Using a system operator some laws revealing some laws of pedagogical systems’evolution

A. Korzun

Abstract

All processes in the surrounding world obey certain laws of evolution.  In terms of OTSM-TRIZ, these laws fall into two interconnected groups: general (common for all systems) and specific (applicable only within the framework of a specific class of systems).  Understanding their essence, the ability to note the manifestations of those laws and to take them into account while making decisions are the important task of teaching at any level - from school to functional training.  Thus the study of pedagogical heritage of the past must form in students – future educators – the understanding of common and specific laws of development of pedagogical systems, on the basis of which their future evolution can be forecasted.
To ensure such understanding and to form a number of intellectual faculties, we use a system operator (a multiscreen scheme).  Thereby problems of historical character are considered.  This enables us to see the development lines of systems and the action of some laws of technical systems evolution (LTSE) in a non-technical sphere.  There appears a possibility to forecast further development of the pedagogical science in general and educational systems of any single state in particular. 
The above mentioned enables students to assimilate knowledge consciously and to range information independently by systematizing it according to their needs, thinking peculiarities and view of life.  For senior students it forms the ability to work with pedagogical problems, to forecast the development of problem situations and the consequences of different methods of resolve a conflict by different methods. 

For a successful pedagogical activity, a specialist must possess a number of abilities.  One of the leading places here is occupied by the ability to consciously formulate purposes and to have a technological aspiration to realize them. 
The purposes of the pedagogical activity may be of a general and special nature.  This depends on what is the object of the activities, in what particular conditions the process is developing and who takes part in it.  The work on any pedagogical problem proceeds in the following directions: recognizing the demand for solving the problem, research into the causes of its occurrence, designing methods for overcoming the problem, and forecasting further development of the situation. 
To form the ability to work in this direction, it is necessary to understand that all the processes in the surrounding life are subjected to certain laws of evolution. OTSM-TRIZ considers those laws as two interrelated groups: general (common for all systems) and specific (applicable only within the framework of a certain class of systems).  Understanding their essence, the ability to notice the manifestation of those laws and taking them into account while solving a problem are an important objective of teaching at any level – from school to functional training.  That is why the study of the pedagogical heritage of the past is designed to form in students the understanding of general and specific laws of evolution of a pedagogical system as a basis for forecasting their further evolution.  
To provide such understanding and to form a series of thinking skills, we use a system operator (SO).  It is employed for considering the problems of historical nature. This helps to see the system evolution lines and the action of some laws of engineering systems development (LESD) in the non-technical sphere. 
As an example, let us consider the problem of the formation of pedagogy as a science.  According to the definition, “science is the sphere of human activities the function of which is to work out and to theoretically systematize objective knowledge of the reality; it includes both the activity aimed at the obtaining of new knowledge and the result of this activity – the sum of knowledge underlying the scientific picture of the world.”   Definition of any specific science ensues from this definition, and pedagogy is not an exception.  The minimal set of system-forming elements becomes obvious, too.  For pedagogy, it is the activity aimed at acquiring knowledge of the laws if education of a man and the theoretical knowledge itself as the result. In its turn, the knowledge is composed of a number of elements: facts, rules, laws, scientific lexicon (thesaurus), etc.  In additions, science is based, fist of all, on facts obtained in practical activities.  If pedagogy is a specific kind of activities of a man, one can suppose that it appears simultaneously with other kinds of activities.  That is why it is logical to consider the problem development history in accordance with the society evolution stages accepted in the history course: primitive society, antiquity, Middle Ages, Renaissance, new time, the present time.  In this context, the practical activities are the experience in educating a younger generation at a given stage of civilization.
Thus we obtain the following picture within the framework of a multi-screen scheme 
(tabl.1). 

Table 1. 
Stages of society evolution	Primitive society	 Antiquity	Middle Ages and Renaissance	New time	Present time	
Socio-cultural situation (super-system level)	Tribal relations, joint practical activities necessary for survival	A great number of schools and trends of thought	Formation of a system of sciences about a man - humanics, each of which splits off from philosophy with development and enrichment.	Absolutization of sciences in general and of humanics in particular	Beginning of the symbiosis.  Attempts of integration and harmonization of humanities. 	
Pedagogy as a science (system level) 	Education within the work process	Philosophy	Pedagogy (J.A.Komensky as a patriarch of pedagogy)	System of pedagogical sciences (branches of pedagogy)	Attempts of synthesis of pedagogy with other branches of humanities.	
Defining purposes, laws, methods of research and cognition, scientific thesaurus (sub-system level)	                   
 
***	General ideas of good and evil, first principles of education	Distinct principles, requirements and rules.	Basic pedagogical notions, classification of means, forms and methods of influence	Attempts to create universal common humanitarian thesaurus.	

