Theoretical and methodological foundations of organizing students’ project activity in institutions of children’s and youth arts

The paper presents theoretical and methodological foundations of students’ project activity organization in institutions of children’s and youth arts. The retrospective analysis of scientific publications and advanced pedagogical experience related to young people creative development in the system of supplementary education (centers of children’s and youth arts et al.) proves that project technology plays a dominant role in encouraging students to learn modeling and design engineering as well as acquiring skills of independent creative activity. Values and advantages of project technology distinguish it favorably from traditional and innovative pedagogical technologies. The paper shows that project technology is oriented to integration, synthesis of students’ theoretical knowledge and their practical activity: it means that carrying out a project we not only set a specific creative task but also do our best to put it into practice in the form of pictures, drawings, applications, software, dummies, devices, robots, etc. Undertaking a particular project the student is supposed to learn how to identify social and technical contradictions and problems and overcome them. Project technology is focused on students’ creative work which helps to develop and strengthen the skills required to organize their independent work. The paper introduces the typology of training projects used in the center of children’s and youth arts as well as the techniques of their individual and selective choice. There is a focus on basic classification criteria of training projects: leading modality of students’ training and cognitive activity; the levels of interdisciplinary integration of knowledge acquired by the students while carrying out the project; subjects and conditions for project activity organization.