The Scientific Approaches to the Study of Children’s Issues and Child Development

У статті розкрито наукові підходи до дослідження проблем дитинства й дитини, а саме: антрополого-гуманістичного (визнання дитинства унікальним періодом формування особистості, а дитини – найбільшим пріоритетом у житті), системно-цілісного (цілісне вивчення проблем дитинства й розгляд дитини як цілісної істоти), синергетичного (визначення можливостей для розвитку та самоорганізації дитини), особистісно-діяльнісного (визнання дитини суб’єктом різних видів діяльності, а діяльності – основою розвитку особистості), культурологічного (дослідження дитинства й дітей у контексті їх культурного існування), аксіологічного (визнання дитини безумовною цінністю та вивчення питання дитинства з позиції панівних у певний період цінностей).The scientific approaches to the study of children’s issues and child development have been revealed in this paper. They are anthropological-humanistic, system-integrated, synergetic, personality-activity, culturological, axiological. According to anthropological humanistic approach, childhood is considered to be a unique period of personality formation and a child is considered to be the highest priority in life; it allows to study the development of humanistic views on children and childhood, to investigate social, cultural, educational and other problems through the prism of human. According to system-integrated approach, a child is considered to be an integrated body-soul-spiritual personality (it means interconnection of person’s physical body, psyche and consciousness). Besides, this approach helps to study childhood issues holistically (the purposes of childhood; external factors of influence -social, cultural, educational); their connection with internal (physiological) factors and dependence on economic, moral-legal and living conditions which were at a certain stage of social development; processes which took place during childhood – the process of development and the process of socialization). Synergetic approach reveals the synergetic image of a child (child’s development is in a state of constant change and always has different variants of its way), allows to understand child’s nature better and to identify the possibilities for child’s comprehensive development and self-organization (it may occur due to synergetic interaction of child’s internal forces and influence of environment). Personality activity approach determined he priority of development of child’s individual abilities, interests, value orientations, subjective experience and abilities to realize child’s ambitions in different activities in childhood; according to it a child is considered to be a subject of different activities (cognitive, artistic, sporting, etc.) and activity is considered to be a basis of child’s development. Culturological approach allows to study the phenomenon of childhood in line with interference of pedagogy and culture, to investigate social and educational phenomena and processes as cultural phenomena and to study childhood and children within the context of their cultural existence. According to axiological approach, a child is considered to be absolute value; it also allows to study childhood issues from the standpoint of values which are dominant in a certain historical period