The new course was played by roles

In Pyatigorsk, the practical conference “Formation of the system of educational events of the module “Fundamentals of Russian statehood”” has ended: from September 1, all Russian first-year students will start studying the module. The organizers tried to emphasize that this is by no means a new instrument of propaganda and loyalty building, but the development of critical thinking. More than a hundred university professors from all over the country managed to develop ten “educational events” in three days that will help students learn “value and worldview attitudes” and, without coercion, make a choice – to be a citizen or not to be.

The practical conference “Formation of the System of Educational Events of the Basics of Russian Statehood Module” organized by the Ministry of Education and Science within the framework of the “DNA of Russia” project was held for three days at the Mashuk Knowledge Center in Pyatigorsk. To participate in the event, according to the organizers, 120 teachers from 76 universities of the country and 40 experts in education and media arrived here. Alexander Kharichev, Head of the Russian Presidential Administration for Supporting the Activities of the State Council of the Russian Federation, and Head of the Ministry of Education and Science Valery Falkov spoke to them via video conference.

Recall that the course “Fundamentals of Russian Civilization” was decided to be created last summer, when the presidential administration of the Russian Federation discussed with the Ministry of Education and Science and specialized experts a project to revise the humanitarian block of university disciplines. The goal was declared to be “arranging the worldview aspects of students”. Critics of the initiative called the course “ideological” and compared it with the Soviet “History of the CPSU”. In January 2023, President Vladimir Putin instructed the Ministry of Education and Science to develop and include this module in general education programs. According to the draft concept of the educational and methodological complex (the EMC includes not only the content and structure of the new discipline, but also recommendations for teachers), “Fundamentals of Russian Statehood” is aimed at “forming a system of knowledge, skills and competencies among students, as well as values, rules and norms of behavior associated with the awareness of belonging to Russian society, the development of a sense of patriotism and citizenship. The new module includes five sections: “What is Russia”, “Russian State-Civilization”, “Russian Worldview and Values ​​of Russian Civilization”, “Political Structure of Russia”, “Challenges of the Future and Development of the Country”. Russian students will begin studying the new course on September 1, 2023. The Fundamentals will be taught to all undergraduate and specialist students in the first semester of the first year.

Mr. Kharichev began his speech to lecturers and experts with an assessment of the economic situation. “According to our forecasts,” he said, this year the economic growth in the Russian Federation will be 2%, and not at the expense of oil and gas revenues and metallurgy, but at the expense of agriculture and the manufacturing industry. “According to world analysts, sanctions work for the first three to five years, then they stop working, the country’s economy is being rebuilt, especially as big as Russia,” the official reassured. He recalled that Russia opposes a unipolar world, and a special military operation has already led to “a change in the balance of power in the world” and to the fact that “the world is becoming more multipolar.” Alexander Kharichev called the Russian state “the ark”, recalling that in the bowels of the country there is the entire periodic table, as well as reserves of oil, gas and fresh water, which no other state in the world has. In addition, Russia is the “keeper of traditional values”, which are based on the family. “We have always gone our own way, and we are one of the leaders of the multipolar world order,” Mr. Kharichev summed up, recalling that sovereignty and uniqueness have always been inherent in Russia, and this is not just a country, but a country-civilization.

Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Valery Falkov called the new training course “an attempt to give students a holistic view of what is happening.” He suggested that the audience not focus on theory, but teach in the form of dialogue and discussion with students. Young people, according to the minister, appreciate “an open, frank dialogue, the ability to give not ornate, but rather direct answers to existing questions.” Mr. Falkov does not believe that the new course is an element of propaganda aimed at building loyalty: “The task is to give the student his vision and the picture that the state is forming, there is nothing wrong with that. On the other hand, we must, through problematic communication, through the ability to make students think, form critical thinking in the student.

To develop “educational events”, the conference participants were divided into ten groups. Each of them worked out a methodology for conveying to students the main “values” that should be the basis of the course of Russian statehood. These are, in particular, “unity”, “diversity”, “consent”, “trust”, “love”, “strength”, “cooperation”, “creation”, “development”. As a vivid image of unity, the authors chose the national anthem – in particular, they decided to show how sad Glinka’s melody looked without words against the backdrop of the new Russian flag at the 1994 Olympics. But the teachers noted with satisfaction that after the schools introduced lines with the raising of the flag and the performance of the current national anthem, young people have already formed the habit of listening to the anthem while standing and singing in chorus.

A number of other “values” – “trust”, “love” and “strength” – were not so directly connected with the course of statehood. However, regarding strength, the developers explained that “a strong person makes a strong state, and a strong state needs strong people.” To illustrate this thesis, it was proposed to search for the necessary heroes in the sections: army, profession, sports or art.

The development of “educational events” has yet to be “polished”, supplemented and adjusted taking into account the opinions of experts. But most of the participants believe that the most successful practices are those that are accompanied by a large array of visual content, game elements and require maximum student involvement in the process of studying the module. Andrey Polosin, scientific director of the DNA of Russia project, summing up the results of the workshop, emphasized that the task of teachers is not to forcefully convince them of something, but to give students the opportunity to independently come to the right conclusions. He considers the activity to create a new course unprecedented: such work, according to him, has never been carried out in the country: all the previous political concepts and strategies – “Byzantium, access to the seas, Marxism-Leninism” – Russia received in the form of a finished doctrine and then “ worked out.”

Alexandra Larintseva, Pyatigorsk