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Introduction
In the current social and economic situation, the model of lifelong education can be achieved through the developing and implementing of creativity, creative thinking, abilities and continuing endeavor of a person to self-improvement, willingness and readiness to decision-making and taking responsibility. The greatest value of any society is its citizens, and the main task of state and public institutions is to create the most favorable conditions for self-actualization and development of creative abilities of all its members.
Modern requirements for the educational process, for example, in military academic institutions are aimed at the development of not only the desire to master the profession, but also to broaden the worldview, professionally important qualities, general culture. It could be achieved through the coordinated actions of military command and control officials at all levels of training and educating of cadets, ensuring continuity and integrated approach in working with various categories of personnel. Combination of collective and individual impact measures is aimed at comprehensive moral, spiritual and physical development of military personnel. It also depends on the availability of professionally trained staff and the necessary material base for working with personnel.
The individual creativity of cadets in extracurricular educational activities of a military academic institution directly depends not only on the state policy in the field of education, but also on their own active position, when a young person acts as a subject of his/her own formation and development.
The strategy of modern higher education and the requirements of the federal state educational standards of the Russian Federation provide an opportunity for cadets of a military academic institution to reveal and realize their creative potential, taking into account personal orientations and needs in individual creativity. Therefore, it is necessary to use active forms and methods in the educational work of a military academic institution as a whole and the project based learning in particular.
Methodology
The research work in the field of individual creativity of cadets in the educational process of a military academic institution based on project activities is reflected in the works of Russian and foreign scientists concerning the specifics of creative process, individualization in education, the challenges of educational process, project methods as a means of developing personal creativity. However, the scientific substantiation of organization of cadets’ individual creativity in the educational process of a military academic institution in the context of extracurricular project activities is one of the least studied in pedagogical science. The concept of “individual creativity of cadets” required the consideration of the notion “individual”, “creativity”, and “creative personality”. These issues were developed in the works of numerous Russian and foreign philosophers, educators, psychologists. Among Russian scientists, we should mention the works of Druzhinin (1995). Among foreign researchers we should note the most important works of E. Bono, J. Guildford, A. Maslow, W. Sandler and others.
Russian psychologist Ananiev (2007), noted that creativity is a process of objectification of the human inner world. Creative expression is the expression of integral work of all aspects of human life, the manifestation of personality. Philosopher Berdyaev (2000), considered the personality as a creative act. Of great importance are the ideas of psychologist Asmolov (1998), about a person as a human in the biogenesis system, a person as an individual in a system of sociogenesis, a person as a personality in a system of personogenesis. The concept of individual creativity was further developed by Druzhinin (1995).
Based on the review of literature, in our study we will understand individual creativity of cadets as intellectual and practical activity aimed at creating new individually and socially significant values, where the cadet acts as a subject of creative development. For a more comprehensive study of the phenomenon of individual creativity, the following components are distinguished:
Axiological component, which considers the role of values in scientific knowledge and, in fact, creativity as a value in the individual’s coordinate system; cognitive-creative component, contributing to the scientific understanding of creative self-development of individual in the educational system; operational component, aimed at the theoretical justification and practical implementation of effective educational work in a military academic institution through the individual creativity of cadets.
For our research purposes we determined the levels of educational process: institution, faculty, department, course (unit). The goals and objectives of extracurricular educational work are realized in individual and group interaction with cadets. Head of the course and recruit discipline officers directly act as the bearers of professional traditions, norms, knowledge, practical skills.
Extra-curricular project activity is understood as the process of individual productive activity, which involves the phased formulation of the problem, information search, project drafting, realization and implementation of project results in the educational system of a military academic institution.
In the content of extracurricular project activities of cadets, we distinguish target, search, planning, realization, presentation components. Due to the versatility of public life, the multifaceted nature of social spheres, there are many different classifications of educational and social projects based on various grounds, which are represented in numerous studies. Extra-curricular project activities implemented in the educational process of a military academic institution are based on the creativity and creative potential of cadets. The implementation of project activities comprises the following stages: problem targeting, creative activity, presentation of the results. The tasks of the project implementation are presented in specific functions in the logic of an extra-curricular creative project: motivational, informational, organizational, self-actualization.
Research results
The theoretical foundations of studying the individual creativity of cadets are based on systematic, active, anthropological, personality-oriented approaches, which allowed us to develop the model for organizing individual creativity of cadets in the educational process of a military academic institution based on project activities.
Based on the analysis and systematization of scientific literature, we developed the model for the organization of cadets’ individual creativity, which is presented in three blocks: methodological, organizational, and productive. This model involves practical phased steps to achieve the goal of the study, and integrates both traditional educational forms, methods, means of influencing the personality of a cadet, and project activities.
