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FORMATION OF MORAL STABILITY OF ADOLESCENTS THROUGH UPBRINGING SITUATIONS

The article emphasizes the relevance of the problem of forming adolescents’ moral stability as one of the leading tasks of the spiritual development of a growing personality. The author presents educational situations of various types (situations of surprise, conflict situations with moral conflicts, etc.) as an effective means of forming moral stability of adolescents.
Keywords: adolescent, moral stability, educational situation, formation.

Popova O. V.
Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor,
H. S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Kharkiv, Ukraine

10.34142//2708-4809.SIUTY.2022.122

The upbringing of an individual and his or her spiritual development must involve the formation of moral stability. This is due to the fact that in today’s contradictory and rapidly changing world, a person can live and function according to moral norms only if he or she has the ability to obtain, learn, process and selectively assimilate information, make moral choices, have moral convictions, and be able to adapt to new social and psychological realities in society and the state, as well as in the immediate social environment and his or her own destiny.

It is moral stability, as one of the core characteristics of a personality, that determines the way he or she is oriented in the system of social values, reflects a life position whereby a person’s behavior is determined by socially significant goals and moral norms. In other words, a person needs to have a certain inner core, a stable personal nucleus, worldview, social and moral beliefs.

Otherwise, every break in the development of society and the state, every turn in an individual’s life path can lead to neurotic reactions, maladjustment, moral degradation, etc. In the difficult times that our country is currently experiencing, taking into account the challenges of society in the conditions of war, this problem has become much more acute [4].

The problem of forming moral stability is of particular importance for students of adolescence, which is the most important period in a person’s life, a crucial stage in the formation of a student as a person, a period of forming beliefs, developing attitudes to the world around them, and realizing their place in it. The intense search for the meaning of life, an active desire to understand and realize oneself as a person, and unformed worldview make adolescents vulnerable to negative environmental influences [1; 2].

In the scientific literature, resilience is revealed through variability, as a consequence of movement that maintains the acquired state. The state of personality resilience is associated with the existence of internal changes and internal interaction between its components.

The basis of a person’s resilience is his or her beliefs and life position. The quantitative accumulation of moral conviction contributes to the formation of moral resilience as a new qualitative formation of an adolescent’s personality.

The study of the experience of practical solution of the problem under study [1; 2; 3, etc.], our own scientific research gives grounds to recommend the following educational situations for use in the process of forming the moral stability of adolescents

1) situations that encourage adolescents to reveal a moral position, use volitional mechanisms in behavior (situations of overcoming difficulties, making responsible decisions; situations of mastering new ways of activity). Such situations make it possible to determine the leading motives for the actions and behavior of students, the level of moral orientation, etc;
2) situations that encourage adolescents to communicate, interact in collective activities (situations of help and mutual assistance; situations of empathy for the success of a common cause, competition and rivalry; situations of collective planning, subordination);
3) situations aimed at stimulating emotional and sensory states that stimulate students’ desire to reveal moral qualities, master moral knowledge (situations of compassion, empathy; situations of gap between the method and the result of action; situations of striving to conform to a favorite hero, success, etc;)
4) situations aimed at overcoming misunderstanding of each other. Such situations arise when, for example, a friend accuses a friend of malice, deception, forgery, etc. Resolving such conflict situations, which exacerbate negative feelings, reveal negative qualities (aggression, greed, vengefulness, etc.), makes it possible to improve the mental state of the individual, develop self-regulation skills, empathy, tolerance and other positive personal traits that contribute to the development of moral stability;
5) situations of surprise that require a moral orientation (an unexpected question to a student; encouragement to confess to a bad act, etc.) Such situations, in addition to the educational impact on students, help the teacher to identify the main negative qualities of students (timidity, uncertainty, cowardice, lack of independence, etc.), as well as to determine the type of temperament, level of imagination, and thinking of students;
6) situations of exchange of opinions, during which students exchange opinions about what happened, listen to different points of view, and seek advice from friends on how to act in a given situation. Such situations help adolescents to make sure that their position and beliefs are correct, and also teach them self-analysis, independence in decision-making, and argumentation of their opinions, which is important for moral stability;
7) conflict situations with moral conflicts, which involve resolving moral contradictions. In this case, we consider the concept of conflict as a clash of opposing views, aspirations, and interests.

Such situations primarily include situations of moral choice. In life, a person’s desire does not always coincide with his or her capabilities, when it is necessary to give up one’s own desires in favor of doing things to help others (for example, a teenager wants to play computer games, and parents ask for help in cleaning the house). Such situations encourage adolescents to exercise willpower and help them develop moral attitudes.

Conflict situations with moral conflicts in the situation allow us to obtain significant information about the team of adolescents and each student. In such situations, there are ample opportunities for studying:

– moral orientation of the personality (to what extent does the person in conflict reconcile personal and social interests, how does he/she take into account the opinion of his/her comrades, their criticism of him/her, what are the motives for participating in the conflict, what does he/she achieve, etc;)
– the student’s ability to self-discipline, self-regulation (the ability to control oneself, regulate one’s anger, the ability to reason in a dispute, disagreement, the ability to restrain oneself in case of aggressive attacks of others)
– the ability to demonstrate strong-willed and other qualities that characterize the moral stability of adolescents (resistance to negative influences, independence, firmness of convictions, ability to defend one’s opinion based on moral and legal norms, principled position towards those in conflict, regardless of personal relationships)
– attitude to oneself (self-criticism, demandingness, ability to keep one’s word, ability to change behavior after analyzing one’s mistakes and failures, one’s behavior in conflicts);
– life experience (how positive experience is used at the moment, what the parties to the conflict practically offer to resolve it, what they are guided by, what interests they protect, what obligations they assume).

Thus, modern education of adolescents involves not just their all-round development, but the formation of a personality characterized by a certain system of qualities, in which moral stability is one of the leading ones. The comprehensive and systematic use of educational situations contributes to the effectiveness of the process of forming moral stability in adolescents.

List of references

1. Bulakh I.S., Alekseeva Y.A. Moral growth of adolescents: modern technologies of counseling activities: a textbook. Kyiv: Drahomanov National Pedagogical University, 2010. 223 с.
2. Guzenko N., Popov V. Application of educational situations in the process of experience of moral behavior of older adolescents. Psychological and Pedagogical Problems of Higher and Secondary Education in the Context of Modern Challenges: Theory and Practice : Proceedings of the IV International Scientific and Practical Conference. IV international scientific and practical conference. Kharkiv: H. S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, 2020. С. 160-167.
3. Popov V. D. Formation of moral orientation of younger adolescents in extracurricular activities in secondary school: PhD thesis … Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences: 13.00.07. Kharkiv, 2014. 20 с.
4. Preventive education of students under martial law. 2022. URL: https://znayshov.com/News/Details/preventyvne_vykhovannia_uchniv_v_umovakh_voiennoho_stanu (accessed October 20, 22).