What Should School Be Like? An Example of True Orthodox Education
Parents are faith models for their children. The
light of faith in a child’s heart is sparked by his or her environment, which
should be full of faith and love, good thoughts, pious lifestyle, and
supportive mutual relations among his or her family members. Schools have to
help families in raising their children.
We send our children to school. What do we
expect from the school? What do parents look for when they choose the school?
Is it quality of education, comfortable surroundings, or sufficient equipment?
Do they hope that seeds of Christianity will be sown in their child’s souls
along with reading and writing skills? How to make a balanced choice of the
right educational framework?
Competition is growing in the world in the
recent decades. Sadly, schools are trying to build competitive and successful
personalities but they often forget about the most important aspect, i.e.,
children’s souls.
History has preserved numerous vivid examples of
good educational frameworks that haven’t lost their value even today. Some of
these frameworks and approaches should be our beacons in the “sea of
education”.
Sergey Alexandrovich Rachinsky, an outstanding
scholar, teacher, educator, professor of Moscow University, botanist and
mathematician, associate member of the Imperial Saint Petersburg Academy of
Science, aptly called “the teacher of the century”, had his 185th anniversary
in 2018. Emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II thanked him for his selfless
work. Even his contemporaries called him the “school apostle”, “a teacher from
God”. Pyotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky inscribed his First String Quartet to Prof.
Rachinsky. His students achieved success in diverse fields. There were
teachers, priests, scientists, and artists among them, including Archpriest
Alexander Vassilyev, who was the spiritual counselor of Emperor Nicholas II
family.
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| N. Bogdanov-Belsky, "The Portrait of Nicholas II", 1908 |
More than ten books were written about
Rachinsky’s life and work during the pre-Revolution decade. His innovations
were used in England and Japan.
Family upbringing and a traditional lifestyle based on Orthodoxy are key to understanding the educational concept of
this scholar and practical teacher. Meanwhile, schools in Russia in Rachinsky’s
time modeled themselves on foreign educational systems and were utterly secular.
The
famous teacher believed that the upbringing of a true Christian is possible
only through interaction of the school and the Church. The curriculum in his
school incorporated religious practices, esthetical subjects, introduction to
various sciences, and manual labor.
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| N. Bogdanov-Belsky, "In Church", 1939 |
Liturgy was the core of all learning in
Rachinsky’s school. His school put an emphasis on teaching the God's Law, which
was underpinned by practical participation of students in worship as singers
and readers. Church services in the church were awe-filled and solemn. Singing
was excellent. After church services, Rachinsky’s students had tea and spent
their free time relaxing and visiting their families.
Prof. Rachinsky taught Church Slavonic. He
entrusted the teaching of the God's Law only to a priest, insisting that the
classes were to consist of an open and sincere discussion.
Prof. Rachinsky’s school had the same purpose as
the Orthodox Church: it aimed at educating people, that is, restoring the Image
of God in which they had been made. The God's Law and church singing, exegesis
of the Holy Scripture and the Psalms, pilgrimages on foot to holy places were a
natural and meaningful continuation of the children’s life and not something
imposed on them.
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| N. Bogdanov-Belsky, "Symphony", 1920 |
There was a professional arts workshop in
Rachinsky’s school. He taught graphics, painting, and drawing. It was there
that would-be talented artists, such as Nikolay Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky
(1868-1945) - an artist and an icon painter whose works are used in this
article, Tit Nikonov, renowned for his portraits, and Ivan Peterson, known for
his portraits and icons, got the initial inspiration for their future lifelong
occupation.
Rachinsky’s school taught children to work hard.
The students did all chores themselves: they would bring buckets of water,
kindle fire in the stoves, wash the school floor, put everything in order,
guard the school, and help in the kitchen. Teachers set examples for their
students and passed on labor skills. The school was neat and clean thanks to
the students working under Rachinsky’s supervision.
Festivals and celebrations were the most
memorable parts of the everyday life in the school. Sergey Rachinsky thought
that school had to be remembered for its festivities and not its routines. He
penned scripts for a number of drama plays. The students’ favorite holiday
events were Christmas celebrations around the Christmas Tree and the Feast of
Slavic ABC dedicated to Ss. Cyril and Methodius, the great enlighteners of
the Slavs. This holiday coincided with the end of the school year. There was a
solemn service in the church, and then the procession with crosses and icons
went to the school, where there was a festive meal for the students, teachers,
and guests. All children received gifts.
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| N. Bogdanov-Belsky, "The Teacher's Guests", 1928 |
Sergey Rachinsky accumulated vast pedagogical
expertise, which can be successfully used nowadays. This is especially true of
spiritual and moral aspects of children’s upbringing and education thanks to
the connection between the church and the school. The teacher wrote, “Truly
educated people are produced only by those schools that are managed and run by
churches.”
Classmates, teachers, and the school environment
as a whole undoubtedly and objectively impact a child’s development. People are
shaped by their environment. It is no accident that the Scripture states,
[W]ith the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt
shew thyself froward (Ps. 18: 26).
Both in his time and now schools pay too much
attention to “pure knowledge”, in spite of the fact that even the most advanced
and strong knowledge will not benefit an individual without the proper
disposition of his soul.
A child’s soul is like a clean slate: it will
display everything that an artist draws on it, be it good or bad.
Let us ponder on what the school we send our
children to should be like. What are the
artists in whose hands we entrust our kids? What marks will they leave in our
children’s souls?
By Michael Mironenko,
By Michael Mironenko,
a Bachelor of Theology,
the director of the Sunday School at the Church
in honor of St. Prince Vladimir in Minsk,
in honor of St. Prince Vladimir in Minsk,
a father of two children
The Catalof of Good Deeds, 2018
