THE IDEA OF NATURAL CORRESPONDENCE IN THE PEDAGOGICAL SYSTEM OF HRYHORII SKOVORODA

Abstract

The article analyses the doctrine of Hryhorii Skovoroda and his views on the processes of education and training, examines the methods of education of the younger generation, and identifies the main goal of Skovoroda's enlightenment, which is to teach people the science of happy being. Based on general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis of information, the article investigates the peculiarities of Skovoroda's pedagogical conditions, which consist in the fact that one should learn through natural education. This was the first pedagogical idea in Ukraine put forward by Hryhorii Skovoroda, who argued that nature is the best teacher who needs only one thing: that nature should not be interfered with because nature is the way to learn the mother tongue, which influences children's thinking, development and speech from birth. He interpreted the unhappiness in society as a consequence of a bad upbringing. Therefore, according to the national thinker, it is possible to get rid of social evil through education, the essence of which is the implementation of the principle of natural correspondence, that is, the promotion of the development of natural inclinations and abilities of each child. Putting forward the idea of ‘kinship’, i.e., the natural correspondence of education, H. Skovoroda noted that the natural inclinations of different people are not the same. Still, everyone has the opportunity to develop successful activities in various fields. In his writings, Skovoroda always emphasised the need for early knowledge of the child's nature and, according to his or her natural gifts, the definition of education. The national thinker was one of the first in Ukrainian pedagogy to address the personality of the teacher, who, according to Skovoroda, should first of all care for and contribute to the formation and disclosure of the child's capabilities and natural inclinations in the learning process. Skovoroda's pedagogical views can be traced through the prism of folk pedagogy. Hryhorii Skovoroda's pedagogical thoughts are reflected in fables, letters, parables, poems, musical compositions, and dialogues. The national thinker built his concept based on his own folk pedagogical experience, and the ideas of folk pedagogy permeated his entire heritage.