A Dress Rehearsal for Cultural Revolution: Bolshevik Policy towards Teachers and Education between February and October, 1917 (original) (raw)
Related papers
QUADERNI DI STUDI INTERCULTURALI #3, 2017, 2017
The beginning of the XXth century in Russia was marked by a rise in interest in childhood. Different aspects of childhood were analysed by professionals and discussed by the public. The urgent need for democratic education reforms became obvious to both society and the state. Between 1900-1913 the budget of the Ministry of Education had increased fivefold. Political parties made education reforms an important issue in their programmes. Throughout Russia hundreds of educational societies and pedagogical circles came into being and thousands of public libraries were opened. Various aspects of childhood and education -social, philosophical, psychological -were discussed at numerous pedagogical conventions and conferences on public education, women's education, people's universities, etc. To promote progressive ideas exhibitions such as the "Child Development and Education" (April 1914) exhibition were organised. Publications on education, pedagogical theories, and child psychology were in great demand. Professional, as well as popular periodicals, the number of which had increased considerably during that period (304 pedagogical periodicals in 1916), provided information on various aspects of education. Humanistic pedagogical theories and progressive practices from all over the world aroused great interest, became subjects of discussion and gave the impulse for pedagogical experiments. For example, two of the most popular pedagogical magazines were launched in 1890 -Vestnik Vospitanya (Bulletin of Education) and Russkaya Shkola (Russian School). Both aimed at a wide audienceschools and families -and maintained a high and professional level of publication. Articles were published on social and experimental pedagogy, vocational education, and international practices. While Vestnik Vospitanya devoted much attention to child psychology, pre-school education, and paediatric hygiene, Russkaya Shkola dealt mostly with the most urgent problems in Russian education. Children's reading also became an important topic for consideration -both as an educational tool and as a medium for cultural development. Two new magazines devoted to children's reading appeared in 1911 -Novosty Detskoy Literatury (Children's Literature News) (Moscow) edited by A. Kolmogorov and Chto I Kak Chitat Detyam (What and How to Read to Children) (St.-Petersburg) edited by Eugene Jelachich. Both magazines published reviews of children's books, as well as literary critiques and articles on children's reading and education. Due to historical reasons -the social revolution of 1917 that resulted in crucial changes in Russian society and a revised attitude to historical matters -the First World War had not, for a long time, been the subject of proper scientific research and it is only in the last decades that evidence based research of this period has been thoroughly investigated. Periodicals from that period provide important information on the epoch of the Great War. Articles from pedagogical magazines present a diversity of educational and cultural policies, and of opinions in Russia, and could be used as a source of knowledge on the topic.
Aktualʹnì pitannâ u sučasnìj naucì, 2024
The system of teacher training, which barely got on its feet during the revolution of 1917-1921, was feverish with reforms. The only thing that was radically different was, of course, that the higher school became the vanguard of the communists' ideological struggle, first against the Nepmans, and then against the capitalists of the "decaying West". The state declared that it had started a struggle for the consciousness of citizens through culture and education. The internal world of institutions was reshaped in accordance with the demands of the young socialist state. Party and Soviet leaders considered it their duty to intervene in the life process of state pedagogical institutes (hereinafter referred to as SPI). On the other hand, the higher education school, suffering from such interference, felt like a forge of advanced ideological cadres. The life attitudes of a Soviet citizen were polished precisely within the walls of the school. This sphere of activity of institutions was highlighted in reports and recommendations of party bodies. However, issues of life outside ideology remain white spots. The micro-environment of life activities of educational teams of the Ukrainian SSR was studied. It was characterized by the impoverished state in which the universities found themselves in the 1920s after the civil war and tried to overcome it for 50 years with varying success. The state allocated significant funds, which, however, could not satisfy all the needs of SPIs. There were problems with providing fuel, electricity, organization of water supply and drainage, there was a lack of building materials for repair work by students. The campaign to vacate the premises Актуальні питання у сучасній науці № 6(24) 2024 1085 of the former schools in the 1930s struck a blow, when institutes lost inhabited areas, receiving nothing in return, or having buildings unfit for existence. In the postwar country, the problem of organizing the work space has become even more acute. It was solved by the efforts of students and teachers on Saturdays, special Sundays, reconstruction weeks, through self-commitments for the manufacture of furniture, electrification, etc. The state was not able to help all institutions with finances or resources. Improvements in this area took place in the second half of the 1950s. Educational institutions were able to rebuild the lost areas, manufacture or purchase furniture, equipment, reagents, textbooks, etc.
Lenin as a Child Visual Propaganda and Pedagogy
Acta Paedagogica Vilnensia, 2019, Vol. 42., 2019
My study aims to reveal the connections between visual propaganda and pedagogy during the Hungarian state-socialism by analyzing different variations of a single picture of Vladimir Lenin. The ideological indoctrination played an important role in the socialization of children, even teachers; thus, the communist power tried to create a new ceremonial-ritual order and a socialist identity. The following analyzed images (photos and paintings) show different functions and meanings; by reframing and transforming photographs and contexts, we can demonstrate how the viewers could have been manipulated. The starting photo comes from my studies (based upon the corpus of Hungarian pedagogical journals) published in 1970, showing a seemingly unconventional representation: Lenin as a child.
