Traditional Values in the Coordinate System of Modern Russian Youth

Introduction. The relevance of the topic of our research is due to a number of factors, both external (global, general, universal) and internal (social, historical and cultural, value-based). The scale of the problem is also determined by the high level of confrontation in the world of value-based coordinate systems: moral, religious and anthropological, political, legal and socio-humanitarian. Social uncertainty has actualized the problem of sociocultural factors’ influence on the transformation of the value-based orientations of Russian young people, their worldview.

Transformations of a global scale have escalated the situation when in the context of scientific discoveries and the development of the latest breakthrough technologies, the problem of protecting the person themselves has emerged before humanity. Protection not only from such destructive global problems as environmental, social, military, but, above all, from their own self-destruction, the loss of life guidelines, adequate perception of the world and circumstances. The characteristic features of a post-industrial society and, at first glance, their obvious pragmatic advantages (availability, volume and quality of information, variability of technologies, etc.) turned out to be not only digital expansion, but also an active invasion of all spheres of human life, fundamentally changing life, the inner world of a person, deforming their semantic space.

Many domestic researchers state that the modern situation in Russian society is characterized by the presence of complex, contradictory processes caused by crisis phenomena: the opposition of value-based paradigms, collision, the diversity of cultural and historical interpretations as well as a long ideological vacuum, devaluation of historical and cultural values, national traditions, destruction of gender constancy, interruption of intergenerational ties. The radical invasion of personal space where the values of artificial and natural collide, the phenomena of “editing” (biotechnological improvement of a person) and their natality, neurotechnological improvement of moral behavior and traditional practices, cause intense discussions [1, pp. 61‒78; 2; 3 pp. 7‒9].

The education system, its institutions, goal-setting and special content originally embedded in educational processes are intended to confront the new challenges imposed on our country by political and economic isolation, the “culture of cancellation”, to gain guidelines and understanding of what is happening to young people. Only education in unprecedented conditions of cardinal changes in the world can ensure in the long term the “safety”, spiritual and moral motivation necessary to successfully counter the threats of the collective West. Therefore, it is important to consider the implementation of state youth policy (SYP) and the formation of the resource base of university education in direct connection.

In this regard, we have identified two components. Firstly, consideration of specifics and peculiarities of the implementation of the tasks of the state youth policy in the modern conditions of the development of Russian society. Secondly, the analysis of the general situation in the system of Russian higher education, in particular, the processes of transformation of university education and the introduction of new educational models and formats. In our opinion, these two spheres, two main directions “education” and “youth” intersect at one point in which there are values and meanings on the basis of which it is possible to develop an adequate response to modern geopolitical challenges faced by Russia.

Obviously, the goals of the education system and the organization of work with young people, being essentially general, imply the formation, broadcasting values that are the meaning-forming basis of human existence, setting the direction and motivation in the social space. We understand that the formed system of values of an individual and various social groups is the stabilizing foundation of society.

Materials and Methods. The methodological basis of the study was sociological and philosophical-historical concepts that make it possible to analyze the implementation of the value-based approach in the context of the search for principles for building a new national education system in Russia. The principles of consistency and comprehensiveness were implemented as well as comparative analysis and sociological methods were used to determine the dynamics of value-based orientations of modern Russian youth, including an interdisciplinary approach, involving a comparative analysis of studies carried out by representatives of academic institutions and regulatory documents in the field of state youth policy (SYP).

Results. Analysis of publications, comparison of the results of experimental activities, sociological studies performed in the field of value-based attitudes and guidelines of modern youth, state the relevance of conceptual provisions of the well-known theory of value-based orientations of D.A. Leontyev, his interpretation of the phenomenon of “value” [4, pp. 34‒36]. Despite the abundance of classification approaches in the designation of groups of values, in most studies we see the Leontyev’s approach, according to which the basis of value-based orientations is a conscious idea of the subject about their own values. Naturally, in the epicenter of modern authors’ attention, depending on the purpose of the study, there is the search for new ways and tools for broadcasting the values of society in the youth environment: “values of consciousness” [5, pp. 5‒17]; “generally recognized values” [6, p. 42]; “cross-cutting” [7, pp. 14‒16]; “leading” [8, p. 1 18]; “finite”, etc.

