METAPHORICAL ASSOCIATIVE CARDS AS A PEDAGOGICAL CUE FOR FORMING STUDENTS’ LEGAL CULTURE

Abstract

The article addresses a problem of searching for innovative pedagogical tools to form students’ legal culture capable of overcoming limitations of verbal-logical teaching methods. The objective of the research is to provide theoretical substantiation and experimental approbation of a model for applying metaphorical associative cards (MAC) as a pedagogical cue for translating abstract legal norms into personally experienced images. The work is based on an interdisciplinary synthesis of L.A. Rybak’s theory of figurative thinking and G. Lakoff and M. Johnson’s cognitive theory of metaphor. The scientific novelty consists in: 1) creating an interdisciplinary model for integrating MAC into the process of legal education; 2) introducing the concept of “pedagogical cue MAC” as a tool for semantic transformation; 3) developing the author’s methodology of “MAC cases” based on the principles of projective cognition and dialogue between visual metaphor and literary quotation (drawing on Russian classical literature). The structure and algorithm for working with the MAC case “Court of Conscience” are presented, along with a typology of exercises (“Jury Trial,” “Lawyer’s Monologue,” “Connection of Times”) ensuring a step-by-step transition from spontaneous association to a reasoned legal position. The practical significance of the research lies in the development of ready-to-use didactic tools that enable the formation of the value-meaning component of legal consciousness, empathy, critical thinking and students’ flexible skills.