Secondary Musical Personality: Development Of Spiritual Needs In The Educational Space

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of developing the spiritual needs of the educational process subjects: students, teachers and employees of the University. The author presents the problem from the position of the aesthetic-semiotic approach, paying particular attention to the forming potentials of musical art masterpieces. The author argues that involvement in the music and creative activities of the educational process subject contributes to the development of a secondary musical personality based on the theoretical analysis of the music art impact on the personality development. The article reveals the content of the secondary musical personality concept. The author of the article presents the experience of implementing the culture-intensive educational Project "Opera and Ballet Theater in the Space of Elite Education." The Project aims at the spiritual, aesthetic, and creative development of students. The Project is implemented based on the classic University together with the Opera and Ballet Theatre. Psychological work on the Project contributed to the development of the spiritual needs of the project participants: activation of creative initiatives, creative self-realisation, regular attendance of opera and ballet shows, perception of classical music in live performance.

Keywords: Classical musicelite education

Introduction

The problem of forming the spiritual needs of young people is acute in a radical change in socio- economic conditions. Researchers note that the emergence of new Spiritual demands and the devaluation of previous ideals are associated with high social mobility and specific sensitivity of young people (Cheremisova et al., 2019; Ryzhov, 2012).

In this regard, let us turn to the study of the spiritual needs formation and the aesthetic culture development of students of Yashkina (2001). She indicates that the spiritual needs of the personality are considered in the system “spiritual production – spiritual consumption” and separates the active nature of spiritual needs and the passive nature of spiritual needs (p. 4). To the first Yashkina (2001) relates spiritual needs aimed at creative and good-creating activities and to the second – spiritual needs aimed at the consumption of spiritual goods.

Let us pay attention in this article to the problem of personality development of a student – a future specialist of socionomy professions. Training of a psychologist and social work professional must include spiritual growth designed to help understand and accept orientations to high Spiritual values. Spirituality is associated with inclusion in values common to humanity. It is necessary to develop the ability of students to choose universal values and act under them, to form and develop students’ spiritual needs (Cheremisova et al., 2019; Ryzhov, 2012).

Spiritual needs are of crucial importance to the formation of the future professional personality in the socionomy field. Future psychologists and social workers in their professional activities should communicate professionally with other people (colleagues, patients, wards, etc.). In addition, according to their professional activities, such specialists must demonstrate a high level of general culture, show empathy, be able to inspire and help people find new meanings. Such qualities are formed as a result of serious self-improvement of the future specialist in self-awareness activation, awareness of his/her goals, intentions, development of self-respect, self-acceptance, desire for self-realisation and increase the level of his/her culture (Ivanchenko, 2001; Kushmina, 2004; Langer, 2000).

Developed concept of secondary musical personality development (musical and creative personality development) in the educational process at all stages of general music education allows to solve the most complex problems of creative development of children and youth, contributes to the improvement of musical competence and culture of all educational process subjects (Cheremisova, 2017). Musical art determines the development of a creative personality, significantly accelerates and optimises this process, and contributes to spiritual and moral development (Brattico & Pearce, 2013; Elizabeth et al., 2017; Greenberg et al., 2015; Hannon & Trainor, 2007). These processes are provided by specific features of the musical text, especially of masterpieces as works of aesthetic and artistic maximum (Balkwill & Thompson, 1999; Burton, 2008; Chensky, 2007; Istók et al., 2009; Rohrmeier & Koelsch, 2012).

The present study defines the content of the secondary musical personality concept and the key components of the structure, as well as develops the levels of the secondary musical personality development (Cheremisova, 2017). Secondary musical personality is a musically and creatively active subject able to learn, describe, evaluate and transform the surrounding reality, as well as personal music and creative environment (Cheremisova, 2017). Also, such a subject can take part in communication with music and other people through music art in the process of musical activity. The level of development of musical consciousness, the level of musical-language and musical-speech competence of the personality depend on the level of properties and abilities development that make up the psychological structure of the secondary musical personality (Cheremisova, 2017; Chantov, 2013; Sopova, 2007; Taraeva, 2012).

Note that there are no music classes in the University educational process. In this regard, it is necessary to involve students in the perception of the best examples of musical art (McDermott & Hauser, 2005; Muller et al., 2010). It is necessary to organise the interaction with musical theatres and concert halls to do this (McDermott & Hauser, 2005; Muller et al., 2010). Research Questions

Problem Statement

Involvement in various types of artistic and aesthetic activities (perception of the best examples of visual and musical art, acquaintance with masterpieces of literature, personal musical and creative activities, theatric activities, other types of artistic creativity) is the fundamental psychological and pedagogical condition for the formation of spiritual needs of young people from the position of the author's aesthetic-semiotic approach (Cheremisova, 2017).

