Forming tolerant consciousness as one of the primary goals of the modern system of education

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The problem of tolerance has already been told and written about much enough. however, despite of it, the questions concerning tolerant behaviour and tolerant consciousness do not become less critical. The problem of tolerance in the modern world remains a theme of discussions for political, religious and scientific communities both in our country, and abroad. And it is caused by a number of reasons.

First, the totality of the already developed economic conditions, progressing ecological crisis, distribution of information flows penetrating all surrounding space and many other things increases contradictions and break between interests of a separate person and a society as a whole, between separate states and the world community.

Second, these contradictions cause increasing social instability and tension, a security threat for each separate person and states in general, the growth of social level of conflict tension, the growth of terrorism and extremism, migration of the population, and, as a result, thoroughgoing structural changes of the whole system of the world arrangement as a whole and forming of a multilingual and multicultural society.

And for this reason the problem of tolerance is one of main «trigger points» of modern reality.

As it is underlined in the «Declaration of Principles of Tolerance» established by the resolution 5.61 at the General conference of UNESCO dated November, 16, 1995: «Tolerance means respect, acceptance and correct understanding of a rich variety of cultures of our world, our forms of self-expression and ways of displays of human individuality. Knowledge, openness, transparency, communication and freedom of ideas, conscience and beliefs promote it. … Separate people, groups and states should show tolerance».

Speaking about tolerance it is necessary to note that, in the first place, it can have different variants of displaying such as ethnic, religious, gender, subcultural, age-specific, professional, political and others.

In the second place, it also can have a various degree of intensity. So, L.M. Drobizheva and G.U. Soldatova distinguish the following types of relations in the system «person - group»:

? active tolerance (an openness, willingness for interethnic contacts);

? passive tolerance (an irregularity of interethnic contacts, inclination to communicate with representatives of their own nationality together with preservation of a positive attitude to representatives other ethnic groups);

? selective tolerance (interethnic contacts have a limited character in accordance with any attribute - language, religious belonging, cultural features);

? compelled tolerance (interethnic contacts take place under pressure of circumstances and have especially business character);

? intolerance (point-blank unwillingness to cooperate with people of other culture).

And, in the third place, tolerance can be shown at different levels:

? as a psychophysiologic stability of a person (neuropsychic stability, stability to stress, stability to various traumatic situations, etc.);

? as a set of individual characteristics of a person (stability to uncertainty, stability to a conflict behaviour, flexibility, empathy, etc.);

? as a system of personal and group attitudes and values (stability to variety of the world, to ethnic, cultural, social and other differences).

All these in the aggregate also form tolerant consciousness of a person. And that is why its forming also should be realized at once at several levels: at the level of personality, at the level of family and group of closest people, at the level of wider social environment and at the level of the state and society as a whole.

The system of education is a tiny model in which all features of the modern society are shown in a concentrated form and which covers the most important age stages for forming outlook and valuable attitudes of a person. That is why in the very process of education and upbringing of growing up generation a special attention should be focused on forming tolerant consciousness.

At each age stage forming tolerant consciousness has its features. So, during the primary school age, on the one hand, it is necessary to teach a child to accept another person as a significant and valuable one, and, on the other hand, it is important to teach a child to concern his/her own views critically. The feature of the juvenile age is forming the feeling of cultural identity of a person and elaboration of bases for his/ her further social behaviour. The youthful age is especially sensitive to perception of new views and values. This period differs with aspiration for revision of already established norms and rules, calling all surrounding phenomena in question and criticism, elaboration of his/her own opinions and search of his/her own values, i.e. this period is characterized by processes of active forming of a person's own world outlooks. The special importance during this period is attached to those values and life-sense landmarks which will be offered to young generation by senior instructors. Therefore it is especially important for forming tolerant consciousness that such values as respect for national and cultural features of another ethnos, its views and beliefs, and also recognition of the right of other people to be different would also be perceived and assimilated by young people alongside with such values as love to the Motherland, the national unity and dignity, observance of customs and traditions of the native culture and religion.

Summing up the article, it is essential to emphasize once again that the modern society is substantially interested in forming outlook of youth from the point of view of the humanistic approach, one of which basic components is the tolerant consciousness.

And it is necessary to note once more that the tolerant consciousness represents the totality of displays of different levels and kinds of tolerance and its forming should also be organized as an integrated system in various spheres of human life. That is why one of the major goals of the modern system of education is forming and upbringing of tolerant consciousness of the personality taking into consideration his/her age and social features, because harmonious development and coexistence of representatives of various cultures in a single common society are possible only if each of them has tolerant consciousness.

References

tolerance education individuality

1. Abakumova I.V. Education and sense: sense-creation in the process of education. (the psychological-didactic approach). - Rostov-on-Don: Publishing house of Rostov State University, 2003. - 480 p.

2. Asmolov A.G., Soldatova G.U. About senses of concept of «tolerance» // the Century of tolerance: the Scientific-journalistic bulletin. - М., 2001.

3. Drobizheva L.M. Tolerance and growth of ethnic self-consciousness: limits of coexistence // Tolerance and consent / Editor-in-chief: V.A. Tishkov. - М., 1997.

4. The practical work in psychodiagnosis and research of tolerance of a person. / Ed. by G.U. Soldatova, L.A. Shaigerova. - M.: Moscow State University named after М.V. Lomonosov, 2003. - 112 p.

5. Soldatova G.U., Shaigerova L.A., Sharova O.D. Live in the peace with oneself and others: Training for teenagers. - M.: Genesis, - 2000. - 112 p.

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