Factory and Plant Production in the Focus of Educational Excursions Undertaken by Ukrainian Students in the Late 19th — Early 20th Century

Abstract

Currently, it has been defined as a task of Ukrainian schools to motivate students to pursue studies in natural sciences and engineering. The aim of this article is to examine educational excursions undertaken by Ukrainian students to factories and plants in the late 19th — early 20th century. The source base of the research includes periodical press materials, documents from educational institutions and reports of the Kyiv Educational District Trustee. The study employs the methods of new social history, gender history and the history of everyday life in the context of decolonizing Ukraine’s past in the imperial era. It has been shown that educational excursions emerged as an innovative form of enhancing students’ learning and cognitive activities amid the rapid social and technological changes of the industrial age. Schools were expected to connect students with real life, professional skills, and practical activities. Factories and plants became excursion destinations for students of gymnasiums (male and female secondary schools) as well as specialized vocational institutions. The article highlights the considerable potential of educational excursions to industrial enterprises which promoted awareness of technological processes, labor organization and the responsibilities of engineering and technical staff, as well as production workers. At the same time, certain aspects of relations between management and workers, and the everyday life of factory employees, remained concealed from the visitors. The study demonstrates that students’ excursions functioned as a form of cooperation between professional educational institutions and the leadership of industrial enterprises in late imperial Ukraine. In such a way the subjects of the educational process established links with the surrounding social environment and ensured solid and comprehensive practical training in physics, mathematics, and natural sciences. There were educational excursions for the managers of factory and plant enterprises, which served as a platform for demonstrating achievements, informing the local community, enhancing their own image and competitiveness, and providing opportunities for implementing social patronage for school youth.