Technological Basis For The Formation Of Axiological Competence Of Cadets

Abstract

Article sets the task of searching and substantiating the technological basis for the formation of axiological competence of cadets during military-vocational education. The main idea of the study is formulated, theoretically and empirically justified. Effectiveness of the technology of forming axiological competence of cadets is due to: orientation of the educational process to studying the development of common cultural and professional competencies that reflect universal humanitarian, military-specialized and military-educational values and valuable orientation, and provide future officers with the ability to effectively deal with military professional objectives; ensuring the overcoming of the value uncertainty of the training and educational process and valuable content of military-vocational education; taking into account the laws of value orientation formations and the development of competencies by the individual. The relevance of the research task is determined on the basis of the activity content and professional functions of officers defining the significance of the valuable certainty of their consciousness and ability to form valuable orientations among subordinates. The content of the axiological competence of future military specialists is represented by military-specialized and military-educational components, including cognitive, motivational-valuable, and activity-behavioral characteristics of an individual. A system of key pedagogical conditions that define the informative, methodical and technological orientations for designing the process of forming axiological competence of cadets is set out. Technological foundations of the designed pedagogical activity are represented by stages of the educational process and stages of axiological competence formation. Results of experimental approbation of the developed technology, testifying to its effectiveness, are given.

Keywords: Axiological competencecadetspedagogical conditionstechnologymilitary-vocational education

Introduction

Today, in the conditions of socio-economic and political transformations, total globalization, rapid updating of knowledge, the old value system is destroyed, and new valuable orientations appear spontaneously and are mainly individualistic, which causes the remaining ideological uncertainty of Russian society. Moreover, content questions of professional values in different types of labor, formation of valuable orientations among future specialists, relevant knowledge and skills, attitudes, etc., are still disputable in pedagogical science. The resolution of these issues is of particular importance in the system of training workers for professions characterized by increased social significance and responsibility, which include military specialties (Emets & Grishchenko, 2015; Kaliuzhnyi, 2002; Schwartz & Bilsky, 1987).

The generalization of modern requirements for the personality of a military man allows us to state the need to form, in the process of professional training, axiological competence of a person, as a system of attitudes, knowledge, abilities, etc., determining the effectiveness of value-oriented activities in solving professional tasks, owing to the ability to choose targeted and semantic orientations for their actions and deeds (Zeer, 2009; Zimniaia, 2000, Ruban & Khazova, 2016; Khazova, Begidova, Akhtaov, & Dzhabatyrova, 2018). At the same time, the direct content of axiological competence, on the one hand, is determined by the types and specifics of professional tasks and functions, on the other hand, is set in the federal educational standard by the results of mastering the main educational program through a number of general cultural and professional competencies. Analysis and selection from the entire set of these tasks, functions and competencies that directly or indirectly determine the value-oriented characteristics of the personality of future officers, is the first stage in the development of the technology of axiological competence formation of cadets.

It is known that educational process design in its methodological, methodical, technological components requires both certainty in the understanding of the target orientation (in particular, the essence of formed personality quality) and the specifics of pedagogical activity in the educational organization of a particular type, characteristics of the contingent of students (Ruban & Khazova, 2016). Consequently, the argumentation of pedagogical conditions and the development of technological foundations for the formation of axiological competence of cadets also require the characteristics study of military-vocational education, its components, and the leading didactic and educational means.

Thus, the study is based on the idea that creation of an effective technology for forming axiological competence of cadets: (1) is based on refined knowledge about the structure and content of the quality formed, obtained by analyzing the essence of “axiological competence of the individual” concept, identifying the spectrum of value-oriented competencies of cadets as a result of mastering the main educational program, as well as specifying the professional functions and tasks of officers related to value-oriented activity; (2) is carried out taking into account the laws and mechanisms of forming valuable orientations and the individual competence, as well as the substantive, methodical and procedural specificity of military-vocational education.

