Panteleeva Tatyana

Problems in teaching music at higher educational institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church and approaches to their solution (with theological academies and seminaries as examples)

Abstract

Current decrease in the general musical culture is inevitably reflected in the level of musical skills of new students of higher spiritual educational institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church; it also creates diffi culties in music teaching. At the same time, possession of the required competencies in the area of music theory is an urgent need in professional activities of graduate students. Currently, the only discipline providing for music education of the future clergy at the seminaries and academies is Church Singing. This discipline, as compared to other disciplines of the curriculum, has its own specifi city that determines its class and independent work of students, inventory and logistics management, tools and methods in mastering the subject. In this article we undertake the analyses of the existing problems in the studying of liturgical singing; present factors that negatively aff ect the educational process; analyse various practices of teaching singing; consider issues of providing for necessary conditions in receiving a high-quality education. We propose a number of measures to improve the musical and vocal level of students of theological educational institutions. Among many possible ways of solving the majority of problems in education the following are of top priority: partitioning students into smaller groups according to the level of musical training; providing all students with an opportunity to practise in parallel to the course (contextual training); development of specifi c teaching techniques for autonomous training in singing and learning church singing, and development of effi cient school books and training aids; inclusion of a course on vocal training in the curriculum; increase in the number of hours for class and personal work; active usage of innovative technology and interactive tools. Introduction of distant learning technologies at the extramural training departments of the Orthodox higher educational organisations together with the development and approbation of authorised online courses, including those from the field of music education, should be considered as positive dynamics in education.

Keywords

musical education of clergy, church singing, liturgical singing, specifics and problems of education, measures for increasing efficiency of musical education, Moscow Theological Academy, vocal training, distance learning technologies

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Information about the author

Panteleeva Tatyana

Place of work: Moscow Theological Academy; Sergiev Posad, 141300, Russian Federation;
ORCID: 0000-0001-8382-9620;
Email: pantavum@yandex.ru.