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p Noble ideals are beyond the grasp of the heartless individual who lacks sensitivity. Heartlessness breeds indifference to other people, indifference leads to egoism, and egoism to cruelty.

p Some people maintain that since in our day and age men need to be educated to become strong, resolute and ready for anything, there is no need, to talk of kindness, sincerity and sensitivity. This is a profoundly mistaken view. Yes indeed our main goal in education is to foster in the heart of citizens of the future an irreconcilable hostility to the enemies of our country, to prepare them to take up arms against those who assail our country’s freedom 294 and independence. However, lessons in noble hatred will break little ground with those who have not learnt the lessons of kindness, sincerity and sensitivity. This is because courage is the supreme expression of human kindness, and hatred for the enemy is an expression of real humanity. Childhood and youth should become a school of kindness, humanity, and sensitivity. Only then will man’s heart be able to embrace the whole range of noble human feelings—from sensitive tender concern for a mother to hatred for the enemy or uncompromising rejection of ideological opponents. (12, 187)

p In order for a noble idea to take root in a man’s mind, he must be provided with the rudiments of human culture. Man’s thinking life is a life of ideas and reasoning steered by a sensitive heart. One of the basic principles of my approach to teaching is to foster in children’s hearts and minds sensitivity to their fellow-men. Only he who cannot be indifferent to the joys and sorrows of the individual, whoever he might be, friend or stranger, can take close to heart the triumphs and setbacks of his country. (29)

p The more a man learns about the world around him the more he should come to know about his fellow-men. A negligent attitude to the latter principle can disrupt the harmonious balance between knowledge and morality. This phenomenon I would refer to as moral 295 ignoranee. It finds expression in individuals who, while possessed of considerable knowledge concerning the world around them, are oblivious of the human essence in its historical, sociopolitical, intellectual or psychological, and aesthetic aspects. Without knowledge or without thought devoted to what places man above the animal world there can be no emotional development, and the individual’s feelings will remain at a primitive level. (12, 176)

p A humane vision of the world is not a natural gift but something attained through work and human relationships. Through work in which our emotions are involved, otherwise work loses its educative power. (12, 279)

p How should we bring young people to the point where they do good deeds not in order to obtain praise and rewards but motivated by an innate need to do good? What does this need to do good consist in and what sets it in motion? There is no doubt that when fostering responsiveness, collective aspirations and objectives have a significant role to play. Yet shared experience should embrace profoundly personal aspects of every child’s emotional and intellectual life.

p I always endeavoured to ensure that all my pupils engaged in positive actions—helping their freinds or other people in general—in response to inner urges and derived from such actions a deep sense of satisfaction. Probably this is one of the most difficult aspects of moral 296 education, namely teaching an individual to do good and at the same time avoid direct advice and pointers while doing this and telling children exactly what they should do. What approach is it best to adopt in practice? The most important thing is to foster those innate qualities in a child which enable him to do good, namely teach him to be sensitive to the needs and sorrows of other people. Yet how should we go about helping children who have witnessed the suffering of others to put themselves in other people’s place, so that vivid imagination led to vivid emotions? How should we help a child to be able to transpose himself into someone else’s position, into the life of someone who is subjected to suffering, to see and sense himself in another individual experiencing tragedy and grief? (10, 203)

p I would recall hundreds of young children’s answers to the question: “What kind of person do you want to be when you grow up?" The words strong, brave, clever, resourceful or fearless would recur time and time again ... but no one ever said kind. Why is it that kindness is not listed among the other virtues such as courage and valour? Why are small boys even shame-faced about being seen as kind? Without kindness—true warmth of heart imparted from one individual to another—there can be no beauty of character. I pondered on the question as to why small boys undertake less kind actions than do small girls? Perhaps that was merely a false impression. On closer investigation 297 though it did prove to be the case. Small girls are kinder, more responsive and gentle because from a very early age an unconscious maternal instinct lives within them. Concern for life and those around takes root in a girl’s heart long before she brings forth new life. The root and source of kindness lies in the creation and the affirmation of life and beauty. Goodness is inextricably linked with beauty. (10, 48)

p Kind feelings must take root in early childhood, while humanity, kindness, gentleness and benevolence are nurtured in work, concern and involvement with the beauty of the surrounding world.

