The analysis of the notions of Russian school principals about digital transformation

Introduction. The challenge of the pandemic forced educational organisations in Russia to resort to massive transition to distance learning and accelerated digital transformation of schools. It has become more obvious than ever that the digital transformation of a school is not limited to a simple technical update of its information resources but implies a fundamental rethinking of the school activities based on the capabilities of digital technologies.The aim of the study was to investigate the experience of digital transformation and the Russian school principals’ notions about it as a systemic process. The subject of the study is the notion about the systemic impact of digital transformation processes on schools; the experience of complexity in the introduction of information technologies in the educational process and school management, the assessment of the progress of digitalisation; the notions about the factors of successful digital transformation, which require a critical understanding of the experience of implementing information technologies in the school, highlighting key success factors.Methodology and research methods. The authors analysed 7189 questionnaires using computer methods for processing the natural language. The questionnaires were completed in general education organisations of 66 regions from all federal districts of Russia. The respondents’ answers were categorised in accordance with the European Framework for Technologically Competent Educational Organisations (DigCompOrg).Results. The research findings demonstrated the significant imbalance in the frequency of responses: the most frequent answers belong to the “Infrastructure” category, while the least frequent ones belong to the categories of pedagogical aspects of digital transformation affecting changes in the educational content and methods for assessing educational outcomes. It is concluded that the respondents’ replies reflect the institutional position of school principals in the current educational system: a head of a government-funded school positions herself/himself as an administrative executor and a representative of the founder, rather than a leader of the teaching team. Consequently, the provision of educational achievements and students’ personal development are largely not perceived by principles of Russian schools as a priority management task.Scientific novelty of the present research lies in the attempt to answer the question of how systematically the digital transformation of the principle is perceived, to apply DigCompOrg to the assessment of these categories by the European Framework of technologically competent educational organisations, as well as to use natural language processing methods to process text answers to open-ended questions of the questionnaire, which made it possible to obtain results on a large sample with wide geographical coverage.Practical significance. The research findings can be used in the development and implementation of advanced training programmes for school and college administrations in accordance with the ongoing digitalisation of Russian educational system.

Personal determinants of vandal behaviour among urban school and student youth from a gender perspective

Introduction. Vandalism is an urgent modern problem. This problem is especially acute for modern megalopolises, the environment of which is often a subject for damages and unauthorised changes. However, the megalopolis, possessing specific environmental characteristics, in a sense creates favourable conditions for vandalism through anonymisation, a decrease in social control, the adoption of borderline deviant-like forms of behaviour, etc. At the same time, foreign and Russian researchers refer to adolescents and young adult males as the subjects of vandal activity, i.e. those young people, who are mostly the subjects of education (schoolchildren, students). Their destructive vandal activity can spread in the space of an educational organisation or in the urban territory. Most often, males are at risk of vandalism, but there are examples of female vandalism. In such a case, the question of the personal determination of vandal behaviour of schoolchildren and students as active subjects transforming the environment remains open.The aim of the present research was to identify personality characteristics as facilitating and inhibiting predictors of motivational readiness for vandal behaviour of school and university students in a modern Russian megalopolis taking into account the gender factor.Research methodology, methods and techniques. The research was carried out among students of schools and universities in Ekaterinburg (an urban area with all the features of a modern Russian megalopolis). The study involved 132 people from 13 to 24 years (42 males, 90 females; 57 schoolchildren, 75 students). The HEXACO Personality Inventory, Dark Triad Personality Test and the questionnaire “Motives of Vandalism” were used as diagnostic tools. Mathematical and statistical processing of the results was carried out using comparative statistics (Student’s t-test) and linear regression analysis.The results of the study confirm the existence of significant differences in the motivational readiness for vandalism among the male and female subsamples. The constructed gender-differentiated regression models made it possible to identify a number of significant personality predictors of vandal behaviour. Predictors-facilitators include personality traits such as psychopathy and narcissism. The predictors-inhibitors of vandalism are honesty-modesty, extraversion, altruism, conscientiousness (female subsample), openness to new experience, Machiavellianism.The scientific novelty is in the fact that specific for the Russian sample of students and schoolchildren living in a megalopolis, personal factors of vandal behaviour were identified, taking into account gender differentiation.The practical significance is due to the potential possibilities of using the obtained data for preventing vandalism by students in the framework of the educational process in an educational organisation.

