THE CHILD-CENTERED IDEAS OF S. BALEY IN COMPARISON WITH THE SAME IDEAS OF OTHER SCHOLARS

13 Riflemen, a teacher of public schools in Poland and Ukraine by profession]. Ukrainskyj almanah. – Ukrainian Almanac. 1997, Varshava, 1997, pp. 392–395. 13. Salyga N. “Uchytel, jakyj vyperedzhav pedagogiku”: ( do 120-richchja vid dnja narodzhennja Myhajla Jakovycha Baznyka – pedagoga, gromadsko-kulturnjgo dijacha, naukovcja) [«Teacher who outpaced pedagogy»: (to the 120th anniversary of the birth of Mykhailo Yakovich Baznyk – a teacher, publiccultural figure, scholar)], Ivano-Frankivsk, Lileja-NV Publ., 2010, 231 p. (In Ukr.) 14. Suhomlynska O. V. Personalija v istoryko-pedagogichnomu dyskursi / O. V. Suhomlynska [Personality in historical and pedagogical discourse]. Istoryko-pedagogichnyj proces: novi pidhody do zagalnyh problem [Historical and pedagogical process: new approaches to common problems], Kyiv, A.P.N. Publ., 2003, pp. 36–46. (In Ukr.)

Child The novelty and the actuality of the article lie in the research and publication of S. Baley's childcentered ideas that can be widely used nowadays, especially in the current process of the schooling system reforming. His ideas concerning the personal approach of the learning process, the personality of a teacher and a school psychologist, table of child psyche development, the organization of lessons conducting etc. can be widely used nowadays.
S. Baley was born on February 4th, 1885 in the village Velyki Birky, in Ternopil region, Ukraine. Having finished his study in elementary school, he continued in Ternopil gymnasium, where he obtained a maturity certificate. Then he studied psychology and philosophy at Lviv University. He was one of the best students of Professor K. Twardowski. Having graduated the University, he began to work as a teacher of logic and elementary psychology in Ukrainian gymnasia in Lviv, Ternopil, and Przemysl. S. Baley got a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Lviv University in 1911 under the scientific supervision of K. Twardowski. He was awarded a scholarship from the Austrian Ministry of Education aimed at further education of scientists in 1912. Thus, he left Lviv and headed for Germany and then France and Austria [11].
Child-centered ideas were predominant in S. Baley's scholarly work. This assumption is made due to thorough analysis of his scholarly achievements, works, ideas and views. It is present in such works as: "Educational psychology in notes" and "Notes on psychology in relation to the development of a child's psyche". The key object of these books is a child. S. Baley described a child as well as its psyche development, taking into account all aspects of education. It included the educational influence of a family, school class, parents, environment etc. The scholar described the process of the child's psyche development taking into account even the fact whether the child is from a rich or poor family; whether the child is from the countryside or from city etc. Not only had he described the child's psyche development, but the physiological processes as well. S. Baley wrote in detail about the process of development of different human organs and parts of the body at different life stages. While describing them, he mentioned the influence they have on the psyche development and educational process.

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The educational activity of S. Baley was mainly around child and his education. Due to his publications, initiative and efforts, centers of school psychological service, psychotechnical schools, centers of psychological hygiene were introduced. The aim of these institutions was to monitor children in schools, take care of their psychological health etc. S. Baley was the director of the Pedagogical Institute of Polish Teachers for more than 15 years. He organized training and improving qualification for polish teachers with the aim to better the process of children education. A child began to be treated as a personality with its own interests, psychological needs and thoughts owing to the scholarly publication of S. Baley: "Different psychological phenomena, which we can observe in a child are not only less stronger than in mature human, but qualitatively different" [8, p. 318].
