Private School In Russia: Sociocultural And Historical Genesis (11th – Early 20th Centuries)

Abstract

The article presents a comprehensive social and cultural analysis of private education development in Russia in the period from the 11th to the beginning of the 20th century on the basis of which the authors enlighten the main stages of historical dynamics of the development of domestic private school. The study aimed at the development private education in Russia showed that within the specified chronological boundaries, its development took place in four cultural and historical stages and was determined by a complex of cultural and social factors of influence. The characteristics of each development stage are determined by the dominant factor of social and cultural development: state, society or church. As a result of the study, the authors identified the main historical stages in the genesis of Russian private school based on the priority factor of social development (church, public, and state). The leading trends in the development of private schools in Russia are identified. The most significant social and cultural factors of their development are identified and the characteristics of social and historical stages of evolution of private school as a pedagogical phenomenon are presented.

Keywords: History of Russian private education, independent schooling in pre-communist Russia, Russia’s private school

Introduction

The global and national challenges facing the Russian school today require further reformation on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of domestic private education. This is conditioned by the need to analyze the historical and pedagogical process, as well as to synthesize the latest progressive pedagogical thought and the experience of the past.

Today, the effectiveness of the educational activities of a private school depends on how productively it can correlate its activities with social, cultural, ideological factors, build an optimal strategy for its development, improve the quality of education, and improve the mechanisms for its implementation. Since modern private education in Russia is the result of its entire previous history of social and cultural development, the studies tracing the evolution of functioning of a private school, aimed at studying the historical path of development of private education in pre-Soviet Russia (10^th–20^th centuries), the reasons for its occurrence, and operating principles, as well as socio-cultural and pedagogical conditions that determined its genesis become very topical.

It should be noted that in this study, a private school is understood as a non-state general educational institution, financially independent of the state, established by various non-governmental organizations, foundations, individuals and associations and financed by parents or various social sources.

The theoretical basis of the study is presented by the scientific works that reveal the historical and pedagogical prerequisites for the emergence and development of non-state educational institutions in Russia (Chernyavsky et al., 2018; Dzhurinsky, 2020; Prokofieva, 2008); the studies examining private education in certain time periods of the pre-revolutionary period of its development (Frolova, 2011; Kalinina, 2014; Romanenchuk, 2014; Sergeeva, 2003); characterizing the features of the educational activities of private schools, boarding schools, gymnasiums in various regions of Russia (Cherkasov et al., 2019; Garashchenko, 2018; Kupreeva, 2004; Ozhegova, 2014; Ustinova, 2011).

Problem Statement

The scientific literature does not sufficiently reflects the processes of development of Russian private schools in relation to the general cultural and historical genesis, the influence of various social factors on their development, as well as the trends in their development, due to state educational policy.

Thus, the contradiction between the need to study the genesis of Russian private schools as a condition for their further effective development and insufficient knowledge of the processes of development of private education in its national and historical as well as social and cultural conditionality determined the research problem.

Research Questions

The research problem is determined by the following questions: During what main historical stages did the development of Russian private school education take place in the period from the 11th to the beginning of 20th centuries? What were the main social and cultural factors that influenced its development? What was the educational activity of private schools in pre-Soviet Russia in the process of their development? To answer these questions, it is necessary to study private schools in Russia in the pre-Soviet period as a pedagogical and social and cultural phenomenon from the point of view of their historical development.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study: To study private school education in Russia in the period from 21^st to the beginning of the 20th centuries as a holistic social and cultural as well as educational phenomenon. The set goal involves the solution of the following tasks: To identify the leading characteristics of the development of the Russian private education system on the basis of a socio-cultural and historical analysis of its development; to highlight the main historical stages in the genesis of the Russian private school as a pedagogical phenomenon; to determine the most significant social and cultural factors that contributed to the effective development of the institution of a private school in pre-Soviet Russia.

Research Methods

The versatility of the study determined a comprehensive methodology of work that combines social, cultural and pedagogical aspects of the study.

When conducting the study, general scientific methods were used: analysis, synthesis, historical and pedagogical interpretation of scientific information, comparative historical method, constructive genetic method for considering pedagogical processes.

The study of the development of private school education in the pre-revolutionary Russia as a cultural, historical and pedagogical phenomenon was carried out according to the following parameters of historical development: 1) priority factors of social and cultural influence (religious, state, public); 2) features of cultural and historical dynamics of the development of private education; 3) characteristic features of pedagogical activity of domestic private schools at each stage of their evolution.

Findings

As a result of the study, it was revealed that the development of private education in Russia (from the 11th century to the beginning of the 20th century) took place in several cultural and historical stages, the temporal boundaries and the content of each were built under the influence of the dominant social factor: society, state, church.