Subjective well-being of psychological-pedagogical students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction. With the development of humanistic attitudes in society, the importance of issues related to the subjective well-being of the individual increases. It is important not only how successful a person is at work or in educational activities, but also how well he/she feels. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the learning environment for university students. The study of the factors of subjective well-being of students expands the instrumental capabilities of psychological support during the pandemic. In the case of a repetition of a similar situation, this knowledge will be useful for helping students, and potentially a wider circle of people, to maintain subjective well-being.Aim. The present research aimed to investigate the subjective well-being of students of psychological and pedagogical directions of universities during the pandemic with an emphasis on its emotional component.Methodology and research methods. The research methodology is based on the subjective approach, which considers a student as an active subject, capable of successfully adapting to the changed conditions of an educational activity. In the course of the research, the authors identified the interrelationships of subjective well-being, its semantic markers and self-organisation to expand the possibilities of diagnosing subjective well-being and maintaining it during the periods of extreme social situations, as well as to use semantic markers for self-analysis. To assess subjective well-being, three methods were applied. Self-assessment of satisfaction with one’s condition on a 10-point scale was carried out according to the following parameters: sleep, food, communication with family, communication with friends, studies, hobbies, and mood. The authors employed the scale of subjective well-being (by А. Perrudet-Badoux, G. Mendelsohn, J. Chiche, adapted by M. V. Sokolova) and psychosemantic characteristics of the subjective attitude to the situation of distance learning at the university due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To assess the ability of students to organise themselves in the changed learning conditions, the questionnaire of self-organisation of activities (N. T. Feather и M. J. Bond, adapted by E. Yu. Mandrikova) was used. The study involved 406 students between the ages of 18 and 45 years (383 women and 23 men) studying in the areas of psychology and pedagogy at the University of Tyumen and State Kurgan State University. For statistical analysis of the research data, the Mann-Whitney U Test and correlation analysis were used.Results. It was found that the ability to self-organise leads to higher subjective well-being, and this, in turn, stimulates self-organisation. Semantic markers of subjective well-being associated with educational activities during the pandemic, such as comfortable and uncomfortable, interesting and uninteresting, tired and vigorous, were highlighted. The authors revealed objective parameters associated with self-organisation and subjective well-being, namely sleep disturbances. This can lead to the fact that there is not enough daytime and the student works at night, thereby resulting in the disturbance of night sleep, and consequently – poor self-organisation.Scientific novelty. The parameters of subjective well-being and self-organisation of students in a new, extreme social situation, during the COVID-19 pandemic are considered.Practical significance. The data obtained can be used to develop a strategy for teaching students in a pandemic situation and forced self-isolation, as well as to increase subjective well-being in a new social situation. The research results can be applied in psychodiagnostics for a more complete interpretation of the parameters of subjective well-being, as well as for the use of the identified relationships in the programmes of psychological support for students of psychological and pedagogical specialities. Semantic markers of subjective well-being that have received empirical justification can be employed to create a diagnostic scale.

The impact of using divergent thinking strategies on reading comprehension

Introduction. Divergent thinking strategies are based on brain activity represented by a series of successive and branching questions related to a particular reading text. These strategies stimulate the minds of sixth graders to think of new stimuli such as finding a solution to a specific problem, or making a specific judgment, or predicting future events, which produces new and innovative solutions and achieves a deeper understanding of the target reading text.The present research aims to investigate the impact of divergent thinking strategies in developing reading comprehension skills among sixth-grade students in the English language.Methodology and research methods. The authors used the quasi-experimental approach. A pre-post design was used to identify the effect of employing divergent thinking strategies in developing reading comprehension skills. The study sample consisted of 136 students, who were selected purposefully and distributed into two groups: experimental and control groups. Students in experimental group were taught using divergent thinking strategies. Students in control group were taught in the usual way.Results and scientific novelty. The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) found statistically significant differences between the two groups in favour of the experimental group in achievement. In addition, significant differences were found in the Motivation for Learning English between the two groups. It was found that divergent thinking strategies stimulate students’ thinking through various questions and allow them to look at their familiar knowledge with a new vision, to produce and generate new ideas with creative features.Practical significance. The current study is useful in determining the appropriate reading comprehension skills for students, and targeting them in developing these skills. This research also draws the attention of teachers to the importance of including strategies compatible with the brain, including divergent thinking strategies, when planning reading lessons. As for the educational supervisors, it puts in their hand’s strategies based on the theory of learning in the brain, including the divergent thinking strategies and how to employ them in reading lessons in order to develop reading comprehension. Moreover, these research materials can be employed by mentors in directing teachers to depart from the framework of traditional methods through the use of divergent thinking strategies in their classroom teaching practices.

