Universities Have a Role to Play in the Management of Uncertainty

10:35, March 6, 2023

All-Russian Round Table of Experts and Masters Students

The University of Science and Technology MISIS held a Round Table "Students. Dialogues on Education in the New Realities" with the support of the Public Council under the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs. It was attended by Alexander Ponomarev, Deputy of Vice Rector, Head of the UrFU Department of Youth Outreach. His report focused on the capacity of the departments organising youth work to train professionals in the new realities.

"The whole world is currently facing a situation of uncertainty: there is a narrowing of planning horizons, a return to archaic forms of educational work that do not correspond to the cultural code of Russia's post-Soviet generations, and much more. The challenge facing universities today is to train students to work successfully with uncertainty," says Alexander Ponomarev.

Universities should offer programmes for the development of life skills, especially those with training areas in the organisation of youth work. Such programmes could include three blocks: the development of cognitive skills (ability to think critically and panoramicly), the formation of project thinking (ability to anticipate, to set goals, to develop decision-making skills under time pressure, to react quickly and to process information) with the development of action skills (leadership skills, ability to manage oneself and the audience),and the development of personal skills (ability to speak in public, teamwork, motivation, etc.).

"At the moment there are about 60 universities in Russia that train specialists in the field of work with young people. This year only, the UrFU has enrolled 70 bachelor's and 65 master's students. My suggestion to Rosmolodezh, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Council of Vice-Rectors for Youth Policy and Educational Activities is to use the potential of students in this direction for the solution of urgent problems in youth policy and educational activities of the university. Universities could become partners (customers) for project-based learning. They could offer to solve cases relevant to youth policy in the current geopolitical situation," noted Alexander Ponomarev.

Based on the results of the Round Table, the Council of Projectors on Youth Policy and Educational Activities under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation is invited to address the issue of collecting and replicating examples of successful activities of universities and student government in developing life skills in a situation of uncertainty and global challenges.

In addition to Alexander Ponomarev, the Round Table was attended by Inna Krutko, a Full Professor of the UrFU Department of Youth Outreach (with the report " The experience of actual social technologies in the new reality") and Masters students of the department - Mikhail Podkovyrkin, chairman of the UrFU Student Union and Nikita Kutyavin, Head of the Department of Cooperation in the field of patriotic education.

The news article was translated by UrFU International Marketing Office. 
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