The philosophical and pedagogical legacy of K.D. Ushinsky: relevance in the context of modern educational challenges

The subject of the study is the ideas of K.D. Ushinsky, particularly his concepts of nationality, citizenship, and national self-consciousness, considered as ontological foundations for social integration and political identity. The theme of the work is the philosophical and pedagogical legacy of Ushinsky in the context of contemporary challenges: the crisis of collective identities, the erosion of civil solidarity, and the dominance of technocratic paradigms in education. The aim of the article is to conduct a philosophical reconstruction of Ushinsky's teachings, revealing its potential as a resource for understanding and overcoming the relevant socio-political and educational crises of the 21st century. Special attention is given to the interpretation of education not as a pedagogical technique, but as a condition for forming ethically responsible and politically mature individuals, rooted in cultural-historical tradition, yet open to universal values. The methodological foundation of the work consists of historical-philosophical analysis, hermeneutic interpretation of Ushinsky's texts as philosophical statements, and a comparative approach that includes relating his ideas to the concepts of C. Taylor, A. MacIntyre, M. Heidegger, I. Kant, and other thinkers. As a result of the research, it is shown that "nationality" in Ushinsky's view serves as a fundamental structure of social ontology. Ushinsky's pedagogy is interpreted as a form of socio-political engineering aimed at constructing a stable civic community through the synthesis of scientific rationality and cultural rootedness. The results of the study can be applied in the theory and practice of political education, the development of concepts of citizenship and national identity, as well as in the critical analysis of contemporary technocratic education models. The scientific novelty of the work lies in interpreting Ushinsky's pedagogical legacy as an original form of socio-political thought, in which education acquires the status of an ontological and ethical-political condition for the stability of society. The conclusions of the article confirm that Ushinsky's philosophy offers an alternative to both abstract cosmopolitanism and ethnocentrism, forming an ideal of citizenship rooted in cultural soil, yet open to universal values. His teachings maintain heuristic significance for the 21st century as a resource for constructing a morally grounded and politically mature society.