The phenomenon of meaning formation in psychological and pedagogical research

ФЕНОМЕН СМЫСЛООБРАЗОВАНИЯ В ПСИХОЛОГО-ПЕДАГОГИЧЕСКИХ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯХ

Тулегенова Акмарал Сериккызы

магистрант, Казахского национального педагогического университета имени Абая, Казахстан, г. Алматы

Тажибаев Талгат Бекжурсинулы

канд. психол. наук, старший преподаватель кафедры педагогики и психологии Казахский национальный университет имени Абая,  Казахстан, г. Алматы

Abstract.The article examines the works of the authors on the formation of meaning. The structure of a personality is determined by its directionality, and directionality takes a leading place as a system-forming component of personality traits, which determines its mental structure. Value guidelines, which are a system-forming element of the personality structure, are the basis of its orientation, which by its nature is social in nature. Orientation becomes the value of the individual only if there is meaning, the need to move from the "subject-object" relationship to the "subject-subject" circle of communication is noted for the development of this value relationship. It has also been shown that the transition from individual activity to joint activity is an effective way of forming meaning.

Аннотация. В статье рассматриваются труды авторов по смыслооброзвание. Структура личности определяется ее направленностью, а направленность занимает ведущее место как системообразующий компонент свойств личности, определяющий ее психическую структуру. Ценностные ориентиры, являющиеся системообразующим элементом структуры личности, являются основой ее направленности, которая по своей природе носит социальный характер. Направленность становится ценностью личности только при наличии смысла, отмечается необходимость перехода от «субъект-объектного» отношения к «субъект-субъектному» кругу общения для развития этого ценностного отношения. Также было показано, что переход от индивидуальной деятельности к совместной деятельности является эффективным способом формирования смысла.

Keywords: meaning, meaning formation; direction; value orientation; personal value; «subject-subject» attitude; joint activity.

Ключевые слова: смысл; смыслообразование; направленность; ценностная ориентация, личностная ценность, «субъектно-субъектное» отношение; совместная деятельность.

The problem of the formation of meaning formation is one of the complex and multifaceted problems, and, despite the fact that the study of this issue begins from early times, it has not yet been fully solved by science. It is considered as a process that involves two consecutive stages, which consist of analysis and integration. The problem of solving the problem of meaning is realized by a person through philosophy, sociology, psychology, pedagogy and other sciences that objectively study his activities. Many aspects of the mechanisms of assimilation of individual meanings and interpretation of semantic processes can be found on the pages of textbooks, scientific publications and in the texts of various scientific studies. But in general, the study of the laws and mechanisms of the formation of semantic structures is currently not deepened in the humanities.

Today, the semantic structure of the personality is understood as the true attitude of the subject to the environment, which characterizes the constant uniformity and stability of the person and forms the elements of its structure. The problems of the semantic structure of personality and its formation have been studied and published in the works of many scientists (M.M. Bakhtin, N.A. Berdyaev, V.N. Ilyin, N.F. Losev, V.V. Rozanov, V.S. Solovyov, S.L. Frankl, etc.). Fundamental research of representatives of Western humanistic psychology (J.P. Sartre, M. Merleau-Ponty, E. Husserl, M. Heidegger, K. Rogers, A. Maslow, V. Frankl, A. Langl) and significant conceptual works of Russian psychologists (A.N. Leontiev, S.L. Rubinstein, A.G. Asmolov, B.S. Bratus, V.P. Zinchenko, V.A. Ivannikov,  A.A. Kronik, D.A. Leontiev, V.I. Slobodchikov, E.I. Isaev, V.A. Petrovsky, E.V. Subbotsky, etc.). The problems of the formation of meaning and the semantic structure of personality are also studied in the framework of activity, system directions and existential psychology, phenomenology. However, some issues of the problem of meaning formation in the individual have not yet been studied in depth, and in science it cannot deviate from the generally accepted understanding of the processes of forming a meaning-forming structure.

