The task of the modern school has long been not only in the transfer of knowledge in a number of subjects. Moreover, this function fades into the background, and the creation of conditions for the full development of the child becomes a priority. Everyone has inclinations and abilities for one or another field of knowledge, creativity, practical or sports activity. And to identify these inclinations, to give them the opportunity to develop - one of the main pedagogical tasks. Lessons alone are not enough. Therefore, such attention is today paid to various types of extracurricular practices of schoolchildren. It is the integration of general education and additional education that gives the child a maximum of opportunities for personal development.
Extracurricular activities or continuing education?
These two concepts are often confused. They are really similar in that they create the conditions for the diverse development of the student, but in fact these are two different areas of education.
Extracurricular activities are a mandatory part of the main educational program that the school operates on. Continuing education programs are implemented by relevant institutions. Moreover, students who have already decided which field of activity or creativity are closer to them resort to their services, and often this is associated with vocational guidance. The task of the teacher at the same time is to develop existing abilities, to help realize them.
Extracurricular activities cover all students, participation in it is mandatory. The guys try themselves in different directions to understand which area is closer to them. The teacher accompanies this process, helping to identify inclinations and inclinations.
Under certain conditions, integration of general and continuing education is possible. Moreover, extracurricular activities and visiting circles in the palace of creativity can effectively complement each other. The direct mechanisms for the integration of general and additional education depend on many factors: the regulatory framework, material and technical capabilities, location, human resources, etc.
Organization of extracurricular activities
In accordance with the requirements of federal standards, extracurricular activities are aimed at achieving educational results, solving the problems of raising and socializing a child. Conducted in forms other than classroom practice. There are several main thematic areas of extracurricular activities:
- social;
- general cultural;
- intellectual;
- spiritual and moral;
- sports and wellness.
The organizational forms used are circles, societies, workshops, laboratories, as well as mass excursions, conferences, competitions, projects.
A number of models of extracurricular activities have been developed, based both on the capabilities of the school itself and on the integration of general and additional education of children.
- Full day school. The child is in the educational institution until the evening. At the same time, a variety of activities and leisure activities are provided, and meals are organized. The process is usually controlled by the teacher-educator, whose tasks include a combination of forms of training and development, creating conditions for self-expression of students, the formation of an individual educational trajectory.
- Optimization model. Uses the internal resources of the school with the involvement of a significant part of the teaching staff (teachers, social educators, counselors). The coordinator is the class teacher. Such a model makes it possible to achieve a unified approach to organizing lesson and extracurricular activities in terms of topics, the forms and methods used.
- The third model involves a combination of the potentials of schools and institutions of additional education.
School and Continuing Education Collaboration
The effectiveness of the student’s development process can be increased by using the resources of additional education institutions. This follows from the provisions of the standards. The GEF on integration in secondary education says: when organizing extracurricular activities, the capabilities of cultural organizations and sports can be used.
Personnel, technical, informational capabilities of the system of additional education contribute to the expansion of the developing space, the formation of interdisciplinary knowledge.
At the same time, the development of clear rules and forms of interaction remains the main condition for the integration of general and additional education. The effectiveness of cooperation is ensured by the creation of a common program and methodological space. The development of an appropriate regulatory framework, the correction of local acts, the distribution of powers, the modernization of educational programs are envisaged.
Integration Principles
The very concept of "integration" implies an effective and productive connection of a number of elements related to different systems. That is, if several types of institutions are involved in the educational space, the efficiency should increase. The level of educational results that children can achieve while in such conditions is much higher.
In the course of integration, a special developmental environment is created, which may collapse if cooperation ceases. Any integration ties are mobile and dynamic, for their effective use requires constant correction, prompt response to emerging difficulties from the participants of the educational process.
There are several essential conditions for the productive integration of general and additional education of children. These include:
- preliminary experience of collaboration;
- the priority of educational goals over financial objectives;
- the presence of a jointly developed program and work plan, local acts protecting the interests and defining the responsibilities of institutions in the framework of cooperation;
- possession of various types of resources that, when combined, can create the necessary capabilities (informational, organizational, human resources, social, material);
- spatial proximity of institutions.
Types of integration of general and additional education
In connection with the introduction of new standards, the principles of interaction at different educational levels are changing, new forms of cooperation are appearing. Their task is to ensure the continuity of education, to create conditions for the successful social adaptation of the student.
In the field of integration of general education and additional education, two components can be distinguished: external and internal. The first is responsible for creating a unified pedagogical system, the second for the mutual penetration of elements of different educational fields.
To ensure the sharing of resources are used:
- contractual relationship;
- administrative regulation (if there is only one founder);
- network educational association;
- creation of a new legal entity (educational complexes).
The latter are recognized as the most effective, albeit organizationally labor-intensive form of integration. Quite often applied: a model of a municipal network with a number of large resource centers located close to each other; the format of an interschool factory interacting with professional institutions, technology parks, cultural and sports institutions.
