Zankov's system was introduced in Russian schools in 1995-1996 as a parallel system of primary education. We can say that it corresponds to a sufficiently high degree set forth in the Law of the Russian Federation on education principles. According to them, education should be humanitarian in nature. In addition, it should ensure the development of the personality of each child.
The essence of the Zankov system
Today Zankovās system is one of those that are approved for use, like other primary school programs. Briefly describe what its essence is. This system assumes that children should āacquireā knowledge. They should not be simply presented to students, as Zankov believed. His system is aimed at the fact that the teacher poses a certain problem, and the children must solve it independently, naturally, under the guidance of the teacher. During the lesson there is a dispute, a discussion in which many opinions appear. Gradually, knowledge crystallizes from them. The intellectual movement, therefore, proceeds in the reverse traditional order: not from simple to complex, but vice versa.
Other features of the program proposed by Zankov (his portrait is presented above) include a high learning rate, a lot of tasks for working out the material. This process is not easy. It should be as diverse and dynamic as possible. For example, schoolchildren often visit libraries, museums, exhibitions, a lot of extra-curricular work is carried out. All this contributes to successful learning.
Now let us consider in more depth and detail the technique proposed by Zankov. Its system today is very popular. However, its principles are often misunderstood. First, we briefly describe the ideas that Zankov proposed. Its system will be considered by us in general terms. Then we will talk about what mistakes modern teachers make in putting these principles into practice.
The purpose of the Zankov system
So, the popular method of primary education was developed by Leonid Vladimirovich Zankov. His system pursued the following goal - high overall development of children. What did L.V. Zankov mean by this? Comprehensive development of the childās personality, which affects the āmindā (cognitive processes), volitional qualities that control all activities (āwillā), as well as moral and ethical qualities (āfeelingsā), which are manifested in various activities. General development is the formation and qualitative transformation of personality traits. These properties are the foundation of successful education in school years. After graduation, they become the basis of creative work in various fields of activity. The development of imagination contributes to the effective solution of problems in many areas. L. V. Zankov wrote that the process of learning when using this system least resembles a cold and measured perception of the material. He is imbued with a feeling that appears when a person is delighted with the treasury of knowledge that has opened to him.
In order to solve this problem, it was impossible to simply improve the existing programs of primary school. Therefore, in the 60-70s of the 20th century, a new didactic training system was created. The core and unified basis of it became the principles on which the entire educational process is based. Briefly tell about each of them.
High difficulty
It was necessary to proceed from the fact that the school programs that existed at that time were not saturated with educational material. In addition, teaching methods did not contribute to the manifestation of children's creative activity. Therefore, the first principle was the principle of teaching students at a high level of complexity. This is most important in the Zankov system, since only the educational process, which provides abundant food for the mind, can contribute to intensive and rapid development. By difficulty is meant the tension of both the intellectual strength of the student and the spiritual. When solving problems, intensive work of thought and development of imagination should take place.
The student must overcome the obstacles that arise in the course of cognition. In Zankovās system, the necessary stress is achieved through the use of analyzing observation and a problematic teaching method, and not through the use of complex material.
High difficulty value
The main idea of āāthis principle is to create a special atmosphere in which intellectual activity of schoolchildren is observed. It is necessary to give them the opportunity to independently solve the tasks, as well as to understand and be able to determine the difficulties that arise in the learning process. It is important to find ways to overcome these difficulties. This type of activity, according to Zankov, contributes to the fact that all available knowledge about the subject is activated. He also develops self-control, arbitrariness (that is, management of activities) and observation. At the same time, the emotional background of the educational process also rises. After all, everyone loves to feel smart and able to succeed.
Fast pace
L.V. Zankov opposed monotonous and monotonous exercises, as well as repeated repetitions of material covered. He introduced another principle, the essence of which was to study at a fast pace. Zankovās methodology implies a dynamic and constant change of actions and tasks.
The leading role of theoretical knowledge
L. V. Zankov did not deny that the task of elementary school is to form computational, spelling, and other skills. However, he was against "dragging", passive-reproductive methods. