Lev Lurie: We immerse children in cold water, then in hot Bashny.Net

Journalist, historian and founder of the classical school in St. Petersburg Lev Lurie told why home schooling is idiotic, why do modern students of Greek language and what a child needs for a successful future.





— Tell us about You founded 27 years ago 610-th classical gymnasium: what plans worked and what not?

— Since the 80-ies, I was tutoring many of my friends too. And, of course, we observed the level of students and, most importantly, the growing corruption of the system of secondary and especially higher education. The results of the exams did not correlate with knowledge.

We had three preconditions for the opening of the gymnasium. The first is General dissatisfaction with the school and gained personal experience of intensive teaching. The second is a long — standing dream of St. Petersburg specialists, classical philologists, on the establishment in Russia of at least one classical school, such as it was, before the revolution. It was the understanding that the system of education as the primary failed, but as an exception it may exist. The third reason was the fact that many of us have erected children and needed a place to teach.

As a result, in his home of the 30th school I organized the first 2-class Latin, and then 30-I school wisely realized that we pushed it to the other side, and we parted amicably. Got a room, we're a public school, Anatoly Sobchak gave the room. September 1, 1991 we opened at the place which is now occupied.

I must say that the goals that we have set ourselves are achieved: the creation of an entirely honest in the sense of taking the school where it is very difficult to learn and which do not prepare for entry into certain Universities. As one of the founders, the main goal of our school to life honey did not seem.

Once we had two Parallels in the two classes, and now the full column from the 5th to 11th. Before the backbone of the school were always people for whom teaching was not the main profession, the main activity was the science. Now, unfortunately, we have this principle of recruitment to give. We had different teachers.

I think that the General or average level of teaching staff, and this inevitably became a little less bright. But, in principle, every year we have a contest 4-5 people in place, and results that show our students is 100% admission in the leading Universities, usually





— How to practice your principle of "teach to learn"?

— The main problem of education as a system that does not understand neither parents, nor the deputies: we teach children for a life about which know nothing. Roughly speaking, now a large demand for lawyers and programmers or prosecutors, and we give the child to the relevant UNIVERSITY, believing that he will fall into the same situation that was when he was enrolled in the school or when his parents did. And he finds himself in a completely different situation, and most of the graduates we know are not working in their specialty.

The task of the school lies precisely in the fact that a man, who we learn could change, to relearn and to do what suits him. If a person took some very complex systems, such as in sports training, he will be able to adapt to any changes.

So it was with our first graduates of the 95-year: then there was a huge demand for journalism and a huge number of people without any higher education, went on television and in magazines and absolutely not lost. And the same goes for everything else: then you can go to a programmer, a designer, a doctor, want to get education abroad in the German language, well, difficulties will not.





This multi-vector policy we try to give by immersing students in cold, then in hot water. Then you're studying the correct Latin language with a very small number of exceptions, it is absolutely logical system, then moving on to Greek, which consists entirely of exceptions.

You study mathematics, it is quite inaccurate science history. It was built on the classical gymnasium, which was taken from Germany: it was created for the education officials — people who can formulate rules and laws for any life or state of conflict.

— You are in high school the classic system? Five point?

— Classic 5 points. But it seems to me that this is not very important: no matter what to evaluate. The rating is a signal for the student and his parents only if it is deuce. The three of us perfectly normal mark, she did not particularly care. To 11 th grade children are starting to learn better by marks, because they understand what value they have. And 5-x, 6-x is full of underachievers. So two "deuces" in the quarter we kicked out.

— What is the role of the teacher for the student?

A teacher should ideally be a bright personality, which I would like to emulate. Although it is clear that in life not every teacher is such a person.

The idea of education in the Soviet school I think is totally wrong, raising children is not a lecture, but a serious attitude to learning. But the school has a well-developed leisure sector, as we have a lot of tourist undertakings, especially a lot of theatre. And if the General tone of a certain school, the people there speak good language, it is not accepted to swear loudly, that in itself brings. Children are not afraid, happy, happy.

— Not tired?

— Of course they get tired. But the kids are highly adaptive. If the 7th or 8 th grade has reached the student, have to write off have learned, and simplify your preparation in the subjects. Although it's wrong, but we understand that it is inevitable. That is, if you're going to get, then give the hand, but if not caught — not a thief.

— Do I understand correctly that if you leave your school, you mainly in the 5-6 grades, not yet used to the load?

— We always have some number of children who leave after the 7th grade. 8 th grade take the school of mathematics, and it often happens that parents want "sit" at a good school until the 8th grade, then to leave in the 239-th Lyceum. We about it do not experience. Although sometimes there is jealousy when a good boy or girl transferred to another school.

Another thing if we see that the child is really hard to learn, we try to convince parents that they child was taken. Give them time to find another school, put the child a positive mark when he leaves us. We remember the old school "Man in a case", the memories of Chukovsky: well, if this is not Greek, but it is really hard, why suffer?





You for competition in the school environment between students? She felt in high school?

— The kids are competing for a completely different. Love is not for what is good learning. These, rather, not love. Love cute, sociable, easy, decent, brave. Such competition, of course, is and always will be. There are conceited kids who want to be winners of all competitions and control. That's okay too, within statistics.

