Yukhno O. The activity of polytechnic HEI in the context of development of higher technical education in Ukraine (the second half of the XX century)

This thesis is a complex mix of research in the field of history of pedagogy that explores activity of polytechnics in the context of development of higher technical education in Ukraine (the second half of the XX century). The researches on the problem of higher technical education development are revealed. According to the chronological criterion, two groups of works are outlined: 1) the works of the Soviet period that have mostly descriptive character and ideological dominance; 2) the works of independent Ukraine, which are characterized by the expansion of the source base and the latest methodology. Researches on the development of the HTE in our country on the problem-topical criterion can be divided into four groups: the first group contains the works devoted to the history of higher education in Ukraine in some chronological framework; the second group constitute researches on the development of engineering education at different historical stages; the third group - the history of the universities; the fourth group consists of the dissertation researches that reveal contemporary problems of training students of technical HEI. The factors (socio-economic, political, legal, scientific, technical, and academic) and stages of development of higher technical education in Ukraine in the second half of the twentieth century are defined, namely: I stage (1950-1957) -restoration; II stage (1958-1965) - industrial integration; III stage (1966-1986) - development; IV stage (1987-1999) - university. The article traces the genesis of the polytechnic model of the HTE and the main directions of the Ukrainian polytechnics. The activity of the polytechnic HEI is defined as a purposeful process of ensuring the needs of society in educational services on a wide range of technical specialties and meeting the demand of the economic sector in highly skilled, competitive, socially and professionally mobile specialists of the engineering profile with a permanent system of universal values, a broad outlook, able to be the creators of a new technology, the organizers and leaders of production. In the structure of higher technical education institutions activity of the specified period the following directions are outlined: educational activities; research activities; upbringing activities; administrative and business activities. The gradual changes in the activity of national polytechnics in the second half of the XX century are traced. It is proved that the classical principles of polytechnics functioning (technical versatility, fundamental high-quality training, focus on the needs of the regional economy and the state as a whole) are basic for modern technical universities. Positive and negative experience of the educational activities of the polytechnic higher education institutions during the research period is characterized. It is shown that positive is the desire of permanent improvement of its (experience) content and organizational aspects. Positive should be considered the tendency to continuous improvement of the curriculum based on existing experience of organization of the educational process; upgrade of the technical means of teaching, etc. Among the negatives sides of the Soviet period should be noted ideological bias of the educational process and the insufficient staffing of Ukrainian polytechnic universities in conditions of increasing requirements to the quality of learning and industry needs.