V. Shreider
Omsk

SELF-DISCOVERY, DIVERSITY, FLEXIBILITY AND ACADEMIC EXELLENCE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE INDIVIDUALIZED STUDY

    Changes in Higher Education include the establishment of a multi-level structure that would meet international standards and match the country’s human resource needs.
    Speaking about the individualization of Higher Education, we should consider several key elements of globally oriented approaches and programs that are being developed at the University. They are: studyabroad, doing research abroad, the internationalization of the curriculum, globally-oriented teaching and learning materials, private lessons, independent study, and etc.
    The purpose of individualized education is to ensure that every student gains access to knowledge, skills and information that will prepare him/her to contribute to variety of communities and workplaces. This central purpose is made more challenging as universities must accomodate students with ever more diverse backgrounds, abilities, and interests.
    Today the Universities all over the world try to make their curricula more flexible and diverse. In Russia universities give students the opportunities to choose cources according to their interests and professional goals. In the USA there are some Schools of Individualized Study. One of them is, for example, Gallatin School of Individualized Study, a small innovative college in New York University that gives students the opportunity to design a program of study tailored to their own needs and interests. Students may take on the exciting challenge of creating their own curriculum and unique plan for learning. Like these colleges in Russia we can name a private schools, where the curriculum is more individualized.
    Thinking about the consequences of individualized education the universities are compatible with many general education reform discussions.
    But some recommendations are out of discussion:

• LESS student passivity;
• LESS whole-class, teacher-directed instruction;
• LESS effort by teachers to thinly "cover" large amounts of material in every subject area;
• LESS leveling of students into "ability groups";
• MORE experimental active learning;
• MORE choice for students;
• MORE attention to affective needs and the varying cognitive styles of individual students.

    Students can follow a predetermined curriculum of requirements and electives, enjoy an unusual degree of freedom to design their own personalized programs of study, with few reguirements and a wide range of opportunities. The faculty adviser helps students to choose the program, that is consistent with the career and educational goals of the student. The process of creating an individualized program begins with the student and adviser discussing the student’s interests, goals, and past experiences. In order to facilitate this process, student articulates his/her educational goals and strategies for achieving them by writing a Plan of Individualized Study. Together, the study plan, that is revised every semester, and the discussions with the adviser, help students to integrate into the educational opportunities available to them.
    Flexibity and rigor characterize the individualized education, by that we teach students how to face the world of many possibilities by asking appopriate questions and searching for creative answers; to prepare students for an entire working life during which they are likely to have many careers.
    A University with individualized study can offer a variety of opportunities in experimental education, such as internships, independent study and private lessons, so that students may have the practical experience they need for the world of work. Independent study provides students with the opportunity to work face-to-face with a teacher on a particular topic or creative project. Taking private lessons students are offered the opportunity to learn and perfect their craft. They allow and teach independent thinking and versatility.
    That’s why we can describe the individualized study as the basis for introduction to the students‘ opportunities for self-discovery, diversity and flexibity of the curriculum, creativity and academic exellence.