The above-mentioned studies are united by the general approach, according to which, firstly, values are considered as the basic foundation for the formation of value-based attitudes in a particular age group-youth, and secondly, researchers accept the thesis that, on the one hand, young people inherit the values of the previous generation and, on the other hand, they are aimed at transforming these values. In this regard, the studies of authors describing such a complex phenomenon as “hybridization of value-based categories” deserves special attention, which makes it possible to timely assess the risks of spiritual transformations with long-term consequences. In the process of analyzing the axiological orientations of young people, the factors of the formation and dissemination of values, they identified the main groups of values: “spiritual and moral values”; “values of activity, professional and career orientations”; “Gnostic values”; “political and socially significant values”; “values of social and subcultural groups”; “family values”; “national, ethnocultural, ethnoconfessional, religious values”; “Media, Internet, social networks as values (production and reception)”; “individual values, individualism/collectivism as values”; “valeological values” [9].

The concept of “traditional values”, that is, the totality of personal ideas supported in society about the ways of organizing one’s own life, interacting with other people, building relations with the state, is clearly indicated in the Decree of the President of Russia “On the preservation and strengthening of traditional spiritual and moral values”. The document not only gives a specific definition of what is meant today by “traditional values”, but also denotes life; human dignity, rights and freedoms; patriotism; citizenship; service to the fatherland and responsibility for its fate; high moral ideals; close-knit family; creative work; priority of the spiritual over the material; humanism; mercy; fairness; collectivism; mutual assistance and mutual respect; historical memory and generational continuity; unity of the peoples of Russia¹.

In the youth environment, for several decades we have seen tectonic movements in the field of value-based, worldview guidelines. The importance of the institutions of the individual’s socialization decreases, the lack of critical thinking and the inability to apply and operate with cognitive tools are stated in educational organizations. The need for young people to have the attributes of absolute individual freedom, reverence for neoliberal models of the organization of society, high trust in the network environment and the lack of information filters form a completely new agenda for working with young people. On the one hand, we are forced to state that a generation of young people has grown up who do not have clear ideological guidelines, confident in good intentions of the West and the archaic character of Russia, who have received negative information about life in the Soviet Union (“the Sove”, “lost time”, “totalitarian Soviet system”, etc.). On the other hand, as a consequence of such attitudes, we see manifestation of destructive phenomena in the youth environment: aggression, manifestation of elements of extremism; ethnic and sectarian tensions; radicalization; exposure to fake information, depression, self-doubt, etc. Obviously, we cannot expect from these generations who have adopted the values of the Western way of life imposed by Anglo-Saxon culture, including a tolerant attitude towards polygender politics, adherence to traditional cultural codes of identity (national, religious, sexual and family) [10].

In this regard, there are special requirements for the current system of priorities, decisions and actions of the state in the field of education and youth policy, government institutions that form an order for upbringing, socialization, and preparing generations for life. In Russia, the foundations of the state management model in the field of youth policy have been formed, the federal and regional system of interaction has been built. At the same time, there is an imbalance in the work of certain parts of the system mechanism, there are contradictions between the scientific results of research and management decisions, the real needs of young people and the formats of events. Structures implementing the tasks of the SYP play an integrative function in solving key problems of youth and society, reflect the social priorities and aspirations of young people, and most importantly, have various opportunities for their self-realization [11] [12].

It should be noted that modern tools and resources of youth policy at the level of state structures and public organizations have recently been truly unlimited in terms of the scale of competitive and grant events, the level of funding, and the quantitative indicators of youth involved in creative activity and social practice. We are convinced that with the resources of influence, the main goal of initiating and conducting any activity with young people is to form a system of values and worldviews. In the scope of this approach, the educational space of universities is one of the most optimal and effective platforms that create conditions for solving urgent problems. In education there are answers to many questions: how values can be transmitted, formed, broadcast, assimilated by young people in the educational, sociocultural space of the university.

