Towars To Educational Quality

Abstract

The article is devoted to theoretical issue of the quality of education. The author examines education as a social institution. The researcher, firstly, accepts understanding of the level and integrity of the subject, its stabilization and ordering; secondly, the stimulation of creative search in the improvement of quality; third, the orientation towards the integration of different approaches, types of activities. Social institutions are considered as natural and necessary for successful functioning of the society. At the same time, it is independent public entities with own developmental logic. Here there is a danger of becoming self-sufficient social structures that oppose the real needs and interests of people. It can turn into a self-sufficient system, closed to the maintenance of one's own existence. In the same time the interaction with other social institutions is violated, that is particularly important for education. We oversee how isolationism and closeness with its external openness increases. The quality of the functioning of social institution can be seen as a component of two directions – to meet the individual needs of people and to implement an integrative, socio-systemic function. The quality of the functioning of one social institution depends heavily on the success of others. So, there is the difficulty in assessing the success of the functioning of such a social institution as education. We have the need for transformations in other social institutions for the successful functioning of the education. That, in particular, opens up opportunities for preventive pedagogy.

Keywords: Educationmanagementqualitysociological methodology

Introduction

The discussion on the quality of education does not cease in Russian society (Kontseptsiya, 2015; Modernizatsiya rossiiskogo obrazovaniya, 2016). The quality of education is made up of two components – "quality" and "education" and we want to refer to the concept of "quality" at first. Summarizing the statements of different authors, we can define quality as an integral and relatively stable set of characteristics that determine the specificity of a particular object. However, qualitative certainty can also express individual aspects of a given object or phenomenon. This can consist in a simple regrouping of the existing properties of the object or phenomenon. A new quality is formed by changing the quantity and nature of the links between the regrouped properties, whose composition remains constant, and only its structure changes. Another way, more complicated, is to change the composition of properties. This changes both the total number of properties, and the number and nature of the relationships between them. Quality is an objective and universal characteristic of objects, which is found in the aggregate of their properties. So, quality is a fundamental characteristic of the integrity of the object (phenomenon, process). In addition, the structural aspect of quality expresses the way of links, location and order of elements of the content of the system. This allows giving a more capacious characteristic of quality. Quality characterizes the features of space-time relationships, levels and forms of material, energy and information exchange between the components of the integrity of the system, as well as between the system and the environment. By function, quality expresses and fixes a certain level of integrity of the object, stabilizes it and organizes it; second, it stimulates creative search in the improvement of quality; third, it focuses on the integration of various approaches, types of activities. In management, quality is compliance with certain requirements for the functions performed by the system.

Problem Statement

Education is one of the basic social institutions and important element in the structural and functional approach to the study of society. The authors indicate that social institutions act as special value-normative complexes that regulate the behavior of individuals, as well as stable configurations that form the status-role structure of society. The social institution is not reduced to a system of rules and norms, but includes mechanisms for both social control over compliance and maintenance of these rules and norms. Among the most important functions of social institutions are:

• creating conditions for meeting the needs of members of society;

• regulation of the activities of members of society in the framework of social relations;

• social integration;

• sustainability of public life;

• socialization of individuals.

List of universal, i.e. inherent in all social institutions, functions can be continue, including here the function of fixing and reproduction of social relations, regulatory, integrative, translating and communicative functions. In the process of socialization, social institutions are called upon to fix in the minds of both the rising generation and the adult population, the forms and methods of satisfying individual needs fixed in these institutions, and form the values and orientations corresponding to them. Thus, through the social institutions, the normative-value components fixed in them are broadcast into the mass consciousness of people. It should be noted that socialization has signs of coercion, which is realized in various and including hidden forms. A social institution can act as a certain force opposing a specific individual, organizing its behavior and directing the realization of its basic needs in established forms and patterns. They are independent public entities that have their own logic of development. Here is a danger of becoming self-sufficient social structures that are opposed the real needs and interests of people. There are also cases when a social institution can effectively meet the individual needs of certain social groups, but be a factor in the disintegration of society as a whole. As an institution of state power, it can be focused on the interests of a limited group of people and ignore the interests of the majority. So there is a situation of social tension. This theme of the opposition of the social institution to individual human existence was developed by philosophers Fromm E., Marcuse G., Giddens E. and several other philosophers in the West. In their opinion, social institutions are gradually alienating from the interests and needs of the people who underpinned the emergence of these institutions and begin to function according to their own laws aimed at maintaining their own existence and development. There is an apparatus of workers who, for a fee, support the existence of a social institution and are not interested in changing anything in its functioning. And most importantly, there is a kind of "deification" of social institutions in the mass consciousness. And, as a consequence of these processes, the social institution in individual and mass consciousness is perceived as something consecrated by tradition and rationally justified, and it is necessary to obey unconditionally. The presence within a social institution of a gradually separating internal organization and the closure of the interests of this organization to itself, to maintain one's own existence, delays the activity of the institute from the realization of primary goals aimed at satisfying the interests and needs of individuals and social groups. The social institution from within is reborn, becoming a self-sufficient system. And what is especially important is that its interaction with other social institutions of society is violated (Morgunov, 2014). In fact, isolationism and closeness are typical when it is open. This leads to an imbalance of the whole system and an increase in social tension in society. The development and change of a person, his interests and demands serves as a motivating factor for the process of modification or even a radical restructuring of social institutions (Kremer, Branner, & Glennerster, 2013; Srivastava, Boer, & Jan Pijl, 2015; Ganimian & Murnane, 2016).

