p Soviet children are taught to be independent by the pattern of their lives. Pupil self-management is a feature of Soviet schools. It is true I am not a proponent of a slow "stage- bystage" development of independence. Everything is decided by concrete challenges. In Pioneer Camps the establishment of effective self-management is a matter of three days. It always develops when children are joyfully meeting a common challenge whose wider implications they understand. A wise teacher will not issue orders but may rather say: "Let’s try to do this ourselves, for it is very interesting!”

p I am persuaded that one should least of all announce one’s trust, for it must always find a material embodiment. Each teacher should clearly decide for himself precisely what the children can be entrusted with. The measure of trust also defines the nature of relations and the element of romanticism in them. Children are maximalists and in trusting them one should not be afraid of a certain element of risk. One must learn to say to them: "We trust you in everything.” And then one must prove it. And also explain the logic of such relations; the more one trusts, the greater the responsibility and the obligations of those who are trusted.

p The correctness of such actions is borne out by practice and the examples are many. Excellent work has been done in Moscow at the “Chaika” school factory. Throughout the country many camps for combining work and rest have been established for older students. They are based entirely on the initiative of adolescents in organizing both their work and leisure. In Taganrog special work places have been set aside for schoolchildren at a factory producing combines. Together with their fathers and older brothers they familiarize themselves with the fascinating world of technology and with the best workers’ traditions. In Stavropol student brigades who are assigned experimental plots of land and equipment learn to be careful tillers of their native land. Unfortunately, this type of valuable experience is merely described in our press but insufficiently studied by pedagogical science.

p Experience has shown that a measure of the effectiveness of teaching is provided by a teacher’s ability to evolve such an educational technology whose methods and micro-components would fully reflect the principle of morality to which the inner 70 world of children’s emotions is so responsive. A vivid example is provided by the work of Vasily Sukhomlinsky, who was director of the Pavlysh village school. In his remarkable work entitled To Children I dive My Heart he shows in considerable detail how each member of a child collective can be led to ascend the steps of morality. This is achieved through cultivating an appreciation for books, fostering devotion to one’s mother and to one’s homeland, and speaking of good and evil, conscience and human dignity. He encourages the development of an ability to recognize suffering, alarm, hurt feelings or loneliness in the eyes of another person and teaches respect for fathers and grandfathers, for their wisdom and difficult self- sacrificing lives. He considers the development of patriotism, civicresponsibility, and internationalism as the crowning achievement of his teaching activities. Each of his humanistic ideas takes root in simple everyday activities.

p Today many other Soviet teachers are discovering this harmonious solution. They argue convincingly that the same meetings, expeditions, and contests that contribute so much to knowledge can also be a great source of joy for children if their initiative and independence are encouraged.

p Personalities develop and express themselves through action. But as we design and organize creative challenges we must always keep in mind that their effect will depend on how well we are able to correctly assess the inner attitudes of children. Students must be interested participants in social activities, combining the roles of creative organizers and performers. Whenever this aspect is neglected and "events are planned" without knowing how students will react to them, they will hardly succeed. A failure to recognize the importance of a child’s insistence on "doing it myself" will always produce miscalculations.

Why is this proposition stated so categorically? Because children acquire and recognize moral norms and ideals only through practical participation in managing their own collective affairs. And a teacher develops his creativity to the full precisely when organizing collectives and when enhancing children’s independence and initiative.