The potential of literature means in educating patriotism of younger adolescents

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The potential of literature means in educating patriotism of younger adolescents

teen upbringing patriotism

Due to the essential loss of many ideals, value orientations, formed social relationships, conduct norms, positive examples by our society, the pedagogical science faces the problem of educating patriotic qualities of personality.

In organizing work on patriotic education, one should have in mind the fact that there is a wide range of regional-political and regional-cultural differences in Ukraine, which have been formed for centuries. The people has ambiguous views of many past and present events. It is patriotism that can unite Ukrainians, save what for ages has been our goal - the independent state.

Theoretical foundations and directions of patriotic education were the object of research of Ya. Komenskyi (folk ideas), I. Pestalozzi (connection with moral education), A. Diesterweg (principles of humanism, adequacy to nature), H. Scovoroda (cognition and selfcognition), K. Ushynskyi (feelings of duties), S. Rusova (studying the spiritual heritage of Ukraine), H. Vashchenko (national ideal), A. Makarenko (education of personal features), V. Sukhomlymskyi (improvement of worldview, participation in useful social activities) and others.

Modern Ukrainian scientists (A. Aleksiuk, H. Ball, I. Bekh, O. Kyrychuk, V. Kuz, V. Kremen, O. Sukhomlynska and others) enrich the theory and practice of patriotic education in the context of new educational approaches. І. Bekh accentuates in the content of patriotic education the readiness of personality to defend civic ideas, which manifest themselves as a source of feelings and spirituality ^[2, pp. ^4-5].

Analysis of historic and pedagogical literature and scientific research has enabled the conclusion that different aspects of using children literature as a means of personality formation were highlighted after such directions: activation of moral education of senior students during studying foreign literature (V. Bolotina); development of the students' ability to aesthetically perceive literature as a complex of individual-psychological qualities, methods of formation of art tastes, aesthetical skills and their capacity to independently analyze and assess a work of fiction (К. Babenko, L. Bashmanivska); a pedagogical system of formation of teenagers' value orientations by means of literature during school time, in particular an optimal unification of all-human, civic and personal qualities (A. Bohush) [3].

Nevertheless, the problem of educating patriotism of younger adolescents by means of literature remains undeveloped.

The aim of the article is to reveal the potential of literature means in patriotic education of younger adolescents.

Patriotic education is a consistent and systematic process of forming young generation's high patriotic consciousness, the feeling of love towards Ukraine, respect to famous national historical public figures, the readiness to perform civic and constitutional duties.

The goal of patriotic education is the formation of citizens-patri - ots of Ukraine, who are ready to self-deniably build and guarantee its national security, to know their rights and duties, to defend them in a civilized manner, to contribute to the unity of the Ukrainian people, civic peace and harmony in society, to be competitive, to successfully realize themselves in the social environment as a citizen, family man (woman), professional, carrier of Ukrainian national culture [1].

This goal can be achieved through realization of educational tasks such as:

- strengthening of patriotic values, respect towards the cultural and historic past of Ukraine;

- education of respect to the Constitution of Ukraine, laws of Ukraine, the state symbols;

- recognition and securing the rights of the child as the highest value of the state and society;

- comprehension of the interconnection between individual freedom, human rights and responsibility;

- formation of ethnic and national self-consciousness, love to the family, native land, the people and the state;

- recognition of the spiritual unity of all regions of Ukraine, their common cultural heritage and future;

- formation of tolerant attitude towards other nations, cultures and traditions;

- formation of language culture, mastering the Ukrainian language as the spiritual code of the nation.

Literature and art are an important part of the spiritual culture of the people. Because of this, they are an element of patriotic education. Cultivating love, respect, pride of Ukrainian literature and art is an integral component of patriotic education.

The knowledge that any work of art contains, has a certain worldview load, makes the reader think, and teaches to analyze life phenomena and human deeds. The methodological basis for defining literature as one of the effective means of education is a provision that it reflects in all polysemy and complexity moral conflicts of epochs, civilizations, moral etalons of feelings and conduct. However, the specifics of literature is in its capacity to reflect moral-ethical notions and feelings not as a certain system of knowledge, but as images. The main task of art style is the impact on human psyche, feelings, thoughts through the content and the form of poetical and prose texts created by poets and writers.