p Kind feelings and emotional sensitivity are the focus of humanity. If kind feelings are not fostered in childhood they will never take root, for what is truly humane takes root in a man’s mind at the same time as his apprehension of primary and fundamental truths, as his discovery and perception of the subtlest nuances of his native language. It is in childhood that the individual should pass through “emotional school”, that kind feelings should be fostered. (10, 50)

p Children’s egoism can always be traced back to failure to foster emotional sensitivity. A child feels himself powerless in the face of evil which then appears to him as insuperable. Wherever this sense of powerlessness appears then thoughts of isolation take root. If a child devotes his deep feelings to other people then 298 he is not disturbed by the consideration that he is alone in his single combat with evil. (11, 180)

p Fostering sensitivity and responsiveness to the sorrows and suffering of others is accorded considerable importance in Soviet schools. An individual can become a friend, comrade or brother to another, only if the suffering of another is viewed as his own. (10, 76)

p Each child should in his heart understand another person—is a way of formulating the major educational task I set myself in this sphere. (10, 76)

p It is very important that kind feelings and actions should not degenerate into showy “ projects”. The teacher should go out of his way to see there is as little talk as possible about good deeds already carried out and be sparing with his allocation of praise. The most harmful situation of all arises when a child comes to see humane actions as deserts, or even exploits. More often than not the school is to blame. If a pupil finds a ten-kopeck piece and hands it to the teacher soon the whole class is talking about it. (10, 205)

p The individual’s cultural and educational background will be incomplete if he does not possess the knowledge which provides the foundation for moral culture. (12, 177)

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p The basic principles of morality only take root in a child’s heart and mind if human relationships within the school collective are of an intrinsically moral variety. This is all very simple and yet very complex. It is simple so far as these relationships are always rooted in one and the same formula: each individual should behave towards every other as a fellow human being. It is all very complex insofar as human relationships should embrace all spheres of the individual’s emotional and intellectual life and should embrace all members of the collective—teachers and pupils alike. (12, 10)

p A schoolchild does not always do bad things because he has been taught to, but more often than not because he has not been taught to do good things. (2, 192)

p We also drew up a programme of objectives in moral training. The habits we set out to foster were: seeing a task through to the end, trying to do it well and not just anyway; never to shift work on to other people or to make use of the fruits of other people’s work; to help the old, weak and lonely regardless of whether they be friends or strangers; to ensure that one’s desires are compatible with one’s moral right to satisfy those desires; never to permit situations in which parents have to deprive themselves or combat difficulties in order to satisfy their child’s desires; to ensure that personal joys, pleasures and entertainments never impede the fulfilment of others’ needs, and that 300 Emacs-File-stamp: "/home/ysverdlov/leninist.biz/en/1977/SOE347/20070212/347.tx" one’s joys never constituted worry or pain for other people; not to hide blameworthy actions, but bravely admit them to those who ought to know about them. (12, 197)

p Just as a literate person reads a word without lingering over each letter, so an individual with a good grounding in morals does not require a logical explanation of the ideas, whose essence finds expression in a good deed. Yet just as letters have to be learnt before a word is read, so moral convictions require preliminary grounding in action, in positive moral habits. (11, 182)

p Fostering moral habits does not require any special methods or techniques. They are an essential part of collectivist relations. A vital condition for successful moral education is that the main stimuli to behave and act well should be a child’s own will and conscience. (12, 197)

p If a teacher goes in for a good deal of discussion of good behaviour and exhortations, while providing no examples of such behaviour, the staff will soon be having to spend most of its energy on counteracting bad behaviour. .. . Teachers’ mental energy and will-power will be taken up by determining who has done what and who is the culprit of each wrongdoing.. .. Wherever moral principles are not borne out in practice many will suffer and it will be exceedingly difficult to apportion blame. (33)

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p Now I shall outline how on the basis of action moral conviction can be fostered which demands respect for individuals’ interests.

p We teach our children to say what they really think about other people, actions, phenomena, events; never to try and say what you think people want you to say; the latter activity can make a child into a hypocrite, toady or quite simply a scoundrel.

p We encourage our children; if you have seen injustice or deception perpetrated before your very eyes or a fellow-man’s dignity slighted, and have felt filled with indignation and the urge to intervene and see justice done, while your reason prompted you to leave well alone then know that cowardice speaks within you; follow your initial impulses, for emotional reactions and the voice of conscience are usually the most positive. A cold calculating response to evil and injustice and dishonourable behaviour can make a person indifferent and heartless. ...

