No 2 (2024)

Humanity faces global challenges caused by geopolitical, economic, environmental, and other circumstances. This situation is exacerbated by the crisis pursued by the West for decades, the policy of globalization and multiculturalism. Since education is an inert system that cannot set strategic priorities for its development, it is always forced to focus on solving current problems of the past and present. As a result, education’s role in shaping humanity’s future is indirect rather than purposeful, often leading to local and large-scale undesirable disasters. The historical and cultural analysis of the situation in Russia and the countries of Western civilization made it possible to identify serious challenges that cannot be solved without the active participation of education. The first is related to the fact that in the conditions of current globalization, a new crusade of Western civilization is taking place to spread its traditions and values in the world, which are presented as universal. Modern research, historical examples, and the negative experiences of our times show that what is acceptable for some nations often becomes destructive and disastrous for others. Therefore, the first strategic priority of modern education should be to help adolescents and specific peoples understand their cultural identity, develop a respectful attitude towards other peoples’ cultures, and, on this basis, engage in productive intercultural dialogue. Another global challenge is the energy and environmental situation and the consumer psychology imposed on people from childhood, typical of Western countries, post-Soviet states, and today’s Russia. All this threatens the preservation of life on Earth in the future. In the history of humankind, two periods can be distinguished in which humans were on the brink of extinction. Each time, they were saved by finding the strength to consciously change their way of life and themselves based on commonly accepted and shared values and taboos, i.e., they showed themselves to be rational and equal spiritual beings. This aspect is insufficiently reflected in the regulation documents on education adopted in Russia and the world in recent years. Therefore, the second strategic priority of modern education should be the development of people’s environmental consciousness and the recognition of the priority of spiritual needs over material needs.

This study examines the relationship between psychological capital and traits associated with the dark and light triad of personality. In particular, it aims to determine how the parameters of psychological capital – self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and stability – interact with traits of the dark triad (narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy) and the light triad (humanism, Kantianism, and faith in humanity). Empirical tests were used to investigate the hypothesis about these parameters’ interrelationships and mutual influence. The study included 103 students of the Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology of the Cherepovets State University aged between 17 and 22 (average age 18.3 years). The diagnostic tools used in the study included special questionnaires to assess traits related to the dark and light personality triad and psychological capital. Data analysis involved the use of correlation and regression analysis techniques for mathematical processing. It was found that of the dark triad traits, only narcissism, which is positively correlated with self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and stability, is positively correlated with psychological capital and some of its parameters. The two factors of psychological capital that have the greatest influence on the characteristics of narcissism are self-efficacy and optimism. Narcissism, on the other hand, only affects optimism. With regard to the characteristics of the light triad, it was found that optimism, self-efficacy, and resilience are positively correlated with faith in humanity, while optimism is positively correlated with humanism. The regression analysis revealed that optimism, faith in humanity, and humanism are not only interrelated but also influence each other. Specifically, optimism is a predictor of faith in humanity and humanism, while faith in humanity and humanism predicts optimism as an attitude toward life. These findings contribute to understanding the interplay and mutual influence of holistic personality traits. They have practical implications for counselors of student groups and university psychological services.

The pedagogical and scientific community actively discusses the problems of teaching regional history at school. The article discusses the possibilities of using the memories of Tomsk Oblast residents to teach regional history. A general description of the situation in the pedagogical and methodological support of regional history teaching is given. It is emphasized that a comprehensive study of regional history is impossible without working on the regional level, which offers a link to local history. Since there are currently no didactic-methodological materials on the history of Tomsk Oblast, the emphasis is placed on memoirs that can be included in an anthology or a collection of documents that are an obligatory part of the didactic-methodological complex. These are the collections “Нарымская хроника” (Narym Chronicle), “Как мы жили: воспоминания и устные свидетельства томских крестьян” (How We Lived: Memories and Oral Testimonies of Tomsk Peasants) and “Я вам, родные, излагаю быль” (I Will Tell You, My Dears, a True Story), in which the memories of residents of Tomsk Oblast are published. The characteristics of the stories contained in them are given. The advantages of including these collections in the educational process at school are shown. The use of the collections will help the teacher to demonstrate one of the main features of modern historical science – the interest in the “little man” that arose in connection with the development of micro-historical approaches in historical research, as well as to show the potential and uniqueness of family archives, where memories can often be preserved. The use of these materials allows students to understand better the diversity of the historical and cultural heritage of Tomsk Oblast. The information content of the memoirs presented in the collections can be understood by studying the following sections on the history of Russia: “The Russian Empire in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries” (topics “Ethnocultural Appearance of the Empire,” “National-Religious Peculiarities”), “Russia in the “Years of Great Upheavals.” 1914–1922 (topic “Civil War and its Consequences”), “Soviet Society in the 1920–30s”) (topics “ The USSR in the Years 1929–1941: “Stalinist Socialism”, “Cultural space”), “The Great Patriotic War. 1941–1945”, “The Zenith and Crisis of the Soviet System. 1945–1991” (topic “Late Stalinism” (1945–1953)).