Revisiting the History of Pedagogical Thought in Russia&apos;s South: The Pedagogical Beliefs of Major Pedagogues at the Novocherkassk Gymnasium in the 19th Century. Part 2
Author: Peretyatko, Artyom Yu.
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Change,Educational History,Teaching Methods,Case Studies,High Schools,Alumni,High School Students,Educational Philosophy,Geographic Regions,Teacher Effectiveness,High School Teachers,Military Training,Institutional Characteristics,Instructional Leadership,Foreign Countries

Recent years have witnessed the publication of a variety of scholarly papers highlighting region-specific peculiarities of education in the Russian Empire. However, they tend to focus on statistical information regarding the number of schools, the number of students, etc. Therefore, theoretical and pedagogical views and unique features of the methodological work done by major provincial teachers remain poorly researched. The paper discusses the case study of the Novocherkassk Gymnasium that was the most prominent scientific and educational center in the Don region in the 19th century and that boasted a teaching personnel of renowned local figures. Remarkably, the material on the actual pedagogical process in the gymnasium was already collected before 1917, mainly in the initiative to celebrate the facility's centenary, and as many appropriate documents lacked, much attention was paid to gathering information from former gymnasium students. As a result, the knowledge of real teaching practices used in the gymnasium is based both on official documents and on informal, often critical, accounts by contemporaries of its teachers, and the group of teachers include persons who played an important role in the Don history. The second part of the paper is dedicated to the evolution of theoretical pedagogical thought and educational methods in the Novocherkassk Gymnasium from 1810 to 1850. The paper demonstrates that the educational process became relatively streamlined only since this period -- this happened at the end of 1830 when I.Ya. Zolotarev, the first Don Cossack, who taught at a higher educational institution (Kharkov University), was appointed its director. It was he who introduced for teachers regular reporting on class attendance, topics covered, firmly required teachers to prepare curricula and drove other changes. Parallel to the process, there were shifting theoretical views of Novocherkassk teachers as advocates of practice-oriented and applied education, helpful in building a career, strengthened their position. The Novocherkassk gymnasium was envisioned as a &quot;military&quot; educational institution that served the interests of the Don Host by training officers and administrators. However, the plans were hindered by excessive formalism in teaching, lack of focus on actual cognitive abilities of children and too a scholastic educational process that had no touch with reality. By 1850, a certain development crisis had began looming over the Novocherkassk Gymnasium: the number of people willing to be students at practice-oriented courses gradually went down while the needs of the Don Host were not addressed. [Part 1 of the series was published in &quot;Bylye Gody: Russian Historical Journal&quot; v56 n2 p519-529 2020.]