The purpose of the article is to show the results of a study on the entropy of functional and subject literacy of children of preschool and primary school age in the conditions of continuity of the preschool (preschool) and primary stages of education. The dominant strategies in educational practice to counter entropy (negentropy models) are identified and analyzed. The empirical basis of the study was educational institutions in Tatarstan, Chuvashia, Leningrad, Novosibirsk regions. In the course of diagnosing the level of development of functional and subject literacy in children of preschool and primary school age, it was found that both types of literacy tend to entropy – to the loss of formed knowledge, skills, universal educational actions, and competencies. The dominant strategies for the formation of functional and subject literacy, identified from the work experience of teachers, have different counteractions to entropy. However, it is not yet completely clear which strategies should be given preference.
The problem is that the selected strategies (models) for countering entropy do not sufficiently take into account bifurcation zones (zones of unexpected loss of formed knowledge and skills); teachers do not always understand what works for functional literacy and what works for subject literacy. how to combine or integrate methodological means of functional literacy and methodological means of subject literacy.
The research methods used were questionnaires, testing, pedagogical observation, pedagogical experiment, generalization of research results at international and all-Russian scientific and practical conferences, and mathematical data processing. In total, 701 teachers (347 kindergarten teachers and 354 primary school teachers) took part in the experiments (diagnostic and formative) over three years (2020-2024), the prerequisites for functional and subject literacy in children 6-7 years old were studied (324 dialogues), as well as functional and subject literacy in children 7-10 years old (453 answers).
The main results of the study were the dominant models: 1) integrated development of functional and subject literacy; 2) parallel development of both literacy; 3) the formation of subject literacy without integration with work on the development of functional literacy. It has been proven that the most effective model for the formation of functional and subject literacy is the model associated with the formation of only subject literacy: this model ensures the development of both subject and functional literacy.
Conclusions: the results of the study indicate that in preschool and school institutions in Russia there are still few variable models that can counteract the entropy of functional and subject literacy of children of preschool and primary school age. Models, technologies, and didactic means of developing functional and subject literacy in children of preschool and primary school age may become promising areas of pedagogical research.