At Moscow State Pedagogical Gymnasium, history books whose pages glorify past communist leaders are stacked in a corner of the library, to be used as occasional reference books. Nearby, piles of new textbooks lie on the floor, waiting for space on crowded shelves.
To complement its new curriculum, the school has replaced Soviet-era textbooks with new titles such as, "The Alphabet of Business Relations," "History of the Fatherland for Children and Young People," and "Rights of the Citizen." But many of the books on order, including some on contemporary history, have yet to arrive. So far, only half of the books being used at the school are new.
A wealth of new textbooks is available in Russia this year, in topics ranging from history, economics and literature to philosophy and religion. But although schools are free to choose which of the new texts they want, a few wrinkles remain: In terms of both quality and quantity, the ground-breaking books still have a way to go.
"This is the first generation of books," said Michael Levit, the gymnasium's deputy director. "Only the next generation will be really interesting."
Hundreds of textbooks have been published to catch up with new curricula and to counter the lack of printed materials in new fields of interest. Over 75 million new textbooks have been distributed by the Education Ministry, to the 20.5 million children who study in the country's 70,000 schools. That is a lot of books, but not quite enough -- many schools still have to buy texts from other publishers, or continue to use old texts.
At Gymnasium of Humanities No. 1504, too, only about half the books are new. Children still learn to read with traditional texts featuring Young Pioneers in red scarves, supplemented occasionally by more recent books.
Olga Yevtseva, who teaches literature at 1504 and can now include poets Anna Akhmatova and Osip Mandelstam in her program, does not find much use for the new arrivals. "They're better than before but still not very good," she said.
Some of the most visible and long-awaited changes are in the history texts. Natalya Massa, who teaches history at 1504, said she was very happy to be rid of Marxism-Leninism in class.
"We don't have to study class struggles anymore," she said. "We can talk about the history of civilization and of people. It's more interesting. Now students know what's true and what's not."
Lenin was formerly used as a figurehead for nearly every subject, including foreign languages. "Students had to learn English using texts that talked about the anniversary of the Revolution and of Lenin," said Galina Gualeva, who teaches English at the school. "It's better than before because we have a choice. Before, the same author wrote all the textbooks for all the classes." Still, she added, she found the new Russian textbooks lifeless and gray, and specially asked her students to buy British books to complement her lessons.
Indeed, the look of the new texts is, as a rule, less impressive than their revised content. Presentation and printing quality have not changed much since Soviet times: Most of the texts still have the density of a bible, with only a few black-and-white pictures and thin, graying paper.
As most schools experiment with their new textbooks, dozens more innovative books -- with titles like "St. Petersburg in Russian Literature" and "Before the Holiday," children's stories about religious holidays -- are still in a preliminary stage, being used by the Center for Humanities Education in 1,000 test schools around the country. If the texts are deemed successful, they will eventually be distributed throughout the school system. The center, formed by the Education Ministry, is also training and paying teachers to learn how to use the books.
"These textbooks focus not just on knowledge but also on developing the potential of each student," said Viktor Belyavsky, the center's director. "Most importantly, they teach humanitarian principles -- the right of the individual, and the right to choice and freedom of conscience."
To complement its new curriculum, the school has replaced Soviet-era textbooks with new titles such as, "The Alphabet of Business Relations," "History of the Fatherland for Children and Young People," and "Rights of the Citizen." But many of the books on order, including some on contemporary history, have yet to arrive. So far, only half of the books being used at the school are new.
A wealth of new textbooks is available in Russia this year, in topics ranging from history, economics and literature to philosophy and religion. But although schools are free to choose which of the new texts they want, a few wrinkles remain: In terms of both quality and quantity, the ground-breaking books still have a way to go.
"This is the first generation of books," said Michael Levit, the gymnasium's deputy director. "Only the next generation will be really interesting."
Hundreds of textbooks have been published to catch up with new curricula and to counter the lack of printed materials in new fields of interest. Over 75 million new textbooks have been distributed by the Education Ministry, to the 20.5 million children who study in the country's 70,000 schools. That is a lot of books, but not quite enough -- many schools still have to buy texts from other publishers, or continue to use old texts.
At Gymnasium of Humanities No. 1504, too, only about half the books are new. Children still learn to read with traditional texts featuring Young Pioneers in red scarves, supplemented occasionally by more recent books.
Olga Yevtseva, who teaches literature at 1504 and can now include poets Anna Akhmatova and Osip Mandelstam in her program, does not find much use for the new arrivals. "They're better than before but still not very good," she said.
Some of the most visible and long-awaited changes are in the history texts. Natalya Massa, who teaches history at 1504, said she was very happy to be rid of Marxism-Leninism in class.
"We don't have to study class struggles anymore," she said. "We can talk about the history of civilization and of people. It's more interesting. Now students know what's true and what's not."
Lenin was formerly used as a figurehead for nearly every subject, including foreign languages. "Students had to learn English using texts that talked about the anniversary of the Revolution and of Lenin," said Galina Gualeva, who teaches English at the school. "It's better than before because we have a choice. Before, the same author wrote all the textbooks for all the classes." Still, she added, she found the new Russian textbooks lifeless and gray, and specially asked her students to buy British books to complement her lessons.
Indeed, the look of the new texts is, as a rule, less impressive than their revised content. Presentation and printing quality have not changed much since Soviet times: Most of the texts still have the density of a bible, with only a few black-and-white pictures and thin, graying paper.
As most schools experiment with their new textbooks, dozens more innovative books -- with titles like "St. Petersburg in Russian Literature" and "Before the Holiday," children's stories about religious holidays -- are still in a preliminary stage, being used by the Center for Humanities Education in 1,000 test schools around the country. If the texts are deemed successful, they will eventually be distributed throughout the school system. The center, formed by the Education Ministry, is also training and paying teachers to learn how to use the books.
"These textbooks focus not just on knowledge but also on developing the potential of each student," said Viktor Belyavsky, the center's director. "Most importantly, they teach humanitarian principles -- the right of the individual, and the right to choice and freedom of conscience."
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