Because of the crisis conditions in modern government
schools, more Russian families are switching to home education. Homeschooling
is legal in Russia, and interest in it is growing every year. . . .
Editor's note: Russia has the second highest population of homeschooling
families in all of Europe. Homeschooling has been legal in Russia since 1992,
and current estimates suggest that there are over 100,000 homeschoolers in
Russia. These numbers are growing, as homeschooling continues to grow in
popularity.
The following article, originally published on the official Russian Church site that
deals with family issues, was translated by Fr. Joseph Gleason, an
American Orthodox priest who lives in Russia with his wife and
eight homeschooled children.
For many years now, a number of Russian cities have
hosted regional homeschooling conferences. This article celebrates the first
international homeschooling conference held in Russia, with representatives
attending from all over the world. This rising interest in homeschooling is an
example of Russia's return to traditional family values. Thanks to the hard
work of Christians like Fr. Dimitry Smirnov and Irina Shamolina, homeschooling is finally becoming
popular in Russia.
On May 18, 2018, Moscow hosted the International
Conference of Family Education. Their motto is: “You can teach at home!”
International experts, teachers, politicians, and scientists discussed what the
future of education should be like, and how to have an effective alternative to
government-based education.
The conference included a number of high profile
Russians, including Fr. Dimitry Smirnov (a prominent Russian Orthodox priest
who is the Chairman of the Patriarch's Commission for the Family), Irina
Shamolina (a leading proponent of using the Classical Conversations homeschooling
curriculum in Russia), and various members of the State Duma, Moscow State
University, and the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA).
Since Russian public schools have aped the Western public
school system in many ways, the quality of public education has significantly
deteriorated. Because of the crisis conditions in modern government schools,
more Russian families are switching to home education. Homeschooling is legal
in Russia, and interest in it is growing every year. Nevertheless, there are
still few parents and children who are aware of its advantages and
opportunities.
At this homeschooling conference, some of the best
international experts talked about the latest achievements and developments in
this field, and they discussed modern educational programs, online platforms
and textbooks. The achievements, technologies, and secrets of family education
from America, Europe, Asia, South Africa, and Australia were presented, and the
story of its development in Russia was covered in detail.
Former students also spoke at the conference. These are
students who passed the Unified State Examination (roughly
the Russian equivalent of the SATs) and who are currently studying at
universities or working. They have shown by personal example what a home-based
education really is, and what prospects it offers.
There were also speeches from lawyers, human rights
defenders, family education program developers, representatives of publishing
houses which issue textbooks for homeschoolers, and homeschooling practitioners
from all over the world. Also worth noting is the lecture "Family
education on family textbooks in a family school" by the founder of interneturok.ru,
one of the largest Russian homeschooling websites, which helps facilitate
homeschooling for many Russian schoolchildren.
ISCO is the largest global platform for supporters of
home education from all over the world. Previous conferences were held in
Berlin (2012) and Rio de Janeiro (2016) and attracted representatives of 32
countries. The third ISCO was held in St. Petersburg on May 15th and 16th this
year, and in Moscow on May 18th and 19th.
The organizers of the conference are the Global Home
Education Council and the Center for the Support of Family Education, with
support from the academic program of family education "Classical
Conversations", the St. Basil the Great Fund, the program "Master
Structure and Style of the Russian Language", the Russian literature
program "Lost Writing Tools", publishing houses "Classical
Education" and "Apology", associations of home education legal
protection from the USA and Canada, the World Congress of Families, CitizenGO,
and other organizations.