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TOWARDS THE ESTABLISHMENT
OF AN ENGINEERING-BASED PEDAGOGICAL SYSTEM
A. K. Oreshkina
The succession of pedagogical systems is an important methodological problem which is consistent with the concept of "succession of the educational process in the continuing education system".
A pedagogical system is regarded as a combination of its components, such as teaching objectives, contents, forms, methods and aids. A type of a pedagogical system defines clear parameters for the implementation of the educational process. This becomes especially actual in the context of development of theoretical and methodological approaches to the development of succession of the educational process within the continuing education system.
The succession of the educational process, which is regarded both as a process and an effect of systematic and consistent mastering of educational programs and as a condition for structuring of the continuing education system, actualizes the development of a methodological system of succession. A methodological system is understood as a combination of multiple components that are interrelated in a certain fashion into the integrated theoretical and methodological support of teacher's and student's activities aiming to achieve the objectives of education. The succession of the educational process involves the development of cognitive activity at a brand new level of its reproduction in the form of educational levels and stages of continuing education of a person. In this connection, the following things become actual: first, the development of a conceptual basis for the succession of educational stages ranging from preschool to adult education; and second, the development of conditions for the succession of the educational programs by educational lines (general, vocational, polytechnic), by organizational and educational structural components (general, vocational, self-education, additional education), as well as by basic components of the educational process (theoretical training, practical training, educational design).
Succession as an evolutionary process involves development, where each subsequent stage of development depends on the previous one, denying and maintaining it. Therefore it is expedient to consider the establishment of a pedagogical system which would define clear parameters for the modern educational process in the context of continuing education.
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It is important to note that the conceptual origins of the idea of continuing education are defined in the works by Y.A. Komensky. He believed that "man has no other aim than learning. The only thing to be determined is what abilities he has at each age". Given the fact that an engineering-based system is currently regarded as the preferred type of pedagogical system, let us note that the idea of project activities is also reflected in "Great Didactics": "people should be predominantly taught to gain knowledge by means other than books, that is, to study and cognize objects instead of remembering someone else's observations and explanations only" [5].
From the perspective of the above discussion and in the framework of general theory of pedagogical systems described in the works by P.S. Anokhin, V.P. Bespalko, V.S. Lazarev, V.P. Simonov, L.S. Mikshina, etc., V.P. Bespalko defines pedagogical system as follows: "A pedagogical system is understood as a combination of interrelated aids, methods and processes that are required to create an organized, task-oriented and intentional pedagogical effect on development of a personality with the given qualities" [2]. A pedagogical system is a very stable and robust combination of components. The structure of any pedagogical system (be it Antique or Medieval, bourgeois or socialistic) represents an interrelated combination of the following components: students, objectives of upbringing and education (general and specific), scope (of upbringing and education), processes, teachers and organizational forms [2]. M.M. Zinovkina defines pedagogical system as "a combination of interrelated elements organized in space and time, which are necessary and sufficient to fulfill the required functions" [3]. The development of the Russian education system aims to adapt it to the peculiarities of the transition to the postindustrial stage of society development, the world experience in the development of education systems, and dynamic educational needs of a personality. Consequently, and taking into account the fact that a type of a pedagogical system is conditioned by the historical type of culture, what becomes a priority is the development of an engineering-based pedagogical system encompassing different stages of education (from preschool to adult education), which would meet the needs of the key form of organizing human activities in the conditions of postindustrial stage of society development.
An engineering-based type of organizational culture existed concurrently with the historical types of culture, conditioning the forms of organizing human activities, such as: traditional, handicraft corporate, professional (or scientific). At present, the engineering-based type
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corresponds to the method of organizing human activities in the conditions of transition to the postindustrial stage of society development.
Solving the methodological problem of succession of the educational process in the continuing education system involves a differentiated approach to the review and adjustment of the pedagogical system's functions (man, society, state), as an ability of the system to exhibit its properties under certain conditions and transform the target of influence in line with its objectives. From this perspective, an engineering-based pedagogical system is created in accordance with the functions of continuing education and defined by the importance of providing succession of the educational process from preschool to adult education and active interaction between the components of the educational subsystems: a structural level component (vertical and horizontal integration of subsystems) and a socially institutionalized component (network-based integration of the social substructures that have educational potential, such as museums, libraries, etc.).
Worth mentioning among the main features of the engineering-based pedagogical system are: (a) functionality (the system is created in order to define tasks and goals and perform useful functions); (b) structural nature (the system represents a combination of interrelated elements); (c) organization (the elements of the system are interrelated in the framework of succession in space and time taking into account the potential of structural and by-level and socially institutionalized organization of the educational subsystems along all lines of education: general, vocational, polytechnic education or core competencies); (d) systemic properties, which means that each system in general has a specific quality, which is not equal to a simple sum of its component elements.
An engineering-based pedagogical system is created by all system components, such as objectives, contents, actors and aids. This is consistent with a change in or improvement of the forms of the existing practice of designing educational programs. The type of pedagogical system in question determines that activities will be organized by an engineering-based method from the perspective of: (a) "supra-situationality" (V.A. Petrovsky), as a need for independent obtaining of knowledge, which is implemented in the logic of scientific search, theoretical and experimental validation, introspection and adjustment of the obtained result. This need is continuously generated in the course of the educational process; (b) a capability of a personality to organize his own activities, that is, to arrange them into a system of methods of obtaining information, as well as to use,
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select, structure, analyze and generalize it; (c) a capability to process information creatively from the perspective of an objective of the design, aiming to solve the specific tasks of educational activity; (d) development of sustainable motivation for self-education and self-guided work, which manifests itself in the ability to test the results of educational activity in practice and new educational situations.
From the perspective of the general scientific principle of consistency (which says that the creation of new theoretical knowledge does not happen by direct replacement of old theories with new ones), the application of the engineering-based pedagogical systems in practice is not in conflict with the possibility of their co-existence with other types of pedagogical systems.
Implementation of the scientific concept of continuing education, which reflects a new essence of learning (not teaching), different forms of self-education, additional education and learning aids, as well as understanding of the need for proper organization of educational activity and integration of the forms of education are reflected in the federal documents (the Program for Education Development Until 2025; the "Education" National Project; the program titled The Scientific, Academic and Teaching Staff in Innovative Russia for the Period of 2009-2013).
References
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2. Беспалько В. П. Основы теории педагогических систем. -Воронеж: Изд-во Воронеж. ун-та, 1977.
3. Зиновкина М. М. Креативная педагогическая система непрерывного формирования системного мышления и развития творческих способностей учащихся во всех звеньях образования. Идеи, принципы, вопросы, разраб. Креативная педагогика. - М., 1998.
4. Каптерев П. Ф. Педагогический процесс. - СПб., 1905.
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