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UPBRINGING SPIRITUAL AND MORAL VALUES OF THE PERSONALITY AS A SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL PRIORITY

The article actualizes the problem of upbringing of spiritual and moral values of a personality; reveals important aspects of building the upbringing process on the basis of subject-subject relations of a teacher and pupils, parents and children; considers approaches to classifications of moral qualities and focuses on the important role of the family in orientation to the realization of social and educational priorities.
Keywords: personality, upbringing, spiritual and moral values, moral qualities, personality-oriented approach, education, family, society.

Shulygina R. A.
Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor,
National Pedagogical Dragomanov University, Kyiv, Ukraine

10.34142//2708-4809.SIUTY.2022.220

In modern conditions, when Ukrainian society has entered the era of building an independent sovereign state, the priority task of a teacher is to form a personality capable of constructing an individual trajectory of his or her own future. An important role in this process is played by the moral component, which is the basis for the formation of a self-sufficient personality, tested by centuries of experience in the spiritual achievements of the Ukrainian people, permeated by their wisdom, social experience, etc. Therefore, one of the main priorities of modern education is the formation of universal spiritual and moral values in children based on the intellectual achievements of previous generations.

In the upbringing of a spiritual and moral personality that does not resist cultural influences, the aesthetics of spirituality as a component of human existence plays a prominent role. By fostering aesthetic feelings in the younger generation only to certain material objects (natural phenomena, things, cultural achievements), we impoverish their worldview. Spiritual beauty will remain closed to children, and thus they will manifest themselves as a person far from perfect. Therefore, the experience of beauty for the sake of assimilating spiritual and moral values and their bearers is mandatory in the upbringing of children.

The problem of spirituality and morality in different historical times has attracted the attention of leading thinkers, philosophers, educators, psychologists, artists, statesmen and religious figures (Socrates, Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, P. Florensky, A. Chizhevsky, etc.). The upbringing of spiritual and moral values of the individual has been considered by scholars of various fields of science: philosophy (V. Andrushchenko, L. Hubersky), psychology (I. Bekh, O. Kononko, S. Maksymenko, E. Pomytkina), pedagogy (E. Bondarevska, S. Honcharenko, O. Oleksiuk), in particular preschool (L. Artemova, A. Bogush, O. Dronova, M. Roganova), and others.

According to I. Bekh, spiritual and moral upbringing ation involves the use of a personality-oriented approach, which is successfully implemented on the basis of subject-subject relations between the teacher and pupils [1; 7].

Spiritual and moral upbringing is always an active, bilateral process, the foundations of which are laid at a young age. [7].

Revealing the essence of spiritual and moral values in his works for children, using specific examples, the humanist teacher V. Sukhomlynsky enriched the spiritual life of the individual. It is worth emphasizing that in modern science there is no definite unambiguous opinion about understanding the essence of spirituality. It is seen as the meaning of life, the highest values, moral feelings and experiences; as human growth in the spirit of cognition of the higher foundations of existence and the need to act according to the laws of creativity and harmony with the world around us [5]. Therefore, the development of the soul is an integral part of spirituality. Leading educators associated the issues of spirituality and morality with “education of the heart” (H. Skovoroda, P. Yurkevych, S. Rusova, V. Sukhomlynskyi, etc.). Soulfulness is the first step towards realizing and feeling humanity and beauty. The structure of human spirituality consists of an integral set of components (cognitive, moral, communicative, reflective, aesthetic, etc.) [2, p. 186-189]. This is an integrative quality of a personality that manifests itself in moral behavior, in aesthetic attitude to the world around us, in the desire to know objects and phenomena of reality, in the need for self-realization.

Today, it is becoming real that any violations or lack of a culture of behavior, moral norms, negatively affect the moral and emotional state of society, its physical and mental health [6, p. 5]. Therefore, we can say that the organization of the life of the younger generation will be difficult without influencing it and interacting with it. This lays the foundation on which activities, communication, relationships and behavior are built [3, p. 17-21].

There are two institutions that play a crucial role in the spiritual and moral upbringing of the child, in particular:

— family (the child lays the foundations of character; moral relations in the family affect the child’s life in the future, as their influence is related to the experiences and laying the foundations of the child’s moral attitudes towards society, work, culture, self, other people, etc;
— Preschool, general secondary and out-of-school education institutions.

These are accessible educational institutions that provide children with basic and additional education aimed at acquiring knowledge, skills and abilities in their interests, meet their needs for creative self-realization and organization of meaningful leisure [4, p. 75-81; 7].

