The Department for Philosophic and Psychological Anthropology

The Department for Philosophic and Psychological Anthropology at G. S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University was founded in 1932 under the guidance of Prof. O. M. Leontiev. This full member-to-be of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the Soviet Union, a dean of the Psychology Department and a head of the Department for General Psychology at M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University is one of the founders of the universally recognized psychological theory of activities, which was depicted in detail in his fundamental scientific paper “Psychics Development Problems” that was awarded Lenin Prize. It should be noted that this scientific paper written by O. M. Leontiev was based on the research done during the so-called Kharkiv period.

In 1938 just before the war the department was headed by O. V. Zaporozhets, also the full member-to-be of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the Soviet Union. He was also the founder and director of the Institute for the Preschool Education and Development of Voluntary Movements in Children.

The department paid great attention to theoretical and experimental work, the issues related to the methods of teaching, psychological and pedagogical training of students as teachers to be and also post-graduate students.

At that period P. I. Zinchenko joined the department after the completion of his studies at the post-graduate course majoring in the memory theory and practice. He paid special attention to the problems of the arbitrary memory. Prof. S. P. Bocharova became a successor of the ideas advocated by P. I. Zinchenko. Her doctoral thesis and numerous theses for PhD degree written by her post-graduate students were devoted to memory problems.

During the postwar period the department was headed by V. I. Asnin (1944-1954) and O. M. Kontseva (1951-1955). At that time the department was involved in the research of two problems, in particular:

1. Development of cognitive interests in children;
2. Development and nurture of volitional features in schoolchildren according to the structure of their activities.

In 1958 the Institute was restructured and the research area of psychologists spread to the studies of the issues related to the volitional and technical training of sportsmen.

In different years the department favored the work of such scientists as O. V. Gordon, D. M. Dubovis- Aranovska, O. M. Kontseva, L. I. Kotliarova, G. V.  Mazurenko, S. A. Nagorna, T. I. Titarenko, O. O. Khomenko, N. V. Grodska, O. V. Zemlianska, V. V. Lobanova, I. V. Golovnova, G. G. Petrenko, T. B. Khomulenko, O. G. Volkova and M. A. Kuznetsov.

Starting from 1979 the department was headed by G. G. Petrenko, a candidate of psychological sciences and a professor since 1991. The main lines of the research were related to the mentality and its development; education and development of a personality; some aspects of the interrelation of the education and the mental development of a child. Under her guidance more than ten theses for PhD degree were defended. For many years the Psychology Department had been a home-base for appropriate departments of pedagogical institutes in Lugansk, Sloviansk, Sumy, Poltava, Gorlovka and Glukhovo. At joint sitting conferences the departments paid special attention to the training of teachers to be and also to the issues of the improvement of the methods of teaching the psychology at Pedagogical Institutions of Education.

Starting from January 1999 the department was headed by the doctor of sciences, Prof. M. A. Kuznetsov. In October 2000 a doctor of sciences, Prof. S. O. Mikitiuk was appointed the head of the department. Since October 1, 2009 the department has been headed by the doctor of sciences, Prof. I. I. Dorozhko. In 2015 the Psychology Department was given a new name and now it is called the Department for Philosophic and Psychological Anthropology. The main line of the research done by the department is related to psychological bases of the formation of a personality during the educational and fostering process at schools and pedagogical institutions of higher education. The research work of the department is targeted at the improvement and development of the skills of individual and creative work of a teacher to be.

The Department maintains creative relations with research institutions and the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, and it is in continuous contact with schools in the city of Kharkov. It also gives lectures and tutorials to the teachers on different psychological aspects of education and teaching.

Today the department is represented by the doctor of sciences, Prof. I. I. Dorozhko, doctor of sciences, Prof. S. O. Mykytiuk, PhD and associate professor L. V. Turishcheva, PhD and the associate professor O. E. Malykhina, PhD and the associate professor U. U. Khodykina, and the teachers A. A. Danilich, N. U. Diomidova, A. M. Liashenko, O. V. Kostikova, and O. M. Tretiak. All the teachers took the post-graduate course and take active part in scientific conferences and seminars discussing different issues of psychological science.

The teachers of the department give lectures to students at 14 departments. All teachers lecture students on “General Psychology”, “Age and Pedagogical Psychology”, and “Social Psychology”. The teachers of the department elaborated curricula for special courses taught, in particular “Children’s Psychology” (Prof. S. O. Mykytiuk), “Mental Retardation Psychology” (A. A. Danilich), “Sign Language Psychology” (A. A. Danilich), “Sport Psychology” (A. M. Liashenko), “Higher School Psychology” (Prof. S. O. Mykytiuk, and the associate professor L. V. Turishcheva), and “The Basics of Psychotechnology” (O. M. Tretiak). These people manage the work of post-graduate students and candidates, yearly papers, and the pedagogical practice at city and region schools.