Problem Statement

Theoretical analysis of scientific literature indicates that the content problem of axiological competence of cadet as a target orientation for the educational process of a military university is not sufficiently studied, as well as the question of a specific substantive-methodical and technological support of its formation. Thus, a contradiction between the objective need of the state and society in the formation of axiological competence among cadets and the impossibility of satisfying this need due to the lack of effective technologies for its formation is objectified. This, in turn, determines the relevance of the formulation and resolution of a scientific problem, which consists in searching for the scientific foundations (psychological and pedagogical approaches and principles, means, methods, forms of organization of the educational process) of designing the technology of axiological competence formation of cadets.

Research Questions

The research subject is the content and stages of the process of axiological competence formation of cadets in the process of military-vocational education.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is the development and experimental substantiation of the technology of axiological competence formation of cadets in the process of military-vocational education.

Research Methods

In the process of research, the following methods are used: (a) theoretical analysis of scientific literature, through which the essence and structure of axiological competence of cadets are clarified, orientations for determining pedagogical conditions and stages of axiological competence formation of cadets are selected, (b) analysis of federal educational standards and organizational peculiarities of military-vocational education, owing to which the content of axiological competence of cadets is specified, as well as principals, tasks of stages, means and methods of its formation, (c) modelling, with the help of which the integral technology of axiological competence formation of cadets in the process of military-vocational education is built, (d) pedagogical experiment, which allow testing the developed technology, (e) methods of mathematical statistics - for an empirical substantiation of the presented technology effectiveness for axiological competence formation of cadets in the process of military-vocational education.

Findings

The professional-axiological competence of a military man is a motivated ability of a specialist to carry out value-oriented activities effectively when performing military-professional functions, including military-specialized (technical, military, etc.) and military-pedagogical (educating subordinates), that is, including two substantive components: military-specialized and military pedagogical (Savich, 2006). From the point of view of the existing educational practice, axiological competence is legitimate and expedient to understand as the result of mastering axiological competencies, defined as educational results, and presented as a number of personality characteristics of students, determining the structural components of the formed quality (Ruban & Khazova, 2016; Khazova et al., 2018). At the same time, subjects engaged in pedagogical activity, have axiological competence that always includes a focus on the formation of valuable orientations in students, based on their own humanistic and professional valuable orientation (Shishova, 2011). Thus, three components are distinguished in the structure of axiological competence of an individual: cognitive (axiological knowledge), valuable (actually, valuable orientations), activity (axiological skills and experience of value-oriented activity) (Khomko et al., 2017; Nishchenko, 2017). At the same time, the content of each component includes, firstly, military-specialized and military-pedagogical elements, secondly, moral, intellectual, labor, environmental, patriotic, international, economic components (respectively, knowledge, skills, and valuable orientations).

Key pedagogical conditions for axiological competence formation of cadets are:

– competence orientation of the educational process - the aim of education is mastering axiological competences system, which in the aggregate define axiological competence as an education result; the use of didactic toolkit, which provides for the system mastering of knowledge, skills, valuable orientations, as well as the possibilities for exteriorizing values in solving educational, quasi-professional and professional tasks in the educational process (Zeer, 2009; Zimniaia, 2000; Nishchenko, 2017; Sytnyk, 2017);

– axiology of the educational process - valuable orientations of the individual set the context of formed knowledge and skills, ways of acting, experience of activity and behaviour; valuable certainty and valuable filling of educational material, context of solved tasks, areas of educational activities, etc. (Bondarevskaia, 2007; Lipskii, 2000; Zavodchikov & Sharov, 2018);

– military professional orientation of axiological education – mastering the military-specialized and military pedagogical values; specification of the mastered values in accordance with the military-specialized and military pedagogical tasks); reliance on principles of military pedagogy (consistency and complexity, adequacy and optimality, individually-personal orientation and collective approach, active and humanistic orientation, reliance on the positive things in person and team (Emets & Grishchenko, 2015; Konopliannikova, 2013; Obraztsov & Kosukhin, 2004; Savich, 2006).

