Importance of British Experience of Structural Reforming of the System of Secondary Education for Ukrainian Schooling

Abstract

A large-scale reformation of Ukrainian schooling aimed at organizing modern educational process more efficiently and providing better services, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of each individual school and the education system as a whole, can benefit to a great extent from significant foreign experience.

The article focuses on notable productive restructuring of British secondary education, which resulted in the essential raising standards in this sphere of the last decades, and therefore can be of special interest for Ukrainian educators. An attempt is made to analyze general results of structural reforming of secondary education in Great Britain at the end of ХХ – the beginning of ХХІ century. The possibilities of their creative implementation in Ukrainian schooling are considered. The investigation presupposed the use of the following methods: generalization , analysis, synthesis, comparison and generalization in the process of education documents study; typological and component analysis methods to define the specific activity of innovative schools in Britain; method of scientific extrapolation to define the innovative potential of British reforms for further development of Ukrainian secondary education. One of the major factors of successful reforming of secondary education in Great Britain is the consistency of schooling policy during the chain of political cycles. The awareness of British statesmen of the necessity to follow the consistent continuity of reforming processes is pointed out. The analysis of practical results of British education reforms reveals a range of perspectives for Ukrainian schooling: extending diversification in secondary education, developing a more diverse spectrum of schools with equal access to education and social justice; practical implementing of personalized studying; extending innovative school network (a complex of educational establishments united by the common innovative idea and activity which is aimed at the increase of the teaching and educational process efficiency); considering networks as an effective way of innovative educational development management under the conditions of the decentralization processes; transforming schools into the centre of community life by means of extended educational and social services. Further research of the issue can be focused on the problems and results of implementing the policies of the DfE's White Paper 'Educational excellence everywhere'.