A child, in his publications, become one of the key elements in family life. S. Baley stressed upon the fact that parents must take into account the needs of children as well as their interests. Parents educate their child through everyday behavior and the way this child is treated in a family according to the scholar. The attitude of a child towards its parents, which occurred at early age, is transferred later towards teachers and educators. The same happens with, for example, opposition to adults. Therefore, S. Baley stressed on the importance of the earliest psyche development and education of a child, which are conducted by parents. The scholar gave advice to parents who have two or more children. He mentioned that parents should distribute their attention to all children equally [7, p. 490]. Moreover, he described the feelings that occur in a child of different age group, i. e. younger, middle and oldest child. S. Baley worked on the question of heredity of certain features of character from parents, mentioning that it also influences the process of personality formation in a child [1].
S. Baley's child-centered approach is present in the description and analysis of the educational influence of a school on a child. The role of psychologists in the process of school program compiling was emphasized by the scholar. He stated that psychologists know the child's needs and interests better and therefore he suggested that they should take an active part in the process of school program creation [6]. The efficiency of the educational process will rise when taking into account the needs and interests of a child. The scholar proposed considering the stage of a child's psyche development in the compilation of a school program: "Psychologist can mention that the program is dedicated to certain age or is not truly too complicated, taking into account child psyche hygiene. However, it can too overloaded concerning the possibilities of perception of a pupil's psyche on a certain phase of development" [8, p. 495]. Concerning the quotation, it is worth mentioning that S. Baley composed the Table of the stages of a child's psyche development according to the age criteria. The Table describes the process of a child's psyche development according to different age period, starting from infant and ending 24 y. o. person. The Table is divided into different stages and phases of a child's psyche development with the detailed description of features of character, behavior, and feeling of a child in each phase [8, p. 330].
The role of the psychologist in the process of school program composing was emphasized by S. Baley in his works. This process should be done in such a way, says the author, that the school program not only give knowledge to pupils, but also educate them. Owing to this, the school program should be developed according to the psychological needs of children. Thus, this is not a child who must adjust to the school program. The role of the psychologist in a school program composition lies in the determination of the psychological needs of a child, its interests and behavior so that to adjust the school program to them [5].
S. Baley emphasized on the excluding from the school program materials and subjects that will be useless for a child in the future. He stressed on the principle of connection of the degree of difficulty, interest and appropriate degree of child's psyche development in the process of a school program composition as well. It is important to take into account the interest of pupils since children will learn material, which poses interest for them. The principle of formal education was of interest to S. Baley as well. According to the principle, he proposed to teach children such subjects, which will improve their thinking abilities and quality of knowledge. Thus, the main idea of S. Baley is to adjust the school program and subjects to the child's needs and interests [7, p. 501].
S. Baley researched tiredness of children in school as well. That is the other evidence of his child-centered approach. He based his statements on the previous studies on this problem while studying the influence of tiredness on an educational and learning processes in school. The author advised on methods of avoiding tiredness of children in learning new material and its usage in practice. His advice is actual even nowadays. One of the best examples on this topic is the advice for teachers to avoid giving pupils unnecessary material i. e. that will be useless for them in the future [7, p. 501].
The other issue is the describing of the role of teacher or educator in the process of a child teaching and educating proposed by S. Baley. Considering the problem he noted that the teacher should cognize in detail personalities of his pupils and it can be done while closely working with the school psychologist. The teacher should evaluate his pupils appropriately meanwhile observing how this pupil succeed in learning. The scholar noted that such observation could help the teacher to manage the educational process in a better way and adjust himself to the educational and learning process of a pupil [4].
The process of pupil's personality cognition S. Baley included in the activity of psychological care of pupils that should be done in every school by a psychologist. This kind of psychological care adapt the educational and learning process in a school to the individual possibilities of pupils as well as their individual features of character. This activity helps a teacher to select the appropriate intensity of the teaching process this way avoiding pupils overload, tiredness and dropping out. The cognition of a pupil's personality includes the research of their desire, preferences, and ideals of pupils. This information is of great help to teachers and can be used in school program composing and material selecting. Considering the abovementioned, S. Baley emphasized that the task of the school is to develop and increase the intellectual abilities of children, educate them and make them useful members of a society and good personalities [7, p. 630]. He emphasized upon the statement that a teacher should know child psyche, its components, and development features at a certain age perfectly. The physical development of a child poses great importance as well since it is closely interconnected with psychological. Owing to this, the scholar has developed the Table of child psyche development according to age periods.
