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THE SPIRITUAL AND MORAL DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY AS A FUNDAMENTAL BASIS FOR LIFELONG EDUCATION
L. V. Zagrekova
Lifelong education is considered in modern theory and educational practice as an intentional lifelong process of acquiring knowledge, skills and abilities by a person at educational establishments and by means of organized self-education. Its motto is "Education throughout one’s life”. The main objective of lifelong education is support for the socially and individually required level of culture, general educational and professional training, and adaptation to changing social and economic conditions. Lifelong education provides an opportunity to constantly meet the developing needs of a person and a society in education, helps everyone to implement a personal path of study, regardless of one’s previously obtained profession, place of residence, or age. Lifelong education has the following functions: diagnostic, compensatory, cognitive, developmental, adaptive, and cultural.
The deeper revelation of the essence of the notion "lifelong education” implies considering another, more special, yet closely connected notion - that of "education”. An analysis of scientific literature and educational practice has shown that the term "education” (in its pedagogical meaning) is related to human activity. This term was firstly put into scientific practice by J. H. Pestalozzi, and into Russian literature - by N. I. Novikov. In that period of time "education” was interpreted to be the formation of an image (spiritual and physical). The term "education” by its origins, according to V.
M. Polonsky, meant first of all, "sign”, "essence” and only then - "reflection”, or "reproduction”. In this context "to educate” meant first of all "to impart an image or an essence to a thing”, and only afterward "to copy or to reproduce the initial image”. "Education” also meant "creation”, or "production”. The meaning of the word "education” changed in the middle of the 18th century from the designation of an appearance of a person (and a living creature in general) to the idea of "inner education of a person”, or self education. The human soul, by means of upbringing, is amenable to education as a kind of body [4, pp. 33].
The new accent was attached to the definition of this term by pedagogical activity: it has been interpreted since then as an educational process, implemented in educational establishments by means of set objectives, special programs and methods in the frameworks of a certain educational content. We have to note that nowadays there is no unified approach in pedagogy to the definition of this notion. This notion has a multi-aspect nature: in pedagogy it is considered in the cultural, anthropological, socio-
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logical, educational, economic and other aspects. In this respect the new dictionaries on pedagogy define this term considering the aspect of the analysis of its content. The definition of the notion "education” implying a process and a result of the development of a person’s image is of particular theoretical and practical interest in the course of the mentioned problem. Let us prove it by the number of examples. G. M. Kodjaspirova and A.Y. Kodjaspirov write that education is "a development, formation, growth of a personality as such; an acquisition of image, the development of the way of thinking and actions of a person in society” [2, pp. 208]. According to V. A. Mizherikov and P. I. Pidkasisty, education is "a unified process of physical and spiritual formation of a personality, the process of socialization, intentionally oriented towards certain ideal images, on the historically-determined more or less accurately fixed cliche in the social mind” [6, pp. 230]. In the opinion of V. I. Zagvyazinsky and A. F. Zakirova, education is a "process and result of the development of an "image” of a person, i.e. individuality on the basis of acquisition of culture and knowledge, accumulated by mankind, regarding nature, society, human beings and human activity in a specifically organized pedagogical process or independently (selfeducation)...” [5, pp. 28].
To define the essence of the notion of "education” in the specified context will help, from our point of view, to clarify and develop the content of the notion of "lifelong education”, and attach a new meaning to it; on the other hand, it will activate the necessity to comprehend the content of the term "education” as a process and a result of the "development” of a person’s image. To solve this problem is possible, in our opinion, on the basis of such a methodological approach to consideration of the facts of pedagogical reality as a principle of the organic unity of succession and innovativeness, traditions and innovations. This idea was proved in the study of the Russian scholars in the end of the 90s of the 20th century (A. V. Loren-sov, M. M. Potashnik, O. G. Khomeriki, etc.) [7, pp. 8] and in the first decade of the 21 century (A. M. Kondakov, A. A. Kuznetsov, etc.). A. M. Kondakov and A. A. Kuznetsov note, for example, that for the development of the second generation federal state educational standard of the general curriculum, the principle of organic unity of succession and innovativeness is considered as a methodological orientation [3, pp.10].
In this context it is very important to consider the content of the notion of "education” from the perspective of Russian pedagogy, which, in turn, is possible in the context of its methodological bases. Study has shown that the methodological foundation for Russian pedagogy is Christian anthropology, a Christian conception of the appearance and development of the
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world. Christian anthropology is underlain by the idea of an image of God in human beings. This is a central and main thought. In the context of Christian anthropology the true person is a saint person; the process of human development covers the whole structure of a person - one’s spirit, body and soul, it is an acceptance of God, a restoration of the image and likeness of God. From the perspective of Christian anthropology, the formation of personality is considered as a physical, mental and spiritual development. At the same time, Christian anthropology recognizes the priority of the spiritual principle as a universal fact of human life. It is the spirit that constitutes a spine, a system-developing component that forms a personality, created in the image and likeness of God. The spiritual principle penetrates a person and makes it possible to perceive him\her as a personality created in the image and likeness of God and, hence, the human being has a great value in the eyes of God. These views reflect the reverent relations between people. Love for one’s neighbor, repentance for one’s sins, visible through other people, constitute a foundation of social communication in the Orthodox tradition. This ensured to a certain extent unity of all Russians (all people converted into Christianity were considered as Russians, not only the ethnic Russians) as one people. From the perspective of Orthodox pedagogical theory, education is the “restoration of an integrated personality, implying the development of all of one’s powers, all of one’s sides, following the hierarchical principle in the structure of a person. The hierarchical principle requires such a structure of a person where the image of God can be revealed in all its power, in all its entirety” [8, pp. 31].
In the context of the above-mentioned, sainthood is the ideal given to a person in life. Sainthood creates a specific norm of life for every person. People strive not only for development, but for spiritual formation. One’s life is perceived as a constant development in the process of spiritual formation. Let us call this process a “lifelong education”, as E. Shestun states [8, pp. 25]. Lifelong education, according to E. Shestun, is a system that contains a process of development, a process of spiritual formation, and the conditions under which they take place (the content of a process; the forms of its behavior; the intentional pedagogical impacts).
On the basis of the above-mentioned, the essence of education can be defined as an integral process of physical and spiritual formation of a personality, socialization, intentionally oriented towards the achievement of an ideal (a person’s image), the structuring basis of which is spirituality as the highest level of development and self-regulation of a mature person who adopts the highest human values as the main principles in life. The modern educational ideal (an image of a person which is a priority for the
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society) is a highly moral, creative, competent citizen of Russia, perceiving the Motherland’s destiny as his\her own, recognizing responsibility for the present and the future of the country, educated in the spiritual and cultural traditions of the multinational people of the Russian Federation [1, pp.11]. Among the highest spiritual values in the context of the Orthodox tradition, an ontological religion of Russian people, and the cultural approach, which is one of the leading methodological principles of modern pedagogy, are the human being, human life, health and wealth, Motherland, love, family, labor, creativity, peace, happiness, and faith. Spiritual and moral values are the basic foundation and an objective of lifelong education. The process of constant spiritual and moral development and upbringing of a citizen of Russia (spiritual growth of a person) at all stages of lifelong education (preschool, school, professional, additional, and retraining) supplemented by constant self-education, provides close interconnection between these stages, as well as consistency and integrity of lifelong education, and its quality and effectiveness.
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