At the same time, without relying on the existing knowledge about the semantic structure of the personality and the study of its psychological mechanisms, it is impossible to significantly improve such issues as the development and formation of the personality in the field of education in professional (pedagogical) activities, and its management. For example, directly or indirectly, it is impossible to imagine a worldview point of view without its semantic concepts, such as all the proposed innovative technologies in education, self-determination and choice of profession of a public subject, search for a life path, comprehension of the educational space. Therefore, the formation of the semantic structure of high school students in the learning process is currently an urgent problem. Currently, in the civilized and technical development of the country, the solution of such complex tasks as maximizing human capabilities, which are the productive force of society, increasing its connection with electronic systems, also requires the development and formation of the semantic structure of the individual.

In the traditional direction of activity, the problem of meaning was considered as the relation of the motive to the goal, i.e., in the words of A.N. Leontiev himself, the meaning is: "the transformation of the motive into the goal" [1]. The essence of this can be explained by the fact that the content of the first formed motive of human behavior changes in the course of activity and becomes its life goal. In his concepts of action, the value is considered as a separate state of the entity. Meaning is "meaning to me," he says in one of his works [1, p.209]. "The concept of meaning is a mental representation of reality, that is, relations that have arisen together with the type of existence that is associated with the psyche. This is a characteristic feature for this type of life activity. A meaningful action, i.e. an action subordinated to this relation, is only a mental activity" [1]. Therefore, any human action has meaning. A.N. Leontiev also notes that the semantic structure of a person changes over time and develops in the process of actions. "The meaning is not in things, but in actions. Only in action does a thing acquire meaning" [1, p. 167]. "Meaning cannot connect consciousness with the outside world; even if it is controlled by meaning, this activity is performed by a concrete action, but when it collides with matter, it is actually realized in its objective and constant property, changes in accordance with the real property with the concrete," he clarifies his thought [1, p.110]. From these thoughts of A.N. Leontiev, it follows that meaning occurs in a spontaneous passive state, it becomes active only in action, and also occurs when meeting with objects and changes in accordance with a specific object.

From this point of view, the meaning-forming process in a person is a complex concept that develops only in the process of active activity and changes in the process of activity. Therefore, to consider the semantic structure of the personality, it should be studied only in the process of activity.

Currently, many psychological practitioners practice what is reproduced by the life structure of individuals, its orientation, which characterizes the constant balance and stability of the individual (A.G Asmolov, 1984; L.I. Bozhovich, 1968; A.G. Kovalev, 1965; B.F. Lomov, 1981; K.K. Platonov, 1986; S.L. Rubinstein, 2004; etc.). Even I.L. Bozhovich in his concept of personality emphasizes that "the structure of the personality is determined only by its orientation" [7, p. 422]. "Orientation," writes B.F. Lomov, " occupies a leading place as a system-forming property of the personality that determines its mental structure. In particular, this property manifests the goals of the individual acting for it, its motives, the variety of aspects of reality, its subjective attitude, all the systems of its character. In the main plan, orientation can be evaluated as the attitude of an individual to society (taking into account material and spiritual values), what it gives her, what contribution she makes to her development" [3, p. 311]. At the same time, B.F. Lomov notes that "despite the different interpretations of the personality, all of the above directions distinguish its orientation as a leading characteristic. In various concepts, this character is revealed in different ways: "dynamic process" (S.L. Rubinstein), "meaning-forming motive" (A.N. Leontiev), "dominant attitude" (V.N. Myasishchev), "basic life orientation" (B.G. Ananyev), "dynamic organization of the most important human forces" (A.S. Prangashvili), etc. However, without revealing his features, he attaches a leading importance to this" - writes [4, p. 60].