In the scope of what approaches, with the help of what tools, it is possible to form conditions for the formation of identity (national, cultural, spiritual), mastery of critical thinking techniques; what technologies will help to resist destructive and aggressive forms of behavior, rejection of rules alien to traditions and culture. The whole history of Russian pedagogy confirms the special significance of the axiological function of education, which ensures the maximum development of the basic quality of a person, that is humanity, the formation of personal, life and professionally significant guidelines, what determines the potential of a person (epistemological, creative, communicative) and allows making the right choice in “a good-evil” situation [13] [14].

It should be noted that since the 90s of the last century, the Russian education system has been continuing to undergo significant transformations, which in turn outlined methodological problems: chaotic movement in determining the main trajectories of reforms and lack of results; an attempt to change the general institutional formats without changing the essential foundations of the entire system [15]; lack of recognition by the institutions of power of systemic modernization, changing all levels of organization of public, state life of society [16]; the tendency of narrow-professional, pragmatic project content of education [17]. Modern processes of education transformation taking place in Russian universities have led to the need for radical changes in goals, content, models and formats of education in new civilizational conditions. The domestic education system, being an important resource for the development of Russian society, is in a situation of responding to large-scale challenges. The crisis discourse of transformational processes reflects not only the power of external challenges, but also provides the opportunity to update, reformat, design new models of educational organization, in the center of which there is a personality, interests and needs of a modern young person [19, pp. 5‒9].

Discussion and Conclusion. Nowadays, Russia needs to update the federal strategy for the development of educational activities in educational organizations subordinate to the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, the definition of new approaches, formats and technologies in the implementation of the tasks of state youth policy in the educational space of the university. Projects aimed at solving the problems of patriotic education of student youth are needed; it is important to implement educational programs with clear performance criteria for the development of competencies in the history of the Russian state and the foundations of religion; targeted work of federal, regional, university sites to identify the best practices and presentation of university cases in the field of work with student youth; organizing feedback and discussing with students the possibility of their participation in assessing the quality of education received; formation of proposals for the development of student projects and initiatives in the new political and economic conditions.

It is necessary to include representatives of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, rectors of universities, heads of student associations, representatives of all-Russian, regional public organizations, federal and regional authorities in determining the key directions and request coming from the state and its institutions. The result of communication and discussion platforms should be clear and understandable for young people. Both in the situation with youth policy and in education today, the balanced policy and the reasonable development strategy are needed, requiring clear ideological messages and semantic constructs. Education, the humanities, in their essence, have always been ideological and politicized. Moreover, the great powers have always created conditions for the development of science and their national educational system, which made it possible to form intellectual sovereignty, one of the most important principles for the preservation and survival of Russia.

In the current situation of awareness of the obvious losses for the education and upbringing of young people, the search for new guidelines in reforming (transforming) the national (sovereign) educational system, the legacy of Russian philosophical thought is more relevant than ever (I.A. Ilyin, N.A. Berdyaev, V.V. Zenkovsky S.L. Frank, N.N. Vysheslavtsev, P. Florensky, etc.). In their works of philosophy, the educational paradigm is based on the principles of culture-like and personality-oriented model, simple and specific theses: “not adaptation of an individual to perform certain local functions, but holistic formation of a personality, not enrichment of consciousness and memory with a lot of unnecessary information, but spiritual and moral development. More than half a century ago I.A. Ilyin wrote that new Russia will have to develop a new system of education and national education and “its historical path will depend on the right solution of this problem” [19, pp. 178‒179].

Education aimed at the formation of basic, vital attitudes not only affects the adoption of relevant decisions about values and ideals, but also determines the trajectories of the development of young people, the development of Russian society in the future. Today Russia needs an ideological integral educational system that concentrates the best traditions of Russian science: fundamentality, interdisciplinarity, anthropological meanings, extreme focus on the personality of a citizen of Russia.

1 Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 09.11.2022 No. 809 “On approval of the Fundamentals of State Policy for the Preservation and Strengthening of Traditional Russian Spiritual and Moral Values” (accessed: 20.07.2024).