The article outlines key issues in the career self-determination of Russian schoolchildren and identifies potential root causes behind these problems. It provides an analysis of the sociocultural context and the current state of models supporting adolescents’ career self-determination. The identification of problems was based on a biparadigmatic approach combining qualitative and quantitative research methods. The leading qualitative approach applied is phenomenology, which makes it possible to trace the feelings and experiences of both teachers and students. Core characteristics of the concept of “career self-determination” are identified through content analysis. The article also analyzes stereotypical practices of career guidance currently observed in schools, using methods of theoretical literature analysis, analysis of innovative practices, educational institution websites, and focus group interviews. The study explores the difficulties faced by adolescents in their career self-determination using a proprietary pedagogical diagnostic tool — the “Career Self-Determination Guitar.” It also examines perceptions of teachers and students regarding the challenges of school career guidance, using a wide-scale online survey. The identified difficulties are primarily associated with the insufficient support provided to students in their self-knowledge and self-assessment. One of the key reasons lies in the dominance of the “external model” of career guidance in educational practice, which ignores internal school traditions and routines. The article emphasizes the need to rethink the role of personalized pedagogical support that considers the individual characteristics of both the student and the teacher, as well as the specific educational context. Based on the findings, the authors conclude with an analysis of the causes of the current situation and propose one possible solution.
The article constitutes the first part of a broader discussion on the quality of university education in relation to the roles assumed by universities. The first part reviews approaches to defining quality and analyzes the results of university rankings as an element of quality assessment, viewed through the prism of how different university roles are reflected in these rankings. Based on a comparison of the quality of university and school education in Russia, the article formulates a hypothesis about risks of quality decline associated with the spread of AI technologies. The second part, planned for future publication, will examine approaches to the design of quality assurance systems in Russia and abroad and, drawing on the experience of the Faculty of Economics at Lomonosov Moscow State University, describe the principles underlying the construction of internal quality assurance systems.
Preschool education as the first level of the education system plays a crucial role in preventing social and educational injustice and educating the worldview of the younger generation in a multiethnic educational environment. The concept of intercultural dialogue in the education system in general and preschool education in particular is considered as an essential component of its humanization and democratization. The purpose of this article is to study the manifestation of intercultural dialogue in preschool education in Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. For this purpose, a semi–structured in–depth interview with 56 preschool teachers was used: Russia – 20, Kazakhstan - 17, Belarus - 19. In order to process the data obtained by semi-structured in-depth interviews, the axial coding technique was used. The study allowed us to establish that in all three countries: Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, preschool teachers pay great attention to the traditional culture of their country, at the same time, as well as to intercultural dialogue, since the axis of the key categories is: "Traditions of celebration", "Intercultural dialogue" and "National identity". The main means of embodying intercultural dialogue and the formation of national and cultural identity as interrelated categories are celebrations and the involvement of parents in the activities of preschool institutions, which make up the densest thematic field, various visualizations are also used, less often folklore. Teachers from all three countries see a variety of perspectives for the implementation of intercultural dialogue in preschool education. The category of "Improvement through intercultural dialogue" in the sayings of teachers of the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan occupies the first position in terms of frequency of occurrence, in Russia – the second.
In the context of the increasing heterogeneity of the student body, the study and description of the agency of teachers who implement the tasks of inclusion at the university is of particular relevance. The application of activity-based methodology made it possible to describe the structure of a teacher's agency in higher inclusive education through motivational sources, inclusive purposes, inclusive means and tools. The empirical study included an assessment of the elements of the agency structure in the context of the implementation of specific activities related to the application of universal design principles for learning. Based on the analysis of data from a questionnaire survey of 327 full-time teachers of Tyumen State University, two key components of pedagogical agency were identified through the use of factor and cluster analysis of the survey data. The first component is self-monitoring and evaluation, the second is communication orientation. Three groups of teachers ("communicators", "conservatives" and "universalists") have been identified, differing in the level of agency and awareness of the principles of UDL. It is shown that the most proactive group ("universalists") is characterized by a high level of awareness of the principles of UDL, pronounced media and ICT competence, as well as the active application of pedagogical practices that ensure accessibility and diversity of the educational process. The results obtained complement existing approaches to the study of university teachers agency in the context of inclusive in the inclusive higher education.