These ideas were implemented as part of the cultural-intensive educational project “Opera and Ballet Theatre in the Space of Elite Education” at Volgograd State University in conjunction with the Tsaritsynskaya Opera Volgograd State Theatre.

Research Questions

The main goal of an elite education is to form the foundations of elite consciousness of the personality of the educational process subject. The main parameters of the elite consciousness of the identity are the subjects’ awareness of the value of the knowledge they receive and the possibility of their further practical implementation; the formation on this basis of a distinct way of thinking aimed at the spiritual improvement of a person, increasing the general culture.

Purpose of the Study

Project goal : to find and work out the optimal way to develop the talent and creative potential of personality in the space of elite education.

Project tasks:

• Enrichment of the content and search for new forms of the educational process.

• Development of the elite consciousness of the personality of the educational process subject able to be a leader in their field of activity.

• Development of giftedness of all educational process subjects.

• Formation of motivation for self-actualisation, self-improvement, self-realisation of the personality of the educational process subject.

• Aesthetical development of the personality.

• Optimisation of interaction between educational institutions and cultural institutions aimed at the development of elite personality.

Mainline of work : scientific-educational work with students of Volgograd State University, educational institutions of University district; scientific-educational and methodical work with teaching staff and employees of the University, educational institutions of University district; organisation of interaction with parents of the students and family members of University employees and educational institutions of University district; organisation of Resource Center for implementing cultural-intensive innovative projects with the participation of universities and educational institutions, secondary vocational education institutions of the region

Research Methods

Technologies and methods under the scope of the project.

• A series of creative meetings with the participation of representatives of the creative team of the Tsaritsynskaya Opera Theatre.

• Perception of opera and ballet performances of the classical repertoire, masterpieces of opera and ballet art (selection of performances based on the methodology of the aesthetic-semiotic approach).

• Creative conferences on the problems of theatre art, modern opera and ballet art, classical music with the participation of representatives of the creative team of the Tsaritsynskaya Opera Theatre.

• Excursions to the creative workshops of the theatre (makeup, costume, orchestra, stage, ballet section).

Competition for creative projects: research projects on the psychology of art, the psychology of creativity, the psychology of creative talent; for the best advertising campaign for opera, ballet or Opera Theatre; the best publication in the media about opera or ballet performance; drawing contest “I draw Opera”.

Resource support for the program

Materials and resources: audience fund, office equipment, multimedia equipment of the Volgograd State University; premises and equipment of the Tsaritsynskaya Opera Volgograd State Theatre.

Information resources: the official website of Volgograd State University, the official website of the Tsaritsynskaya Opera Theatre, Utro VolGU Radio, Forum Newspaper, social networks, mass media.

Human resources: teaching staff, a psychologist from the Psychology and Pedagogy Department of Volgograd State University, employees of the general and experimental psychology laboratory, curators of student groups, University Trade Union activists and creative team of the Tsaritsynskaya Opera Theatre.

Financial resources: personal funds of employees and students, funds of Volgograd State University, funds of the University’s Trade Union organisation, funds of sponsors.

Over 150 people attended the first event; among them: future psychologists and social workers, teachers, employees of the University.

All participants filled out questionnaires at the beginning of the meeting. The questions included were about a self-perception of a person, his/her attitude to classical music and life. The author of the present paper compiled the questionnaires.

The form of the questionnaire contained a request for information about the respondents’ gender, age, the field of study: undergraduate (course), specialist (course), master (course), graduate of the Secondary Professional Education Department, teacher, employee, the presence of music education (yes/no), how many years he/she studied music (with a positive answer to the previous question). In addition, some questions reflected the experience of musical activity: “Name all famous Russian composers that you know”, “Name all famous foreign composers that you know”, “Who is your favourite composer?”, “What is your favourite piece of music?”. Multiple-choice questions were also offered: “Have you ever been to the Opera Theatre?”, “Have you ever been to a concert at the Conservatory, Philharmonic hall, music school?” (no/once/several times/many times), “Do your parents like music?” (no/hard to say/yes).

There were also questions to assess the ability to self-development. There was a Mast test at the end of the questionnaire.

After filling out the questionnaires, the participants of the creative meeting were presented an interactive lecture on the history of the opera attended by singers and musicians of the Tsaritsynskaya Opera Theatre. The musicians performed masterpieces of Russian and foreign classical music: arias from operas, romances.

The competition for creative works named “In the Verdi Style” was announced in various categories during the preparation of the next meeting with representatives of the Tsaritsynskaya Opera Theatre. Different forms of competitive works were offered: essay competition (topics: “Verdi born to inspire”, “Life-long Story in the operas of Verdi”, “Italian culture as the basis for the origin of the works of Verdi”, “Psychological aspect in the operas of Verdi”, “Problem of jealousy in the operas of Verdi”, “Treason in the operas of Verdi”, “Mythology presented in the operas of Verdi”), the poetry contest “Inspired by Opera”, the drawing and collage contest “Opera of Verdi through my eyes”, the literary competition “Transformation of the libretto of Verdi with a tragic ending in happy-end”, tour competition “Map of the tourist on operas by Verdi”. It is worth mentioning that the students suggested all the contests (topics).

