ПИТАННЯ ПІЗНАВАЛЬНОГО ІНТЕРЕСУ В ДИДАКТИЦІ П. КАПТЕРЄВА

The article analyzes P. Kapterev’s definition of students’ cognitive interest, its role in the organization of a cognitive activity, its peculiarities andits relations with other motives. The original ideas of the outstanding teacher have been revealed on the basis of a comparative method. With the help of retrospective and logical-system methods it has become possible to give a sufficient insight into the definition of training. For the first time in the science of the second half of the XIX century training was considered as a self-development of student's personality in the process of knowledge and skills mastering. 
That definition provoked the further investigation of a study motivation and a cognitive interest. The main significant aspects of a learning interest discovered by the outstanding teacher are the following: the meaningfulness, dynamism, activity, strong wish to perform a certain activity which is accompanied by the high spirit and positive emotions. Special emphasis has been placed on the need to teach children to do a systematic and 
conscientious work, to take enjoyment not only in realized interests, but in the expectations of the work itself. This position contributed to the development of a conscious, deliberate behavior of children, which was especially important during the training process. It has been characterized the relationship oflearning interest with feelings, positive emotions and the will. Also, it has been established that while determining the ways of formation of a cognitive interest P. Kapterev based on the natural inclinations of young students. However, the scientist stressed on the need to develop a huge range of interests to ensure harmonious development of a person as a whole human being. The main ways of a cognitive interest development have been distinguished: the variety of learning content, the use of interesting facts; logic, clearness of educational information; the use of visual 
methods (demonstrations, illustrations, experiments); the motivation for students mental self-learning activities with the help of heuristic methods; implementation of academic discussions, discussions of acute issues; the organization of manual labor (depending on the content of the subject) to cope with the curriculum better.