The dissertation provides a theoretical generalization and scientific solution to the urgent problem of the formation of the concept of civic education in domestic pedagogical thought in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The main attention is focused on studying the dynamics of the formation of the concept of civic education (hereinafter referred to as СЕ) in Ukraine during the specified period in order to identify positive trends and generalize domestic pedagogical experience, which can be used to adapt educational processes to the new socio-cultural conditions of the country's modern development.
The source base for the study of the formation of the concept of СЕ in the pedagogical context was determined, which allowed us to identify and systematize a significant array of historical and pedagogical materials on the specified topic. The source materials were conditionally divided into four groups: 1) regulatory and legal acts that regulated the development of the education system in Ukraine in the context of the problem under study; 2) narrative and interpretive sources that detail individual aspects of the research problem against the background of strengthening the state independence of Ukraine; 3) didactic sources that reflect the results of the practical implementation of the scientific achievements of domestic theoreticians and teachers-practitioners in a certain direction; 4) Internet resources that helped to clearly outline the main trends and changes in the field of СЕ.
The generalization of the conceptual and terminological apparatus of the study allowed us to clearly define the basic concepts related to civic education. In particular, three main groups of concepts were formed: the first – concerns pedagogical thought in general, the second – focuses on concepts related to citizenship and civic identity, the third – focuses on terms describing civic education and its components. Based on modern scientific and pedagogical research, the following concepts were specified: "pedagogical thought", "concept of civic education", "formation of the concept of civic education".
The methodological basis of the study is outlined, which defines a set of principles (scientificity, objectivity, systematicity, structuredness, determinism, development and historicism, complementarity), approaches and methods. Among the methodological approaches substantiated within the framework of the study, the following are distinguished: structural, historiographic, chronological, holistic, aspectual, systemic, axiological and comparative, which involved the use of various theoretical and practical tools, among which the following methods were used: search-bibliographic, prognostic, extrapolation and system-component analysis, system-functional analysis, etc., which allowed for a comprehensive study of the formation of the concept of public education in Ukraine in the context of changes in domestic pedagogical thought.
Based on the author's criteria (specific-historical, normative-legal, ideological-pedagogical, approbation-practical and socio-public), the periodization of the formation of the concept of NGO in Ukraine (1991–2021) is substantiated:
the first period (1991–1999) is formative-national, when conceptual ideas of СЕ emerge in pedagogical discourse, civic education is perceived as part of national-patriotic education, which reflects the needs of a young independent state in the formation of civic identity and national consciousness;
the second period (1999–2010) – emancipatory and human rights, when the СЕ is brought to a new level as an independent and full-fledged direction in the educational process, a period of intensification of civic activity, the formation of the foundations of civic competences in educational programs that meet the modern requirements of democracy;
the third period (2010–2021) – integrative and European, when pedagogical thought articulates the understanding of СЕ as part of European educational standards, when the focus shifts to legal awareness and active civic position in the context of European values.
An analysis of the factors, features and trends that determined the development of the concept of СЕ in domestic pedagogical thought within the outlined chronological boundaries was carried out. It was established that during the formative-national period, the concept of СЕ was at the empirical stage of formation, during the emancipatory-human rights period - at the theoretical stage, and during the integrative-European period - at the methodological stage of formation.
