ISSN 0798 1015

Especial • Vol. 38 (Nº 56) Year 2017. Page 33

The system of cultural and creative development of students in the educational environment of higher education institutions in the sphere of culture and art

El sistema de desarrollo cultural y creativo de los estudiantes en el entorno educativo de las instituciones de educación superior en el ámbito de la cultura y el arte

Olga Vadimovna STUKALOVA 1

Recibido: 26/10/2017 • Aprobado: 25/11/2017

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Research base and stages

3. Results

4. Discussion

5. Conclusion

Acknowledgments

References

1. Introduction

Prospects for the development of higher vocational education in the sphere of culture and art are associated with the implementation of several key components, namely:

- creation of the educational environment of a higher education institution, which implies the improvement of the content of classes by strengthening the humanitarian component, the acquaintance of students with the values of culture, the development of their readiness for creative self-actualization in the multicultural space. The ideas of possibilities of the educational environment exist in pedagogy since the appearance of the theoretical works of Ya.A. Komensky (Komensky, 1996), who drew attention to the role of parents’ example in upbringing and to the meaning of the purposefully organized process of the formation of a child under direct supervision of a tutor-teacher. The educational influence of the environment was the subject of research conducted by J.F. Herbart (Herbart, 1940), F.A.W. Diesterweg (Diesterweg, 1956) et al. The social environment as a determining factor of personal development was considered in the works of the greatest theoreticians of the national pedagogy of the 19th century – K.D. Ushinsky (Ushinsky, 1940) and L.N. Tolstoy (Tolstoy, 1953). Modern theoreticians (Merzon, 2011) and practitioners, in particular, the leaders of the largest national universities (Kasprzhak) (Kovalev, 1993, pp. 13-23) examine various aspects of the formation of school educational environment, secondary vocational establishments, and higher education institutions. The content of the educational environment is studied in the works of A.V. Khutorskoy (Khutorskoy, 2003), V.V. Rubtsov (Rubtsov, 2002) et al.

- students’ cultural and creative development aimed at the formation of sustainable motivation for the personal and professional development and the formation of the qualities of a "man of culture". The works of L.S. Vygotsky (Vygotsky, 2005), S.L. Rubinstein (Rubinstein, 2003), A. Maslow (Maslow, 1967) et al. are dedicated to various aspects of cultural and creative development of a person. The cultural and creative development of students – future specialists in the sphere of culture and art - is understood as a process of interiorization of cultural values, development of sustainable motivation for personal and professional development, becoming a "man of culture" who is ready for creative self-fulfillment in a chosen profession of a specialist in the sphere of culture and art and performing education activities in the modern multicultural space. In this context, the cultural and creative development is closely interrelated with another component – the professional development of specialists in the sphere of culture and art. The cultural and creative development of a specialist is closely interrelated with the view that this process is based on the recognition of the absolute value of a person, the priority of his/her rights to the full implementation of abilities and interests. This is revealed in such categories as the directedness towards another person, traditions, and high moral and spiritual values. The formation of the humanistic worldview is one of the leading tasks of cultural and creative development. The study revealed the criteria of a high level of development of personal culture: ability for decentration, dedication and love as the way of this attitude; creativity of life activities; need for positive freedom; the capacity for free will; possibility of independent future projecting; belief in the feasibility of the intended; internal responsibility to oneself and others, past and future generations; aiming at acquisition of the clear common meaning of one's life. In addition, it was found that the high level of cultural and creative development of future specialists in the sphere of culture and art is revealed in the following manifestations: in professional creativity and social communication, individual self-improvement;

- development of future specialists in the sphere of culture and art as professionals who can adapt seamlessly enough in modern socio-cultural conditions and are motivated by professional and personal self-improvement. The integrity of the organization of the educational process and self-education on the basis of humanistic values ​​and principles of cultural and creative development of a person is the most important principle in this regard. At the same time, the tasks of education individualization in higher education institutions of culture and art and differentiation of future specialists’ training with due account for social goals of self-fulfillment of creative personality through socio-cultural activities, become relevant.

It should be noted that, on the one hand, vocational education in a higher education institution of culture and art includes a number of interdependent subsystems: general cultural development and upbringing, vocational training and self-education, self-cultivation and self-improvement. On the other hand, a special educational environment of higher education institutions is required, ensuring the pedagogical influence on value orientations and professional attitudes in the immediate and long-term perspective, on the formation of the unity of the content of worldview consciousness and students’ activity-behavioral manifestations, which have a strong impact on the younger generation. All these positions were taken into account in the theoretical development and further practical testing of the system of cultural and creative development of students in the educational environment of higher education institutions in the sphere of culture and art.