In the framework of the technology development that ensures axiological competence formation of cadets through the implementation of the presented pedagogical conditions, the stages and steps of the educational process organization are pointed out. The stages of axiological competence formation of cadets correspond to the improvement of professional orientation (military-specialized and, further, military-pedagogical) of the university educational process:

Stage 1 – personal (1 course) - clarification / improvement / formation of a system of personal humanistic valuable orientations of cadets, relevant knowledge, skills, ways of acting and purpose for their extrapolation in social interaction. The content of axiological competence is based on basic values of humanistic, international and patriotic groups, as well as part of the environmental values;

Stage 2 – military-specialized (2-3 courses) –– formation of the system of military-specialized valuable orientations, knowledge, skills, ways of acting and purpose for their extrapolation in official activity. The content of axiological competence is based on the military-specialized block of values of all groups with the leading meaning of professional, patriotic and international values;

Stage 3 – military pedagogical (4 course) - the formation of a system of military pedagogical valuable orientations, knowledge, skills, ways of acting and purpose for their extrapolation in official activity. The content of axiological competence is based on the military pedagogical block of values of all groups, where the dominant position is taken by professional and environmental military pedagogical values;

Stage 4 – integrative (5 course) - ensuring the implementation of personal, military-specialized and military pedagogical valuable orientations, knowledge, skills, ways of acting in real service activity by cadets in the context of practice. The content of axiological competence is based on a group of intellectual values; all other groups of values perform auxiliary functions.

This gradation of stages allows us to “tie” the process of axiological competence formation of cadets to the temporary structure of the university educational process.

At each stage, axiological competence formation of cadets is carried out alternately, ensuring an increase in the degree of productivity of the value-oriented activity of students:

First stage is informational-searching. It implements a search function: cognition of value meanings, consolidation and expansion of the content basis of valuable orientations, mastering the meaning of presented or self-identified values, emergence of the ability to “encode” the axiological core in any information, phenomenon; emphasis on the cognitive component development;

Second stage is reflexive-evaluative. It implements the functions of evaluation and selection, differentiation of values into meanings and contents takes place; giving values of personal meaning, the development of feelings, beliefs, valuable judgments is carried out; emphasis on the development of value-oriented component;

Third stage is the activity-behavioral - is aimed at personalization of values, recognition them as property of their own experience, and “transferring” into the main motives of behaviour and activity. Valuable orientations are formed at the level of behaviour and activity; emphasis on the development of the activity-behavioral component.

Experimental approbation of the developed technology of axiological competence formation of cadets was carried out in real educational process of a military university for 5 years. The results of the ascertaining study indicated an insufficient basic level of axiological competence of the majority of cadets (62.9%). According to the diagnostic results, the control (CG, 53 people) and experimental (EG, 51 people) groups were formed, the representatives of which did not significantly differ from each other in the studied parameters (P ≥0.05). Further, the educational process in the experimental group was carried out in accordance with the developed technology. In the control group, no changes were made to the informative, methodical, procedural characteristics of the educational process.

At the first stage, an introduction to future military professional activity was carried out. At the same time, general ideas about the valuable orientations of military service, ethical standards of military life, requirements and limits of tolerance, importance of civil and professional responsibility were being accumulated. In stages, the experimental process in the first stage was as follows. At the beginning, at the informational-searching stage, the cadets memorized and reproduced the values to be learned, their content and meaning, which were presented by teachers and a curator in the framework of various forms of organization of training and educational processes. During the transition to the evaluative-regulatory stage, the cadets began to master the essence of reflexive-evaluative activities. The teachers themselves analyzed the content of the mastered theoretical material mastered, focusing the attention of students on valuable categories and offering to give a reasonable assessment. Next was the motivational-behavioral stage at which the cadets recognized values as possible determinants of behaviour and activity. The work was built as a reflection not only on the described events, but on their causes, with the subsequent correlation of these causes (motives of behaviour) with their own life experience.