The first and the longest period of development of private education in pre-Soviet Russia was from the beginning of the 11th to the middle of the 17th centuries. It is characterized by the dominant role of the church (Kapterev, 2014). The ideas of Orthodoxy had a significant impact on the development of private education of this period, determining its religious bias and content.

The first schools in Russia that appeared and developed in the period from the 11th to the 15th centures were non-state, church schools and were maintained mainly at the expense of the Orthodox Church. Until the 15th century, secular education in Russia was practically not represented. Education took place mainly at home. In addition, the initial knowledge was acquired from the parish priests and from literacy masters.

It should be noted that during the church period, not only the church was active, but also parents who entered into agreements with teachers. The societies were created that establish schools with a fairly broad curriculum. The state took only some part in the matter of education (Princes Vladimir and Yaroslav, Tsar Fedor Alekseevich).

The study showed that in addition to the dominant influence of the church, this period of development of private education in Russia was characterized by the absence of division of society into classes (education was similar for everyone, for boys and girls) and it was optional and free (that is, education was a matter of a free contract between parents of students and teachers).

The second stage in the development of private education is a transitional period in relation to the influence of church and state (mid-17th – mid-18th centuries). During that period, the first secular private schools appeared – Ambassadorial, Lekarskaya, etc. government schools, which were the prototype of vocational education. The establishment of professional and practical education in Russia (Sobolevsky, 1892) marked the beginning of division of education into secular and spiritual, and formed the basis for reducing the monopoly influence of the church on education. At the same historical stage, at the end of the 17th century, the first state schools (Greek elementary school) appeared in Russia, before the establishment of which, only private educational institutions could be found in Russia, fully satisfying the educational needs of the population that existed at that time (Sobolevsky, 1892).

The reforms of Peter I marked the beginning of the policy of state interests in education. The main ideological attitude was determined by the fact that the benefit of education was in the service of state interests. In connection with this, the struggle with the old free school of deacons and other private schools, which implemented the ideology of the priority of spirituality, had intensified.

The study revealed the following features of the organization of education in that period: 1) decrease in the influence of the church on education with the emergence of a new factor of influence, namely, the state; 2) emergence of secular education; 3) emergence of public sector of school education against the backdrop of two hundred years of functioning of private sector, represented by church and private schools; 4) division of society into classes as regards education; 5) predominance of foreign component and foreign borrowings in education; 6) breadth and unsystematic content of education; 7) professional direction of education.

Against the background of the state reforms of the time of Peter the Great, the private school continued its evolutionary development, strengthening its position. During that period, there were private educational institutions established by foreigners, with a less rigid school regime. Thus, in the first half of the 18th century, educational institutions of a new type appeared in Russia – boarding houses, whose tasks included not only education, upbringing, but also the provision of decent material support for students (Sukhomlinov, 1865).

Comprehensive elementary private schools continued their work, which still remained accessible to all social classes. According to Grigoriev (1900), the private school of that period was not controlled by the state, but its evolution was in line with the development of the society and was determined by socio-economic, cultural and historical conditions.

The third stage in the development of Russian private education, identified in this study, was characterized by the dominant influence of the state (mid-18th century – mid-19th centuries). During that period, the state took control of private schools, since the fact that a significant part of the education sector was in the hands of foreigners began to be perceived by the authorities as contrary to the interests of Russia. By a decree of 1757, an attempt was made to block the path of foreigners to the area of education. From that moment on, the process of establishing a private sector of education was introduced into the officially limited scope of the law and completely came under the control of the state. The consequence of these measures was an increase in public confidence in a private school (Solonitsyn, 1998).

As a result of the reforms, state control over the activities of private schools had increased, which led to an improvement in the quality of their organization and an increase in the level of education. In private schools, most of which were boarding houses for the nobility, the program of public schools was used, but each school built the educational process at its own discretion.

The opening of state lyceums, the basis of which was classical education, had a special influence on the development of private education. Both in the structure of organization and in content, this type of education copied the system of lyceum education that was widespread in Europe (mainly in France).

An increasingly prominent role in the school business was acquired by private initiative. Private educational institutions arose, where the classical type of education was often more successful than in state lyceums. Private lyceums and boarding schools actually became a kind of autonomy, they appeared earlier than the state ones and successfully competed with the latter.

