EDUCATIONAL ISSUES DISCUSSED AT THE EDUCATIONAL CONGRESSES HELD IN CHERNIHIV AND KYIV IN 1916-1917

This article is devoted to the study of three educational congresses that took place in Ukraine during 1916-1917. This period is characterized by hostilities, vivid societal transformations, and, as a result, crucial changes in the educational system. It is what gives relevance to this historical and pedagogical study today when we experience essential changes in Ukrainian education, which are due to martial law, changes in public life, and reform of school education. Analysis of literature and primary sources showed that during this period, educators at these congresses identified the education of a comprehensively developed and harmonious personality as the priority task of the school. They introduced the idea of educational training and emphasized the importance of school and family collaboration. Moreover, they discussed the introduction of formative assessment and the abolition of a “stick and carrot” approach as a method of education. Delegates of pedagogical congresses pointed out the following issues: importance of labor education through feasible work for the development of the will; physical education through constant physical exercises in the fresh air and the gymnasium, through participation in sports holidays, but the emphasis was more on the development of the will than on the development of sports abilities; national education through acquaintance with the customs and traditions of their people, and the Ukrainianization of schools; aesthetic education through the development of creative abilities and artistic taste. Teachers raised the issue of the child-centered educational process during this period.