Specifics Of Upbringing Methods In The Activities Of The Children’s Social Association

Abstract

The article substantiates the scientific relevance for the problem methods used for organization of activities of a children social association (CSA), as a specific subject of social education; it marks the main approaches to the definition of the specifics of the methodology of upbringing in children's associations; it also defines methodical system as a set of methods and means for the effective realization of the potential of the social educational activities of CSAs. The authors see the problem of identifying the specifics of social educational activities with training of the contemporary teacher as a social educator and organizer of the modern children social association, requiring full scientific and methodological support in system of secondary and informal education. The process of upbringing is viewed as promotion of adolescent’s initiatives in creation of CSAs, definition of its values, objectives, performances, in the harmonizing content of adolescents and teachers activities. The CSA activities methods of social education are focused on expanding business ties, contacts of adolescents with different partners, organizations, social institutions. That means creation child-adult labor or environmental groups, project boards, adequate inclusion in professional activities. The authors see the specifics of educational methods in the CSA in social and personally meaningful activities. The application of these techniques goes through competition, individual orders, and collective tasks. The methodology is valuable in a “small group,” as the closest personally meaningful environment, correlating with prospects for the abilities and skills development in various activities, games, communication, children’s initiatives in any collective creative deeds.

Keywords: Social educationchildren's social association

Introduction

The children's social association (abridged CSA) is a particular subject of upbringing and socialization in the outdoor social space. As a rule, the CSA are objects for positive socialization of their younger generation actors, of social education. However, the CSA is a special environment of the teenager’s life activity which meets his natural age-related needs, specificities, capacities of self-development, self-improvement, and self-development (Alieva, 2016). The children's social organization is an important factor in its impact on the child, affecting him in two ways: on the one hand, it creates conditions to meet the needs, interests, objectives of the child, the formation of the new aspirations; on the other hand, it determines the selection of internal capacity personality by self-restraint and collective choice, adjustments resulting from social norms, values and social programs.

The children's social association also performs protective functions, championing, protecting the interests, rights, dignity, and uniqueness of each child (Alieva, 2016).

Nowadays, children's social associations are represented in Russia and the adjacent states in large variety of species and types of such associations. The International Federation of Children's Organizations (IFCO CPO-FCA) is created, which includes 65 subjects of the Russian Federation and the CIS-Republican, regional, provincial, city children's structures. The Russian Movement of Pupils (RMP) as a new subject of social education has been created and begins to work in systems of both General and further education in the modern dynamic socio-pedagogical reality. Today children's public associations appear as a complex socio-pedagogic reality manifested in children themselves in order to volunteer on their demands and needs, their initiatives as a response to events surrounding their lives (Selivanova & Sokolova, 2012). Their main feature is a spontaneous activity aimed at the realization of a child his natural needs of individual self-determination and social development, the acquisition of positive experience, personal, unique individual socialization.

Problem Statement

The priority of education in the development of a new type of Russian citizen actualizes the problem of developing specific capacities of the main actors of social education in modern society, the problem of scientific justification socio-educational system methods, tools, ways of its effective implementation in the education system and the system of social education, taking into account the characteristics of the subjects (their creation and functioning). In general terms, it is a problem of identifying the specificity of the educational activities and preparations of modern teacher-educator-organizer of the modern child social association; as well as full scientific and methodological substantiation of the effective implementation of this specificity (Alieva, 2016).

The first steps have already been taken at the meetings of creative youth and students, representatives of Russia's CSA and various social institutions and organizations in Russia, including pedagogical, scientific, cultural, and presidential power structures in Valdai (2014-2016), Sochi (August and December 2017).

The particular relevance to the issue of research methods in the studies of specifics social education activity of child public association is attached by the fact of strengthening and growth of international relations, dialogue and cooperation of children's associations, organizations and movements on the most various issues, themes and aspects of humanitarian interaction-cultural, environmental, sports (Alieva, 2015; Belyaev, 2016). As it applies in the new quality to the international cooperation of children's public associations, organizations, associated with the global problems of mankind, as well as dynamic socio-political development of such major projects as Eurasian Union, BRIX, etc. (Kurzabaev, 2015) Here you can draw on valuable development of modern foreign teachers from The People’s Republic of China, India, and France (Blanchet-Cohen & Brunson, 2014, Peterson; Agre, Christens & Morton, 2011).