— What do You see as the flaws and weaknesses in the Russian school education system?

— About Russia do not know about this city can say. In St. Petersburg in recent years has been formed or strengthened several of the schools, I think 10-15 of a very good standard. I mean public schools. With private is not gone, we now have enough solvent population. Although there are good private schools. But we have very few and they are very small. So we have no alternative.

That's about 10-15 public schools, as a rule, the lyceums and gymnasiums: Physical and mathematical Lyceum of physics and technology, Akademicheskaya gimnaziya, 470-I the Kalinin district, our, 30th, 39th, "Earth and universe" on Vasilevsky island, 56-I — good schools, though different. The problem is that due to the very low salaries of teachers is a process, as physicists say, dissociation: when all the strong teachers and strong students all going to the same schools.

But the school district has fallen dramatically in comparison with Soviet time. Gradually, we have a problem of school-ghettos in America, and it is fraught.





— What parents in the neighborhood to do? To Supplement the training somewhere on the side?

— First, parents need to be more active, it is a right spelled out in the legislation. Now, fortunately, in the sphere of preschool education there was a powerful movement of private kindergartens. Created private primary schools. If you are an intelligent person and reaching out to the knowledge, then go to work in the school, as did we.

I have a vague idea about the system of school education, but I think that the Palace of youth creativity is still working well and, of course, children need to give back.

Another alternative, which is now developing a House Lurie and 610-I high school, the idea of additional paid education. The problem here is that every 4th person that comes to our school, there does not arrive. For the money and the clout we categorically do not take it we have the original story.

Even because we are so noble and humane, but simply because, if the child has no abilities, he in this school learn to be an agony to witness. On the other hand, we have a demand problem, which finds no market supply, and we have another problem — we want to pay teachers.

There are schools that are gaining immense parallel, for example, 10 classes, in which 3 is formed on the basis of competition, and the rest is not said openly, but I know there is a saying: "how can you help the school?" so the other are the parents that help the school. And it's a good idea: parents give some money, and in return receive the same teachers who teach the first three grades, and the overall atmosphere.

School is a place of socialization. What we teach Latin, Greek, German and English, is good. But it is important that the children come into contact with equal. They have produced such an intelligent environment, which then persists for life. We have a very strong alumni, so I keep watching.

Paid classes we decided to create and decided to do like clubs for children 10-12 years in core subjects of our course. There will be an introduction to the antiquity and the elements of Latin, history of Greece, is a circle of"Favorite children's books". Will mathematics, the solution to combinatorial logic problems pretty. I will be teaching an introduction to Russian history. Is art history. I think we will do another drama. And will continue to increase.

It is clear that the crisis and the parents are now not really a lot of money, so of course there is a moral issue to take 1500 rubles per lesson once a week. But life is that if you have a really bright kid and you and him are very much involved in, he comes to us for free and we teach it for free. Why some of your children we can't teach for a fee? The demand is there even at these prices. I think we shall find several Parallels.

— How do you feel about homeschooling?

— In 90% of cases when it is not true of children with the disease, it is idiocy. Education — not only training, but also socialization. We live in a world that is filled with people of different social status, nationality, political beliefs, and we need the child to get used to it, starting from school.

— Don't want to say a truism that today is a difficult time for the teaching of history, but still: what the textbooks now to learn? Anyone read it?

— I myself do not teach from textbooks. The availability of the Internet gives opportunity to find everything related to terminology. Of course, it is necessary to give a list of references, it is desirable to analyze historical sources.

Overall, the panic experienced by the parents about the impact of the current ideological dogmas in schooling, greatly exaggerated. Because the teacher always left alone with the class. And if the teacher, relatively speaking, a Stalinist, is it not knock. If he's Russian, Tatar, Jewish nationalist, then he is going to burst. If he is a liberal, Westerner, European, that, too, is this impossible to hide.

We all studied in the Soviet school, we had different teachers, but I wanted to tell the teacher, we always felt. I think no matter the teacher — or teachers of literature or history — to impose any ideology, including liberal. Exclamation point, emphasis, emotion, with tears in the eyes I think are disgusting and non-teaching. Emotions cause the selection of the facts, that children read, you know? No need to over-tighten when you talk about the siege of Leningrad: it is in itself produces a tragic impression. Need to be a monster, so she did not made.

You will be it is interesting that This lesson children will remember for a long time

How not to raise children: a 10 "not" Yulia Gippenreiter

 

— What it means for you "to be a successful person"? What is important is whether you personally for this category?

— I am a man of vanity, I success criteria are quite important. In the words of Pasternak, "shamefully knew nothing, to be a parable on lips at all". I want to be a parable on lips at someone and mean something. I think that at my age, "success" is popular in the city. When the city knows the person if he achieved something. And in a professional environment. It is clear that there is a Hamburg score, and if the person is engaged in science, colleagues know that he is not just a mathematician, Perelman, and has the same writers, the artists. I think the most important thing in life is self — realization.published

 

 

Author: Lev Lurie

Interviewed By: Anastasia Dmitrieva

 

 

P. S. And remember, only by changing their consumption — together we change the world! ©

Source: www.littleone.ru/articles/more/raznoe/1651