Transformation of approaches to education of gifted students in institutions of general secondary education of Ukraine (second half of the XX century

Abstract

The article presents the historiography of approaches to the education of gifted students in general secondary education institutions of Ukraine in the second half of the 20th century. The specificity of the state’s attitude to work with gifted students in schools of the USSR is revealed. The prerequisites for the development of specialized educational institutions for gifted students have been determined. Attention is focused on the work of electives, the emergence of specialized classes and educational institutions of a new type. It was established that students were enrolled in gymnasiums, lyceums and other specialized institutions of general secondary education based on the results of the certificate competition. Only in 1994, the Instruction on the procedure for accepting students on a competitive basis was approved. It is noted that the development of Ukrainian education in the conditions of «perestroika» and the establishment of independence took place against the background of the contradiction between the change of the communist ideology to the humanist one, as well as against the background of the social and financial crisis. It has been proven that during the change of legislation, the importance of finding talents and the need to change approaches to the education of gifted students were noted in all normative legal acts. The contribution of leading research institutions and the psychological service of Ukraine to the development of approaches to diagnosis, adaptation and training of gifted students are analyzed. It is argued that the State National Program «Education» («Ukraine of the 21st century») and other programs that were adopted at the end of the 20th century were mainly declarative in nature and were not implemented. It was concluded that during the 1990s in Ukraine, a network of specialized educational institutions grew rapidly in which, according to the results of competitive tests, the most gifted children studied. Prospects for further research are planned in revealing the peculiarities of work with gifted students in specialized institutions of general secondary education of Ukraine at the beginning of the 20th century.