Managerial focus of a regional vocational education and training system on the needs of socio-economic development

Introduction. The policy of the European Union and many other countries in the field of education and training of personnel with applied qualifications is traditionally focused on the needs of the economy of territories and the competitiveness of enterprises. Currently, a new organisational and managerial model is being approved in the Russian Federation, related to the world practice of innovative management. Some specific management tools of the targeted focus of VET systems on the needs of the economy have repeatedly been the subject of study. However, it has not been decided yet what specific sets of management tools should be used and how to effectively achieve the dynamic balance of personnel supply and demand in regional labour markets.Aim. The present research aimed to establish the features of the targeted managerial focusing of the activities of the regional VET systems on the needs of the socio-economic development of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation.Methodology and research methods. The research methodology is based on the following principles and approaches: system- and activity-based analysis of social objects, comparative analysis and modelling of social systems. The authors applied the metrological principle to compare the obtained values of indicators/indicators of the activity of VET systems with the “standard”, which is used as threshold values set by the method of expert assessments or by average values of indicators in current Russian monitoring studies. Aggregated indices were calculated as sums of normalised values of corresponding indicators groups.The following research methods were applied: questioning, expert assessment method, scaling, web analysis, content analysis of documents, methods of mathematical statistics in the processing of sociological data, methods of analysis, synthesis, generalisation, comparison, and abstraction in the interpretation of research results.The data sources were open-source databases (websites of the government of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, educational authorities, and professional educational organisations); statistical information; expert assessments of regional specialists and specialists of executive authorities in the field of education.Results and scientific novelty. As a result of the study, it was found that the management focus tools of the pilot regional VET system do not fully correspond to the needs of regionally oriented development. Regional differentiation is significant in accordance with most of the parameters, which characterise management tools for orienting the activities of the VET systems to the demands of the external environment. The spread in the values of indicators for the pilot regions reaches 80 %. According to several indicators, the identified differences are due to the different economic conditions of the regions. However, most of the parameters, which characterise the adaptability of regional VET systems, are not related to the economic component of the development of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and, are determined mainly by the factors of educational resources management and management models used by educational systems and individual professional educational organisations.Practical significance. The results obtained in the study make it possible to highlight the problem areas in the management of the VET system in the region and to identify reserves for enhancing the compliance of the conditions and results of the VET system and educational organisations with the needs of the socio-economic development of regions.

Workload and salary as determinants of pedagogical graduates’ employment by occupation

Introduction. The problem of the effectiveness of the pedagogical education system remains one of the most discussed topics in modern professional discourse. A large proportion of leaders of the educational industry and representatives of the expert community are convinced that graduates of pedagogical universities and colleges are not sufficiently prepared for independent professional activity and deflect from work in their field. The refusal of graduates to be employed by occupation is associated mainly with the poor quality of students’ practical training in universities. Criticising the low attendance rates of young professionals in schools, analysts often ignore the conditions of employment in educational institutions. Meanwhile, the appearance of a new form of statistical observation of OO-1 and OO-2 on open access makes it possible not only to track the results of employment of graduates of the vocational education system in schools across the country, but also to compare them with the conditions for hiring: the current workload on staff and the level of teachers’ salaries.The aim of the present research was to find the dependence of the results of pedagogical graduates’ employment by occupation on the conditions of employment in schools: the level of teachers’ salaries and workload in the regions of Russia.Methodology and research methods. The research methodological framework is a structural approach based on applied research procedures (observation, description, comparison, counting, measurement, modelling, etc.), according to which general scientific (comparative, retrospective analysis, systematisation, generalisation) and statistical research methods (statistical and correlation analysis, etc.) were employed. The analysis of official documents of educational authorities of different levels and educational institutions, scientific publications and forms of federal statistical observation of OO-1 and OO-2 was conducted. The processing of regional educational statistics was carried out using the Online Analytical Processing technology, which makes it possible to obtain OLAP cubes and form analytical slices in accordance with emerging research tasks. The slices were studied in detail using the Analysis ToolPak addin procedures and the statistical functions of the Excel library. In the course of the analysis, the authors performed the calculation of measures of the statistical relationship between the studied variables and their graphic visualisation.Results. This study established a high level of pedagogical labour market segmentation by territorial and qualification-age criteria of employees. The effects of influence on the part of state and public institutions and practices, leading to systematic discrimination of certain groups of educators, were revealed. Regional data provide the examples of discrimination against young teachers in remuneration, both in the process of employment due to the lack of qualification grades, and in the process of work, as a consequence of the inaccessibility to payments from the incentive part of the salary fund of schools. It is shown that the improvement of the results of pedagogical graduates’ employment by occupation is related to the improvement of the wage system, increasing the base rates and reducing the intra-industry differentiation of earnings among workers of different ages.Practical significance. The authors are convinced that this article will clarify the approaches for adjusting the mechanism for distributing the wages fund of schools, develop measures to attract young people to teaching and ensure the elimination of the shortage of personnel in the education system.

