The essence and content of the basic concepts of the thesis are considered. The main stages of the development of professional training of specialists in folk arts and crafts at vocational schools of Western Ukraine of the period under study are highlighted, that is: Soviet Union (1950 – 1991); independent Ukraine (1991–2019). The main tendencies of specialists in folk arts and crafts training at vocational schools of Western Ukraine of the periods under study are revealed.
During the Soviet period, the training of specialists in folk arts and crafts in Western Ukraine was characterized by the following positive trends: a restoration and development of traditional folk art; cooperation of vocational education with Ukrainian artistic industrial union; employment of graduates of art vocational schools at arts and crafts enterprises; improvement of the content of professional training; diversification of training forms; students’ participation in art exhibitions and contests; improvement of the material and technical facilities; high requirements for the teaching staff and advanced training of teachers and masters of industrial training; introduction of apprenticeships with masters-craftsmen; active career guidance work; expansion of the range of professional training of specialists in folk arts and crafts; taking into account the latest achievements of science and technology, the experience of advanced production, rational labor methods, and production standards; organization and expansion of the network of artistic creativity clubs.
The negative trends in the development of professional training of specialists in folk arts and crafts during this period include: financial difficulties of the post-war years; elimination of certain areas of training for specialists in folk arts and crafts; permanent reorganization of vocational schools; ideological and political emphasis of the educational process, centralized definition of the content of education, predominance of Soviet themes in creative activities and products, prohibition of national motives; authoritarianism in teaching, education and management of vocational schools; lack of general education of students until 1969; and neglect of the labor market needs.
The ways to improve the professional training of future specialists in folk arts and crafts have been substantiated, taking into account the experience of vocational schools of Western Ukraine in the late nineteenth – early twentieth centuries, namely: improvement and updating of the current regulatory and legal framework for professional training of future specialists in folk arts and crafts; preservation of national traditions, restoration and development of folk arts and crafts, taking into account regional features, transforming them into new forms and filling them with a new content; improvement of the material and technical facilities of art vocational schools; consideration of the employers’ needs while training future specialists in folk arts and crafts, searching for the ways to introduce a dual form of training in the professional training of future specialists in folk arts and crafts; creation of centers (clusters) of folk arts and crafts development in the regions; involvement of state, scientific, and cultural institutions, local communities, entrepreneurs, foundations and centers of regional development, stakeholders, public organizations, international partners, etc. in this process; development of new state standards of professional (vocational) education for the professions of folk arts and crafts; improvement and modernization of the content of professional training of future specialists in folk arts and crafts; diversification and modernization of forms and methods of teaching students at art vocational schools; improvement of the educational and methodological support of the educational process; anticipation of measures to make future specialists in folk arts and crafts ready to run business and entrepreneurial activities; organization and expansion of the network of club work on artistic types of creativity; improvement of career guidance work; and significant increase in pedagogical skills and professional qualification of teachers and masters of industrial training.