The IKEA effect refers to a cognitive bias whereby people tend to overvalue products or outcomes they have contributed effort to. This study examines how this bias manifests itself in academic settings, specifically in the evaluation of student assignments. The research consists of three studies: the first one analyzed 115 final projects and found that academic advisors consistently graded their own students' work higher than did external evaluators—on average, by about 5%. The second and third studies showed that students also tended to rate their own assignments more generously than their peers or instructors did. These findings point to a systematic bias in academic assessment that has implications not only for fairness but also for the long-term integrity of academic evaluation systems. By highlighting the role of subjective involvement in shaping evaluation outcomes, the study contributes to broader discussions about sustainability in education—particularly in the context of maintaining fair, transparent, and trust-based assessment practices.
The adaptation of preschool children with special educational needs to an inclusive educational environment represents a complex process of gradual adjustment of children with developmental disabilities to conditions of joint learning and upbringing with neurotypical peers. Adaptive mechanisms in children with special educational needs are characterised by increased complexity and require specialised pedagogical strategies that account for individual characteristics of cognitive, sensory, and socio-emotional development. The purpose of the research is to investigate the effectiveness of using play as a means of adapting preschool children with special educational needs to an inclusive educational environment. The research methodology is based on PRISMA principles with a search of publications in Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases using key descriptors "kindergarten adaptation", "preschoolers with special educational needs", "inclusive environment", "play-based interventions" for the period 1975–2025. Strict inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to ensure high quality of selected studies. From 2,880 initially identified records, 7 studies meeting the established relevance criteria were included in the final analysis. The results demonstrate consistent support for the effectiveness of play interventions for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, severe speech impairments, and visual impairments. The greatest adaptive effect is achieved through socially-mediated play activities involving neurotypical peers and significant adults, promoting natural formation of inclusive relationships and mutual understanding within the children's group.
Considering the challenges students face in learning physics, exploring the use of peer instruction in primary school could provide teachers with a valuable new teaching strategy. This research encompassed teaching the topics Balance and Energy, with the aim of examining the impact of peer instruction on student achievement and its role in reducing misconceptions. The respondents were 132 Grade 7 students (13 years old) from two primary schools in Subotica, Republic of Serbia. A pedagogical experiment was conducted with an experimental and control group, using a pretest-posttest design. Statistical analysis included the Mann-Whitney U test, independent samples t-test, paired samples t-test, and calculation of n-gain and the percentage of students understanding the concepts. The results showed that the application of peer instruction leads to better student achievement (the t-test results showed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups at the end of the pedagogical experiment, t = –3.86, p < 0.001), however does not spontaneously lead to a reduction in misconceptions (Man-Whitney U test showed no significant difference in misconceptions between groups after the pedagogical experiment, U = 721.50, p = 0.432). Additionally, this teaching method is equally effective in fostering deeper learning and engagement for both genders.
The article is devoted to the study of conditions for the support of play and the development of creative abilities in kindergartens. The purpose of the study is to identify the conditions for play and creativity, as well as the factors determining their quality and compatibility with each other. The Play Environment Rating Scale: ECERS Extension (PERS) and Creativity Environment Rating Scale: ECERS Extension (CERS) were used as tools for assessing educational conditions. The quality assessment was carried out by the method of participant observation for 3 hours by specially trained experts. The study involved 39 preschool groups from Russia and Kazakhstan. The key deficits of playing conditions (insufficient time for free activity, small amount of unstructured materials, unwillingness of adults to accompany children's play) and for the development of creative abilities (insufficient support for children's questioning, rare discussions of problematic situations with children, etc.) were described. The study showed a correlation between conditions for supporting play and conditions for the development of creative abilities. It can be assumed that supporting play and thinking processes, requires from the teacher not only specific skills (play support or dialogue), but, above all, some universal professional abilities, particularly those that allow to cope with situations of uncertainty. During the qualitative analysis, a cluster of "author's" kindergartens was identified, in which the kindergarten educational program is built reflexively and consciously. "Author's" kindergartens are significantly more likely to create at least minimal conditions for both play and creativity. The quality of conditions for play and creativity in Montessori groups is higher than in groups with a frontal educational organization of the educational process, but lower than in groups where educational conditions are focused on play and creativity.
The article focuses on professional education in the biographies of young people aged 18-35. Based on 66 in-depth interviews about growing up, interpretation of generations, sustainability and initiative, conclusions are drawn about differences in the narrative about the place and meaning of professional education in the lives of young people of two types of employment (wage employment and self-employment). By combining methods of biographical analysis and open coding, the results were obtained confirming the growing unpredictability of the career trajectories of young people. The biographies of self-employed youth are characterized by the category of “disappointment” when building a career trajectory. At the same time, for specialists working for hire, the attitude towards the educational stage in biographies was revealed as a “background” for more significant activities during this period. The data show a narrative about the higher agency of self-employed youth in choosing an educational vector and a greater emphasis on the connection with dynastic professional history for the narratives of employees working for hire. Both categories of workers continue their education after receiving a diploma, but for the self-employed, its source is autodidactics, and for employees working for hire, it is the place of work. As for the meaning of education, the self-employed point to the importance of acquiring professional skills, while employees working for hire understand education as a pass to adulthood.
