The school gives children the knowledge that is only in the basic education program. However, bright inquisitive minds find this program insufficient for full development. Extracurricular education helps quench the thirst for knowledge. Today it is available to every child, regardless of their age and social status of their parents.
Extracurricular education in Russia - how it began
The introduction of additional classes for schoolchildren was thought back in the distant 19th century. At the end of this century, the first extracurricular institutions began to appear, which took children under their guardianship. The system of extracurricular education was rather meager. It was presented in the form of clubs, clubs, workshops and summer camps.
The organization of such institutions was carried out by progressive and enterprising educators who understood how important it was to usefully occupy children during extracurricular time. Teachers were part of cultural and educational societies, under the auspices of which the number of clubs and clubs constantly increased.
Cultural and educational society "Setlement"
The name of this organization comes from the English word settlement, which means “settlement” or “complex”. It was formed in Moscow in 1905. S. T. Shatsky is considered to be its founder by right, who borrowed the idea of creating such a society from Western teachers.
In fact, the Setlement movement is truly international in scope. The first club appeared in America in 1887. It was founded by Dr. Stant Coit. He had one goal - to distract street children from the negative influence of the street. In just 2 years, another pair of similar clubs appeared thanks to the initiative of progressive women who received university education. Then the Setlement movement gained distribution not only in Europe, but throughout the world.
As for Russia, the location of the first club was in the Suschevsky district of the city of Moscow. He most urgently needed out-of-school education, since there lived the largest number of workers (117,665 people), whose children did not receive due attention and care from their parents. Therefore, more than 50% of school-age children did not even receive basic school education.
The first experiment in involving children in out-of-school education was to move 12 difficult teenagers to the cottage with volunteers. There, they, as in the big metropolitan streets, were left to their own devices. But they had a number of responsibilities: caring for the garden, washing clothes, cleaning, cooking and more. Initially, children began to show their most abominable inclinations, but over time there were significant changes in their behavior. After the teachers noted a good result, in 1907 the first specialized institution of out-of-school education appeared.
Legislative regulation
After the teachers drew attention to the difficulties in the upbringing and education of “complex” children, due to which the crime rate among teenagers increased, children became interested in additional out-of-school education at the legislative level. Then, in 1917, after a long meeting, a verdict was issued on the need to promote the development of extracurricular education. Therefore, a new department appeared in the People's Commissariat of Education.
A little later, the first state institution for extracurricular education of children appeared. Bolshevik and chairman of the Sokolniki Council of workers' deputies of the capital I. V. Rusakov had a hand in its creation. It was called the "Station of young lovers of nature."
It was originally planned that this circle would arouse in children an interest in learning the secrets of nature. However, already in 1919, a colony school was opened on the basis of the club, where difficult teenagers lived. They studied the environment, strictly following the developed rules of the young naturalist.
In the 30s of the last century, the term "out-of-school education" outlived itself and was replaced by "out-of-school education." Institutions for out-of-school education over time became more and more. Moreover, some of them could boast of their famous graduates, for example, Anatoly Karpov, the world chess champion.
After the collapse of the USSR, extracurricular activities did not lose their relevance, but rather began to develop even more rapidly. So, in 1992, the first law "On Education" was published, in which the former organizations for out-of-school education turned into out-of-school institutions of additional education.
Additional education today
Based on existing terminology, additional education of children is a type of educational activity aimed at satisfying human needs in cultural, spiritual, scientific, physical development. It gives children opportunities for self-realization, and also helps to make the right choice in adult life.
Extracurricular continuing education is regulated at the legislative level. Government programs are developed annually to develop this area of activity in all regions of Russia. The responsible body for the implementation of such programs is the Regional Education Departments.
Advantages over the school curriculum
Of course, additional education is not able to replace the basic school curriculum. Nevertheless, it has several advantages that make it a unique pedagogical phenomenon. These include:
- creative approach to the implementation of the educational process;
- flexibility in relation to changes in modern trends in social, cultural and scientific fields;
- individual approach to students;
- the possibility of practical application of the acquired knowledge;
- in-depth specialized training of children;
- the child can independently choose the desired direction of further education;
- the possibility of distance learning.
