Classical hermeneutics and semantic layer of the educational environment of a domestic university

Abstract

The modern domestic university, under the influence of intense transformations of society, is in the field of a wide variety of innovations with ambiguous and unpredictable results. A modern university teacher finds himself in a very difficult position, forced to quickly integrate into the innovation field and meet innovative challenges. In these circumstances, the educational environment of the university is moving further and further away from the reflective format reflected by the categories of “understanding” and “meaning”. The purpose of this article is to document the risks of such semantic neglect and to compre hensively reveal the possibilities of displaying semantic search by a teacher at a modern university. Using the method of analyzing scientific sources on the problems of the modern university, as well as classical works of philosophers on hermeneutics, the authors proposed and substantiated the disclosure of the thesis “teaching activity in the context of the category “meaning””, aimed at “grasping” the essence of what is happening in the educational environment and identifying the deep layers, combining methodological reflection, socio-cultural background and historiogenesis, as well as psychological framing of the phenomena under study. It is also substantiated that one of the conditions for such semantic identification is the university teacher’s finding a measure in the combination of research and teaching activities. Fragments of the content of natural science education are proposed that are adequate from the point of view of including students in the space of meaning and understanding in the manner stated in the text of the article.