This article focuses on analyzing the narratives of Russian parents of children 3-12 years old about their children's involvement in extracurricular systematic sports and physical activity (SPSA). In addition, it examines the barriers and agents of involvement in systematic physical activity classes. The empirical material is 4 focus groups with 36 parents aged 27-50 years living in Moscow, St. Petersburg or Tambov (13 fathers and 23 mothers). The results of the focus groups are analyzed by means of thematic analysis and compared with foreign literature on the topic and sociological explanations of children's involvement in SPSA, which the authors construct at the beginning of the article. According to the results of the study, it was found out that according to parents' perceptions there are three groups of children from the point of view of their involvement in systematic extracurricular SPSA activities: not involved, weakly involved and strongly involved. The list of barriers to the involvement of young children in systematic additional SPSA classes includes both a wide list of subjective and objective factors, and there are no universal ones, i.e. shared by all parents. Parents identify the family as the main agent of involvement in SPSA. The research findings in relation to involvement can be explained by existential approaches in sociology and generally reflect foreign studies, although there is a slight difference in the rationales for the low involvement that Russian parents see in the age of the child. With regard to barriers and agents of involvement, all sociological justifications proved to be relevant, and the empirical results obtained correlate with foreign studies. Thus, no striking differences between Russian parents in terms of their rationalizations of children's involvement in SPSA and foreign parents were revealed.
Today, the issues of human agency (the ability to proactively transform the environment) in the context of negative trends in socio-economic development are one of the most promising areas for research in the field of education. One of the most discussed forms of agency support through education in academic and expert literature is entrepreneurship training in higher education. National governments are important stakeholders in this problem area, and education policy is a key tool. This study analyzes national policies in the field of entrepreneurship education at the university level in 5 countries: China, Russia, Czech Republic, Poland and the USA. The analysis was based on official political documents, with a total of 35 documents included in the sample. The results of the study showed that all the countries under consideration declare an interest in teaching entrepreneurship in higher education, but to varying degrees articulate the expected results and the main directions of relevant activities in documents, which indicates the lack of consensus at the level of government policies regarding the tasks, forms and results of entrepreneurship education in universities. The most well-developed topic turned out to be related to skills, including entrepreneurial skills. There is also evidence that social and technological entrepreneurship is only in a limited number of cases positioned as a priority in entrepreneurship education, in particular, the emphasis on technological entrepreneurship is typical for Russia and China. Most of the analyzed national policies consider entrepreneurship (and, consequently, entrepreneurship education) as a response to the challenges of economic development. Compared to other countries, Russia's educational policy on entrepreneurship education at universities appears to be systematic and detailed, which could be a competitive advantage for Russian higher education in terms of developing the "entrepreneurial" component of students' and graduates' human potential.
The digital environment plays a significant role in the interaction between parents and schools. The use and impact of digital tools for communication, educational process organisation, and school management remain central topics in educational research. This article examines the role of digital services in shaping parental trust in the education system. It addresses the question of how digital resources help parents maintain trust in schools, particularly in situations involving negative experiences of interaction. Using path analysis based on responses from 16,353 parents of schoolchildren in Moscow, the study assesses the extent to which the frequency of use and satisfaction with digital services mediate the negative impact of communication difficulties with schools on overall trust in the education system. The findings indicate that the compensatory effect depends not only on the frequency of digital tool use but also on a high level of user satisfaction. Thus, the quality of digital interaction between schools and parents emerges as an important factor in sustaining trust. The results may be of use in shaping information policy and strategies for digital communication in education.
The purpose of this article was to study for the features of students’ cognitive activity, as well as to determine the area of interest in which this activity manifests itself or could manifest itself most strongly in the subject's opinion. The paper proposes a scale technique for diagnosing the parameters of students’ cognitive activity. Using it, the features of cognitive activity of first-year students of the classical university were studied at the I. Kant Baltic Federal University. In particular, it is shown that first-year students have a greater cognitive interest in obtaining practical information related to their future profession, and to a lesser extent, in developing personal skills and informal communication with classmates. They also prioritize forms of informal information acquisition that provide knowledge and skills for professional and personal growth. The possibility of effectively integrating assessing cognitive activity of each student into information and recommendation services that form customized lifelong learning routes for students is discussed.
