Today and always, the meaning of education is orientation to the child’s personality as the highest value and meaning of pedagogical activity, recognition and respect for his ability of self-determination and self-development. The article reveals the following approaches to the process of education: humanistic (creating conditions for the development and self-development of a child’s personality), activity-based (education requires not just activity, but joint activity of children with adults, where participants can show their subjective qualities), co-existential (education in a coexistential child-adult community) hermeneutical (transition from “knowledge” attitude of the teacher to “understanding” one, when the teacher seeks to understand the meaning of a particular action of a child, to comprehend the inner meaning), systemic (logic of research in education).

The article deals with the pedagogical interaction between the subjects of the educational process, which is a special form of relationship between the participants in the educational process and provides for the mutual enrichment of their intellectual and emotional activity. An important task of optimizing pedagogical interaction is to resolve emerging contradictions and difficulties in the process of its implementation.

The article considers the educational space of the university as a basis for the development of the student’s personality. Methodological approaches to the definition of the essence of the concept of “educational space” are presented. The analysis of the terms “educational space” and “educational environment” is carried out. The levels that the educational space includes are considered; the factors on which the effectiveness of the space depends, as well as the principles on which it is necessary to rely when designing the educational space of the university. As an example, the educational space of Kaluga State University named after K. E. Tsiolkovsky is considered as a set of educational environments of different orientation (educational, scientific, cultural and creative, information and digital, professional, etc.), focused on various youth activities that form the pedagogical design of a modern university. The degree of satisfaction of students with the conditions created within the framework of a specific university environment was revealed, based on data obtained from a survey of students conducted by the Center for Licensing, Accreditation and Quality of Education of K. E. Tsiolkovsky KSU.

This article presents the importance of the formation of creative orientation among students studying at universities of culture, using a synergetic approach. The article aims to identify how the combined action of various factors, including educational methods, environment and self-development, can contribute to the development of creative potential and the training of future professionals in the field of culture.

The paper analyzes the results of sociological study of opinions, preferences and attitudes of students, applicants, their parents and teachers based on the results of focus group interviews on the role of universities in Moscow and the Moscow region as an educational platform for discovering the abilities and fostering personal potential of young people aged 14–35. Regional and territorial differences were recorded during the survey that also helped to identify and reveal future professional expectations of students, their personal preferences and their image of an interesting student’s life.