Ethical education: Ways of moral consciousness development (understanding experience through Tyumen ethical and philosophical tradition)

Abstract

Introduction. The methodology of ethical education is an ever-relevant topic of research. This is due to the fact that the person’s moral consciousness is an extremely subtle matter; the ways of its development are complex and non-linear. The question “How should the process of ethical education be organised?” is of great concern to both theorists, who construct various models of ethical education, and, practitioners, who implement these models in life.A serious source of knowledge concerning the methodology of ethical education is the concept of the individual moral consciousness development, created by well-known ethicists A. Selivanov, V. I. Bakshtanovsky, Yu. M. Fedorov, who are the representatives of Tyumen ethical and philosophical tradition. The methodological ideas and principles proposed by the Tyumen ethicists can be regarded as a significant contribution to the development of modern ethical and pedagogical thought, aimed at overcoming both total relativism and total fundamentalism, by cultivating the principle of communication as a way of the individual moral consciousness development and as a method of ethical education.Aim. The aim of the present article is to represent the concepts of ethical education, developed within the framework of the Tyumen ethical and philosophical tradition; and also to comprehend their axiological and praxeological potential in relation to modern ethical education.Methodology and research methods. The methodological apparatus of the research is a synthesis of such approaches as: qualitative content analysis, hermeneutics, comparative studies, and also the theories of cognitive constructivism by J. Piaget, L. Kohlberg and communicative rationality by J. Habermas. Thus, this study is interdisciplinary, created at the junction of ethics, sociology of morals, and pedagogy.Results. The research results can be presented as follows: the models of ethical education created within the framework of the Tyumen ethical and philosophical tradition were reconstructed, which can be designated as the model of “development of the ability of true moral judgments” (F. A. Selivanov); the model of “shaping the ability of free choice and moral creativity” (V. I. Bakshtanovsky); the model of “immersion in the universe of morality” (V. M. Fedorov). The main methodological ideas were identified: the conjugation of the processes of the development of moral consciousness and a culture of thinking (F. A. Selivanov), the formation of moral consciousness through the actualisation of the opportunity to be a co-creator of public morality (V. I. Bakshtanovsky); the co-existence of man and the Cosmos (Yu. M. Fedorov). The main methods are presented: ethical and logical exercises (F. A. Selivanov), ethical-applied (business) games, humanitarian expertise (V. I. Bakshtanovsky), dialogue education, the implementation of a creative principle, the practice of freedom (Yu. M. Fedorov), etc.The novelty and practical significance of the study lies in the fact that the methodological concepts of ethical education proposed by the Tyumen ethicists are practically not studied and there is a very real danger of losing valuable experience for the development of modern ethical education strategies.