Education system. History and modernity

This work will be of interest to everyone who is interested in the education system: its origin, formation and development. Who, how, when and why created the current education system, what are, have been or can be alternatives. What can be done to make the existing system work more efficiently. The work will be useful for heads of educational institutions, teachers, students, parents of students, as well as everyone who is interested in this topic.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​At present, the level of technology development, and not the availability of natural resources, determines the welfare of the countries of the “golden billion”. In other words, the welfare of a nation is determined solely by its intellectual potential. The most striking examples of this are Japan, South Korea, the USA, Israel, England, etc. — the most developed countries, more than 2/3 of the gross domestic product of which is already intangible goods.

The state of the state is both a cause and a consequence of the functioning of the education system. And the history of the state, its present and future is one inseparable whole with the history and modernity of education. Ultimately, history is part of education, just like law, economics, ecology, medicine and other subjects.

History of Education

From the origins to the Middle Ages

The strongest survives. In a fierce struggle for survival, man turned out to be the most adapted organism on the planet. Due to the fundamental features of the higher nervous activity of a person, as well as the anatomical structure, which fully made it possible to realize the properties of the human nervous system. It should be noted that not only humans are capable of learning, but all types of animals with a nervous system are capable of learning to varying degrees. Education is the most effective and fastest form of adaptation to the environment. However, a person’s ability to learn is incomparably higher due to the ability to use the «secondary signal system» — the word. Education at all times had the goal of preparing for the conditions of life. Initially, human learning took place in daily activities and communication. About 7 thousand years BC there were qualitative changes in cultural development: a person moves from gathering and hunting to farming and cattle breeding, develops his ability to process stone, make new tools, learns to weave linen and sculpt dishes. These changes in economic life required special practical knowledge, labor skills and abilities, the assimilation of which became possible only with the help of special training. The improvement of labor activity and tools led to a further division of labor and a change in the learning process.

Further accumulation of knowledge, the emergence of writing and the complication of the social structure caused the further evolution of education. With the advent of the first states, the first specialized institutions for the training of children were created. The first of them were founded in Mesopotamia (Babylon) and Egypt about three thousand years BC, and were called houses of tablets (Babylon) or houses of scribes (Egypt). Much later, the word school (schole) is used, which in translation from ancient Greek means a place for leisure, recreation. Educational institutions for the training of young people were initially closely connected with the state: almost all of them were located at temples, in state institutions.

In the ancient world, the ancient Eastern education system (Egypt, Babylon, India, China) and the newer ancient Greek (Greece, Rome) are distinguished.

At the heart of the ancient Eastern education system is the repetition of the past, imitation, mastery of writing. The ancient Greek system first proposed the idea of ​​a harmoniously developed personality. In the ancient Greek education system, the idea of ​​individual development was first formulated: constant improvement, striving for the ideal. It was at that time that the age of the beginning of purposeful and systematic training was determined — 6-7 years. (It should also be noted that it is at this age that the so-called “black substance of the brain” is formed in the child — the area of ​​uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthe brain responsible for the subtle movements of the fingers.)

In the ancient Greek system of education, Spartan, Athenian and Roman education are distinguished.

Spartan education was aimed at raising a warrior and a citizen devoted to the state. Education was uniform and compulsory for all children. The schools of Sparta were public.

At the heart of Athenian education was the ideal of an aesthetically developed personality that could recite, sing, play, dance, and had an aesthetically beautiful body. For the first time, the goal of the comprehensive development of the personality was set (kalokagathia (Greek kalokagathia, from kalos — beautiful and agathos — good) — the ideal of a mentally, morally, physically and aesthetically developed personality). Education was diverse (grammatical, musical, gymnasium). The schools of Athens were private.

Roman education was aimed at educating a citizen devoted to the state. Private schools were under state control. Education had mainly a humanitarian (philological) orientation for the education of a civil servant. In general, Roman education was similar to Athenian, but the state, and not the individual, was considered as the main value.

In the IV-V Art. in Western Europe there was a socio-historical crisis: the collapse of the Roman Empire and the formation of barbarian states, which laid the foundations of national states. There is a formation of a new spirituality — Christianity.

In the Middle Ages, the church played a decisive role: it determined the ideology, culture, art, science, it was the clergy that was the only educated class. At this time, the entire organization of upbringing and education is in the hands of the church. The secular education of Antiquity is being replaced by the church education of the Middle Ages. To meet existing needs a certain system of education is being created. Schools were created at monasteries and were divided into internal and external. In internal schools, knowledge was transferred to persons of the clergy, and the clergy were trained, external schools served to educate parishioners in the spirit of religious ideas.

The content of education was completely determined school objectives. In order to re-educate the parishioners, they were taught the Law of God, reading and choral singing. The clergy mastered the full course of medieval sciences — the “seven free arts”, which included grammar (Latin), dialectics (the science of discussions), rhetoric (eloquence), arithmetic, geometry, astronomy (astrology), music.

The main sign of the content of education was its religious character, and later, in the XI century, religious-scholastic. The organization of education in monastic schools is also characterized by individual education of children of different ages and knowledge. In the Middle Ages, the teaching book acquires its current meaning. The main teaching methods in the Middle Ages were considered to be memorization of religious treatises — the dogmatic method; as well as a formal dialogue (question-answer), which was called the catechism method, since the answers were memorized by children from religious books. Also in the Middle Ages at the end of the XII — beginning of the XIII century. in the education system there is a separation of higher education. The first universities appear (from Latin universitas — set) in Bologna, Paris, Oxford and Cambridge. The Church creates its own universities — Sorbonne (on behalf of the founder R. de Sorbonne, spiritual mentor of Louis IX, also in Paris), Krakow.

