Second City Teachers managed to interview two Russian teachers who had
taken part in a
special Storytelling workshop through an organisation
called Context, which
organizes community projects in Saint Petersburg.
The teachers were
Elena Orlova ,an Associate Professor who is head
of the Academic
and Business Communication Department and her colleague,
Tania. Both work at
the graduate school of management at Saint
Petersburg University.
Both seem as fearless and forthright in their views
as the new generation
of school students which have emerged. Both are
open to new
experiences and views of doing things. For example, when
I made up a story of a
Russian soldier who had bitterly resigned his post
as an officer because
a new Tsar, Pavel had taken the throne, and turned
life into an endless
parade ground of drill {an end to dancing, playing
cards and drinking },
Elena retorted with a story of her own told from the
perspective of Poor
Pavel. That is Pavel found the army in a very dire
state. It needed
reform. So Elena tries to see both points of view.
{Editor's note Poor
Pavel was the late 18th century Tsar who came to
the throne following
the demise of Catherine the Great. He was overthrown
because of his
eccentric, erratic and capricious rule in 1801}
Second City Teachers
What is your opinion
concerning the Unitary State Exam? Does it represent
a regression compared
to the former Soviet System which is often deemed
as much better?
Elena Orlova
I think such a view is
just too simplistic and too general. I don't like over-
generalizations. My
opinion is that the very form is excellent as it gives
school leavers more
options to enter university. So physically, if a person
lives in the Far East
he has more opportunities to enter universities far
from his or her
location.So it economizes on time and effort. So students have
more choices open to
them.
In Russia we still
have great schools. We still have schools which specialize
in different topics such as physics. My son has happy memories of attending
his special school in physics. But we have to adapt those schools to the new
reforms in case we
lose something precious. So we have to adapt to the new
certification process
so we don't lose the best of the Soviet traditions.
Tania
I can't say I have a
confirmed point of view. I like the idea of a unified exam
system. The idea is
that it would more objective and easier to assess the
performance of
students.But it depends on the form and content of those
exams. Tests can kill
creativity.They are not meant to check all your knowledge
and facts. They can't
test all your abilities. I did not have to do such exams when
I was at school, but
only to write a composition for the literature course. It enabled
me to survive. Under
the present system it would not allow me to reveal my
abilities and I would
know little about criticism.There are also advantages to
being tested orally.
The Unitary State Exam
was designed to tackle corruption in Russia and offer
a fairer system.
However, a great intention turned out to be poorly implemented
as the almost 100%
marks which students gained in Dagestan a few years ago
indicates.{some
corrupt officials leaked the exam papers before the exam in
Russian} Of course,
maybe those exams are good for some subjects, but not
all. It might be good
for physics but bad for the humanities. And how do you check
critical thinking?
Elena Orlov
Good schools will find
ways on how to manage those tests. A good teacher
will always want to
find out about the expectations of his or her students and
follow up on the
outcome of the courses they have offered. I always try to
find out what exactly
are the wants of philosophy students or people working
in corporation
businesses. But a test is just a tool to help us. A test can be
absolutely badly
designed .
Tania
I have heard from a
teacher who takes 2nd grade Primary school teacher
that their best
geography student is an Australian. He has an Australian
father and Russian
mother. He is better at understanding geography
because he went to a
school who taught geography in a different way. They
don't just remain in
the classroom, but the teacher takes them out into the
forest to study nature
at first hand, whereas in our schools they tend to rely
mainly on the
textbooks and boards. Our geography is too bookish. Why can't
we go out of the
building into the countryside to study nature ? There is too big
a gap between academic
knowledge and every day practice.
Second City Teacher
What is your opinion
about the closure of so many schools and Universities
due to optimization ?
Elena Orlova
We are faced with a
lack of resources and there are cut backs. As many as
30% of staff are to be
reduced in my department.So we have to look for the
best teachers. I have
spent 7 years looking for the best teachers who are
the most creative. We
are very busy in our jobs we love them.
I have been following global events and how other schools work abroad.
I have noticed that in
some primary schools such as Finland the class
sizes are kept to a
minimum from 12-15 and that governments think that it is
important to invest in
their teachers. In other countries they teach pupils
what is called
Functional Literacy which means how a child acts in the
environment. For
example, can he ask the police for help or does he know
about getting medical
aid from a hospital? In Finland, the situation is fantastic.
If a child appears
from another country in Finland, the teacher assigned to
him or her will be
paid bonus if they take an introduction course in the pupil's
language. This is
because Finland does not want the pupil to forget his former
language and
roots.They don't want the pupil's to lose their identity in the host
country.
Unfortunately, in
Russia , we don't have such a high level of functional literacy
or investment in teaching.
We still have
excellent schools and you can misjudge. Once I was at a
special conference for
English teachers. I came across a teacher who I would
never have believed
was a teacher. She dressed and talked more like a
tram-driver. But I
later learnt that this was an excellent Russian English teacher
from Yekaterinburg who
had won 6 prizes for teaching English to blind children
in orphanages. Since
her pupils are blind, she does not have to dress up or
look great. After I
learnt this I felt ashamed for being so prejudiced. The main
point is that the
pupils are motivated, understand they have a future and the
teacher encourages
them.
Second City Teacher
One commonly hears
that the amount of paperwork to filled in by teachers
distracts them from
doing their job as well as leading to needless stress .
What do you think?
Elena Orlov
It can lead to a
teacher doing three or four times the amount of work. We
hope that the new
digital revolution will cut down the amount of paper
work and make life
easier. I'm not making everything digital, but only using
a balance combination.
But we are for introducing the latest advanced
techniques and are
very open to applying new ideas.
Second City Teacher
What is the difference
between your generation and the new?
Elena Orlov
Our present day school
children are not afraid. If you want to make a
distinction between my
generation and the next, we kept silent. We
could not speak
loudly. But now pupils are not afraid to express an
opinion to a teacher.
If you are a very good teacher, they will let you
know. You will always
be appreciated.
Tania
I recall I had a
French teacher who taught me French.We disliked how
we were taught and I
can't remember any of the French I was taught
then.
Second City Teacher
Has the study of science
in Russia declined?
Elena Orlova
It was very difficult
to study science in the Soviet Union. We could not
do anything without
applying for special permission to do this or that
project. There was a
lot of censorship.There were so many drawbacks
and restrictions. You
could not freely speak to foreigners . As I served
as an army officer for
3 years I had to sign documents saying I would
not reveal any
secrets. Of course there were grasses or informers who
would report you for
speaking with a foreigner or going to a forbidden
hotel where foreigners
often stayed. For example, a history teacher who
was 75 and taught Marxism-Leninism and was a great teacher,
reported me to the
authorities for visiting one hotel and I was summoned
by officials and given
a ticking off.
Second City Teacher
So you were not
imprisoned or fined?
Elena Orlov
No, because practical
common sense prevailed.
Of course, some
teachers were sent from Leningrad and Moscow
to the Siberia to
teach at local country schools. They were often
brilliant teachers. I
had one teacher of German who was a drunkard
and could be absent
from school. But when he did turn up and teach
he taught very well.
The pupils loved him and were always pleased
to see him arriving in
the classroom.
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