Fostering patriotic awareness in students within the framework of the distributed curriculum "Comprehending the Motherland Concept in Classroom and Extracurricular Activities" (years 5–6)

Abstract

The article presents the distributed syllabus "Comprehending the Motherland concept in classroom and extracurricular activities" (years 5–6) designed by the author. Moreover, it describes the results of testing the curriculum at Michurinsk Gymnasium (Tambov Oblast). The relevance of the article is due, firstly, to the fact that the current stage of societal development requires a new social type of personality with a clearly defined citizenship. Another reason is the need to improve the traditional and search for new forms of fostering patriotic awareness in students. The study employed analysis of scientific and methodological literature on the issue under consideration in conjunction with observation, questionnaires, pedagogical experiment, description, analysis and interpretation of its results. The conducted research and experimental work showed that introducing the distributed curriculum into the teaching and educational process substantially increased the development level of all patriotic awareness components (cognitive, emotional and value-based, behavioural) in students. Moreover, it enhanced the significance of the activity component for them (patriotism as actions, deeds for the good of the Motherland). In year-five school students’ conceptual sphere, the Motherland concept evolved from a narrower understanding associated with the "little world" (Motherland as the home town, home, place of birth and residence) to a broader one (Motherland as the homeland, the state that needs protection, defence, and respect).