Partnership pedagogics and project learning as the ways to develop modern education actors

Abstract

The modern educational system has no chance to avoid responding the challenges of the emerging digital civilization and multimedia culture. To authors’ opinion, such response is the actualization of subject-subjective nature of educational service production/consumption. Taking into account the contradiction between traditionally formed, essentially conservative paradigm of educational process and explosive improvement of life conditions in the modern society, the authors suggest to activate the partnership pedagogics as the meaningful response of university education to to the modern era challenges. The article discusses the experience of partnership pedagogics in the project leaning format in conditions of educational process at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics. The paper objective is to present the analysis results of cognitive abilities of a student as a partner in the project learning context. The research methodology and techniques predetermine consideraing the view of a student role in the project  learning process as an equal, motivated actor participating in the process of education and self-education, actively interacting with a scientific supervisor-tutor. Viewing the student as the partner in the project learning context supposes understanding the relevance of the student subjective position. Adjustment of educational paradigm  actually forming “soft skills” primarily enables shift of education processes from traditional subject-object “stuffing students up” with  information to subject-subjective student “self-education  management”; students have their research, organizational and creative tasks. The dilemma of many modern pedagogical practices is associated with the necessity to master “hard skills” (basic, programme skills), and “soft skills” (mobile skills, connected to  creativity, dialogue and openness to multiple ways of task-solutions). The essential solution of this contradiction and the possibility of its  “sublation” on the higher level is related to the partnership pedagogy, where the student is regarded as the equal, equipotent agent, active  and initiative participant in the educational process interaction. The  future research prospects are connected to the psychological analysis of humanistic oriented practices in the educational process.