Also, a quiz based on a list of 24 operas by Verdi posted on the Department’s page in the social network was held during the creative meeting. Students, teachers, and staff actively took part in it and judging by their faces and intonations – it was possible to conclude that they were experiencing joy and emotional uplift.

There also was the start of a Creative Relay race #СлушаюВерди (ListeningToVerdi) on Instagram. The first participant shared his impressions of the music of Verdi and passed the relay to two of his friends. Those, in turn, shared their musical impressions and passed the relay further. At the same time, the music of the great composer was played in each video.

The competition results were announced during this event dedicated to works of Verdi. The winner of the poetry competition “Inspired by Opera” student in the field of Psychology Akopyan read a poem of her composition.

All participants of the competition were awarded free tickets to the theatre for an opera performance to the music of Verdi at the expense of the University.

These events did not leave students, teachers and employees of the University indifferent. After such preparatory work, all participants of the project visited the Opera Theatre with greater interest and desire. It is worth noting that before the start of the project, most of them had never been to the Opera Theatre in their lives.

Teachers of different disciplines in the field of Psychology offered various tasks to students to activate their interest in performances under the project program. For example, after a visit of the theatre (Opera of Verdi “La Traviata”) students were offered a task on the discipline “Family Psychology”: to prepare presentations in pairs, threes on the topics “Development of emotional relationships in a couple”, “The image of a woman in opera and the modern world”, “Interests and spiritual needs of young people in opera and the modern world”, “Understanding love and self-sacrifice”, “The problem of the meaning of life”.

The information about performances at the Tsaritsynskaya Opera was distributed at the university during the academic year, and information about upcoming performances was posted on the stand next to the Psychology and Pedagogy Department.

Psychologist of Volgograd State University Tukuzova worked closely with the theatre’s administration, helped students and University employees to book and purchase tickets, talked to the students about the performances.

Findings

Assessment of the project effectiveness. Development of criteria for the effectiveness of the program and diagnostic complex. Psychodiagnostic procedures before the start and after completion of the project, comparative analysis of the psychodiagnostic results.

Expected results:

7.Regular interaction of universities and cultural institutions of the region to improve education quality, enrich the content and search for new forms of the educational process.

8.Psychotechnology of psychological support for the formation of an elite personality of the educational process subject through the Opera and Ballet Theatre.

9.Scientific articles, monographs, methodical recommendations.

Students shared their impressions with representatives of the press and on their pages in social networks after the first creative meeting. They talked and wrote about having experienced unusual impressions; they recognized some of the compositions but had never listened to such music in a live performance before. All reviews were positive, all participants of the meeting noted that they liked this format of communication with classical music, and they want to continue such events. These reviews were pleasant to read since there were some concerns that modern young people might find classical music too compound and dull. Moreover, the musicians performed works of foreign opera classics in the original language. We are especially happy to note that during the meeting, all the listeners were involved in the musical action, and there was not a single person who paid attention to their smartphone.

The University psychologist A. Tukuzova noted that after a visit to the Opera of Verdi “La Traviata” at the Tsaritsynskaya Opera Theatre (16 students of the Psychology and Pedagogy Department), young people were satisfied with the performance. It is worth noting that the opera was performed in the original language (Italian). Students posted reviews in the Vkontakte social network, which could be seen by their numerous friends: “... unusual, but interesting”, “... I managed to hear some words and understand the plot, I wanted to read the work based on which the opera was staged”, “... I liked it”.

Students received nine orders for booking tickets to attend the Swan Lake ballet the next day after attending this opera performance. Previously sceptical about such events, students also decided to visit the Opera Theater once again, noted Tukuzova. It was pleasant to see that many students and teachers ordered several tickets to the theatre for their relatives and friends.

The positive dynamics of increasing interest in visiting the Opera Theatre can be traced by the tickets implemented at the Psychology and Pedagogy Department: Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet on October 13, 2018 (6), Mozart’s Wedding of Figaro opera on October 18, 2018 (2), Adan’s Giselle ballet on October 19, 2018 (2), New Adventures of Vovka in the Far Far Away Kingdom musical tale (3), Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet on October 25, 2018 (8), the Broadway Sounds concert on November 4, 2018 (2), the “Verdi. Passion” opera hit parade of the great Italian masterpieces on November 25, 2018 (12), Verdi’s La Traviata opera on February 28, 2019 (17), Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet on April 6, 2019 (30). In addition, please note that students often purchased tickets to visit the theatre without assistance.

