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19
DOI 10.14526/01_2017_187
THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL SUBSTANTIATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM AMONG STUDENTS OF PEDAGOGICAL
HIGHER EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENT
Irina V. Astrakhantseva - graduate student Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University named after I.N. Ulyanov, 4, area of 100 th anniversary of V.I. Lenin's birth, Ulyanovsk, 432700, Russia
E-mail: irina.astrahantsewa@yandex.ru
Annotation. In scientific and scientific-methodical literature different approaches to the system of ecological education development are presented: traditional, directed at theoretical knowledge, axiological ecological orientations and ecological behavior formation; activity-based approach, which provides knowledge and practical experience of ecological activity gaining during scientific-research objectives realization; psychological-pedagogical approach, oriented at the principles realization of natural objects preservation as ecological values; the approach, which provides ecological psychology of development in case of an active interaction with nature. However, each of the presented approaches reveals only one of the aspects of ecological education and doesn't provide its effectiveness. Materials. This article presents the idea of holding lessons at natural objects, the choice of which is conditioned by the definite theme and objectives. The base of the offered direction forms the idea of the direct interaction provision between students and environment. Research methods: Scientific and scientific-methodical literature analysis, lectures-discussions, excursions, role plays, the progressive experience of the specialists in the sphere of practical nature protecting activity summarizing, pedagogical experiment, testing, methods of mathematical statistics. Results. A student, being at different natural objects, has an opportunity to compare their parameters, to reveal the reasons for their distraction, to realize the importance of the definite object. The process of interaction with environment creates conditions for lessons organization, during which a student has an opportunity to formulate and reveal interesting for him questions, having discussion with a teacher, to defend own point of view, using the facts and scientific facts. Conclusion. The offered approach broadens cognitive and intellectual spheres of a future teacher, helps to understand better the thesis of unity between a person and nature and personal responsibility for its state.
Keywords: professional readiness, future teachers, nature protecting activity, evaluation criteria, pedagogical experiment.
Introduction. Personality-based approach to a future teacher's ecological education development is directed at conditions creation for cognitive sphere activation, a steady interest formation concerning ecology as a system forming integral discipline, which provides personal and important for a profession qualities revelation and development, which are necessary for an effective pedagogical activity in involvement children and teen-agers into ecological life style. A consumer's attitude to nature led to its degradation, the features of
which are the following: considerable decrease of fresh water capacity, soil, food pollution; overflow of population; inability of nature to fulfill self-regeneration because of constant atmosphere and lithosphere pollution with industrial, domestic waste, exhaust gases. Planetary crisis increase proves degradation of people, which is seen in general level of development decrease, wide spread of HIV (human immunodefficiency virus), drug addiction and lack of spirituality. The scientists in the sphere of ecology, economy, philosophy and other scientific
knowledge try to create a new concept of interaction with environment, which provides relations harmonization with nature on the basis of regularities of its development [4. 5. 7 and others]. Transfer to a steady development has the main objective of ecological education and ecological culture level increase in society. National strategy of ecological education in the Russian Federation and the Federal Law "On ecological culture" consider ecological education as the priority direction in activity of educational establishments. However, social order for ecology-oriented personality with a high level of spiritual-moral development stays unrealized.
The aim of this research work is theoretical and experimental importance substantiation of a new paradigm creation concerning ecological education of pedagogical higher educational
establishments students.
Objectives: 1. To reveal the approaches to the system development of a constant ecological education.
2. To create the methodology of pedagogical University student's ecological life style formation and check its effectiveness during the pedagogical experiment.
Material. The apparent steadiness of society development conditioned the necessity of a new stage of a constant ecological education formation, the aim of which is socially demanded personality training with a high level of moral qualities, which provide responsibility formation for environment state.
The principles of a new paradigm of a lifelong ecological education system:
- relations harmonization of a person and environment;
- conditions creation for the ability preservation of nature to fulfill self-regeneration;
- orientation of a person to the regularities of nature development as the condition for modern civilization preservation;
- orientation to ecological life style formation;
- attitude to nature is determined by the level of his morality.
