2026, 3

The child and culture: the dialectics and drama of development

2026, 3 p. 9-21

257

Background. The discussion focuses on the interiorization fr om the perspective of the interaction between a child and culture. The relevance of addressing the problem of interiorization is determined by the need to overcome the simplified understanding of this process, both in educational practice and in developmental psychology. Assessing interiorization as a key concept in L.S. Vygotsky’s cultural-historical psychology as a dialectical process makes it possible to see the contradictions in the interaction between the child and culture.

Objective. The discursive component of the text concerns the drama of child development, in which culture poses risks to agency. The aim of the discussion is to identify the resources of the child-culture interaction that create conditions for the development of agency.

Results. The theoretical provisions of the cultural-historical concept regarding interiorization as a process underlying the interaction between a child and culture are considered. The limitations and risks caused by the simplification of the interiorization process as a transfer from the external (cultural) to the internal (mental) are revealed. The dialectics in the process of interiorization lies in the opposition of the positions of the object and the subject, which can potentially be formed in the interaction between the child and culture. The drama in this interaction arises in a situation wh ere culture is presented not as an imperative, but as an initiation, since in this case the child becomes a subject who exercises their freedom and choice.

Conclusions. During the discussion, interiorization is presented as a complex process of appropriating culture and generating meanings, in which the necessary condition for maintaining the child’s position as a subject is the expression of their will and the possibility of making a choice.

Keywords: interiorization L.S. Vygotsky’s cultural-historical psychology subject will meaning dialectics development

DOI: 10.24412/2782-4519-2026-20-3-9-21

Practice-oriented assessment of future preschool teachers at a university: potential of a demonstration exam

2026, 3 p. 22-35

Krotova T.V. , Tolkacheva G.N. , Volobueva L.M.

328

Background. The development of a national system for teacher training and changes in higher education levels require an improved assessment system for students’ readiness for professional work. A demonstration exam is an effective mechanism for such assessment, enhancing the practice-oriented nature of midterm and final student of pedagogical universities assessments and aligning educational outcomes with professional expectations in preschool education.

Objective. To develop and test assessment materials to implement a procedure for independently assessing the readiness of students and graduates for professional work in preschool education, taking into account employers’ opinions.

Sample. The study participants included 170 students from five federal state pedagogical universities pursuing higher education programs in the “Pedagogical Education” majors in Preschool Education.

Methods. The study utilized a combination of theoretical and empirical methods: analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature and law regulatory documentation, comparison, generalization, modeling, a pedagogical experiment, questionnaires, and quantitative and qualitative data processing methods.

Results. Practice-oriented assessment materials for the demonstration exam were developed, taking into account the specifics of preschool teachers’ professional activities and employer opinions. These include a list of competencies (job functions, actions) to be assessed, examination assignments, assessment criteria, and indicators. The results of a pilot study of assessment materials at five pedagogical universities across the country implementing preschool teacher training programs indicate a high level of development of the required competencies among more than 70% of students in the disciplines and 60% in the internships. The survey revealed that the majority of students were satisfied with the new exam format, as well as some difficulties in preparing for it, confirming the need for psychological and pedagogical support for students in both real-life and virtual environments.

Conclusions. The developed assessment materials enable the implementation of a procedure for independently assessing the readiness of students and graduates for professional work in preschool education. The assessment materials can be used to conduct demo exams for the midterm and final assessments of future teachers, as well as to assess the developed competencies of current preschool teachers.

Keywords: demonstration exam higher pedagogical education preschool education assessment materials practice-oriented assessment examination assignments

DOI: 10.24412/2782-4519-2026-20-3-22-35

Traditional Asyq atu play in kindergarten: development of metacognitive regulation in 5–6-year-old preschoolers

2026, 3 p. 36-48

Omarbekova F. , Kyyakbayeva U. , Zhakupova A.

380

Background. Heritage games may offer culturally responsive ways to strengthen preschoolers’ meta-skills that support early mathematics and science learning, yet evidence from Central Asia is limited.

Objective. To examine whether a traditional Kazakh game, Asyk atu, improves metacognitive regulation and self-regulation behaviours in Kazakh-speaking preschoolers.

Sample. 108 children aged 5–6 years (66% girls; mean age 5.46 years) from four intact kindergarten groups in Almaty; the sample reflected the usual composition of classrooms.

Methods. Cluster pretest–posttest quasi-experiment (September 2024–May 2025); 101 children completed posttesting. The intervention included 72 teacher-led 30-min sessions twice weekly integrating explicit planning–monitoring–evaluation prompts into Asyk atu play, while comparison groups continued usual practice. Metacognitive regulation (0–24) was coded from a standardized play-based problem-solving task, and meta-understanding (0–8) from a four-item reflective interview.

Results. For 5-year-olds, metacognitive regulation increased from 10.6±3.4 to 15.07±3.0 in the intervention group versus 10.7±3.2 to 11.5±3.1 in the comparison group (Δ=3.67; p=0.018; d=0.78). For 6-year-olds, gains were 12.35±3.2 to 16.12±2.9 versus 12.4±3.1 to 13.0±3.0 (Δ=3.17; p=0.041; d=0.61). Meta-understanding improved in the intervention group, but between-group differences were not statistically significant.

Conclusion. A year-long, low-cost Asyk atu program embedded in routine preschool practice produced moderate-to-large improvements in observed metacognitive/self-regulation behaviours.