Education of Kievan Rus

In 882, the Eastern Slavs united into a single early feudal state — Kievan Rus. The heyday and strengthening of the power of Kievan Rus falls on the XNUMXth — XNUMXth centuries. With its strengthening, there is the need for educated workerswho are able to keep records of land, record historical events (chronicle), draw up laws, maintain diplomatic relations with other powers.

In 988, Christianity in the form of Byzantine Orthodoxy became the official state religion of Kievan Rus. This important act made it possible to expand and consolidate the ties of Russia with Byzantium and the countries of Western Europe. This period is characterized by the emergence of a new alphabet — the Cyrillic alphabet, created by the Bulgarians Cyril and Mifody, although writing on the territory of Kievan Rus was known as early as the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries.

With the development of society, the new political status demanded the establishment of schoolsin which children of the nobility and clergy were trained. In the chronicle (988) it is written that together with the construction of churches, Prince Vladimir began to gather children of «deliberate children» for book teaching. This indicates that in 988 Prince Vladimir created the first palace school, where he sent the children of the boyars and his sons.

The essence of the concept of «book teaching» is that it is not just literacy, but a school where science was taught, at that time a serious education was given. The palace school of Vladimir was a high-level state educational institution and was supported by the prince’s treasury. In the 1037th century, schools of «book learning» were opened in all major cities of Kievan Rus. Culture and education reached their peak under Yaroslav the Wise, who realized the great importance of education and upbringing in the life of society. He invites translators and specialists in the census of Greek books to Kyiv. At St. Sophia’s Cathedral in 17, a large library and a workshop for the census of books were created, which became the fundamental educational base of the school. In the school of Yaroslav the Wise at St. Sophia Cathedral, 1068 disciplines were studied, in fact, it was a higher educational institution that had international recognition and significance. At the court of Yaroslav, the children of many European monarchs were brought up. In particular, the sons of the English king Edward and Edwin, the Hungarian princes Andrei and Levinte, the Danish prince Herman, the Polish Vistrim, and others. Since XNUMX, monastic schools began to spread in Russia. But at the monasteries, the schools were only internal and were limited to teaching only those who replenished the ranks of monks. At the end of the XNUMXth — at the beginning of the XNUMXth centuries, in the memoirs of ancient Russian writing, the concept of «learning to read and write» appeared, which meant teaching children to read, write, count and sing. In terms of the volume of knowledge, the «teaching of literacy» was equivalent to elementary primary education. Literacy schools were maintained in Russia at the expense of parents. The official pedagogical concept finds its place in written sources: annals, izborniks, statutes, legends, chronicles, fanned by Christian ideals. The best pedagogical creation of Kievan Rus is “The War of Prince Volodymyr Monomakh to Children”.

In the XNUMXth century, an appropriate education system was formed in Kievan Rus, which included elementary and vocational education, and higher education (the school of Yaroslav the Wise). Historical sources of the pre-Mongolian period testify that the level of education in Russia was not lower than in Byzantium in the corresponding period. Historians point out that this level of education was not achieved in many countries of Western Europe at that time. The atmosphere that prevailed in the Old Russian school differed sharply from the atmosphere of Western European schools in its democratic nature. The position of teachers and students in the school of Kievan Rus was more favorable, since teaching was conducted in an understandable Church Slavonic language, in contrast to the schools of Western Europe, where Latin was used.

As a result of feudal fragmentation and constant internecine strife of princes, as well as economic difficulties caused, in particular, by changes in the Eurasian trade routes and all the same fragmentation, the Kievan state, as such, actually ceased to exist, divided into separate principalities.

At the same time XII — XIII Art. there is a unification of the tribes roaming north of China under the leadership of the talented leader Temuchin (in 1206 he creates for himself the title of Genghis Khan, that is, a khan over the khans). He managed to direct the energy and military power of the united tribes to neighboring China. Having mastered Northern and Central China, adopting the military art of the Chinese in the storming of fortresses, Genghis Khan moved to Central Asia, Iran. In 1222, the Mongol-Tatar troops, having overcome the Caucasus, began to advance into the Polovtsian steppes. The Polovtsian Khan Kobyak turned to the Russian princes for help. Those who responded to the call, together with the Polovtsians, met Temuchin’s army on the Kalka River (1223). The Russian-Polovtsian army, although it had a numerical advantage, acted inconsistently because of the enmity between the princes, as a result of which it was defeated in turn. The Mongol-Tatars, not having enough strength, turned back. When crossing the Volga, they were finally defeated by the Volga Bulgarians. After that, for almost a decade and a half in Russia they did not hear about the Mongols. But in 1237 they again appeared on the borders of Russia, this time they came from the northeast. At first, they destroyed the cities — Ryazan, Suzdal, Vladimir, etc. In 1239, their hordes, led by the grandson of Temuchin (Genghis Khan), — Batu, moved into the lands of Southern and South-Western Russia, they captured Pereyaslav, Chernigov. In December 1240 Kyiv was conquered. The people of Kiev, led by the voivode Dmitry, sent to defend Kyiv by the Galicia-Volyn prince Danila Romanovich, courageously fought for Kyiv for six weeks, but their resistance was broken. The last defenders of the city died under the rubble of the Church of the Tithes. Burnt libraries, books, schools. The cultural life of the Russian (East Slavic) people in the XIII century after the Mongol-Tatar invasion retreats from the Dnieper lands further west to the Galicia-Volyn principality, which for the next almost one and a half hundred years became the successor of Kievan Rus. The beginning of the liberation of the western lands of Russia from vassal dependence on the Golden Horde (the feudal state of the Mongols, the capital — Saray (Lower Volga)) was laid only in 1362 by the battle of Blue Waters — the Horde troops were defeated, and ended in 1480 with the liberation of the eastern lands » standing on the Ugra. Culturally, Russia was thrown back hundreds of years ago.

