Many people care about the question: why did they cancel astronomy at school? Science, which not only affects the applied development of today's important branches of knowledge: space geodesy and space navigation, rapidly developing in the 21st century, is also responsible for shaping the worldview, giving an idea of the world and the place of man in the Universe.
When did it happen?
In Soviet times, astronomy was an independent subject, which was allocated 35 hours in grades 10-11, and was a course of natural sciences. Pupils leaving school after 9th grade did not even begin to study a discipline of philosophical importance. One hour a week nonetheless allowed the country to be a leader in space exploration, successfully hold astronomical Olympiads and have a huge army of enthusiastic scientists.
In 1991, the subject of "astronomy" in schools ceased to be basic, which led to its exclusion from the program. At the beginning of the two thousandth graduation classes, four textbooks were offered with different levels of presentation, but in 2008, none of them received official permission from the Ministry of Education and Science for use in educational institutions (order No. 349). This has outlawed the teaching of astronomy.
Background
And this is in a country where there is three hundred years of experience transferring knowledge about cosmic bodies and the structure of the universe. Even under Peter I, astronomy in schools became mandatory for students. For a century, it was a separate discipline, which is a unique phenomenon in the pedagogy of the world. Before the revolution, the highest level of teaching was achieved thanks to the following factors:
- Differentiation training.
- A variety of programs.
- The freedom of teachers in choosing methods.
- Great equipment.
- Possibilities of integration with the physics course.
After the revolution, traditions were preserved, and in the 30s unified programs, means and teaching methods were created. In the 40s, the main goal was the formation of a scientific worldview, from these considerations the course of astronomy continued to develop. In the 80-90s, a gradual erosion of the subject began, which does not fit into the structure of new educational standards.
What today?
There is no official ban on the inclusion of astronomy in the curriculum , but the decision is at the discretion of the school management. Most educational institutions provide brief information on the subject as part of integrated courses. Astronomy for elementary school as the simplest representations of the world is included in the program "The World." In high school - in physics (50 pages).
In certain regions, such as in Chuvashia, this small section can be safely attributed to astrophysics, because it is filled with calculations and complex tasks. This ultimately does not allow us to give a correct idea of how stars differ from planets and what the Milky Way is. But many schools along with traditional programs since 2010 began to study the basics of religious cultures. Modern graduates confuse astronomy with astrology, which was previously considered pseudoscience.
Effects
The VTsIOM regularly conducts surveys of Russians showing that one third of fellow citizens are convinced that it is not the Earth that revolves around the Sun, but vice versa. In September, the domestic media rushed to announce the introduction of changes by NASA to the zodiac sign system, which caused some excitement among the inhabitants of the country. Although this was done by the Americans specifically for the children's and youthful audience to show the inaccuracy of astrology.
Young people draw their knowledge about the structure of the Universe not through astronomy lessons at school, but from fantastic Hollywood blockbusters and computer games. Among the myths that are firmly established in the minds of fellow citizens - the belief that we are surrounded by aliens, the flights of Americans to the moon - this is a hoax, and the lunar phases really affect the yield of the summer cottage. A person who considers himself civilized does not know how the universe is arranged and how it affects the planet Earth. Aggressive illiteracy of the population was especially evident during the meteorite fall in February 2013 near Chelyabinsk.
Why did it happen?
So, formally, no one has canceled the study of astronomy, prohibitive instructions were not sent to the school, but she left schools. Why?
Schools provide teaching primarily basic subjects defined by the Russian Federation, then - by the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, and only then - discretionary to the school. To enter a separate discipline in the schedule, three conditions must be met:
- A parental decision that should be collegial.
- Equipment for teaching.
- The presence of personnel capable of transmitting the necessary knowledge.
Parents, as a rule, have the main interest - the USE, which has become mandatory since 2009, and the admission of their own children to the university. It is for this reason that the school does not study even those 50 pages from a textbook on physics, given under information on astronomy. To gain time for training graduates to the final exam. Equipment does not require large expenses, but it is necessary, and again, schools prefer to save. The biggest problem is the frames.
