University as a Sociocultural Phenomenon: the Past and the Present

Abstract

We carried out the review of the main educational strategies which present the basis of university education in antiquity, in the medieval period and at present. The educational model created during the antique period was based on ideals of beauty and harmony, that assumed an equivalence of spiritual and corporal in personality formation as it is demanded by the nature. In philosophy of education in the medieval period there was an idea of person's transformation through education and belief by means of classical literature which was considered as a timeless knowledge source. The university was thought of as educational institution where it is possible to approach to universal knowledge. We consider that in modern society its development has transitive nature. The foundation of the educational process is not the universal knowledge, but the skill to find bearings in fast-changing knowledge stream, to adapt and find opportunities for self-fulfillment under the conditions of continuous change. In the single information and educational space it became possible to make educational process continuous as a condition of person's improvement. We conceive the idea of continuous or lifelong learning as the necessary and natural process acting as a precondition of forming integral personality and social wellbeing.

Challenges of scientific knowledge visualization in publication productivity of the university academic staff

“…Several researchers believe that a personality is formed under the influence of the components such as social intercourse where a person exists and his/her individual characteristics can be enriched during education process [4]. According to this it is possible to state that educating a person -personality's formation happens in two waysin the course of developing values, meanings and norms of contemporary society, in the process of selfimprovement, development of dowries and aptitudes as well as in scientific work.…”

“…Modern authors are "like birds sitting on far twigs of the same "human culture" tree, they are far from the earth and hardly hear and understand each other. But the majority has to take their discoveries on trust and use fruits of their mind " [4,5].…”

Commodification of knowledge in system of higher education

“…Moreover, every layer of society starts to form its own stable system of preferences that determines the form of consumption or habitus. Accordingly, a service (as a commodity) is endowed with a certain value and becomes a symbol of a certain lifestyle and social attitudes (Pankova, et al 2016). A commodity or a service obtains its marking value that sets it apart from other goods and services (Knight, 2006).…”