Renaissance

In the Renaissance (XIV — XVI centuries) in Western Europe, a new type of education appears — humanistic (from Latin man), which is based on respect for a person, faith in his strength and capabilities, understanding the cultural heritage of antiquity. The goal of humanistic education is a comprehensively developed free personality that can change society. The content of education becomes the moral education of an active, active, free person, a citizen; physical education of strength, masculinity, endurance, beauty of the body, which is complemented by hardening of the body and hygiene; the idea of ​​labor education is used. Mental education included: the study of ancient languages ​​and literature (classical education) and the study of natural sciences (real education). In the organization of education, the idea of ​​the child’s activity in learning (games, elements of interest, visibility, practical application of knowledge) arises. In the second half of the XVI century. with the aim of planting Catholicism and fighting «heretics», Jesuit elementary schools and secondary educational institutions — colleges are being created. Jesuit educational institutions were considered the best in Europe. A highly productive system of Jesuit education is being formed, based on the skillful use of mutual competition and the development of ambition. The Jesuits paid great attention to the training of teachers.

Special attention should be paid to a very important point that made the Jesuit system so effective and which is practically ignored today. What does «skillful use of mutual competition and development of ambition» mean? — This means that an atmosphere has been created in which a student who studies well has a high status in the group, regardless of his property status, physical strength and other factors. The Jesuits were well aware of the simple truth that nothing can be such a strong universal stimulus for children, and especially for adolescents, as gaining status in a group. Unfortunately, the modern system of education practically does not take into account the factors of group dynamics. It is also worth noting here that the very modern education system in the world is largely based on hypocrisy. in fact, it does not provide knowledge that is really necessary for successful activity, although this is declared by the school. As a result, children have no interest in acquiring knowledge, and those who study honestly in these conditions slide down the group hierarchy — the so-called «nerds».

The history of the development of education of the Eastern Slavs XVI — XVIII centuries

At the end of the XVI — beginning of the XVII century. In Ukraine, a very progressive for its time form of educational institutions is being created — fraternal schools. These schools are created by religious-national organizations — brotherhoods. Defending their social and political rights, folk culture and traditions, the urban population, mainly artisans and merchants, created brotherhoods, whose members could be all Orthodox, regardless of nationality, social origin and property status. In 1586, the first fraternal school was opened in Lvov. Her work is known from the charter «Shkil Order» (the first school document). In 1615, the Kyiv fraternal school was organized. In total, in the first half of the XVII century. there were 30 fraternal schools. Fraternal schools were elementary and advanced type. The elementary schools taught reading, writing, arithmetic and catechism. Grammar, Greek, Latin and native language were studied in advanced schools.

The schools taught children of different strata of the population from 6 to 12 years old. The fraternities set out to make their schools accessible to all comers. For schooling, parents paid a fee, taking into account their income. Children of the poor strata of the population («vbogi») studied for free.

The fraternity played an important role in organizing the work of the school. The rector and teachers were elected by the general meetings of the brotherhood, they also chose two civilian observers for the school, who were responsible for the material support of the school and the work of teachers. Each member of the fraternity had the right to attend school at any time. Before the start of classes, parents and the rector of the school drew up an agreement that stipulated the requirements for parents: be sure to provide children with the opportunity to attend school, not to pick up until the end of the school year; requirements for teachers: what to teach children, how to behave.

The charter of the school put forward high requirements for teachers. At school, the teacher treats all children equally. The statute says: «It is the same for the sons of the rich, and for the poor orphans who walk along the street and beg for alms.» A place of honor in the class was occupied by children who excelled in learning, even if they were poor. The training was conducted in the native language. Education in fraternal schools had a humanitarian direction, but on the whole the content of education was broad. In addition to the Law of God, reading, writing and counting, older children studied grammar, rhetoric, religious philosophy, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. Some elements of the class-lesson system were used in fraternal schools. Classes began at 9 am, a little later in winter, with the fact that the children answered yesterday’s lesson. It was also recommended to hold conversations and debates on various topics.