The data obtained during the study of the state period of development of private school education made it possible to determine its following characteristic features: 1) borrowing from Western pedagogical systems and teachings, teaching, mainly by foreign teachers; 2) education became social class-based and was divided into many types; 3) the emergence of a special professional class – teachers; 4) the reduction of the number of clergy teachers, increasing the share of secular people in education; 5) the beginning of separation between the ideology of teaching in private and public education; 6) the emergence of pedagogical literature, mainly translated; 7) control of private schools by the state, censorship of curricula; 8) education paid by parents; 9) rigorous discipline.

Despite the unevenness of reforms, the state period ended for the private school with its recognition and inclusion in the structure of state education, expansion and strengthening of its position.

The fourth stage, according to the study, is the social period in the development of Russian private education. It was established in the middle of the 19th century and continued until 1918, characterized by the dominant influence of the social development factor. The essential features of social period include the following: 1) education became a public matter – gradually society gained access to the organization of its educational affairs in the face of many public bodies; 2) the idea of ​​educating a person, which determined the development of general education, was brought to the fore; 3) a single educational ideal was formed; 4) the goal of pedagogy was not only serving the state, but also the development of a comprehensive and amateur personality, education of a person; 5) school and pedagogy were more independent from the state; 6) the content of education was general; 7) there was a gradual humanization of pedagogical interaction, a respectful attitude towards the child’s personality was formed; 8) there was a pedagogical ‘double faith’, i.e. coexistence of traditional and new ideas in the national pedagogical self-consciousness; 9) a special social and professional group, i.e. teachers.

In the second half of the 19th century, there was a clear trend towards the transition of the state from a policy of oppression of private education to the removal of restrictions on the opening of new private schools and the enrollment of students, which was largely facilitated by the progressive social and political movement. Private secondary schools satisfied the need for a variety of types of training for various social and socio-demographic groups, providing primarily real, commercial, technical, and also women education. In a complex political, socio-psychological and socio-cultural environment, the demand for education has increased dramatically, which stimulated the development of private educational institutions (Kalsina, 2016). The private school was included in the general education system and reported to the state with all the ensuing consequences regarding its duties and rights.

Late 19th – early 20th centuries were the heyday of the Russian private school, at that time private schools of a new type were widely developed. Society's dissatisfaction with the state school intensified the organization of alternative private educational institutions that met the requirements of the time, based on progressive pedagogical ideas and principles. At that time, over 350 private and 1630 state secondary educational institutions operated in Russia (Dzhurinsky, 2020).

The public period of the development of private schools in Russia was characterized by a surge of attention of Russian philosophy to the search for proper Russian foundations for the development of education in general, to the use of experience accumulated in private schools to reform the entire system of Russian education. However, the fundamental changes in the political structure and social life of the country that occurred after the October Revolution of 1917 led to the beginning of a deep reform of the public education system. On 5 June 1918, a decree of the Council of People’s Commissars was adopted on the transfer of all educational and general educational institutions to the jurisdiction of the People’' Commissariat of Education. That date could be considered the date of the abolition of the private sector of education in the country. Thus, the forms of private domestic education, established as a result of a long historical development, were eliminated as a result of state policy.

The results of the study demonstrate that in the course of its development, non-state school education in Russia was historically organized earlier than the state education, for a long time it had been existed as the only form of general education, and later functioned as an alternative form of public education. At the same time, the determining influence on the evolution of the private school in the pre-Soviet Russia at various historical stages was carried out in various institutional dominants: religion, society, and the state.

Conclusion

The comprehensive analysis of the processes of development of private education in Russia as an integral socio-cultural and pedagogical phenomenon, carried out in this work, allowed the authors to identify and characterize the main stages of cultural and historical dynamics of the development of domestic private school in the period from the 11th to the 20th centuries.

The proposed periods include four stages, which are determined by the main factor of cultural and social influence within each historical period: the church (11th – middle of the 17th centuries), the transitional one in relation to the influence of the church and the state (middle of the 17th – middle of the 18th centuries), the state (middle 18th – mid-19th centuries), public (mid-19th – early 20th centuries). The study of the historical, cultural, and pedagogical contexts of the development of the private school in pre-Soviet Russia revealed the direct dependence of the content, types and forms of private education at each of its evolutionary stages on the leading social and cultural trends that are most significant in a particular historical period. The results obtained demonstrate that the dominant factors of social and cultural influence on the genesis of a private school were the church, state or society, which were able to either strengthen or weaken or stop the development of private education.

The peculiarity of development of a private school is determined by the fact that the forms that were established as a result of a long historical development were eliminated at a certain stage as a result of state policy. Nevertheless, as the study showed, by the beginning of the 20th century, a publicly recognized system of private education had developed in Russia, which did not conflict with the public education system, but contributed to the expansion of the educational resources of society, a dynamic response to its educational needs and their satisfaction.

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