Abstract
The relevance of this study stemmed from the need for a comprehensive examination of the terminological and conceptual framework of pedagogy, based on the principles of classical and modern encyclopaedics. The article aimed to provide an in-depth analysis of the most authoritative contemporary encyclopaedic publications, assessed regarding encyclopaedic standards, structural content, Ukrainian-centred perspectives, and alignment with European traditions. Appropriate theoretical, empirical-theoretical, and empirical methods have been employed to conduct a thorough study of the body of pedagogical knowledge through the lens of its terminological and conceptual apparatus and precedent figures, with a preference for methods such as definition analysis, content analysis, comparative analysis, and classification. The study offered a multifaceted examination of the processes of nomination, lexicography, and terminography of scientific denotations, integrating the criterion of “pedagogical and educational realities”. The research focused on landmark encyclopaedic publications within a clearly defined chronological scope – namely, the late 20th and early 21st centuries (the independence era). The subject of analysis included the Ukrainian pedagogical dictionary and Ukrainian pedagogical encyclopaedic dictionary by S.U. Honcharenko, Pedagogical Dictionary edited by M.D. Yarmachenko, the first and second editions of the collective work Encyclopaedia of Education by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and the draft of The Great Encyclopaedia. A thematic index of entries within the field of Pedagogical Sciences has been developed, structuring a “genealogical tree of concepts” through content-rich thematic groups that represent Pedagogical Sciences in the Great Universal Encyclopaedia. An attempt has been made to classify the examined encyclopaedic content by identifying the most typical models based on unifying markers such as “specialised publication”, “regional publication”, “personal publication”, and “encyclopaedic publication proper”. The study has been conducted through a synchronic-diachronic lens, with a focus on a compendium of knowledge concerning cultivated pedagogical and educational terminology, as well as notable figures representing various dimensions of pedagogy and education. The specificity of the selected works, the definitional standards of the entries, and their relevant characteristics have been thoroughly interpreted, considering the balance between encyclopaedic universality and the idiosyncratic stylistic features of individual publications and the broader context. A comparative analysis of the publications has been undertaken to provide a comprehensive characterisation of the dynamic processes within the pedagogical and educational terminological-conceptual system, viewed against the backdrop of national and global scholarly and historical-cultural developments. The findings of this study may be applied in encyclopaedography, terminography, and the teaching of pedagogical subjects