The study of the introduction of the system of students’ cultural and creative development in the educational environment of higher education institutions was conducted in the period of 2002-2016. Sixty people took part in the study – representatives of Moscow State University of Culture and Arts, the Academy named after N. Nesterova (Department of Cinema and Television, the Academy of Choreography, the Academy of Painting), bachelors and masters of Moscow State Pedagogical University (Department of Culturology).

The experimental group included students from the Department of Cinema and Television (2002-2007 academic years, 2003-2008 academic years, 2004-2010 academic years) and the Academy of Painting of the Academy named after N. Nesterova (2005-2010 academic years); the Department of Social and Cultural Activity (2003-2008 academic years) and the Department of Choreography of Moscow State University of Culture and Arts (2003-2008 academic years) – 430 people in total. The control group included students from the Department of Cinema and Television (2001-2006 academic years) and the Academy of Painting of the Academy named after N. Nesterova (2001-2006, 2006-2011 academic years); students of the Department of Social and Cultural Activities (2002-2005, 2005-2010 academic years); the Department of Choreography of Moscow State University of Culture and Arts (2002-2007 academic years); students of the Department of Pre-University Training of Moscow State University of Culture and Arts (2003-2006 academic years), bachelors and masters of Moscow State Pedagogical University (Culturology Department) – 550 people in total. The leading group was also identified – this group included the students who consistently showed high rates for selected criteria of cultural and creative development and professional development.

In the framework of the summative experiment (2002-2004), surveys and pedagogical observations were conducted and more than 520 students, future specialists in the sphere of culture and art, took part in them.

The study of the results of the surveys conducted made it possible to identify the most significant parameters for determining the level of students’ cultural and creative development and the importance of an influence factor of the educational environment of a higher education institution.

The following criteria for the cultural and creative development of future specialists in the sphere of culture and art have been developed in the study:

• the level of scientific-theoretical training;

• the stability of the value system;

• behavioral-volitional willingness;

• the level of communicative culture;

• motivation for personal and professional advancement, for culture-creating activities.

Each of these criteria of cultural and creative development is manifested at various levels: high level (systemic, creative), medium level (adequate), low level (situational). A number of indicators of students’ cultural and creative development were indicated for each criterion and level. Several interrelated components have been identified in the structure of students’ cultural and creative development: a motivational component: pedagogical situations and tasks that motivate students for development and self-development of their creative potential, for personal improvement; a creative component: active use of innovative pedagogical technologies and methods of cultural and creative development; a communicative component: tasks aimed at developing the ability to aesthetic-communicative activities.

During longitudinal monitoring of graduates of higher education institutions of culture and art (2005-2016) – 42 people were included in this group, students of Moscow State University of Culture and Arts and the Academy named after N. Nesterova (Cinema and Television Department) – it was found that among the manifestations of students’ cultural and creative development the following manifestations are the most important for future professional activity: willingness for co-productive creativity, the ability to have a dialogue in the process of creative activity, speed of engagement in the creative process, a high level of professional adaptation, motivation for creative self-fulfillment, belief in the correctness of the chosen path, the pursuit of creative activity. All the above-listed points determine the development of the educational process in higher education institutions of culture and art, which is based on the recognition of active creative nature of each student, since a source of personal development is not outside, but inside each person. In this context, self-development can be called the core of the process of personal and professional development.

Psychological-pedagogical studies on students’ personal changes, the development of their speech culture, the level of perception of art, the value attitude to culture and participation in culture creative and charity events, were also conducted in the experimental work. Particular attention was paid to the study of students' motivation for personal and professional self-improvement, the development of professionally significant knowledge, skills, actualization of the need for creative self-fulfillment in a chosen area of specialization (Stukalova, 2011). The following methods were used for the study: a psychological- sociological survey "Motives for vocational choice", a psychological-sociological questionnaire, a questionnaire "The level of competitiveness" by V.I. Andreev, a professional questionnaire by J. Holland, a personal questionnaire "The level of subjective control" by E.F. Bazhin on the basis of J. Rotter’s locus-of-control scale, T. Ehlers’ technique of diagnostics of personal motivation towards success.

The analysis of the results of the summative experiment and the beginning of the formative experiment (2005) made it possible to correct the theoretically developed system of students’ cultural and creative development in the educational environment of higher education institutions in the sphere of culture and art.

