Introduction of Bilingualism at the Soviet Schools in the 1960s–1980s: Main Stages and Consequences
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The relevance of this study is determined by the need for a comprehensive analysis of school education issue on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR in the 1960s-1980s.Based on the analysis of normative legal acts, the study of the Soviet Union legislation in the field of education has been carried out.In this context, the problem of parents' choice of the language of instruction has become acute.Taking into account the fact that in the society of that time there was the idea of the "convergence of nations" and the destruction of linguistic borders among the multinational peoples of the USSR, the party nomenclature deliberately chose the course for a comprehensive Russification of the linguistic and cultural space.Education came under the comprehensive control of the leadership, because the education of a "conscious" Soviet citizen began precisely from the school desk.Teachers were entrusted with a rather responsible task -educating schoolchildren in the context of communist ideology, which deliberately denied any manifestations of linguistic, cultural and national identity.To implement this task, the party needed to increase the number of highly qualified personnel, therefore the profession of a teacher of the Russian language and literature became quite popular in the society of that time.In contrast, the number of the Ukrainian language teachers decreased significantly.This situation is quite clearly traced during the analysis of the network of school education in the South and East of the then Ukrainian SSR.Guided by the decrees of the Soviet leadership, and accordingly, taking into account the new school curriculum, education became quite involved in this process and contained features of the communist ideology.This trend is especially acute when studying the state of school education of such national minorities as the Hungarians and the Moldovans.Taking into account the linguistic situation in the modern Ukrainian state, as well as the difficulties during the conscious transition to Ukrainian of a large part of the population of independent Ukraine, especially after the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war, this study is very relevant and significant.
Authors: Vasyl ILNYTSKYI, Yuliya TALALAY
Institution: Drohobych Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University
Language: English
Topic: Soviet and Russian History
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4410858823