Russian Journal of Education and Psychology (Oct 2024)
TEACHER TRAINING AT PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS FACULTIES OF UNIVERSITIES IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE IN THE 19TH CENTURY: BETWEEN CLASSICISM AND REALISM
Abstract
Background. The reforms of universities in the early 19th century created a unique system of equal faculties: the previously preparatory faculty of philosophy divided into two faculties, one is history and philology and another one is physics and mathematics that changed the task from training future law and medical students to training staff for public service, primarily teachers for the developing network of schools. In 1828 the new statute of gymnasiums appeared, it was oriented towards the classical system that’s why the state needed mathematics teachers, but in the late 1830s physics and mathematics faculties were divided into departments of mathematical and natural sciences. This did not fit into the paradigm of school education, as there were no vacancies for science teachers in gymnasiums. The author proves the hypothesis about the school orientation of mathematics departments and the absence of it for the natural sciences departments. This hypothesis is also supported by the absence of state vacancies for natural sciences students. Purpose is to analyze the politics of the Ministry of Public Education in the sphere of training of pedagogical staff for secondary schools at the physics and mathematics departments of the universities of the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Materials and methods. The main research methods were historical-genetic and historical-comparative, which allowed to describe the studied phenomenon in its development and in the context of secondary school reforming. This research is based on statistical data extracted from archival documents and published in the Journal of the Ministry of Public Education, as well as opinion pieces on the organisation of teacher training at universities, which developed in the 1860s. Results. When physics and mathematics faculties appeared in the early 19th century, the Ministry of Public Education gave them the function of training teachers for the forming network of secondary schools, especially gymnasiums. However, the pedagogical institutes opened at universities had the task of training not only school teachers but also university teachers. By the end of the 1820s it was already clear that the pedagogical institutes could not cope with these broad powers, so the functions were divided and teacher training was entrusted to the renewed pedagogical institutes. University students, rather than graduates, were enrolled in them. An important role in the organization of pedagogical institutes under the statute of 1835 belonged to the new statute of gymnasiums of 1828, which made a turn to classical education. According to this law, gymnasiums did not need teachers of natural history, but only teachers of mathematics and physics. In this connection, the division of physics and mathematics faculties into departments of mathematical and natural sciences, adopted in 1836, entailed a division of functions: the mathematical departments were responsible for training teachers, while the natural sciences departments were deprived of such an opportunity. Apparently, the goal of training future economic managers such as landlords and public staff was envisioned for them. The pedagogical institutes were closed in the 1850s, and in 1860 they were replaced by pedagogical courses. The new statute of gymnasiums of 1864, somewhat oriented towards real education, did not last long and was finally replaced by the classical one in 1871. The victory of the classicist lobby in the ministry also affected the training of pedagogical staff at universities: pedagogical courses were closed in 1866, and the faculty of physics and mathematics was left without any pedagogical training at all. Classical gymnasiums allocated very few hours (2 hours per week during only one year) to natural science, and real education did not entitle graduates to enter universities. Even though natural sciences were included in the course of study of real schools in a larger number, they were more oriented to technical high schools. This created a kind of vicious circle: graduates of gymnasiums entered universities, but gymnasiums did not give a good preparation in natural science, which was studied at the natural sciences departments, graduates of these departments could count on vacancies not in gymnasiums, but in real schools and other types of schools, graduates of which were not admitted to universities without examinations.
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