Kamianets-Podilskyi Institute of Social Education (1930-1933): development, activity and reorganization

The article analyzes the process of formation and activities of the Kamianets-Podilskyi Institute of Social Education in the early 1930s. The changes initiated by the Soviet authorities were driven by the desire to unify the educational space in accordance with party standards, strengthening ideological influence and the need to train teachers for “new” type schools. The aim of the study is to clarify the peculiarities of the formation, organizational structure, content of the educational process, staffing, student population, socio-political circumstances of the Kamianets-Podilskyi Institute of Social Education and Reorganization in 1934. The methodological framework is the principles of historicism, objectivity, as well as general scientific and special historical research methods: historical and comparative, problematic and chronological, as well as analysis and synthesis. The scientific novelty lies in the introduction of little-known archival sources that reveal the internal organization of the educational process, the place of the teaching staff in the personnel training system, the problems of material support, as well as the mechanisms of ideological influence on the academic environment. The role of the Kamianets-Podilskyi Institute of Social Education in the formation of young scientists through the work of clubs is clarified, and the still unexplored aspects of reorganizations are highlighted. Conclusions. It is established that the institute performed both educational and ideological functions, being under the constant control of party structures. Despite considerable human resources efforts and attempts to adapt to the requirements of the times, the institution of higher pedagogical education was under constant pressure from state policy and socio-economic challenges (including the Holodomor), which contributed to its reorganization into a pedagogical institute and subsequently to its liquidation. The experience of the Kamianets-Podilskyi Institute of Social Education is an important example of the regional implementation of Soviet educational policy in the first half of the 1930s.