Among the values announced in the 20th century, the need for education is comparable to the need for life, health. This fact is the remote echo of paideia. Being a supertemporal phenomenon, this ideal cannot exist without constant self-reflection. Paideia is also the subject of objective philosophical interpretation. There is an illusion that it is understandable. However, knowledge of the philosophical framework of paideia does not give us occasion to optimism. The study considers the traditional aspects of paideia in the modern interpretation of virtues in general to ideas of the conditions of the current establishment of a free person and citizen. Our analysis includes the historical aspect as well as seeks meanings supplementing the modern understanding of paideia.
This study measures the impact of spatial factors on the educational achievements of Russian students. According to the theory of equal opportunities, individual achievements depend on two groups of determinants: uncontrollable circumstances and one's own efforts. Inequality of achievements produced by inequality of effort is treated as ethically acceptable, while inequality arising from circumstances is unfair and therefore must be compensated. The research is based on the data of the International Program for the Assessment of Educational Achievements of Students (PISA), wave 2018. Multilevel regression modeling was applied. A two-level model was used, in which the first level is that of the student, while the second level is regional. The calculations showed that anywhere from 14 to 16% of the variance in Russian students' academic achievements is attributed to interregional irregularities. We learned that controlling for socio-economic status, lack of staff and material support in the school, type of area in which the school is located, and gender of the student make it possible to slightly reduce the role of regional differences, though it still remained significant. To a certain extent the impact of regional factor can be explained by variations in the influence of family background, school characteristics and gender across regions. The estimation of regional random effects allowed for identifying both the leaders and the outsiders in terms of the availability and quality of school education. Calculations have shown that the leaders and outsiders are practically the same in regards to all three areas of literacy.
The dynamics of inequality of educational achievements and opportunities in school education in Russia and the countries of the Visegrad group are studied. The study is based on the data of the "International Program for the Assessment of Educational Achievements of Students" (PISA) for 2003-2018. The methodology for assessing the inequality of possibilities is based on a parametric approach and ex-ante determination of the equality of possibilities. Research novelty is determined by the fact that an assessment of an important component of the inequality of educational achievements - the inequality of opportunities - is carried out. The idea of dividing inequality into unfair and fair components is justified within the framework of the theory of equal opportunities developed by Western social philosophy in the second half of the XX century. The completed calculations indicate that each of the countries under consideration is unique. The most problematic are Slovakia and Hungary, which have a downward trend in the average level of educational achievements and a high level of inequality of opportunities. Poland looks the most successful with an increase in educational results and a decrease in inequality of opportunities. In the Russian Federation there is an upward trend in reading and mathematical literacy, while natural science literacy stagnates. The level of inequality of opportunities in the Russian Federation is relatively low with a slight downward trend.
In the run-up to launching the «Next Generation EU» large-scale recovery plan aimed at overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic consequences it becomes important to analyse the pre-Covid development problems, including those in the field of education. The purpose of this work is to study the dynamics of inequality in educational achievements and opportunities in the Visegrad Group countries based on the PISA data from 2003–2018 period. The results obtained by our research team suggest that Hungary has the highest level of inequality of opportunity among the Visegrad Group countries, followed by Slovakia. Meanwhile, individual factors contributing to the overall level of inequality of opportunity have both features common to all countries and unique features.
The topic of this research is the theory of equal opportunities and its application to the relationship between inequality and economic development. The relevance of the work is due, first, to the fact that inequality grows throughout the world, creating conditions for the growth of social tension; second, to the lack of general consensus on the direction of the relationship between inequality and economic growth; and third, to contradictory results of empirical studies on this issue. The main hypothesis of the study is that these theoretical and empirical contradictions can be resolved by dividing inequality into two components —inequality of opportunity and inequality of effort — and studying their impact on economic growth separately. The idea of distinguishing between inequality of opportunity and inequality of effort is a core part of the theory of equal opportunities. The paper briefly reviews the roots, development, and current state of the theory. Methods for measuring inequality of opportunities have been developed and tested on microdata from many countries, including Russia. Also, at the theoretical level, mechanisms of the negative impact of inequality of opportunities and the positive impact of inequality of efforts on economic growth have been identified. At the same time, there are very few empirical studies dealing with the relationship between inequality of opportunity, inequality of effort, and economic growth. In practical terms, studies of the inequality of opportunity are important because they shift the goals and priorities of public policy from equalizing outcomes to equalizing opportunities. This makes it possible to move towards a more just and rapidly developing society.
