The phrase that is in the epigraph, shows the rapidity of historical development. However, one thing is evolutionary movement, based on the achievements of previous generations, and positive reached by them, and quite another is when the basis is destroyed, but radical steps to improve the situation are not being done. Especially when it comes to education of youth. Sometimes even the question arises – can the notion of "educator" and connections such as "education", "civility", "pupil" and others be just virtual? Can we talk about it as if it was concrete?
The answer is ambiguous. But we believe that this concept is not from the parallel worlds. And in real life, it also has a very specific content.
Questions can be put this way: "Are we, adults, satisfied with the level of education of children, students, the young?" I think that, again, the answer is not straightforward.
If we consider the whole out-of-family education (even though education in the family, in my opinion, is the most important factor in the formation of personality), it will look like that: kindergarten - school (lyceum, gymnasium) - an institution (college, University).
In kindergartens children are offered attention and care and tought the programs gathered for years. So, this stage of identity formation does not cause any problems. And in normal family small child is usually paid much attention to. But then there is a paradox: the older the child becomes, the less attention she/he gets. This situation fixed in the popular proverb "Small children - small problems, big children - big problems" works here. And our children are growing up requiring more: attention and tolerance, respect and understanding, but the main thing is communication. Frank and honest communication.
And what about secondary schools, with their constant shortage of staff and lack of humanities hours or extracurricular activities etc? Do they perform one of their main aims - to shape the personality of today and, most importantly, tomorrow day? A positive answer to this question a society will be able to give solving problems that today school is facing. Among them - the lack of funding, lack of sustainable textbooks and curricula, teachers’ poverty, which forces them to constantly look for additional opportunities to earn, and disappointing in the profession so that, ultimately, they cannot affect the quality and training of students.
Often yesterday's graduate enter the higher education institution (HEI) not because of his/her own thirst for knowledge, but in order to satisfy parents and because it’s needed or just hoping to get a diploma "just to be on the safe side".
Few schools can be today proud of not only a high level of the graduates training, but also of bringin up personal qualities. For this reason, many students in colleges have a slightly deformed outlook. Hence, the teachers of higher educational institutions have to correct the consequences. This is especially true for higher technical educational institutions.
The period of studying in higher technical school is a time when the future engineers and technologists, designers gain knowledge necessary for future professional activity, and their practical skills. But it’s not the only thing. During the education the young man gets to know the heritage of mankind and learns some of its amount. This is a period in life when personality is finally formed, and especially the most important component of personality – his/her outlook. This system of the views on the place of individuals in the world, of understanding and emotional evaluation of the meaning of life and work, a set of scientific, political, legal, moral and aesthetic beliefs and ideals largely determines human behavior and its relationship with the environment both in physical and social senses. A formed personality knows the answers to Kant's famous questions: "What can I know?", "What should I do?" And "What am I hoping for?"
What are the requirements for the future engineer and the creator of the material culture?
These issues are widely discussed in recent years. During this discussion some common beliefs about the characteristics of training engineers seem to have developed due to the peculiarities of modern technology and modern society.
Today's world is still characterized by unprecedented level of applied disciplines and technologies. They make it possible to create materials with any necessary properties and capabilities. Scientific and technological achievements seemed to have showed us the limitless capability of technological progress.
Personality is interested in the purpose of the equipment. Along with the question: "how to create", the answer to it was always studied by engineers, now are questions: "What and for what purpose must we create?" The challenge of modernity is the continuous upgrade of technical means, and is characterized by high update rate. Often the knowledge got in the higher educational institutions, start to be out of use before the expert starts to apply them.
So there are new problems of methodical plan. Training of specialists should be based on advanced science and technology and have a proactive nature.
So the creators of new technology should be focused on the constant search for new and be ready to quick perception and the need for continuous updating of their subject.
The components of this preparation is a basic scientific knowledge accumulation and development of creative abilities.
