Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 1991 A.S. Makarenko's General Educational Ideas and Their Applicability to a Non-Totalitarian Society Rose Edwards Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Edwards, Rose, "A.S. Makarenko's General Educational Ideas and Their Applicability to a Non-Totalitarian Society" (1991). Dissertations. 2755. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/2755 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1991 Rose Edwards A. S. MAKARENKO'S GENERAL EDUCATIONAL IDEAS AND THEIR APPLICABILITY TO A NONTOTALITARIAN SOCIETY by Rose Edwards A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Loyola University of Chicago in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy April 1991 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am very grateful for the advice and valuable suggestions given by the director of my committee, Dr. Gerald L. Gutek. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the members of my committee, including Dr. Joan K. Smith, (also my graduate advisor), Dr.John M. Wozniak, and Dr. H. c. Sherman for their interest in and support of this study. My sincere appreciation is extended to Professor Dr. Leonhard Froese, founder and director of the Philipps University Research Center for comparative Education in Marburg, Germany, and to Dr. Gotz Hillig, head of the Research Center's Makarenko Department, for providing me with much of the necessary research materials. Their help and support have made this study possible. Special thanks goes to the librarians of Loyola University of Chicago, Dr. Yolande Wersching and Vanessa Crouther, for their professional assistance, and to Charlene Breedlove for her skillful editing of this dissertation. Their help was sincerely appreciated. Above all, I am deeply grateful to my husband, Gordon, for his understanding and encouragement. ii A NOTE TO THE READER 1. Transliteration All Russian terms have been transliterated from Cyrillic into Roman letters. 2. Oates All dates up to January, 1918, are based on the "old style" Russian calendar. 3. Pronunciation The correct pronunciation of Makarenko's name, according to James Bowen, should be stressed in the middle, and sound something like M'kar-i-enko. 4. Spelling In the English literature, Russian names and terms have diverse spellings. Guided by the advice of Professor Irwin Weil, Slavic Department, Northwestern University, the standard for appropriate spelling was that of the Library of Congress system, except for commonly used words whose spelling diverged from this system. In this case, the commonly used spelling was chosen. 5. Translation Except where otherwise stated, all translations from German into English were made by the author. 6. Authenticity To the extent possible, the author has drawn on the currently available volumes of A. s. Makarenko Gesammelte Wer]ce, Marburger Ausgabe [A. s. Makarenko Collected Works, Marburg Edition]. The Marburg Edition has been considered authentic. iii VITA The author, Rose Edwards, is the daughter of Theodor E. Schwenk and Else (Grimminger) Schwenk. She was born October 7, 1940, in Gottingen, Germany. Her elementary and secondary education was obtained at the Freie Waldorfschule Engelberg near Stuttgart, Germany, where she graduated in 1957. In September 1962, Ms. Edwards entered the Stadtische Fachschule fur Beschaftigungstherapie Munchen (Municipal vocational School for Occupational Therapy, Munich), where she received a Diploma in Occupational Therapy in 1964. Ms. Edwards also holds a "Certificate of Proficiency in English" from the University of Cambridge, England (1969), and a "Diploma for the French Language" from the Alliance Franqaise, Paris, France (1961). In 1970, Ms. Edwards immigrated to the United States. She received the degree of Master of Arts in Education from Adelphi University, Garden City, New York in 1978, and the degree of Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Therapy from National College of Education (since 1990 renamed National-Louis University) in 1983. Ms. Edwards worked in Esperanza School for Handicapped Children as teacher and program director from 1970-1988. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii A NOTE TO THE READER . iii VITA • iv Chapter INTRODUCTION 1 I. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND • • . 18 The Russian Revolution 21 Early Soviet Education 32 The Besprizorniki 48 II. MAKARENKO'S LIFE . 55 Childhood in Belopole 62 Anton Makarenko's Family •.••• 66 Years of Adolescence: 1901-1904 . 71 Young Adulthood and Early Career: 1905- 1914 . • . 