The principle of building the educational process
Teachers approach extra-curricular activities with no less responsibility than school ones. Teachers carefully think over what children will do, how to interest them and how to find an approach to each child. In general, the entire educational process is built on the basis of several principles:
- humanism;
- detocentrism;
- democracy;
- cultural conformity;
- Creativity
- individualization;
- cooperation.
Particular attention is paid to detocentrism and democracy. Detocentrism is a priority of the interests of the ward. The interests of the child should be put in the first place and make him an equal participant in the educational process. Then students show the most active participation in classes, increasing the amount of digestible information.
Democracy is the right of the child to choose an individual development path. Each child should have the right to independently choose the direction in which he wishes to develop. Pressure from parents and teachers often provokes a backlash, due to which time spent studying an unwanted subject can be considered lost.
Tasks
State structures, public associations, institutions of extracurricular education in various fields for the most effective work are forced to closely cooperate with each other. This forms a system of continuing education, which has a number of tasks:
- The development of creative, cultural, scientific and physical extracurricular employment of children using modern domestic and foreign methods.
- Development and implementation of programs to improve the quality of education.
- Improving teacher training.
Government programs
The federal program was developed until 2020 to improve the quality of additional classes for children and adolescents. The modern way of life is constantly changing, revealing new needs and trends in this area, which additional education must meet.
In addition, the out-of-school education program is designed to ensure the availability of classes for people with disabilities, children with health problems and migrants. It also provides for the proper support of gifted children for whom the basic school curriculum is not able to satisfy all needs.
Expected Result
When questions about the development of children are raised at the government level, everyone is interested in what result financial and labor investments from the implementation of the federal program should bring. It is assumed that:
- The interest of children in extracurricular extracurricular education and further specialized education will increase.
- The chances of self-realization in children from dysfunctional families will increase.
- The country's intellectual and cultural elite will be formed thanks to the early identification of gifted children and adolescents.
- There will be solidarity between the older and younger generations of citizens.
- The crime rate among children and adolescents will decrease.
- The spread of bad habits (alcoholism, smoking, drug addiction) among minors will decrease.
Infrastructure
Today, there are 12,000 extracurricular institutions of continuing education. They provide valuable skills and knowledge to 10 million children of different age categories (from 8 to 18 years old). Most of the institutions belong to state structures.
This explains the availability of extracurricular development for children. All programs that are aimed at obtaining additional education are paid from federal and regional budgets. The share of paid services for the population does not exceed 10-25%. Although it is worth noting that in some areas, for example, computer science or artistic activity, this threshold is slightly higher. At the same time, military-patriotic circles and clubs of local lore experts do not require money support from parents.
Forms of ownership
Institutions in which children can gain additional skills and knowledge have different forms of ownership. These include:
- state;
- federal;
- municipal;
- non-state;
- private.
State centers of extracurricular education are located in all major cities of Russia. Residents of small cities can use the services of municipal institutions, although the choice of direction in them is quite limited.
Actual problems
With the growing infrastructure of specialized institutions, the number of children interested in visiting them often remains unchanged. With the development of this sphere of educational activity, it faces a number of problems that slow down this process. The main problems of modern continuing education include:
- Reduced competitiveness with other leisure activities.
- Decrease in attendance, shortage of children to form full-fledged groups.
- An increase in the number of competitors in the number of non-governmental institutions of further education.
- Focus on children from prosperous families.
Each of these problems requires an individual approach. To increase the competitiveness of free public education, you should review existing programs and directions that have become obsolete over time.
As for the focus on children from prosperous families, the situation is more complicated. The fact is that today there are very few specialized programs for difficult children and adolescents. This leads to the fact that creative children with good academic performance attend 4-5 circles and additional classes, and difficult teenagers - not a single one. The solution may be to develop special programs for working with children from dysfunctional families, which will help teach teachers how to approach this social group of adolescents.