At the second stage, the basics of value orientations, knowledge and skills corresponding to the military specialty were formed. In this context, both universal and general professional values, attitudes, and ideas were concretized. Awareness of the significance and value of military service, the profession of the officer was consolidated, and a feeling of satisfaction from belonging to the military professional community was shaped. At this period, at the informational-searching stage, the work was focused on maximizing the independence of cadets in recognizing valuable phenomena in the object of knowledge, therefore, the teachers supervised students’ analytical work, affording them to identify values and realize their meaning and sense. The purpose of the evaluative-regulatory stage was the verification of the acquired system of military-specialized values by students because of their independent comprehension. The teachers helped cadets determine what place the indicated values take in their lives, how they are reflected (whether they are reflected) in their personal experience. The motivational-behavioral stage was devoted to the modeling of cadets own deeds, relationships, actions in accordance with values. At this stage, methods of dramatization were widely used, as well as discussions and playing out of imaginary situations of moral choice, adequate or close to the experience of cadets.

At the third stage, there was a formation / development of the valuable attitude of cadets towards pedagogical activity, formation of an appropriate system of theoretical and methodical knowledge, the ability to put them into practice. Value-oriented activities of the cadets were as independent as possible. At the informational-searching stage, they analyzed theoretical material in an axiological context, distinguishing the value core in it. At the evaluative-regulatory stage, the cadets, also independently, identified and explained the social meaning of the distinguished and deliberate values. At the motivational-behavioral stage, the cadets began to show valuable orientations in behaviour, communication, and activity. Such forms of training as role-playing games, discussions, project development were widely used at this stage.

At the fourth stage, the development of civil-patriotic and international qualities and feelings of the cadets, the skills of civil, military-professional behavior was carried out. There was systematization of valuable orientations in the minds of cadets of all groups, awareness of their interrelationship and significance as grounds for actions and deeds. Knowledge and skills of self-organization of behavior and activity in accordance with interiorized civil and military-professional (specialized and pedagogical) values, as well as the organization of subordinates with relevant behavior and activities, were consolidated and improved. The main form and means of training and education was activity: professional (internships, practices), research, public;

At the end of the experiment, a final diagnostic study was conducted. Its results allowed us to state that there were significantly more cadets with a level above the average and less with a level below the average (P <0.05) in EG; in contrast to the control group, we recorded cadets with a high level of formed axiological competence and no students with a low level. In addition, the analysis of the dynamics of the changes indicated a stable efficiency of the designed and implemented process. In EG, there was a consistent improvement in the results, and significant differences were observed not only between the results of the initial and final diagnostics (for all levels, P<0.05), but also between the results of different stages. In CG, there were no statistically significant differences in the number of cadets either between the staged results or the results of the initial and final diagnostics by any of the levels (P >0.05).

Conclusion

Formation of axiological competence of cadets is ensured by implementation of the developed technology in the educational process of a military university. Four technological stages provide an increase in the professional orientation (military-specialized and, further, military pedagogical) of training educational activity in the university: personal, military-specialized, military pedagogical, and integrational. At each stage, the axiological competence formation of cadets is carried out in accordance with the stages (informational-searching, reflexive-evaluative, activity-behavioral), the target and didactic content of which corresponds to an increase in the productivity degree of value-oriented activities of students or the level of their value-oriented activity. The results of the current and final control definitely indicate that the use of the developed technology makes it possible to effectively solve educational tasks on the formation of a system of general humanistic, military-specialized, military pedagogical valuable orientations, educational tasks on the formation of a system of relevant axiological knowledge (theoretical, methodical) and skills (intellectual, practical), not only without hindering, but also contributing to the improvement of the general and special academic performance of cadets.

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