From More Advanced Industrial Countries, and Bold New Strokes Of
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 029 793 24 SE 006 763 By-Jahn. Harvey R.: Medlin. William K. Reforms in Mathematics Education for Secondary Schools: Historical Trends in Russian and American Education. Final Report. Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor. Spons Agency-Office of Education (DHEW). Washington. D.C. Bureau of Research. Bureau No-BR-7-E-021 Pub Date Feb 69 Contract- OEC-1 -7-070021 -5012 Note- 395p. EDRS Price MF-$1.50 HC-$19.85 Descriptors-.Algebra.CurriculumDevelopment.EducationalPolicy.Geometry.History.Mathematics Education. Secondary School Mathematics. Socioeconornic Influences The deveiopment of educational policy in Russia during the Soviet period. 1917-1930. and the relationship of that policy to Russia's educational heritage was investigated. Analyzed was the extent to which educational policies under the new regime actually succeeded in departing from cultural patterns established in the older society. Since mathematics education is less susceptible than many other disciplines to ideological inroads, it provided a particularly good vehicle for determining the amount and quality of a key segment of cultural heritage transmitted from one generation to another. This research indicates that mathematics education has retained significant amounts of its heritage throughout the period. The probable significance of the Soviet experience for developing nations is clear: Ambitious educational borrowing from more advanced industrial countries, and bold new strokes of reform by revolutionary idealists, do not easily fit into the social and cultural context of the time and place. (RP) a a E-0 /cii,e pR FINAL REPORT Project No. 7-E-021 Contract No. OEC-1-7-070021-5012 Reforms in Mathematics Education for Secondary Schools: Historical Trends in Russian and American Education February 1969 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT.POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE DA 44,sOly, ly Office of Education aI Bureau of Research Final Report Project No. 7-E-021 Contract No. OEC-1-7-070021-5012 REFORMS IN MATHEMATICS EDUCATION FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS: HISTORICAL TRENDS IN RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN EDUCATION Harvey R. Jahn and William K. Medlin The University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan February 1969 The research reported herein was performed pursuant to a contract with the Office of Education, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Contractors undertaking such projects under Government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their professional judgment in the Conduct of the project. Points of view or opinions stated do not, therefore, necessarily represent official Office of Education position or policy. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE Office of Education Bureau of Research TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES LIST uF DIAGRAiiS AND APPENDICES vii PREFACE viii SUMMARY 1 Chapter I. THE NATURE OF EDUCATIONAL POLICY STUDY IN THE RUSSIAN CONTEXT lf Introduction lf Statement of the problem 3 Significance of the study 11 Notes on sources 17 Nature of the research methodology 21 Objectives of the study 26 II. THE IMPERIAL HERITAGE IN EDUCATION 29 Part I. The General Education Structure Pre-Revolutionary elementary institutions 29 Pre-Revolutionary secondary institutions 35 Pre-Revolutionary higher educational institutions 53 Part II. The Vocational/Technical Structure Introduction: the relative significance of vocational/ technical education in Imperial Russia 76 Pre-Revolutionary lower/secondary educational institutions 80 Pre-Revolutionary higher educational institutions 89 III. ECONOMIC AND PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF SOVIET EDUCATION POLICY 103 ii IV. PROVIDING THE FRAMEWORK FOR THE NEW SOVIET SCHOOL 127 (1917-1923) Educational policy as a means for socio-cultural change 127 The new framework 128 The State Scientific Council (GUS) 140 The development of mathematics programs for the Unlfied Labor School (1918-1920) 142 Problems in vocational education 159 Mathematizs as a reflection of the Marxist philosophy of science 169 The flourishing of the "syllabi-minimum" 175 V. TRADITION AND CHANGE IN EDUCATIONAL POLICY AND PRACTICE 178 (1923-1928) Laying the groundwork for educational change: the 1923 Education Act and its impact on practice 178 The 1923 New Programs for the Unified Labor School of the GUS 185 Progressive tendencies in the teaching of mathematics in Imperial Russia 193 Implications of the Imperial experience for a cycle of reform in the teaching of mathematics 205 Theoretical implications 205 Practical implications 210 Programs of the GUS and the deterioration of the textbook 217 Attempt by the GUS to entrench its own programs 224 Shortcomings of the first GUS programs 230 Challenging the authority of the GUS--the sobering effect of educational failure and the counterthrust of independent activity 239 The symbiotic nature of Soviet secondary education during the "period f the capture of the school by the Party": the "escape" of the Nine-Year School 249 A major exception to the concept of the Unified Labor School: the Rabfak 256 The dichotomy of the "complex" and laboratory systems: different means to achieve like ends 266 VI. RESOLVING THE CONFLICT IN EDUCATIONAL POLICY .... 