Fraternal schools led to the emergence of not only primary, secondary and vocational schools, but also higher educational institutions, among which the Kyiv Academy became the leader. In 1615, the Kiev Brotherhood was founded. In the same year, Galashka Gulevichivna gave him her yard on Podol to create a monastery, a school and a shelter for parishioners. At the end of 1615, the Kiev Brotherhood founded its own school, and a year later, a publishing house and a paper factory. In 1631, in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, Petro Mohyla founded an Orthodox school, where Latin became the language of instruction, and Jesuit school programs were introduced. Such innovation caused strong indignation against Peter Mohyla among members of the Kyiv Brotherhood and the Cossacks. But Petro Mogila found a way to reconcile with the opponents of his school. He proposed to unite his school with the fraternal one. The fraternity accepted this offer, and in the autumn of 1632 the schools merged. From that moment on, the Kyiv fraternal school was called a collegium, and after the death of Peter Mohyla at the end of the XNUMXth century. Kiev-Mohyla Collegium. Education at the School was paid, depending on the wealth of the parents. But the School existed, mainly due to donations. Petro Mohyla donated his Poznyaki settlement to the School. After his death, all funds were transferred to the Kyiv Collegium. Hetman Petro Sahaydachny repeatedly made donations to both Lviv and Kyiv schools. The Kiev Brotherhood gave the village of Borshchagovka to the School. Teachers have made a lot of new not only in the content of education, but also in the organization of the educational process. The training lasted 12 years, and was divided into 8 classes: 4 junior classes, 2 middle and 2 senior. Junior classes included: Faro (preparatory class), Infima, Grammar, Synthema. 4 languages ​​were studied here: Slavic (bookish Ukrainian), Greek, Latin, Polish. The program of these classes included the study of catechism, arithmetic, musical singing. In the middle classes, they studied piitika and rhetoric. In senior philosophy (theology). From the very beginning, the Kyiv Collegium was an educational institution of the highest type. But the Polish government for several decades forbade conferring the title of academy on him, since «there can be no high culture, and hence science» in the Orthodox and Slavic language. And only in 1658 the right of a higher educational institution was granted to the collegium by the Polish royal government. This status was secured in 1701 by Peter I. They entered the Kyiv Academy throughout the year. There were no age restrictions. Both the children of the Ukrainian gentry and the children of the poor were trained, orphans were trained at the expense of the academy. Teachers of elementary grades were called didascals, students — spudeys; senior — professors and students, respectively. In the Kiev-Mohyla Academy, an effective system of motivation and stimulation of students was used, based on the Jesuit one. As well as a progressive system of education and knowledge control: every Saturday, surveys were conducted on all the material studied during the week, among high school students in the form of disputes. There were public performances to which the community and even the hetman were invited. Exams were taken after the end of each class. Pupils answered those teachers who will lead classes next year. The Kiev-Mohyla Academy had a developed system of self-government. The rector was elected by a meeting of teachers.

The Kiev-Mohyla Academy became an educational center for all Eastern Slavs. It is difficult to overestimate the role of the Academy. Its significance in the preservation of culture, language, and the spread of education is enormous.

Petro Mohyla himself, “the elder brother and funder”, studied at the Lviv fraternal school, then at the Sorbonne, together with Descartes the Many-sided. The graduates of the Academy were famous and taught in many other countries. In 1687, Simeon Polotsky, a graduate of the Kiev-Mohyla Academy, founded the first higher educational institution in Russia — the Moscow Greco-Latin School, which later became known as the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, out of 21 of its rectors — 18 came from the Kiev-Mohyla Academy, from 25 prefects — 23 respectively. In the era of the reformation of the empire by Peter I, Feofan Prokopovich, a graduate of the Kiev-Mohyla Academy, became an educational adviser. The scientist Mikhailo Lomonosov, who founded Moscow University in 1755, was also a student of the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. There are words of a contemporary of the Academy:

«From the Academy of Kyiv aka from Orthodox Athens

All Russia drew a source of wisdom

and watered and raised the newly established schools.

In the absence of Ukrainian statehood, the fate of the Academy was difficult. From the end of the XVIII century. its importance in the scientific world is gradually decreasing. At the same time, new educational centers are emerging: Moscow, Kharkov and St. Petersburg universities.

The era of modern times

In history, the XVII-XVIII centuries are known as the era of the New Age. The development of the economy and trade, science and culture in Europe contributed to the formation of a new type of personality (ideal) — an active and independent person. The existing education system (elementary folk school, and secondary education, based on the study of ancient languages ​​​​and preparation for a career in the clergy or civil servant) could not satisfy these needs. A new education system is being developed.

The great Czech teacher Jan Amos Comenius in the middle of the XVII century. developed the foundations of modern pedagogy, which for a long time outstripped the development of the school. Comenius is the founder of didactics as a «universal science of teaching» — now a section of pedagogy that reveals the patterns of mastering knowledge, skills, beliefs, determines the volume and structure of the content of education, improves methods and organizational forms of education (education is not a key concept of didactics). In his work «Great Didactics» (1633-38), he substantiates a new organization of education — a class-lesson system: the presence of a stable composition of students — a class; set time for classes. Comenius theoretically substantiates the need for visualization in teaching as the «golden rule of didactics», reveals the patterns and principles of the pedagogical process. Comenius singles out upbringing from teaching, to which he attaches great fundamental importance: “A person can become a person only through education. Without it, he resembles wild animals, «Komensky calls the school «a masterful humanity and humanity.»

