Concept and meaning of education

The main features of modern society are globalization of the world economic space and modernization. The progress of these processes directly depends on the educational sector, in particular higher education. Globalization can have both positive and negative consequences. And no matter how we treat it, this process cannot be stopped, and therefore in this situation it is necessary to try to the maximum to extract from it all the positive things that it carries. Higher educational institutions, being a transmitter of education, are subjects of global trends all over the world: the network of new communication technologies is steadily expanding; the increasingly wider scope of international and academic professional mobility; the creation of branches of universities on the territory of foreign countries is considered as one of the conditions for their survival (commercialization) in conditions of fierce educational competition, etc. However, the main thing remains - education continues to be considered as the main tool for the further development of society.

The legal definition of education is given in the preamble of the Law on Education, where it is understood as a purposeful process of education and training in the interests of an individual, society, and state, accompanied by a statement of the achievement by a citizen (student) of educational levels established by the state (educational qualifications). From the above definition it follows that education is characterized by the presence of two components (processes) - education and training, as well as confirmation of the achievement of the appropriate educational qualification by the student. We can say that education should represent the unity of the processes of learning, upbringing and results.

UNESCO's International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) defines education as all purposeful and systematic activities designed to satisfy educational needs. Education is seen as an organized and sustainable process of communication that produces learning. Learning, in turn, refers to any change in behavior, information, knowledge, mutual understanding, worldview, value system or skills. In accordance with ISCED, training must be planned, organized, sustainable, and carried out in the presence of certain conditions that together define and distinguish it from other forms of unorganized training. ISCED includes the following conditions as: focus, goal-setting, planning; a specific sequence of learning activities or learning models with clearly defined goals; a strictly defined order, form of training, a certain methodology (usually the presence of a teacher is assumed, but interaction may be indirect and/or inanimate); duration and continuity (for each type, type of training, its own minimum duration is established).

Education is the object of research in various branches of knowledge: philosophy, pedagogy, sociology, economics, jurisprudence, etc. Representatives of these sciences have proposed doctrinal definitions of education and training, which differ significantly from each other (even within the same branch of knowledge). For example, in pedagogy, some authors understand education as the process and result of a person’s assimilation of social experience, a system of knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for life in society, and learning is defined as the joint activity of a student and a teacher, aimed at achieving educational goals, mastering knowledge and skills and skills specified by curricula and programs.

Sociologists understand education as the process of society transferring knowledge, skills, and values from one person or group to other people.

In the Encyclopedia of Vocational Education, learning is revealed through the following meanings: a) communication of knowledge, formation of skills and abilities necessary for successful participation in various types of social activities; b) general development of a person as an individual, enrichment of his spiritual world and creative potential. It is also noted here that the learning process is two-way, it covers the activity of the teacher - teaching and the activity of the student - learning.

We, in turn, believe that the categories “education” and “training” are holistically interconnected. Moreover, education is a complex structure, the elements of which are the educational process (learning process) and the result of learning. This conclusion follows from the fact that the result of training is the education received. The value of training lies in the intended result - the education received. Education, in turn, cannot be achieved unless a deliberate learning process has first been carried out. In this regard, education can be considered in the narrow and broad senses of the word. In the broad sense of the word, education includes the process of learning and the result of learning; in the narrow sense of the word education melts into the form of an educational process.

Focusing on the definition of education given in the preamble of the Law on Education, some authors try to distinguish between training services (services for the transfer of certain knowledge, the formation of skills and abilities on the basis of this knowledge) and educational services (services for the transfer of certain knowledge, the formation on the basis of this knowledge and skills and, in addition, providing educational influence on the consumer of the service). Given the above understanding of education and training, it appears that this contrast between education and training services is incorrect.

