Vol 11, No 2 (2022)

The paper analyzes invasive plant species in a large regional center of European Russia – the city of Ivanovo. Based on the conducted research (by 2022) a group of 25 annual and biennial invasive plant species were identified in Ivanovo, which belong to 10 families and 19 genera. The authors have established ecopopological features of successfully naturalized of these species within the city limits, as well as their association with certain natural and anthropogenic ecotopes. 4 most active species (Bidens frondosa, Heraculum sosnowsky, Impatiens glandulifera, I. parviflora) are classified as transformers. They form dense monodominant thickets in various parts of the city, successfully compete and displace species of native flora. The largest number of species occurs in ecotopes, which are characterized by a simplified structure and lability. 17 species are in the composition of natural ecotopes, and the most vulnerable among them are water bodies and riparian communities. Among the anthropogenic ecotopes, habitats (24 species), roadsides (20 species) and wastelands (19 species) are more actively populated by invasive annual and biennial species. The problems of control and management of the spread of invasive species, including a large group of annual and biennial plants, should be solved comprehensively, within the framework of general economic and social urban programs based on scientific monitoring data.

This paper describes the results of studying the phytoremediation potential of flowering plants in relation to copper ions in laboratory experiment conditions. The test crops were tansy-leaved phacelia, white mustard, small-flowered marigolds and a mixture of grasses consisting of red fescue, pasture ryegrass and meadow bluegrass in a ratio of 40%, 50%, 10% respectively. Under experimental conditions copper ions in concentrations of 2 and 10 MPC were introduced into the soil selected from the territory of agricultural lands (leached medium-sized heavy loamy chernozem with a high content of humus, mobile phosphorus and exchangeable potassium and a low content of nitrate nitrogen, gross and mobile forms of copper). It has been found that all the selected crops accumulated copper ions from the soil to varying degrees, which makes them suitable for phytoremediation of agricultural lands planned for organic farming. The ability to accumulate copper ions increases in a row: white mustard < small-flowered marigolds < tansy-leaved phacelia < a mixture of grasses. The maximum effect of phytoremediation of the soil in relation to copper ions has been revealed in the variant with a cereal mixture: the content of copper ions in the soil decreases by 38,8% when applying 2 MPC, by 47,8% when applying 10 MPC.

The weather and climatic conditions of the periods under study significantly affect the response of biological systems to other environmental factors, including technogenic transformation of the environment. Having a complex of weather factors, it is difficult to unequivocally judge the favorable weather conditions of a particular year of observation. In this paper, an integral indicator of the degree of favorable weather conditions and a technology for its calculation are proposed. The degree of favorable weather is expressed in points on a five-point scale. The calculation uses a set of weather factors that potentially affect the biological object under study (organism, population, community). Weather factors and periods in which they can affect the objects under study are selected taking into account the biological characteristics of the object, for example, in our case, the period of the intrarenal phase (May of the previous year), the stage of active organogenesis, extrarenal growth until the period of collection of biological material (July of the current year). The method of principal components reduces hydrometeorological indicators and determines the factors that make the greatest contribution to weather variability in the periods under study. The absolute values of these factors are converted into points on the basis of a five-point scale for the correspondence of weather factors to the climatic norm and the optimal values of the HTC. Based on the average score for each year, the degree of favorable weather for a particular biological object is determined. The paper contains an example of a technology for calculating the integral indicator of favorable weather for silver birch (Betula pendula Roth), growing in six localities of the Tagil zone of the Middle Urals, in which the variability of leaf morphological features was studied in the period from 2016 to 2019. On the example of the Betula pendula leaf blade shape index, a statistically significant dependence of this feature on the integral indicator of the degree of favorable weather is shown.

