The Pedagogical Process in Educational Institutions within the USSR’s State Labor Reserves System during Ukraine’s Economic Recovery in the Period 1943–1950

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the characteristics of the pedagogical process in educational institutions within the USSR’s State Labor Reserves (SLR) system during Ukraine’s economic recovery following its liberation from German occupation. The study is based on materials from the Central State Archive of the Higher Regulatory and Administrative Authorities of Ukraine, the Central State Archive of the Public Associations of Ukraine, and several Ukrainian regional archives. An insight is provided into the key characteristics of the educational process in institutions within the Labor Reserves system. The process of training a young workforce in the SLR schools comprised the following key components: industrial training, instruction in special technical and general disciplines, citizenship training, and physical or military education. The primary focus was on enabling a person to gain some practical experience via industrial training, which took up the lion's share of the time. It may be argued that putting students undergoing practical training to work was essentially a way to exploit them for free labor. The study helped identify some of the key characteristics of educative work and student leisure in the Labor Reserves schools. The organization of extracurricular activities for youth in the Labor Reserves schools was based on paramilitary education. Student leisure activities were to have ideological and patriotic connotations. The authorities in charge of the SLR system generally frowned upon, and sought to counter students spending their free time informally.