The status of pedagogical research in this area is significantly influenced by such major global projects of modern education in the framework of UNESCO, as the EduNeT CrowdSource-Project “Education Of The Future”, “LifeCamp”, Network High School, “Students Research In Modern Educational Space (STEM/STEAM-education): new types of educational situations” etc. In Russia, there are public projects: “The Development Of Export Potential Of The Russian System Of Education”, “Creation Of Modern Educational Environment For Schoolchildren”. In this regard, we can mention such projects as “Lifestyle”, “Educational Technologies Compressing Space And Time", “The School Of Digital Creativity "Kodabra School"”, "Moscow Through The Eyes Of An Engineer”, BiTronicsLab (course prototyping “Young Neuromodelist”) and others. The activities of children's public associations may open here a great and interesting social future.

Research Questions

Research and experience of creation and functioning of the CSA under new historical Russian conditions suggest coming to conclusion about their increasing role in the upbringing of children and young people, noting the growing diversity of species, forms and axis of their overall activities. In today's in general positive dynamics development of the system of general and supplementary education the development of methodical bases of the activities of the organizer-leader of the CSA is relevant, thus finding and fixing techniques for effective implementation of educational experience in the activities of children's associations within the space of continuous, open, non-formal education. Such methods should be represented as logical and reasonable complexes of science-based knowledge, skills, and techniques for practical implementation, necessary for the teacher for the efficient organization of value-oriented education process together with the pupils of the target activities, including development of special professional competences. This actualizes development of the foundations of creativity in their use in individual educational activities.

Purpose of the Study

This requires again, now focusing on modern social conditions, determine the specificity of the methods of social education in activities of children’s social associations.

Methodology of upbringing in the organization of the CSA activities, we label as “private” methods, which includes general scientific approaches to a substantiation of methods, tools, and ways of organizing activities (as an environment of vital activity of a teenager) and reflects the specificity of public education, which is in the CSA. These private methods should reflect the specific nature of the system of scientific approaches, knowledge, skills and capacity to effectively implement positive educational experience of the CSA in vocational and social activities of a teenager and an adult. The purpose of the study is that the specificity of the methods of education in organizing activities of the CSA is affected by the following factors and reasons for their socio-pedagogical characteristics.

• Children public associations become educational tool under special conditions, ways of organizing them, allowing to have a positive impact on the child by the efforts of the children themselves, their communities and to gently guide his individual development, complementing the school institutions and the family when providing extra-curricular activities. One of the conditions is pedagogically organized, socially and personally meaningful activities of children's social associations (Dawes & Larson, 2011).

• Children's social associations vary in content, duration of their existence and the form of control.

• By the content of their activity children's associations can be labor, leisure, socio-political, religious, patriotic, cognitive-educational, etc. Leisure, military-patriotic and other associations suggest development of abilities and inclinations of children, problems of providing them with opportunities for communication, self-expression and self-assertion. Due to the fact that the child enters these groups voluntarily, he would not have to put up with the situation, which he has to borrow in the classroom.

• For the duration of the existence of children's social associations can be permanent, which, as a rule, tend to occur at school, further education institutions, children's place of residence and temporary ones. Typical temporary associations of children are children's summer schools, tour groups, etc. The situational child associations are created to solve a task that does not require a lot of time (the participants of the aid actions, gatherings, project teams, etc.).

• By the nature of governance among the children's social associations can be distinguished as informal networks of children, club associations, children's organizations.

Thus, we set the purpose of our research to determine the algorithm setting goals and tasks of social education in organizing the children's social associations in the light of its general typological specificity as the basis for his methodical support.

Research Methods

In our study, the methods of performed research were the studies and analysis of the experience in organization of the children’s social associations activities in new Russian environment of the ХХI-st century; the experience-based experimental work; monitoring and diagnosing of the effectiveness of the methods of organization of the CSA activities; analysis of dissertation research on the current scientific home and foreign data problems.

The specificity of the methodology of upbringing in the combined version of the “common” and “special” features in the CSA is presented by the socio-pedagogical phenomenon of “methodical system”.