In the flora of the Samara-Ulyanovsk Volga region, the Brassicaceae family is one of the leading ones. It is of interest to study the composition of the genera of this family at the level of the territory of the entire Samara-Ulyanovsk Volga region, as well as the physiographic regions included in it. It helps to understand whether there are local features in the composition of the cruciferous flora and what they are. Two natural zones are distinguished in the study area: forest-steppe and steppe; four provinces and 15 physical-geographic regions. In this paper, we consider in more detail 7 floras, they are described most fully. All of them are located in the forest-steppe zone. In the spectra of flora families of the considered physiographic regions, the Brassicaceae family is located on the 4^th–5^th place. In the spectrum of the adventive fraction of the flora, it rises to the 2^nd–3^rd position, and in the native fraction it falls to the 7^th–9^th place. The composition of the complete flora of cruciferous plants throughout the territory of the Samara-Ulyanovsk Volga region contains 40 genera and 89 species. It is not possible to unambiguously single out the head part in the generic spectrum, concentrating in itself a significant part of the flora species of this family. The most numerous genera are Rorippa, Lepidium and Alyssum. The species representation of these genera, as well as those of slightly smaller weight (Cardamine, Erysimum and Sisymbrium), does not differ in the considered physiographic regions. An exception is the genus Alyssum, whose representatives are confined to limestone and chalk substrates, which are not common in all areas. The Brassicaceae family has a fairly wide ecological spectrum; it includes species that grow in different ecotopes.

The black-necked grebe (Podiceps nigricollis C.L. Brehm) is a nesting, migratory bird species, the number of which in the Southern Urals reaches 12 thousand individuals. From an ecological point of view, the named bird species belongs to aquatic birds and prefers aquatic and semiaquatic habitats. Being a waterfowl, the black-necked grebe has a complex of diving adaptations and is characterized as a specialized waterfowl. The literature analysis has proved that the knowledge of the ecological aspects of the nesting life of the black-necked grebe is insufficient. The nesting period of the annual life cycle was studied on the Kurlady and Smolino lakes located in the forest-steppe zone of the Trans-Urals. The average date of birds arrival at the nesting area according to 1988–2013 data is 19 April. The choice of breeding site leads to the fact that black-necked grebes form colonies in stagnant water bodies or with a slow flow of water. The water is fresh or brackish, with a certain pattern of overgrowth of vegetation and depth in the area where the nests are located. The presence of nests of black-headed gulls (Larus ridibundus L.) plays a special role in choosing a place to build a nest. Black-necked grebes and black-headed gulls form polyspecific colonial settlements. The laying of the first egg is carried out by the black-necked grebe in an unfinished nest, floating on the water and having a flat shape. At the stage of the appearance of the first egg in the nest, the elimination of eggs occurs, which can reach 44,1% (the biological center of the colony, 1989). On the periphery of the colonial settlement, the percentage of dead clutches is significantly higher, which can be caused by unfavorable biotic and abiotic relationships. Nests of black-necked grebes are completed from the moment the first egg is laid until the laying is completed. At a statistically significant level, the diameter of the nest and tray, the height of the nest, and the depth of the tray increase. The nest with completed masonry has a truncated-conical shape with a cup-shaped tray. According to long-term observations, the average value of the completed clutch is 3,8 eggs per nest. The reproduction in the composition of a polyspecific colony is accompanied by the establishment of biocoenotic relationships. The manifestation of topical, phoric and factory relationships, which can lead to individual and group elimination, has been established.

The expert and statistical assessment of ecological and coenotic groups of Southern Trans-Urals vascular plants flora has been done for A.L. Belgard’s coenomorphs scheme and scheme of vascular plants flora of temperate forest zone of European Russia. Both suggested schemes of groups give adequate and similar assessment of biotopes. The proposed groups of vascular plants flora are identified in phytometer scales space definitely and can be used for regional assessment of biotopes. The best assessment of ecological flora of region is realized by combined coenomorphs and coenotic group schemes approach at the same time. The authors have established regimes of principal ecological factors that identified differentiation flora by coenotic groups and ultimate for specific groups forming in Southern Trans-Urals habitats. Sylvant coenomorph has been formed by boreal (acidic soils phytometers) and nemoral sciophytes and heliosciophytes, moreover a nemoral group must be understood as a group of shady forests on rich soils. The sylvant pine forest group is heterogeneous and not coenoticaly specific. The steppe coenotic group has been formed of obligate and facultative heliophytes of mostly dry biotopes, pratal coenomorph is heterogeneous and not coenoticaly specific and made up of humidity-meadow flora, dry-meadow coenotic group is not specific. For Southern Trans-Urals region it is recommended to use unite paludal coenomorphs but with a separation of coenotic group of oligotrophic bogs. The separation of ruderal coenomorph (phytometers of dry-meadow moistening and rich of nitrogen soils) is confirmed statistically. The authors have established regimes of principal ecological factors for stenotopic ecological and coenotic groups of Southern Trans-Urals region. For coenotic groups of Southern Trans-Urals region the authors have identified biotopical «centres» and biotopic and coenotic series which are associated with moistening, aeration and saline soil conditions and brightness regime.

