Abstract:

In case of studying the educational failure of schoolchildren researchers often focus on the ideas of parents, teachers, psychologists and school administrators. This approach constructs different and even opposite criteria for assessing school success / failure. In pedagogical practice, this approach leads to the consideration of students exclusively as an object of pedagogical influence. Meanwhile, the students themselves build their learning activity in accordance not only with the expectations of parents and teachers, but also with their own ideas and those of their peers.

The purpose of the article is to characterize the ideas of modern Russian schoolchildren about educational success / failure and its factors. Objectives of the article:
1. To reveal the content of ideas about educational success / failure among Russian schoolchildren, as well as their connection with ideas about social success / failure.
2. To study the opinion of schoolchildren about the subjects that influence the formation of their ideas about educational success / failure.
3. Analyze the key factors affecting students' perceptions of educational success.
The empirical basis of the article is the materials of 200 essays written by high school students of one Russian metropolis in Yekaterinburg (2020). The text analysis method was content analysis. The unit of account were phrases (mentioning the definitions of educational success) and words (mentioning factors of educational success / failure).

Main results:
1. The research has shown that in the minds of schoolchildren there is a close connection between ideas about social and educational success. The author explains this fact by the fact that for schoolchildren, learning is the main activity. In addition, these views are associated with stigmatization of unsuccessful schoolchildren and negative predictions about their life path.
2. The author revealed that schoolchildren consider themselves to be the main subject of the formation of their own educational success / failure. In second place was the influence of the environment of the immediate environment of students. Schoolchildren are not aware of the role of higher-level environmental factors.
3. A set of qualities and actions of schoolchildren has been formed, which, according to the authors of the essays, contribute to the achievement of educational success. In terms of the number of references, the leading qualities and actions related to the ability for purposeful activity (perseverance, hard work, ability to plan time, set goals) and soft skills, which form an environment favorable for achieving goals (ability to cooperate, ability not to be afraid of mistakes), are leading here.

In conclusion, there is a thesis about the integrity of the ideas of modern Russian schoolchildren about the phenomenon of educational success / failure. The author raises the question of the need to compare the subjective ideas of schoolchildren and an objective picture of their educational achievements.

Keywords:

Factors of educational success / failure, schoolchildren, sociological research.