Background of the anthropological turn in education

Abstract

Modern anthropology is discussed as a set of concepts and research practices, acting in the educational space not only as a discipline, but also as a worldview. The epistemological characteristics of modern anthropology are singled out: transdisciplinarity -movement over cognitive boundaries; transnationality - openness to international cooperation, perception of the world as a single research field. The growing role of anthropological knowledge in modern times in general and in the educational space in particular is interpreted as an anthropological turn. Five historical waves of the anthropological turn have been identified, containing a latent transformation of values and reflected in educational practices. Academic anthropology contains teaching activities and the development of anthropological theories, while applied anthropology is aimed at solving practical problems, mainly arising outside the academic world. From its academic side, anthropology offers new concepts and narratives that help overcome current situations of political, economic, cultural and axiological uncertainty. In its applied aspects, the spread of anthropological knowledge produces a latent humanization of both society and the education system. It is shown that the role of the anthropological turn in the education system lies in two key positions: firstly, it is placing a person at the center of the educational process; secondly, it is an instrumental accompaniment of value and worldview changes. Four modes and their corresponding instrumental implementations of the anthropological turn in the education system are identified: customization, subjectivity, communicative style, orientation to life tasks. It is argued that anthropological knowledge in the modern world brings latent axiological transformations, and modern practices and changed everyday life in one way or another spontaneously rebuild the education system.