The Model of Bilingual Education as a Platform for Harmonizing the Interests of the Multi Faith Environment in Business Schools and Universities

The paper focuses on revealing bilingual education features serving the purposes of harmonizing the multi-faith business schools and universities environment, using Russian and international experience. The empirical study was carried out using questionnaire method, polling, and method of involved observation. Russian business schools in 2017, 2018 and 2019, with a total number of 404 students, including 202 students in academic programs implementing bilingual education model in Russian and English, as well as the same number of students in classical monolingual programs in Russian (control banding), formed the empirical base of the study. It was revealed that bilingual education is a complex socio-pedagogical phenomenon and a promising educational model, which focuses not only on shaping and building a wide range of students' capabilities but also on the unique socio-cultural educational environment functioning aimed at the solution of such problems as: harmonization of students' interests to overcome intercultural differences; expanded socialization and facilitation of productive activities in terms of intercultural, interfaith education. It was also determined and confirmed empirically that the overall orientation of the bilingual educational model, which forms a productive cross-cultural communication environment, influences the potentially successful overcoming of interfaith differences and harmonization of interests of representatives of different confessions, as well as religious and atheistic practices. Thus, the use of a single neutral language code, free from religious-oriented vocabulary, reduces the tension in communication perception of educational activity subjects, reducing the risk of contradictions and conflicts of inter-confessional character, thus, harmonizing the interests of participants multi-religious educational environment. The results obtained confirm the hypothesis that the use of bilingual education in Russian and English in modern Russian conditions can be considered as a potentially highly effective platform for harmonizing the interests of a multi-faith environment in business schools and universities.