Establishment and Organization of Activities of Professional School at Lebedyn St. Nikolas Convent of Kyiv Eparchy (the second half of the 19th – the beginning of the 20th century)

The purpose of the research paper is to study the contribution of Lebedyn St. Nikolas Convent of Kyiv Eparchy to the development of woman’s education in Ukraine in the second half of the 19th – the beginning of the 20th century and the peculiarities of the establishment and organization of the woman’s professional school at it. Scientific novelty. The contribution of Lebedyn St. Nikolas Convent and its reverend mothers to the development of education at the regional level is analyzed in the paper. The history of Lebedyn Women’s Professional School establishment is highlighted, and the stages of its activity and the level of material support from the convent are characterized. Attention is paid to the peculiarities of the educational process organization, as well as the staff composition and the formation of the female pupils’ contingent of the school. Conclusions. Four stages can be distinguished in the history of Lebedyn Women’s Professional School: 1859-1872 – establishment and development of a four-grade school; 1872-1886 – activities of a sixth-grade school; 1888-1890 – establishment of a two-grade women’s school; 1890-1918 – a two-grade, four-year women’s theological (professional) school. The history of the school shows that it was a fully formed educational institution with a distinctive management system, proper staffing, and teaching and educational process. The school aimed to give children a practically useful education. Learners mastered crafts, the basics of art, and various labor specialties that could have been useful in their future life. The process and methods of teaching were interconnected with spiritual and religious education. It is uncovered that the deterioration of the school’s financial situation and the lack of support from the state for such educational institutions made the convent leadership close the sixth-grade women’s school in 1886. In 1888, a two-grade women’s school of the type of two-grade parochial schools with a four-year term of study was established on its base. Since 1890, a two-grade, four-year women’s spiritual (professional) school had been functioning at the convent, the educational process of which ensured learners mastered the program of four-grade of the women’s eparchy school and various types of women’s needlework. Lebedyn St. Nikolas Second-Class Convent played an important role in supporting women’s education development on the territory of Kyiv Eparchy in the second half of the 19th – the beginning of the 20th century, and the school established by it made opportunities for orphans and children of the poor strata of society from the neighboring povits to get the education and begin professional training.