Peculiarities of educational support for adolescents’ existential choice: Factors ensuring the fulfillment of the potential of a value-oriented educational environment

Introduction. The article examines the problem of moral education of children in the context of modern socio-cultural conditions. The aim of the study is to identify the potential of a value-oriented educational environment focused on the internalization of moral values in adolescents and to substantiate the factors that ensure their fulfillment. Materials and Methods. The methodological basis of the study is the existential approach to education. The research was conducted within the framework of the reflexive-value approach proposed by I.V. Ivanova at the scientific school of existential pedagogy, headed by Professor M.I. Rozhkov. In order to achieve this goal, the authors used theoretical (analysis, comparison, generalization, systematization) and empirical methods. The results of empirical studies conducted in 2025-2026 are presented. The sample included 60 adolescents aged between 11 and 14 years, attending a rural school in the Kaluga region of the Russian Federation. Results. The authors analyzed and summarized research investigations by Russian and international scholars on the development of existential identity and moral qualities in adolescence, and presented empirical findings. This provided a comprehensive approach to the study, identifying the potential of a value-oriented educational environment and substantiating the factors that ensure its implementation in the educational process. Based on the obtained results, the authors identified and theoretically substantiated the potential of a value-oriented educational environment to facilitate adolescents’ internalization of moral values. They also proposed the conditions that ensure their implementation: the eventful nature of educational activities; the role of the teacher creating an eventful educational environment; the teacher’s learner-centered position; the value-based attitude of the teacher and the adolescent toward their activities; and the individualized nature of the content and methodological support of the educational environment, taking into account the interests and needs of adolescents. Conclusions. The leading factor that enables the fulfillment of the educational potential of a value-oriented educational environment and integrates the aforementioned conditions is educational support for adolescents’ existential choices—a special type of teacher-student interaction that involves a supportive teacher creating conditions for the internalization of moral values in adolescents’ and the development of their moral reflection. On the one hand, this support is possible within a value-oriented educational environment; on the other, it ensures the fulfillment of the educational and developmental potential inherent in the educational environment.