The vitality of traditional values in the non-formal and informal practices of older teachers:
an empirical analysis of factors and mechanisms
The relevance of this study stems from the need to preserve and promote traditional Russian spiritual and moral values within the education system amid the institutional dynamics, digital transformation, and generational shifts of the late modern era. The key agents of this transmission are pre-retirement and retirement age teachers, who possess unique incorporated cultural capital. The study is aimed at identifying the mechanisms maintaining the vitality of traditional values in non-formal and informal practices of older teachers, as well as factors facilitating and hindering this process. Methods: mixed design (questionnaire survey, N=320; semi-structured in-depth interviews, n=14). The results confirmed the hypothesis that non-formal and informal practices take precedence over formal institutional mechanisms. Six types of practices were identified: horizontal informal mentoring, informal discussion of professional situations, joint informal preparation for events, imitative borrowing, ritualised everyday interaction, and transmission of tacit knowledge. The motivational structure of older teachers is characterised by the dominance of value-semantic motivators (“being useful”, “having something to share”, “life’s work”) over material and status-related ones. Devitalisation risks include economic necessity, formalisation of labour assessment, digitalisation, generation gap, and ritualisation of values. The theoretical significance lies in empirically verifying
P. Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital in teaching and developing K. Mannheim’s generational approach. The practical significance consists in elaborating recommendations for institutional, regional, and federal levels of education management to preserve the pedagogical potential of older age cohorts.
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Davydova, N. N., Simonova, A. A., Novosadova, D. A. “The vitality of traditional values in the non-formal and informal practices of older teachers: an empirical analysis of factors and mechanisms”, Research Result. Sociology and Management, 12 (3), 167-187. DOI: 10.18413/2408-9338-2026-12-3-1-1.
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The research is funded by the Russian Science Foundation Grant No. 25-28-01164, https://rscf.ru/project/25-28-01164/.