Global and national university rankings: A multivariate analysis

Introduction. In the context of globalisation and internationalisation of higher education, university rankings are becoming an important tool for assessing the quality of education received by students at various higher education institutions around the world. These processes actualise the issues of possibilities for practical use of methodologies for calculation of global and national university rankings.The aim of the study was to develop and apply a methodological approach to multivariate the analysis of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) classification procedures, to construct and analyse aggregated indicators for global and national rating systems of higher education organisations, and to assess the relationship between them.Methodology and research methods. The current paper presents a system analysis of databases of rating systems and an aggregation of independent evaluations of global and national rankings of HEIs using the methodology of league table analysis based on mathematical apparatus of the voting theory. The dependence of global and national university rankings indicators was investigated using correlation, cluster, factor, regression (linear and polynomial) and dispersion methods of analysis.Results and scientific novelty. A comprehensive comparative analysis of ranking systems and their results was carried out. The authors solved the problem of aggregating multiple heterogeneous studies of global and national ranking systems with their qualitative and quantitative variety of criteria, indicators and methods of assessment. The correlation between the indicators of aggregated global and national rankings was revealed; the regression dependence of the integral national ranking with the results of the leading global rating systems was determined.Practical significance. The developed methodical approach is a convenient and effective mechanism for comprehensive monitoring of the members of educational process.

Primary methods of internationalisation of higher legal education

Introduction. Recent trends in the sphere of internationalisation of higher education expand theoretical insights into the dialectical nature of correlation between pedagogical science and educational practice, as well as the relationship between the general direc tions of the development of higher education, its national and regional specifics. An analysis of the experience of internationalisation of universities is required for the development of various models to modernise higher education, including legal education, and to substantiate practical recommendations for reforming the Russian higher education system. To date, an understanding has been reached of the need to internationalise higher education in the context of globalization to increase the competitiveness of the Russian higher education system, as evidenced by the Federal project to maximise the competitive position of Russian universities among the world’s leading scientific and educational centres (The Russian Academic Excellence Project 5-100). Internationalisation, being the key to optimising the export potential of Russian higher education, is essential for the modernisation of legal education.Aim. The research aimed to evaluate the productivity of actual instruments of international cooperation between universities and to outline optimal approaches to the usage of successful practices of international and Russian educational space to enhance the attractiveness of Russian legal education, and, as a consequence, the creation of a sustainable competitive advantage of a higher education institution.Methodology and research methods. Complex, interdisciplinary goals and tasks of the present research predetermined the application of gnoseological and synergetic approaches to the selection of research tools. The gnoseological approach facilitated a more profound analysis of the nature of internationalisation and integration of education in the current international processes. The synergetic approach resulted in the integration of pedagogical and legal research methods to define an optimal internationalisation strategy for the training of multiskilled legal professionals.Results. The authors assessed the effectiveness of the existing ways of internationalization of Russian legal education according to foreign student demand. A comprehensive analysis of the legal, political and social aspects of the current state of attractiveness of the Russian market of educational services and the need to identify the specifics of the internationalization of higher legal education was carried out. The experience monitoring of inter-university international cooperation allowed the authors to determine the conditions for the effectiveness of joint legal programmes (creation of an innovative educational environment, project activities and a flexible management system); to analyse modern pedagogical technologies applicable to legal disciplines; to determine the best schemes used by Russian and European universities for external mobility of students and teachers; to develop the proposals for the introduction of disciplines (for Russian students) provided in foreign languages by Russian and foreign teachers; to propose measures to improve the state policy in the field of interest, aimed at stimulating Russian universities to develop international joint educational programmes.Scientific novelty. The article presented the analysis of positive and negative experiences of Russian universities in application of internationalisation key tools in legal higher education. The acknowledged internationalisation methods of higher education were systematised in general. The additional ways for the integration of Russian legal education, in particular, to the international educational space, were identified.Practical significance consists in the approbation of new methods based on competency and practice-oriented approaches. The authors developed the guidelines for the implementation of internationalisation to enhance university competitive advantage and to increase the demand for graduates in labour market.