The ancestor of the theory of education is the outstanding English philosopher John Locke. He substantiated the decisive role of education in the formation of personality. In the «Experiment on the Human Mind» (1690) he developed an empirical (from the Greek. empeiria — experience) theory of knowledge. Rejecting the existence of innate ideas, he argued: all human knowledge stems from experience, substantiates the «blank slate» theory. He proceeded from the decisive influence of the environment on education — «What people will actually become: good or evil, honest or not, first of all, 9/10 depends on education.» He developed the doctrine of primary and secondary qualities and the theory of the formation of general ideas (abstractions). He argued: «training is only a small part of education.» Substantiates the pedagogy of «common sense», which is based on practical benefits for the individual himself.

A huge contribution to the development of pedagogical theory of the XVIII century. made by the French educator Jean Jacques Rousseau. He came forward as a supporter of the concept of natural education — taking into account the nature of the child himself when educating. Rousseau is considered the discoverer of the child as a center of education and upbringing and its first researcher. It comes from the ideas of humanism — respect and love for the child. Education and training is based on the needs and interests of the child, rejected corporal punishment. He opposed authoritarianism in education and upbringing. According to Rousseau’s views, education and training is an independent accumulation of life experience. The child himself chooses the content and methods of teaching, the teacher develops and offers teaching and educational situations. Rousseau expresses the ideas of natural education in his work Emile, or on Education (1762). Jean Jacques Rousseau laid the foundations for the theory of free education.

The origin and formation of the modern education system

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In the middle of the XVIII — at the beginning of the XIX century. in Western Europe, there is a transition from manual (handicraft) work to machine (factory) work. The industrial age begins. Such production requires a competent and disciplined worker, whose training was to be provided by the school and a certain organization of training in it.

There is a creation and formation of a mass public school. Initially, the mass school provided only basic primary education, at that time this was enough to meet the production and economic needs. The first country in which compulsory public free education was introduced was Germany in 1794. In the United States, free education was legislated in the mid-1850s. In England, the law on compulsory free education was adopted in 1870, in France — in 1880.

With the creation of a mass school, changes are taking place in the organization of schooling. The class-lesson and Bell-Lancaster systems of education are massively introduced. (The Bell-Lancaster system of education — a system in which older and more knowledgeable students, under the guidance of a teacher, conducted classes with younger students, was developed by English teachers A. Bell and J. Lancaster.)

The state nature of education in the school led to the regulation of all its aspects: the introduction of a single content of education through the design of uniform curricula and plans; formation of a unified system of assessments and examinations; creation of means of control over the work of the school (state ministries and inspections, certificates of completion of school — certificates, class journals and diaries); the teacher is transformed into a civil servant, a system of special training for teachers is being created.

The formation of a mass school determined a new stage in the development of pedagogy. The pedagogy of a mass school is being formed; in order to create an accessible mass education, a search is being made for the simplest and most accessible ways of learning. There is a separation of didactics into an independent field of research.

The Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, taking into account the nature of the child, develops the foundations for economical and fast learning, so that even a poorly educated teacher can teach successfully. Pestalozzi creates the theory of elementary education, the essence of which is that learning begins with simple elements and gradually becomes more complex. In his theory, Pestalozzi linked education with the upbringing and development of the child (developmental education), pedagogy with psychology. The main works of Pestalozzi «Lingard and Gertrude» (1787), «Swan Song» (1826).

German educator Johann Friedrich Herbart develops a theory of learning, the purpose of which is to make the learning process simple and accessible for both students and teachers. Herbart’s pedagogy is the first attempt at the scientific construction of theoretical pedagogy, which is based on philosophy and psychology. Philosophy sets the goal of education, and psychology — the ways of its organization. He put forward the concept of 4 steps (principles) of learning: clarity, association, system, method. Herbart identifies the following ways of education: 1) management — the establishment and maintenance of order, which is achieved through a clear organization of training, threats, orders, punishments; 2) teaching in order to form a versatile interest, which is achieved through the accumulation and combination of ideas (based on the theory of ideas, it creates a clear sequence of stages of the lesson); 3) moral education with the aim of forming character and will, the search and development of the positive in each child. Herbart is considered the founder of the traditional school.

Adolf Diesterweg, a German educator, a follower of Pestalozzi, attached great importance to teacher training. The author of many textbooks, works on pedagogy, he headed teachers’ seminaries and successfully trained teachers. Diesterweg creates a clear system of didactics as «a science about the general laws and rules of education.» He singled out 33 laws and teaching rules, which he divided into 4 groups: 1) teaching rules related to the student; 2) teaching rules related to the teaching material; 3) learning rules related to external conditions, place; 4) teaching rules related to the teacher.

At the same time, changes are taking place in the volume of primary education: subjects of the natural and humanitarian cycles (natural science, history, geography, physics), as well as labor training (manual labor, office work, craft) are added to reading, writing and arithmetic, state morality is being studied. With the increase in the content of primary education, a new type of educational institutions arises — the higher primary school, which has become a kind of intermediate link between primary and secondary education. A close connection between the mass primary school and the few secondary schools did not yet exist at that time.

Reform pedagogy

Further development leads to the formation of the so-called reformist pedagogy (late XNUMXth — early XNUMXth centuries). It was during that historical period that the main pedagogical concepts that are relevant were formulated.

The German teachers Paul Natorp and Georg Kershensteiner proposed the pedagogy of social education — the idea of ​​education that satisfies the needs of society was developed. The school, first of all, is seen as a «working association of adults and children» (P. Natorp). Great importance is attached to work, training is not entertainment, but work (“the theory of labor training” by G. Kershensteiner).