The analysis of the conducted assessments (the methods of testing, interviewing, pedagogical conversations with students participating in the experimental work were used) proved that the introduction of the system of students’ cultural and creative development allows creating a set of conditions for the constant advancement of future specialists not only by levels of cultural and creative development, but also in the process of professional development. Notice that the main goal of development is the organization of the educational process aimed at students’ understanding of the mission of the chosen profession, professional duty, development of their aspiration for culture creative and educational activities.

Thus, as a result of the study of the system implementation, the dynamics of personal and professional formation of future experts by selected criteria, the following data have been obtained: according to these data, students' cultural and creative development in the educational environment of higher education institutions happens most effectively when the highest humanistic cultural values ​​are recognized, aesthetic consciousness and aesthetic-cultural experience are enriched, self-creativity is activated, artistic perception of future culture translators (they are students – future specialists in the sphere of culture and art) is formed.

In addition, the study revealed the general directions of cultural and creative development, including:

1. Recognition of cultural values.

2. Encouragement of self-improvement, self-education, self-development.

3. Development of reflective position. The study established a stable relationship between the level of reflection and capacity for self-education: the higher the capacity for reflection, the more successful the education.

4. Enrichment of emotional responsiveness. Emotional responsiveness is manifested in the ability to understand and appreciate the feelings of other people, share one’s own experiences, in empathy for characters of art works, in sensing an effect of catharsis as a higher aesthetic pleasure; in an effort to cultivate higher aesthetic emotions based on the perception of the world of art; in the possibility of experiencing creative insight. The importance of development of emotional responsiveness of a specialist working in the sphere of culture and art is also determined by the fact that this quality is contagious, gives rise to an impulse for the profound experience in contemplation of art and this causes a feeling of richness and fullness of life, its eventuality. Such an experience gives rise to an impulse for further cultural and creative development, laying the foundation for the development of cultural experience.

All these directions do not exist separately from each other, but actively interact, creating in the educational environment the opportunities for students to learn scientific knowledge, perform various kinds of creative activity by introducing to the highest humanistic cultural values, enrich aesthetic consciousness, aesthetic and cultural experience, develop artistic perception.

It has also been determined that the system of cultural and creative development of students – future specialists in the sphere of culture and art (it is summarized in Figure 1) is aimed at the solution of the following tasks:

1) development of creative thinking of future specialists in the sphere of culture and art;

 2) expanding and deepening of their motivation for the cultural and creative development, understanding of their professional activities as translators of cultural experience;

 3) formation of skills of the head of a creative team;

 4) development of ideas of socio-cultural activities as an integral part of intellectual leisure time.

In addition, in the course of the experiment, pedagogical conditions for the implementation of this system in the practice of university education have been structured.

3.1. The first pedagogical condition: Humanitarization of the content of education of future specialists in the sphere of culture and art.

Humanitarization involves changing the qualitative characteristics of higher vocational education; it has the properties of fundamentality, the value nature of knowledge, dialogism, culturology, pluralism, democracy, individualization of the acquisition of knowledge.

It provides not only high quality of knowledge, but also develops creative abilities, moral orientations, personal culture.

The first pedagogical condition for implementation of the system of cultural and creative development also includes as follows: the integration of traditional and innovative pedagogical methods and technologies; the balanced proportion of classes on the development of psychophysical, intellectual, aesthetic and ethical spheres of students; the possibility of independent individual and group work of students on creative and research projects and their presentation to the judgment of the audience and colleagues.

 Figure 1
The system of cultural and creative development (CCD) of students in the
educational environment of higher education institutions of culture and art.

3.2. The second pedagogical condition: A qualitative change in the pedagogical work with students.

This pedagogical condition includes:

- horizontal organization of the educational process, which involves changing pedagogical consciousness, expanding the block of additional education; attraction to the educational process of active professionals in the sphere of culture and art and other specialists;

- conduct of permanent monitoring expert assessment of the dynamics of students’ cultural and creative development;

- dialogization of the educational space of classes;

- scientifically based forecasting of the results of humanitarization of the educational process, provision of methodological support and development of pedagogical models for its implementation in practice;

- pedagogical support and individualization of the work with students by means of creating a pedagogical diary (portfolio), understanding the age peculiarities of students and the specifics of professional tasks in the sphere of education in a higher education institution of culture and art;

- strengthening a component of students’ independent work.

