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THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPMENT OF LIFELONG ECONOMIC EDUCATION
М. G. Sergeeva
Systemic changes have been started in Russian education. These changes focus on making sure that Russian education suits the requirements of both the innovative economy and society’s needs. The priority areas of these changes are focused on bringing the content and structure of professional training of staff into conformity with the current requirements of the labor market for the purpose of improving the accessibility of high-quality education under conditions of “lifelong” education.
As a result of the transition of the country to the market economy, there is a great need in the economic training of specialists who can work successfully in the new social and economic environment and adapt quickly to the changing market conditions. This task can be solved by means of continuous economic education, which is affected by two main groups of factors: 1. Social and economic environment (decrease of the number of non-qualified and low-qualified personnel; structural changes in the labor field; change of demand on the part of the government; the person itself, the labor market and the service industries; deficit of time and material resources of a person; 2. Social and pedagogical terms and conditions (focus on education and self-education during one’s whole life; building lifelong economic education on a fundamental basis; multiple-level system of the economic education; variability of educational programs; readiness of a person to be socially dynamic; variability of the structure and level of preparation of specialists; adaptability of levels of education).
In the course of our research work we have found the reasons and circumstances for the active interest of domestic pedagogical science and practice to the problems of economic education: the urgent need for development and transition of the economy to a higher level; the need to develop economic ties and economic training of participants in the economic processes. A retrospective analysis of the main stages of development of economic concepts in Russia, mentioned by A.S. Bulatov, also made it possible to detect the theoretical background of modern economic education: (a) multiple patterns of development of the economics of Russia determined by continuous expansion of its territorial borders that resulted in the foundation of the largest Eurasian state; (b) existence of national economic schools, where absolutely new relations of the government and society were developed, independent of Western countries; (c) nationwide orientation towards the principle of unity of economic education and upbringing, which provided for preparation of specialists with high qualifications. That said, the framework for competitiveness, economic growth and efficiency of the national economy was built not thanks to equipment and production stocks, but rather thanks to personnel, the national, or Russian “capital”; (d) influence of Orthodox culture as a bearer of the historical memory of the nation upon the system of ideas and values, and for determining and choosing the economic way of thinking;
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(e) economic life of Russian society, including the relations that arise between all its members in the course of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material values, even if not everybody participates directly in production relations;
(f) stage-by-stage development of modern economic thinking, which has encouraged the emergence of new area in economic science - “Economics” at micro- and macro-levels.
In our research work, lifelong economic education means part of lifelong education focused on preparation of a competitive specialist who is in demand on the labor market in the conditions of the market-type economy, as well as development of the economic competences of such a specialist in the course of training and education according to the profiles of training at different levels of professional training. Economic education is focused on development of the economic competences (key competences, professional and additional competences), while economic upbringing is focused on: development of the economic way of thinking; development of commercial skills of an economically competent person; accumulation of knowledge in the field of economics, national economy, and taxation. In the current context, preparation of content of training at professional educational institutions of different levels is made on the basis of a competence-based approach. The continuity of the economic education of students is achieved due to step-by-step pedagogical process that provide for a switch from one stage of education to another, where each step retains key attributes of education: succession and universality, which makes it possible to preserve the integrity of education. We may believe that continuity of economic education determines the form and structure of the constructed pedagogical system of education of an intellectually developed person, taking into account psychological and age particularities, and succession and universality - its content. Lifelong economic education, as a system of transfer of economic knowledge, skills and competencies to students of different levels of professional training, suggests interconnection, interdependency and consistency of its elements.
Independently of education levels, we’ve singled out the levels of lifelong economic education: the basic level, professional level, and additional level, which suggests that the system of lifelong economic education shall be internally differentiated, including different levels of professional training. Each component of the lifelong economic education system must be relatively independent and integral, which ensures that after finishing education at this level, students will be able to fulfill certain labor activities and occupy relevant positions. The purpose of basic economic education is to develop knowledge and motives of competent consumption behavior in the conditions of the market economy, and to develop differentiated basic knowledge in economics for the purpose of its use in everyday life. The purpose of the professional level of economic education is to prepare students for occupation at several ordinary positions that require professional economic competences (table-keepers, technicians, task setters, secretaries, etc.). The purpose of the additional level of economic education is to prepare graduates for direct practical economic activities within the context of a creative approach in the fields of marketing, advertising, commercial operations, analysis of companies’ economic activities, detecting growth reserves, preparing plans and forecasts; generating efficient ideas in non-standard economic situations, and conducting
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training activities in the field of economic disciplines, scientific and research activities.
Analysis of federal state educational standards of three generations demonstrated that implementation of the standards of the third generation takes account of the competence-based approach, and is based on: (а) changes that take place in the labor market (reorientation of demand for new skills and changes of labor organization; a decrease in demand for non-qualified manual labor; expansion of automated systems of management of productions processes; a decrease of mass production; an increase of individual responsibility of employees for labor quality; organization of activities focused on processes, not operations; upgrade of the level of interaction of employees in the group; blurring of lines between professions); (b) new requirements for preparation of a specialist (labor activities shall be focused on processes, not operations; non-technical aspects of labor become essential, such as planning, coordination and communication, making decisions; adaptability as a key indicator of the quality of preparation of a specialist); (c) competence-based model of a graduate of a professional education institution, a congruently developed structure of economic competence, containing seven blocks of competences (educational, personal, intellectual, professional, communicative, information and economic competences); (d) mechanisms of interaction between the labor market and educational services market at different levels (federal and regional) of management, which suggests implementation of state policy in the field of professional education and training of staff; providing the necessary number of specialists of demanded profiles and qualifications for the labor market taking into account the main tendencies of the strategic development of the regional economy; quick adaptation of professional training and retraining institutions to changes in the labor market, strengthening the staff potential, professional mobility and competitiveness of the employees.
References
1. Булатов А.С. Экономика. - М., 1999.
2. Ломакина Т.Ю. Современный принцип развития непрерывного образования. - М.: Наука, 2006.
3. Новиков А.М. Методология образования. - М.: «Эгвес», 2006.
The research was made with financial support of the Russian Foundation for Humanities within the scope of scientific and research project No 12-06-00054а “Didactic Aspects of Development and Improvement of Lifelong Economic Education”
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translations Bureau
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