REFORMING OF THE PRIMARY EDUCATION SYSTEM IN UKRAINE (1917-1939)

Abstract

The article identifies positive trends of this period: state reform of the content of school education in connection with the stimulation of pedagogical and psychological research of scientific problems (differentiation and individualization of the educational process, stimulating cognitive activity of students, combining developmental and reproductive functions of education with preservation of material component). to increase the efficiency of the educational process, improve the conditions for the intellectual development of students and the quality of their general education); generalization of the system of didactic principles: the principle of the leading role of theoretical knowledge in primary education;  the principle of learning at a high level of difficulty; the principle of fast pace of learning; the principle of students' awareness of the learning process. Based on the results of psychological and pedagogical research on the age cognitive abilities of children, the purpose and objectives of propaedeutics of primary education are specified.

The purpose of the study is to study, systematize, generalize and scientific coverage of archival, scientific, literary materials of a historical and pedagogical nature on the development and formation of education and pedagogical thought in Ukraine from 1917 to 1939.

It was found that the reforms of primary education in different historical periods were both an instrument of educational policy of governments and a catalyst for the development of pedagogical science for the modernization of school education.  Summarizing the reasons for state reforms, we note that their selection and content were determined primarily by socio-political (change of governments, political regimes, creating conditions for the functioning of social order, interaction of the pedagogical community with government institutions), socio-economic (ensuring economic development educated, skilled workers) and only later pedagogical (state and needs of primary education in accordance with the needs of society, interaction with pedagogical science) determinants. The reform projects were based on advanced pedagogical principles, which outlined their directions, nature, results: equal access to education, compulsory and free education, democratic, national, unified school, connection of school with life, labor, social, educational,  humanistic, pedocentric, scientific.

Thus, a significant part of primary education reforms was carried out in the following areas: change of structure (age of entry, terms, forms of education) and organization of the educational process (relationship between school and society, preparedness of teachers for reforms, assessment system);updating the content of education (theoretical aspects, the presence of the national component, the political component), methods and forms of education (verbal, active and creative).