Object – the system of social care of children and youth in Ukraine (late XVIII – early XX century); the aim – to systematize the theoretical ideas, substantiate the development stages and generalize work of social institutions caring about children and youth in Ukraine (late XVIII – early XX century) in order to use the positive historical experience in modern social care institutions; methods – general scientific, historical-pedagogical, criteria-systematic, problem-oriented; novelty – the research is the first to provide the integral historical and pedagogical analysis of the theory and practice of organizing activities of institutions of social care of children and youth in Ukraine during the long historical period (late XVIII – early XX century); the types of social institutions caring about children and youth in Ukrainian provinces of the Russian Empire of the researched period are determined; the stages of the activities of social institutions caring about children and youth in Ukraine (late XVIII – early XX century) are substantiated; the prognostic development tendencies and prospective directions for implementing the pedagogically valuable ideas and practical findings of the past concerning functioning of social institutions caring about children and youth are determined; the main terms of the research (“guardianship”, “care”, “public guardianship”, “social institutions caring about children and youth”, “guardianship activity”, “patronage”, “charity”, “ orphanage”, “children’s shelters”, “asylum”, “illegitimate child”, “bastard” etc.) are analysed and specified; the historical aspects of the establishment and development of social institutions caring about children and youth in the Ukrainian and worldwide pedagogical theories are studied; results –the materials of the research provide the new scientific interpretation of the theory and practice of organizing activity of social institutions caring about children and youth in Ukraine (late XVIII – early XX century) and allow everybody to analyse educational, social-legal, health saving, material and social, social-correctional and information-oriented directions of work of social institutions caring about children and youth. The data and conclusions of the research will be valuable for writing textbooks and teaching manuals, for preparing lectures on the history of social work, social pedagogy, history of pedagogy and comparative pedagogy; for modernization of training social workers (patronage teachers, social guardians, mentors, guardians); field – pedagogy.