The problem of people involvement into ecological life style should be considered as a necessary condition for modern civilization preservation. The process of ecological life style formation is connected with a deep importance understanding of a transfer from a consumer's attitude to environment to nature protecting one and interaction harmonization with environment. Such kind of difficult objective realization is connected with introduction of modern effective technologies into everyday (which exclude harmful influence of industrial and domestic waste on environment life); new models of behavior creation during interaction with nature, forms and methods of their involvement into ecological life style creation. Modern system of ecological education should be reoriented from the process of training a competent specialist to training a specialist, who realizes the need of society for a new ecology-oriented attitude to environment, and who has necessary level of competence [1, 2]. Competence-based model of training a future teacher to fulfill ecological activity provides the following competencies, oriented to the following things mastering:
- the system of ecological values;
- the ways of relations with nature harmonization;
- skills of projection: ecological educational activity, directed at environment influence explanation on spiritual-moral, psychic and physical health of people, their emotional sphere;
- ecological practical activity, which provides objective estimation of ecological situation; own organizational abilities and skills concerning its elimination.
A future teacher should orient oneself in global ecological problems; tendencies of environment state change; limits of its abilities to self-regulation. It is necessary for the students of a pedagogical higher educational establishment to master the principles of nature protection, rational resources use. Not worked out main theses of professional-pedagogical ecological training
of a future teacher; not realized degree of ecological crisis and its consequences conditioned social importance of students' ecological upbringing at pedagogical higher educational establishments, directed at ecological culture formation, axiological orientations of which activate and develop cognitive sphere. Ecology as an integral scientific discipline for its study is presented by different aspects, each of which has its own specific content and demands special perception, realization and understanding:
- ecological philosophy, which considers peculiarities of a person's notions dynamics concerning the character of his life in terms of interrelations and interconnections change with environment, prospects of further society development in case of nature distraction evident features, nonrenewable natural resources, many kinds of flora and fauna disappearance;
- ecological history, which reveals the stages of social development, characterized by a gradual views change concerning the role and place of environment in life of people; harmonization of relations violation, consumer's attitude formation, which conditions first local and then planetary ecological crisis;
- ecological psychology, which studies the ways of influence on a person's consciousness in order to realize help in understanding hopelessness of views and ideas concerning nature submission to the interests of society; unity realization of a person and environment, the necessity to choose the directions of further civilization development in accordance with the regulations of the world functioning;
- ecological aesthetics, which forms the ability to realize beauty of environment, elevating a person in its yearning for spiritualmoral development; ecological values mastering;
- ecological ethics with its norms and rules of moral behavior, following which will provide the ability preservation of nature to fulfill self-regeneration.
The considered humanitarian components of ecological education provide
logic and creative thinking development; emotional-volitional component importance increase, which is necessary for ecological worldview, ecological awareness and ecological culture formation; a future teacher's competencies mastering, which form the base for professional level increase. Educational process in ecology at pedagogical higher educational establishments till now stays subject oriented, passive-informative, not providing necessary training in order to fulfill effective pedagogical ecological activity, during which responsible attitude to environment, need for ecological life style are formed. The main direction of a lifelong ecological education system development, as special literature analysis and the materials of our research works showed, are the following:
- knowledge enrichment in ethnography, anthropology, akmeology;
- the skills of making decisions formation in the sphere of nature protection and resources use, rational nature use, environment protection and preservation;
- conditions revelation for ecosystems preservation; for unity between a person and nature; yearning for relations harmonization with environment.
Educational process in ecology, oriented at the skills of information mastering at theoretical, emotional, methodical and practical levels, helps to use different forms and kinds of knowledge, abilities, skills mastering in the sphere of ecology:
- new information transfer to the future teachers during discussions concerning the urgent problems;
- ecological role plays use; situational problems use during solution of which specification and broadening of ecological notions, ecological mindsets, ecological positions, ecological behavior is fulfilled;
- independent fulfillment of scientific-research, creative works: essays, reports, projects;
- participation of students in grants, special courses, programs in ecology creation;
- skills formation of excursions organization and realization in reserves, unique natural objects.
