OLEKSANDRA SAVCHENKO. RESEARCHER, ADVISOR, PERSONALITY. IN MEMORIAM

Oleksandra Savchenko Professor, Doctor of Sciences in Education; Full Member of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine; Honoured Worker of Public Education of Ukraine; Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise of the 5th degree; Order of Princess Olga of the 1st, 2nd & 3rd degree; Order of Badge of Honour; “Ushynsky K.D.” Medal of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine; “Grigory Skovoroda” Medal of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine; “Academician M.D. Yarmachenko” Medal of the Institute of Pedagogy of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine; “Anton Makarenko” Honorary Badge of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine; “Vasyl Sukhomlynsky” Honorary Badge of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine; State Prize of Ukraine in the field of Education Laureate; Certificate of Merit of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; Certificate of Merit of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

Oleksandra Savchenko (1942-2020) devoted more than fifty years of her life to pedagogical science. In 1967 as a young teacher she entered doctoral courses of the Ukrainian Research Institute of Pedagogy of the Ministry of Education of the Ukrainian SSR. Since then research activity has become for her not just a job, but one of the most important and interesting components of life. She got PhD (Education) degree in 1971 and Dr. Sc. degree in Education in 1984. The steps of her professional life from junior, senior researcher, head of the department of primary education to the chief researcher of the Institute of Pedagogy of the NAES of Ukraine are full of fruitful scientific, active state and public activity. What she has done is impressive in scale and depth. Oleksandra Savchenko took an active part in drafting the legal framework and developing the strategy of education and science development of independent Ukraine. She participated in the drafting the laws of Ukraine “On Education” (1991), “On General Secondary Education” (1999), “On Education” (2017). She was one of the developers of the “Education” (“Ukraine of the 21st century”) State National Programme (1993) and the National Doctrine of Education Development (2002). During 1995–2000 Oleksandra Savchenko worked as a Deputy Minister of Education of Ukraine. In 1992 she became a Founding Academician of the Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine and its Chief Scientific Secretary; in 1998-2002 she worked in the position of an

165 Academician-Secretary of the Department of Didactics, Methods and Information Technologies in Education of the Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine. For seven years (2000–2007) Oleksandra Savchenko held the high position of Vice President of the Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine. From 2007 to 2020 she worked as a Chief Researcher at the Department of Primary Education of the Institute of Pedagogy of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine. For more than thirty years, Oleksandra Savchenko has given to the Department of Primary Education of the Institute of Pedagogy, which she headed for a long time and where she completed her career. Oleksandra Savchenko can rightly be considered an architect of the content of general secondary, in particular primary, education which has been developed under her leadership and with direct participation. Oleksandra Savchenko is the author of the pedagogical system of cognitive independence formation of children of primary school age. Today hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian schoolchildren study from her textbooks and programs. Her scientific and methodical works are used by a large number of teachers and researchers. Primary education in Ukraine has been developing and functioning for several decades under the influence of her ideas, methods, and approaches. The Concept of the State Standards of the General Secondary Education for the 11-years and 12-years schools, the Concept of the 12-years school, the Concept of primary education, and State Standards for primary and basic schools have been developed under Oleksandra Savchenko’s scientific guidance. The Typical Educational Programmes for 1-2 and 3-4 primary school grades have been developed under her leadership as a part of the “New Ukrainian School” Reform implementation. Oleksandra Savchenko is the author of more than 700 scientific papers, including monographs, textbooks and school textbooks of several generations. Among the printed publications were: • reading textbooks for primary schoolchildren: “The Colourful Ball”, “Develop Your Abilities”, “Be Able to Learn” (for the first time in the history of Ukrainian textbook creation); • manuals for teachers: “A Lesson in the Primary School”, “A Modern Lesson in the Primary School”, “Reading in 4th Grade”, “The Educational Potential of Primary Education”; • book for parents “The Family Education. Junior Schoolchildren” • textbook for students of pedagogical faculties of universities “The Primary School Didactics”. Her didactic system was recognized by academic circles of Ukraine. She was an honorary professor of the National Pedagogical Dragomanov University, Borys Hrinchenko Kyiv University, V.Î. Sukhomlynskyi National University of Mykolaiv, Izmail State University of Humanities, Khmelnytsky Humanities and Pedagogic Academy. For many years Oleksandra Savchenko performed with dignity her duties of: • the Chairman of the Interagency Council for Coordination of Research in Education, Pedagogy and Psychology of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine; • the Chairman of the Specialized Academic Council at the Institute of Pedagogy of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine for defending doctoral dissertations; • the Head of the Vasyl Sukhomlynsky All-Ukrainian Association working at promoting the ideas of this world-famous teacher. The continuous creative search, persistence, consistency and systematic approach characterised the style of Oleksandra Savchenko’s scientific activities ensuring the high efficiency of her work. This fragile, very modest and truly intelligent woman combined a deep analytical mind, exceptional responsibility and active character, which allowed her to always solve any task creatively, in an innovative manner and rationally. Oleksandra Savchenko has created a powerful scientific school. She has trained 16 doctors and 32 candidates of pedagogical sciences. “If we compress our teacher’s personal characteristics to an aphorism, we can say: talented, real, demanding, friendly and spiritual. When you meet such 166 Education: Modern Discourses / 3, 2020 a Personality in your life, then your time grows into something indescribably significant, which elevates you above yourself, determines professional inspiration and responsibility” – this is what her students write about Oleksandra Savchenko, this is what everyone says who was lucky enough to work with her.