An outstanding scientist, the first rector of the Kiev Polytechnic Professor Victor L. Kirpichev in his speech on Aug. 31, 1898 at the opening of the Kiev Polytechnic Institute, said: " Polytechnic Institute is the higher institution, training the engineers, thegenies peoplethat are able to create and establish the new.The engineer’s wok needs artistic abilities and workmanship. If someone proposes to routinely copy the old days, he doesn’t need to graduate from the institution: his activities would be the ones of a worker, not the engineer. "
In connection to the development of computer technology, the Internet, electronic media and communications, human capabilities quickly receive large amounts of information from a variety of disciplines expanded considerably. Therefore, an important problem is the ability to use not only technical means, but also information and use it for the commonwealth. The use of it must be positive and be aimed at the creative direction, and also not to be destructive. For this reason, use of Internet sites should not be arbitrary and uncontrolled. At present many researchers repeatedly saw the facts of inadequate response to information obtained from the Internet. And we cannot forget that during the formation of personality in the young man psychoemotional perception of reality is formed.
Significantly various environmental issues have today exacerbated, solving them only through treatment plants and the equipment is impossible. All the technologies must be created on the basis of environmental requirements, which implies a significant role in shaping the environmental component of the personality of the engineer. The level of development of society primarily indicates the level of responsibility, especially for future generations.
It is also important to choose the humanistic direction of scientific and technical creativity, to focus on people. It is not accidentally that so many people write about humanization and liberalization of education nowadays.
To implement this concept a number of humanities faculties are created in our university. They are the faculties of sociology, law, linguistics, management and marketing. Every university student, who is studying at one of the faculties of technical direction has the opportunity to study these newly created faculties and get the second education. Studying on the faculties of humanities with no doubt have a positive influence on shaping the worldview of the young man, contributes to its formation as a citizen of the state, which serves not only for themselves but also for the interests of society.
To sum up, we conclude that the task of higher institution is an education at a high general level of culture, with deep fundamental knowledge in science and technology, training one that is willing and able to create, seeks for something new, is aware of its activities for the benefit of man, country, humanity .
A human is always a representative of a particular social group. Person's world bears the mark of the relevant collective perceptions.
According to the task of teachers who deal with students (and in KPI it’s all the employees) is the formation or promoting a particular - "Polytechnic" - world.
Students are aware of their belonging to the family of their institution and are proud of it. However, the gaining of such awareness should not be coercive. The recognition of belonging to old traditions of the glorious institute to some extent exalt the personality of the future specialist, it creates a desire and willingness to act and to be proactive. However, the staff could not be some mechanical synthesis of human individuals, it must be one that involves personal development of the individual, its creativity, use of this heritage for the benefit. "Common understanding" implies not only conservation, but also enrich the various forms of social existence and differentiation in this synthesis. This community is in some way a model of the whole society with all the processes that occur in it. It is now our eyes are can see drastic changes in creating social structures, new financial and political segments of society. The process of interpenetration and mutual influence is happening.
It should be noted that during the training each student has opportunities not only to acquire knowledge and skills in his chosen subject area, but also to contribute to the cultural, intellectual and social life. A person can focus on the spiritual side of his life in which he can develop more universally, and not one-sidedly or distortedly. Individuals themselves are responsible for what they are and what they are about to do, they must be interested in how to reach their own targets; a boy or a girl finally gets his/her opportunity through self-activeness.
It should be stressed that the Kiev Polytechnic students are offered with such opportunities more than enough. It is only the question of desire. Firstly it is the possibility of professional growth through participation in various olympiads, competitions, scientific projects and others. Then – it is the possibility of self-realization in arts through participation in creative circles, in the theater lovers club (called ETA), in different performances which include acting and fun. Third thing is sports. A so-called evidence of successful implementation of potential students of polytechnics potential, so to speak, in their personal psychological superstructure, is a high performance, high-profile victories and great achievements in international competitions and contests.
However, not all the students of Polytechnic have a wish to spend their free time with use. Falling under the effect of crowd or pseudofriends, some students appear to the world with negative habits, desires to assert themselves in some ways that may conflict with the generally accepted norms of behavior and morality, and it’s impossible and, most importantly, is not needed to put up with. Manifestations of low culture of student behavior during mass events (such as discos, sport competitions, etc.) should be the subject of a constant attention of the student government and trade union organization. Their field of observation must always be a student and his/her habbit of drinking alcohol, beer, smoking, using of foul language. Shortly, Kyiv Polytechnic Institute should become a place of high culture and creativity. So would it be. I strongly believe in it!
By V.Yankovyy, editor of the newspaper "Kyiv Polytechnic", Associate Professor of FMM