THE ROLE OF ETHNOGRAPHIC TOOLS IN PRESERVING STUDENTS’ MENTAL HEALTH

Abstract

The article defines the challenges faced by the Ukrainian community in the last few years. A war is a fact that undermines a person's mental health. Young people, the future teachers, should learn to protect their mental health and have a set of methods for its preservation in their pedagogical arsenal for their future pupils. This skill is both integrated and personally oriented because it combines elements of personal qualities, his(her) key competencies, and flexible skills (soft skills). The purpose of the article is to reveal the role of ethnographic tools in the preservation of the mental health of young people ( the example is the students of specialty "012 Preschool education" at Cherkasy National University, named after Bohdan Khmelnytskyi). We used analysis, systematization, and data generalization to outline the essence of the "mental health" concept and analyzed potential tools for preserving young people's mental health. Ethnological tools make up a significant part of the Ukrainian ethnopedagogical heritage. Using Ukrainian folk songs, such as funny jokes, potishky, and choruses, is quite effective in raising a mood and creating an interesting atmosphere. A lullaby is considered a "leader" of Ukrainian songs for maintaining mental health (performed quietly, melodiously). That gives both a mother and a child the feeling of peace, security, and pacification. In the article, considerable attention is dedicated to the practical part of making Ukrainian amulets and folk symbols, which aim to relieve emotional tension and stress: drawing, sculpting, appliqué, and quilling allow students to practice creativity, develop fine motor skills with their hands, and "switch" students' attention. During practical sessions, students learn to draw a guelder rose with a finger, wind a doll-motanka, and make Easter eggs and paper-embroidered shirts using the quilling technique; they can even "pour out" horseshoe talismans of various bowls of cereal. We concluded that the practical part of the educational course "Ethnology" is extremely rich in means that have the pedagogical potential to influence young people's mental health preservation effectively. The elements of folk art and music therapy enrich the students' knowledge, develop their outlook, and promote imagination and creative development.