CHILD STUDIES AS A PEDAGOGICAL PHENOMENON: DEFINITIONAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyze the content of the concepts of «child», «childhood», «child studies», which constitute the conceptual and categorical apparatus of the research of child studies as a scientific and practical field and pedagogical phenomenon.

Research methodology. The methodological basis of the study that formed the basis of the article is the work of Ukrainian scholars on the problem of the development of childhood studies in the theory and practice of pedagogy. The research used general scientific methods (method of theoretical analysis of historical, pedagogical, pedagogical and psychological literature; methods of systematization, classification, analysis and synthesis of scientific sources; method of generalization of information materials) and special historical and pedagogical methods (narrative and hermeneutic).

Scientific novelty. The article summarizes the views of Ukrainian scholars on the charac­terization of such pedagogical categories as «child», «childhood», «childhood studies». Based on the analysis of scientific works, the author's definition of the concept of «childhood studies» is proposed. The article proves that child studies as a scientific and practical field is a pedagogical phenomenon.

Conclusions. Thus, the conceptual and categorical apparatus of the study of the development of childhood studies is a system of interdependent concepts and categories (child, childhood, childhood studies and their derivatives) necessary for the knowledge of the phenomenon in modern education and historical and pedagogical retrospective. A definitional analysis of childhood studies is important for establishing the principle of child-centeredness in education as a leading idea in the organization and activities of the New Ukrainian School. Further in-depth research, in our opinion, is needed on the different stages of development of child studies through the prism of the ideas of Ukrainian and foreign pedagogy and their implementation in practice.