Zone of proximal development and scaffolding required by junior high school students in solving mathematical problems

Introduction. Mathematics comprises grading concepts. It means that one specific concept can be interrelated to another concept, which embodies a continuous process. Mathematics instruction at schools is ordinarily delivered from the easiest to the hardest concepts and requires a considerably deep understanding of each concept. By acquiring the understanding, it is quite certain that students can solve mathematical problems effectively.Aim. The current research aimed to analyse and describe the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and scaffolding required by junior high school students in mathematical problem-solving. There is also an attempt to describe the actual level of competence possessed by students, and to determine the level of scaffolding needed to develop students’ learning competencies.Methodology and research methods. The present research employed a qualitative method within the descriptive approach. The research sample consisted of six students who attended the ninth grade at Muhammadiyah Junior High School 1 in Malang, Indonesia. The participants were grouped based on their mathematical competence levels, i.e. two high-achievers, two average-achievers, and two low-achievers. The data collection technique is done by giving tests, interviews, and observations. As for the teaching material, geometry was chosen as the main theme, covering the topic “Volumes of a Tube and a Ball”.Results. This research revealed that ZPD of the high-achievers was effective to help them solve mathematical problems independently. Conversely, the average- and low-achievers were found to be problematic at solving mathematical problems independently. The teachers must review and restructure the scaffolding strategies, dealing intensively with students who are less competent in solving mathematical problems.The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that previous studies have described efforts to improve the quality of learning through scaffolding (Siyepu S., 2013). This study describes in full the scaffolding process in the classroom: identification of students’ actual abilities and potential abilities after implementing instructional scaffolding.Practical significance. Referring to the results of the research, it is suggested that teachers should be so heedful about their students’ ZPD and thus more appropriate scaffolding treatments can be applied. In addition, teachers are strongly recommended doing self-training in scaffolding and keeping the instruction for their students to analyse their answers repeatedly to avoid a fallacy in operations. Besides, teachers should prepare their students to be good problem-solvers by exposing them to various exercises. For further studies, it is highly expected that more relevant research should be conducted from different viewpoints, i.e. investigating the effective scaffolding strategies.

Functions of a professional brand-building foresight technology in modelling the competitiveness of university graduates in the labour market

Introduction. The emergence of social, political and economic processes in the modern world leads to the development of innovative educational technologies, among which the researchers’ attention is drawn to a professional brand-building foresight technology. The professional brand-building foresight technology is a system of principles, methods and techniques for expert analysis of current achievements of students, young professionals and anyone who seeks self-improvement. Moreover, this training technology includes the development of programmes to optimise the professional and personal self-development of an individual in terms of his/her possible career growth.The aim of the current research was to justify the professional brand-building foresight technology developed by the authors, and to check the effectiveness of its application in the formation of brand-building and foresight competencies in a future specialist in the educational process of higher education.Methodology and research methods. The theoretical and methodological strategy in the study is a competency-based approach, which contributes to the formation of brand-building and foresight competencies. The conceptual provisions of the foresight approach, implemented in a complex of brand-forming tools of a single foresight trajectory in order to model and design a professional brand in relation to the strategic goals of a future specialist, became a practice-oriented research tactic. The authors used the following general scientific and specific scientific methods: questionnaire survey based on random systematic (mechanical) sampling, in-depth interview, expert survey, document analysis, self-assessment of readiness for personal brand-building.Results. The authors presented the professional brand-building foresight technology, the essence of which lies in the design of a professional brand and future career path. Its structure includes four programmes: self-marketing, personal branding, brand-building case and a road map to success. As a result of training, brand-building and foresight competencies are developed. The approbation experiment demonstrated that without special brand-building and foresight training of students, these competencies are formed spontaneously. Based on the results of the conducted surveys, the authors analysed the level of formation of brand-building and foresight competencies and the interest in the technology of personal brand-building as a factor of career self-development. A survey of university graduates revealed the dependence of employment on special teaching methods and the professional brand-building foresight technology. The interviews held with Russian and Latvian teachers determined the effectiveness of this technology. The study of the employers’ opinions showed the reasons that hinder the successful employment of young specialists. In addition, the authors revealed a lack of knowledge and a non-systematic limited nature of teaching these competencies in universities.Scientific novelty lies in the replenishment of interdisciplinary (at the intersection of pedagogy, brand building, forecasting, professional studies) scientific knowledge about foresight methodology. The emphasis is on the innovativeness of the professional brand-building foresight technology, which contributes to the competitiveness of university graduates and increases their chances of professional success.Practical significance. The results of the research can be useful for developing ideas about brand-building and foresight competencies development, personal brand-building, professional brand-building foresighting. The research materials can be employed by students and teachers of higher education institutions, heads of educational systems in the organisation of the educational process, as well as by various specialists and practitioners.