The main social task of culture as a whole and art culture in particular is the spiritual development of personality. With respect to literature, it uses an arsenal of its means to develop a person spiritually. Belles-lettres forms a social and aesthetical ideal, displaying it as word pictures. Thanks to these images, social ideas, moral norms, aesthetical values of society transform into the personal experience of a human being, who perceive these images, into organic parts of his (her) character.

Describing this phenomenon, Ph. M. Dostoievskyi noted that in the process of communication with art, artistic impressions, «gradu - ally accumulating, pierce the heart's cortex, enter into the heart, into its essence, and form the person». Translating to people an integral concrete and emotional social experience, literature uses the phenomenon of human emotional memory, which is much stronger than the rational one. Emotional memory is extremely lasting; it forms itself as «a memory of heart» without learning.

Perceived and mastered word pictures become a motive force for human conduct, sense-making factors in life of people. In scientist V.V. Neverov's point of view, literature heroes can have an immense influence. For example, there is much evidence, which remained from the times of the Second World War, of the huge impact of the image of Korchahin. The letters and notes put into the cases of cartridges have carried to us the soldiers' acknowledgments of their wish in their last hour to fight and to die as Korchahin did. Pierced with bullets and debris, with traces of blood, and sometimes written in blood, these documents are the most convincing proof that people, who had left them, truly lived their life as the literature hero chosen by them for copying, did.

The educational force of literature, its capacity to make the reader copy a literature image, are determined by its main peculiarities. Through its content, it motivates the reader to formulate a conclusion due to his (her) own considerations and feelings. Imaginative literature makes the emotional experience of the art work's heroes - in lesser or greater degree - part of the reader's emotional experience. The spiritual world of the person is getting richer with help of literature through comprehension of ideals and through empathy with the heroes' feelings, through co-participation and compassion. The depth and duration of the literature heroes' impact depend on the emotional affection force during perceiving the work of fiction. We carry brightly perceived and experienced pictures and images with us through the whole our life. They, perhaps subconsciously, live inside us and influence our spiritual world.

Art in its essence is not didactic; it does not envisage moralizing and edification, which is especially liked by children. «…The goal of an artist, - as O. Pushkin wrote - is an ideal, not sermon». A piece of fiction is not a lesson that should be compulsory learned and reported to the teacher. People learn the content of it freely and easy, without external pressure. Everyone defines his (her) own attitude to it according to his (her) own life experience and culture level. In this, art contributes to solving one of the most difficult problem of patriotic education - transformation of knowledge, abstract ideas into inner moral beliefs of personality.

Beliefs cannot arise due only to neutral information, indifferent for people. Much worse, when calls to love one's native land are proclaimed against the background of the corruption and soullessness of those who manage it. Such calls are of little effect. Patriotic conviction is a social idea transformed into a life value of person. It is the art image close to the person, independently chosen and socially significant, that can become for him (her) that very «magic crystal», which makes the remote nearer, external internal, social personal.

Researchers think that in patriotic education, the impact of a work of fiction is not to be viewed as an immediate result, though many teachers would wished it. The psychological suggestion has to be calculated for a long duration. In its turn, there is a need for careful concern of the teacher with respect to emotional perception. No doubt, to secure «participation» of the reader in the events described in a book, comprehension of the moral ideas, co-existence with the heroes, is the primary concern of the author. Nevertheless, the teacher should also take care about it, for he is a mediator between novel (poem) and reader. Sometimes, students because of lack of experience may not understand some essential parts of the artwork. The book that is not understood is the same as an unread book. Another role of the teacher is to motivate the child to reading. The awakening of stable interest to fiction, in our case - of patriotic direction, a certain type of character, the wish to copy it demands from the teacher not episodical adressing some works of patriotic and moral themes, but systematical activities during years.