Scientific and scientific-methodical literature analysis showed, that at modern stage of a lifelong ecological education system development different approaches are used. N.M. Mamedov, 2001, offered a traditional approach, based on the principles of system character and continuity of ecological education, interaction and interconditionality of local and global ecological problems; on scientific-research character of cognitive sphere, which provides theoretical knowledge, axiological ecological orientations formation; ecological behavior in situations, which provide personal responsibility realization for environment state. V.A. Nazarenko, 2012, 2016 considers activity-based approach to be prospective, in accordance with which future teachers gain knowledge and practical experience of ecological activity during scientific-research objectives realization, which appear in the definite ecological situations. The advantage of such kind of an approach is in the opportunity to create a personal strategy during the content of practical nature protecting activity determination.
Psychological-pedagogical approach, according to O.A. Linenko, 2009 helps to use the notions of environment perception mechanisms, taking into consideration the principles of natural objects preservation as ecological values; interdependence of educational process effectiveness on the character of interaction between a teacher and a future teacher. N.N. Moiseev, 1996; N.M. Mamedov, 2001, as a prospective approach of a lifelong ecological state system education development considered ecological psychology of development, in accordance with which educational process ecologization is possible in case of active interaction with nature, own unity with environment realization; the aim and objectives of practical ecological activity setting in accordance with regularities of its development. Each of these approaches helps to solve a definite complex of objectives, directed at nature protecting attitude formation to environment, the range of which doesn't provide the importance realization of ecological life style as the main
condition for relations with environment harmonization.
The degree of involvement problem into ecological life style is conditioned by the necessity to overcome inertia of thinking, psychological barrier in the fact realization that nature exists for life of people and the appearing ecological problems should be solved by the specialists in ecology. The future teachers should realize that such kind of thinking conditioned the appearance of the local and then planetary ecological crises. According to O.A. Linenko, 2009; A.V. Nazarenko, 2012 and others, ecological worldview, ecological thinking, ecological awareness formation provides the change of the set notions, mindsets of the interaction character with environment. In this situation especially important is personality-oriented approach to education, which helps to restrict the influence of educational collective on personality formation, a person, who is able to think independently, analyze, has own point of view. The effectiveness of personality-oriented approach increases during ecology-forming environment creation, which influences rational and emotional spheres of activity (emotional is more significant). A future teacher percepts new information as personally significant thing while mastering its influence on his inner, emotional state. It conditions the necessity to take into consideration psychological peculiarities of students during the following age period: 1822 years old, which is characterized by the beginning of their civil stand formation, oneself realization as a personality, ready to become a highly-qualified specialist in a chosen kind of professional activity. Students start to predict their place among professional teachers with different experience of pedagogical activity, status; realize the importance of psycho-emotional state control skills and the skills of relations formation with people around, who fulfill different functions and own point of view formation.
During student age perception and attention change; the following skills appear: independent purposeful mastering scientific knowledge, its evaluation, notional
interrelations setting between the facts, abstract thinking improvement. During this period personal opinion concerning events in the world and moral principles is successfully formed. As N.N. Moiseev, 1996, O.A. Linenko, 2009 mention for students it is typical to condemn injustice, violence, evil concerning not only people, but also environment. Students define not only direct, ruinous influence on nature of industrial and agricultural enterprises, but also inconsiderate interference into outer world with unpredictable negative consequences. These psychological and age-related peculiarities of students make this period of training the most favorable for ecological worldview, ecological awareness, ecological thinking, ecological culture formation and involvement into ecological life style.
Educational process in ecology at a pedagogical higher educational establishment is realized in the form of lectures, seminars and practical lessons, not offering the models of ecological activity, which help future teachers to discover something new in this sphere of scientific knowledge; form the skills of ecological problems independent revelation and the search for the ways of their solution. N.M. Mamedov, 2001; S.N. Glazachev and others consider, that ecological education effectiveness is mainly conditioned by the kinds and forms of creative activity mastering, which help to overcome inertia of thinking; to overstep the limits of traditional teaching, learn to offer own ways of problems solution. Such kind of opportunities can appear only in case if students visit different natural objects, the choice of which is determined by the objectives of educational process. Considering nature as educational space, where students are in direct interaction with environment, it is necessary to choose a corresponding natural object (in accordance with the topic, aim and objectives of education) and use the definite situation for the formed knowledge, abilities and skills check, which determine the character of interaction with nature. It will help to consider reflexion as an important mechanism of ecological education.
