The period of study at the university forms in students the necessary competencies for a successful professional life. Ensuring that students acquire social skills is the leading task of a modern higher education institution.

     Soft skills are social skills that are responsible for the success of human interaction in the society. In fact, it is a universal set of skills that is paramount in any field of activity. Soft skills include communication skills, leadership, the ability to take responsibility and work in critical conditions, the ability to resolve conflicts, work in a team, manage the time, understand the importance of deadlines, as well as the ability to think logically and systematically, creativity etc.

     Kryvyi Rih State Pedagogical University has its own policy on the formation of soft skills in its graduates and lecturers through the system of professional development. This is achieved by mastering the normative component, in particular training courses, and informal education: through professional development, participation in various events, conferences, seminars. In addition, the development of leadership competencies and social culture is due to training at the School of Youth Leadership “ПроЯв”.

     One of the areas of implementation of this practice is the active usage of the course “Critical Thinking” in the educational process. This discipline involves the formation of competencies such as the ability to be critical and self-critical, the ability to learn and master modern knowledge; as well as the formation of skills to search, process and analyze information from various sources, the ability to identify, pose and solve problems, work in teams and independently, plan own activities, manage time, critically evaluate, analyze and ensure the quality of work; be capable of abstract thinking, analysis and synthesis.

     Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor of Philosophy, lecturer Nadiia Kozachenko shares (translated): “Critical thinking is a landmark in the information sea of post-truth. This is the value and methodological basis of decision-making, forming one’s own opinion as well as evaluating and producing information. In this course we learn to be emotionally intelligent, rational and media literate, we master the methods of argumentation and analysis, learn to formulate our own opinions, determine the causes and consequences, perform fact-checking and avoid cognitive distortions”.

     KSPU takes a diverse approach to the formation of soft skills. The “Critical Thinking” course is just one example of the vide variety of disciplines. Each educational program, depending on its specifics, defines the goals and disciplines that provide for the acquisition of social competencies for further professional activities of graduates.