273 (1928-1936) Administrative and quantitative analysis of Soviet educational policy 273 Advent of the transform-tion of the Unified Labor School 278 Evidences of continuity in mathematics educational policy between Imperial Russia and Soviet Russia.of 1927-1929 310 The response of the Soviet elementary school of the late twenties and early thirties: the momentum of the "complex" versus the rein- statement of traditional policies 323 Effects on the teaching of mathematics of the "leap forward" in education in 1929-1930 332 "Renaissance" of Imperial education: restoration by legislation 334 VII. OBSERVATIONS ON THE CONFLICT BETWEEN IDEOLOGY, REALITY, AND HERITAGE IN EDUCATION POLICY 350 APPENDICES 364 BIBLIOGRAPHY 366 iv It LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Administration of Elementary Schools, 1898-1911....... 30 2 Municipal School Curriculum (1872) (Number of Weekly Hours) OOOOOOOOO OOOOOO . 0 0 33 3 District School Curriculum (1828) (Number of Hours per Week) 34 4 Curricula of Gymnasia in 1864 (Number of Weekly Lessons /Every Lesson = 1 1/4 Hoursj ) 38 Secondary School Curricula under the Ignatiev Plan (1916) (Total Study Hours per Level per Week According to Type of School)OOOOO ..40 OOOOOOOOOO 42 6 Comparison of Mathematics Curricula of Pre-Revolutionary Secondary Schools by Class Groups (Number of Hours per Week) 44 7 Four-Year Program of Physico-Mathematical Faculty of Moscow University by Departments (1863) (Number of Hours per Week) 61 8 Organization of the Physico-Mathematical Faculty of Moscow University, 1863-1915OOOOO 0 OOOOOOOOOO 69 9 Faculty Enrollments in Moscow University, 1895-1916SOO 72 10 Comparison of General Educational and Vocational/ Technical Structures of Imperial Education, 1914/1915 77 11 Production in Major Industries in Imperial Russia (in Tons), 1860-1900OOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO . .0 82 12 Curriculum of Molodechno Teachers Seminary (Number of Hours per Week) 84 13 Number and Enrollment of Teachers Seminaries in Imperial Russia 86 14 Higher Educational Institutions of the Vocational/ Technical Structure of Imperial Russia, 1914-1915... 9 J 15 Special High Pedagogical Institutions in Imperial Russia, 1914-15 96 16 Occupational Dynamics of the Soviet Intelligentsia, 1926 vs. 1927 (All Figures in Thousands) 122 17 Maximum Curriculum for the Second Level of the Unified Labor School (1920) (Hours per Week) 147 18 A Comparison of the Major Policies of the Education Acts of 1918 and 1923 181 19 Weekly Number of Hours Allocated to Mathematics in Second Level Educational Programs of L.G.O.N.O. According to Bias (1925) 252 20 Curricula of the "Technical Trend" of the Rabfak in 1927/1928 (Hours per Week) 259 21 Representative Mathematics Topics of the Laboratory System of Study (N. I. Bukharin Rabfak, 1924-1925).. 265 22 The State System of Public Education in the U.S.S.R. According to Its Three Structures of Education in 1928 275 23 Curriculum of the First Cycle of the Second Level of the Unified Labor School (Hours per Week) 279 24 Compendium of Principal Legislation on Soviet Education, 1928-1937 287 25 Curriculum of the Second Level of the Unified Labor School in 1927 (Excluding the "Special Subjects" of Grades VIII and IX) 312 26 Education Plan of the Second Level of the Ten-Year School (1929) (Hours per Week) 321 27 Standard Mathematics Textbooks Approved in 1933 339 28 Mathematics Curriculum of the Soviet Ten-Year School (1934-1955) 342 vi , II LIST OF DIAGRAMS AND APPENDICES Page Diagram Paradigm on the Conduct of Policy in a Centralized Educational System 24 II Reforms in Teaching Within the Context of the Conduct of Educational Policy 211 III Administration of Soviet Education (1920's) 274 Appendix A Sample "Complex" (Grade III, First Level of the Unified Labor School, 1925) 365 vii SUMMARY This study investigates a problem in the developmentof educational policy during the early Soviet period andthe rela- tionship of that policy to Russia's educational heritage. The problem einerges from the historical context ofa revolution which declared a sharp cultural break with the valuesystems of the past. The question to determine is, to whatextent did educational policies