The principle of consistency and succession is important also due to the complex influence of artistic culture on the thoughts, feelings and conduct of people. For mastering of knowledge and art-images is always selective and individual. One person after contacting with a piece of fiction is able to directly feel its influence, another will think it over for a long time, gradually digesting its content, a third one will have a light feeling. Someone will remain indifferent. Moreover, in L. Vyhotskyi's point of view, «art… never produces any direct practical action, it only prepares the soul for this action».

However, the consequences of art influence is much deeper, when it motivates a person to decisive deeds, and even changes his life, in terms of society - arouse significant changes in moods, persuasions, and actions of social groups. Harmony between requests and needs of people, on one side, and their moral development, on the other, greatly depends on art culture. Scientists have proved the tight interconnection between inclination of the person to art and his (her) formed ideal and moral positions.

To effectively use the impact of literature means, the teacher should know the psychology of students, concerning our research - the psychology of younger teenagers. Usually, adolescent age covers the period of 11-12 up to 15 years (students of 5-9 forms). The period of 11-12 years can be considered as younger adolescent age.

Scientist affirm that since this age social activity is directed, first of all, to acceptance and mastering of norms, values, and ways of behavior that are characteristic of the world of adults and relationships between them. That is, there is not necessary for an work of fiction to contain peculiarities of children's life and adventures, the heroes can be adults as well.

In teenagers' age moral feelings are intensively formed, thanks to which the norms of conduct learned by them can be an effective motive for action. For a teenager, a heroic deed with bright external acts of the hero in a difficult and unusual life situation is most attractive.

Adolescents tend to uncompromisely differentiate the good and the evil.

Adolescence is a very important time space for development of the person's ideals. Ideals become the example for copying, the rule according to which teenagers are trying to act.

The emotional sphere of adolescents is developing boisterously. Orientation on certain examples determines the content of their new system of life values and general formation of personality.

All the above-mentioned features testify the sensitivity of younger adolescent age for formation of patriotic qualities by means of literature.

Artistic culture, obviously, cannot perform its main task if the corresponding conditions are not provided. First, citizens should be acquainted with literature of high quality, and society has to contribute to it. This condition envisages the analysis of the problem of defining the existing literature as qualitative or not.

The Ukrainian people has created during its long history precious literature, which is placed high in world culture. Ukrainian literature (T. Shevchenko, Lesia Ukrainka, I. Franko, Marko Vovchok, H. Skoworoda, I. Nechui-Levytskyi and many other poets and writers) is of great social political, cognitive and educational importance. The role of foreign literature in the context of the international element of patriotic education should not be diminished as well. Any citizen-patriot has to be acquainted with other nations' cultures, to know and respect them. In addition, moral human qualities are universal all over the world, and should be educated on the examples of the best foreign literature (W. Scott, E. Remark, J. London,

O. Pushkin, L. Tolstoi and others).

We think it rational to consider a spectrum of forms and methods of work with fiction. Pedagogical practice has proved that any learning material is easily digested and kept in the memory for a long time if a student not passively perceives it, but actively acts during lessons. It is expedient to unite passive, half-active and active methods (lecture, narration, the method of book tasks, heuristic…) [5]. In order to activate students, sometimes it is useful to apply the method of play, which is still topical in younger adolescence. The teacher can use painting, preparing additional information, abstracts, selection of illustrations etc. in the work with teenagers.

So far, we can conclude that literature is a kind of art that represents one of the strongest means of human cognition, a tool of influence on the reality. Literature develops the consciousness of a human being, his (her) feelings, will, psyche, forms human character, that is, it has enormous potential for educating personality, in the context of our research - teenagers' patriotic qualities.

The successfulness in educating patriotism of young generations demands creative improvement of the existent forms, methods, means and tools of educational influence on the child based on artworks, since childhood. Further research can be directed on such themes: applying innovations in Ukrainian literature lessons and in out-ofclass activities for formation of patriotism, studying the problem of the unity of all-human and national values in patriotic education, the role of internationalism and using the best experience of foreign countries in patriotic education.

References

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