Schoolchildren in the USSR and Russia: how the younger generation has changed in 50 years

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Psychologists named the main features that distinguish schoolchildren in the USSR and in Russia.

Any parent, looking at modern schoolchildren, no, no, and even remember - but in my time, eh … Such comparisons are usually made not in favor of today's children. Universities and school teachers add fuel to the fire: they say, earlier, children would be smarter and study better, and this generation is not suitable for anything other than the Internet and social networks.

What is the difference between today's schoolchildren and Soviet ones, experts from the Center for Contemporary Childhood Research at the Institute of Education of the Higher School of Economics have found out.

50 YEARS AGO

It is not enough just to rely on memory and impressions in such comparisons! Everyone knows that earlier the sky was cleaner and the grass was greener. Therefore, psychologists decided to go the other way and reproduced one of the classic Soviet studies:

“Exactly 50 years ago, in 1967, the famous professor of psychology Daniil Elkonin and his colleagues published a study on schoolchildren,” says Katerina Polivanova, director of the Center for Contemporary Childhood Research. - For two years, they observed students of the same grade (first it was the 4th grade, then the 5th), and studied the "sense of adulthood" - that is, their desire to be, seem and act like adults. We repeated this study, but by modern standards, and more strictly recorded everything we saw.

REGENERIES OR DRINKS

As the researchers found, 50 years ago, schoolchildren 11-12 years old actually wanted to be adults much more than modern ones.

“In the 60s, fifth-graders wanted to be treated like adults - to take their opinion into account, to treat them with respect,” says Alexandra Bochaver, researcher at the Center for Contemporary Childhood Research. - Modern children rather consider themselves small or "in-between", for them childhood is a much more attractive period than adulthood, which they see as consisting of many responsibilities and a lack of time.

This feeling of adulthood manifests itself in different ways:

- Soviet teenagers showed a more conscious attitude towards learning. On the one hand, they took their studies seriously. But on the other hand, there were rebels who protested against this and devalued the school, - Katerina Nikolaevna lists. - Now we are noticing a rather harsh influence of parents and a school focused on academic achievements. Modern children are simply not allowed to devalue school! Therefore, they do all tasks accurately and on time.

However, the point is not that today's schoolchildren are more obedient. They are, so to speak, more cunning: they understand that it is "cheaper" for them to follow the rules than to go on strike and start revolutions. And for behavior that is not encouraged at home and at school, there is the Internet.

OBEDIENT OR INDEPENDENT

Those teachers who found the Soviet school are rightly crying over the lack of discipline in modern classrooms. As the researchers noted, it was obedience that was one of the hallmarks of children in the 60s:

“For those students, authority, a vertical hierarchical system was much more important:“an adult is the one who rules, I am the one who obeys,”notes Katerina Polivanova. - Today, schoolchildren do not perceive everything said by the teacher as the ultimate truth. They are critical of this situation.

On the other hand, our grandparents had many times more chores around the house. In the 60s, a fifth-grader had to do the cleaning and, if not cook for himself, then at least warm it up. Today's children are exempt from this:

- Modern children are generally not at home much. They are more busy with studies and additional education, - explains Alexandra Bochaver.- But if earlier circles were based on the wishes of the child - "Drama circle, a circle from a photo, and I also want to sing …" (this is a poem about a choice - which circle to go to), now parents choose for children, focusing on what, how it seems to them that it will help them choose a demanded or prestigious profession.

SAME OR DIFFERENT

What else is often accused of the current school is that it emphasizes social stratification. They say, before, everyone wore the same uniform and did not show off, but now there is a continuous competition - who has the coolest iPhone and more fashionable sneakers.

- There was social stratification even then, it was just that there were much fewer very rich people, they met less often. The bulk of the population really lived at the same level, - says Katerina Polivanova. - My opinion is that social stratification is transmitted to children from above, from their parents. And if adults say: we are poor or, on the contrary: we are rich, we got rich yesterday, today we will demonstrate this to everyone, - of course, this will affect the children.

In general, modern fifth-graders turned out to be much more different in terms of maturity and awareness than their peers 50 years ago. Among them there are both older and still children! Our grandparents at this age were closer to each other.

Disappearing adults

When asked why schoolchildren have changed so much, the researchers simply answer - life itself has changed.

- Today, roughly speaking, not everyone needs to work on an assembly line. And such work means that you need to come on time, accurately fulfill your labor functions, that is, do everything that is required of an adult, '' sums up Katerina Nikolaevna. - Now economic growth is happening at the expense of something else, at the expense of creativity. And a person can produce fresh ideas at the age of 15, and at 30, and at 60. The line between ages is blurring. And adults - in the sense that these are the people who are responsible, punctual, who do what is required of them - this, alas, is a passing nature.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Which school do you like best - Soviet or current?

Sergei MALINKOVICH, secretary of the Central Committee of the Communists of Russia party:

- I like the Soviet and do not like the current one. The Soviet school graduated patriots and laborers, while today's school graduated from idlers and money-grubbers.

Dmitry GUSHCHIN, "Teacher of the Year of Russia 2007":

- In the USSR, schools were taught according to unified programs, gave a unified cultural code. The plus was the approbation of innovations, they were not done in one day. The current school takes into account the individuality of the child more and is focused on his choice.

Andrey KOLYADIN, political scientist:

- I like the school of life most of all. Unlike the Soviet one, it is less ideologized. And unlike the modern one, it is less religious.

Sergey IVASHKIN, Deputy Director of the Samara Waldorf School:

- Soviet schools were the same with rare exceptions. Nowadays schools are different in terms of educational philosophy.

Alexander SHEPEL, Doctor of Biological Sciences:

- In the Soviet school there were many free circles where you could do what you loved. Now everything depends on money.

Sergey YAZEV, Director of the Astro-Observatory of the ISU:

- I like the current school in the part where it uses the best Soviet experience. After all, the methodology and many teachers are still from Soviet practice.

Roza MAKULOVA, teacher with 40 years of experience:

- In Soviet times, parents and children lived for the school. They approached both teachers and studies more responsibly.

Anatoly BARONENKO, director of the school with 50 years of experience:

- With two hands for the Soviet school - it inherited the traditions of the tsarist gymnasium. Knowledge gave fundamental, and now "practical competence." The student does not have a complete picture.

Alexander YAKIMOV, veteran of the Great Patriotic War:

- When I was in school, there were seven classes. After that, it was already possible to enter the technical school. But we managed to learn algebra, geography, and physics. And great-grandchildren go to the Internet on any issue.