Organization of individual creativity of cadets is based on the following principles:
individualization (it creates optimal conditions for the disclosure, development and realization of the cadets’ creative potential revealing individual personality traits by means of project activities, including their involvement with scientific creativity);
activation (it involves the implementation of individual creativity of cadets through the selection of a “non-trivial strategy of creative thinking” on the grounds of project-based learning);
self-education (it prepares cadets for creative self-realization and personal responsibility in project activities in the conditions of extracurricular educational work).
For the most complete study of cadets’ individual creativity, the criteria and indicators of its organization in the educational process of a military academic institution were defined.
Discussion
Experimental work included the indicative and formative stages. During the indicative stage of the experiment we carried out diagnostic tests aimed at identifying the following characteristics.
- levels of objective, symbolic, figurative thinking and creativity using the J. Bruner Test for Thinking and Creativity.
- levels of creative potential through the method “Self-assessment of creative potential of a person”,
- value orientations using the Rokeach (1973, Value Survey, the instrument is designed for rank-order scaling of 36 values, including 18 terminal and 18 instrumental values).
Table 1 shows diagnostic tools, based on the selected components / criteria / indicators of the organization of individual creativity of cadets in the educational process of a military academic institution based on project activities, used at the formative stage of the experiment.
Table 1 Diagnostic methods used at the indicative stage of the experiment.
| Components | Criteria/ Indicators | Method of diagnostics |
|---|---|---|
| Axiological | Value indicator: - cultural ideals and spiritual needs; | Test “Self-assessment of the creative potential of a person” (N. P. Fetiskin, V. V. Kozlov, G. M. Manuylov) The Rokeach value survey (terminal and instrumental values) |
| - creative interests and values; | ||
| - personal beliefs, creative position and motivation for the participation in project activities | ||
| Cognitive creative | Creative: creative potential; | Test of Thinking and Creativity (Bruner, Goodnow & Austin, 1956) |
| - self-actualization of creative abilities; | ||
| - development of creative thinking | ||
| Activity: - ability to carry out project activities; | Expert evaluation of individual projects carried out by cadets | |
| - ability to apply in practice project knowledge based on intellectual skills; | ||
| -ability to use technical skills and tools in working on projects |
For practical implementation of the model at the formative stage, the project management program was developed and implemented for the members of experimental group, the aim of which was to develop individual creativity of cadets in extracurricular project activities.
The tasks of the project management program were:
to identify the essence of social / business projects and project activities;
to master the basics of project activities and business planning;
to consider individual creativity as the basis of project activities;
to master the forms and methods of project management processes based on individual creativity.
Duration of training was 72 hours, class schedule: 3 hours × 4 times a month.
The practice of implementing project activities for organizing educating influences and its impact on the individual creativity of cadets should be scientifically credible, taking into account the use of pedagogical technologies in educational work and experimentally confirmed methodological recommendations for this category of students.
In the course of the experimental work, the cadets developed and presented a number of projects, including: “Open Education: Tele-school”, “MIGs (Minor Intellectual Games)”, “Guinness Project”, “Officer’s Life Path and Career”, clip projects, quests and others.
At the end of the formative experiment, the final diagnostics was carried out using the same methods as at the indicative stage of the experiment.
Conclusions
The individual creativity of cadets is considered as the intellectual and practical activity, aimed at creating new individually and socially significant values, where the cadet acts as a subject of creative development. Axiological, cognitive-creative, operational components are distinguished in the structure of individual creativity.
Individual creativity of cadets is implemented in the educational process of a military academic institution, where the specific features are strict normative regulations and closed educational environment. The project results were presented in the form of social projects aimed at developing a professional career strategy.
The implementation of project activities in the context of individual creativity of cadets provides for the following stages: problem-targeting, creative, presentation.
Functions of individual creativity of cadets in the logic of an extracurricular creative project are motivational, informational, organizational and self-actualization.
The criteria for the successful implementation of cadets’ individual creativity are the project value, creative level, activity rate, according to which a complex of pedagogical conditions has been developed and implemented.
The results of the experimental work confirmed the effectiveness of the model of cadets’ individual creativity in the educational process of a military academic institution based on project activities.
The following pedagogical conditions were provided:
familiarization of cadets with the ideals of world and national culture;
development of individual social orientations by means of project activities;
self-development and self-realization of personality in the educational process of a military academic institution;
motivation of cadets to meet their creative interests and spiritual needs;
creation of a comfortable psychological environment for the recognition by students of individual creativity as a personal and intellectual value;
integrated approach in the application of educational influences, contributing to the practical implementation of the individual creativity of cadets, taking into account the individual psychological capabilities of each young person;
implementation of subject-subject interaction in the educational process of a military academic institution for the development of individual creativity of cadets;
creation of a research field for the creative self-realization of cadets and the use of the results of project activities in practical educational work.
Individual creativity directly depends on the active life position, when a young person aspires to self-development and individual progress.
