Dr.Sc.Polit., Professor V.V. Pyzh¹
PhD, Associate Professor S.I. Petrov¹
Dr.Sc.Soc., Professor S.I. Rosenko^1
1Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health, St. Petersburg

Corresponding author: vvp_21812@mail.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to analyze the socio-humanistic aspects of the academic physical education and sport specialist training service.

Methods and structure of the study. Methodologically, we designed the study at the junction of theoretical and empirical approaches with an analysis of the valid educational service standards for the master and bachelor training services provided by the academic physical education and sport specialist training universities.

Results and conclusion. The academic physical education and sport specialist training service is ranked among the top priorities in the situation when the democratic society is further developed and statehood is strengthened in Russia, with the educational process designed to effectively form a patriotic personality with high spiritual and ethical values. The national academic physical education and sport system develops and implements special training curriculum as required by its mission and goals. A special priority is given to the social (humanitarian) aspect of the physical education and sport specialist training service to develop a sound knowledgebase, social/ civic experience and standing, and individual humanitarian culture for progress in the specific professional socio-cultural environment (community) and life, with understanding that an educational system should be based on the principles of humanism. An educational service mission is to develop a multisided creative personality for the graduate to be fit for effective service sensitive to the changing demands and environments, prepared to make good managerial decisions, socially active, dedicated and creative in enterprising. Such a university graduate will be appreciated for his communal activity and professional service within the relevant socio-cultural group.

Keywords: humanistic paradigm, higher professional education, curriculum, physical education and sports, quality of education, humanization, education reforms.

Background. Presently the national educational system gives a growing priority to the new educational strategies in response to many challenges arising in the ongoing digitalization of the educational service with the inevitable alienation and isolation – detrimental for the personality formation goals of the system. This is one of the key reasons why the national researchers, practitioners and decision-makers take special efforts to reform the educational service in the most efficient and beneficial format.

The valid Scientific and Technological Development Strategy of the Russian Federation gives a special attention in its list of priorities and progress avenues to the response models geared to cope with the major challenges in the environmental and technological safety domains, with a special contribution from the relevant social institutions and shareholders of the global development process, striving to take benefits of the modern humanitarian and social sciences in these efforts.

When analyzing the potential options for the national academic physical education and sport specialist training service humanization, we cannot ignore the major contradiction. On the one hand, the educational community acknowledges the need for humanization of the educational service; and on the other hand, such efforts may hardly be effective unless governed by a theoretically grounded model of the humanistic values prioritizing academic physical education and sport specialist training service – that is still underdeveloped at this juncture in fact.

Objective of the study was to analyze the socio-humanistic aspects of the academic physical education and sport specialist training service.

Methods and structure of the study. Methodologically, we designed the study at the junction of theoretical and empirical approaches with an analysis of the valid educational service standards for the master and bachelor training services provided by the academic physical education and sport specialist training universities.

Results and discussion. The humanistic idea in the physical education theory emerged in the Renaissance period, when the physical education service prioritized the following two interrelated fields in the socio-pedagogical domain. First, the movement culture was mastered mostly in dancing practices with the relevant physical education knowledge summarized to explore and analyze health benefits of physical practices. And second, a special attention was paid to the humanistic ideal that implies formation of a comprehensively developed personality governed by the relevant ethical standards.

The humanistic idea was formed in the system of pedagogical views of Erasmus of Rotterdam, Thomas More, François Rabelais, Michel Montaigne and a few other renowned scholars whose education models prioritized formation of a socially active and productive individual. Generally the classical education, physical development and civic culturing services (an educational triad of the Renaissance period) were based on the three major education pillars – antiquity, the Middle Ages and emerging ideas of the New Age.

Thomas More largely borrowed his pedagogical system from the Ancient Greece and saw its mission in fostering a strong and well-developed body by mostly gymnastics and combat exercises. The physical education service self-control mechanism in his model was governed by the dialectical principle of the synergized individual and social benefits generated by the service. The body development concept within this model was driven by the idea of the physical training being an obligatory individual responsibility to the community and state on the whole.

Michel Montaigne designed his educational service model giving a higher and more consistent priority to the socio-pedagogical values of the physical education service. Central for his physical education service concept and model were the ethical foundations for an individual progress with its culturing and educational components. He made a special emphasis in this concept on the service elements geared to foster civic feelings and patriotism, with the child encouraged to evolve into a loyal and selflessly devoted servant of Fatherland by the inclusive education and culturing services covering every element of the personality progress agenda.

The humanistic idea was further advanced by P.F. Lesgaft who prioritized harmonic multisided personality development as the key mission of an educational process with a special emphasis on the individual consciousness, independence and ethics – three notions pivotal for his physical education system. Much in the Lesgaft’s heritage is still relevant and beneficial for the physical education theory and practice, including the academic physical education and sport specialist training service.

Many experts tend to believe that the humanistic values prioritizing academic physical education and sport specialist training service should be systemic and sensitive to the modern physical education and sport service progress trends; and designed on a modern technological basis to effectively encourage professional progress of every student in the context of the state order (public demand) for the physical education and sport specialists and the valid physical education and sports education standards.

A prime idea of Pierre de Coubertin and his followers was to establish the new human development domain governed by the universal human values and spirit of cooperation. We believe that skeptical and negative attitudes to the modern sports humanization models tend to neglect the mounting global problems that the humanity has faced since the early XXI century. These problems urge the humanists to not only declare the humanistic idea, but also pursue it in practice in every life field.

Lately the Russian academic educational system has seen major reforms, with reductions in numbers of the national universities, their grouping into categories, ownership classes, funding sources, etc. The national statistics as of 2020 reported 724 universities providing professional training service (versus 1115 universities in 2010); including 495 public and 229 private ones (68.4% and 31.6% of the total, respectively).

One of the key goals of the academic education system reform was to diversify the education service into the bachelor, specialty and master training components [7] with the range of the academic curricula expanded correspondingly. As a result, the physical education and sport specialist training universities presently offer 19 bachelor and 14 master training curricula within the relevant larger specialty groups and courses (vectors). This versatility of the physical education and sport specialist training curricula has been largely necessitated by the new demands from the physical education and sports market for the trained specialists in many new physical education and sport service domains.

Conclusion. The academic physical education and sport specialist training service is ranked among the top priorities in the situation when the democratic society is further developed and statehood is strengthened in Russia, with the educational process designed to effectively form a patriotic personality with high spiritual and ethical values. The national academic physical education and sport system develops and implements special training curriculum as required by its mission and goals. A special priority is given to the social (humanitarian) aspect of the physical education and sport specialist training service to develop a sound knowledgebase, social/ civic experience and standing, and individual humanitarian culture for progress in the specific professional socio-cultural environment (community) and life, with understanding that an educational system should be based on the principles of humanism. An educational service mission is to develop a multisided creative personality for the graduate to be fit for effective service sensitive to the changing demands and environments, prepared to make good managerial decisions, socially active, dedicated and creative in enterprising. Such a university graduate will be appreciated for his communal activity and professional service within the relevant socio-cultural group.

The study was run under the ‘Education, research and physical education and sport service integration in the academic physical education and sport specialist training system’ Research Project contracted by the Ministry of Sports Order No.955 of December 22, 2020.

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