Master of Arts Velikaya O.V.

Baitursynov state-run university of Kostanay.

URGENT ISSUES OF RESEARCH OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AT A HIGHER SCHOOL

One of the actual problems of teaching of political science in higher school is the activation of the students in the classroom, increase of creative abilities. Political science is one of the relatively new subjects, which have appeared in our education. How to make lessons interesting, exciting and at the same time permitting you to learn as much as possible all the necessary training material entered in the generalized routine? There is no definite answer to this question unfortunately. Nevertheless, an interesting material aimed at implementation of these objectives was accumulated surely in the store of many higher schools’ teachers. There are a variety of methods and techniques of teaching. In addition a variety of innovative technologies has recently been actively used. But the methods, techniques and forms are just the methods, techniques and forms. And the experience of colleagues helps teachers to enrich and diversify the informative form of their own classes. Concerning the higher rate of political science, it is appropriate, first of all, to mention four components of the teacher’s activity for activation of the students. Although, of course, all information that is mentioned in this article don’t covers the designated topic. What are they? The first points are the actual problems and negotiating texts, which have problems. The second point is the current information that allows to link theory with practice itself. The third points are interdisciplinary communications and the last one is the search for new or use of already found forms of work.

The component of activation of students is the use of current information flows, the so-called "topical" information about local and global events. Here we can use all sorts of tasks. For example, some unsupervised works and workshops must be started with a short political briefing, which ends with the mandatory connection to the curriculum. The next type of tasks includes preparing of a kind of folder with the materials from the Internet and the press for the duration of training. The current information from these materials should be connected with the topics studied during the course (may be concerning the history of one country). In this connection the accumulation of video is possible today. In addition, round work tables and meetings with representatives of state structures are quite appropriate. They may be supplemented with videos. The use of such materials and meetings may facilitate subject to be more lively and to have a practical significance. Students journalists can make express surveys, interviews independently, in order to use the data directly in the classroom.

Concerning to relationships between subjects, the most obvious connection here is the connection with philosophy, history, philosophy, sociology and other subjects of philosophical cycle. Almost all the thinkers of antiquity and so many of a later date interested in the problems associated with the problems of political science’s course one way or another. Here, there are both Plato and Aristotle and a whole galaxy of thinkers of ancient and medieval East, where a special importance was attached to the relationships between politics and morality and ethos of rulers. But here we face a theme, which requires its special analysis in a particular and moreover deployed methodical work. Separate consideration is required by the problem of interdisciplinary connections of political science with legal disciplines.

Possible connections with the history in general and the history of Kazakhstan, in particular, are clearly found. By the reason of the fact that the history of political thought and action in the sphere of politics are an integral part of the story itself.

Literature, linguistics and psychology are very interesting areas for research’s opportunities, for example, but they are not so widely spread. Working with philologists, and other students we can give tasks concerning search of political portraits and illustrative descriptions or representation of considerable political events as a kind of unsupervised work. It would be appropriate here to use the descriptions of prototypes (for example Balsak)and descriptions of a real historical characters, comparing them with information of historical records(where it is possible). In the field of psychology it is possible to give the tasks to prepare messages, speaking at student conferences, etc., for the most trained and interested students. In this kind of tasks it is recommended to use researches and techniques of well-known coryphaeus of psychology (Freud, Fromm, Jung, Adler, and representatives of other areas) to give a subtle portrayals of one or another politicians using facilities provided by psychology. Thus, political science as an academic subject will become more lively, "humanized". In other words, the more obvious fact is that the political sphere, both as in a broader and as in a narrower sense of the word is a sphere, which, like the other spheres of human activity, is the sphere of people in flesh and blood with their personal and group or wider interests and preferences, strengths and weaknesses. But this sphere is not at all some abstract forces or robot-like creatures, dispassionately playing fates of thousands and millions in the world’s "chessboard "(an expression of Z.Bzezhinskiy).

As for the forms of work and, first of all, those forms which can be used either directly during classroom, or in the preparation of them, there is a rich experience just accumulated here. Thus, just in one "Practice at the rate of political science" there are both thoroughly developed checklists, tasks and tests, and specimens of discussions, briefings, business games and test interviews.

In practice, creative writing assignments can be used successfully. They would last for a maximum of fifteen to twenty minutes and have an analysis at a later session or included in a special work that can be done together by students and teachers. Furthermore, this work can be carried out either in pairs or in small groups.

The development of modern technologies allows to work individually with each student through blogs and websites. In my practice, I have been actively using these forms of communication. Due to Internet’s facilities students may ask questions, clarify the tasks and receive the various additional information which help them successfully master the course of political science.

I think that all mentioned above, though short, but obvious demonstrates what tremendous opportunities and a wide field of activity are included in creative methods and forms of work with students.