We believe that it is the value orientations of a person that characterize the constant monotony and stability of the personality and are one of the main elements of its structure. The fact is that the psychologist B.S. Bratus characterizes the general meaning of a person's life as his personal value. He says: "... personal value is a conscious perception of a person, the general meaning of his life" [4, p. 412]. At the same time, B.S. Bratus also considers the general meaning of human life as the unity of the consciousness of the individual. "In particular, the general semantic structure (in the case of personal values – conscious awareness of them), from our point of view, is the main unit that determines (forms) the consciousness of the individual, which determines, first of all, the relatively stable attitude of a person to the main circle of life – to the world, to other people, to himself," says B.S. Bratus [5, p.414-415]. Therefore, only when a person realizes and understands the value of the objects and phenomena surrounding him, he becomes the value of his personality. Therefore, it is impossible to understand the nature of its structure without revealing the semantic nature of value orientations or personal values, which are the system-forming features of the personality structure. Personal values, characterized by his conscious perception, are reflected in his consciousness in the form of value orientations, and also play an important role in the social regulation of human relationships and individual behavior. Value orientations usually mean a complex socio-psychological phenomenon that guides the path, behavior, actions of a person and brings meaning, determines the general approach of a person to himself, to the world, forms part of the system of personal relations, characterizes the content and direction of his activities. The system of value orientations consists of multi-level structures. At its beginning are the ideals of the individual, its values associated with life goals. Psychologist Z.F. Finburg: "the super-complexity of the system of value orientations of the individual ... the complexity of its social determination, its multi-layered nature, and the multi-dimensional interface on which everything within this framework depended... We work with a very complex, multidimensional object in its structure" [6, p. 30]. Value orientations, which are a system-forming element of the personality structure, are the basis of its orientation, which by its nature is of a social nature. But this orientation in a person only if there is a sense becomes a value of the individual and is fixed as a system-forming element of its structure. At one time, the Austrian psychologist V.E. Frankl in his great work "the man who seeks meaning" wrote: "finding meaning is half the job; it still needs to be implemented" [7, p. 63]. Therefore, the meaning is realized only in the action that A.N. Leontiev spoke about. Also, V. Frankl argues that by realizing the meaning of his life, a person realizes himself. Self-realization, according to V. Frankl, is a way of realizing meaning. It tells us how much each person strives to realize the unique meaning of their life, how much it helps them to become such a person. If this is the case, then in order for a person to form as a person, it is necessary, first of all, to find the meaning of what, in his opinion, is the value he needs. And we can say that the realization of the acquired meaning is a manifestation of his self-realization, which characterizes his further development as a person.

Nevertheless, how can we develop and form the personal values that we have listed above, describing the content structure of the individual. And the answer to this question requires a transition from the "subject-object "in psychology to the "subject-subject" circle of relations. It is well known that in the works of A.N. Leontiev, the subject activity of a person was considered within the framework of the subject-object relationship. This is confirmed by the psychologist S.M. Zhakupov: "the traditional theory of activity of A.N. Leontiev, which came from L.S. Vygotsky, was prepared within the framework of the subject-object relationship in the analysis of life activity" [9, p.137]. In this regard, B.F. Lomov notes: "The social existence of a person consists not only in his world of things (natural and created by mankind), but also in the relations of other people with whom the same person directly and indirectly contacts. Man, in his individual development, takes possession of what humanity creates, not only through activity, but also in relationships with other people... The system of relations "subject-subject" is formed, develops and manifests itself in communication" [9, p. 37-38]. "If so, then the concept of “relationship” includes a special category that exists in a true relationship, namely the relationship “subject-subject”," says [9, p. 38-39]. Thus, B.F. Lomov notes that in order to understand the motivational and need framework of the individual, including the creation of meaning, it is necessary to move from the circle of the "subject-subject" relationship in relations to the circle of the "subject-subject" relationship in the direction of traditional activities.

In his work on meaning formation S.M. Zhakupov wrote: "Therefore, at the present time, under the shadow of the contradictory concepts obtained in the study of individualistic activity, we are sometimes forced to move on to joint activities. As problems of concrete scientific research, it was impossible to put the questions of the "subject-subject" relationship before the problems of the "subject-object" relationship. This had a special relation to the development of motives, meanings, and goals" [8, p. 28]. Given these opinions expressed, we must proceed to the analysis of relations within the framework of the "subject-subject" relationship, which B.F. Lomov once spoke about, or joint activities, which S.M. Zhakupov spoke about, in order to understand the nature of meaning. Personal values are a person's assessment of the surrounding world on ideological, political, moral, moral, etc. grounds and the choice of them necessary for him and orientation to it. Values or value orientations are formed in the process of assimilation of a person's social experience, expressed in the characteristics of ideals, goals, beliefs, interests, etc. The values of the individual are a complex socio-psychological phenomenon that characterizes the orientation of the individual to himself, to the world around him, directed to the path, behavior, actions, actions that bring meaning. Also, value orientations play an important role in the social regulation of the attitude and variety of actions and behavior of a person to the surrounding world, characterizing it as a stable quality that occupies a leading place in the structure of the individual.