Integrated Learning in Its Historical Development

Integrated learning is one of the modes of organisation of learning in the whole world. The article presents the analysis of the views of integrated learning and their implementation in foreign and homeland pedagogy of the 19–20th centuries. It is proved that the issue of integrated learning became topical in the end of the 19th century. The representatives of the new pedagogy of reforms like J. Dewey and G. Kerschensteiner put forward the idea to use integrated complex learning rather than subject learning as it combines a number of school subjects having the same theme. Kerschensteiner suggests to organize children learning activity around the specific socially important task within which school subjects are taught. Dewey substantiates integrated approach to learning basing on children's impulses. K. Venttsel thought that the main aim of educational establishments was the creation of the conditions for each student to be able independently choose from the sciences what they needed at that very moment. P. Blonsky considered the Humanities (phenomena of people's life) to be the most important subject at school. The rejection of subject learning was among the basic requirements for new schools in the west. After WW I innovator-educators continued experimenting in the field of integrated learning in new schools mostly primary: J. O. Decroly in Belgium (learning by interest centres), H. Scharrelmann and R. Steiner in Germany and R. Cousinet in France (method of free group work), C. Freinet in France ('Freinet technique') and others. In Ukraine issues of integrated learning began to be actively discussed and implemented in 1920s. the outcome of the integrated approach implementation was the working out of integrated programs which based on the study of people labour activity. It has been found out that the complex and integrated learning issues were mostly worked on by such Ukrainian educators as I. Ivanytsya, O. Muzychenko, I. Sokolyans'kiy. I. Ivanytsya viewed complex as the combination of different life phenomena to understand which it is necessary to unite the selected for this objects around the basic idea. O. Muzychenko regarded integrated learning as children active experiencing of occasions – various episodic phenomena of the surrounding world. I. Sokolyans'kiy thought that children emotional experience of the present time was to be the ground for the integration of subjects. Ya. Chepiha suggested his own variant of the complex programme for primary school, which was based on the idea of the integration of study and instructional material in the form of central ideas.