Spiritual and moral education as the cornerstone of human personality formation

Introduction. Building an open cultural and civilisational space in our country requires the development of new directions and content of spiritual and moral education. It is important to consider the fact that spiritual and moral education is integrative by nature. It is directly related to all the key aspects of teaching and upbringing and the surrounding world as a whole, fulfilling a system-forming function in the process of comprehensive development of homo sapiens. Objective: to identify and characterize the directions of spiritual and moral education, present a working model for the formation of spiritualised morality fundamentals in children and young people. Materials and methods. The basis of the study were the provisions and conclusions of classical teachers K. D. Ushinsky, V. P. Vakhterov, P. F. Kapterev, V. Y. Stoyunin and others who took the first steps to comprehend the process of spiritual and moral education. Modern authors who study the problems of spirituality and morality made a significant contribution to the study through their numerous publications. The methodology was based on the principles of subjectivity, openness and nature-appropriateness, integrity and systematicity, continuity, differentiation and individualisation. The general scientific methods involved conversations, exercises, debates, the method of example and the organisation of activities. Results. The study expands and concretizes the existing knowledge about spiritual and moral education. It substantiates the conclusion that spiritual and moral education of the younger generation is not a narrow psychological and pedagogical problem, but a social problem, the problem of the future of Russia. The proposed working model is an important step in building a renewed system of spiritual and moral education of children and youth. Discussion. Many scientists studying the problem of the Human’s world focus their attention only on his/her moral side, believing that morality encompasses his/her spiritual core. Meanwhile, more and more contemporary researchers believe that spirituality is a broader concept and is determinant in the connection ‘spirituality – morality’. Spirituality is the highest substructure of human personality, while morality reflects only the norms of society and characterizes the deeds, actions and behaviour of a person. Conclusion. Spiritualised morality is the pivot that each individual needs to form in order to be able to arrange his/her life activity in a regular way, to constantly improve himself or herself, along with building a harmoniously developed society.