The paper deals with the dynamics of nesting of the osprey (Pandion haliaetus Linnaeus, 1758) in the Shushensky Bor National Park and on adjacent sites in the valley of the Yenisei River, associated with the emergence of the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station reservoir. The paper contains data on the nesting of the osprey directly on the territory of the Mountain Forestry of the National Park. Special attention is paid to one of the discovered nests. To build nests, the osprey in the Siberian region usually chooses high-stemmed dry or semi-dry trees with broken tops, and one of the tricks when choosing a nesting site is the elevation above the general level of the surrounding forest to provide a circular view. In this case, the nest was located on the broken top of a live cedar growing on a steep slope in a fir-cedar forest. There were taller trees nearby, i.e. the nest did not dominate in height. During observations of osprey nests, it was found out that they reacted very negatively to the appearance of any watercraft in the bay. If the adult birds were in or near the nest, they flew from a great distance and did not fly close until the boat or motorboat was removed, which, of course, threatened the eggs (when incubating) or chicks during the first weeks after hatching, hypothermia and possibly death. Recommendations are given for the conservation and study of the biology of this rare red book species in the habitat conditions on the mountain-taiga coast of the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station reservoir within the national Park.

This paper summarizes the results of studies on the fauna of gamas mites of the nidicolic group. On the Eastern Transbaikal Territory, 68 species have been identified as part of the nidicolic group. They belong to nine families, most of them have been found in rodent nests. The largest number of species belongs to the families Parasitidae, Laelaptidae, Rhodacaridae. Many species have been found in the soil, where they form micropopulations. Of the 68 species 19 have not been found in the soil: six species of Euryparasitus, three species from the genera Poecilochirus, Ameroseius, Macrocheles, one species – Parasitus (Coleogamasus) tichomirovi, Veigaia beklemischevi, Pachylaelaps siculus, Hypoaspis krameri. In the biocoenosis of the vegetable storage, H. timofejevi have had the highest rates, its reproduction and development have taken place here. We have detected all stages of development. The main parts of the population have been represented as follows: females – 48%, males – 11,8%, larvae – 1,2%, protonymphs – 7%, deutonymphs – 32%. Females in each hamazid population numerically have predominated over males. Drawings of the preimaginal stages of development as well as its topical and phoric connections have been described. The nidicoles of the forest-steppe zone of Transbaikalia have demonstrated a tendency to synanthropization. The tendency has been noted in 21 species of nidicoles from six families: eight from the family Parasitidae, five from the family Laeleptidae, three from the family Macrochelidae, two species from the family Ameroseidae, Aceosejidae and one species from the family Rhodacaridae. Interspecific relationships have been established for H. timofejevi, E. emarginatus.

Due to the long-term use of the soil as a resource, the natural balance of microorganisms necessary for the normal functioning of the plant is disrupted. The trophic structure of agrophytocoenoses is unstable, the circulation of substances in them is incomplete, it requires regulation – fertilization to restore fertility. Mineral fertilizers as an important component of agriculture, which determines the yield and quality of products, are not fully absorbed by plants. The aim of the study was to study the effectiveness of a modified mineral fertilizer (nitroammophoski NPK = 17–17–17) by Bacillus subtilis H–13 bacteria, when cultivating carrots of the Abaco variety. The results of the effectiveness of biomineral fertilizers on salty light chestnut soil in combination with salts with a heavy granulometric composition, in the agrocoenosis of carrots in the conditions of the Volgograd Region are presented. The effect of biomineral fertilizer has shown a high effect and can be considered as a method of complex biologization of crop cultivation technology in agriculture of the Russian Federation. The essence of the reception is the processing of mineral fertilizer granules with a microbiological preparation «BisolbiFit». This technique makes it possible to form stable agrobiogeocoenoses by improving the growth conditions, accelerating the development of plants. The use of biomodified mineral fertilizer, improving the mineral nutrition of plants, allowed to obtain an increase in the yield of carrots – 35,4%. It also helped to improve the quality of root crops – the sugar content increased by 35,2 mg/g of raw mass.

