“You don’t need to hold me for a sheep”: how Russian schools conduct “Talk about the important”
- Natalia Zotova
- BBC
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How teachers in Russia quietly sabotage class hours or, on the contrary, force schoolchildren to come to them, and parents write refusals and explain to their children their love for Ukraine, the election of the BBC.
Class hour “Talk about the important” according to the decision of the Russian Ministry of Education should be held in every first lesson on Monday. The program was posted on the official website. Among the manuals, I also noticed a lesson about a “special operation”, the purpose of which was to convince children that state heroes – and in the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR “Russian people” live, objects that Russia helps.
When the scandal began to flare up, the manuals disappeared from the site, and then appeared in an edited form: all references to the war with Ukraine were removed from there.
True, Minister Kravtsov accessoriesthat the children will be told about the “special operation” anyway. It’s just that this topic is distributed over the lessons of the whole year.
“It was boring and everyone was sleeping”
“On the first day, on emotions, I gave out to the children who came from school: “Today our president started a war with Ukraine! “Both were horrified. How? Why? Did he go crazy? I honestly don’t know how to explain it all to them,” recalls the mother of two daughters, Marina (name changed).
Since then, the girls have had to convince their friends about Ukraine and see how their father and grandfather almost yell at each other because of the war. Grandma and Grandpa “specifically hurt feelings,” as Marina says. Because of this, she had to explain to children how propaganda works.
“They are useful, what is happening, they hear conversations around. They come with questions. I always think that if a question arises, it is necessary to discuss. Any. Even if it’s difficult. I try to give them information,” Marina told the BBC. overflowing emotions.
Now their school raises the flag to the Russian anthem every Monday morning. From the kids, however, and do not require to come. Marina’s eldest daughter often skips this line, and has not ordered it yet.
“If the SVO (“special military operation” – as the Russian authorities and propaganda call the invasion of Ukraine), Ukraine, is discussed, or it will be necessary to strongly emphasize the greatness of the motherland, serious service and support of some “friends”, no matter what they do, then I decided to write to the class teachers and invest in chats, “- Marina about” Conversations about the important. But for now, the main thing that they say about the hours of her children is that it was very boring and everyone was sleeping.
“The teacher said, and everyone believed – it never works”
Formally, these training manuals of the Ministry of Education are only a recommendation. They are optional for implementation, so some teachers have decided to implement propaganda in the classroom. For example, a teacher of Russian and literature Yulia from Novoaltaysk.
Before the start of the school year, the principal of her school told the staff about the new class hours. He discovered them as the return of the educational function to the school, the absence of a loss with the collapse of the USSR among teachers among many who are sad.
“The director said that these Conversations about the Important is a return to the education of a moral personality,” Yulia told the BBC correspondent. For example: “What do you associate the word Motherland with?” And one of the correct answers: “With native village”! , so he was still studying 50 years ago. ”
These lessons are not suitable for children, Julia is sure. “The teacher said, and everyone believed – it never works. You need to pose a problematic question, you need to make them think so that they themselves come to this conclusion. Moreover, it is impossible to impose clumsy propaganda on teenagers: “They close very quickly when they give only one option answer, and they immediately start arguing.”
At literature lessons, Yulia often discusses anti-war works with children. “This is poetry from the time of the Great Patriotic War, where the main motive is that this should never happen, this is the Teaching of Vladimir Monomakh:” kill neither the right nor the guilty. “conclusion.”
According to Yulia, most of her residents have decided to quietly sabotage “Conversations about Important”. Some allow children to sleep an extra 45 minutes and do not mark absentees. Others hold a regular class hour where class matters are dealt with rather than politics. Or let the children go about their business while they check their notebooks or prepare for lessons.
“Somebody [так поступает] because of the anti-war position, someone – because they have a workload of 50 hours and they are not up to it, someone simply does not want to bother – Julia’s preventive measures. – And in general, Altai teachers are not enthusiastic about Moscow’s initiatives. In addition, top managers work in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and we have a penny. Teachers recently received an 8% salary increase, but the surcharge was removed, and the salary remained the same. It does not grow love for power, for the system.”
For a standard teacher’s delivery at 18 o’clock, it is impossible to live a salary. Therefore, students receive a minimum of 24 hours of work per month. “And even more, who will pull out how much,” says the teacher.
By the way, teachers for “Conversations about the important” are not paid extra. An hour of work has been added, but since it’s not officially a class, they actually have to teach it for free. Tatyana (name changed) is a Russian language teacher from Udmurtia – on this basis, she decided not to follow the training manual.
“They don’t pay me for this hour, I didn’t conclude an agreement on extracurricular activities with me, and I can conduct a class hour as I see fit. They are taken as cases of aggression in society,” Tatyana told the BBC.
From a legal point of view, for its consideration, it will be difficult, but in practice – discussion. “The director of the school is United Russia to the bone and a performer, but I hope that he is not a cannibal,” the teacher summed up.
