THEORY AND PRACTICE OF ECONOMIC EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN THE UKRAINIAN FAMILY: RETROSPECTIVE VIEW

The article deals with psychological and pedagogical approaches to economic education of children in Ukrainian family. There have been analyzed forms' features and methods of economic education in Western Ukraine in the late XIX - early XX centuries, the role of public organizations in creation the kindergartens, schools and private cooperative school systems for professional training of young people. There has been grounded the folk pedagogy as a powerful phenomenon that ensures the preservation of national character, traditions and psychology of individual, which were reflected and embodied in native language, folklore, national customs, traditions, festivals, rituals, living practice of labor and family education, folk crafts and fields, in family and household culture of our people. It has been determined that the economic training and education in traditional pedagogy is divided into three phases: the introductory or game (from two to six or seven years), helpful or decisive (from seven to fifteen years), and primary or final (from fifteen to twenty years). It has been emphasized that the mid-nineteenth century was a turning point in the development of Ukrainian national movement in attracting impoverished peasant and artisan sectors to the economic self-direction and help. The cooperative idea has been regarded as a professional economic education of children and adults, as an important factor of social independence of a person, social protection of the individual and the creation of independent Ukraine in the future. Author has determined role in promoting the cooperative movement ideas of "Prosvita" (“Enlightment”) and “Ridna Shkola” ("Native School"), which managed activities carried out by the organisation for economic unions, stores, mutual funds of public crediting; preparation and release of periodicals and literature of economic nature (both popular and academic levels); economic courses, professional schools, libraries, vocational orientation of schoolchildren "The Ukrainian advisory on the profession choice", scientific commission in Ukrainian Pedagogical Society "Native School", private schools. It has been concluded that the leading cultural and educational public figures in Western Ukraine in late XIX - early XX centuries used the achievements of psychological and educational sciences during organization the professional orientation for young people, stressing the importance of taking into account psychological and physiological characteristics of the child when choosing profession, the use of researches for the development of society, preserve the intellectual potential of the people.