The role of the public in East Siberian secondary education development in the 19th - early 20th centuries

The article considers the issue of public participation in secondary education development in Eastern Siberia in the 19th - the beginning of the 20th centuries. The historiographical analysis showed the ambiguous view on public participation in pre-revolutionary works and the lack of a complex research in modern ones. For the research purpose the author made an attempt of determining the public participation role in secondary education development. By using the system analysis and retrospective and comparative-historical methods, the author determined the secondary education structure, forms of interaction between the public, the school and the state, analyzed the development of the legal framework regulating the high school advancement. By using the Russian Empire legal acts, the author described the legal status of society as an education system participant on the basis of its joint financing and public participation organizational forms presented by honorable and school trustees' boards. On the basis of the Irkutsk Oblast State Archive materials, the author found that the organization of public participation in secondary education development in Eastern Siberia had regional differences due to the economic and social features of the eastern periphery. The lack of district bodies caused the lack of school councils. The author paid attention to the state's conservative policy in the region regarding male secondary education and public participation mechanism restriction. The data on public participation in the organization and activities of male gymnasium parallel classes and private educational institutions as a way to overcome conservatism were first introduced into the scientific circulation. Analyzing the authorities' position concerning female gymnasium education development issues, the author noted its liberal nature. Public participation in female education was supported by the authorities. Thirteen female gymnasiums and three pro-gymnasiums were opened from 1870 to 1917. When comparing statistical data, the author found that in the field of male education in the second half of the 19th century only four state educational institutions - two gymnasiums and two real schools - were opened. Due to the trustees' boards assistance, the number of female gymnasiums was twice as big as of secondary male educational institutions. To sum up, the author drew a conclusion that trustees and trustees' boards became the main organizational form of public participation in secondary education development in Eastern Siberia. Their activities facilitated the development and showed public participation efficiency by the example of female gymnasium development dynamics.

Keywords

Authors

References