Rousseau’s ideas receive their practical application and development in the pedagogy of free education. Maria Montessori, an Italian defectologist, teacher, develops methods for the development of the sense organs in children, practically applies the pedagogy of free education in the «House of the Child» organized by her. The basis of his work is the free activity of the child in the process of which the child develops and accumulates knowledge, skills and abilities, the leading role is given to children’s experiences. “The freedom of a child does not mean its neglect. On the contrary: … leads to a real understanding of the child. Montessori invites children to choose the developed didactic material of their own free will and work with it individually. The effectiveness of this approach is explained by the role of emotions in the memorization mechanism: the most firmly remembered information (knowledge, skills) that has a bright positive emotional coloring. More precisely, such information is better remembered. according to modern research (I. Korsakov, etc.), the human brain completely stores (remembers) all the information received, including information received at a very early age. The more emotionally neutral the information, the harder it is to remember. The use of negative incentives for the assimilation of educational information, in addition to causing certain mental and physiological harm to health, is simply meaningless. it is normal for a person to consciously push negative aspects of life into oblivion, as well as to avoid activities (including labor) associated with the recall of negatively colored information.

Experimental pedagogy gave the leading importance to the systematic study of the mechanisms of memory, as well as other patterns of mental activity. One of its authors, French educator, psychologist Alfred Binet, in his research was based on the need to «put the psychology of the child in the foreground in order to derive from it with mathematical accuracy the education that he should receive.» Pedagogy should not be a hypothetical or literary-descriptive science, but should be based on a clear knowledge of the laws of human development, higher nervous activity, and cognitive processes of the psyche. The main role is assigned to the study of intelligence. A. Binet and T. Simon introduced the concept of «mental age» (1908), as a result, the concept of intelligence quotient (English intellectual quotient — IQ) arises. It was the work of Binet and Simon that laid the foundation for the widespread use of tests for the experimental study of intelligence. Factor theories of intelligence are based on the results of tests and their statistical processing, considering it as a hierarchy of factors of varying degrees of generality. In one of these theories, the two-factor model (C. Spearman), intelligence has a “general factor” (factor G) responsible for solving any intellectual problems, and second-order factors responsible for solving specific problems. The «G factor» is considered in many other factorial theories of intelligence. As factors of a lower level of generality, verbal (Latin verbalis — verbal, based on language) and non-verbal (not related to language) intelligence are considered. In the 1960s, the results of intelligence tests in many countries led to decisions that were important for the education and careers of many people. Today, such decisions are rarely made on the basis of intelligence testing, although intelligence tests themselves have become more sophisticated and focused on specific skills, attempts to isolate intelligence in a “pure form” have not been successful, just as it has not been possible to design tests completely “free of culture”. «. This indicates that the intellect is inseparable from the personality as a whole. Recently, intelligence, as a general concept, is considered in the context of the concept of efficiency (success) — the ability to achieve goals.

Efficiency (success), the formation of abilities to achieve the set goals is a practical benefit, as the main criterion of education is used for the first time in pragmatic pedagogy. John Dewey (1859–1952) philosopher, psychologist, educator, one of the leading representatives of pragmatic philosophy, on the basis of which pragmatic pedagogy was developed, the creator of the pedocentric theory and methodology of teaching — learning based on the interests and needs of the child «The child is the sun around which everyone revolves means of education». Dewey (Dewey) organized his own experimental school at the University of Chicago in the USA, the results of research in which he highlighted in the works «School and the Child», «School of the Future». The purpose of education: the formation of a personality adapted to life — independent, active, creative, — successful. Learning is done through the practical activities of children «learning by doing» — independent research and problem solving. Dewey introduces the following sequence (stages) of learning: feeling of difficulty; problem formulation; putting forward a hypothesis; logical check; practical activities in accordance with the developed hypothesis. Learning is the creation of situations for solving problematic problems. The problems are practical in nature, they are borrowed from the real life of children and use their experience «School not only prepares for life, but is life itself.» Active activity is assigned to the student, the teacher acts as a consultant and observer.

The principles of reformist pedagogy in Western Europe and the USA at the beginning of the 12th century, in practice, are implemented and developed by experimental schools. Thus, Steiner’s Waldorf schools became widespread. These are private institutions that provide complete secondary education (13 years of study, for those entering the university — 1919th grade). The first such school was opened in 1990 in Stuttgart for the children of workers at the Waldorf-Astoria factory; in 500 there were about 1920 such schools. School of the University of Chicago. In France, the ideas of Celestin Frenet (who organized his own school in XNUMX) became widespread. At the same time, the principles and quality of mass public education in these countries for the period of the beginning of the XX century. remained significantly lower. Free secondary education was available only in the USA and France. In the countries of Western Europe (except France) there was a significant gap between primary and secondary education, secondary education was inaccessible, and changes in education concerned mainly the growth in the number of mass schools.

During the first half of the twentieth century. along with the processes of democratization and further development of society, democratization and the development of education also take place — secondary education in Western Europe also ceases to be part of a class society, becomes compulsory and generally accessible. At the end of the 50s, the duration of compulsory unified free education is 8-10 years (England — 10 years, Japan — 9 years, France — 8 years, Germany — 8 years, USA — 6-8 years). Also, the general trend in the education of these countries was mainly the humanitarian orientation of secondary education. Education was general and unified (except for the USA, where a certain professional differentiation of secondary education was introduced already in the 30s).

