Kravchenko T. Forming civic identity of students of the higher education institutions of Great Britain

The thesis is the first attempt to give a scholarly insight into the problem of forming the civic identity of students in the context of higher education in Great Britain. It has been found that the history and current state of the phenomenon of civic identity as a set of identities of four equal “nations” (English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh) are being investigated in the British scholarly and pedagogical discourse. It has been established that the discourse under study reflects two historical trends – the formation of a coherent civil community in Great Britain and, at the same time, the actualization of ethno-nations based on ethnic differences under the condition of an implicit ban on the nationalism of the “title nation” of the English. It has been established that civic identity as the practical implementation of moral and legal behavior patterns is associated with the awareness, understanding and emotional and valuable content and experience of one’s belonging to the community of citizens of a particular state, as well as with its proactive participation in social and the political life of the country in general and the community in particular. In the study, the concept “civic identity of a British student” is viewed as a dynamic, integrative characteristic of an individual, which manifests itself in socially responsible behavior and satisfaction of the individual's needs for self-affirmation and self-realization in socially significant and/or socially political activities based on a valuable attitude to a certain community, in particular, and the state living in general, the complex of knowledge from various fields of society and the ability to multiperspectivity. The cognitive, emotional-value and praxeological components of the British student’s civic identity have been singled out and characterized. The scholarly and pedagogical foundations of the educational process aimed at forming civic identity of British students are researched into, representing a complex of acquisitions of: the pedagogy of civic involvement (provides theoretical and methodological foundations for the organization and performance of socially significant activities by students); the concept of action (considers young people as citizens-actors of changes in the present, not only in the future); critical pedagogy (takes into account moral behavior, collective/social activity, subjective/contextual approach, reflection and praxis). On the basis of the analysis of normative documents in the field of civic education of students in the higher education of Great Britain, the understanding and generalization of the scientific and pedagogical findings of British teachers, four organizational and pedagogical conditions for the formation of the civic identity of students of the universities of Great Britain have been distinguished and characterized (actualization of the student-centered approach to the educational process; civic involvement student youth to socially significant activities; the introduction of socio-pedagogical cooperation between universities and local communities through the mediation of public organizations at the local and national levels; interdisciplinary integration of English as a state language), and forms and methods (in particular, interactive problem-solving methods) of their implementation in practice. In accordance with the defined criteria (the theoretical foundations of the development of the researched problem in both countries, and organizational and methodological support for the formation of the civic identity of students of British and Ukrainian institutions of higher education), a comparative analysis of the state of development of the problem of forming the civic identity of students of higher education institutions of Great Britain and Ukraine has been carried out. Prospective directions for borrowing progressive ideas of British pedagogical experience into the educational environment of Ukraine have been outlined, and recommendations for their constructive use have been developed.