The article provides an overview of current research on the current state of generative artificial intelligence. The authors of the article conducted a cluster analysis of data obtained from a survey of 1,597 students and 250 professors at Tomsk State University. 3 clusters of teachers were identified: 1) Advanced users. For them, the use of generative AI is an opportunity to free up time for new tasks, to be in the trend of technology development, generative AI allows them to increase their competitive advantage. This cluster is more loyal to students' use of tools with AI. 2) A cluster of respondents with average and above average usage experience. They are interested in trying to use generative AI, but they do not notice the significant advantages of generative AI, and they are also less loyal to the use of generative AI by students. 3) A cluster of respondents with little or no use experience - the attitude is characterized by an existing interest in generative AI, as well as to the possibilities of reducing the complexity of tasks with its help, the least loyal to the use of generative AI by students. There are 4 behavioral types among the students: 1) A cluster of advanced users - a more loyal attitude to the capabilities of the generative AI, awareness of the need to work with the data obtained from the generative AI, awareness of the risk of increasing the incorrect use of the generative AI. 2) A cluster of respondents with above-average usage experience - a more trusting attitude to the information provided by the generative AI, allocation of more opportunities for its use, are more inclined to believe that the generative AI will not harm the quality of their education. 3) A cluster of respondents with average usage experience has an uncertain attitude towards generative AI, more often than others it is difficult to assess the positive and negative sides of generative AI. 4) A cluster of respondents with little use experience - more frequent use for extracurricular activities, generally positive attitude towards generative AI, see the risks associated with less attention of students to education.
Academic reading, which involves working with scientific and popular science texts in an academic environment, according to surveys, causes difficulties for students. In addition to the style of the text, the high complexity of the text that is related to long and extended sentences, big text size, and the presence of specific terms, can also cause difficulties. Although studies often examine the influence of text style or text complexity on reading comprehension separately, their interaction while reading in a mother tongue remains understudied. The purpose of the present study was to identify the contribution of style, text complexity and reading habit to the process of reading in a native (Russian) language. The experiment involved 43 first-year students majoring in Economics at HSE University Moscow (35 women; Mage = 18,3; SD = 0,71; range - 18-22), 62% of whom regularly work with scientific texts. The materials of the study were 32 texts on economics topics: 16 journalistic and 16 scientific, distributed into three levels of complexity according to the "Textometer" tool [Laposhina, Lebedeva, 2021]. Students read the texts and answer short comprehension questions after reading. At this time, the participants' eye movements were recorded using an eye-tracker. Statistical analyses of the results using linear mixed-effects models revealed a significant effect of text complexity only on the mean duration of fixations (Est. = 5,41, SE = 1,73, p-value = 0,01). Meanwhile, text style and regularity of engagement with scientific materials showed no significant effect on oculomotor metrics. Thus, the study confirms that it is the text complexity, not text style, that has the main influence on the process of reading scientific texts in a native language.
Psychological research has established a link between the development of emotion regulation in older preschool children and the growth of their understanding of emotions. This finding has underpinned the design of numerous educational programs aimed at helping preschoolers learn display rules, such as strategies for coping with anger. However, these programs typically lack methods for assessing a child's actual ability to apply these expression rules in real-life situations. This study aimed to develop tools for assessing how well children master emotion expression rules. Participants included 77 older preschoolers (M = 73.77 months). Methods involved interviews, observation and Test of Emotion Comprehension. The study resulted in the development of level-based frameworks for evaluating two components of a child's emotional self-regulation ability: 1) the child's knowledge of emotion expression rules, and 2) their ability to apply these rules in real situations. The framework for assessing knowledge of expression rules defines levels of proficiency based on a child's ability to recognize emotions and their expressions, identify emotion regulation strategies, and understand the importance of context-appropriate emotional displays. The framework for assessing the ability to use these rules in practice evaluates the intensity and frequency of the child's emotional reactions in real situations, as well as their readiness to consciously apply the display rules.
The article describes the diversity of approaches to the structure of flexible curricula in the world universities. Based on the analysis of educational programs of 66 universities from 13 countries, the typology of flexible curriculum architectures centered on students’ choice opportunities is proposed for the first time. Data on the architecture of educational programs of universities were taken from open sources - university websites, scientific publications on the development of new curricula and published curricula. The proposed typology is built on two bases: program selection and courses selection. A comparative analysis of curricula with different types of architectures was conducted. It is concluded that leading world universities strive to provide the most flexible curricula. The developed typology can be used both for future research as a reference scale for comparison and by managers when developing new curricula.
