Analysis of the concept of spiritual and moral environment in an educational institution in the Russian didactics

The paper theoretically analyses the elaboration and hierarchy of the terms “space” and “environment” in philosophical and pedagogical research. It identifies characteristics of the resembling concepts of environment and space; reveals the interdisciplinary character and main didactic characteristics of the term “environment”, its relations with other phenomena of the process of character education. The paper deepens the understanding of the term “educational environment" and describes its potential, shows its interrelation with the terms “educational space”; it formulates the concepts of spiritual and moral development of a child and spiritual and moral environment in an educational institution. The author describes the key features of a beneficial moral environment in the secondary school; identifies and summarizes both general and specific substantial components of this kind of environment and summarizes the principles of its construction in the context of the humanistic paradigm. The paper stresses the importance of creating moral and spiritual environment for personal development of a child.