges may be networking of educational, scientific and other organizations, the purpose of which is to ensure the quality of education, complying with current and future changes. The formation before our eyes and the demand for the network education system for the life itself is confirmed by the increasing number of networks in the real educational practice. Thus, for example, "network pedagogy", networks of schools, networks of teachers, networks of pedagogical HEIs, and networks of institutions of continuing professional pedagogical education have announced themselves (these and previous ones in the form of associations). Moreover, the forms of networking are institutionalized: article 15 p. 1 of the Law "On education in the Russian
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Federation" states: "The networking form of implementation of educational programs ensures the opportunity for students to study according to the educational program using resources of several organizations, carrying out educational activities, including foreign ones, and in case of necessity, using resources of other organizations" [3]. Networking in education shall mean the mechanism of establishing dynamic innovative and value relations between educational and other organizations, the stakeholders of education, for the purpose of ensuring the quality of education complying with adequate challenges of the time, and requirements of the society and state. The functioning of this mechanism is mediated by usage of informational and communicative technologies.
The establishment of networking in educational practice may be considered to be a consistently organized (linear) process, on the one hand, which suggests several levels of deployment, and as a non-linear process, on the other hand, which suggests the appearance of new actors of the network at various levels of interaction development. Four levels of development of educational institutions' networking were proposed: (1) informational (suggests agreement of intentions, analysis of resources available for the parties, peculiarities of the regulatory system, selection and creation of environment of steady and open informational flows); (2) resource-related (presupposes working-out a plan of joint network events, allocation of functions and delegation of powers; selection, discussion and development of competitive resources, their joint evaluation of their compliance with quality standards); (3) communicative (presupposes the launch of network practices; active communicative connections within network practices and between them; development of horizontal management); (4) project (presupposes availability of different network practices (educational, communicative, expert, evaluative, creative), achieving certain result, promoting self-development, acceptance and realization of meaning of changes in professional activities). Consistent realization of the proposed development levels of networking represents stages for development of the mechanism of this interaction.
The logic of becoming familiar with and deployment of levels of networking proposes usage of four groups of methods for organization of networking of educational organizations: (a) informational-activistic - methods of work with different educational and scientific information; (b) communicative-activistic -methods of discussing educational and scientific information, establishing linkages between its blocks and organization of communication; (c) reflexive-activistic -methods of understanding educational and scientific information its conversion into personal values, knowledge, experience; (d) project-activistic - methods to master and change educational practice to increase the quality of the obtained educational results.
Understanding the principles and usage of methods, and determining deployment and functioning of networking, makes the importance of development of models of educational institutions' networking actual, while the usage of such models may be determined by different purposes and initial conditions of organizations involved in interaction.
There are investigations, the results of which are building various models of networking, which include nuclear, nodical, cell, graded ones, and others. [4]. However, considering the conditions and levels of networking of educational
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organizations, the models of their networking have their own peculiarities and specificity. Among them are: association, nodical, combinatorial and complimentary models. Projection and realization of these models are preconditioned by various purposes and initial conditions of educational institutions involved in interaction, and is based on differentiation of networking levels, which are directly connected with the proposed models (see scheme below):
Informational level Association model
Resource level Nodical model
Communicative level Combinatorial model
Project level Complimentary model
The association model is realized at the informational level of networking, and is used for development of horizontal linkages between educational institutions, aimed at implementation of arrangements on cooperation, ensuring conditions for creation and maintenance of steady open informational flows, constructive cooperation and partnership. The nodical model in conjunction with the content of the networking level related to resources, presupposes selection, discussion, and development of competitive resources, joint evaluation of their compliance with quality standards, and allocation of functions and delegation of powers to educational institutions for development and provision of resources of various types for joint use. The combinatorial model based on joint use of resources presupposes the launch of network practices between educational institutions, active communicative connections within network practices and between them, and development of horizontal management. The complimentary model may be effective at the project level of the educational institutions' networking. Namely within this model in the process of realization of projects the necessity of joint usage of resources and practices, not only educational, but also of other institutions (science, culture, health care etc.) is demonstrated.
Educational institutions' networking is: (a) a system phenomenon, the sources of which are challenges relevant for development of modern society, on the one part, and peculiarities, conditions and opportunities for development of a person, and rethought by pedagogical science and practice in the context of a rapidly changing world; (b) a method of understanding the content of education and organization of educational interaction for achieving results of new quality. And namely: formation of a modern network thinking style and management of pedagogic activities; formation of new qualities and competences of teachers and students promoting realization of lifelong education throughout life, the development of educational institutions and communities; understanding and projecting informational educational environments for cooperation, and new pedagogical conditions positively influencing the results of educational and professional activities.
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translastions Bureas
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