Precollege Teacher Training for High School Students: Phenomenon of Russian Educational System

Abstract

The author describes a form of arranging a pre-professional teacher training which emerged in the Russian educational practice in the period of perestroika and is commonly referred to as a pedagogical class. The author focuses on socio-cultural conditions of development, details the organization of students' practical work, and outlines some features of pedagogical classes, curricula in secondary schools and pedagogical gymnasiums. An attempt is made to sum up major results of ten years of pedagogical classes' experience. In conclusion, the author suggests an explanation of remarkable viability of the phenomenon and analyzes its influence on all the participants in the learning process and the system of higher pedagogical education.