The problem of integration and differentiation of general and special education deserves special attention. It is about the social adaptation of children with special educational needs. The main idea is to apply the principles of "normalization" when a child grows and develops in conditions as close as possible to the lifestyle of modern society. The integration of special and general education is a real chance for such children to participate in various forms of social life in conditions that compensate for their limited capabilities. At the modern school, various forms of joint learning are practiced, and correction and pedagogical support classes are being created.
Federal models
In the course of designing a format for integrating general education and additional education, a variable model of interaction was created. It includes a number of components, each of which can be selected as the basis for the development of its own version and adapted to specific conditions.
- One such component is the “nodal model”. It provides that the organization of continuing education provides its base for extracurricular activities with students of different schools on a specific topic. This option is effective if only a few people have chosen this or that specialization in each school.
- The second option assumes that associations of institutions of additional education (circles, societies, clubs, sections) work on the basis of the school. Students of this institution and other schools can attend such classes. If the number of children at the same time becomes large, on the basis of the school a branch of one or another institution of additional education can be created.
- Internship at the institution of continuing education. It is both an organizational and methodological center and a platform for advanced training of general education teachers in areas related to extracurricular activities.
If it is not just about the child’s choice of a certain additional sphere of interests, but about vocational guidance, organizationally this process is carried out during the integration of vocational and general education.
“School is a socio-cultural center”
This model is based on the interaction of the school with several types of institutions. It can be organizations of additional education, sports, culture, other social partners. In fact, the integration of general and additional education takes place when organizing the interaction of several educational spaces: educational, extracurricular, additional within the framework of network interaction.
In such conditions, the key to success is the coherence of the actions of employees of all involved organizations, the unity of pedagogical goals, tasks, and technologies used. In fact, it is about creating a unified educational system based on interagency cooperation. Additional education, lesson, extracurricular activities are focused on the general result - the development of the personality of the child in the course of his familiarization with educational, social and cultural practices. This approach provides:
- orientation on the abilities and interests of the student;
- a wide selection of areas and activities;
- practice-oriented educational process;
- the possibility of self-determination and self-realization.
In the course of the joint work of the institutions, a unified system of informing students about projects, events, and events that are being prepared on the territory of the district (city) can be created that become part of the general educational process.
“School is a single educational space”
A sufficiently effective model for the integration of additional education and general education, which provides for the creation of a single space for the development and upbringing of children by including the center of additional education in the structure of the school.
Such a union makes it possible to more effectively solve the problem of realizing the individual social, creative, cognitive interests and needs of the student, forming an individual trajectory of its development, which is common for the two areas of education.
Such integration does not become a formality. Each school analyzes its capabilities to ensure the further development of a new structural unit.
The educational environment created allows the child to:
- choose thematic content and forms of activity, allowing to reveal its internal potential;
- fulfill various social roles, choose and change groups and associations;
- communicate and interact with adults and children of different ages and interests.
Performance indicators of the model are: expanding the range of additional educational programs; increase in the number of joint events and projects; conclusion of cooperation agreements; maintaining and increasing the contingent of students and teachers; satisfaction of participants in the educational process.
Case Studies
Today, experience exists in the development and implementation of effective models for integrating general and continuing education in many regions.
So, in Murmansk, on the basis of the school, a musical and aesthetic center is successfully operating, whose tasks include introducing adolescents to musical, visual, and theatrical art. Three departments are open: choral, folklore, orchestral. After the 9th grade, children can receive not only a certificate, but also a certificate from the center with the right to enter secondary and higher musical educational institutions.
It also becomes quite common to create large educational complexes, when educational organizations of different levels are combined in one cluster. An educational center for gifted students has been created in Stavropol on the basis of the lyceum, the Palace of Children's Creativity and the State University, which implements the program "school - university - graduate school."
Integration of secondary and vocational education programs
Education reforms provide institutions with more opportunities to choose programs and forms of education. The range of formats for the interaction of different levels of education is expanding. One of the sought-after areas is the integration of the main educational program of secondary general education and secondary vocational education programs on the basis of an individual curriculum. This becomes possible as a result of profiling of high school, which allows combining elements of programs of different levels. The variable part of the programs that high school students study can be adjusted so that the study of material related to future professional activities comes to the fore. When developing an educational and professional program, the choice of forms and methods of training is of great importance. The influence of the vocational education system with its emphasis on practice-oriented and activity-oriented approach is especially noticeable in them.
The purpose of such integration is: optimization of training periods; improving the quality of professional knowledge and skills; involvement of potential employers in the development of final educational results. At the same time, schoolchildren can pre-orientate themselves with popular programs that interest employers.
After completing training on such an integrated program in grades 10-11 and passing the exam, in addition to the school certificate, the graduate receives an academic certificate indicating the completed disciplines (modules) of the vocational education program and the results of the final certification on them.
While continuing to study in the chosen direction, previously acquired material is read to the student, which reduces the duration of professional education.