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EDUCATIONAL URBAN STUDIES: APPROACH TO DESCRIBING KEY CONCEPTS // Pedagogical Review. 2021. Issue 6 (40). P. 236-245

The notions “urban environment”, “urban object”, “urban resource” are traditionally discussed by such sciences as urban studies, economics, sociology and others, but the development of new directions in education also includes them in pedagogical research, in particular in the field of educational urban studies. There is a need to identify opportunities to consider these concepts in terms of their educational potential and to determine their place in modern education. To do this, let us review the sources and formulate approaches to the definition of key terms of educational urban studies. The concept “environment” is usually defined in two ways – as a set of physical conditions and as a human environment. Interpreting this approach in an educational context, the second meaning can be interpreted as a set of citizens’ activity practices, including educational ones. The urban educational environment is a system of three levels: macro-level, mesolevel and micro-level. The meso- and micro-levels are the most interesting for the study of educational potential. In urban planning, urban objects as elements of the urban environment are classified by function, affiliation, and operator. These features determine the programmability of the object in terms of its educational potential for citizens. An urban object becomes educational only if a citizen endows it with educational value, using it for their formal, non-formal, and informal educational practices. Educational resourcefulness is determined not only by resources of the object itself, but also by resources of a person using it. Educators possessing the competences of an urban teacher can become guides to discovering educational resourcefulness of a city and organizers of urban educational practices. The notions of an urban educational object, which becomes such when a city resident uses its educational potential, and the urban educational practice as a formula connecting an urban object, educational needs of a city resident, methods of using the educational potential of an urban object and direct educational activity in the interaction with the object were defined. Based on these formulations, we can begin to develop approaches to the inclusion of urban environment in the educational process, including an assessment of the educational potential of the urban environment.

Keywords: urban environment, urban object, urban resource, urban educational environment, urban educational opportunities, urban educational resource, urban educational practice