Features of developing students’ citizenship values: Assessment based on parametric observation of conditions for organizing citizenship education

Introduction. Contemporary educational research faces a lack of empirically grounded tools that make it possible to assess the quality of moral and citizenship education through the analysis of pedagogical conditions for the formation of students’ values and soft skills. The purpose of this study is to describe and verify parametric approach to measuring the conditions for developing students’ values and soft skills in the context of school-based moral and citizenship education. Materials and Methods. The study follows the activity-based and cultural-historical approaches, as well as the concept of evaluating educational conditions. The research employs qualitative methods, including parametric observation of educational activities, comparative case-based surveys of upper secondary school students, their parents, and teachers, and analysis of the empirical data obtained. Results. The authors developed and piloted a set of parametric measurement tools, including observation scales for pedagogical conditions and case-based surveys for key participants in the educational process. The pilot study enabled to identify typical deficits and successful practices in developing soft skills (communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity) and students’ values. It was established that parametric observation can identify differences between formal and activity-based levels of value formation, as well as inconsistencies between the declared goals of moral and citizenship education and actual pedagogical conditions. Conclusions. The parametric approach to measuring pedagogical conditions is considered to be a productive research tool for analyzing the quality of moral education and identifying directions for its further development.