p Convictions by their very nature cannot be passive. They live, grow stronger and evolve only in the context of meaningful action.... Through his work and the relationships he makes within the collective each young person should strive to prove or uphold something, so as together with the true principle in question to forge his own sense of dignity and honour. Such is the real struggle of ideas. ... It is important to help each young person to find 310 scope to put his convictions to the test: this I saw as an important aspect of the teacher’s individualised approach to his work. More often than not work activities provided this scope .... When ideas are borne out in a work context then work comes to be an essential part of man’s life. (12, 206)

p Communist convictions take root in the process of our people’s active drive to build communism. This drive facilitates the concentration of all men’s mental and physical energy on the attainment of inspiring objectives that ennoble all who work towards them. Work is the activity in which the harmonious unity of physical, mental, moral, intellectual and volitional energies finds its most vivid expression. Creative communist labour aimed at transforming society leads to boundless possibilities for the transformation of each individual involved. Work, which in society founded on exploitation remains a burden and curse, has in our society become synonymous with life itself and is carried out in the name of noble, elevating ideas. (7, 14)

p Proper education encourages and develops independence and initiative in the moral sphere which lead to a sound aspiration towards high moral standards in the individual’s private life. (8, 105)

p One of the most important features of true morality is, from the point of view of pupils, modesty. They regard as truly moral a man 311 who, while aware of his own human dignity, is at the same time ready to respect that of others, and in all circumstances observes a sense of fairness and equality in his relationships with other people. We present great men to our pupils—above all revolutionaries and outstanding public figures—as simple, humane individuals possessed of noble human feelings and passions. Examples of striking modesty taken from the life of Lenin represent for our pupils the ideal which they will always try to emulate. (8, 106)

p We try to get the following very important idea across to our pupils: the limitless devotion of a Communist to his idea is not merely some blind fanaticism, but stems from a profound knowledge of the laws and patterns governing the real world. Communists, who laid down their lives for that ideal, endured inhuman torment and deprivation, represent for our pupils in view of their embracing of this ideal not sufferers or figures who call men to sacrifice, but heroes who continue the fight even after death in the sense that their heroism inspires new generations to follow in their footsteps. (8, 96)

p Soviet schools educate men and women who are ready to uphold mankind’s supreme ideals —Peace, Labour, Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood and Happiness for all peoples. Yet this fight to attain men’s highest social ideals does not mean that the individual should renounce 312 his own personal happiness. It would be profoundly wrong to see the efforts of the Soviet people to attain supreme social ideals as nothing but self-sacrifice or renunciation. Communism is social good in the name of the welfare of each individual. Soviet men and women deliberately go out of their way to overcome difficulties stemming from the objective world in which they live. Yet there are no difficulties which man would wish to endure. The pride of the victor who overcomes problems stems precisely from the knowledge that by mustering his physical and mental energy he has done everything possible to make the lives and work of his fellow-men easier. (9, 4)

p The social, political and moral principles on which society is based are all important with regard to the happiness of each individual within society. However an awareness of a full cultural, intellectual and moral life, which is essential to personal happiness, is achieved not only by bringing about the material well-being of society, but also by fostering ideals, interests, needs, inclinations, abilities and enthusiasms for each individual member of that society. (9, 4)

p Apprehension of truth is only the beginning of education for the essence of moral education consists in imparting moral and political ideals to all pupils who assimilate them as their own and come to regard them as rules and standards for behaviour. This process is possible only in a context of meaningful intellectual 313 activity without which there can be no striving towards the ideal, and no creative individuals. (12, 199)

p Intellectual activity is not some kind of introvert self-analysis divorced from everyday work. It is creative work, dynamic social activity ennobled by a lofty goal. Intellectual activity is the reflection of social relations, including labour relations, in man’s inner world, in his predilections and aspirations, in his desires. I repeat in his desires. A Man in the full sense of that word is one in whose mind there arise and take root worthy desires which influence behaviour, prompt passions and actions, in which man asserts himself again, and which give rise to still new desires. This complex process is what we in practical teaching refer to as the individual’s intellectual life... . One of the golden rules to be followed by teachers of teenage pupils is to encourage as far as possible acts prompted by noble desires and aspirations to moral ideal. (12, 200)

p To us teachers is entrusted the great and honourable mission of imparting noble ideals to our pupils, and in such a way that the spirit of their people be mirrored in miniature in their minds and hearts. Those who achieve this can say with every justification that they have achieved the ultimate goal of the educator. (17)

p From childhood a man should be encouraged to see the world in the light of an ideal so that 314 his life should become a gradual ascent towards the ideal summit. An ideal is not a truth learnt by rote, which an individual can pronounce when called upon, but his heart-felt striving towards truth, justice and beauty. (29)

