This special edition presents a snapshot from around the world of the current state of the researches devoted to the possibilities of educational environment in the development of students and teachers. The scientific literature justified, that the development of personality in ontogenesis, along with heredity, upbringing, is influenced by educational environment and the man’s own activities. From this perspective, personal development requires the creation of certain conditions, one of which is the educational environment allowing students to take responsibility for the selection of contents and forms of their activity.

There is no uniform approach to the characterization of the concept of "educational environment". Its essence, content, structure and functions have not received adequate coverage in scientific studies. The phenomenon of educational environment by analogy with the economic, informational, political environment can be considered not as a geometric area, the volume of which has a certain shape, but as a subjective form of perception, a set of relations.

The concept of "educational environment" is defined as the surrounding the person’s activity and development area in the educational institution; as a "territory" where there are sources of developmental impact, its generating factors, laws and principles; a range of activities are organized, educational technologies are implemented; not only as a set of influences and conditions of formation of the person, but also opportunities for their self-development and improvement.

In this special issue, contributors from six quite different countries (Russia, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan) give the analysis of the possibilities of educational environment in the development of students and teachers.

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