Проведено исследование с целью оценить условия, которые создаются в детских садах для игры и развития творческих способностей детей, а также выявить факторы, определяющие качество этих условий и их совместимость друг с другом. Для оценки образовательных условий использовались шкалы Play Environment Rating Scale: ECERS Extension (PERS) и Creativity Environment Rating Scale: ECERS Extension (CERS). Оценка проводилась методом включенного наблюдения, которое осуществляли в течение трех часов специально обученные эксперты. В исследовании приняли участие 39 дошкольных групп из России и Казахстана. Определены ключевые дефициты условий для игры (недостаток времени на свободную деятельность, малое количество неструктурированных материалов, неготовность взрослых сопровождать детскую игру) и для развития творческих способностей (недостаточная поддержка детского вопрошания, редкие обсуждения проблемных ситуаций с детьми). Обнаружена взаимосвязь между качеством условий для поддержки игры и для развития творческих способностей. Авторы высказывают предположение, что для поддержки игровой деятельности и мыслительных процессов детей в детском саду педагогу необходимы не только конкретные умения или технологии (сопровождения игры или ведения диалога), но и прежде всего некоторые универсальные профессиональные способности, в частности позволяющие справляться с ситуациями неопределенности. В ходе качественного анализа полученных данных выделен кластер авторских детских садов, в которых образовательная программа строится рефлексивно и осознанно. Именно таким детским садам значимо чаще других удается создавать хотя бы минимальные условия и для игры, и для развития творческих способностей детей. Качество условий для игры и творчества в Монтессори-группах выше, чем в группах с фронтально-учебной организацией образовательного процесса, но ниже, чем в группах, где образовательные условия сфокусированы на игре и творческих способностях.
This study examines the interaction of schools with local communities through case studies of two Russian regions: Nerchinsky District in Zabaikalsky Krai and the cities of Salekhard and Novy Urengoy in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District (YaNAD). The focus is on the characteristics of these interactions and the differences between territorial cases depending on contextual and environmental conditions. The empirical part of the study draws on data collected in these regions during expeditions conducted by the National Research University Higher School of Economics. The practical component includes an analysis of school practices of external interaction in the specified cases, a comparison of territorial cases, and the identification of characteristics linking school practices with the socio-economic conditions of complex living contexts. The analysis establishes the contextual dependence of school practices in engaging with local communities. The socio-economic development of the territories, the social and cultural capital of the local community, and the resource intensity of the local economy are identified as conditions that both constrain and enable the development of various strategies for school collaboration with external partners. The high level of economic development in Salekhard and Novy Urengoy allows schools to build partnerships with corporations and engage non-regional partners in school activities, while the cultural capital of the community creates opportunities for deeper and more sustainable strategies. In contrast, the low resource intensity of the economy in Nerchinsky District of Zabaikalsky Krai compels schools to form interaction strategies with available resources—most often with parents and local associations—on spontaneous and situational grounds, while the cultural capital of the population limits the implementation of complex forms of social partnership with long-term impact.
In the context of the massification of higher education, first-generation students (those whose parents do not hold a higher education degree) face specific barriers to accessing university due to their distinct needs, prior experiences, and career expectations. This puts them at risk in terms of educational success, underscoring the importance of research aimed at better understanding the characteristics of this student population. The purpose of this article is to identify the typical profile of Russian first-generation university students and to examine their admission strategies as well as the features of their educational experience. The study is based on a survey data collected from Russian university students within the framework of the Monitoring of Education Markets and Organizations project (N = 9,969). Contrary to international research findings, the results indicate that Russian first-generation students do not differ from their peers whose parents have higher education degrees across most of the examined characteristics. Although differences in admission strategies and educational experiences are statistically significant, they cannot be considered substantial due to the small effect sizes. This can be explained by the specifics of the Russian context, where higher education is widely perceived as a social norm, tuition-free university education remains highly accessible, and a standardized admissions system may mitigate initial inequality effects. At the same time, subsequent research should pay special attention to differentiated analyses of the trajectories, attitudes, and educational experiences of first-generation students enrolled in selective versus non-selective universities. Such an approach would provide a more nuanced picture—one that captures not only general indicators of higher education accessibility for traditionally underrepresented groups, but also potential barriers to accessing the most prestigious segment of higher education.
