Description

International Sociological Association (ISA) - Institute of Foreign Languages

The current phase of social development is characterized by massive changes in economic, political, social, cultural and other spheres. As globalizing processes intensify in economically developed countries, education becomes one of the key social infrastructure elements.  Meanwhile, technological transformations pose significant problems inevitably related to the functioning of the institution of education. In the context of contemporary social development, education is seen as a primary means for increasing the competitiveness of not only countries and regions, but also of individuals. Globalization significantly affects the formation of the knowledge society, within which educational and cultural systems face unprecedented challenges. On the one hand, globalization presents endless possibilities for broadening communication and cultural spaces, thus producing new knowledge and technologies. On the other, it is associated with forces having a highly destructive character, resulting in a continuing transformation of existing notions concerning the proper forms and boundaries of such fundamental societal phenomena as culture and education.  
Integration processes have also involved dramatic changes in national education systems, which are currently facing a number of considerable challenges. Thus, the significance of knowledge as an essential principle in the training of highly-qualified specialists is permanently increasing. Today, such professionals are not ready to merely replicate and disseminate information; rather, they are willing to produce new fundamental knowledge. When investigating conventional sociological problems, e.g. inequality, mobility and educational achievements, it becomes essential to consider their cultural aspects. As a result, culture cannot be considered anymore as a passive transition between institutional conditions and human actions. This means that researchers should implement state-of-the-art cultural sociological approaches that are informed by the dimension of multicultural communication.