Considering education as the unity of the process and result of learning, one of its elements, designated in the Law on Education, is omitted - upbringing. The function of education is, of course, necessary in the educational process, especially in conditions of economic and social instability of society. One of the principles of state policy in the field of education is the education of citizenship, hard work, respect for human rights and freedoms, love for the environment, the Motherland, and family. Through education, the continuity of the cultural heritage of the nation is carried out. However, in our opinion, we can only talk about the education of students today in relation to, for example, schools and secondary educational institutions. “Upbringing” affects higher education to a lesser extent, for which there are certain reasons. Firstly, adults come to university with an already formed worldview; secondly, the education of students cannot be taken for granted, but must be based on the achievements of pedagogy and sociology. However, knowledge in these disciplines is well known, as a rule, only to persons who have received a pedagogical education. All other teachers, if they have not studied full-time in graduate school, are far from scientific pedagogical approaches on which the educational process should be based. But in education, as in medicine, the principle should apply - “do no harm”; thirdly, at the beginning of each academic year, faculties, departments, and teaching staff of the university draw up a work plan for the academic year, one of the sections of which is “Work on educating students.” However, in fact this procedure is of a formal nature; Rarely in any university do teachers report on this section with all the ensuing consequences. In addition, it should be noted that in the conditions of non-traditional forms of education (distance learning), as well as correspondence education, talking about upbringing as an element of education in general is extremely difficult due to the short personal contact between the student and the teacher.

Education has always been a priority direction of state policy, since its role in the progressive development of society is quite obvious. It was with the help of education that Western states were able to achieve the highest achievements in science, economics, healthcare, etc. At the same time, the most significant contribution to the development of social progress belongs to higher education.

For example, US President D. Eisenhower, in an address to the American people on October 4, 1957, on the occasion of the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite in the Soviet Union, emphasized: “Our schools are now more important than our radar stations, schools contain greater power than the energy of the atom.” . President John Kennedy, in his first message to the US Congress in January 1961, noted the following: “Our goal is to significantly increase economic growth. But, according to recent research, investments in education provide the greatest return, reaching up to 40 percent of national income growth. In the era of science and space, improving the situation with education is one of the main conditions for our national power. Thus, education becomes a matter of paramount importance.” All subsequent US presidents saw education as the basis of the economic, political and military power of the state and pursued appropriate educational policies. A similar attitude to education takes place in Great Britain, Japan, Germany, France, Korea and other countries.

It’s hard not to give another example that highlights the attention paid to education in the United States at the present time. The federal report of the US National Commission on Education Quality was entitled “A Nation at Risk. The need for education reform." It states: “The nation is in danger, as the educational foundations of our society are currently being undermined by an ever-growing tide of mediocrity that threatens the future of the nation and the country as a whole... If an unfriendly power were to attempt to impose on America such a mediocre educational system as exists today, we would consider it an act of war."

Higher education, based on fundamental knowledge, introduces people to the values accumulated by world science and culture. It is intended to provide continuity of generations in society. Moreover, it contributes to the economic development of the country. In the United States, in the face of declining budget funding, individual colleges and universities, with the help of independent expertise based on numbers, prove the role of universities in the economic development of states. In New Jersey, for example, research shows that every dollar invested in community colleges generates $18 in value for the state economy because 95 percent of graduates remain employed in the state and the lifetime earnings of each graduate from their education increase. significantly exceed the amount of $400 thousand. In the state of Michigan, according to research, the contribution of 15 public universities to the state economy is $39 billion annually, and the economic income for every dollar spent by the state budget on operating expenses of universities is $26 . The University of Wisconsin at Madison brings in $4.7 billion in revenue to the state budget, which is 2.7% of the state's GNP.

American scientists, through the concept of information theory of value, demonstrate the benefits of education using economic indicators. They examined how much gross domestic product was produced by workers in three educational groups with a total education of 10.5 years, 12.5 years and 14.5 years. It turned out that the third group of people produces more than 50% of GDP.

