The ideals and up-bringing mechanisms in totalitarian societies (Germany and the USSR in 30-40s years of the XX century)

The article delivers a comparative analysis of the theory and practice of up-bringing in totalitarian societies (the USSR and Germany) in 30-40s years of the XX century and highlights contemporary practices and outlined tendencies that allow to conclude about the revival of the Soviet model of up-bringing. On the base of the analysis of historical concepts about the nature of totalitarianism, the author draws the following conclusion: in modern theory along with recognizing the similarities of fascist and communist regimes, many authors state about necessity of opposition fascism to Stalinism. But it is generally accepted that both regimes were based on extensive social support which was mainly the result of purposeful educational policy. Performed analysis of the Soviet school theory showed that there were two directions during the study period: pedagogical direction and labor school. The analysis of policy papers and the ideas of the ideologists and theorists of the Soviet school allowed to formulate the ideal of up-bringing which was characteristic of the Soviet school in the 30-40 years of the XX century, as well as mechanisms of translation of the new society values. The study of the published sources let us conclude that there appeared a lot in common in the public life of Germany and the USSR especially by comparing the photos and movies of those years. The author also examined the outlined modern tendencies of retro innovation (M.V. Boguslavskiy), which main danger is that they usually come back "full package". The specific actions and decisions that have already entered the modern education and up-bringing are examined as well. The author concludes that recent changes in education are related probably not to modernization but to retro innovation which main content was the revival of many elements of the Soviet school. The retrospective comparative analysis of the theory and practice of upbringing in totalitarian societies on the example of Germany and the Soviet Union in 30-40 years of the XX century allows to make a conclusion about state importance of up-bringing, its impact on all aspects of society; and that future of the country depends on the fact who owns the school. As it is shown with the help of the historical analysis, the main danger of the Soviet up-bringing model was that this model was the only possible and non-variability of views, opinions, actions. In the current situation the rejection of variability and diversity means to stop the development because most people realized over these years that they need a such kind of variety. Attempts to find a simple and universal method of up-bringing in the history are not productive, they function only under totalitarianism.

Keywords

Authors

References