Aesthetic education as a factor for imprinting positive value attitudes in schoolchildren

Information about authors: Savelyeva Olga Evgenevna, PhD in Pedagogy, Associate Professor of Department of English, Smolensk State University (Smolensk, Russian Federation). Email: oe.savelyeva@gmail.com

Annotation: According to the third generation Federal State Educational Standard for basic general education, one of teachers’ main focuses is to develop schoolchildren’s aptitude to be guided by a system of positive value orientations. It becomes important to search for effective ways to form such positive orientations in schoolchildren. In Russian educational programs, aesthetic methods are not specified as an independent character-building tool, while the aesthetic environment can serve as a powerful factor in personality development and in the formation of positive value attitudes in students. The purpose of the article is to explore the potential of aesthetics as a factor in shaping schoolchildren’s aptitude to be guided by positive value orientations, as well as to identify the best practices of aesthetic education, which can serve for the development of new character education programs at school. Based on the analysis of Chinese pedagogical approaches with their focus on aesthetic education, and on the pedagogical ideas of A.S. Makarenko and I.F. Kharlamov, the author identifies a set of effective means and methods of aesthetic education and develops their classification. According to students’ engagement, all these means and methods are divided into two groups: 1) the aesthetic code of the school (aesthetics of school premises, routine and teachers’ speech, availability of aesthetic extra-curricular clubs), 2) active involvement of students in the process of aesthetic education (students’ maintaining and developing the aesthetics of school premises and routine, the aesthetics of their own speech and the speech of others, participation in aesthetic groups or clubs and in cultural projects, visiting cultural events, conducting hobby workshops, completing assignments in aesthetic subjects). The findings of the article can be used to develop character education programs, as well as for comparative analyses of educational systems and in research on theoretical issues of various branches of education.

Keywords: character education in Chinese schools, factors of personality development, cultivation of a sense of beauty, building a value attitude, spiritual and moral values, the theory of broken windows.

DOI: 10.31773/2078-1768-2024-69-283-291

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