About the department

Overview

The first and only department in Ukraine among technical universities of Ukraine, which purposefully deals with the problems of psychology and pedagogy of leadership, social aspects of management training, etc.

The I.A. Ziaziun Department of Pedagogy and Psychology of Managing Social Systems was established in year 2000 to improve the educational process and develop the psychological and pedagogical direction of educational and research work at the university by the winner of the State Prize of Ukraine, corresponding member of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor O.G. Romanovskyi, a well-known specialist in Ukraine on leadership, higher education pedagogy, philosophy and psychology of social systems management.

Currently, the department is headed by professor Nina Viktorivna Pidbutska, Doctor of Psychology, guarantor of the educational and scientific programme “Psychology” (Phd), expert of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance, active member of the National Psychological Association, certified practitioner in family counselling and psychotherapy, art therapy, psychiatric propedeutics, psychosomatics, etc.

Since 2000, under the leadership of the Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, doctor of pedagogical sciences, professor O. Romanovskyi, the scientific school of leadership “Formation of the leader’s personality in science, education, business” has been functioning. Since 2015, the Department has had a Leadership Centre, which was opened thanks to international cooperation under the grant “Education for Leadership, Intelligence and Talent Development”. The Centre facilitates scientific research, sections of international conferences, seminars, video conferences, and a separate area of the department’s work is the provision of advisory, training and diagnostic services on the development of leadership skills among employees of enterprises and organisations, as well as students of various professional orientations.

Academic programmes

The main academic programmes of the department are:

  • psychology of formation of leadership qualities of a personality;
  • formation of personality resilience;
  • pedagogical leadership;
  • social aspects of management training;
  • development of personality conflict culture, etc.

During the entire period of its existence, 45 dissertations have been defended at our department by the staff of the department and under the guidance of the department’s research and teaching staff, including 6 doctoral, 38 candidate and 1 PhD dissertations; 8 in psychology and 34 in pedagogy. Over the past five years, the academic staff of the Department and under the supervision of the Department’s staff have defended (pedagogical and psychological sciences) 2 doctoral and 14 PhD theses.

 

International relations

The department has established close and successful scientific relations with universities in the UK, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, and the Republic of Latvia. Currently, the cooperation is carried out on the basis of bilateral agreements between NTU “KhPI” and the Baltic International Academy (Latvia, since 2015), the Higher School of Information Systems Management (Latvia, since 2018); as well as a memorandum of understanding between NTU “KhPI” and Oxford Brookes University (UK, since 2019). Since September 2023, cooperation has been carried out on the basis of bilateral agreements between NTU “KhPI” and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (“Virginia Tech” or “VT”).

The department participated in research under international grants: “Education for Leadership, Intelligence and Talent Encouraging” (ELITE), customer – University of Greenwich and “Ukraine higher education leadership development programme”, conducted by the British Council in Ukraine in partnership with the Institute of Higher Education of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

 

Educational process

The department trains specialists in the following educational and professional programmes:

“Psychology” of the first and second level of higher education (Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees);

“Social Work” of the first level of higher education (bachelor’s and master’s degrees); “Social Security” of the second level of higher education (bachelor’s and master’s degrees);

“Higher Education Pedagogy” of the second level of higher education (Master’s degree).

Since 2001, the Department of Pedagogy and Psychology of Social Systems Management named after academician I.A. Ziaziun has been offering postgraduate studies in the programme 13.00.04 – Theory and Methods of Vocational Education (Pedagogical Sciences), which was transformed into the educational and scientific programme for the preparation of Doctors of Philosophy “Educational, Pedagogical Sciences” (speciality 011) in 2016 due to the reform of the educational and scientific sector.  The programme recruits and trains Doctors of Philosophy in the speciality 053 “Psychology”. Since 2022, the postgraduate study programme in the programme 053 Psychology has been launched. The training of highly qualified specialists is carried out both in full-time (daytime, evening) and part-time forms of education.

Professional training is provided for both Ukrainian and international students. The programmes have all the conditions for intercultural exchange through the training of students from different countries (Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador). All disciplines are taught by Doctors of Sciences and PhDs with an English level of at least B2 (Upper Intermediate).

 

Students’ education

Students of the department take an active part in the educational and scientific processes. Students have the opportunity to influence the content and teaching of educational programmes: regular surveys are conducted on the quality of teaching and learning content; changes are made based on students’ wishes, which makes the disciplines more modern. Students actively conduct: psychological trainings; online consultations as part of the social and psychological service; online streams to promote healthy psychological life practices. Teachers of the department conduct pedagogical workshops and master classes during the annual international methodological school-seminars “Modern Pedagogical Technologies in Education”.

The educational work of the department is focused on the harmonious development of the individual, the formation of a favourable educational and educational climate. The main focus of the department’s educational concept is the cultural and aesthetic development of the student’s personality. As part of this work, students participate in and attend poetry readings. The department organises Comedian’s Clubs among student academic groups, and psychology students actively participate in university sporting events.

Teachers of the Department conduct active research, which resulted in the preparation and publication of the following in 2019-2023: 7 monographs, 24 textbooks, and manuals, with a total of 1209 publications in journals, collections, and conference proceedings. The total number of articles published in scientific professional editions of Ukraine by the staff of the department during 2019-2023 is 97. Articles in journals included in the Scopus and Web of Science databases (during 2019-2023) – 42.

Since 2000, NTU ” KhPI” has been publishing a quarterly scientific and practical journal “Theory and Practice of Social Systems Management”, which is a professional Ukrainian publication in pedagogical sciences. The journal is a peer-reviewed publication that supports the policy of open access and aims to develop the quality of scientific research in psychological, pedagogical and managerial areas.

Since 2017, the scientific and practical journal “Leader. Elite. Society” has been published since 2017. The scientific and practical journal is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary journal that supports the policy of open access and is devoted to the problems of leadership and elite in the system of humanitarian and anthropological knowledge.

The staff of the department developed the patented chatbot Elomia. In addition, the department has developed and implemented unique disciplines in the educational process, the only ones in Ukraine (Theory and Practice of Leadership Development, Psychology of Success, Visual Psychodiagnostics, etc.)

 

Employment

Graduates of the department have wide employment opportunities: own office, private practice; counselling and psychotherapy in crisis centres; development of management technologies in an organisation; educational sphere; personnel service or HR department; psychological rehabilitation of military and civilian population; advertising, PR and politics; consulting agencies; social protection institutions (social services, children’s services, territorial centres for the provision of social services, employment centres, centres for social and psychological rehabilitation of children); structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, penitentiary institutions; public and international social organisations.

 

Speciality, academic programme

  • Field of knowledge 05 Social and behavioural sciences. Speciality 053 “Psychology” of the first and second level of higher education (bachelor’s and master’s degrees) (full-time, part-time; in Ukrainian and English)
  • Speciality 011 “Educational, Pedagogical Sciences” of the second master’s level of higher education (full-time, part-time; in Ukrainian and English)
  • Field of knowledge 23 “Social Work”, speciality 231 “Social Work” of the first bachelor’s degree (full-time, part-time).
  • Field of knowledge 23 “Social Work”, speciality 231 “Social Care” of the second master’s level of higher education (full-time, part-time)
  • Postgraduate study 011 “Educational and pedagogical sciences”
  • Postgraduate study 053 Psychology