The quality of functioning of a social institution is its ability to give a person the opportunity to realize himself, but at the same time to prevent his destructive social activity, to facilitate flexible adaptation to changing social demands and needs. The quality of a social institution can be evaluated as a term based on two streams: to meet the individual needs of people and to implement an integrative, socio-system function. Rather, it is even the multiplication of one indicator by another, because a low degree of one immediately gives a low quality assessment as a whole. The quality of a social institution is seen through the success of its realization of universal functions that are characteristic of all social institutions (satisfaction of the vital life needs in society, the socialization of people, the consolidation and reproduction of social relations, and a number of others) and specific for this institution. The quality of a social institution can be reflected through the success of its functioning in the social system, its effectiveness in strengthening the social order and achieving the desired changes, both in its internal structure, and, this is especially important, in interaction with other social institutions. The quality of a social institution will be determined by how quickly this institution is able to adapt to new demands of the society and, secondly, its ability to encompass many different social groups with their diverse interests. At the same time, the institute can successfully perform an integrative, stabilizing function, but does not meet the individual needs of people. The quality of a social institution can also be assessed from the standpoint of latent functions – what other than the declared results appeared on the "output" of the system. The quality of the functioning of one social institution depends heavily on the success of others. It can be argued that social institutions are rather different sides of one thing, interconnected organically; there are no clear boundaries between them. Therefor the difficulty is in assessing the success of the functioning of a social institution. It is necessary to trace its influence in the functioning of other social institutions. But here, perhaps, is the key to understanding the quality of a social institution – how dependent is the successful activity of other social institutions on the activities of the first. Hereof there is the important conclusion about the responsibility of a particular social institution for the success that depended of each other. For example, the work of the media is very powerfully opposed (at times) to the work of education. And there are many such examples. Here is another important conclusion – our legislation regulating the activities of a particular social institution does not take into account the need to protect others. The law on mass media does not have responsibility for the state of affairs in education, culture, etc. Our legislation is built on a departmental principle and therefore the activities of social institutions are not integrated (lawyers, of course, do not agree with us, but we insist on this thesis). There is also an opportunity to evaluate to what extent the success of the functioning of the individual in other social institutions is increasing due to the success in the first.

Institutionalization is the process of establishing a social institution in the form of formal and informal regulatory regulators. Social institution is a virtual reality in a certain sense – you cannot touch the culture, but you can view the establishment of culture. The functions of a particular social institution can be realized by institutionalization of other institutions – the function of education is realized by law, culture, economy, etc. Institutionalization of a particular social institution is most often represented in the form of a system of activities or specific institutions. Any complex system includes three levels: substrate (level of material carriers), structural (the level of interrelations of the elements of the system) and information (the level of information exchange). These components can have, both within themselves and among themselves, inconsistencies leading to system dysfunction. The structural aspect of quality expresses the way links, location and order of elements of the content of the system. This allows giving a more capacious characteristic of quality. The category of organization introduces into the quality characteristic the features of the space-time relations, the levels and forms of material, energy and information exchange between the components of the integrity of the system, and also between the system and the environment. It is very important that any complex system has an internal structure and functions with a large number of freedom degrees. These systems are stochastic-probabilistic in their description.

