SOCIAL AND CIVIC COMPETENCE IN THE PARADIGM OF MODERN PRESCHOOL EDUCATION: RELEVANCE AND CONTENT OF THE PROBLEM

Abstract

The development of social and civic competence is an important component of early education. A full understanding of the problem requires a research body that is multi-layered and studies practices and contexts of implementation, therefore the topic of the formation of social and civic competence in preschool children has become relevant and requires thorough theoretical and empirical investigations. Recent domestic and foreign studies in a new light show the importance of paying attention to the social development of preschool children within the scope of their education. The purpose of the article is to comprehensively analyze the problem of the formation of social and civic competence in the paradigm of modern preschool education with an emphasis on the relevance of the topic and the disclosure of the content of the problem. In contrast to earlier methodological emphases, the idea of which was to prepare children for social participation through the formation of their knowledge about society by the method of formal education, the ideas of modern studies are based on the transformation of the preschool group into a microcosm of a democratic society, in which children are immersed in modern democratic national and European ideals and practices. Social skills training, on the other hand, focuses on increasing children’s abilities to engage in successful interpersonal interactions and prosocial behaviors that form the basis for effective participation in society. The individual development of the child encourages deeper participation in the social paradigm. From the development of children’s ability to social participation through the formation of age-appropriate socio-civic competence, the basis of their ability to study further at school and realize themselves in other social contexts is laid. The article highlights and reveals the content of such core lines of social and civic competence implementation in preschool conditions as self-affirmation and communication with others, a socially healthy environment, cultural and national values. Emphasis is placed on the need for training within the competence of the features of socialization in a globalized world on the basis of diversity, tolerance, preservation of personal and national identity in a multicultural society.