Oleksandra Savchenko’s list of selected works Savchenko, Î. Ya. (1982). Rozvytok piznavalnoi samostiinosti molodshykh shkoliariv [The development of cognitive independence of younger students]. Kyiv: Radianska shkola. (in Ukrainian) Savchenko, Î. Ya. (2002). Dydaktyka pochatkovoi shkoly: pidruchnyk dlia studentiv pedahohichnykh fakultetiv [Primary school didactics: a textbook for students of pedagogical faculties]. Kyiv: Heneza. (in Ukrainian) Savchenko, Î. Ya. (2007). Metodyka chytannia v pochatkovykh klasakh : posibnyk dlia vchyteliv [Methods of reading in primary school: a guide for teachers]. Kyiv: Osvita. (in Ukrainian) Savchenko, Î. Ya. (2009). Vykhovnyi potentsial pochatkovoi osvity : posibnyk dlia vchyteliv i metodystiv pochatkovoho navchannia [Educational potential of primary education: a guide for teachers and methodologists of primary education]. Kyiv: Bohdanova A. M. (in Ukrainian) Savchenko, Î. Ya. (2010). Chytanka: pidruchnyk dlia 2 klasu (Chastyna 2) [Reading book: textbook for 2nd grade (Part 2)]. Kyiv: Osvita. (in Ukrainian) Savchenko, Î. Ya. (2010). Chytanka: pidruchnyk dlia 2 klasu (Chastyna 1) [Reading book: textbook for 2nd grade (Part 1)]. Kyiv: Osvita. (in Ukrainian) Savchenko, Î. Ya. (2012). Dydaktyka pochatkovoi osvity: pidruchnyk [Didactics of primary education: a textbook]. Kyiv: Hramota. (in Ukrainian) Savchenko, Î. Ya. (2012). Literaturne chytannia: pidruchnyk dlia 2 klasu zahalnoosvitnoho navchalnoho zakladu [Literary reading: a textbook for the 2nd grade of a secondary school]. Kyiv: Osvita. (in Ukrainian) Savchenko, Î. Ya. (2013). Literaturne chytannia. Ukrainska mova. 3 klas. Pidruchnyk dlia zahalnoosvitnikh navchalnykh zakladiv [Literary reading. Ukrainian language. 3rd grade. The textbook for secondary schools]. Kyiv: Osvita. (in Ukrainian) Savchenko, Î. (2014). Uminnia vchytysia — kliuchova kompetentnist molodshoho shkoliara: posibnyk [The ability to learn is a key competence of a junior student’s: manual]. Kyiv: Pedahohichna dumka. Retrieved 2020 from: http://undip.org.ua/news/library/posibniki_detail.php?ID=10018 (in Ukrainian) Savchenko, Î. (2020). Systema mizhpredmetnykh zavdan na urokakh z literaturnoho chytannia: metodychnyi posibnyk [The system of interdisciplinary tasks in the lessons of literary reading: methodical manual]. Kyiv: Pedahohichna dumka. (in Ukrainian) Savchenko, O.Ya., Bibik, N.M., Baibara, T. M., Vashulenko O. V., Koval N. S., Onoprienko, O. V., … & Pryshchepa, O. Yu. (2012). Dydaktyko-metodychne zabezpechennia kontroliu ta otsiniuvannia navchalnykh dosiahnen molodshykh shkoliariv na zasadakh kompetentnisnoho pidkhodu: monohrafiia [Didactic and methodical support of control and evaluation of educational achievements of junior schoolchildren on the basis of the competence approach: monograph]. Kyiv: Pedahohichna dumka. Retrieved 2020 from: https://lib.iitta.gov.ua/6983/ (in Ukrainian) Savchenko, O.Ya., Bibik, N.M., Tsymbalaru, A.D., Martynenko, V. O., Ponomarova, K. I., Onoprienko, O. V., Lystopad, N. P. (2016). Variatyvnist orhanizatsiinykh form kompetentnisno oriientovanoho navchannia u pochatkovii shkoli:monohrafiia [Variability of organizational forms of competence-oriented learning in primary school: monograph]. Kyiv: Instytut pedahohiky NAPN Ukrainy. Retrieved 2020 from: https://lib.iitta.gov.ua/709477/ (in Ukrainian) Savchenko, O. & Lokshyna, O. (2020). Implementation of the competence idea into the primary education in Ukraine – the reflective analysis based on the European Union benchmarks. Proceedings from The International Conference on History, Theory and Methodology of Learning (ICHTML 2020). Retrieved 2020 from: https://lib.iitta.gov.ua/721110/

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