Moral upbringing in the family and educational institution is a two-way process of interaction between an adult (educator, parents) and students in activities, learning moral concepts, and in attitudes to everything moral and immoral in behavior. In this process, it is important for the teacher and parents to understand such categories as: moral consciousness – a side of social consciousness that reflects real relationships in the form of ideas and concepts and reflects the moral side of the child’s actions; moral beliefs – experienced and generalized moral principles of the norm; moral feelings – assessments, claims, relationships, potential for spiritual development of children; moral habits – socially stable forms of behavior of the child that become necessary and are realized in any situation and conditions; moral orientation – stable social

The notion of “moral qualities of a personality” is a complex concept that allows us to distinguish in social life and characterize the most typical features of a person’s behavior from the standpoint of morality. Moral qualities characterize actions and certain aspects of a person’s behavior that reflect his or her character. The concept of “moral qualities” does not contain specific instructions on what actions a person should or should not take. It only characterizes, summarizes and evaluates certain aspects of behavior, and it is up to the individual to make decisions about his or her own moral actions.

The researchers managed to identify a sufficient number of moral qualities of a personality of a positive and negative nature, which were divided into 4 subtypes:

collectivist qualities: collectivism, responsibility, heroism/selfishness, individualism, irresponsibility, etc;
humanistic qualities: nobility, benevolence, kindness, compassion/anger, inattention, suspicion, etc;
qualities related to a person’s attitude to the distribution of values: justice, gratitude, selflessness/utility, envy, jealousy, etc;
qualities related to the peculiarities of moral regulation of behavior: sense of dignity, loyalty, straightforwardness/selfishness, respectfulness, deceitfulness, hypocrisy, meanness, etc.

In order to study the formation of moral qualities of a personality, we conducted a survey of parents of preschool and primary school children. Parents were offered a list of moral qualities that they approve and disapprove of. The survey involved 50 parents (by consent).

The results of the survey confirm that parents have a clear idea of the positive principles and behavioral patterns they would like to foster in their children. The most valued characteristics are those of an honest, decent, confident and noble personality. Negative feelings are caused by envy, selfishness, and deceitfulness in children’s behavior. But this is the judgment of adults. In real life, parents often manifest the traits they condemned in the survey themselves.

In view of the above, we can distinguish the main tasks of upbringing spiritual and moral values in the younger generation [5, p. 25]:

Formation of moral and spiritual habits (concession, support, compromise, self-sacrifice for the sake of another person’s well-being, etc;)
education of moral habits (self-understanding, emotional experiences, self-assessment of own actions and deeds);
development of pedagogical foundations of spiritual and moral habits, traits, and values.

The formation of spiritual and moral values is a path from concept to conviction, which includes the education of moral feelings, ideals, knowledge, and actions. In this regard, V. Sukhomlynsky said: “You live among people. Do not forget that your every action, your every desire affects the people around you. …Do everything to make the people around you feel good” [2, p. 25].

Thus, the process of upbringing spiritual and moral qualities and, accordingly, the values of the individual is a long-term one. The moral ideal of goodness, truth, honor, and spiritual work lives in the heart of every personality, and is affirmed in active work as an integral part of one’s own thoughts, feelings, intentions, and actions. Today, this educational idea is dominant because it proclaims the human being to be the highest value of society, and thus becomes a social and educational priority.

List of references

1. Bekh I. D. Personality on the way to spiritual values: monograph. Kyiv; Chernivtsi: Bukrek, 2018. 320 с.
2. Zhovnovatyuk Y. A. The problem of forming the personality of a junior schoolchild in the history of pedagogical thought of Ukraine. Visnyk Zhytomyr State University named after I. Franko. 2010. № 50. С. 186-189.
3. Family upbringing and its technologies. Uchytel. Studies: family pedagogy. 2000. № 1-3. С. 17-21.
4. Ponimanska T. I. Continuity in the formation of children’s common experience as a problem of humanistic education. Rivne, 2000. 81 с.
5. Sukhomlynsky V. A hundred tips for the teacher: selected works in 6 volumes. Kyiv: Soviet School, 1983. VOL. 2. P. 25.
6. Modern aspects of spiritual and moral education of children. Kindergarten. 2012. P. 25 (July). С. 3-6.
7. Yatsko I. Spiritual and moral upbringing of schoolchildren. URL: https://naurok.com.ua/prezintaciyana-temu-duhovno-moralne-vihovannya-uchniv-209484.html (accessed 08.11.2022).