Ecological Education by Means of Literature at School

Abstract

The relevance of the article is due to the urgent need to improve the ecological education of schoolchildren in connection with active human intervention in nature and causing irreparable harm to it. Now it has become obvious that the knowledge gained by students in the study of natural sciences is not enough to foster a sense of responsibility for the state of nature. This deficiency can be filled with fiction, which clearly reflects the interaction of man and nature in different epochs of the development of society. However, in the existing methods and technologies for studying literature at school, insufficient attention is paid to the formation of the ecological culture of students. The work on environmental education in the study of works of art is carried out irregularly, the methodology of conducting a lesson, taking into account environmental education, needs further development. The purpose of the article is to form a respectful attitude towards nature and awareness of its indispensability for humans as an environment in students by means of fiction. The research is based on the concept of humanistic pedagogy, ecological and value-orientational approaches. The main research methods were the theoretical method, the axiomatization method, and the modification method. Based on the work done, it has been established that fiction containing ecological material contributes to the awareness of students of the inextricable connection between man and nature, reveals the beauty of the natural environment, evokes a sense of responsibility for its condition, awakens a protest against the predatory attitude towards it. It has been proved that ecological education by means of literature should be carried out along with moral, patriotic, aesthetic education, relying on the methodology of studying a work of art, using methods and techniques that are most appropriate to the material being studied. Among them, both traditional ones - the word of the teacher, conversation, independent work, creative reading, the heuristic method - which have been tested by many years of pedagogical practice, and new ones - the design-research method, the method of concepts. It has been determined that an indispensable condition for the successful ecological education of students, along with the use of the means of school subjects, is their involvement in active practical ecological activity.