ADULT EDUCATION IN UKRAINE: PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

The article is devoted to the research of peculiarities of adult education development in Ukraine beginning from the 19th century and ending in the early 21st century. To work out the recommendation for successful functioning of adult education in Ukraine, the author refers to four assumptions: ontology, epistemology, methodology and methods. At the stage of onthology the author systematized first providers of adult education in Ukraine. Five types of schools for adults functioned at the beginning of the 20th century, namely schools for adults, including Sunday and evening schools, training, which was aimed at overcoming illiteracy, repetitive applications of general courses. Sunday school for adults became not only a place of literacy acquisition but created conditions for the development of the democratic movement, awareness, preservation of national cultural values. On the epistemological stage, the researcher traced changes in the functions of adult education in different historical periods, as adult education was gradually replaced by political education. At the beginning of the 20th century, we traced broadening of the functions of adult education, for the purpose of education, engaged in adult education was not only literacy but also the exercise of political education. At the stage of methodology, the author analysed the influence of the inter-national community on the development of adult education at the beginning of the 21st century. Ukrainian Coordinating Unit «Adult Education of Ukraine» operates under the support of UNESCO Institute of Lifelong Learning (UNESCO Institute of Lifelong Learning) and brings together public, private organizations to help adults with low income, especially people of the third age in learning and self-improvement every year since 2000. At the stage of methods, the recommendations for adult education development in Ukraine, taking into account Canadian and American experience, were worked out, for these are highly developed countries with a system of vast educational opportunities for adults.