DOI: 10.7256/2306-4188.2013.1.6445

Abstract: The author of the article provides his commentary on the report 'The Future of Higher School in Russia: Experts' Opinion'. The authors of this report make an assumption that there is the second wave of Enlightenment coming soon. According to the authors, there will be a shift from 'pedagogy of knowledge' to 'pedagogy of research and planning' and pedagogy of activity. The author of the present article analyzes and disproves this thesis and presents a new one. For example, the author establishes that in case of Russian culture and society education should be based on general civilizational trends such as formation of a new leading type of sociality, different needs in education, competition with other institutions (mass media, Internet, corporate research and engineering study centers, businss in the sphere of education and culture, social networks and information communities and etc.) and formation of the 'heart' of new pedagogy (pedagogical relations of a new type). The author also outlines a new concept of child development and offers to distinguish three types of 'life cultures' - childhood, adolescence and youth - and several stages of adult life, too. According to the author, education is not all about knowledge and disciplines. Modern education is about activity and cogitation. The author provides an example of a new content of education based on his own experience in teaching philosophy. 

DOI: 10.7256/2306-4188.2013.1.656

Abstract: The present article describes peculiarities of educational identity of youth in terms of socio-culturla transformation of the modern Russian society. Younger generation of Russians is now living under the conditions of formation of information society where education, knowledge and information are becoming the main resources and keys to life success. The majority of young people intend to receive good education. At the same time, they vary in their actual involvement in educational processes.  Today many young people view education as an instrument but not all of them realize it is the resource that can raise their wealth and level and quality of life.  Under such conditions it is becoming very important to provide new approaches to studying problems of education, in particular, to focus on formation of educational and professional identities and directions in different social groups. It would be also necessary to takeinto account existing models of increasing the levels of education and youth employment and to define their life strategies from the point of view of accumulation of human knowledge and assets. 

DOI: 10.7256/2306-4188.2013.1.8799

Abstract: The author of the article analyzes the influence of anxiety on results of final school exams (state final certification and unified state exam) passed by students with different levels of school success. According to the level of their current school progress, all students were divided into three groups: regular students (more than half of all students. Each of these students had at least one C grade), good students (who had only good and excellent grades) and excellent students who had only excellent grades. According to their level of anxiety graduates were also divided into three groups: graduates with the high level of anxiety, graduates with the average level of anxiety and graduates with the low level of anxiety. The author shows that anxiety has an evident impact on expected and actually received scores for math assignments. However, the study did not demonstrate evident influence on actually received score for assignments in the Russian language. The group of regular students have demonstrated the best correlation between their level of anxiety and how well they did on their exam. In this group students with the average level of anxiety showed the best results while studenst with the high and low levels of anxiety were less successfu. The author explains it by the fact that students with the low level of anxiety were not motivated and did not beileve in themselves and their success while students with the high level of anxiety tried to do their best, they kept checking the answers and could not hand in their papers in time. Therefore, the author recommends to try and decrease the level of anxiety if it is too high and to increase the level of anxiety if it is too low.

DOI: 10.7256/2306-4188.2013.1.8872

Abstract: The article is devoted to the problem of teaching the good morals and behavior in modern pedagogy and psychology. The term of 'the Good' is veiwed from the point of view of so called 'peak psychology'. The author of the present article compares different views on the Good in peak psychology, depth psychology and existential psychology. The author of the article also describes philosophical concepts on the matter such as Auguste Comte's theory of altruism and P. V. Simonov's physiological concept of emotional resonace. It has been shown that this phenomenon is not studied well in pedagogy, psychology or philosophy. It has been also noted that there are fewer literary books about the Good (in science fiction, art literature and philosophical writings) than books describing the Evil. The author also gives an example showign that ni our vocabulary we have almost twice as much words for describing negative emotions than words for describing positive feelings. According to the author,  the Good is poorly studied because it is a very complex phenomenon.

DOI: 10.7256/2306-4188.2013.1.5113

Abstract: The author of the article studies efficiency of psychological training of cognitive abilities. The author uses a training program offered by T. Berezina. It has been assumed that all the factors influencing the efficiency of training programs should be divided into two groups. The first group of factors include the fact of participation in a training, teaching a shooler all necessary methods of control over their memory and attention. The second group includes motivational factors. High school students with a high level motivation demonstrated success in training their cognitive abilities. In the course of training their attentional capacity and short-term verbal and numerical memory. High motivation was determined if a schooler particpated in the training on his own will and believed the training would be useful for them. Low level of motivation was determined if a schooler was forced to participate in the training and did not demonstrate much efford during the training. It has been concluded that motivation plays a very important role in the process of education. School psychologists and teachers should not only organize academic activities and develop children's cognitive abilities, but also stimulate their motivation and desire to learn.