This picture allows seeing the manifestation of the laws of system evolution. 
Pedagogy as a science manifests itself only when the minimum of necessary elements is combined in one system and performs a required function.  This is the period of Renaissance, of the activities of Jan Amos Komensky (1592 – 1690) who made the first attempt to build a distinct system of knowledge, rules, principles and laws of evolution and education of a man.  This is the manifestation of the law of completeness of system’s parts.  Hence, the entire preceding period in the history of humankind was devoted to the accumulation of the necessary fund for the formation of this system. 
Pedagogy as a science was spawning in the philosophy of the Middle Ages as its subsystem. In its turn, philosophy as a science of general laws of evolution of nature, society and consciousness appeared on the basis of practical knowledge of the surrounding world, man’s attempts to establish casual connections between facts, phenomena, processes and their consequences.  Thus, we see the manifestation of the law of transfer of evolution to a super-system: the experience in preparing a younger generation becomes a super-system for systems of philosophy, at the following step philosophy becomes a super-system for pedagogy (like for other sciences), further on pedagogy transforms into a poly-system of pedagogical sciences…
The formation of pedagogy at the Renaissance and over some time in the new time (in the history of pedagogy this stage is usually called philosophical pedagogy) occurred generally through identification and formulation of objectives, problems, principles and general laws.  For instance, the idea of harmonic development of an individual that is characteristic of the modern pedagogy was first denoted by Aristotle and further on was developed in the works by J.A.Komensky, J.H.Pestalozzi, J.J.Rousseau, J.Lock, K.D.Ushinsky, etc.  The didactic principles of Y.A. Komensky formulated in “Great Didactics” at the beginning of the 17th century underwent some changes but are still fundamental for the educational theory.  Educational and teaching methods were created on the basis of these purposes and principles but were developed in detail in the new time.  In modern practice of teaching and education, the first place is occupied by the problems of “technologization” of the pedagogical process. This means that educational work is supposed to be “conveyorized” and to guarantee a positive result.   In this situation, the main attention of researchers is paid to the realization of the process and the conditions that are necessary for realization.  Thus, laws of inequality of evolution of system’s parts and (partially) transfer from the macro-level to the microlevel manifest themselves: from global objectives towards methods of their realization and further on towards the perfection of individual methods and principles.  
In the time line, the phenomenon of increase in segmentation degree is observed: the general philosophical science is segmented into independent sciences in the Middle Ages and at the Renaissance, the split off pedagogy is gradually segmented into branches: history of pedagogy, pre-school and school pedagogy, higher school pedagogy, engineering, military, game, special pedagogy (defectology)…  Similar processes occur inside any of the split off directions.  For instance, school pedagogy is composed of the following branches: didactics, theory of education, shool study.  This phenomenon increases the degree of controllability of a system, because the development of narrow-type problems improves the quality of work on problems in specific spheres of knowledge and practice.   
And finally, transfer to a new stage of evolution of pedagogy is dictated by the aspiration of a man for obtaining the greatest possible number of effects, so the law of tendency towards ideality governs the evolution process.  
Thus, we can trace the action of a number of laws of systems evolution by example of pedagogy. This means that in future, at new stages of evolution, the action of these laws also will be observed.  Hence there appears a possibility to forecast further development both of pedagogy in general and of educational systems in an individual country, in particular while studying modern trends and laws in education.  Similar analysis facilitates establishing of interdisciplinary links in professional cycles (anatomy – psychology – pedagogy – specific methods – basics of medical knowledge) and general humanitarian cycles (philosophy – basics of culturology – politology – history – pedagogy – literature). 
The same scheme is used to analyze processes related to the development of the idea of the leading factor in the development of personality, the problem of purpose in pedagogy, change of educational models, development of school trade, etc. 
The system analysis is also effective in considering topics connected with the formation of different kinds of activities of a man, both in historical and psychological aspects; in teaching students to create personal classifications of methods, means, and forms of work organization; in analyzing the causes of pedagogical problems and in many other moments in the process of mastering the pedagogy course at a pedagogical college and at a higher education establishment. 
List of Reference:
1.	H.Altshuller.  Naiti ideyu (To Find an Idea).  Novosibirsk, 1990.
2.	H.Altshuller, B.Zlotin, A.Zusman.  Poisk novych idei: ot ozarenia k tekhnologii (Teoria reshenia izobretatelskikh zadach)  (Search for New Ideas: from Intuition to Technology (Theory of Invention Problem Solving).  Kishinev, 1989.
3.	Yu.Salamatov.  Sistema zakonov razvitiya tekhniki (System of Laws of Technology Evolution/ in: Chance for Adventure/ composed by B.Selyutsky.  Petrozavodsk, 1989.
Information about the author:
Anna Korzun.
Teacher of pedagogical disciplines at Minsk State Pedagogical College M.Tank No 2.
Since 1995 she has been conducting experimental work on the creation of a system of preparation of pre-school teachers having good command of OTSM-TRIZ-RTV technologies.  Since September 1999 she has been conducting work targeted at the preparation of practicing educators with a view of introducing TRIZ-technologies into the mass practice of pre-school education.
She is a leading specialist of the Minsk Center of OTSM-TRIZ-technologies in TRIZ-pedagogy, a participant of the educational project “Jonathan Livingston”, and a consulting specialist for the experimental work conducted in 2 “experimental” kindergartens of Minsk (Belarus).