Non-formal educational environment of the author's camp

Abstract

The article considers the activities of author’s camps in Kostroma region as one of the practices of non-formal education. The task of the research is to understand how the educational process is organised in the author’s camps. The research base is the author's camp of role-playing games «Centaur» and the experience of the pedagogic team in developing and conducting thematic shifts for teenagers in 2009-2020. The educational technology is a situational epic role-playing game with a historical plot. Authors analyse five cases that demonstrate the logic of the emergence of educational effects in teenagers directly during the event and upon its completion. The content of the cases relates to the subject of the event, specifics of situational-role-playing game, additional classes offered to teenagers; non-directive requirements addressed to the participant. The article defines mechanisms of interaction between the teenager and the informal educational environment of the author's camp (challenge and resonance). The challenge mechanism assumes that elements of the non-formal educational environment provoke participant’s activity, causing various experiences (not only of a positive nature). Accepting the challenge, the teenager takes a subjective position and makes efforts to achieve the chosen goal. The resonance mechanism demonstrates that when meeting with elements of an non-formal educational environment, the teenager discovers those to which it feels a positive emotional response. Estimating the comfort of the environment and the fascination of classes, the teenager seeks to master new skills, achieve skill in solving the required tasks. Both mechanisms work in an non-formal educational environment, where the involvement of the child in the educational process expects selectivity and volunteerism.