Education in the modern world is also considered as a factor of national security. “National security” is not the security of one of the nations living on the territory of the country, even the largest. This is a set of conditions that ensure sovereignty and protection of the strategic interests of the state, the full development of society and all citizens. The following are considered as components of national security: 1) economic and military security (a modern state is impossible without qualified personnel); 2) technological safety (also impossible without human and scientific potential that ensures appropriate developments. Ensuring technological safety, in addition, is not feasible without the implementation of special educational programs that shape the culture of users of modern information systems, as well as the critical attitude and resistance of citizens to possible manipulation of consciousness with media sides); 3) security of cultural development (education is the foundation of culture, its basis).

When building a new economic model of education, one cannot ignore the issue of economic benefits and their classification, since education is a type of these benefits. Economic goods in economic theory are subject to a certain classification based on two characteristics: non-rivalry (the possibility of consuming a good by several persons at the same time) and non-excludability of a good (the impossibility of excluding anyone from consuming a given good). Taking into account these criteria, private, public and mixed public goods are distinguished.

A good is private if, having been consumed by one person, it cannot be consumed by another. This good has the property of exclusivity and rivalry. A good is public if its consumption by one person does not exclude the possibility of consumption by others.

For the first time, the category of public good or “public good” was introduced into scientific circulation by the American economist P. Samuelson. In his interpretation, public goods are understood as goods and services that combine three properties: 1) they are indivisible among members of society; 2) accessible to everyone; 3) provided by the state. In the opinion of L.I. Jacobson, it is typical for public goods: an increase in the number of consumers does not entail a decrease in the utility delivered to each of them; It is almost impossible to limit consumer access to such a good. The first property is called non-rivalry in consumption, the second - non-excludability (the producer has no real choice whether to provide the benefit only to those who pay for it, or to everyone; as a result, the provider of a public good is not able to isolate its relationship with each individual consumer). The most important characteristic of a public good is its non-rivalry property; the issue of non-excludability is more complex and ambiguous.

Public goods that exhibit both properties to a high degree are called pure public goods. Those in which at least one of the properties is expressed to a moderate degree are called mixed public goods.

In our opinion, higher education is a mixed public good, since to a certain extent it has the property of non-rivalry in consumption (increasing the number of students does not reduce the possibility of consumption of the corresponding good by others). At the same time, this conclusion is very conditional: everything depends on the level of occupancy of the audience. Thus, an increase in the number of students on a course, by and large, will not affect the quality and perception of the content.

The property of non-excludability is not typical for higher education, since to obtain it it is necessary to establish a legal connection between the person providing education and the student. Such a connection is an order for the applicant’s enrollment and an agreement for the provision of paid educational services.

Public goods, along with the specified properties (non-rivalry, non-excludability) are subject to classification taking into account external effects, which vary in scale and long-term impact. The external effect of consumption and production of a good can be either positive or negative, and be of interest either to the whole society or to the direct consumer of the good. Higher education is of direct interest to society as a whole (the future of the country depends on the professional level of citizens, persons with higher education make a higher contribution to the creation of scientific and technical products, obtaining higher education entails an increase in wages, and this, in turn, entails an increase in the state treasury, etc.), and for the consumer of this benefit (expansion of professional, cultural horizons, guarantee of increased wages, the possibility of growth through the ranks, reduced risk of becoming unemployed, etc.). It simultaneously has the following social externalities:

– short-term (performing functional duties according to the nature of one’s activity, reducing the army of unemployed, stabilizing society, etc.);

– medium-term (increasing GDP, creating and implementing the results of intellectual activity, ensuring the functioning of state institutions, etc.);

– long-term (creation of a social state, a public welfare society, an information, post-industrial society, an increase in GDP, etc.);

– global (represents a factor of national security).

This property serves as another argument in favor of classifying higher education as a mixed public good.

The conclusion about the nature of higher education as an economic good is directly correlated with the position that, from the point of view of interest, education acts simultaneously in the form of public and private interest. In this regard, higher education, which is a mixed public good of public and private interest, should be supported primarily by the state. It should be noted that since the private sector has firmly occupied the higher education market, higher education itself begins to be viewed not as a public good, but as a private interest. However, we do not agree with this characteristic of education for the above reasons.