The main purpose of the social institution of education is participation in the reproduction of the human resource (Vdovina & Vdovina, 2015). It is influenced by all the basic social institutions, and itself, in turn, largely determines the nature of the functioning of others. The changing social conditions, the development of other social institutions, the development of the needs and interests of people make new demands on regulatory provisions governing the interaction of individuals within a particular social institution. In modern schools, for example, the process of modernization of internal organizational regulations is under way to make them more democratic by involving teachers, parents, students and other stakeholders in the educational process in school management. Consumers of educational services are parents of children, and children themselves, and social institutions, in which, to a greater or lesser extent, directly or indirectly included every person from birth. And each of them has their own ideas about the parameters of the quality of the educational product. The new educational standards that are being introduced are not yet taking into account the complex social structure of queries on the quality of education. In educational institutions, often unconsciously, a system of value relationships should be set up that allows the graduate to orient among the social institutions available in society (economics, law, science, production, culture, religion, politics, etc.). But the system of education is dependent on the institutional order prevailing in society, which transmits a certain type of people's consciousness and determines the ways of management and relations between the subjects of activity. At the same time, we must understand, assessing the quality of the education system, how the family, classmates, Yard Company or other elements of the micro-social environment influence the process of socialization.

Important and the position of professional groups involved in the implementation of educational activities. They can be seen as a factor that contributes to or hinders the maintenance of a full socialization of the younger generation. Important values of educators are important, their personal and semantic attitudes toward meaningful pedagogical objects, lifestyle, etc. Age and gender biases in the demographic composition of teachers can be factors that prevent the transformation of the education system. Teachers, often outwardly adopting modern innovative methods and technologies of instruction, continue to focus on the motivational and value level on the attitudes of authoritarian-paternalistic ideology. They often demonstrate family like relationships, emotionally intense and biased, based on personal trust, unquestioning obedience and authority. The scheme “family-like” is paternalistic type of business interaction that inherent in virtually all spheres of Russian society, it is the dominant institutionally fixed informal type of communication, and everything is built on personal relationships. This type of relationship is practically not realized by the teachers themselves, they are perceived as a self-evident order.

The interdependence of systems representing social institutions is manifested in the need for transformations in other systems in the direction of bringing them in line with the declared democratic form. Therefore, the problem of modernization of education cannot be solved only by intra-departmental measures, in conditions when other systems don’t have or don’t know how or don’t want to have an influence on education. They can actively oppose the policy of the institution of education. New educational standards drastically change the ideology of the process, emphasize the activation of self-development mechanisms. The ideological core of the standards is the formation of the subject's position of the student. But, and this can’t be overlooked, the problem of educational motivation largely has its origins external social factors. There are no incentives, mechanisms for self-discipline, self-restraint, and pushing oneself to intensive work. Why study is well if you can get a good job only for acquaintance, and you can get higher education for money, not especially bothering yourself.

Today, the quality of education is most often seen as the ability of an educational product or service to meet the requirements of the state standard and social order. Thus, the quality of education for us is the level of success, socialization of the citizen, as well as the level of conditions for mastering the educational program of the school / educational institution. And the results ensuring a high level of quality are academic knowledge, social and other competencies, plus the social experience acquired by the student in the course of mastering the educational program of the school / educational institution. Of course, everyone knows that knowledge is an element of competence, and the ability to act is part of knowledge. Thus, the quality of education is understood as an integral characteristic of the educational process and its results, expressing the extent of their compliance with the prevalent in society ideas about what should be the named process and what goals it should serve. Today, the most difficult problem in education is the assessment of the formation of the ideological position of the individual, the subject position, the problem of value orientations and motivation, which is related to the problems of spiritual and moral development. The perspective is the use of sociological approaches to assessing the situation in specific communities. In this way the data is probabilistic nature, but are quite suitable for more depth analysis of the situation at the level of the individual, group (class), school. These approaches make it possible to distinguish the system-forming factors of the observed phenomena, allow us to distinguish factors uncontrollable, conditionally managed and managed. There are great opportunities for predicting the situation at the level of the individual, group (class), schools. This is the field for preventive pedagogy. This is an opportunity, with further development, an exit on the objectification of the effectiveness of the teacher's work, the quality of their work.

New educational standards in content and technology aspects are largely built on the principles of the management model of the quality management system, developed for the areas of production of goods and services. This model is described in the international standard of quality management systems ISO 9000-2001. But the basic principles of the organization of quality management systems, developed for commercial organizations, can hardly be automatically extended to the sphere of educational institutions. In particular, it raises doubts about the possibility of transferring to the education system the following provision: "Organizations depend on their customers, and therefore must understand their current and future needs, fulfill their requirements and strive to exceed their expectations". The system of education fulfills not only the function of realizing the needs of citizens in education (how they understand education, and what they want from educational institutions), but also an educational-ideological function. Socialization has signs of coercion. If education is viewed as a service, then it can be argued that it is a fine or even imprisonment for the offender to speak. In addition, it is the sphere of satisfaction of personal interests, curiosity, "hobby". The function of the educational system as a social institution is not to follow the existing needs and requirements of consumers of educational services that can be formed by local socio-economic conditions, but to create educational conditions for the transition of individual consciousness to a higher level of development, thereby integrating representatives in a single educational context different social strata and communities. This is another aspect of the quality of the institution of education: a unifying, integrative function of education that can create a single ideological basis for the formation of common rational bases of social behavior (Obrazovatel’nye sistemy, 2014).

