# Dnipro Academy of Continuing Education

The Dnipro Academy of Continuing Education is a higher education institution of communal ownership, located in the city of Dnipro and subordinate to the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council. It provides training, retraining and advanced training for pedagogical, scientific and pedagogical workers, management personnel, professional junior bachelors, bachelors, masters and postgraduate students.

## History

On December 21, 1939, the Resolution of the Presidium of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Executive Committee No. 350.: was adopted on the reorganization of the regional methodical cabinet into the Institute for the Improvement of Teachers' Qualifications. At first, the institute had 5 educational and methodological offices (pedagogy, language and literature, history and geography, physics and mathematics, primary school); its staff consisted of only 9 people.
The first acting director was O.T. Smolyar, deputy director - M.S. Buryak, and in September 1940, E.T. Nikolayenko was appointed to the position of director.
In 1941–1943, during the Nazi occupation, the activities of the institute were suspended.
The activities of the institute were resumed immediately after the liberation of Dnipropetrovsk on October 25, 1943. Initially, M.V. Pavlov was appointed as the director. Some time later, in connection with the transfer of M.V. Pavlov to another position, V.P. Novak became the director of the institute and united the team of the methodological service.
At the beginning of 1982, A.R. Grechyn was appointed the director of the institute, who made his contribution to increasing the efficiency of the institute's employees and strengthening its material base. Thus, in 1986, a large educational building and a nine-story dormitory were built.
During the 50s and 70s of the 20th century, M.F. Lukin, P.Yu. Novytskyi, K.T. Nikolayenko, P.T. Kononenko, I.I. Smolyarenko, V.I. Maksymenko, Ya.I. Klymenko served as directors of the institute.
The institute was directly subordinated to the regional department of public education.
In March 1989, candidate of physical and mathematical sciences G.I. Shcherbakov was appointed to the position of director. During his leadership, the institute was renamed, and since 1994 it was known as the Dnipropetrovsk Institute of Postgraduate Education of Pedagogical Workers.
Already in June 1997, the institute received a new status and name - Dnipropetrovsk Institute of Education, it was headed by Candidate of Historical Sciences (later Doctor of Public Administration, Professor) L.L. Prokopenko. 7 departments were created, each of which had laboratories, thereby a new structure of the educational institution was formed.
In July 2000, the institute was reorganized and named the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education. The rector of the institute became Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, and later Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Professor M.I. Romanenko. The activities of the institute's structures were gradually reoriented to the implementation of new technologies that must be provided to teachers for further professional self-development, scientific activity was updated, the scientific paradigm of the philosophy of education was discovered, the work of scientific and scientific-methodical councils was organized.
On October 11, 2017, by decision of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council, Dnipropetrovsk Regional Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education changed its status and became the Dnipro Academy of Continuing Education (hereinafter referred to as the academy). Viktor Sychenko, Honored Education Worker of Ukraine, Doctor of Sciences in Public Administration, Professor, was elected rector of the academy. Along with the already developed directions in the educational sphere, new vectors were chosen - bachelor's, master's, and postgraduate courses were opened, specialized junior bachelors were trained, one-time specialized councils for the defense of theses began to operate, and specialized scientific publications were created.

## Personnel and structure

The academy employs 360 employees, including 220 scientific and pedagogical workers, including 16 doctors of science and 70 candidates of science.
Employees of the academy have been awarded state and departmental awards, among them 5 Honored Education Workers of Ukraine, 2 have diplomas of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, badges of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine: "For Scientific and Educational Achievements" - 1, "Vasyl Sukhomlynskyi" - 3, "Anton Makarenko" - 2, "Excellence in Education of Ukraine" - 31.
There are scientific schools of public management and administration and of philosophy, which provide training of scientific personnel.
The structure of the academy includes:
– Educational and Scientific Institute of Management (Department of Public Administration and Law; Department of Philosophy; Department of Management of Information and Educational Projects),
– Educational and Scientific Institute of Pedagogy (Department of General and Special Pedagogy; Department of Preschool and Primary Education; Department of Social and Humanitarian Education; Department of Mathematical, Natural and Technological Education; Department of Education and Culture of Health; Department of Psychology; Department of Educational Management, State Policy and Economy),
– Dnipro Vocational Pedagogical College as an Inseparable Unit of the academy,
– Educational and Methodological Center for Improving the Qualifications of Pedagogical Workers, Which Includes 6 Educational and Methodological Laboratories,
– Training and Methodical Center for Ensuring the Quality of Education,
– Resource Center for Support of Inclusive Education.
During the years 1939–2024, the academy upgraded the qualifications of about 700,000 teaching and managerial personnel of Dnipropetrovsk region. More than 30,000 students have graduated.

## Areas of activity

– training of higher education specialists of various levels in accordance with state and regional orders and contractual obligations;
– professional development of teaching staff;
– retraining of pedagogical and other workers;
– specialization and training of specialists;
– scientific and methodical support of activities and development of preschool, general secondary, vocational and technical, extracurricular education;
– innovative activities for the development, approval, examination of new educational technologies and management models, promotion of their implementation in the activities of educational institutions;
– implementation of fundamental and applied research in the field of education, their implementation in practice;
– implementation of international cooperation and others.
Today, more than 25,000 pedagogical workers of the region take advanced training courses annually at the academy. The number of students is 1,500.

## Education levels

According to accredited educational programs, the academy graduates students in the following specialties:
– Professional Preliminary Higher Education (Professional Junior Bachelor):
* 012 Preschool Education;
* 013 Primary Education.
– Bachelor:
* 012 Preschool Education;
* 013 Primary Education.
* 053 Психологія;
– Master's degree:
* 011 Educational, Pedagogical Sciences - Educational and Professional Programs "General Pedagogy" and "Inclusive Education. Correctional Pedagogy";
* 053 Psychology - Educational and Professional Program "Psychology";
* 073 Management - Educational and Professional Program "Educational Management";
* 281 Public Management and Administration - Educational and Professional Program "Public Management and Administration".
– Postgraduate Studies: 281 Public Management and Administration.

## Periodic scientific publication

The academy is the founder of a scientific professional publication, which is included in the Register of scientific professional publications of category B of Ukraine. "Dnipro Academy of Continuing Education Herald" was registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on November 19, 2021, includes the series "Public Management and Administration" and "Philosophy. Pedagogy".
The trade union organization of the academy is the founder of the regional pedagogical newspaper "Dzherelo".(in Ukrainian).

## Rectors and directors

In different years, the academy was headed by:
1939-1940 acting director O.T. Smolar;
1940 – 1943 director K.T. Nikolayenko;
1943 – 1946 director M.V. Pavlov;
1946 – 1951 director V.P. Novice;
1951 – 1952 director of M.F. Lukin;
1952 – 1954 director P.Yu. Novytskyi;
1954 – 1958 director K.T. Nikolayenko;
1958 – 1959 director P.T. Kononenko;
1959 – 1965 director of I.I. Smolyarenko;
1965 – 1972 director V.I. Maksymenko;
1972 – 1981 director Y.I. Klymenko;
1982 – 1989 director A.R. Grechin;
1989 – 1997 director G.I. Shcherbakov;
1997 – 2000 director L.L. Prokopenko;
2000 – 2017 ректор М.І. Романенко
Since 2017, rector V.V. Sychenko.