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This essay seeks to argue that contemporary liberal arts education can be viewed from the perspective of contemporary psychological understandings of human cognition combined with the classical pedagogy developed in the foundational concepts of Jesuit education. Through a description of the human cognitive system as discussed in the writing of Daniel Kahneman and the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola, the concepts of “slow thinking” and “discernment” are offered as important models that can inform development of a liberal education in an information-saturated society.

The essay presents an interpretation of the essentially “liberating” nature of liberal education in light of the psychological literature that demonstrates how one's culture contributes to the formation of cognitive structures that allow largely automatic processing of information in a non-reflective, fast process that leads to understanding that is constrained and somewhat closed to alternative understanding. This interpretation is then discussed in light of a process of discernment that allows the individual to open up to new ideas.

The essay thus derives the conclusion that a focus on pedagogy of discernment is the essential feature of a modern liberal education and leads to creative expression of new ideas in new ways.

The essay presents an alternative view of contemporary liberal education that is based on a well-developed historical approach (Ignatian discernment) and supported by current psychological research.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the level of intrinsic motivation of primary-school-age children alongside the factors that influence these levels when learning English.

This goal was reached through a study that was conducted in four educational establishments of Tyumen. The study benefits from qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative part consists of an experiment in a group setting. Two groups of students were learning under two different programmes and the teachers were making records of student outcomes, interest in learning and motivation. The findings demonstrate that the level of motivation/interest is higher when interactive techniques (appropriate for the age of students) are in use. The quantitative part involved a survey to identify intrinsic motivations by completing which the students revealed high and medium levels of motivation/interest to learn.

The findings can be used when updating or re-designing education programmes and when creating new methods for teaching English in Russian educational establishments.

Giving the schoolchildren a motivation to learn is, without any exaggeration, one of the central problems in modern school. Teaching English as a foreign language to students of younger age (schoolchildren) requires a special approach due to special psychological and mental characteristics that these students have. The scholars have established that learning of foreign languages happens best at a very young age. However, without proper methods of teaching, teachers will not be able to reach the learning objectives, which they were attempting to reach. The reason for this effect is simple. The way the subject is taught is expected to spark interest but with the lack of interest in the subject, students will not feel sufficiently motivated to actually learn something. Hence, motivation is essential for learning any foreign language. In the home setting, motivation to learn, as well as a positive learning environment, is the responsibility of parents.