THE SPIRITUAL AND MORAL POTENTIAL OF SELF-REGULATION: FROM SENSORIMOTOR BASIS TO PERSONAL CHOICE

Abstract

The article attempts to rethink the phenomenon of self-regulation in the context of spiritual and moral education. The authors argue that voluntary regulation of behavior cannot be reduced to technological techniques for managing attention or emotions – its formation is rooted in sensorimotor experience and reaches maturity only at the level of personal meanings and value orientations. Based on the analysis of empirical studies of sensorimotor correction and theories of self-regulation (A. Bandura's social cognitive theory, E. Deci and R. Ryan's self-determination theory), it is shown that disorders of voluntary control in primary schoolchildren often have deep neuropsychological prerequisites that cannot be overcome by verbal methods of education. At the same time, the development of self-regulation in adolescence requires a transition from external control to internal self-determination, which is impossible without relying on spiritual and moral foundations. The conclusion is made about the need for an interdisciplinary approach uniting neuropsychology, pedagogy and philosophy of education in solving the problem of forming value-oriented behavior.