Educational potential of socially oriented games

The article examines the specifics of the implementation of educational activities in modern realities, in the context of the active entry into human life of means of virtual communication, which affected the life of a modern person and determined the specifics of self-identification and socialization of a maturing individual. A justified emphasis is placed on the need to implement the educational process, embodying the ideas of the methodology of existential pedagogy, focused on the formation of a personality ready for responsible independent choice and conscious design of one’s own life. A socially oriented game is designated as one of the pedagogical means contributing to the education of a free personality, ready to take responsibility for himself and his behavior. Its application is seen most clearly by the authors in the conditions of additional education, which provides ample opportunities for self-realization of the individual, taking into account his interests, individual capabilities and abilities. The article examines the characteristic features of socially oriented games, their functions, and the principles of their construction. A reasonable conclusion has been made that the use of socially oriented games contributes to the self-development of its participants, the accumulation of coping resources, and forms social competence. It is significant that in the process of socially orienting games, conditions are created that are oriented towards the participants conducting a moral reflection of their behavior and a moral examination of current events, which allows us to speak about the focus of this pedagogical tool on the formation of the existential and reflexive spheres of the individual, i.e. for awareness, acceptance and transmission of personal values and ideals.