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FORMING OF SPIRITUAL AND MORAL PERSONALITY IN THE PROCESS OF CONTINUOUS EDUCATION
PRE-PROFESSIONAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS:
THE BASIS OF THE NATIONAL LIFELONG EDUCATION SYSTEM FOR CULTURE AND THE ARTS
I. G. Vasilyev
The system of pre-professional education includes a network of additional education institutions for children: art-specific schools and twenty non-traditional educational institutions for gifted children from 7 to 17 years of age. These nontraditional schools educate the future stars of ballet, music and the fine arts.
Since the adoption of the national law “On Education” in 1992, children's art schools have been put in the category of “additional education”. This changed everything: the status of educational programs, requirements for the educational process and the status of teachers in these schools. Regulations on educational processes in culture and the arts adopted in 2011 introduced a compulsory education standard applicable to children's art schools which established a legal framework for the policy of social support from the government. This was the beginning of “reinstating” the status of art schools that existed before 1992 and compensation for losses suffered by the system of pre-professional education on a new legal basis.
The number of children's art schools has decreased: less than five and a half thousand at the end of 2010 compared to six thousand in Soviet times. In recent years, the level of art education in Russia has declined. This trend affected almost all educational institutions. The reasons behind this are numerous. Many art schools in provincial areas currently rate higher than those in Moscow or St. Petersburg. This is perhaps because small towns tend to have only one art school and pride is taken in it. People try to retain the best traditions at such schools, despite difficulties they face1. Decline in such schools is caused by a reduction in funding. A demographic decline (with entire villages having disappeared) has also contributed to the problem. Against this background, we should be happy that Russia retains a network of music, art, dance and theatre schools. The main task of today is to elevate them to the status that they deserve by changing the status of such schools under the 1992 education law and reducing the social insecurities that led to the outflow of their teachers. Another large problem is the age of such teachers: the number of teachers of pre-retirement age in art schools is greater than that of young professionals, and there are almost no teachers of 35-45 years of age. This has a significant effect on one of the most important dimensions of continuity.
Денис Гаврилов. Художественные http://www.gavrilovart.ru/lessons/ssylki/44-shkoly
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Teachers in children's art schools and general education schools have different social guarantees and different workload standards: teachers in creativity schools work 24 hours per week and their salary is lower than that of secondary school teachers working 18 hours per week. Retirement benefits granted to regular school teachers are not given to teachers in art schools (although they were in the past). Nowadays, teachers in children's art schools retire as a result of aging only, and not as a result of seniority gained as is the case with regular teachers. These inconsistencies are being addressed by the Russian Ministry of Health and Social Development.
Children's art schools have the right to implement different programs, but if a school enrolls a student under a pre-professional training program, it must train him or her according to this program. At the same time, the school can also use any other educational programs. In December 2011, Federal Government
Requirements were approved to set minimum content standards, structure and conditions of implementation for additional pre-professional general education programs in arts for the following disciplines: Applied and Decorative Arts, Wind and Percussion Instruments, Painting, Theatre Arts, Circus Arts, Folk Music, Folk Instruments, Stringed Instruments, Piano, Choreography and Choral Singing.
Amendments to the law "On Education" (with respect to secondary professional education in the arts) also concern institutions for gifted children. Such institutions offer integrated programs combining secondary school and professional education. These include the Central Music School and all of our ballet colleges. If the draft law is passed, they will be granted the status of specialized secondary educational institutions. This represents a special dimension of continuity which combines pre-professional and professional training at the institutional level. Worthy of particular attention is the quality of continuity in the educational process. The Federal Government Requirements take into account age-specific and individual characteristics of learners and are aimed not only at identifying children gifted in the arts at an early age, but also at building an environment for arts education, aesthetic upbringing, and the spiritual and moral development of children.
As children gain knowledge, skills and creative experience in their chosen area of art, they also absorb the spiritual and cultural values of the peoples of the world. Exposing children to collective music making, the performance traditions of wind instruments and/or pop-jazz orchestras, the specific characteristics of choral singing in different ethnic cultures, etc. helps to expand the cultural boundaries of a future artist and prepare gifted children for entering educational institutions offering basic professional education programs in arts. The Federal Government Requirements have been developed in order to: (a) provide continuity in the program of pre-professional training and basic professional educational programs for secondary and higher professional education in the arts; and (b) maintain the unity of the educational space in culture and the arts in the Russian Federation. The Requirements are designed to foster and develop in students personal qualities that promote respect and acceptance of spiritual and cultural values of different nations, shape their aesthetic views, moral attitudes and a need to be concerned with spiritual values. Children should be taught to be able to perceive and assess cultural values.
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The duration of programs for children entering the first grade at the age of between six-and-a-half years and nine years old is eight years; and for children entering the first grade at between the ages of ten and twelve years it is five years. For children who have not completed basic general education or secondary (complete) general education and intend to enter an educational institution offering basic professional education in the arts, the duration of training may be extended by one year. When enrolling students, an educational institution selects children to identify their creative abilities. During the selection process children are given creative tasks that help reveal their abilities. The Government Requirements form the basis for assessing the quality of education. Upon completion of programs developed by educational institutions on the basis of the Government Requirements, students undergo a final assessment by the educational institution.
Art-specific schools offering pre-professional training perform important social functions. The most important of them is to cater for the need of younger generations for artistic development. This is related to the overall understanding of lifelong education described above. Creating an educational and artistic basis for potential self-fulfillment with the help of the professional education system is a crucial function which enables a conscious choice of career and a path in life. The main goal of pre-professional arts education is to make the process of experiencing art in different forms (singing, drawing, designing, listening to music, fine art, dramatic reading, music and literary compositions, etc.) free and desirable to a child and to promote early orientation towards the profession. What is essential during this period is to organically combine educational work in the field of artistic culture and artistic and creative activities in a given area of art (i.e. professional training in art in the system of additional art education of children)1.
In social and professional terms, graduates from schools offering preprofessional training represent a social resource for secondary professional education, the quality of which directly defines the outcomes of professional education at subsequent levels.
1 Ражбадинова А.С. Полифункциональность искусства как основа развития системы непрерывного художественного образования. URL: http://www.boldric.lact.ru/e/2520782-
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