In the 60s, many researchers came to the conclusion that the level of secondary education did not meet the requirements of the beginning of the information age. In the education system of developed countries, teachers criticize the abstract nature of the knowledge, skills and abilities provided by the school. The so-called «satellite shock» also caused a flurry of criticism of a significant humanitarian bias in the content of education, its pedocentric orientation, such well-known documents appear as the report of the American government XXI century our children? The governments of the leading countries of the world responded with reform projects: «Education of the XNUMXst Century» (Germany), «Education of Americans in the XNUMXst Century» (USA), «Education of the Future» (France), «Education Model» (Japan), and others. The period of reforms in the education sector of developed countries in the 60s — 80s was called the «explosion of education». The motto of all these reforms was the motto — «The strategy of the future — the differentiation of education.» There is an increase in the duration of training. Academic subjects are divided into basic (mandatory) and additional (optional). In 1961, the United States proposed compulsory education in five areas (basics): English language and literature, mathematics, natural history, social sciences, and computer technology. Each basis includes several parts. So the basis of «mathematics» consists of algebra, trigonometry, office work and the use of computers. At the same time, programs of advanced or light courses (electives) are being developed and practiced. In England, the compulsory subjects were: English language and literature, mathematics, religion, physical education. More than 50% of the study time was devoted to them. The other part of the study time was occupied by elective subjects, which are offered in the form of «packages», which include several study courses in the humanities, science and mathematics content. «Integrated courses» are being introduced. An example of such a course is the compulsory program of natural science, which includes elements of physics, chemistry, biology, sometimes astronomy, geology, mineralogy, physiology, ecology. Integrative courses are created for the main part of the students, and are applied simultaneously with an in-depth study of individual subjects, in which the interests and abilities of students are manifested. There is also a differentiation of the secondary educational institutions themselves. Liberal arts education is provided at colleges in the US and Japan; grammar and public schools in England; gymnasiums in Germany; general education lyceums in France. Physical and mathematical, as well as natural science education is provided in technical colleges in the USA and Japan; modern schools in England; real schools in Germany; technical lyceums in France. Differentiation of schools is carried out after receiving primary education. Intermediate schools between primary and secondary schools are emerging. They teach children from 11 — 12 to 15 — 16 years old with the aim of obtaining a unified education in the first three years and providing further differentiation in secondary school. School self-government is being introduced (student councils, school councils, etc.).

The origin and development of the modern education system in the CIS

In the Russian Empire, serfdom was abolished in 1861. The abolition of serfdom and the subsequent reforms of Emperor Alexander II led to the realization of the huge military and technical backwardness of the empire, which was facilitated by the defeat of the empire in the Crimean War of 1853-56, as well as social tension, which increased significantly as a result of this defeat. February 19, 1861 Tsar Alexander II issues a manifesto on the abolition of serfdom. Thus, the beginning of the transition from the feudal system to the capitalist one was laid. Along with this, the development of education is also taking place, but it is greatly slowed down by the system of government.

By the beginning of the 1905th century, the empire was experiencing a deep and systemic crisis caused by the archaism of the socio-political structure — autocracy. The country was in turmoil. In early October 1905, the All-Russian political strike began. The tsarist government declares a state of emergency. Universities were closed in many cities, police and troops were brought into factories and plants. Having suppressed the revolution of 1907-1905, the tsarist government understood that it was impossible to relieve social tension by repressions alone. Realizing the need for further reforms, Nicholas II issues a manifesto which «grants» civil liberties to the people: inviolability of the person, freedom of conscience, press, assembly, unions. The implementation of the reforms was headed by the head of the Council of Ministers and Minister of the Interior P. Stolypin. In carrying out his reforms, Stolypin met with strong resistance, because, contrary to the democratic direction of the reforms, Stolypin himself embodied the forces that sought to brutally suppress everything democratic, merciless repressions against participants in liberation movements: national, social, political, cultural and educational. The period of reaction after the suppression of the revolution of 1907-1. was called «Stolypin». Stolypin failed to complete his reforms. On September 1911, XNUMX, he was shot dead in Kyiv.

The crisis of autocracy ended on February 27, 1917 with his overthrow. A complex, controversial, but very important stage began in history, socio-political and spiritual life. The class nature of secondary education is being eliminated — gymnasiums are declared secondary schools of general education, in which all children who have acquired the necessary primary training are given the opportunity to study.

Mistakes and inconsistency of democratic forces in the formation of statehood, the lack of clear positions in socio-economic and foreign policy issues, led to the loss of social support. The Bolsheviks took advantage of this, the position they declared was extremely clear: land for the peasants, factories for the workers, power for the soviets. The Bolsheviks, with the aim of national reconciliation, proclaim the creation of independent Soviet Socialist Republics. However, the leadership of the republics was carried out by the Bolshevik Party, the rule of which, in turn, was carried out centrally, thus, the independence of the republics acquired only a declarative character.

Soviet schools are being rebuilt in accordance with the «Regulations on a unified labor polytechnic school.» In the history of the formation of the USSR, the 20s are characterized as the years of searching for bold and original solutions. Comprehensive education, the laboratory-team method, and the project method are being widely introduced in schools. Since 1925, primary education has been declared compulsory and free. The languages ​​of the majority of the population of the republics are taught in schools. In the 20s, secondary education in the USSR lasted seven years. The next stage was vocational education, which included vocational schools, technical schools and institutes.