A child was the central object of S. Baley's research concerning the investigation of society influence on a child education and development. He described the child as an active member of society and presented in detail the educational influences it has on a child [3]. He regarded them from the point of view of a child, while describing such influences, especially it is seen in such an element of the society as a family. For example, he noted that parents react very strictly for some naughty behavior of a child and express their reaction through threats, reproaches or anger. In this case, the child would be forced to rein in some psychological impulses inside its mind and adapt to the rules of adults. All these factors would slow down curiosity and initiative in children and thus, it can have negative effects [7, p. 328]. The scholar emphasized on the importance of the understanding of a child's psyche by adults. Such understanding presupposes excellent knowledge about the child's psyche, its development, and elements, the understanding of the emotional sphere and child's needs [7, p. 331]. This understanding allow adults to better adapt the educational process in order to increase its effectiveness.
Thus, one can conclude that the child-centered approach is one of the key issues in his scholarly ideas, thoughts, and works having analyzed ideas and works of S. Baley. They mainly concern the educational process in a family and educational-teaching process in school. Child-centered ideas of the scholar presupposed the obligatory consideration of a certain stage of a child's psyche development, its interests, and needs. He treated the child as a personality with its own needs and feelings while researching a child, physiological and psychological sphere and their relations.
However, for a better understanding of the child-centered approach of S. Baley, it is necessary to use a comparative method. Therefore, it was decided to compare ideas of S. Baley with other famous Ukrainian pedagogues, who are considered to have a child-centered approach.
The similarity of the child-centered approach is observed in both, S. Baley and famous Ukrainian pedagogue I. Sikorsky. The scholarly views of I. Sikorsky were based on the idea of the complex study of a child -the research of its physical, psychological and spiritual development [2, p. 130]. The similar views are seen in S. Baley, since he researched the development of a child, including both, physiological and psychological. However, S. Baley did not research spiritual development, contrary to I. Sikorsky. I. Sikorsky emphasized on the fact that all learning and educational processes should be concentrated around the psychological features of every child. The similar statement was mentioned by S. Baley, who noted that the educational process in a school should be based on a child's needs and interests [7, p. 495-496]. Common points in the scholars lie in the fact that they approached towards the study of a child as a unity, researching emotional, physiological and psychological developments, a process of personality formation etc.
The similarity in child-centered views is seen between Ukrainian pedagogue O. Muzychenko and S. Baley. Both scholars emphasized the importance of the organization of learning and educational processes according to the abilities and interests of a child [2, p. 133]. In addition, S. Baley underlined the role of pupil's interest in learning and educational processes. He noted that if pupils were interested in the presented material, they would learn it willingly and know it better. The result would be in the increased efficiency of learning and educational processes [7, p. 503].
However, there is a difference between the child-centered views of T. Lubenets and S. Baley. T. Lubenets stated that the child's soul is not a soft wax out of which a certain model can be made or not a blackboard on which an educator can write anything he wants. S. Baley, on the other side, considered a child's psyche as a clean sheet of paper or clay, out of which a personality can be made, using appropriate pedagogical influences [5, p. 134].
Thus, having analyzed scholarly ideas of S. Baley, their development and due to numerous publications of the scholar, it is assumed that the scholar used a child-centered approach. A child becomes one of the key objects in his studies and publications. He regards the child and its psyche comprehensively, describing in detail every aspect of a child's development i. e. physiological and psychological. Moreover, he considered the child as a personality with its own interests, needs, and ambitions. S. Baley noted that the process of a child's development and education should be based on the child needs and interests, taking into account its individuality, possibilities, state of psychological development etc. S. Baley emphasized on the fact that teacher and educator, as well as school programs, should adjust to the features of a child, to its psyche. In addition, having compared scientific ideas of S. Baley with ideas of Ukrainian scholars with child-centered approach one can see similar approaches, i. e. child and childhood are regarded as the main subject in the process of education.