JUSTIFICATION OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE PEDAGOGICAL ENVIRONMENT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL MATURITY OF STUDENTS OF SOCIONOMIC SPECIALTIES

Abstract

The social maturity of a person is considered as the ability to be happy and in prosperity – on the one hand, as the ability to cope with complexity and extraordinary events – on the other. Emphasis is also made on the social maturity of a person as one's positive contribution to the well-being of the community as a whole. An emergency situation is considered as a situation of manifestation, development or change of the «vector» of a person's social maturity. At the same time, the probabilistic nature of the development of a person's social maturity is characterized. Its result depends on resilience, vulnerability, the level of moral development of a person and the willful efforts made, but is not limited to this. The task of developing social maturity is proposed to be solved within the framework of the pedagogical environment, which provides for the freedom of the individual educational trajectory of students and human freedom in the broadest sense. A number of theoretical propositions by K. Rogers («good life», «freedom»), L. Kohlberg («moral stages»), K. Gilligan («ethic of care»), T. Cannon («components of vulnerability») were applied to substantiate the functions of the pedagogical environment for the development of social maturity. The following functions of the pedagogical environment for the development of social maturity of students of socionomic specialties are substantiated: 1) providing samples and organizing discussions of moral dilemmas on the threshold of complexity; 2) organizations of real practices of caring for other people; 3) providing inclusive vulnerability-sensitive support upon request; 4) creation of conditions for human-to-human relations and freedom to become oneself. Social maturity is considered as a meta-quality in relation to general and professional competencies, program learning outcomes. It is substantiated that the pedagogical environment is excessive in relation to the content of the educational components of the educational programs of socionomic specialties. However, such excess is necessary. It expands the possibilities of the individual educational trajectory of students not only to the set competencies and program learning outcomes, but also to self-determination and social maturity. We focus on a student-centered pedagogical environment in which a person becomes more and more himself; thereby making a greater positive contribution to the collective well-being of the community as a whole.