Cadres decide everything
Today, even in Moscow, where a huge number of educational institutions with special training in the field of natural sciences, astronomy is preserved in only 20 (out of two thousand). In schools, teachers of this discipline are sorely lacking. Until 1978, only Gorky Pedagogical Institute trained specialists, and as of 1980, ten universities had specialization according to the curriculum (Moscow, Baku, Kiev, Tashkent, Telavi, Chelyabinsk, Leningrad, Rostov, Chernigov, Nikolaev). In a year, only 600 applicants were recruited.
Due to the small number of hours, schools began to train teachers with a common specialty - in physics and astronomy, which led to a bias in teaching towards physics. The methodology of teaching astronomy was missed. Today, due to lack of demand, the departments of astrophysics have not been preserved in pedagogical universities. Therefore, teachers are helpless in teaching material.
Year of Astronomy
It is symbolic that astronomy in Russian schools was supplanted from curricula on the eve of the year of astronomy. In 2009, 400 years after G. Galileo made the first observation of celestial bodies using a telescope, the world community noted a breakthrough in the field of knowledge about the Universe. Scientists participating in the conference turned to the authorities with a statement about the need to overcome illiteracy in natural science, which is part of culture, and universal astronomical education. For this science is by far the most dynamically developing.
The initiative was supported by the rector of Moscow State University V. Sadovnichy, the state corporation Roscosmos, planetarium employees who began collecting signatures in support of teaching astronomy to schoolchildren, but no changes occurred under Minister A. Fursenko.
The position of the new head of the Ministry of Education
Olga Vasilieva has a different position on this issue. In September 2016, she said: astronomy in Russian schools will appear in 2017. This will happen due to the second foreign language, which is allocated 250 hours. If you reduce them, you will find the possibility of including lessons in the basic program of a comprehensive school. A variant of Straut E.K. and Vorontsov-Velyaminov B.A. will be offered as a textbook.
Due to the students' congestion, it is planned to provide one hour per week for a new subject. It would seem that the scientific community should rejoice, but what do scientists say about this?
Opinions of scientists
Discussions on this issue have been ongoing for a long time. Deputies and the public share the concern about the emerging lag of the once-leading space power in many areas. Professor of Moscow State University A.V. Zasov focuses on the fact that astronomy in schools should affect worldview issues, form a scientific understanding of the world, and therefore accompany the student throughout the entire period of study.
Interest in celestial bodies, stars and other galaxies arises from 11-12 years old, but in these years the guys do not possess the amount of knowledge in physics and mathematics that is necessary when mastering astronomical knowledge. The importance of the subject cannot be underestimated. Through astronomy:
- The work of the laws of physics outside the Earth is illustrated.
- There is an acquaintance with the exploration of outer space and modern achievements in this area, which requires the joint efforts of the leading powers.
- Teenage curiosity is satisfied, an interest in cognition is cultivated.
Problems of the Return of Astronomy
Teachers understand that with a stroke of the pen, astronomy will not appear in schools today. If the problems of textbooks and the allocation of hours are not so easily solved, then the restoration of the teacher training system will require from 5 to 15 years. It is necessary to return the departments of astrophysics, the interest of scientists, the state order.
Many believe that discipline will not survive as an independent. It will require the inclusion of the necessary sections in the teaching of related subjects: physics, geography, mathematics, chemistry, the creation of integrative courses. To do this, you need to revise the concept of their content in schools with varying degrees of complexity of educational programs.
Teachers are concerned about the level of training of students. Every year, some children do not cope with the final exams (USE). 2016 was no exception: 4.7% did not overcome the basic, 15% - a professional level in mathematics. The minimum passing score in physics was only 36 points (out of a hundred). In all technical universities, it is a specialized subject. It is necessary to ensure that the natural sciences become truly prestigious in society.
Afterword
Why is astronomy at school canceled at a time when the country is losing ground in technological progress? Perhaps because it is easier to control people whose consciousness is dominated by medieval ideas about the structure of the world? There are fears that with the emergence of the foundations of religious cultures in the school instead of the science of the development of the Universe, in ten years graduates will leave school with confidence in the divine origin of all living things and that the Earth rests on three pillars. I would not want to think that astrology will become the main science by which life should be checked, and the place where you need to turn when you feel unwell is not a clinic, but a psychic's office.