In this study we consider the frequency of coat color variation among Yakutsk stray dogs. The study was carried out at the same time in three city districts: Centralniy, Saysarskiy and Stroitelniy. The districts differ in urban development and population density of stray dogs. The Stroitelniy and Saysarskiy Districts belong to a one-two-storey residential type of the building, the Centralniy one – to a multi-storey residential type. 8 types of colors were distinguished: black, white, red, wolf-gray (agouti), yellow with a mask, black-backed, white large-spotted and black with white spots. The analysis of the morphs was carried out in percent, as well as Zhivotovsky’s indications: the average number of morphs (µ), proportion of rare phens (h), phonetic similarity of groups (r). The most frequent is a black-backed color – 21,42% (95% confidence interval: 17,33–26,92). The wolf-gray type of color – 18,56% (CI: 14,00–25,00) and the black with white spots type – 15,62% (CI: 11,54–20,00) are also very frequent. The white large-spotted color (4,62% CI: 3,33–6,67) is the least frequent among the selected types. It is proved that the population of stray dogs in Yakutsk is quite homogeneous. One-to-one comparison of stray dog groups from different districts of Yakutsk showed that the groups from the Centralniy and Stroitelniy Districts turned out to be the closest (r = 0,972 ± 0,024). The lowest connection between dogs groups were observed in the Saysarskiy and Stroitelniy Districts (r = 0,933 ± 0,029). The collation of the Centralniy and Saysarskiy Districts also revealed an analogy between these groups of stray dogs (r = 0,956 ± 0,034). Therefore, the morphotype of stray dogs in Yakutsk is formed mainly without any human influence, mostly have a random pattern. Conditions of life can impact to the selection; as a result the most accommodated individuals survive on the street in the region with a severe climate.

The purpose of the paper is to publish ceramic and stone collections of artifacts from the Neolithic era from the multilayer settlement and burial ground Vasilievsky Kordon 27. The settlement is located on the right bank of the Voronezh River (Don Basin) within the Dobrovsky District of the Lipetsk Region. Excavations of 323 m² have been explored in the settlement. Previously, a large amount of Eneolithic ceramics was discovered: the Srednestogovskaya and Volosovskaya cultures, and Ksizov-type utensils. For the first time in 2020, an economic object with only Early Neolithic materials was discovered at the site. We have received a collection of Early Neolithic pottery, which, undoubtedly, has similarities in various ways with the dishes of the Elshanskaya, Karamyshevskaya and Srednedonskaya early Neolithic cultures. Preliminarily, we are inclined to attribute this collection to the earliest stage in the formation of the Srednedonskaya culture in the first half of the 6^th millennium BC. Most of the stone collection of the monument can be attributed to the Neolithic period: chopping tools, a fragment of an arrowheads, a stone shuttle. The final cultural and chronological attribution of the stone inventory is difficult in view of the fact that the excavations of 2020–2021 were laid on the outskirts of a multi-layered monument, which suffers most from the annual fire plowing.

The paper is devoted to the publication of a series of radiocarbon dates obtained for the Eneolithic complexes of the forest-steppe Volga region. The paper provides a description of the dated samples, the context of their finding and cultural attribution. The materials from the Bolshaya Rakovka II site, the Lebyazhinka VI settlement and from the Maksimovka I burial ground were subjected to radiocarbon dating. In total, thirteen radiocarbon dates were obtained; they belong to various Eneolithic cultural-chronological groups, namely, the complexes of the Samara culture, Lebyazhinsky, Alekseevsky, Chekala types, ceramics «with an inner edge». The new dates do not go beyond the previously defined chronological framework of the Eneolithic of the forest-steppe Volga region, however, they make it possible to correct the existing ideas about the time of existence of individual ceramic and economic complexes of this region. The most representative series of radiocarbon dates was obtained for ceramics of the Chekala type from the Bolshaya Rakovka II site. New data on the absolute chronology of materials of this type make the time of existence of these complexes somewhat older. The ¹⁴C determinations for ceramics «with an inner edge» from the settlement of Lebyazhinka VI turned out to be somewhat older than the existing dates. For ceramics of the Samara culture, Lebyazhinsky and Alekseevsky types, one radiocarbon date was obtained.

