SPIRITUAL AND MORAL EDUCATION IN RUSSIA: PROBLEMS OF MODERNIZATION

The article analyses the modern crisis in the system of education of Russia and namely the problems caused by the disintegration of classical paradigm which always implied spiritual and moral guidance. The authors argue that the process of education should mostly consist of building up of the personality as it did during several centuries. This idea was severely transformed during the Soviet era with its focus on the common good and building of the ideal society which sometimes allowed unwanted simplifications and pursued short-term goals. However, the Soviet system of education adopted it as a heritage that education should never be fully separated from upbringing. In this sense, Russia today finds itself at a crossroad: some important cultural educational practices are lost, and even after 25 years of the dissolution of the Soviet Union there is lack of methodological clarity in some fundamental questions. On the other side, Russian education system is undergoing great changes as a result of world globalization. The article proposes several educational ideas which could help saving the cultural identity of the Russian education without retreating to obsolete standards.