A ruined natural object reconstruction is a long-term and difficult process, the effectiveness of activity is determined by the level of creative skills formation, which are demonstrated in the definite conditions of interaction with environment. If in terms of classroom-based lessons a teacher dominates, intellectually and emotionally submitting inner world of students, in the situation of a direct interaction with a natural object a teacher, even with a high level of qualification, not always can find an effective solution to the problem of its reconstruction. Students, being out of class, from the position of a youthful enthusiasm, come to the conditions of intellectual opportunities and skills liberation and find original, unexpected ways to solve the problems. After mutual discussion heuristic idea gains real forms and can be a serious base for scientific-research activity with the definite results.
In terms of a direct interaction with nature got information, owing to more acute feelings and perception has a considerable effect, providing new knowledge mastering, gained not only with the help of logic but also with the help of emotional sphere and it provides own position, opinion, point of view formation, which form the base for ecological worldview and ecological awareness.
One of the important directions of a future teacher's ecological education level increase is an independent activity, concerning new information mastering, which shows the principle theses in a given lecture and it helps to percept, estimate and analyze new information with a higher level of realization. Holding lessons at nature gives an opportunity to check some theories and it broadens the limits of a future teacher in new ideas perception, their critical reconsideration and forms personal attitude to their content.
Methodological base of ecological education form conceptual theses about the unity of a person and nature, the necessity to organize an individual's life in accordance with the laws of nature development and it conditions its effectiveness and the opportunity of further development. Having an opportunity to compare the state of
different natural objects, a student faces the necessity to solve the problems of ecological, economic, social, psychological, pedagogical and political character simultaneously; set many-sided interdisciplinary connections, which demand cognitive spheres activation, as the factor, providing the necessity realization to master new knowledge. Own unity with nature is realized by a person only in case of a long-term interaction with environment. Visiting different natural objects in order to solve the definite objectives of teaching and self-education helps a student to consider the conditions of life in town, among industrial enterprises, and it helps to percept and estimate better ecological values of environment.
Educational process organization at different natural objects provides psychological involvement of a future teacher into outer world. Owing to this ecological notions, ecological mindsets and ecological beliefs are formed during the process of direct interaction with environment. It helps a future teacher through own feelings, perception and senses, accept unity of people and nature, reconsider the norms and rules of behavior. At classroom-based lessons passive perception of information prevails, during educational activity at natural objects students are involved into a practical ecological activity. The use of problem teaching methods puts a future teacher into conditions of active, independent search for the ways of the set problem solution; mastered system of knowledge estimation, desire to its independent improvement. It provides emotional and intellectual feelings formation as the base for ecological mindsets, value-oriented direction formation - precondition for ecological life style formation.
Lessons at nature help to overstep the limits of the ecology course, owing to the opportunity to invite the leading specialists in ecology for lectures-consultations, concerning ecological problems. Communication with ecologists can be continued during laboratory-practical lessons, during which the skills of cause-effect relationship setting between objects of nature and their influence on life of
people are formed. Such kind of an approach provides involvement of students into scientific-research activity in ecology, their psycho-emotional sphere development, personal responsibility formation for environment state.
An important element of ecological education system form excursions to natural objects, which are in different state, from the state of fair preservation to ruined ones, reconstruction of which demands the skills of modeling, projection, analysis, search for original ways of their reconstruction. It conditions deep involvement of students into problems of ecology, critical reconsideration of own attitude to this scientific and educational discipline, the importance of ecological life style realization as the leading condition for nature protecting attitude to environment. During the problem solution of the ruined object reconstruction students are given the opportunity to carry out experiments, create different models with their theoretical substantiation and it provides creative potential revelation and realization, interest in ecology formation, its perception as an integral discipline, which provides many-sided development of the future teachers.
In order to check the offered idea of ecological education system development among the future teachers a pedagogical experiment was held. Students from different faculties of a pedagogical University took part in the experiment (112 people). The control group (CG) and the experimental group (EG) were organized, each included 56 students. In the CG lessons were held in accordance with the curriculum of a traditional methodology; in the EG lessons were held at nature with the specialists in ecology, visiting different natural objects. Great attention was paid to the use of excursions for better acquaintance with the peculiarities of nature in own region; business games and role plays with the definite aims, concerning the ruined natural object reconstruction by means of different ways of its renewal modeling and projection.
