Spirituality of a Personality: Methodology, Theory and Practice

7-18

Authors: Emily A. Akuno

The physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual aspects of the human being are so intertwined that development in one area influences the others and impacts on the wellbeing of the whole individual. Learning is cumulative and experiential in many areas of knowing. Learning in one area contributes to knowledge in other areas, because the human being does not necessarily compartmentalise knowledge. Skills are, further, transferable to areas of performance different from the domain in which they were first developed. Culture and arts experiences in childhood therefore contribute significantly to dispositions of later life, including perceptions, world view, beliefs and attitudes that affect the people’s relationships and response to their surroundings. In contemplating the place of childhood cultural experiences and arts (music) education in enhancing spiritual wellbeing, I interrogate my childhood experiences, noting specifically my exposure to sacred music at an early age that formed the foundations of my music learning. The experience of music as a cultural phenomenon further enhanced my readiness for the reception of experiences of a spiritual nature. This article embraces the concept of transformative education seen as facilitating consciousness raising, critical reflection, personal development and individuation, (J. Dirks) to underscore the value of arts and culture experiences as education of the individual towards a meaningful spiritual existence

25-34

Authors: T. L. Antonenko

The author of the article gives an essential characteristic of the value-sense sphere of a personality and spirituality. The state of modern information space and its influence on the formation of the value-sense sphere of the personality are analyzed.

48-59

Authors: Sonya K. Baehr

Educators continue to emphasize that creativity is one of the most important skills our children should be learning in order to succeed in a post-industrial world. Skills connected with creativity include: critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, empathy, curiosity, imagination, flexibility, ability to communicate with others, and the willingness to take risks and tolerate failure. The author’s twenty five years of experience in founding and running a performing arts program for children ages nine through fourteen supports the thesis that the best way to teach creativity is by giving children the experience of being creative. In offering children opportunities to explore and become comfortable with these critical skills, arts education programs that focus on devising (creating original material) are particularly effective. When children are taught the tools artists use to create original works in the fields of music, dance, and drama, and are given the freedom within a supervised structure to use these tools to create their own, original works, they begin making relationships between domains. Manipulating the forms and structures of musical, narrative, and choreographic composition requires connecting conceptual thinking with kinesthetic experience. Working across disciplines, children are able to experience the way elements of time and space interact, and they make choices that govern this interaction in order to achieve the group goal of a successful performance piece. This kind of educational experience empowers children to believe in their own ability to create new structures. It requires them to explore ambiguity, to take risks, and by recognizing multiple perspectives, to learn to balance their individual choices with the group’s decision. By teaching our students to think creatively, we teach them how to have confidence in their own ideas, and we give them valuable tools they can apply to all other areas of their lives.

68-83

Authors: I. D. Bekh

The article deals with education as a systematic ascent of personality to spirituality. This process is associated with development of pupil’s personal reflection as a mechanism through which personality deliberately assigns some spiritual value. Spiritual value is a cognitive and emotional value. The author proposes a methodical way of acquiring these components by pupil in order to practical establishment this integrity in the relevant act. The author focuses on a four-stages scheme to acquire some value that converts pupil to subject of spiritual and moral act. Importance of implementation of component of arbitrary impulse, which has not been theoretically understood, is proved. As a result, educational process has not always caused to achieve teacher’s aim. Therefore, the center of teacher’s educational efforts should be pupil’s self-spiritual and self-perception in the appropriate values. The tendency to such self-perception should be an internal basis for development of arbitrary impulse. It is important that pupils are immersed in their past through values, which can be assigned. The author proposes some techniques that stimulate the transfer from the pupil’s state of desire of spiritual value to the state of readiness to act on its contents.

94-102

Authors: Ernst Wagner

This paper presents practice examples in the field of arts education that try to support the objective sustainable development as defined by the United Nations. The examples have been nominated by experts around the world as ‘good practice examples’ for this specific topic. In a second step the samples will be related to a systematic framework that refers ‘arts education’ with ‘Education for Sustainable Development’ (ESD). The last part discusses possible improvements of existing arts education practice in respect to the SDGs.

112-118

Authors: S. О. Zavetny, О. V. Nanka, О. S. Ponomaryov

Apart from to its obvious advantages, scientific and technological progress is accompanied by a number of negative consequences. Among them are not only the significant environmental pollution, adverse climate changes and real threat of a global ecological catastrophe, but also the development and impact of engineering and technology on people, their thought and interpersonal relationships that became very dangerous. Technocracy of thought leads to loss of spirituality and humanity in the relationships and communication. Overcoming of the technocracy is possible only by instilling to pupils and students spirituality, responsibility and system of universal values.

139-148

Authors: Barbara Kwiatkowska-Tybulewicz

This article focuses on presentation of contemporary art as a space, where another person could be discovered. In the text there are three artistic project presented (Oxygenator by Joanna Rajkowska, The Artist is Present by Marina Abramović and public projections by Krzyszt of Wodiczko), which could be interpreted from the perspective of relational aesthetics created by Nicolas Bourriaud. In this context, art is seen as activity, which could produce relationships between people. The philosophy of dialogue is the source of inspiration for today’s pedagogical approaches that analyze interpersonal relationships. Art can open people to another person, creating specific spaces, where the audience can notice and feel another human being by a gaze, a voice and by being in the same common space.

