Вінніпеґ Український № 8 (20) (October 2016)

Ukraine. Україна
aged 25 years and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher
also is constantly growing. In 1940, only 5% of the population
aged 25 and older had a bachelor’s or higher degree.
By 2009, this percentage has increased more than fivefold
to 30% . So, before determining the conceptual content
of education, the fundamental question should be solved:
whom do we educate? Is it an independent person or a citizen
of the state? As these two approaches are essentially
oppositely-directed, trying to comply with both of them
in the future may have the opposite effect .
Charles Bourdieu believed that “cultural capital [consists
of] forms of knowledge, skills, education and the
benefits that a person has and which enable [him or her]
a higher status in a society. By sharing with their children
knowledge and traditions that are needed in the current
educational system to succeed, parents provide them with
cultural capital”.
After many years of research and observation M. Hrondona
elaborated the theory of economic development,
which is a form of the cultural characteristics’ typology,
that make it possible to compare cultures, encouraging the
economic development (high level of cultural capital) and
cultures that oppose it (low cultural capital). He believes
that two ideal value systems can be constructed: one includes
only the values that promote economic development,
and the second – only those which oppose it.
The country is modern if it has many values from the
first system; it is as much traditional as it is close to the
second set. Neither one nor the other value system really
exists in its pure form, and no country fits completely
into either category. However, some countries are close
to having all the values that favor economic development,
while others are close to the opposite extreme point. The
actual value system is not only mixed, it also changes. If
it moves toward the pole of favorable value scale, chances
that the country will develop increase. If on the contrarily
it shifts in the opposite direction, chances for the country’s
economic development accordingly reduce” . This
typology according to Harrison is based on the answer to
one fundamental question: does the culture encourage the
belief that people can influence on their own destiny, or
does it support the “golden rule” ?
If people believe that can change their destiny, they are
likely to focus their attention on the future and see the
world as a game with positive sum. They will give the high
level of priority to education, follow work ethic, make
savings, and show entrepreneurship skills and so on. At
the same time they have to follow a fairly strict code of
ethics, honor virtues, obey the laws, identify themselves
with society, form social capital etc. However, if the vast
majority in a society does not share these views, the chances
of progress and evolution substantially reduce. A society
that is not oriented to the future is not innovative
in its core. Also, if moral standards are selective, so that
people act according to the principle: for friends – everything,
and for all the others – there is a law, there are no
doubts about the degradation of legal system in the long
term.
Changes in culture, as well as democracy or market
economy, cannot be imposed from outside. Progress turns
out to be stable only when it is fueled from within a society.
An important factor is the openness of a country and
its people to ideological, political, technological and institutional
changes that have made other societies successful.
Till public awareness and such a society through education
have not reached a certain critical level, till there is
no sufficient accumulation of new knowledge and moral
values, any external pressure will cause only increased
resistance. According to the Canadian researcher Daniel
Latouch, “it is impossible to achieve change in culture
until the majority beliefs that there is “something wrong”
with the culture and till there is a systematic discussion in
society of how to change the situation. In order for culture
to matter, first we must realize that it needs to change” .
The recent events in Ukraine, in our opinion, are a good
illustration of this thesis.
However, let us note that changes in culture and “development”
as it is now understood are inextricably
linked . For the changes to happen it is necessary to develop
and implement a well-coordinated program, which
primarily would include good parenting, education and its
modernization, media, real participation of the citizens in
local government, religion and its reform, changes in business
culture and political leadership, conscious support of
democracy and market economy.
The traditional models of education are passed from
generation to generation, and this is mainly because the
new generation of parents in educational approaches
mainly relies on their own partly forgotten experience,
on how their parents educated themselves. Actually, the
traditional parenting is often the source, from which the
child learns values, gets directions and adopts beliefs,
which often interfere with the development and progress
of the individual and society. According to researchers,
parents can teach their children values that would lead
them to democracy, social justice and prosperity.
To educate children in the spirit of democratic ethics,
it is necessary for the family to show that person himself
is responsible for his future and can change his course
of life. In order to do this, children should have feeling
that they also have the right and opportunity to affect the
family. Therefore, to raise children that can effectively
control their destiny, it is important to consult with them,
find out their opinion, listen to their advice or consider
their preferences. It is no accident that psychologists call
the parents who use such a model of upbringing, authoritative-democratic.
However, according to researchers, it is important to
help children understand that all the members of society
should have equal powers to influence their own future.
This is actually much more difficult task, because children
need to understand the difference between profit
and status symbols, on the one hand, and political priv-
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