p Young people are astutely aware of the moral significance of each undertaking proposed to them or each act that is perpetrated. If you tell boys and girls to go out in cold autumn weather to dig up beetroot, without explaining why they should put up with the unpleasant working conditions, their response will be one of unwilling indifference. The purpose and moral implications of work to be engaged in are always important to teenagers. If they realise that their efforts are required to make up for someone else’s negligence and bad organisation then the work in question loses all educational significance. Only collectives already possessed of high morale can be rallied together to embark energetically on correcting bad work which results from other people’s laziness and negligence. In such cases the goal to be aimed at is not only a set work target, but a moral victory over bitterness, laziness, negligence, indifference and selfishness. Only then can the knowledge that difficulties have been overcome enhance pupils’ view of their own achievement. (11, 183)

p Some teachers hold that it is ill-advised to talk to children about loafers, good-for- nothings and embezzlers of the people’s wealth. Yet 315 I for one am fundamentally opposed to this view. Attempts to create round a child some sort of sterilised world where no evil is thought or enacted only serve to distort a child’s mind. The real world should never be presented to children through rose-coloured spectacles. It is wrong that children should hear one kind of talk in frank, outspoken conversation with his friends or at home from members of his family, and should be presented with very different views in official surroundings. A child should not be encouraged in this way to become hypocritical and act against his conscience—- (11, 208)

p In our school we attempt to fill the children’s lives with a spirit of frank honesty, an uncompromising rejection of evil and deceipt, falsehood and eye-wash. We go out of our way to convince pupils that all men from collectivefarm night watchmen to Ministers are equal before the only real truth—that contained in communist ideals. We make every effort to ensure that that truth should be the only prism through which the children gaze upon all the phenomena of the real world and the moral stature of all men. (11, 209)

p From an early age we stress to our pupils... the idea that the results of their work, especially in the fields, depend not only on man but on the elemental forces of Nature as well. The pupils are reminded that they should only regard as to their credit what they achieve with their own 316 hands, thanks to their own powers of reason, their own creativity and not take credit for what Nature gives them; keeping these rules helps them to reject all that is false or merely outward show. So as to ensure an objective assessment of their work, diligence and effort, special work assignments are selected, in which the most important element is overcoming obstacles and difficulties. Growing a good crop on fertile soil is no particular achievement, but if a pupil succeeds in turning barren soil into fertile soil, then the fruits of his labour incorporate intellectual effort and the search for solutions to a problem and he sets store by them. In the light of this it often happens that praise and commendation are accorded to pupils whose crops are relatively small, rather than those who gathered a large crop. (11, 210)

p Words (persuasion) and training (exercise) are not consecutive stages in the educational process, in the course of which (as is usually explained in connection with methods recommended for moral education) activities consolidate the standards already assimilated and consolidate those moral habits already pursued. At all stages of pupils’ emotional and intellectual development practical activity should be closely linked up with exposition of political ideas and moral standards, which incorporate the concept of Soviet patriotism. Only if this combination is achieved are social views and convictions . .. recognised and experienced by pupils as profoundly moral. (4, 6)

p Some pupils may well lack any outstanding abilities and long before leaving school realise that they are not going to be scientists, engineers or transformers of Nature, however they should never be allowed to feel themselves as mediocrities. Each person, however ordinary his talents and abilities, can become in our society a creative individuality and make his contribution to communist construction. Boundless scope for expression of that creative individuality is provided by his civic role, his opportunities for labour feats for the good of the people. A noble and difficult task of our schools is to explain and present to each pupil his prospects for personal fulfilment. (9, 107)

p The breadth and scope of pupils’ intellectual and emotional experience determine the effectiveness of the two basic methods of moral education—persuasion and training. The art of woral education ... consists in making sure that a pupil from his earliest days at school is convinced first and foremost by his own actions, that his teacher’s words echo his own thoughts and experiences which also take shape in the process of activity. Rich intellectual and emotional experience begins where worthy thoughts and moral sentiments merge as one and find expression in moral acts. We encourage pupils to carry out actions of a markedly moral character. This method of moral education we refer to as encouragement of active expression of ideas and feelings. (6, 14)

p To prove while learning and to learn while proving—such is the unity of thought and work in which there finds expression the successful combination of intellectual training and world outlook. A child sees in the results of his work not only material values, but himself—his perseverance, his will-power. It is very important that this active view of the world should be acquired at a very young age so that a pupil might enter his teens with firmly established convictions. (11, 225)

p It is not necessary to encourage children to express high-flown sentiments; they should not be taught to pour forth impassioned feelings when concrete circumstances do not demand strong emotional reactions. Frequent practice in the expression of such emotions can breed bombastic habits, unprincipled tongue wags, and word-happy demagogues, and in the long run men and women characterised by callous indifference to the world around them. For instance, we do not allow Young Pioneers when greeting adults on ceremonial functions to speak of things which they do not clearly understand, which they themselves have not experienced. Children should only speak about things which mean much to them and not give voice to those ideas which adults wish to express through their words. (11, 195)

p Convictions cannot exist if they do not find expression in action. (7, 166)

An individual for whom a revolutionary scientific-materialist world outlook has become personal conviction, and in whose life and activity prime importance is accorded to the Marxist-Leninist world outlook will become active in social affairs, regardless of the kind of work he will do or of the post he will occupy. His role in social progress is determined not by his position or occupation but by the moral implications and objectives of his activity. (7, 12)