Soviet education went through the same stages of development as the entire Soviet system. Thus, the plan for building socialism (industrialization of the country, cooperative peasantry, cultural revolution), the introduction of the New Economic Policy (NEP), developed and deployed by Vladimir Ulyanov (1870-1924), was continued in the culture and education of the 1920s.

In the 30s, the period of Stalinist industrialization began. The XV Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks declares the priority of the state plan over the market, which means the curtailment of the New Economic Policy and the destruction of commodity-money relations. According to the formula of Joseph Dzhugashvili (Stalin), plans should not be predictive, but directive, that is, they should be mandatory for execution (planned economy). It was Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (1879-1953) who was the author of the entire Soviet system, including the education system. (As well as health care.) Opponents of Stalin’s formulas: M. Bukharin, O. Rykov, M. Tomsky and others — were declared a «right deviation» and destroyed during the «purge».

In 1932, unified ten-year labor schools were introduced in the USSR. The formation of the Soviet education system is determined by the following standards: 1930 — the decree «On the general compulsory primary education» (in schools there is a mandatory creation of pioneer, Komsomol and party organizations); 1931 — Decree «On Primary and Secondary Schools»; 1932 — «On curricula and plans in elementary and secondary schools»; 1933 — «About textbooks for elementary and secondary schools»; 1936 — «About pedological twists in the system of Narkompros»; 1937 — «On the compulsory study of the Russian language in non-Russian schools.»

The achievements of I. Dzhugashvili were really huge. Illiteracy is almost completely eliminated. The result of Stalin’s five-year plans was the growth of heavy industry by almost 11 times. In the industrial period of world economic development, it was heavy industry that was decisive in achieving the economic and military power of the state. At that time, the giants of the metallurgical industry were put into operation, new mines, power plants, etc. were being built. Thus, the USSR became one of the most powerful states in the world. The other side of the breakthrough of heavy industry and the «leap into socialism» was millions of human victims.

It should be especially noted that there is no improvement in the well-being of people, people are considered as consumables. The neglect of economic mechanisms for the development of production led to the undermining of agriculture, light and food industries. Lines, ration cards, chronic shortages of goods and services. The distribution of productive forces, distorted by Stalin’s industrialization, led to a significant shortage of housing. However, the planned scheme of production was not originally designed to improve the standard of living of the population. The Bolsheviks did not attach much importance to material incentives for labor. Socialist emulation (the Stakhanovite movement, etc.) for a long time became the main form of struggle for raising labor indicators, workers are attached to enterprises, and violation of discipline is equated with a criminal offense. Ignoring the economic levers of increasing labor productivity, the leaders of the Bolshevik Party and government sought to use (more precisely, one might say, they simply used brilliantly) the enthusiasm of the masses, as well as the free labor of millions of innocent prisoners.

After Stalin’s death (1953), qualitative changes took place in the social life of the peoples of the USSR. Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev (1894 — 1971) becomes the head of state. The period of his reign (1953 — 1964) was called the «thaw». The 80th Congress of the CPSU with «the debunking of Stalin’s personality cult» became a real shock. Masses of political prisoners of concentration camps are being rehabilitated. The Khrushchev thaw gave rise to hope for an end to arbitrariness and for a more dignified life for people. That period became at the same time the peak of development (causing a “satellite shock” for the Americans) and the beginning of the degradation of the USSR system. For some time, the inertial tendency of development still persisted in Soviet society. However, the socio-economic system created by I. Dzhugashvili simply could not exist outside the conditions of social upheavals — public enthusiasm for overcoming them, apart from the personality cult, the Gulag and the NKVD. This was realized by the Soviet leadership only in the second half of the 1985s, when the process of the decomposition of society (primarily moral) had already gone too far. Theft has become a daily norm in the life of a Soviet person. Soviet society, deprived of any moral support due to the realization of the worthlessness of faith in Stalin, a «bright tomorrow» and the triumph of communism quickly degraded. The devastation systematically covers all spheres of life and branches of production. The end of the industrial age only accelerates the collapse of the Stalinist «socialism» system. The clumsy «perestroika» (1991-XNUMX) ends with an attempted coup d’état and the final collapse of the state. Moreover, the catastrophe occurred more on a moral level, but the main reason was the economic collapse of the Soviet system and its too late «perestroika». The essence of the ongoing processes is well conveyed through cinema. Characteristic for the last time of the USSR are such films as «Intergirl», «Forgotten Melody for Flute», «Criminal Talent», «Dear Elena Sergeevna», «Accident — the daughter of a cop» and other films of the era of the collapse of the USSR.

I repeat, the history of education is part of the history of society as a whole. Thus, in the 20s and 30s, an education system was created and developed that allowed the USSR to move from the agrarian age to the industrial one and become one of the leading states in the world. And in the conditions of the Stalinist system of production, stimulation and motivation to work, that system of education was just as effective. But the Soviet education system turned out to be just as inefficient as the planned economy and for the same reasons, the main of which are the lack of incentives for efficient work, as well as widespread lies and double standards, which can be characterized by the aphorisms “bright tomorrow” and “servants people.» cnml.com.ua