The quality management system is developed for commercial organizations operating in market conditions. The activities of these organizations are focused on commodity-money, consumer relations. Therefore, the central role in this system is played by the consumers with their requests and expectations. Commercial organizations are focused on the development and maintenance in the minds of the population of certain consumer stereotypes. They do not pretend to complete the personal development of consumers. And even in a certain sense, they are aimed at the opposite - the development of unlimited consumerism, to the detriment of (as a rule) the development in the spiritual sphere. The aspect of their impact on consumers is consumer installations and needs. The latter can become an object of purposeful formation and use in the future when implementing marketing strategies of companies. And educational institutions are called upon to fulfill a fundamentally different role in the system of public relations. The purpose of their activity is the formation of personal qualities of students in accordance with a certain model of the "ideal" graduate, which is based on philosophical and ideological foundations. Incidentally, we note that in education such basic concepts as "result", "efficiency" and their mutual relations are not developed. Quite far from the solution is another fundamental question – the objectification of the results of the teacher's work, without which the stimulation systems do not work. In the Conception of Federal State Educational Standards, one of the most important educational results considers the formation of universal educational activities among schoolchildren. The level of development of universal educational activities of students is an indicator of the effectiveness of the educational process and the success of the school as a whole.

But, universal educational activities in their content composition does not take into account the individual psychological and social characteristics of students, as well as the cultural characteristics of those communities in which children are formed and socialize outside the school. But, it is possible to consider a certain model of this or that universal educational action as a normative model for assessing the development of the mental functions of all students, without taking into account historical, socio-cultural factors, individual psychological characteristics of children? This concept serves as a tool for the next unification and normalization of the individual and personal characteristics of children, a ranking ruler that can become not only the means of stimulating the development of children, but an additional managerial lever of control and pressure. Questions are raised about the criteria for "normal" or successful development and mastery of universal academic skills. The development of higher mental functions is mediated by a multitude of social and general cultural factors that do not remain constant, but change over time, are substantially transformed. Together with them, the essential features of higher mental functions are transformed and especially moral notions. In general, the quality management system – the idea of another social institution – the economy and its use in other basic social institutions, such as law, culture, etc., in its direct transfer is doubtful. The quality of the teacher's work can be assessed through the result – this is the growth that children have in their development. Only then can we at least approximately compare the effectiveness of the work of different teachers. But this direction has not received support from both education officials and academic scholars. And the qualification of a teacher or the success of his advanced training is still not assessed through the development of his children, but through examinations, interviews or simply the opinions of appointed people. The quality of education is determined by the available frames. The portrait of a modern teacher is a woman of "Balzac's ages", authoritarian, with a low level of social and political activity, with average cultural demands, having an excessive school load, afraid of the director and any bosses (Metodicheskie recomendatsii, 2013; Tam, 2014).

Research Questions

The increase in the quality and efficiency of education set as a state task requires a deeper analysis by sociology.

Purpose of the Study

It is necessary to consider the quality of education from the position of a social institution.

Research Methods

The main method used in the paper is based on comparison of different points on the problem of social institution’ functioning.

Findings

The success of any social institution depends to a large extent on the activities of others. For education, the most difficult problem in assessing the quality of functioning is the problem of pedagogical metrology, the objectification of the results of pedagogical activity and the factors that determine it. .

Conclusion

Modern situation conducted comparative international studies allow assessing the educational achievements of schoolchildren (Apps, Mendolia, & Walker, 2013; Bayerl, Lee, Le, & Vargas, 2014). This allows to some extent to judge the quality of education in different countries (Kotova, 2014). It seems reasonable for us to make greater use of sociological approaches to the study of the quality of education. It is necessary to consider any phenomena connected with education from the standpoint of the factors that shape them. In particular, the quality of education should be viewed from the perspective of what could be achieved with this resource and what it achieved. This is the indicator of the quality of education. But, most importantly, the quality of education is manifested in the success of human functioning in different social institutions. Then it becomes possible to give an integrated assessment of the quality of education of a particular person and the education system as a whole. Another conclusion is that the content of education should reflect the future success of a growing person in his interactions in other social institutions. And also for what should be the responsibility of every basic social institution in the socialization of the younger generation.

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