Monitoring of the dynamics of students’ cultural and creative development in the process of the system implementation was performed in the experiment. The data obtained as a result of several assessments were summarized in Table 1.

Table 1
Summarized indicators of the level of students’ cultural and creative
development in the experimental, control and advanced groups (in %).

In general, a steady tendency towards professional and personal growth of the students of the experimental group was revealed. The use of pedagogical models, situations, tasks, methodological developments in the implementation of the system of students’ cultural and creative development in higher education institutions in the sphere of culture and art has an activating, harmonizing and systemic influence and, on this basis, stimulates the development of students’ professional competence, creates a specific motivational field for the development of their organizational and communicative skills. The experiment revealed the dynamics of growth of students’ interest and readiness for the implementation of an educational component of their profession that was reflected in Figure 2.

Figure 2
The diagram of the growth of interest and readiness of the students of the experimental
group for the implementation of the educational mission of the chosen profession

The research results proved that the implementation of the system of students’ cultural and creative development in the educational environment of higher education institutions in the sphere of culture and art makes it possible to create the conditions for students to develop the ability to form motives for self-improvement, which is the basis for the creative transformation in human mind of subjective images of the reflected objects of the surrounding world and transformation of universally significant forms, ways and means of culture into internal ones, in the here-and-now, active and individual goals of further personal and professional development.

The cultural and creative development of future specialists is a multistage and dynamic process; it takes a long time, as during its implementation it becomes possible to talk about the constant development and self-improvement of a person.

In this process, a person comprehends and constructs values, the meaning of life, the mission of the chosen profession related to cultural and creative activities, preservation and increase of cultural values by means of educational goals.

According to the results of the experiment, students at a high level of cultural and creative development show initiative, creativity, readiness for creative self-fulfillment, have such professionally significant qualities as professional stability determined by the internal consistency of personal and professional requirements; the ability to flexibly interpret the acquired professional experience and use the professional experience of colleagues; readiness for self-actualization in professional activities.

The analysis of the research results allows making the following conclusions:

1. The results of the individual-cultural development of a person include the level of his/her consciousness and worldview, the ways of thinking, behavior and relationships in social and professional conditions of the surrounding reality, within specific limits of the person’s activity. It should be noted that the development of culture of society and a person as part of this society are deeply interrelated, since, first of all, the cultural-holistic personal formation of a subject occurs on a certain spiritual-content basis developed in society, in a specific socio-cultural environment and, in particular, in the context of the vocational education system established in society.
2. In cultural heritage, a future specialist acquires an understanding of the values ​​and ideals of previous generations, begins to understand the universal and ethno-cultural, social and professional landmarks and selects primarily those that most correspond to his/her individual inclinations and personal life experience and to the level of upbringing and education received in society.

The basic complex of personal culture is understood in this context as the ability of a person to independently develop guiding principles and methods of his/her activity (intellectual, practical-transformative, communicative, value-oriented, artistic and other types of activity) and social behavior, i.e. readiness and ability to self-determination in life, the possibility of achieving harmony with oneself and the surrounding world.

3. The culture of society and personal culture are closely interrelated phenomena both in the intellectual and activity-practical areas of activity of society and people as part of this society, and in the process of cultural and creative development of a person on the basis of the socio-cultural experience of a particular society (historically established ideals and value conceptions, moral principles of behavior, cultural traditions of the people, reflected in its artistic and creative activity, etc.). The acquaintance with culture is a dialogue with the world of culture and art.

4. Cultural and creative development of students in the context of higher vocational education in higher education institutions of culture and art should be comprehended from the standpoint of pedagogy of cooperation, co-creation, joint development of values, standards, tasks, social activities, development of a life position. Under this approach, students’ cultural and creative development begins with the joint development of the goals of actualization of ideals, comprehension of methods of self-determination in life practice.

This is due to the need to clearly indicate the requirements for defining an individual lifestyle by each student, developing their ability to cultural self-determination as a core property of a person.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to express the gratitude to the students and teachers who took part in the study. The study was conducted within the framework of Project No. 27.7394.2017/8.9 "Content and mechanisms of modernization of art education" (state registration number of the project (topic) of the study: 01201351640) of the State task for the Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution "Institute of Art Education and Cultural Studies of the Russian Academy of Education". Alekseeva L.L., Doctor of Education, Associate Professor, is a scientific coordinator of the project.

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1. Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution "Institute of Art Education and Cultural Studies of the Russian Academy of Education", Pogodinskaya St., 8/1, Moscow, 119121, Russia; E-mail: chif599@mail.ru