The Public and Educational Activity of Hryhorii Sherstiuk (1882–1911)

In the context of the personalization of history, the study of the life path and creative heritage of famous Ukrainian public figures of the late 19th and early 20th centuries remains relevant. This article is dedicated to Hryhorii Sherstiuk (1882–1911), a Ukrainian teacher, publicist, editor, journalist, and publisher. The purpose of the research is to determine the role and contribution of H. Sherstiuk as a public and educational figure, reviewer, and author of textbooks in the creation of the Ukrainian national school at the beginning of the 20th century. The main tasks include analyzing the subject matter and content of his journalistic works, reviews of children’s literature published in the Ukrainian pedagogical magazine «Svitlo», and his Ukrainian textbook for younger school age; determining their significance for deepening the source base of research in the fields of history, pedagogy, biography, and book publishing at the beginning of the 20th century. Analytical, synthetic, logical, retrospective, historical-biographical, and other general scientific methods are used. These methods enable a comprehensive investigation of the structure and content of part of H. Sherstiuk’s creative heritage. With the help of source study methods (heuristic, critical, attribution-identification, textological), the complex of his published works, their themes, and content are examined. The leading topic of H. Sherstiuk’s articles and reviews in the magazine «Svitlo» is the situation and reform of primary schools in Ukrainian lands. Within this topic, Sherstiuk addressed a wide range of problematic issues: the need to introduce the Ukrainian language into school education, the lack of teaching aids, the need for quality training of teaching staff, the relationship between teachers and students, the analysis of normative acts in the field of primary education, innovations in school programs, the activities of zemstvos and officials, and russification. Sherstiuk believed that the conditions created in the Russian Empire for the development of schooling and culture negatively affected the material situation and the spiritual and moral life of Ukrainians. The article determines the value of H. Sherstiuk’s most famous work, «A Short Ukrainian Grammar for School» (1907), as a historical source. The content of the work provides insight into the methods of teaching the native language in primary schools of Ukraine at the beginning of the 20th century and allows for the exploration of the author's pedagogical views and public educational activities. These works are an important source for researching the conditions of school education and the organization of the educational process at the beginning of the 20th century. They enrich the source base of historical and pedagogical research and studies on the history of Ukrainian culture. The creative heritage of Hryhorii Sherstiuk is the result of his active public, cultural, and educational activities. Sherstiuk’s contribution to the history of Ukrainian national education lies in his implementation of ideas for the development of the Ukrainian school. He aimed to convey to Ukrainian society the importance of introducing the native language into school education and children’s lives as the only way to preserve the national identity of the Ukrainian people.