The Role of Orthodox Institutions in the Development of Modern Educational System

  1. Lemma
  2. К вопросу о роли православных институций в развитии современной системы образования
  3. Russian
  4. Asliturk, Miriam
  5. Ecumenism and dialogue > Education - Culture and national identities
  6. 07-08-2018
  7. Чередникова, Нина Петровна [Author]. К вопросу о роли православных институций в развитии современной системы образования
  8. Вестник Таганрогского института имени А.П. Чехова
  9. history of Russian education - Russian education system - Higher education - Primary Education - Secondary education - monasticism - Russian Orthodox Church
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    1. <p>Чередникова, Нина Петровна (2015). К вопросу о роли православных институций в развитии современной системы образования<em>. Вестник Таганрогского института имени А.П. Чехова</em>, (2), 223-228.</p>
    1. The article argues that not all teachers in Russia are satisfied with the prevailing models in education. Many of them tend to prefer education based on religious morality, which was wide-spread in pre-revolutionary Russia.

      In Ancient Russia monasteries played an extremely important role as centres of education and scholarship. From the very beginning, monasteries provided education to peasants’ children. By the 1880s, almost all women's monasteries had church and parochial schools, which were maintained at their own expense. These schools taught mainly orphans and poor children. Often monastic schools were the only educational institutions that were accessible to children of the lower classes.

      Today the Russian Orthodox Church is reviving these traditions. In the Moscow Region, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ministry of Education have been cooperating for decades. This cooperation has resulted in the teaching of optional subjects such as “Spiritual Regional Studies of the Moscow Region” and “Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture” in universities, kindergartens, and a number of colleges and vocational schools. Since 2012 the schools of Moscow Region have included "Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics" into their compulsory curriculum. In 2013, the Ministry of Education of the Moscow Region began the creation of a network of twelve municipal spiritual and educational cultural centres initiated by the Moscow State Regional University named after St. Cyril and Methodius. The purpose of such centres is the spiritual and moral education of children, teachers, and parents. In 2014, the Moscow Diocese and the Ministry of Education in various regions of the Russian Federation jointly organized and held various events: Christmas and Easter celebrations as well as a big scale celebration of the Days of Slavic Writing and Culture.

      Orthodox education is not limited to the public sphere. In the Moscow Region and across Russia there are private Orthodox schools. These schools teach the general curriculum as well as optional subjects related to Orthodox culture (Church singing, Church Slavonic language, etc.). The education in such schools is based on the Orthodox worldview and the classical traditions of Russian culture. Their priority is the close cooperation with the pupil’s family and an individual approach, based on the request of the family and the abilities of the student.