Liubov V. Kapustina

An increasing number of scientists and experts claim that humanity will face a radical change in the economic and social structure in the near future, a new type of specialists will be needed for the new economy. The article examines the paradigms of modern society, namely the situation of uncertainty, digitalization, automation, sustainable development and crises threatening society, including climate catastrophe and the risk of mankind extinction. These modern realities contribute to the formation of the VUCA world (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity), which, in turn, require the development of certain competences. Effective work in a situation of uncertainty presupposes preadaptive development – the ability to forecast future crises and the ability to prepare for them. The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered changes in many areas of life and work. Thus, the skills of remote work and digital communications have become the most popular. Today, the most priority competences are technical and digital ones. The fourth industrial revolution is changing the landscape of many professions and blurring the lines between the digital, physical and biological worlds. Digital society and computerization are not possible without sustainable development, which implies studying the Earth's ecosystem and understanding the role of Humankind in it. Regenerative approaches that seek to reduce the damage from human activity are becoming the most significant. Remaining a part of nature, the regenerative economy actualizes the competences necessary for successful functioning in modern conditions. The article focuses on the formation of not only technical, but also "soft" competences, namely the understanding of innovation, environmental literacy, critical thinking, analytical skills, teamwork skills, ability to negotiate and exert influence, emotional intelligence, communication, leadership. Undoubtedly, modern realities pose challenges to the education system and dictate the need to introduce new methods and approaches to teaching and training of teaching staff. The new role of the teacher requires the development of innovative approaches to educational activities for the greatest effectiveness. The teacher is increasingly acting as a good conductor of the educational process. Consequently, it is necessary to develop modern competences and "correct" thinking – a set of views, worldviews and habits in order to form the desired professional behavior among teachers.

The socio-economic forecast of the development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030 determines the priority directions in the transformation of the system of secondary vocational education (SVE) as the main driver of production. The implementation of innovative and forced trends is complicated by a number of barriers associated with a shortage of highly qualified specialists according to world criteria. This study focuses on the challenges faced by the system of secondary vocational education, namely: the social and age characteristics of students in vocational education institutions, their weak motivation to get a high-quality education. On the other hand, the qualifications of the teaching staff necessary for the implementation of modern educational programs are of concern. In addition, the information age makes adjustments to the educational process, dictating the requirements for its transformation and training of specialists with modern competences. The purpose of this study is to provide a scientific and practical justification of the problems faced by the SVE system and to study possible scenarios for their solution, which will allow timely and adequate response to changes in external conditions both in the labor market and in the field of technology. The article is based on the use of the following methods: a theoretical review and analysis of domestic and foreign literature on the problem of research, pedagogical observation and generalization of teaching experience in the SPO system. Based on the analysis of scientific and pedagogical, socio-economic and methodological literature, it is revealed that a necessary condition for improving the quality of the learning process is the professional development of the teaching staff of the vocational school. It is concluded that practice-oriented training in the form of a dual system is the highest priority, allowing the integration of theoretical and practical skills, which makes the educational process more multifaceted and comprehensive. Summarizing the results of the study, we have found promising directions for improving the quality of professional training of students in the form of organizing a demonstration exam that allows an independent expert assessment, as well as participation in competitions of various levels, while participation in the WorldSkills International and WorldSkills Russia professional skills championships is the driver of tomorrow's competences.

The relevance of this study is due to the fact that nowadays it is impossible to imagine teaching foreign languages without the use of digital technologies. Today, a large number of learning websites and CD-ROMs are offered to help teachers develop receptive (reading and listening) and productive (writing and speaking) competences. The use of such materials is an undeniable advantage in mastering foreign languages. The purpose of this study is to analyze the scientific literature and identify the latest trends in the use of digital technologies when teaching foreign languages using learning websites. The methodological basis of the research is the analysis of scientific literature, as well as inductive and deductive methods of scientific knowledge. Comparative analysis helped analyze existing approaches to teaching foreign languages. The deductive method allowed, based on the conclusions of Russian and foreign scientists, to conduct our own research within the framework of the stated topic. The author of the study analyzed the content of some learning websites in order to identify new trends in their development that affect the teaching of foreign languages. The author of the paper comes to the conclusion that the use of the analyzed learning websites when teaching foreign languages has a number of advantages, and also reveals current trends in their development and use. The considered features of the use of digital technologies when teaching foreign languages on the material of learning websites contribute to a better understanding of the students’ needs and allow teachers to competently build a training trajectory in accordance with the tasks. This paper will be useful for foreign languages teachers, as it reflects the latest changes in the content and ways of using digital technologies when teaching foreign languages, as well as for young scientists who are just beginning their dissertation researches.

This paper is rather urgent because the task of increasing the efficiency of Russian higher education has acquired particular significance over the past few years due to globalization and various processes occurring in our economy. Today, Russia faces the challenges of creating competitive advantages both in world markets and in the global market for educational services in particular. The purpose of this study is to analyze the scientific literature on the research problem and to highlight the main trends observed today in higher education. The results of this research contribute to the further solution of a whole range of problems in the field of improving the efficiency of higher education. The methodological basis of the study is the analysis of the literature on the problem of the development and application of modern learning technologies in higher educational institutions.

The importance of cross-cultural competences for future economists in the current world, unprecedentedly globalized both culturally and economically, is hard to underestimate. There is no doubt that a modern highly qualified specialist in the sphere of economy has to possess a significant degree of cross-cultural awareness in order to make business contacts more efficient and to avoid the potential faux pas resulting from poor understanding of the cultural aspects of international business relationships. Gamification of the learning process in the form of business role-playing games is one of the most effective ways of forming professional competences, including cross-cultural ones, widely known and used throughout educational institutions worldwide. The aim of the research is to develop and implement a series of cross-cultural business games for future economists. The article provides a detailed description of one of the developed and implemented games at SSEU, the results of competence measurement before and after the game and the general outline of the series of games intended for the purpose of forming the necessary cross-cultural competences for specialists in Economics. The methodology of the research includes: publication analysis, testing (input / output questionnaire), teaching observation, experiment and comparative analysis of collected data.