Home – Home – Jornals – "Philosophy of Education" 2014 number 6

The author considers the problem of professional education to be especially urgent. The concepts of «professional education», «educational space» and «educational environment» are considered. Globalization and an urgent demand for real, not declarative competitiveness radically change our attitude towards such fundamental categories as «space» and «environment». Not only do we have to admit that «space» is an organic part of the «educational content», being a fundamental part of the education-upbringing process, but relate in different ways to the category of «environment», because «space» is able to relate and interact with different educational environments. If we assume that educational environment is the decisive factor of efficiency, then the urgent concern for finding ways of its historically claimed development cannot but determine the functioning of each higher education institution. This is not wishful thinking, but the requirement, without answering which the issues of competitiveness of domestic education will be addressed mostly at a declarative level. In the conditions of globalization, the «educational environment» as a factor that has the decisive influence on the formation and development of personality is objectively transformed into a basic criterion for the evaluation of quality and effectiveness of vocational education. In the conditions of globalization, the university cannot afford to be guided by formal criteria, the prevailing forms of control and examination tests. From the standpoint of requirements of professional competitiveness of the expert, vocational education cannot develop on the basis of average data and ratings. Professional education like no other should not be linked to the concept of «majority», but only to the concept of «everyone». In this regard, it seems that it should not only exercise a critical attitude towards the official ratings of the higher education institutions, but also acknowledge its historical dead-end character and lack of the future.