PERSONAL CULTURE OF A FUTURE LAWYER: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FORMATIVE STAGE OF A PEDAGOGICAL EXPERIMENT

Abstract

The article substantiates and describes in detail the results of the formative stage of a pedagogical experiment aimed at developing the personal culture of future lawyers. The experimental work is based on verifying the effectiveness of three interrelated pedagogical conditions implemented stepwise. At the motivational stage, focus is placed on the integration of acmeological content into professional training. The leading instruments include methods of biographical modeling (based on the examples of the resilience of the Ukrainian “Sixtiers” movement) and the development of individual acmeograms. This allowed students to transform external professional requirements into internal self-development strategies, perceiving their future career not merely as a craft but as a path to a professional summit (“acme”). The value-oriented stage was aimed at forming ethical benchmarks through the axiologization of the educational process. The use of complex ethical dilemma-solving, value-support training, and the analysis of film cases (legal dramas) contributed to catharsis and a deep rethinking of the lawyer’s role as a guardian of justice. Particular importance is given to reflexive techniques, specifically the “question continuation” method, which helps distinguish between external attributes of success and the true professional mission. At the communicative stage, the condition of engaging future legal professionals in legal awareness activities based on legal clinics was implemented. The author describes the combination of traditional methods of client interviewing and counseling with innovative immersive technologies. The introduction of VR-simulations and virtual courtrooms allowed for the creation of a safe space to practice psychologically complex communicative situations, enhancing the level of humanistic interaction among future specialists. It is proven that the systematic implementation of the defined conditions ensures the formation of a holistic personal culture in a lawyer. This manifests in the professional’s ability to resist professional deformation, corruption temptations, and conformism while preserving human dignity and loyalty to the principles of the rule of law even in critical circumstances.