MILITARY EDUCATION AND VALUES: PRIORITIES IN THE TRAINING OF FUTURE OFFICERS

Абстракт

The transformation of Ukraine’s military policy and the experience gained from the Russian-Ukrainian war have significantly influenced the modernization of military education and the training of future officers. This study examines the integration of Ukraine’s combat experience into higher military education and its role in developing the priority competencies required for effective service and combat activities. Four key competencies are identified: the ability to train adults, the ability to survive in combat conditions, the ability to operate standard unit weapons, and the ability to use electronic warfare tools. The study presents pedagogical conditions for developing these competencies, including the involvement of combat-experienced personnel in education, updating curricula and teaching materials, introducing modern training technologies, and integrating combat experience into the educational process. A pedagogical experiment involving control and experimental groups was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The findings demonstrate positive dynamics in the formation of priority competencies among cadets in the experimental group, particularly across motivational and value-based, cognitive and procedural, and effective and reflective criteria. The results confirm the importance of systematically incorporating combat experience, modern technologies, and practice-oriented training into military education and highlight the potential for cooperation between Ukrainian and NATO military educational institutions in enhancing officer training.