“The Child of Expected Repression”
“Talk about the important” is optional not only for the teacher, but also for the study, because this, again, is not a lesson. The trade union “Alliance of the University” comes to this issue, which published instruction for parents, as an aspiration from this subject – to write an application addressed to the director.
Teacher Tatyana from Udmurtia is also the mother of a high school student. She wanted to write such a refusal from class hours, but her 16-year-old daughter forbade her.
“The child wants to be safe, reprisals are expected. The atmosphere [в классе] such that he came and served time, – Tatyana slowed down. – For this teacher, this is not exactly a formality, and he will be accepted, and you will not want to mess with every child. Who’s ready to say no.
Relations are really strained because of the war. Back in the spring, Peter’s son (his name has been changed), a fourth-grader from Ivanovo, said at school: “Glory to Ukraine!” It was at recess, but the teacher still heard, shouted at the boy that he had no right to speak like that, and turned the whole class against him, says Peter. Other children were ready to almost fight with him because of these words.
It came to the father with the director, who nevertheless apologized to Peter. And in the diary of Peter’s son, the teacher’s message in Ukrainian: “If this happens again, I will seek your structure! Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes! And follow the warships!”
To protect the child from accusations, Peter now teaches him that his opinion does not necessarily “stick out”: “I’m saying at the moment: there are quite a lot of stupid and intoxicated people with propaganda. You can have an opinion, but you need to hold it a little.”
In September, the son came from “Conversations about the Important” and told his dad that there was “complete patriotism” in the lesson. The teacher said that Americans live only for money and they “have no nations,” and also quotes Putin: “We, as martyrs, go to heaven, and they just die.”
But at the eldest daughter of Peter – she studied at another school – there was no propaganda at the “Conversations”, but they discussed entering the institute, a pressing topic for eleventh graders.
Now Peter is going to write to the school to refuse classes, as the Teacher’s Alliance advises.
Disagreeing loners and nodding parents
To forget the weekly “talk”, the student on the occasion of the necessary intercession of the parent. Tenth-grader Lisa from Voronezh basically wanted this lesson to be missed – and everyone around was worried that she would come.
Arriving at school for the second lesson, Liza said bluntly that she had not overslept, but had not come because this was an optional lesson. Then an unpleasant conversation took place with the class teacher and the head teacher: they defend that these lessons instill patriotism, that extracurricular activities are also obligatory for students, and apply to objections: “You will have the right to say this when you are completely summer.” Lisa’s mother, who maintains hope, according to the girl, yelled at herself and, out of fatigue, took away the laptop.
Most classmates just ignore “Talk about Important,” she says. The topic of war is not interesting to them at all. “Although I don’t understand how it can be uninteresting,” Lisa says. “This word is even inappropriate in this sense, because it’s important, you can’t help but think about it.” At the beginning of the war, she quarreled with a friend who spoke in favor of the war and insulted the Ukrainians.
Just a few days after the conflict at the school, tenth graders were sent a permanent schedule for the semester. “Conversations about the important” was not there. Surprised, Lisa asked the class teacher, and she said that there would be no more class hours: “Or maybe we will put the seventh lesson.”
“There are many examples where the right is left to those who were in the minority. This is supported,” says Lisa.
Elena from St. Petersburg (name changed) also presented herself in the minority. Or rather, alone. Many children: seven and twelve years old. And she is determined to keep them out of propaganda.
“The parents at the meeting nodded sweetly and took notes. No one raised the issue except me,” she gets upset. Elena said that her 12-year-old son is not obliged to come to the raising of the flag. She was told that attendance is mandatory and “this is federal law.”
In fact, there is no law, and Elena means: “There is no need to hold me for a ram. If every citizen refused what he has the right to, we would live in another country.”
She was lonely not only among other parents. After the outbreak of the war, she quarreled with her relatives: they supported the invasion, and even her Odessa father stopped communicating with Elena.
“I explain to the children that in a country where a dictatorship reigns, they are not lucky: their mother is a complete liberal,” she said. No, she did not get sick, that no war could be dangerous. In the summer, the boy stopped communicating with friends at the dacha, who were invading Ukraine.
Having learned about the new class hours, Elena immediately wrote a rejection of “Conversations about the Important”. But when the son came to the second lesson on Monday, the school attendant “slapped the child with a remark” because of being late, Elena says. She is going to school next Monday with her child to explain that it is her decision. She is militant.
“I strongly dislike the authorities: they rig elections, take under the hood in response to any stupid initiative of the state, without even thinking how to get around it,” Elena admits.
The son told Elena that he would not discuss the war in the team, so as not to give birth to a mother. “He is very afraid that his mother will be imprisoned,” she admits. “Yes, it’s really scary, but if you behave like a sheep to the slaughter, then it will get worse.”