Abstract
<jats:p>Abstract. The article examines the process of reforming higher pedagogical education in Ukraine in the 1920–1930s in the context of the establishment of a totalitarian regime and the implementation of Soviet modernization. The relevance of the study is determined by the need for an unbiased interpretation of the transformations of the educational system in the context of industrialization, collectivization, and the ideological consolidation of society, which defined the role of pedagogical education as an instrument for shaping the “new Soviet person” and disseminating official ideology. The purpose of the study is to clarify the course, specific features, and consequences of the reform of the system of higher pedagogical education in Ukraine in the 1920–1930s within the framework of the centralization of governance and the establishment of a totalitarian dictatorship. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity, and systematicity. General scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and special historical methods (problem-chronological, historical-comparative, and historical-systemic) were employed, which made it possible to comprehensively analysed legal acts, archival materials, and historiography of the issue. The scientific novelty of the study lies in a comprehensive analysis of the interconnection between the reform of the system of pedagogical education, personnel policy, and ideological control in the 1930s, as well as in highlighting the contradictory consequences of these processes for the development of higher education in Ukraine. Conclusions. It has been established that the reform of higher pedagogical education took place under conditions of strict centralization and subordination of the educational sphere to the political objectives of the state. It was accompanied by the expansion of the network of educational institutions and an increase in the number of students; however, it was implemented at the cost of a decline in the quality of training, the loss of part of the academic and pedagogical potential, and the restriction of academic autonomy. The system of training pedagogical personnel was transformed into an important instrument of ideological influence, which determined the specific features of the functioning of higher pedagogical education in Ukraine under the conditions of Stalinist modernization. Keywords: higher pedagogical education, Ukrainian SSR, 1920–1930s, institute of social education, pedagogical institute, totalitarian regime, educational reforms, personnel policy, ideological control.</jats:p>