Conceptual and Legal Issues of Higher Education Development

Abstract

Aim. To study conceptual issues of the development of higher education based on a philosophical and legal approach in the Russian Federation in the context of the transition to a new model of personnel training.
Methodology. The limits of legal regulation in the field of education are analyzed, due to the nature of the educational process, the professional autonomy of the teacher and the level of public reflection. The relationship between fundamentality and practice orientation in the legal dimension is investigated.
Results. The limits of legal regulation in the field of education are determined, due to the nature of the educational process, the professional autonomy of the teacher and the level of public reflection. Particular attention is paid to the category of fundamentality as a backbone principle of the new model of higher education. National and disciplinary features of understanding fundamentality in continental, Anglo-American and Russian traditions are considered. It is shown that fundamentality in the Russian context expresses the priority of state principles, ensures the non-reducibility of education to momentary market conditions and serves as the pedagogical equivalent of the synthesis of ideas of sovereign statehood and individual dignity.
Research implications. The role and significance of fundamentality in Russian education are disclosed. A hierarchical subordination of principles is proposed, in which practice orientation is considered as a way of realizing fundamental knowledge. Proposals are formulated for the normative consolidation of the principle of fundamentality in education legislation.