2002
A responses to this article has been written by Natasha Artemeva and has been published in the next edition of AE-Extra The nature of the Soviet educational system has been developing in accordance with the Soviet Union's 70-year history. During these years that the Soviet Union was controlled by the communist party, it developed an ideology centered on communist party doctrine. Also, under the leadership of different rulers the system of Soviet Education passed through many changes and reforms. Consequently, it is difficult to describe the entire history of soviet education in brief since it is such a broad topic and comprehensive from its political and ideological perspective.
2014
Abstract: The aim of this article is to present the main research trends in the history of childhood, education and school institutions, published in Russia from the middle of the 1980s to the present. Recent works on these topics adopt new theories and methodologies, which entail new delimitations of disciplinary borders and new ways of defining the objects of research. First of all, the history of pedagogical thought and educational institutions is marked by the abandonment of Marxist theory and by the elaboration of a new conception called «pedagogical anthropology», enabling a thorough examination of the complexity of personality and educational practices. Secondly, scholars have recently revived Russian and Soviet School history, by investigating its different role under the Tsarist autocracy and the Soviet regime. According to new research, the Soviet reforms were conceived in order to teach citizens new values – not only to build social classes and workers for the development of the planned economy, as pointed out by Socialist historiography. Thirdly, the history of childhood has been re-written on the basis of the history of everyday life and of interdisciplinary approaches. This has made it possible to examine not only the «discovery» of childhood in Russia, but also to understand the ambiguous use of representations of childhood in Soviet propaganda under Stalin, which concealed the tragedy of homeless children and their presence in the Gulags. Finally, the history of social pedagogy contributes to the revision of the pedagogical theory of the most famous Soviet pedagogue – A.S. Makarenko (1888-1939) – in the social rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. The history of youth movements also represents a new trend aiming at analysing the continuity between the Scouts and the Communist Pioneers as well as its very important role in the political socialization and active participation in the defence of the Fatherland during WWII. Resumen: El propósito de este artículo es presentar las principales tendencias de la investigación en la historia de la infancia, de la educación y de las instituciones educativas, en las obras publicadas en Rusia a partir de mediados de los años ochenta hasta la actualidad. Los estudios más recientes sobre estos temas han adoptado diferentes teorías y metodologías que implican nuevas delimitaciones de las lindes disciplinarias para definir los objetos de investigación. En primer lugar, la historia del pensamiento pedagógico y de las instituciones educativas está marcada por el abandono de la teoría marxista y por la elaboración de un concepto llamado «antropología pedagógica» que permite un examen minucioso de la complejidad de la personalidad y de las prácticas educativas. En segundo lugar, los estudiosos han contribuido recientemente a revivir la historia de la escuela rusa y soviética y han investigado las diferentes funciones de ésta durante la autocracia zarista y el régimen soviético. Según las últimas investigaciones, las reformas soviéticas se han concebido con el fin de enseñar a los ciudadanos valores que variaban en función de la ideología – por tanto, no sólo para construir las clases sociales y formar a los trabajadores para el desarrollo de la economía planificada, como se ha señalado desde la historiografía socialista. En tercer lugar, la historia de la infancia se ha reescrito desde un enfoque interdisciplinar y basado en la historia de la vida cotidiana. Esto nos ha permitido examinar no sólo el «descubrimiento» de la infancia en Rusia, sino también comprender el uso ambiguo de las representaciones de la infancia en la propaganda soviética bajo el régimen de Stalin que ocultaba la tragedia de los niños sin hogar y su presencia en los Gulag. Por último, la historia de la pedagogía social contribuye a la revisión del concepto de educación del pedagogo soviético más famoso – A.S. Makarenko (1888-1939) – en relación con la reintegración social de los menores de edad que han cometido delitos. También la historia de los movimientos juveniles es una de las tendencias que han surgido en los últimos años y tiene como objetivo analizar la continuidad entre los Scouts y los pioneros comunistas, al igual que su importante papel en la socialización política y en la participación activa en la defensa de la patria durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
The author conducted a comprehensive study of the everyday life of the higher pedagogical schools’ staffs in 1953-1964 based on a wide range of published literature and archival documents. The thesis solves issue of the evolution of life conditions of students and teachers along with the description of logistical base changing. The analysis of teachers’ wealth and purchasing power is also shown in the research. There is also given the characteristic of everyday religious and deviant behavior motives of educators as well as the characteristics of leisure-time. The work describes the changing attitude of the higher schools staffs towards the reforms in education. Monograph shows the place for students and teachers in the process of growing connections of society with farming and agriculture. The characteristic of the language ituation in higher educational school during the days of the “thaw” is also described.
(Not)Forgettable History of Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization
Bulgarian Comparative Education Society, 2014
The article focuses on the research on the most massive children's organisation of the 20th century, i.e., Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization, and its activities. The period of soviet pedagogy has been most actively investigated by Russian scientists, who have analysed its various phenomena, including pioneer activities, not only from historical but also from anthropological, sociological, educational, literary and other perspectives. However, the scientific discourse on the soviet pedagogy issues is relatively stagnant in the Baltic States and in Lithuania in particular. The soviet history is considered to be too 'fresh', 'painful', whereas the pioneer organisation, as one of the cogs of communist propaganda, does not deserve any attention of researchers. Attempts are made to compensate the deficit of theoretical discourse by the data of empiric research.