p If you have heard rumours about a person, an action or an event, do not repeat them parrot-fashion without giving thought to what you have heard. Form your own opinion and your own ideas about everything, but if you come to believe that what other people are saying is true then support it and stand up for it.

p Do not forget what has to be accomplished today (homework, an assignment in the workshop or the school garden, or a project in a hobby group, etc.). On waking your first thought 302 should be of the work that has to be done that day. Never put off till tomorrow what has to be done today. Procrastination breeds laziness and disorderliness. In order to have a clear conscience try and do today even a tiny part of what has to be done tomorrow. Let that become a rule of your day-to-day life.

p Knowledge should be sought after relying on one’s own effort. It is dishonest to make use of the fruits of friends’ and classmates’ work. Copying other people’s homework is the first step to sponging.

p At the end of the day think about what you have done to bring joy and happiness to other people, and to become more intelligent, which also can bring joy to other people. If nothing comes to mind, this means that the day has been spent in vain and the next one must be distinguished by especial effort to make up for lost time.

p When confronted by a model or instrument while in a laboratory or workshop, however well-made or impeccable it might be, try to make yours still better and remember that there is no limit, when it comes to skill and perfection in work.

p If your friend is lagging behind in his studies or work teach him how to catch up. If you are not concerned by your friend’s difficulties, this means that you must be callous by nature; The more warmth, kindness and concern you show him, the more joy will enter your life.

p Do not leave what should be your work to your parents. Respect their work and their 303 leisure time and show this respect through your actions and behaviour. Your conscientious work or study will bring them joy. Do not deprive them of that joy. Do not disappoint them in any way. Do not let them make sure you have the best of everything. (11, 177-78)

p The most precious and beautiful thing in each of our lives is our mother. It is very important that children should appreciate the “beauty” of work that brings joy to a mother. A fine tradition took root gradually in our collective: each autumn when the earth and work bring men such rich gifts, we would organise a special autumn festival for the pupils’ mothers. Each pupil brought his mother something that day which he had achieved through his own work, something he had been looking forward to all the summer, if not for whole years at a stretch: apples, flowers, ears of corn grown on the tiny school plot (each child was given a special corner of the plot adjacent to his parents’ house). As we made preparations for the autumn festival the idea we tried to get across to the small boys and girls was that they should take good care of their mothers. The more of their feeling each child put into his work to please his mother, the more room there would be for human kindness in his heart. (10, 211)

p To love one’s fellow-men is easier than to be kind to one’s mother, we are reminded by the old Ukrainian proverb ascribed to the eighteenth-century philosopher Grigory 304 Skovoroda. This maxim conceals a goodly piece of popular wisdom, for it is impossible to foster humane behaviour, if a person has never known what it is to be attached to someone and feel close to him. Talking about love for one’s fellow-men is by no means the same thing as really loving them. The real school in which kindness, human warmth and responsiveness are nurtured is that of the family; relationships with a mother, father, grandfather and grandmother, brothers and sisters are the true test of humane feelings. (10, 212)

p Care shown to a mother, grandmother, grandfather, younger brothers and sisters are no less important than a rich, full life within a collective. ... We always tried to make sure that schoolchildren spent most of their time outside lessons at home, with their families, especially with their mothers. There is no need for young people always to be "kept occupied" or to lay on organised activities for them within the collective. At holiday times it is as well for children to be with their parents. (12, 188)

p We also tried to help children to tailor their desires to match their parents’ opportunities. Modesty makes young boys and girls renounce those material and cultural advantages, which their parents are ready to provide for them while often having to make sacrifices to that end. Encouraging modesty is one of the most important tasks in moral education. Modesty cannot be nurtured in isolation from other qualities: modesty and moderation are only 305 within reach of children for whom work has become a form of self-expression, part of their emotional and mental experience. (14, 12)

p When a child comes to school, the range of his ideas, interests and feelings is bound up above all with his family, with what his parents, brothers and sisters do and say, with all that surrounds him at home in his garden and neighbourhood. At school his world outlook gradually broadens and he learns to know his country, its present, past and future. His social consciousness gradually takes shape.