The paper considers the requirements of the laws of the Russian Empire for tax inspectors and the implementation of these requirements in practice. The duties and responsibilities of the assistant inspectors are quite well researched in the modern scientific literature. However, the researchers of the issue have not revealed the real state of situation, concerning these civil servants. The main attention of this work is focused on the information contained in the «Regulations on the establishment of the position of tax inspectors of April 30, 1885» and in the «Highest approved Regulations on tax inspectors and their assistants of May 24, 1899». These laws thoroughly describe the competencies that tax inspectors should have when they began their service, and whether they had an appropriate rank for the applied position. Meanwhile, while studying commemorative books and materials from the State Archive of the Pskov Region (SAPR), it turned out that not all of them had the required rank or education level. Most of the inspectors who applied were well below the required rank, and a certain number of employees did not have proper education to hold the post. Subsequently, they could (and did) raise these statuses, but the practice of hiring a person (people), taking a lower position than it was formally needed, requires detailed consideration and explanation.

The paper deals with changes in labor relations in the period of 1920–1930s in the context of the transition of the country’s economy from war communism to the NEP and planned economy. During the period under study, new forms of interaction between power and man emerged. An important aspect of studying the transformation of labor relations is the method of including the working masses in the restoration of industry, stimulation and motivation to work. Another important aspect of this study is the analysis of forms and methods of education and upbringing of workers in the USSR. Research interest in the problem of the existence of «man in labor» made it possible to turn to the principles of the history of everyday life and social history. The study is based on archival materials from the Samara Governorate and the Middle Volga region. Published sources were also used (documents and legislative acts of the ruling party, which were administrative and regulatory in nature). It should be noted that the paper examines the role of trade union organizations in improving the quality of the qualifications of Soviet workers, as well as their role in increasing efficiency and improving the production process. The paper presents a content of some curricula aimed at improving the quality of education of Soviet specialists.

2022 marks the 130^th anniversary of the discovery of the first virus. It was the tobacco mosaic virus, which was described by the Russian botanist D.I. Ivanovsky in 1892. Following the discovery of the plant virus, animal and human viruses were discovered. A little more than two decades later, after the publications of D.I. Ivanovsky, bacterial viruses called bacteriophages were discovered and described. The doctrine of the bacteriophage, which first appeared as a particular problem of microbiology, after several decades acquired great importance in the study of the most important issues of biology and medicine. In recent years, the interest of various specialists in bacterial viruses has not just not weakened, but is gaining strength. In this regard, in our opinion, it is important to turn to the historical analysis of the first decades in the study of bacteriophages. In the USSR one of the prominent scientists involved in this topic in the 1930s was microbiologist Zinaida Vissarionovna Ermolyeva (1898–1974). Based on the material of scientific works on biology and medicine published during the period under review, involving documents from the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the Russian State Archive of Economics, in this publication we analyze the participation of Z.V. Ermolyeva and her laboratory staff in studying the phenomenon of bacteriophagy, conducting clinical trials and establishing the production of various drugs based on phages. Attention is also paid to Zinaida Vissarionovna’s speeches at major scientific forums of the 1930s with reports on the results of the study of bacteriophages.

The purpose of the paper is to consider methodological issues in the works of the Soviet historian Grigoriy Samoylovich Fridlyand. Based on the material of his journal publications, a number of topics are traced that represent an original development of the provisions of historical materialism in relation to historical science and specific problems of historical research. The influence that participation in philosophical discussions of the 1920s could have on G.S. Fridlyand’s conclusions is indicated. The author traces Fridlyand’s attitude to the problems of the categorical apparatus, the theory of socio-economic formations, the question of the role of personality in history and the influence of the researcher’s methodology on determining the range of historical sources involved. In all the questions raised, both the concretization of the general provisions of the materialist understanding of history, characteristic of that time, and the entry into new frontiers, which represent an original attempt to develop Marxist constructions, are demonstrated. Special attention is paid to the prognostic elements of Fridlyand’s constructions, in which he foresaw the future vector of the development of historical science. The conclusion is made about the need to study the formation of the Soviet methodology of history as an important stage in the development of historical science in our country and overcoming nihilism towards it, formed by the historiographical situation of the perestroika period.

