Stanovskaya Tatiana

Methodological aspects of teaching catechism in orthodox schools of Russia: the experience of the past and the present day

Abstract

Since the end of the 1980s, confessional schools (parish and Sunday schools, Orthodox gymnasiums) begin to resume at Orthodox churches in which the teaching of religion was gradually returned, but the relevant method has not been properly developed. To solve this problem, the author considers it important to address the history of the issue. For several years, the sphere of her scientifi c interests has been the study of the methodical heritage of the teachers of the Russian school. The present article addresses the issue of methodological aspects of teaching catechism as an important part of the course “Fundamentals of the Orthodox Faith” (Religious Education), focusing mainly on the experience of pre-revolutionary teachers of religious education and correlating it with the problems of modern school. In order to make the reader familiar with the stages in developing the content of Catechism, the article uses a constructive genetic method (studying the issue in time and space, identifying the stages in their genesis); sourcecritical analysis of educationalists’ works, legislation statutes, historical and comparative method; synthesis and interpretation of the information obtained. On the basis of study of documentary normative sources and works of teachers of religious education, the article presents a brief historical background as to the emergence and development of the Catechism as a special kind of religious literature containing the guidance and basic provisions of the Christian faith. The article also deals with methodological aspects of teaching Catechism, available in the works of teachers of religious education in the second half of the 19th — early 20th centuries, i.e. the time when the method of teaching religious subjects was in the period of its formation and development. The following topics are also dealt with: explanation of educational material (knowledge component), teaching method (catechetical conversation), moral application (connection with the life of the student), consolidation of the studied material (method of memorisation by heart), etc. The article is concluded with the author’s refl ections on the state of the method of teaching catechism as part of the subject “Fundamentals of the Orthodox Faith” in modern Orthodox schools in Russia and the prospects for the development of teaching methods in this sphere.

Keywords

catechism, religious education, Sacred History, methods of teaching, Orthodox doctrine, Fundamentals of Orthodox Faith, teacher of religious education, explanation of material, method of memorisation, moral application, Orthodox school

References

1. Bogdanova A. (2014). Metodika prepodavaniia Zakona Bozhiia: v pomoshch' uchiteliu tserkovnoi shkoly [Methods of Religious Education: Helping the Teacher of the Church School]. Ekaterinburg (in Russian).
2. Bychkova V. (2009) “Nekotorye momenty iz istorii prepodavaniia Zakona Bozhiia v Rossii” [Some Moments from the History of Religious Education in Russia]. Vestnik PSTGU, 2009, 1 (12). pp. 7–20. (in Russian).
3. Divnogortseva S. (2015) “Metodika prepodavaniia pravoslavnoi kul'tury kak novaia oblast' didakticheskoi nauki” [“Methods of Teaching Orthodox Culture as a New Area of Didactic Science”]. Vestnik Pravoslavnogo Sviato-Tikhonovskogo Gumanitarnogo Universiteta. Seriia IV: Pedagogika. Psikhologiia, 2 (37), pp. 89–97 (in Russian).
4. Proekt Katekhizisa Russkoi Pravoslavnoi Tserkvi [Catechism Project of the Russian Orthodox Church], available at: http://theolcom.ru/images/2017/КатехизисСББК_Проект.pdf (24.09.2019)
5. Sinelnikov S. P. Prepodavanie Zakona Bozhiia v uchebnyh zavedeniiakh Rossii do 1917 g., available at: http://archive.bogoslov.ru/text/print/453126.html

Information about the author

Stanovskaya Tatiana

Place of work: St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University for the Humanities; 6/1 Likhov pereulok, Moscow, 127051, Russian Federation;
Post: Lecturer;
ORCID: 0000-0001-9667-6125;
Email: taaldu@gmail.com.