Standards and scientific and pedagogical freedom in universities: the issue of correlation within the framework of a unified educational process

The present study considers the issues of improving an educational process in Russian universities in the context of Russia's participation in the Bologna system. The author also addresses the problem of introduction of educational and professional standards and the development of democratic principles in the field of scientific and pedagogical activity. It is noted that Russia has noticeably reduced its activity in brining higher education into line with international standards. In many universities, students are taught mainly according to patterns formed by practice and determined by federal state educational standards (FSES). The curricula and methodological materials also conform to the specified standards. This situation is largely due to excessive top-down approach in management of higher education in Russia and, as a consequence, there is no real competitive component among universities. There is also an insufficient stimulation of generation of both new knowledge and methods of transferring it to students. The present study provides proposals on improving the structure of the Federal State Educational Standard as well as the procedure of compiling educational and methodological literature, aimed at expanding the autonomy of higher educational institutions. There are substantiated proposals on realization of creative potential of the teaching staff and increasing educational activity of students.