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We do not know much about the teaching of the fine arts in Russian schools. We know nothing about Tsarist schools. As best we can tell, Soviet schools focused heavily on academic with a strong emphasis on both ideology and as well as the sciences, including mathematics. Russian grammar and literature were also a major subject. We are not sure about the fine arts. One reader tells us thast art class was generally attempting to reproduce paintings or drawings shown the children rather more creative exercises. We do note images from Sovet schools engaged in dance presentations. We are less sure about music. We do note that children with special promise were given special instruction or even sent to special schools to develop their talents. After the disolution of the Soviet Union and the ebnd of Communism, there were important changes in thRussian school curriculum. More attention is being given to the arts, humanities, and social sciences. The 1992 Law on Education stressed humanistic values, freedom of human development, and citizenship. We are not sure just what this mean in practical terms at Russian sdchools.
One reader tells us that art class during the the 1980s were generally attempting to reproduce paintings or drawings shown the children rather more creative exercises. We do not know to what extent this was the case during the entire Soviet era. e note that like music, there were art schools. The children entered art schoolslater than music schools, about 10 years of sge.
We do not know much about the teaching of music in Russia. We do see a good bit of singing in the primary years. e have found quite a few imahes showing the childen singing, often with heavy political content. We are not sure about instruction in musical instruments. We do note that children with special promise were given special instruction or even sent to special schools to develop their talents. There are today some 5,000 music schools in Russia. We are not sure if this is an increase or decline from the Soviet era. The standard program in a music school is reguklar classes during the morning and then practice asnd musuc lessons in the afternoon. There are lessons on how to play a musical instrument in addition to instruction on musical intervals and notation (solfeggio) and music history. Children reportedly attend lessons 4-5 times a week. Children have to pass an entrance exams that determines their musical aptitude. The number of applicants caries regionally. Russian music education begins very early, at about 6-8 years of age. This is an earlier age than at art schools. Often parentl chioice is involved more thn what the children want, alhough this vries from family to family. One report suggests that many children were not happyv with the choice. and is more often than not the parents’ choice rather than that of the child. For this reason, it is not uncommon for many people who studied at music school to remember that period of their life with hostility. There sas also private insdtruction, although we are unsure hiow this was handled as Soviet law dusciraged oprivatre economic activity.
We do note images from Sovet schools engaged in dance presentations.
We do not have a great deasl of informationnabout theatricals in Russian scgools. We know nothing about the Tsarist era. We note theatricals in Soviet-era schools, but mostly at the pre-school and very early-primary school years. We see seasonal and othercevents with the children dressed up in cute costumes. We think the parents were often invited to attend. We do not know if they have theatricals such as school plays like American schools have. This is a major tradition in American and English schools, but less so in Europe. Russian schools are more like European schools with a strong academic focus and less attention to activities. We do not have much information on modern Russian schools. Larger schools do have auditoriums and plays are appasrently presented. We see Russian children in 2005 for a play at their school. Notice how the children have dressed up for the event. The boys are all wearing suits. Boys in the United States would have dressed more informally. In fact I think many American boys do not even have dark suits like this.
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