159-172

Authors: M. V. Nabok

The main content of the study is explanation of the need to bring maximally nearer the education and upbringing of each child to its essence, specific abilities and future life path. Taking this into account, the main idea of the research is in the following – the development of general secondary education of Ukraine takes place in the direction of taking into account the natural foundations of child development. It has been established that the principle of child-centrism should be the basis of the activity of the modern school - providing the process of education and upbringing of each child on the basis of the development of his natural abilities.

180-187

Authors: E. O. Pomytkin

The problem of spiritual revival of the society is considered. The emphasis on the fact, that the spiritual security of the country depends on the ability of citizens to understand and uphold spiritual ideals, values and life meanings are made. The view, that the education system can play a leading role in the process of spiritual revival of Ukraine is substantiated. The results of empirical research of teachers' readiness to develop the spiritual potential of students are given.

197-207

Authors: H. F. Ponomaryova

The article reveals content keynotes of upbringing as a process of reaching spiritual and moral values of a future teacher. Leading scientific works on education and upbringing of future teachers in educational process of a higher educational establishment are analyzed. Content of civil education as a basis of patriotism formation is determined. Intelligent and professional formation of a future specialist in educational process at a higher pedagogical establishment is characterized. Moral and spiritual aspects of upbringing as a unified system of training future teachers are justified.

215-226

Authors: Mariusz Samoraj

My presentation is on basic problems of contemporary civilization, connected with: crisis of humanity and community, and also necessity to define social strategies in multicultural societies. Islamic terrorism, religious and ethnical wars are challenges for contemporary social culture and education and particularly for multicultural and intercultural education which we hope, can be a social tools for making contemporary society humanistic. The tragical act of Islamic terrorism in Paris, Berlin, London, Stockholm testify that “the world is going back to barbarity” and this is the last alert signal for European community to change ineffective and false forms of politics and multicultural education. I’m pointing E. Fromm reflections on “War within man” /1963/, as a reference to research on condition of contemporary man its alienation and possibilities to growth in humanity. I’m taking up the discussion with post-humanism and searching of reason of crisis of contemporary human. I’m presenting educational commitment and hint outstanding, authority in the area of intercultural education useful to pedagogical process of shaping identity and intercultural competence, crating base of citizenship and fruitful life in community and multicultural society. I’m quoting examples of authorship course titled “Intercultural dialogue”-UW Erasmus Program students and also my lectures and artistic workshop in Kunstunivesrsitat Linz in Austria – intercultural dialogue.

238-259

Authors: Yu. I. Svatko

The article presents an ontology of the contemporary liberal Human World. The first part of the article is dedicated to the eleven topoi there of seen as markers of the ‘man-godlikeness’; the second one draws distinction between its eleven global crises seen as markers of the age of ‘the post-‘; and the third one provides a definition of meaningful boundaries for spiritual security of personality. In the epilogue, the international agenda for education is documented along with a set of basic competencies of the renovated Human World as taken against the backdrop of their equivalents that are safe for human personality.

272-286

Authors: S. A. Siroizhko

The problem of deepening the processes of the constant spiritual «arrival» and self-reflection of the teacher in the educational space is raised as a condition of realization of the new principle of pedagogy – the principle of Potential Spiritual Security. As a consequence, a new style of scientific nonlinear pedagogical thinking is born in the pedagogical environment, based on the methodology of spiritual humanism. The modern lesson is based on the basic concepts of synergetics: an open system, self-organization of the system, a point of bifurcation, crisis stages of development, nonlinearity, an attractor. The teacher is the key figure of the lesson, he is able to gracefully direct the system to an ideal goal, taking into account changing circumstances without violence and coercion, if he consciously curbs the lower emotionality in himself, asserting moral qualities in his personal life, guaranteeing the spiritual security of the future.

300-324

Authors: H. H. Filipchuk

The article describes the main problems of the formation of post-industrial civilization in the global world. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of possible models of civilization development in the views of modern scientists-philosophers (pessimistic models of the «clash of civilizations», «the end of history» by F. Fukuyama, S. Huntington and the alternative conception of a cardinal reorganization of the world on the basis of spiritual reformation, dialogue of cultures, democracy, which should serve as prerequisites for the emergence of a civilization of «humanistic globalism»). The article focuses attention on the fact that the art of introducing morality should be properly put in schools, which should become real workshops of people. The author raises the question of how we can resist the negative phenomena of our time and whether education, science, pedagogy can modernize the World, Man? The author sees the way out of the current situation in the realization of the global value needs, which is that culture should become the basis for sustainable development of mankind, and cultural policy should be the main basis of national security. The author pays special attention to the need for public awareness that the potential of culture should be used to solve social problems, economic, environmental problems, and security strategies.

346-360

Authors: M. M. Chursin

The concepts of spiritual security and spiritual culture are considered in connection with the conception of sustainable development of society. The cybernetic role of spirituality is underlined as a factor that provides unity, integrity of humanity as a biological system, serves its survival. The definitions of spiritual security and culture are discussed, and the need for conscious support of spirituality in society is pointed out.