The concept of learner-centered education based on the manifestation of personality

The article considers the relevance of personality-oriented (learner-centered) approach to education during the period of changing education paradigms from knowledge-centered to learner-centered. It provides a review of modern scholars’ ideas on the issue of personality-oriented education. The purpose of the article is to justify, clarify and explain the author's concept of personality-oriented approach to education based on psychological theory of personality manifestation. The author presents the results of examining teachers’ willingness to implement personality-oriented education principles within the classroom based on the analysis of such data as lesson observations, questionnaires, and publications. More than a third of teachers confused personality-oriented (learner-centered) education with an individual approach. The majority of respondents (100%) demonstrated restricted knowledge of what the notion "personality" implies. The teachers failed to list the criteria and attributes of personality-oriented (learner-centered) education. The teachers demonstrated unsatisfactory level of methodological readiness to introduce personality-oriented approach in the classroom. Two-thirds of teachers could not describe the ways how they implement the above-mentioned educational approach. The author provides a theoretical framework of personality-oriented education based on the analysis of works by A. N. Leontiev, L. S. Vygotsky, V. A. Petrovsky, M. G. Yaroshevsky, A. G. Maslow, V. V. Serikov, I. S. Yakimanskaya, N. I. Alekseev, E. V. Bondarevskaya, M. Bowen, T. V. Lavrikova, A. V. Khutorskoy. The author’s concept of personality-oriented approach to education is clarified and disclosed. It is based on the manifestation of personality components which are considered as a unity of the following aspects: individuality, inter-individuality (personality is formed and manifested within society) and individual contributions to other people by means of activities.The concept contributes to teachers’ conscious and purposeful choice of methods and techniques for implementation of a personality-oriented approach. The identified methodological ways of implementing personality-oriented approach are described.