The research work deals with the theory and practice of social and pedagogical support for maternity and children in Ukraine in the 20th - early 21st centuries. The object of the research – social and pedagogical support for maternity and children. The subject of the research – theoretical and practical principles of social and pedagogical support for maternity and children in Ukraine in the 20th - early 21st centuries. The purpose of the research work is to reveal the genesis, essence of social and pedagogical support for maternity and children in Ukraine in the 20th - early 21st centuries in order to present and outline the possibilities of practical implementation of historical experience in modern domestic realities. The scientific novelty and theoretical significance of the results are considered to be revealed for the first time:
- a comprehensive retrospective analysis of the theory and practice of social and pedagogical support for maternity and children in Ukraine in the 20th - early 21st centuries was made on the basis of scientific approaches (philosophical, general scientific and concrete scientific), its methodological, historical, theoretical levels are characterized;
- a periodization of the development of social and pedagogical support for maternity and children in Ukraine was successfully elaborated. It covers certain chronological limits: the first (1905-1918) - the origin of social support for maternity and children at the state level; the second (1918–1945) - state initiatives in the field of social and pedagogical support for maternity and children; the third (1945–1991) - formation of state policy in the field of social and pedagogical support for maternity and children; the fourth period (1991 - till today) - modernization of social and pedagogical support for maternity and children;
- the theoretical foundations of the mother-centered approach (consideration of maternity through the prism of securing women's rights; substantiation of social and pedagogical support at the macro, meso and micro levels to create conditions for the realization of mother's rights in society and family) are substantiated and put into scientific circulation;
- foreign experience and its impact on the development of social and pedagogical support for maternity and children in Ukraine are outlined;
- the practice of social and pedagogical support for maternity and children in the state and non-state sectors in independent Ukraine was researched;
- practical basis and diagnostics of social workers / social educators' readiness for social and pedagogical support for maternity and children in Ukraine are substantiated at the present stage; the criteria (motivational, content, operational-activity), indicators and levels (high, medium, low) of the future social workers / social educators' readiness for social and pedagogical support for maternity and children are characterized;
- identified the perspectives and recommendations that will contribute to the successful implementation of social and pedagogical support for maternity and children in Ukraine at the macro, meso and micro levels;
- scientific ideas about the conceptual and categorical apparatus on the problem of social and pedagogical support for maternity and children were specified; historiography of the problem of social and pedagogical support for maternity and children in Ukraine during the given period;
- methodological foundations of the theory and practice of social and pedagogical support for maternity and children have been improved;
Genesis of theoretical concepts of socio-pedagogical support for maternity and children was deeply developed in the historical retrospect.
The practical significance of the results is as the folowing:
- the conclusions formulated in the given work provide a new objective interpretation of the development of the theory and practice of social and pedagogical support for maternity and children in Ukraine under present conditions and may serve as the basis for the formation of a new state program of social and pedagogical support for maternity and children in Ukraine, taking into account historical experience;
- according to the results of the thesis, the author’s course “Social and pedagogical support for maternity and children: theory and practice”, educational and methodical manual “Explication to the scientific problem “The theory and practice of social and pedagogical support for maternity and childhood in Ukraine (20th- early 21st century)” aimed at future social workers were developed and successfully tested;
- recommendations and perspectives on improving social and pedagogical support for maternity and children in health care, education, in the social sphere at macro, meso and micro levels are identified.
Key words: maternity, children, childhood, social and pedagogical support for maternity and children, Ukraine, social worker / social teacher.
