Psychological and Pedagogical Problems of the Adults Involved in the Education Process (Teachers and Parents) Within the Context of the Russian School Reform

The article deals with the problem of the attitude of the adults involved in the education process (teachers and parents) towards the education reform being conducted in Russia and describes their idea of the ongoing changes. The study was conducted on the basis of a number of Moscow schools. We used a multidisciplinary questionnaire specially designed to identify the attitude of the participants of the education process towards the topical problems of modern Russian schools (school considered as a social institution of modern society; the status of education in the system of social relations; modern trends of development of the education system; professionalism of a modern teacher; interaction of family and school; school information environment). In addition to the main questionnaire, the respondents were asked a question that they answered in a free written form: "What, in your opinion, is the purpose of the current education reform?" The study has shown that there are some significant differences between teachers’ and parents’ attitudes towards the main trends of development of Russian education. It has been found out that modern teachers have a fuzzy professional identity, don’t understand the public significance of their professional activities well enough, don’t consider education as a most important social service. Teachers’ attitude towards the main directions of reforming education is generally more conservative than parents’ position. Parents, as compared to teachers, respond to the alteration of the school system more actively and flexibly. They show a marked tendency to overcoming paternalistic attitudes in education, support changes in the content of education, approve of innovations that meet the criteria of variability and availability of school education. Despite the differences between the attitudes towards specific aspects of reforming the education system, teachers and parents generally evaluate the ongoing education reform negatively, emphasize its destructive nature and do not fully understand the purpose of all the changes.