The Training of History Teachers in the Soviet Union in the Second Half of the 1950s to Mid-1980s (On the Materials of Teacher Training Institutes in Eastern Siberia)

This article analyses the development of higher education in Siberia during the Soviet era and specifically the state policies which governed the training of history teachers. The author's sources include publications of Russian scholars, the Soviet era standards and laws which underpinned the education system, archive documents from Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Chita and Ulan-Ude, written memoirs and interviews with graduates of Eastern Siberian teaching colleges. The research work was carried out in accordance with the methodological apparatus of historical science and the principles of historicism using historical-genetic and historical-systemic methodology. In the first part of the work, the author establishes that teachers in the Soviet era were responsible both for the education of their students and for the formation of their Marxist-Leninist worldview, and that the state regulated all of the processes which took place in the secondary and higher education system. In the second part of the work, the author examines how the historical education system was reformed, how the changes were responsible for the formation of the "New Man" and the Marxist-Leninist worldview, how the "Thaw" opened new opportunities for historians but the domination of the Marxist methodology hindered the research potential of historical science and education, and how the reforms led to the development of a new methodological apparatus for the training of future history teachers. In the third part of the work, the author focuses on the practical elements - curricula, specific teaching practices and training methods, which included the study of scientific, psychological-pedagogical and special-historical disciplines, the dual-purpose reason for the changes - shaping the worldview of future history teachers and deepening their Marxist-Leninist training, and the required participation by students in socio-political, labour, and artistic activities also based on this goal. The author comes to the following conclusions. (1) A powerful education system was created in the Soviet era resulting in intellectual growth for the country and strengthened public consciousness. (2) The training of history teachers was a matter of particular importance to the state. (3) Through a combination of new educational, scientific and social processes, Eastern Siberian teaching colleges produced highly qualified professional teachers, which also contributed to the preparation of employees for the region's party organizations.

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