Developing students’ social values within the US higher education institutions

Abstract

The experience of the United States, where in higher education students are trained for conscious social activities and independent responsibility for the benefit of the community and society as a whole, seems to be significant for the theory and practice of higher education in Ukraine. The appeal to the American educational experience is due to the fact that today the United States as a state governed by the rule of law is a reliable guarantor of individual rights and freedoms, provided by strong traditions of civic education – the key to educating students' social values. At the same time, the interest in higher education in the United States is due to its high prestige within the world educational environment, its well-known democratic orientation and constant content and methodological improvement. In the United States, training graduates in adapting to their social life as responsible citizens-members of certain communities and professionals in society has historically been a duty of higher education. The purpose of the article is to highlight the features of the educational process in the course of general education in the framework of undergraduate studies within the US higher education, institutions, which contribute to the development of students’ social values. It is noted that the pedagogical experience of the United States, where students are being trained in conscious social activities and independent responsible activities for the benefit of society in higher education institutions, is useful for the theory and practice of higher education in Ukraine. The methodology of the research is based on the analysis of scholarly and pedagogical sources of the USA and Ukraine on the problem under study with the elements of induction and deduction to characterise the state of its development in the USA; the summarising of the organisation of various types of training in the US higher education institutions, which provide for the formation of students’ social values. The originality of the research lies in the fact that for the first time in the Ukrainian pedagogical science, the views of American scholars on the types of training, as well as the civic engagement of students in the U.S. higher education institutions which contribute to the development of their social values have been summarised. It has been found out that today, in higher education in the United States, students’ engagement into social activities during their general education ensures their readiness for a meaningful and responsible life in an interdependent world characterised by uncertainty and rapid changes. By teaching leadership and community service through dialogue and collaboration, the U.S. colleges and universities contribute to the development of students’ social values, social and intellectual development of students who, moving from a comfort zone to a contact zone, are able to interact effectively within a variety of situations.

Keywords

• social values
• service learning
• leadership training
• multicultural education
• social engagement
• u.s. higher education institutions
• general education
• undergraduate students