Keyword: «polycultural education»

The author examines modern trends in development of pedagogical thought related to implementation of competence approach in Russian higher education, and new requirements to the level of modern university teacher’s scientific and practical thinking.

The relevance of the study is due to the growth of interethnic conflicts in the regions of Russia. In the modern period of globalization, informatization, democratization, integration in Russia, the doors for interaction with the foreign cultural world community are opened. In this regard, there is a contradiction between the increase in the degree of multiculturalism in society and the preparedness of the individual for these changes. Therefore, multicultural education is increasingly becoming the focus of many scientific and political discussions, which has led to the fact that this phenomenon is an unchangeable characteristic of the contemporary world, including Russia. Research of foreign practice becomes relevant in the period of globalisation. The main goal of theoretical comparative research of polycultural education in schools of Russia and Canada is to identify prospects of polycultural education development in Russian secondary schools. The results of theoretical analysis of scientific pedagogical literature concerning methodology of comparative pedagogical researches are presented. It was discovered that pedagogical research has four levels of methodology. There are philosophical level, basic scientific level, specific scientific level, technological level. On a philosophical level, the basis of research of polycultural education is humanism idea. The main methodological problem of comparative research is the ratio of universality, singularity and secificity categories. On a basic scientific level we emphasise systematic approach as abasic one. Also common principles of the polycultural education research were emphasised. It was discovered on a specific scientific level that basic concept of the research is world educational space. Methodological principles are principle of development, principle of universal relation, principle of active personality, principle of variability, principle of coherence. Basic approaches are: cultural approach, complex approach, historical approach, axiological approach, quantitive and qualitative approaches, interdisciplinary approach. The methods are described on technological level: analysis, synthesis, comparison, compilation, theoretical analysis, comparative analysis, interview, survey and questionnaire.