The population of Staroe Surkino village, which is part of the Almetyevsk District of the Republic of Tatarstan, is one of the largest religious communities of unbaptized Chuvash on the territory beyond the Kama. The villagers have preserved the ancestral religion of their ancestors, a special ethnic identity, as well as many features of traditional culture associated with the so-called «paganism». One of the most striking and revealing elements of religion, ancestor worship and funeral and memorial rites of the villagers are gravestone monuments. Especially valuable in this regard are the old tombstones, which were erected in the second half of the 18^th – early 20^th centuries, because many canons of Chuvash folk cult sculpture have been preserved in them. First of all, this is the anthropomorphism of tombstone monuments, the differentiation of monuments by gender and socio-age characteristics by applying images of female breast jewelry to female monuments, drilling or hollowing out depressions or dimples on the upper arches of monuments for the installation of candles and the accumulation of «heavenly» or rain water. However, over time, under the influence of various factors, some innovations and changes have emerged in this area. That is why this problem is of deep scientific interest to researchers.

This paper discusses the manifestations of ethnofuturism in the visual arts of the peoples of the Ural-Volga region and their relationship with myth-making. The results of the study showed that ethnofuturists, like myth-makers, touch upon the main periods in the history and culture of the people and strive to creatively rethink, interpret and evaluate the role of this or that event or cultural phenomenon in its fate, thereby creating a new version of ethnic history and / or a new model of the cultural system, different from the accepted scientific version. The multitude and variety of creative interpretations of the same images and plots leads to a large number of meanings and subtexts in the works of artists, which in no way can fully contribute to the revival of ethnic identity. A great creative flight from realism to surrealism is a consequence of the absence of clear stylistic boundaries in ethnofuturism, which were not laid down by the founders of the direction. The absence of boundaries and the will of creative flight introduce ethnofuturism into the sphere of myth-making, which manifests itself in the creation of images and plots not on the basis of folk ideas and images, but mostly on the basis of images rethought and interpreted by artists, which in some examples do not even allow identifying their belonging to a certain ethnic group.

The paper analyzes Museums of death, which in recent decades have appeared in many countries of the world, including Russia. The popularity of museums that bring death out of the private and into the public sphere, removing the social taboos associated with it, testifies to a shift in public consciousness that is taking place before our eyes, which will require anthropologists to pay closer attention. Turning to their experience, on the one hand, is interesting as another attempt to answer the question – why does the topic of death look both frightening and attractive at the same time? On the other hand, it will allow us to analyze the possibilities of museification of the idea of death, taking into account its social taboo. In this paper methods of digital ethnography were used, the sources were materials from the Internet – official websites of institutions, their pages on social networks, reviews of visitors on various platforms. Materials of the author’s observations and field studies in Russian museums, primarily in the Novosibirsk Museum of World Funeral Culture, were also partially involved. This paper also considers stages of international museum community formation associated with the presentation of the theme of death in public space, museum practices and development strategies, as well as the problems of exploiting the theme of death in the entertainment industry.

In modern conditions, significant changes are taking place in the functional components of the university teachers activity, due to the influence of many factors of the transforming digital educational reality. The paper actualizes the problem of detailed study at the theoretical and practical level of the process of developing information and communication competence of a teacher, as a personal quality manifested in the willingness and ability to work with information, the main types of software and hardware and to carry out productive interaction in the digital educational space, due to the capabilities and resources of personal educational environment. The author of the paper defines the possibilities (filling with various structural components depending on the goals, objectives, content of activities and planned results; adaptation to the abilities, needs, interests of the teacher; providing conditions for achieving the necessary level of personal self-organization of the individual; creating a space for effective online communication; integration of formal education and education outside the formal system; implementation of individual models of pedagogical activity) and resources (functional technical and software tools: gadgets, services, programs, platforms, as well as their interrelations; electronic information and educational resources used to solve educational and professional-pedagogical tasks, as well as contributing to effective personal and professional development) of the personal educational environment in the development of information and communication competence of a university teacher.

