Choice in education: subject, content, time direction

The article deals with various aspects of the problem of choice in education. The authors analyze differences between subjects of educational activity in understanding of its purposes and definition of the necessary content of education. This discrepancy is due to both objective and subjective reasons. The interests of different subjects in education (training, student, state, civil society) can both coincide and compete and it leads to various forms of organization of educational activities.Considering the aims of education the authors turn to the ideas of Russian philosophy comparing such phenomena as “formal education” aimed at the development of intellectual abilities and “real education”, solving the problem of knowledge transfer to the younger generation. Separately, we pointed out the importance of “educational knowledge” as a form of human knowledge and personal development.Taking into consideration the previous argument, we consider education in the context of its orientation on the principle of “future-present”. Focus on the future implies its prediction. Possible mismatch of the desired results (forecast) with real achievements leads to a variety of risks of educational activities. Reducing this kind of risk is possible if we consider education as a mechanism for the formation of the “world of the future”, a mechanism that contributes to building a more “predictable” reality. The implementation of the idea of “education with low significance of methodological pluralism”, which involves the rejection of strict adherence to certain rules of activity, is considered as a strategy that does not involve focus on the future. In this case, the goal is not the result presented, for example, in the form of a set of knowledge, but the educational process itself.The study points to the prospects of studying education outside the time frame and considering it as a never-ending process of human formation. The authors substantiate the idea of “continuous education” structuring human life in a certain way and promoting a compromise of interests of all subjects of educational activity.