In the second half of the twentieth century the school was in the field of view of the soviet government. Educational policy was implemented through organizational, regulatory, supervisory, procedural measures. In general, the policy towards school in the USSR during the second half of the 1940s and 1980s was characterized as centralizing, russifying, and aimed at unifying educational activities throughout the USSR. In such circumstances, the initiative, both personal and institutional, was extremely limited. During the 1940s and 1980s, the soviet school underwent several educational reforms. At the beginning of the study period, the main task was to cover children with school education, as for several years they were not able to attend institutions.
Gradually, there is a transition from seven-year education to eight-year, then ten-year and eleven-year. A component of this period was the polytechnic education, which aims to provide an additional profession to students who would deepen their knowledge and skills in the future. But there were not as many people willing to join it as expected. The children sought higher education. In the mid-1980s, children six years old went to school. The school as a social institution, on the one hand, fulfilled the state order, on the other hand worked for the needs of society, which did not always coincide. The second half of this period was characterized by democratic processes in educational institutions, which were given a real opportunity to implement a variable component and become an active participant in school life. The author proved that the Soviet school was a powerful institution for the socialization of the child of the appropriate model. For this purpose the economic basis of its functioning was created. The potential of institutions was rebuilt and expanded. But, along with efforts to effectively provide schools, the state lagged behind in material and technical terms compared to other countries. Extensiveness of this sphere of life has become a component of the All-Union. The organization of the educational process and its content was regulated by state documents. Curricula, programs, textbooks, technical support remained part of the educational process.
They have changed because of the new challenged facing the school. Teachers remained the subject of the educational process. Their quantitative and qualitative composition changed to improve the dynamics. They had high qualification training: the vast majority of them graduated from institutes and universities. In Soviet Ukraine, the administrative division of higher education graduates into jobs was practiced, especially in rural areas. Since they were constantly in the field of view of the state, they had to fulfill it mission. The material condition of teachers during the second half of the 1940s and 1980s slowly improved, it depended on the educational level, pedagogical experience, the area where the school was located, and the teaching profession. An obligatory component of their activity was the involvement of students in extracurricular activities, which took place in the form of discussions, excursions, competitions, meetings with veterans of labor, war, leaders of production, the military. Despite the attitude to them as the main ideologues in the school, teachers, above all, remained people with inherent positive and negative behaviors and their own inner world. Their everyday life depended on the type of area, traditions, beliefs. The school is inconceivable without students, the dynamics of which increased, and from the 1970s to the 80s – on the contrary, due to demographic factors. Many of them studied in several shifts, especially in urban institutions. The number of schools built in the 1950s and 1960s could not accommodate all those who wanted to study due to their limited own funds. The conditions of study in the Soviet school did not fully satisfy the students. The state paid a special role to children as «builders of communism». The number of children in schools depended on the demographic situation, socio-political and cultural factors. Instead, during the same period, the opportunity to study in the native language has significantly decreased. Students were involved in numerous activities. From the very beginning, certain requirements were set for students to study and participate in school and extracurricular life, which gradually increased and became more complicated. Their leisure was manageable. The parent community did not shy away from these processes. She was involved in school life. But antisocial behavior was observed in children. This was not only a reaction of them as teenagers, but also a reaction to the Soviet reality.
