PROBLEMS OF DESIGNING THE CONTENT OF SCHOOL CURRICULA FOR THE HISTORY OF UKRAINE AT THE 8TH GRADE

Abstract

In the article, the problem of selecting and designing the content of the curriculum on the history of Ukraine for the students of the 8th grade in 2015 is covered. Based on its analysis, it was proved that the experiment of the compilers was failed in their efforts to make the curriculum easier for the pupils that turned in making the pupils’ work and the preparation of appropriate educational books more complex. The selection and the design of the content of school textbooks for the incorrect content of the curriculum has become the signs of finding the ways out of the artificial chronological originators conflicts, duplication of material, and sometimes inconsistencies, errors and evident mistakes. However, in accordance with the new curriculum, the content of the national history remains to be the material that has more to do with the history of Russia and Poland than with the history of Ukraine. The danger of this approach is the fact that because of this the students formed a stereotype of the national historical process that was catching up for the history of neighboring countries. Special attention is paid at the difficulties in forming the content of school history course in the 8th class associated with the preservation of the stereotypes of Soviet historiography in the curriculum, which are accordingly projected in the content of school textbooks. An emphasis is put on the impropriety on the transformed content of the curriculum, which was to assist students in the development of their skills to analyze a variety of historical sources, understand the importance of such categories as historical time and space, cause and effect, the significance of events and processes, cultural diversity. In “the easier” program, this focus is shifted. The requirements for curriculum development from history in terms of reforming secondary education were formulated; they included: the correspondence of the program with the state educational standards; full disclosure of learning objectives in the content of the program; increase of the scientific content of the program; removal of stereotypes of Soviet historiography and bringing the content into line with the personality oriented paradigm of education; avoiding excessive detail and facts in the program, duplications, etc. .. by previous (before the disclosure) public examination of it; clear formulation of requirements to increase the improve the pupils’ competence.