Homeland defense in fiction: Designing professional development courses in postgraduate education

Background. The increasing complexity of the task of shaping school students as citizens of the Russian Federation necessitates the development of relevant competencies among teachers. This article substantiates the relevance and necessity of addressing methodological deficiencies among educators in fostering students' civic identity. It analyzes the results of professional development courses on this topic and provides an example of organizing integrative teaching in the subject areas of "Literature" and "Basics of Safety and Homeland Defense" within the framework of the military-humanitarian component of a new educational model for developing civic identity.

Purpose. The study aims to test a model for improving teachers' qualifications through the integration of the subject areas "Literature" and "Basics of Safety and Homeland Defense" to address educators' methodological deficiencies in fostering students' civic identity. The model is based on utilizing works of fiction that incorporate a military-humanitarian component. The study also examines teachers' ability and readiness to implement this model.

Materials and methods. The primary research method was content analysis of concept-oriented tasks, specifically addressing pedagogical situations involving patriotic behavior in A.A. Fadeyev's novel The Young Guard. This analysis was conducted within the framework of the module "Mastering Concepts in the Process of Forming Civic Identity in Integrated Lessons of the Subject Areas 'Basics of Safety and Homeland Defense' and 'Literature'" in the context of updated Federal State Educational Standards (FSES). The module is included in the programs of the Department of Environmental Pedagogy, Safety, and Human Health and the Department of Philological Education at St. Petersburg Academy of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education named after K.D. Ushinsky.

Results. The content analysis showed that teachers recognize the need for pedagogical flexibility in addressing the formation of civic identity under the new realities of the educational process. The empirical data from diagnostic and formative experiments confirmed the relevance of the professional development course module "Basics of Safety and Homeland Defense and Literature" in the context of updated FSES requirements. The findings led to refining the model for future training courses on these subjects on an integrative basis and expanding the thematic scope of teacher training modules by incorporating the subject areas "History" and "Fundamentals of the Spiritual and Moral Culture of the Peoples of Russia". Experimental work aimed at studying the intellectual and personal qualities of modern teachers within the framework of expanding their methodological competencies in fostering students' civic stance will continue as part of further research into the formation and development of the educational component in adult education within postgraduate teacher training.