Keywords: heritage games Asyk atu preschoolers metacognitive regulation self-regulation culturally responsive pedagogy Kazakhstan

DOI: 10.24412/2782-4519-2026-20-3-36-48

Developing subject-spatial environment as a professional challenge for a modern preschool teacher (based on the material of reflective essays)

2026, 3 p. 49-62

Shakirova E.V.

385

Background. In the context of the implementation of the Federal Educational Program for Preschool Education, many kindergarten teachers face difficulties in organizing a developing environment, which leads to tension and disagreements within the team. Studying the teachers’ attitudes towards this issue will not only reveal the professional aspects of improving the quality of the educational environment, but also identify areas for working with teaching staff.

Objectives. Identification of the essence and contradictions in the attitude of preschool teachers towards the organization of a developing material and spatial environment.

Sample. The study involved 28 respondents aged 25 to 65, including teachers and specialists from preschool educational institutions in the Ivanovo region.

Methods. The study was based on discursive design and qualitative content analysis of pedagogical essays that expressed the author’s position on the main issues of creating a developing environment in a kindergarten. The analysis of the essays’ content was conducted based on four aspects of the organization of the subject space, including approaches to zoning, the composition and content of corners (activity centers), aesthetic design, and the possibility of children’s participation in changing the space.

Results. It has been revealed that determining approaches to zoning the group’s space presents a particular challenge for modern educators, as they must choose between a clear division of the environment into play areas or a “dispersed” arrangement of materials. Educators have expressed a desire to increase the diversity of the play areas, with a trend towards moving away from unpopular play centers and encouraging children’s initiative and creating conditions for their activities. A separate issue is the difference in approaches to understanding the aesthetics of a kindergarten between educators and supervisors, which can hinder the collaborative creative work of educators and children within the group’s physical space.

Conclusions. The essence of teachers’ attitude to the organization of the developing environment is expressed in the contradiction between the need to comply with formal requirements, which are expressed in the structuredness of the space and its external attractiveness, and the importance of providing conditions for the child’s initiative and activity. Improving professional training and working with pedagogical teams can be carried out by transforming professional values from a superficial understanding of the environment as a system of “correct” corners to the formation of a holistic image of the environment as a space for the developing interaction between the teacher and the child.

Keywords: developing environment preschool teacher kindergarten teacher subject space pedagogical essay

DOI: 10.24412/2782-4519-2026-20-3-49-62

T.I. Babaeva’s scientific school: a humanistic approach to the social and moral development of preschool children

2026, 3 p. 63-80

Rimashevskaya L.S.

494

Background. With the updating of the regulatory and methodological framework for preschool education (the Federal State Educational Standard for Preschool Education, the Federal Program for Preschool Education, and the Development Concept until 2030), the need for methodologically sound approaches to the spiritual, moral, and social development of children is growing. The centenary of the Department of Preschool Pedagogy at the A.I. Herzen Russian Pedagogical University highlights the need to understand its historical and pedagogical legacy and identify the continuity of the humanistic traditions established by T.I. Babaeva’s school in modern kindergarten educational practices.

Objective. To conduct a theoretical analysis of the problem of maintaining continuity in the implementation of the humanistic ideas of the Department of Preschool Pedagogy in the modern educational space; to determine which elements of the paradigm of T.I. Babaeva’s school are preserved in current social and moral education practices and meet modern preschool education requirements.

Sample. The empirical base consists of more than 50 scientific sources, including monographs, dissertations, dissertations, departmental anniversary collections, teaching aids, and current regulatory documents. Particular attention is given to 13 dissertation studies (1988–2009) completed under the academic supervision of T.I. Babaeva, as well as the works of her students and followers, reflecting the development of the school’s ideas from 2010–2026.

Methods. Theoretical analysis of psychological, pedagogical, and methodological literature, a retrospective and contextual analysis of scientific trends in the social and personal development of preschoolers that emerged in the second half of the 20th century and developed in the early 21st century, as well as a comparative-historical method for tracing the genesis and transformation of pedagogical concepts over time.

Results. A stable continuity of the school’s humanistic guidelines in modern practices is revealed. The relevance of the following provisions is confirmed: the priority of the child’s emotional well-being and subjective position; The effectiveness of a situational approach based on problematizing children’s communication experiences and drawing on the preschool subculture; the importance of children’s communities as environments for positive socialization; and the modular, stage-based logic of pedagogical technologies for developing moral qualities. It was established that the diagnostic and technological tools developed within the school have been successfully integrated into the implementation of the preschool educational program, modern social-emotional development programs, and the teaching staff training system.

Conclusions. T.I. Babaeva’s scientific and pedagogical school retains its methodological and practical significance in the modern preschool education system. Its humanistic paradigm, focused on developing subjectivity, emotional intelligence, and moral choice in children within a children’s community, fully aligns with the value foundations of federal educational standards. The school’s ideas continue to be developed in the department’s current research under the direction of A.G. Gogoberidze and are actively implemented in educational practices, teaching and methodological complexes, and networked innovative projects, ensuring the continuity of the traditions of Russian preschool pedagogy.

Keywords: T.I. Babaeva’s scientific and pedagogical school social and moral education child development children’s community humanistic ideas preschool education the holistic nature of the child

DOI: 10.24412/2782-4519-2026-20-3-63-80