Formation of spiritual and moral values in cadets of a military university

Spiritual and moral education, along with the fundamentalization and digitalization of the content of education, is one of the priority areas of transformation of the domestic educational system. High demands placed on the personality of a modern officer, who is able to independently assess what is happening, build his activities in accordance with the interests of the state and bear responsibility for its results, determine the search for conditions that contribute to the formation and development of spiritual and moral values in cadets in the process of their professional training. The purpose of the study is to determine the spiritual and moral values of cadets and identify the conditions for their formation in the process of military professional training at a military university. Theoretical and empirical methods were used in the work. To study the value orientations of cadets, M. Rokich’s technique was used, aimed at direct ranking of two classes of values - terminal and instrumental. Based on the analysis of the test results, conclusions were made about the priority of values, namely - among instrumental values, cadets prefer honesty, responsibility, the ability to work in a team, and among terminal values - values associated with self-improvement and development. Experience in a military university allowed the author of the article to determine the pedagogical conditions of educational work necessary for the formation of spiritual and moral values in cadets: 1) the use of the educational potential of social and humanitarian disciplines, the content of which can be used to develop the worldview, spiritual values and moral qualities of cadets from the standpoint of their importance for the future military-professional activity of an officer; 2) the creation of a spiritual and moral educational environment of a military university, the characteristic features of which are the organization of joint creative activity built on the principles of cooperation, involvement, initiative and independence, understanding the uniqueness and originality of each cadet; 3) the spiritual and moral potential of the military collective. The spiritual and moral values formed in cadets allow them to regulate their attitude to military-professional activity, motivate them to perform professional tasks, increase their competitiveness and professionalism.