The “methodical system” is viewed as: 1. a practical creative implementation of the base frameworks and specifics of upbringing in the specific activities of the CSA, of the teacher-organizer; 2. a purposeful interaction methods, means, ways, techniques of upbringing and self-upbringing of adolescents in any of the social and personally meaningful activities, the basis for it lies in self-activities and the self-organization of children in conjunction with pedagogically competent guidance tailored to the specifics of the main activities of the association members, their age, and other factors (internal and external). As an example one may take the functioning of “methodical upbringing systems” in activities of pioneer or scout organizations; the specialized types of children's movement (of young correspondents – “the youngcors”, the young army guys – “the youngarmians”, of ecological or some other profile specific orientation of the CSA, etc.).

The specificity of the methods of social education in traditional forms of child public association we present taking into account the: a) the main objective of the contents of activity: the primary children's social organization, the profile children movement; b) the primary age of participants or members of the association; their possibilities of active subject incorporation into all spheres of activity (as major organizers, members of organs of self-government); the features of a primary “small group” or a small team.

For example, the methods of social education in the children’s public association are focused on the formation of socially relevant qualities of a young citizen in practice-oriented activities (Coussée, 2009).

The specificity of the methods is targeted at real, “visible”, both individually and collective results, understandable for each participant and perceived by him in socially significant actions (like improvement the proximal greenery environment, helping different people, caring about the nature and its inhabitants).

The application of these techniques goes through competition, self-government, individual orders, and collective tasks. The methodology is particularly important in the “small groups”. It's the nearest environment space for the children’s initiatives, their collective creative deeds, matter for evaluation and self-evaluation (Stewart, 2014).

Findings

The basis of social education methods applied to the activities of the children's social association is the specificity of the main methods of organizing activities of the CSA and their socio-adapted use.

These are ways for the socially and personally meaningful joint practical collective overall activities initiated by “creators”, the initiators-teenagers (Christens & Dolan, 2011).

We specially select the particular method of “cares”; method of self-government, self-organization; method of shaping active subject position member of the CSA, a method of organizing activities of small groups-“links”. The method of game is really the method and not a kind of activity; by method of orders (job responsibilities) we mean specific way of implementing a method of shaping the personal subject position. For the organization of activities the CSA it is necessarily to include the responsibilities and rights of a member of the children's organization; the stimulus methods of the collective assessment of the activities of each participant (“steps of growth”, awards, etc.) (Zeldin, Krauss, Collura, Lucchesi, & Sulaiman., 2014). We allocate the upbringing specificity method use the symbolism of rituals that reflect the feature the main purpose of the CSA (thus means the factors of emotional influence, visibility, relevance, giving special authority of the CSA membership in the activities of the association).

Traditional general education techniques are now more meaningfully saturated with elements and techniques of new methods of organization of activity of children, adolescents and young people via the Internet, modern media social web (quests, drafts, tele-conferences).

We highlight the overall specifics of parenting techniques, its focus on the development of an active social positive position of a teenager – who is actually the main subject of activity; focus on his initiative, creativity, and citizenship (Tolen, Tulenjva, Assyltaeva & Aitymbetov, 2014).

And so we come to the most important thing. All methods of social education in organizing activities of the children’s association are focused on expanding business ties, contacts of adolescents with social partners. That means creation of temporary child-adult labor, environmental groups, project boards; a reasonable inclusion in professional activities, etc.

Conclusion

The basic method of upbringing is the organizational process of social education based on development, stimulating initiatives, performances of adolescents in the creation of the CSA, its values and objectives, in shaping the substantive content of the activities, achievements, achieving practically targeted results.

This method enables a focused set of methods, tools, efficient and effective implementation of the goals, objectives and contents of substantive activities, incentives and support development initiatives, creativity of adolescents, the establishment of an active subject the position of the teenager in the association as a result of social education.

In this respect the programming method seems extremely important in the process of selection the content, forms the main activities of the children’s social association. The planning is a tool to organize the process of implementation of the Program Projects and the Program-based Projects.

Communication is the form and manner of cooperation, in which a person learns and transforms itself as well as the surrounding societal environment. This is the basic condition for the education of man in his diverse activities (the art of upbringing that is to say social education is primarily the art of communication) (Alieva, 2016). Not separately taken mosaic techniques, methods, means, forms in the process of social education, but the development of methodological systems underlies practical implementation methods of upbringing. The specificity of the educational methods in the children’s social association is in their focus on pedagogically sound interaction, positive communication, relations between all participants and members of the association in their socio-public and personally meaningful activities.

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