Conclusion

Thus, according to the results of the project implementation (during the school year), it can be stated that the majority of Project participants – future specialists in psychology and social workers – have formed a spiritual need to visit the Opera and Ballet Theatre regularly; listen to opera, watch ballet. Involvement of the Project participants in the musical and creative activity of music masterpieces perception contributed to the accumulation of musical experience, increasing the length of music and creative activity. Everything influenced the development of a secondary musical personality of each Project participant: student, teacher, an employee of the University. Also, visiting the Opera Theatre contributed to the development of spiritual needs of students to read literature on the history of musical art, imaginative literature; to engage in various types of artistic creativity under the impression of opera and ballet performances.

Thus, according to the results of the project implementation (during the school year), it can be stated that the majority of Project participants – future specialists in psychology and social workers – have formed a spiritual need to visit the Opera and Ballet Theatre regularly; listen to opera, watch ballet. Involvement of the Project participants in the musical and creative activity of music masterpieces perception contributed to the accumulation of musical experience, increasing the length of music and creative activity. Everything influenced the development of a secondary musical personality of each Project participant: student, teacher, an employee of the University. Also, visiting the Opera Theatre contributed to the development of spiritual needs of students to read literature on the history of musical art, imaginative literature; to engage in various types of artistic creativity under the impression of opera and ballet performances.

References

1. Balkwill, L. L., & Thompson, W. F. (1999). A cross-cultural investigation of the perception of emotion in music: Psychophysical and cultural cues. Music Percept.: An Interdiscipl. J., 17, 43–64.
2. Brattico, E., & Pearce, M. (2013). The Neuroaesthetics of Music. Psychol. of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 7(1), 48–61.
3. Burton, J. (2008). Leaning in and Through the Arts. Columbia Univer.
4. Chantov, V. (2013). A model for developing secondary language personality through media education,
5. Conf. Paper. ICT for Language Learning (pp. 35–40).
6. Chensky, E. P. (2007). Is a Masterpiece as an aesthetic phenomenon [PhD dissertation].
7. Cheremisova, I., Zakharova, E., & Nikulova, E. (2019). Life-purpose orientations of today’s university students of a multicultural region. SHS Web Conf. Trends in the Development of Psycho- Pedagogical Education in the Conditions of Transitional Society, 70.
8. Cheremisova, I. V. (2017). Music and Development of Creative Personality Within Higher Education Environment. Aesthetic and Semiotic Approach. Europ. J. of Multidiscipl. Stud., 4(1), 78–87.
9. Elizabeth, J., Mills, V., & Mills, G. (2017). Personality, uses of music, and music preference: The influence of openness to experience and extraversion. Psychol. of Music, 45(3), 338–354. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0305735616658957
10. Greenberg, D. M., Baron-Cohen, S., Stillwell, D. J., Kosinski, M., & Rentfrow, P. J. (2015). Musical Preferences are Linked to Cognitive Styles. PLoS ONE, 10(7), e0131151.
11. Hannon, E. E., & Trainor, L. J. (2007). Music acquisition: effects of enculturation and formal training on development. Trends in Cognit. Sci. 11, 466–472.
12. Istók, E., Brattico, E., Jacobsen, T., Krohn, K., Müller, M., & Tervaniemi, M. (2009). Aesthetic responses to music: a questionnaire study. Musicae Scientiae, 13, 183–206.
13. Ivanchenko, G. V. (2001). Psychology of music perception: Approaches, prob., prospects. Smysl Publ.
14. Kushmina, P. P. (2004). Language and Music as Semantic Sound Forms of Culture [PhD dissertation].
15. Langer, S. (2000). Philosophy in a new way: the Study of the symbolism of reason, ritual and art. A Mentor book. Publ. by The New American Library.
16. McDermott, J., & Hauser, M. (2005). The origins of music: Innateness, uniqueness, and evolution. Music Percept., 23, 29–59.
17. Muller, M., Hofel, L., Brattico, E., & Jacobsen, T. (2010). Aesthetic judgments of music in experts and laypersons — An ERP study. Int. J. Psychophysiol., 76, 40–51.
18. Rohrmeier, M. A., & Koelsch, S. (2012). Predictive information processing in music cognition. A critical review. Int. J. Psychophysiol., 83, 164–175.
19. Ryzhov, V. V. (2012). Personality, creativity, and spirituality. St. Petersburg Christ.Univer. Publ.
20. Sopova, N. V. (2007). Original literary text as a means ofspiritual-ethics development ofthe secondary language personality. Bull. of Voronezh state Univer. Ser. Linguist. and intercult. Communicat., 2(1), 254–261.
21. Taraeva, G. R. (2012). Semantics of the musical language: conventions, traditions, interpretations. Art-transit.
22. Yashkina, I. I. (2001). Formation of spiritual needs and development of an aesthetic culture of students: on the materials of secondary special educational institutions [PhD dissertation].