In the EG lectures-discussions were widely used. They helped students express their point of view concerning ecological
problems solution, their independent estimation, the reasons revelation for local and great ecological crises. During the pedagogical experiment different forms of independent work among students, concerning new information specification, methods of scientific research choice in order to solve the definite ecological situation, were widely used. The future teachers were offered some topics for scientific reports, essays, course works, which provided the opportunity to express own point of view concerning the set problem solution. At the same time, consultations were held for students, they were given the opportunity to communicate with the specialists in ecology, to work in group unions. In order to estimate the initial level of ecological training a test was held, which had the following task:
- to give a definition to ecological education; reveal its structural content; name in order of importance the main elements, which form the content of ecological life style; to define the content of personal responsibility for nature state. During these criteria evaluation the following things were taken into consideration: accuracy and sufficient volume of formulation, accuracy of the notions concerning the content of the considered concepts and terms, ability to present the facts to prove own point of view. The level of ecological readiness estimation was fulfilled by an expert group (5 qualified specialists in ecology from different educational establishments).
Evaluation criteria:
5 points - a clear notion of ecological education content; its structural elements, the character of interaction between them; ability to prove own point of view according to personal responsibility for environment state;
4 points - ability to give a definition to ecological education, reveal its content; readiness to prove the importance of ecology as an integral science, reveal the thesis about the unity of man and nature;
3 points - some notion of ecological education and its main structural elements; responsibility understanding of each person for environment state;
2 points - not clear definition given to ecological education; difficulty with its structural elements enumeration, personal responsibility for environment state underestimation;
1 point - vague notion of ecological education and its structural elements. Personal responsibility understanding for environment state.
Comparative analysis of the results didn't reveal considerable differences according to the level of ecological education among the students from the CG and the EG. After the end of the pedagogical experiment one more test was held the results of which showed, that the results improvement was in both groups (CG and EG) with evident advantage of the EG. In the CG with the initial results of ecological education content determination - 2,7±0,14 points, to the end of the pedagogical experiment the indices increased to2,9±0,18 points (p>0,05); in the EG with the initial results 2,6±0,19, points after the pedagogical experiment the indices increased to 3,7±0,21 points (p<0,05). In the CG with the initial results of the ability to reveal structural content of ecological education 2,4±0,16 points, to the end of the pedagogical experiment the indices improved to 2,8±0,15 points (p>0,05); in the EG with the initial results 2,5±0,13 points, to the end of the experiment the results increased to 3,6±0,15 points (p<0,05). The same tendency of more considerable indices increase in the EG was revealed according to other tests.
Thus, the results of the pedagogical experiment showed the effectiveness of the offered approach to ecological educational process organization with all kinds and forms of lessons realization with excursions to natural objects. Knowledge, ecological beliefs, ecological mindsets, ecological behavior formation can be organized in terms of the direct interaction with nature during the process of different ecological problems solution, including the problems of the ruined natural objects reconstruction. During the process of interaction with nature future teachers gain modeling and projection skills of the ways of the ruined natural object
reconstruction; the skills of the scientific research method use; have an opportunity to check the received information. During communication with environment future teachers more consciously percept and understand the thesis about unity of man and nature; personal responsibility for its state.
References
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Submitted: 23.01.2017 Received: 26.01.2017
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Irina V. Astrakhantseva - Vice-Rector for administrative, financial and legal activities, graduate student Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University named after I.N. Ulyanov, 4, area of 100 th anniversary of V.I. Lenin's birth, Ulyanovsk, 432700, Russia, E-mail: irina.astrahantsewa@yandex.ru
For citations: Astrakhantseva I.V. Theoretical and experimental substantiation of the paradigm of ecological education development among students of pedagogical higher educational establishment, The Russian journal of physical education and sport (pedagogical-psychological and medico-biological problems of physical culture and sports), 2017, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 67-74. DOI 10.14526/01 2017 187