79 Poltava, the Teachers' Institute: 1914- 1917 . 87 Pedagogical Experiments: 1917-1919 • • • 93 Educating the Besprizorniki: 1920-1937 99 Makarenko's Last Years: 1937-1939 •••• 106 III. MAKARENKO'S MAJOR WRITINGS 114 Books and Novels • . • . • . • • 119 Makarenko's Shorter Published Works 124 Pedagogicheskaia Poema • . • • • • 129 IV. THE INFLUENCE OF MAXIM GORKY ON MAKARENKO • 150 Gorky, the Way he Was • • . • • • • • . 152 Gorky Enters Makarenko's Life 159 Gorky's Influence on Makarenko's Pedagogical Work . • . • . • . • • • • . 163 Gorky's Friendship • . • . • • • • 168 Gorky, Makarenko's Literary Mentor . • . 179 v V. CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING MAKARENKO'S IDEAS •. AND PRACTICES • . • . 189 Tenets of Early soviet Education . 191 Makarenko's Views on Controversies . • . 197 Findings of the Marburg Research . 208 Changes in the 1930s . • • . • . 218 Conflicts in the Dzerzhinsky Commune . 221 Posthumous Glorification • • . • • . 231 VI. MAKARENKO'S EDUCATIONAL THEORIES 239 The Genesis of Makarenko's Educational Ideas . • . • . 243 Makarenko's Image of Man • • . • . • • • 253 Makarenko's Educational Aims . • . • . 260 Makarenko's Pedagogical categories • . 288 Makarenko's Educational Values • • . • 315 VII. THE GENERAL CONTRIBUTION OF MAKARENKO'S EDUCATIONAL IDEAS . • . • • . • 332 Social and Political context • . • . • • • 332 Ideas and Practices of General Educational Value • . • • • • • • . • • . • . • 341 VIII. AFTERMATH: A REINTERPRETATION OF MAKARENKO 381 In Search of the Historically "True" Makarenko • • • • . • . • . • . • . • 383 Anton S. Makarenko's General Educational Ideas and Their Applicability in Nontotalitarian Societies 409 REFERENCES 422 vi INTRODUCTION Already during his lifetime, Soviet educator and writer Anton s. Makarenko (1888-1939) was subject of much discussion and controversy in the Soviet Union; after his death, as his writings were translated and published in countries around the world, he gained international recognition. Scholars worldwide have interpreted his educational concepts in widely divergent ways. Sanctified after his death by Soviet educators, Makarenko is often described as the father of Soviet pedagogy and founder of communist education. Some Western educators have considered Makarenko a pedagogical genius, a creative teacher, a great humanitarian; others have seen in him a political ideologue who put pedagogy into the service of communism. In 1968, Leonhard Froese, founder and director of the Philipps University's Research Center for Comparative Education in Marburg, Germany, established a Makarenko Department within the research center. The Makarenko Department has made its sole aim the study of Anton Makarenko's life, work, and international reception. When asked by a visitor from the USSR why he and scholars at the Makarenko Department occupied themselves with Makarenko, Froese explained that Makarenko had captured their special 1 2 interest because they believed that a "modern classic of pedagogy" (Froese's words) had not yet been sufficiently explored. Froese and researchers at the Makarenko Department distinguished Makarenko not only as the most outstanding Soviet pedagogue, but also as the most significant pedagogical writer in the Russian language, who, as Froese expressed it, had "something to say" to his own people as well as the rest of the world. Elsewhere, Froese elaborated this view: Forty years of Makarenko in Germany, twenty-five years of Makarenko research, fifteen years of personal pursuits with Makarenko, and still--one might object-­ no end. Yet we [scholars at the Makarenko Department] know no answer other than a question in return: Will men ever have fully researched and explored a Comenius, a Rousseau, a Pestalozzi, or a Tolstoy to the point of having "enough" of him? A. s. Makarenko, the youngest among equals, is a phenomenon whom we have barely just begun to recognize and to interpret for the pedagogy of our and other times. 1 The Makarenko Department in Marburg is the only Makarenko research center outside the USSR. (A more detailed description of their activities will follow.) Their research--since 1968 pursued by full- and-part-time specialists--and findings have changed the field of Makarenko scholarship and must be seen as a watershed in the Makarenko inquiry, providing for the first time a scientific basis for the appraisal of Makarenko's life and 1Leonhard Froese, in Gatz Hillig, ed., Makarenko in Deutschland 1927-1967. Texte und Berichte [Makarenko in Germany 1927-1967. Texts and reports] (Braunschweig: Georg Westerman, 1967), 27. 3 work.