Value orientations of Zaporizhzhia region youth students: European vector

Abstract

Research paper highlights the important role of European integration processes in Ukrainian education under the conditions of Ukraine’s potential accession to the European Union. The authors outline the range of advantages that European integration provides to Ukrainian society under martial law, emphasizing that European integration strengthened values and beliеfs of the Ukrainian people and gave them hope for a peaceful future. The research paper demonstrates the attitude of 9-11th grades of Zaporizhzhia region education institutions to the democratic values of the united Europe. It was emphasized by the authors as the main aim of the publication. The scientific article provides a detailed analysis of research works by domestic and foreign scientists who study European values and their impact on society and education. The research paper presents the results of an online survey conducted among students in grades 9-11 of the Zaporizhzhia region secondary schools. Based on the results of the analysis of the responses given, the authors conclude that the majority of the survey participants consider Ukraine's integration into the European Union to be a positive process. Among the most important values for high school students, freedom, human rights and justice have been mentioned. These results indicate a generally favorable attitude towards the issue of European integration. The authors emphasize that the results obtained can lay the foundation for identifying the topics and content of lessons aimed at the development of secondary schoolchildren’s value orientations and competencies. In addition, future research lines are specified. Thus, the authors plan to design methodological guildelines for teachers of English on how to include common European values into their lesson plans for high school students.

Key words: EU common values; European integration; value orientations; European dimension in education; high school students; schools of Zaporizhzhia region.