In search of lost tradition. Orthodox pedagogy and the desecularisation of education studies in Russia

ABSTRACT

Facing the liberalisation of religious policy at the dusk of the communist era, the Russian Orthodox Church actively engaged with religious education, boosting this previously stagnant field. This contribution complicates criticism of these Orthodox initiatives as a ‘clericalisation’ of education by shifting focus from the ecclesiastical hierarchy to lay educators building the subdiscipline of Orthodox pedagogy in the education faculties of state universities and private theological institutes. Following the four voices of theology approach, this contribution considers Orthodox pedagogy, as we know it from the writings of the leading scholars working in this field, as ‘espoused’ and ‘operant’ theology. It addresses the centrality of tradition for Orthodox education, the meanings ascribed to tradition in different discursive contexts, and how these meanings affect the problem of identity. While the educationalists discussed here represent different trends within the Orthodox spectrum, and espouse heterogeneous influences, they share a belief in the need to root religious pedagogy in native Russian cultural and intellectual traditions.

KEYWORDS:

• Orthodox pedagogy
• postcommunist religious revival
• education
• schools
• the Russian Orthodox Church
• tradition

Acknowledgements

I thank the participants of the workshops organised by the ‘Orthodox Kaleidoscope’ network in 2016 and 2018, the organiser Katya Tolstaya, Page Herrlinger for her comments on the earlier version of this contribution, two anonymous reviewers, and the journal editors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The conventional translation of the course title ‘Fundamentals of Religious Culture and Secular Ethics’ can be misleading as it does not convey the meaning of the Russian word ‘osnovy’. In my opinion, the title is better translated as Basics or Introduction, since the word ‘fundamentals’ carries connotations of fundamentalism.

2. Dissercat.com assessed on 31.12.2019.

3. VAK – Highest Attestation Commission that recognises academic degrees.

4. There are no statistics on the Orthodox schools set up before the 2000s.

5. https://pravoslavmolodezh.ru/istoriya-otdela (accessed 11.03.2020).

6. See http://msobor.ru/projects.

7. http://old.mon.gov.ru/files/materials/9354/12.03.20-nizienko.pdf.

8. On the reasons for its failure, see Papkova (2009).

9. https://pravobraz.ru/reestr-pravoslavnyx-obrazovatelnyx-organizacij/(accessed 04.02.2019). In 2018 some 142 schools received a licence from OROiK; there were nine applicants, while for 27 schools the licence expired or was withdrawn (‘red list’).

10. mpda.ru; mgpu.ru.

11. http://orthodox-newspaper.ru/numbers/at331 (accessed 03.02.2019).

12. There are other competing textbooks for teaching the Fundamentals on the market. One of the most popular and controversial was the 2002 textbook by Alla Borodina (cf. Papkova 2009). A textbook by Andrei Kuraev is also used in many schools.

13. http://filosof.historic.ru/books/item/f00/s00/z0000873/st001.shtml.

14. Altushkina is the wife of Igor Altushkin, the owner of the Russian Copper Company, who is the 84th richest person in Russia according to Forbes. Both are Orthodox Christians who have sponsored the construction of churches and an Orthodox orphanage in Yekaterinburg. The RCS project was initiated by Tatiana initially for the education of her six children and it resulted in the establishment of a small private school (classes of 5–6 pupils) based on RCS. See http://russsh.wix.com/rcsh#!documents/c1ylq (accessed 29.06.2018). The success of the method is difficult to assess, because any academic achievements of the school may be the result of several factors: committed teachers, small classes, individual approach.

15. K. D. Ushinskii (1823–1870) was a leading representative of the Russian progressive pedagogy, teacher and author of the popular textbook Rodnoe slovo and of theoretical works on pedagogy.

16. There is debate over whether colourful textbooks with tasteless cartoon-type illustrations are appropriate for a child.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Tartu Ülikool (EE) under Grant PHVUS18916.

Notes on contributors

Irina Paert

Irina Paert is a senior researcher at the School of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Tartu. She is the author of two monographs on Russian religious history, a translator, editor of several collective volumes, and co-founder of a private Christian school in Tallinn, Estonia.