p A child comes to understand his parents’ place in society ... and he starts to take pride in his family and his parents’ work, and he feels the need to express these feelings within his school collective. However for such feelings to grow and take deep root it is important for a teacher to bring a profound, constant and, what is particularly important, sensitive influence to bear on the mind of his charges. Sometimes their impressionable minds are seriously troubled by the fact that his father or mother has what he regards as serious weaknesses: a child tends to think that his parents are worse people than other children’s and he is troubled even when the teacher so much as mentions them. Maintaining a sense of moderation and tact when talking to pupils about their parents is a very important aspect of a teacher’s work. ... Really good teachers appreciate that talking to a child about his parents can sometimes strengthen his love for his 306 family, and in others introduce tension into his relationship with his parents or fill him instead with mistrust for the teacher and wariness in relation to anything he might say. (4, 118)

p In the vast majority of families children “discover” in their parents both positive and negative traits. This means that a teacher must be very subtle and thoughtful in his attempts to penetrate a child’s emotional world. His mind must be moulded in such a way that he learn to distinguish between what is essential and what is of only secondary importance. ... The best teachers help children to appreciate the social significance of the work their parents do. (4, 119)

p Living within society means being able to forgo one’s joys and pleasures for the sake of other people’s welfare and peace of mind. Probably each one of us at some time has come up against a situation in which a child, known to be faced by sorrow, suffering and tears, is still absorbed in the pursuit of his usual pleasures. Indeed sometimes mothers try to distract their children’s attention from all that is gloomy or sad so that they should not lose even a single drop from their cup of happiness. This attitude fosters sheer egoism. Do not hide all the gloomy aspects of human life from children; they should know that there are sorrows in life as well as joy. They should be made aware of and in their hearts understand the sorrows of others. (10, 77)

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p In order to become a harmonious, wellbalanced personality a young child, boy or youth should be made to experience human suffering. Only then will he be able to understand other people correctly and be attentive towards them and only then can he be fearless—- True education is education in a spirit of fearlessness. True kindness and readiness to defend the weak and helpless means above all a brave and courageous spirit!

p The precious kernel of the work involved in forging each individual’s personality is moral courage! A child should be more willing to set his life at stake than to distort the truth or conceal lies, to turn his back on injustice and the humiliation of not only one individual but even the whole human race as well. Uncompromising moral integrity is what I see as the most important means for fostering humane qualities which should be nurtured and moulded in children from a very early age. (35)

p If teachers succeed in nurturing moral integrity and fortitude in the hearts of their charges, then they will not only come to share your ideas and endeavours but in their turn will educate you! Do not be alarmed at this! True communist education finds expression in a situation in which not only the teacher educates those who look to him for an example, but in which the latter educate the teacher as well. To my creative work I devote my emotional energy which is then restored to me as it were. (31)

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p Lessons in integrity and moral fortitude, and in the loyalty to one’s convictions are paths along which the young citizen can move nearer to the summits of moral maturity. (31)

p The ability to grow angry and indignant, to despise and hate, to be impatient and intolerant of evil I see as commendable qualities which constitute the core of moral uprightness, integrity and fortitude. How important it is that young hearts should not grow callous! I cannot envisage any worthwhile moral education that did not enable a young child’s or adolescent’s heart to tremble with pain or anger at the sight of callousness, indifference, flouting of his people’s supreme interests, and slighting of any of his compatriots’ dignity; I cannot envisage a situation in which worthy indignation in face of evil would not inspire a person to behave honourably.

p My first concern was to lead each of my pupils through the struggle for the triumph of truth, good and beauty. I tried to help my young charges to be more than faceless ciphers, to have something to say for themselves and to stand up for what they knew to be right; if I achieve this then each of my pupils will be a great, real person. The greatness of an individual should be measured in terms of his civic conscience, his uncompromising integrity and sense of responsibility. The triumph of truth for all men should come to represent the cornerstone of a person’s happiness and well-being even in childhood. (30)

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p The following figures provide a picture of the careers of the boys and girls who passed through our school.

Between 1949 and 1966 712 pupils completed their secondary education at Pavlysh. Of this total 278 went on to graduate from various institutes and universities: 94 engineers, 45 doctors, 49 agricultural specialists, 53 teachers, and 37 other specialists. Another 183 are at present engaged in further education (60 training to be engineers, 22 as doctors, 38 as teachers, 36 to specialise in agriculture and 27 elsewhere). The remainder are engaged in industrial or agricultural production: 73 machine operators, 116 technicians, mechanics and skilled workers, 62 are farm technicians and livestock breeders. Of this last group 68 are working in the local collective farm as machine operators, mechanics, farm technicians and livestock breeders. (11, 331)