This study is devoted to a topic that is relevant today – students’ communicative competence development at a technical university through the use of digital resources in the process of teaching a foreign language. The relevance of the topic is due to the process of digitalization of the higher education system in modern society and the active introduction of information technologies into the educational process. The paper gives a definition of «communicative competence», considers different scientific approaches to this concept and its structure. In addition, an analysis of modern educational Internet resources aimed at developing students’ listening comprehension skills is given. Such a comprehensive analysis presented in the paper allows us to conclude about the practical significance of the study, since teachers can use it when teaching a foreign language at a higher education institution. Using the example of «the British Council» website, podcasting methods are considered as one of the most convenient and productive ways to develop the necessary skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing. The conducted research allows to draw a conclusion about the significant role of podcasts for students’ communicative competence development in teaching a foreign language at a technical university.

In this paper the authors reveal a relevance of the prospective teacher’s communicative competence development as a basic component and requirement for professional activity. The professional standard requires readiness for pedagogical activity, the basis of which is the development of communicative competence of a prospective teacher. The authors distinguish ways for communicative skills development among students in the process of studying a set of pedagogical courses while receiving pedagogical education. The paper states the need to adhere to a systematic approach to communicative competence development as the dominant component of the professional competence of a prospective and novice teacher. The authors emphasize that the effectiveness of his or her pedagogical activity is determined by the content of the «communicative portrait» of students – prospective teachers, and the effectiveness of the educational process will depend on this. Namely, communicative knowledge, the skills and abilities of a prospective teacher will build a trajectory of object-subject and subject-subject interactions in the holistic educational process. The key component of communicative competence is the communicative culture of a teacher, which ensures an effective construction of feedforward and feedback with the participants of the educational process. Professional activity always requires from a prospective teacher an ability to build a strategy, tactics and technique of subject-subject interactions, organize joint activities with students to achieve learning goals.

In this scientific paper the authors express some critical thoughts about the situation that has developed in recent years in the field of training teachers majoring in art education. The authors raise the question of the need to return to the basics of academic art education of artists and teachers in connection with the problems associated with the adoption of the Bologna education system. Having studied the publications of famous Soviet and Russian artists-teachers and considering personal observations, the authors of the paper substantiate the need to develop artistic and creative abilities of students using the best traditions of Russian academic art education, which is based on the decisive importance of working from nature. The peculiarity of the courses is the unification of educational-cognitive and artistic-creative tasks in the educational process. The concept of artistic and creative abilities as a complex of individual personality traits, the concept of individual manner in artistic creativity is clarified. Special attention in the paper is paid to the pedagogical interaction of the subjects of the educational process, to the disclosure of the individuality of the individual. The development of artistic and creative abilities of students at the lessons of academic art courses must be solved by the purposeful guidance of a teacher-mentor. The authors analyze possible ways to solve the problem of the development of artistic and creative abilities of prospective artists-teachers.

The paper is devoted to the problems of regional ethno-cultural education. The ethnopolitical, multicultural situation on the territory of Samara and the Samara Region largely coincides with the general socio-economic trends taking place in Russia, which gives reason to consider the region as a region where important ethnopolitical processes are taking place. The educational environment is becoming more polyethnic and requires attention to the issues of ethno-cultural and multicultural education of students. Based on the conducted field research, the paper actualizes the issue of interaction between school and family in the processes of ethnic inculturation and all-Russian socialization of the child’s personality. The ethno-cultural socialization of the child takes place in the family, and it is important for the teacher to provide professional support to parents in integrating students into the culture of their community, in forming a positive identity in combination with the all-Russian identity, a sense of personal responsibility for preserving the cultural and historical memory of their people. Ethnic tolerance is high in those schools where the process of ethno-cultural education is carried out within the framework of a well-thought-out multi-stage system of interaction with the parent community. The anthropological approach, therefore, studies the «meeting of education with traditional culture» and actualizes the issues of ethnoculturality-multiculturality of the modern educational process.

This paper discusses various approaches and definitions of the concept «skill» on the basis of which the concept of «technological skill» is developed and highlights the components that make it up. The authors of the paper talk about the process of developing a technological skill of an English teacher. Based on the general scientific, in particular scientific, socio-cultural aspects of the society life, the need for additional skills development in the vocational education system in the modern environment is revealed. That is aimed primarily at training highly qualified specialists who perform their official duties in full accordance to the level established by myrtle standards, ready for continuous professional growth and development of various skills that are necessary for the implementation of successful teaching activities. According to the new circumstances for the introduction of modern technologies in the educational process, the components, which are necessary for technological skills development, have been identified, and the particular concept of «technological skill» for teachers of the English language has been defined.