Department of Psychology and Special Pedagogy 

The Department of Psychology and Special Pedagogy is one of the structural divisions of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine.

 In March 1993, a Full Member of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Sciences in Pedagogy, Professor Oleksandr Vasylyovich Kyrychuk was elected as the first head of the Department. Since December 1997, the Department has been headed by a Full Member of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Sciences in Psychogy, Professor Serhiy Dmytrovich Maksymenko.

In October 2022, a Full Member (Academician) of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Sciences Psychology, Professor, Director of the Ukrainian Scientific and Methodological Centre of Applied Psychology and Social Work Vitalii Grygorovich Panok was appointed as an Acting Academician-secretary of the Department.

Today, the Department is a powerful scientific institution that determines priority areas and promising topics of scientific research in the field of psychology and special pedagogy, coordinates them, ensures the organization and conduct of these studies by scientific teams of subordinate institutions assigned to the Department. It organizes the implementation of the results of scientific research of institutions into social and educational practice, and promotes the establishment of close creative ties with domestic and foreign scientists and practitioners.

The Department includes 14 Full Members (Academicians), 15 Corresponding Members, and 10 Honorary Academicians of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine.

The Department includes the following scientific institutions:

G.S. Kostyuk Institute of Psychology of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine (Director: Academician O.M. Kokun),

Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine (Director: Corresponding Member M.M. Slyusarevsky),

Mykola Yarmachenko Institute of Special Pedagogy and Psychology of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine (Director: Corresponding Member L.I. Prokhorenko),

Ukrainian Scientific and Methodological Center of Applied Psychology and Social Work (Director: Academician V.G. Panok).

The institutions of the Department, where about 350 scientific staff work, including 9 full members (academicians), 9 corresponding members, over 80 doctors and about 180 candidates of sciences, annually carry out 37 scientific studies in 9 priority areas in the field of psychology and special pedagogy.

The subject of scientific research covers almost all areas of modern psychology and special pedagogy: methodology and history of psychology, personality psychology, age and pedagogical psychology, psychology of learning, psychology of creativity and giftedness, economic and organizational, cognitive and ecological psychology, psychophysiology and psychodiagnostics, social and political psychology, applied psychology, education of persons with special educational needs, inclusive education, etc. The priority in the activities of the Department is to solve current problems of education and mental development of the individual in the conditions of social transformations and reform of domestic education, strengthening the ties of scientific research with social practice.

Taking into account the needs and prospects of the country′s social development, scientists of the Department direct their efforts to conduct scientific research in order to obtain theoretically and practically significant results regarding: solving current problems of socio-psychological support of the educational process and mental development of the individual in the conditions of social transformations and reform of education; scientific and methodological support for psychological support for combatants, families of the deceased, temporarily displaced persons; updating the content of education in the context of the open information space and digital transformation of society, as well as in wartime; development of new diagnostic and correctional methods, technologies, training programs aimed at psychological support for the development of the individual in the educational and social space, psychological support for the population of Ukraine in wartime, other problems of psychological support for educational activities, in particular, teaching children with special educational needs; introduction of inclusion in educational institutions; scientific and methodological support for the activities of employees of the psychological service of the education system in the context of modern challenges, etc. Theoretical and methodological principles for the development of psychological science are developed by scientists of the Department taking into account modern trends in world psychology.

In conditions of martial law, scientists of the Department implement a number of areas of activity aimed at scientific and methodological support and direct practical psychological assistance to participants in the educational process, military personnel and the population of Ukraine affected by military actions. A significant amount of volunteer activity is also carried out to provide psychological assistance to all segments of Ukrainian society in conditions of war, in particular - individual and group counseling of various categories of victims, direct psychological assistance to military personnel and their families, conducting training courses, webinars, scientific and practical conferences, preparing information materials for the purpose of psychological education of the population, developing various methodological support for the work of practical psychologists and social educators, cooperation with public and international organizations in providing psychological assistance to war victims, etc.

Scientists of the Department are founders and active members of a number of professional public associations, cooperate with many foreign and domestic public organizations. In general, scientists actively cooperate with 28 international professional organizations. International scientific events (congresses, conferences, seminars) are held annually with the involvement of foreign specialists.

Scientific institutions and members of the Department attach great importance to strengthening international scientific cooperation. Professional interaction is carried out with scientists and practitioners from 37 countries of the world. Ten international scientific and educational projects have been implemented.

Academician-Secretary – Panok Vitalii Grygorovich, Full Member (Academician) of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Sciences in Psychology, Professor, Director of the Ukrainian Scientific and Methodological Centre of Applied Psychology and Social Work.

Scientific Secretary – Kulish Tetyana Ivanivna, PhD in Pedagogic Sciences, Senior Researcher

Members of the Department Bureau: 

Bondarenko Oleksandr Fedorovych, Full Member (Academician) of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Sciences in Psychology, Professor, Head of the Department of the Kyiv National Linguistic University

Zasenko Vyacheslav Vasyliovych, Full Member (Academician) of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Sciences in Pedagogy, Professor, Advisor to the Director of the Mykola Yarmachenko Institute of Special Pedagogy and Psychology of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine

Kokun Oleh Matviyovych, Full Member (Academician) of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Sciences in Psychology, Professor, Director of the G.S. Kostyuk Institute of Psychology of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine

Kolupaeva Alla Anatoliivna, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Sciences in Pedagogy, Professor, Chief Researcher of the Mykola Yarmachenko Institute of Special Pedagogy and Psychology of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine

Naidyonova Lyubov Antonivna, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Sciences in Psychology, Professor, Deputy Director for Scientific Work of the Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine

Slyusarevsky Mykola Mykolayovych, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, PhD in Psychology, Director of the Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine

Smulson Maryna Lazarivna, Full Member (Academician) of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Sciences in Psychology, Professor, Head of the Laboratory of Modern Information Technologies of Education of the G.S. Kostyuk Institute of Psychology of the National Academy Educational Sciences of Ukraine

Shevtsov Andriy Garrievich, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Sciences in Pedagogy, Professor, Chief Researcher of the State Scientific Institution "Scientific and Practical Center of Preventive and Clinical Medicine" of the State Administration of Affairs.

Chepeleva Natalia Vasylivna, Full Member (Academician) of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Sciences in Psychology, Professor, Deputy Director for Scientific Work of the G. S. Kostyuk Institute of Psychology of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine