Syrtsova Elena L.

Vyatka State University of Humanities

Kirov, Russia

 

 

LOCAL MYTHOLOGY AS A MEAN OF DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENTS’ EDUCATIONAL AUTONOMY

 

At present some changes in the sphere of education can be detected: significant modifications in the contents of scholastic disciplines, the process of activations and intensity of the educational process, introducing new technical facilities and computer technologies.

To live and work in modern society the youth must have practical skills of the interacting with different people, taking the responsible decisions in real life situations, realizing the equal dialogue between partners, also it demands abilities to independent gaining knowledge and motivation to long-life self-education. So it is very actual and important to investigate such a phenomena as educational autonomy of a person.

From the psychological position autonomy is a social-psychological quality, allowing person to act independently from internal and external installations, demonstrating ability to self-regulation, independence and conscious self-direction.

In pedagogics the problem of development of educational autonomy is closely connected with the need of development of cognitive activity, independence, initiative, responsibility, skills of self-verification, motivation to receiving new knowledge. According to the new educational paradigm it is necessary to give students not only theoretical knowledge but also creative thinking and skills of working with new information.

The most important facility for developing students’ educational autonomy is a system of creative problems. Students’ activity reveals in intensity of working on  a problem, which is connected with searching individual ways of its solving. Independence includes longing and skills to organize work rationally without someone’s help, to comprehend information critically, to correlate new knowledge with assimilated information, to set the new problems, to solve them independently, to defend one’s own beliefs. Autonomy appears at that moment, when a student realizes himself as a subject of the cognition, ready to act actively and independently.

Investigating the possibilities of using local mythology as a mean of development of students’ educational autonomy took place during summer practice in the Crimea. The main aims of the practice for the second-year students of specialization "Social and cultural service and tourism" were:

       to study the history and geography of the Crimea and legends and myths, which are connected with this region and attract tourists;

       to estimate using of recreation resources of the Crimea South coast in tourist industry in the region: amount and variety of high frequency tourist routes; quality and moderateness of freight services; housing conditions for tourists (hotels,  recreation departments, health centres); presence of professional well-qualified guides; excursion fare; 

       to develop own tourist route taking into account the information about the recreation resources of the Crimea South coast. 

Development of students’ educational autonomy during the practice was proceeded in some phases: starting-up, students’ autonomous activity, reflexive-analytical, correcting.

During the starting-up phase students’ internal motivation was expected to develop. It was necessary to interest them in forthcoming work. But the main purpose was to build up students’ need to act as a researcher, real specialist. To proceed this goal the management game "Tourist agency" was organized. The students perfected working technology of a tourist agent and a guide. Also the students familiarized with the history of opening up the Crimea. the key events occurred in different periods in this region, the monuments of Crimean history, architectural masterpieces and mythology connected with them.

The main objects for examination during the practice in the Crimea become:

       the khan palace of Girey dynasty in Bakhchisaray;

       the cave cities of Chufut-Cale and Eski-Kermen;

       the medieval fortress Kalamita and the cave monastery in Inkerman;

       the historical and archeological reserve Hersones Tavricheskiy in Sevastopol;

       the palace of the count M.S. Vorontsoff in Alupka;

       the pass Baydarsky Gates and the church of Ascension in Foros;

       the Genoese fortress Chimbalo in Balaklava.

Investigating the local mythology students learned to conduct excursions independently. In final accounts of the practice students described the most interesting myths, connected with studied natural, cultural and historical objects and which assure attracting tourists to the region. The local myths of the Crimea were divided into several types:

1)     myths about cultural objects (the Fountain of tears, the palace of the count M.S. Vorontsoff and others);

2)     myths about place foundation (Hersones, Inkerman, Balaklava);

3)     myths about treasures (the history of the ship "Black Prince");

4)     myths about the lost world (ancient population of the Crimea: Cimmerians, Scythians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Goths, Huns; the particularities of their culture and monuments of history).

The students were offered to create some projects, in which it was necessary to present three days' routes around the Crimea. They had to take into account  particularities of the local mythology of the peninsula. In that way studying the local mythology of the Crimea promoted development of internal motivation of the students, formation their professional skills as specialists in the field of social and cultural service and tourism.