The notion of integration through categories of philosophy of education

The processes of integration and differentiation treated as driving forces and mechanisms of evolution of society are drawing researchers’ attention under current conditions of globalisation of social systems in economics, politics and culture. The process of society’s development is accompanied with its differentiation, i. e. the number of components constituting the system grows, the internal and external connections multiply, and the system gains a new network structure and functions. However, complication and fragmentation of the system threatens its integrity. Then the integrative processes take place and intensify its vitality and integrity. The objective of the article is to investigate the role the notion of integration plays in the description of the evolution of the Russian educational system. Philosophy of education serves as a methodological basis for the investigation. The author highlights and defines the leading trends of integration in the Russian education at the present stage: the realisation of interior- and interdisciplinary links in the process of education; integration of humanitarian with natural science constituent of scientific knowledge in education and life; integration of the domestic educational system into the international educational environment; integrated education for disabled children; and integration and social adaptation of immigrants’ children by introducing them to the host country. The opposite to the creative essence of integration is disintegration of an educational system that leads to unbalance and incoherence of its elements worsening the educational crisis in the XIX century. The article explores and specifies such related notions as: “integration in education”, “educational integration”, “pedagogical integration”, and “integration of education”. As opposed to integration that leads the system of education to stabilisation, the disintegrative tendencies worsen the crisis in contemporary education.