It's not news that the science of the rules of behavior in a decent society originated long ago and, changing over the epochs, still continued to live and develop safely. Today the answer to the question "What is secular ethics?" even children know, because for younger students this subject is included in the compulsory program. Therefore, it turns out to be important and relevant to figure out what such a lesson is and what the guys learn in it.
ORCSE: what is it?
This abbreviation stands for "Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics" and is a subject introduced universally by the Russian Ministry of Education since 2012 in elementary school classes across the country. For all regions, this subject is currently a federal and mandatory component. Fundamentals of secular ethics and religion include 6 modules; of these, the student, together with his legal representatives (parents, guardians), chooses only one at his discretion for further study.
Goals and objectives
If everything is clear with what secular ethics is, then the analysis of the provisions on what the introduction of this academic subject is aimed at remains open. The global goal of the general course of the ORKSE includes the formation of a conscious moral behavior and motivation for it in a younger teenager, instilling in the child respect for the religious and cultural traditions of the multinational population of Russia, teaching the student the ability to conduct a dialogue with representatives of other worldviews and views. More local tasks highlighted in the program of the foundations of secular ethics include:
- cultivating in the minds of a younger teenager ideas about the importance of moral values and norms for a decent existence of the individual, family, and the whole society;
- acquaintance of students with the basic foundations of Christian (Orthodox), Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist cultures, key provisions of world religious movements and ethics;
- development of students' abilities to cooperate and communicate in a multi-confessional and multi-ethnic environment, where interaction is built on the principles of mutual respect and dialogue with the goal ofmaintaining public harmony and peace.
to the study of subjects with a humanitarian focus at the level of the main (secondary) school;
Becoming an object
So, what is secular ethics in schools and what priority tasks it is aimed at today, it has been found out. But how was the introduction into school practice of a completely new, previously unfamiliar discipline for children? This process was carried out in 3 long stages:
- From 2009 to 2011, this subject area was tested in 21 subjects of the Russian Federation.
- From 2011 to 2014, the subject was introduced without exception in all subjects of the country, supported and accompanied by an information and communication technology system, thanks to an Internet resource specially created for this purpose, providing an organizational, methodological and information base for conducting the course of the ORKSE.
- The final stage took place quite recently, namely, it covered the period from 2014 to 2016. At that time, a positive assessment was given to the effectiveness of introducing such a discipline into general educational institutions, in connection with which culture, secular ethics and knowledge of the fundamental provisions of world religions were included in the school curricula as a single, compulsory and invariable subject.
Future Directions
At the third stage, it is also planned to gradually develop coordinating activities on the part of the executive authorities in relation to the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the field of education. The same applies to other participants (subjects) of the educational process, namely:
- parents or other legal guardians who are required to make an informed choice of one of the modules offered within the framework of the RCSE;
- professional staff who organize the process in the field, responsible for the implementation of effective course study, reinforcing the theory with logistical aids, etc.
In addition, it is planned to take under control the holding of events to identify the quality of teaching the subject in municipal and state educational institutions of the Russian Federation. The development of the subject area of the foundations of secular ethics in the Federal State Educational Standard, in this case, primary basic general education (PEO), will also continue. Corrections and additions will be made taking into account the concept of educating the personality of a Russian citizen and his spiritual and moral development.
What is written in the GEF IEO?
The work program of the Federal State Educational Standard on secular ethics provides for the compulsory study of the subject, for example, in the 4th grade, for 34 academic hours for the entire academic year. The frequency of the discipline is 1 lesson in 5 working days; a similar provision was approved by the order of the Government of the Russian Federation of January 28, 2012, and secured by a special letter from the Ministry of Education and Science with a special provision even earlier - back in August. Initially, the subject was called "Fundamentals of the Spiritual and Moral Culture of the Peoples of Russia", however, by order of the Ministry of Education and Science of December 2012, the Federal State Educational Standard wasa change was made, according to which the academic discipline changed its name to the above-mentioned ORKSE.
On the question "What is secular ethics in schools?" There should be no gaps in knowledge now. However, how is discipline implemented within the walls of each individual educational institution? The standard in this case is loyal: organizations independently form the structures of the main educational school programs and lesson planning according to secular ethics, one of the constituent units of which is, for example, the curriculum. At the same time, management still needs to rely on some documents. These are the regulatory legal acts of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and the Government, the provisions of the Federal Law and the approximate plan of the main educational program of the Federal State Educational Standard on the basics of secular ethics.
How is monitoring done and why is it needed?
It may seem that ORSSE is an extremely inaccurate subject, incomparable, for example, with mathematics or physics, where there are formulas, laws, proven theorems. Is it really impossible to test knowledge in this case? This is not true. The Federal State Educational Standard has a provision according to which, at the regional and federal levels, each subject of Russia annually conducts quarterly monitoring of student knowledge (traditional tests, tests, etc.). It allows:
- determine the needs of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation for additional support of the course;
- compare and enrich the accumulated pedagogical experience of teaching in relation to the "young" discipline;
- identify the qualitative effects of the program, build a vector for its correction.
Subsequently, the monitoring results are processed in an automated information-analytical system specially created for this purpose (shortly - IAS). The data is saved and gradually forms a single database.
Modules
A lesson on the basics of secular ethics for their child is chosen by parents or any other legal representatives who draw up an application in writing and provide it to the school leadership. There are 6 modules offered - these can be the basics:
- Buddhist culture.
- Orthodox culture.
- Islamic culture.
- Jewish culture.
- Secular ethics.
- World Religious Cultures.
At the same time, parents of third-grade students are offered counseling, informing, familiarization activities so that they can make a voluntary, free, informed and better choice of a module for their child. According to the law, both the implementation of the course itself and assistance to legal representatives in determining can and should be carried out through the involvement of the relevant centralized religious associations.
Positive value
The ORKSE course allows you to instill in children patriotism, love, including for a small homeland, its representatives and their work, help to learn moral values and develop such qualities as respect for otherscultures, tolerance, tolerance. The ORKSE course is aimed at developing meta-subject and personal results, which will be useful in the further development of the child as a student.
In addition, it is within the framework of this discipline that the family joins the school: parents and other adults help children understand and correctly interpret different categories (love, friendship, altruism, guilt, morality, conscientiousness, etc.) the content of the subject. Consolidation of the efforts of all participants in the educational process allows achieving the most effective results: this is the development of the child's ability to reflect on their own actions, show emotional and moral responsiveness, and work in a team.
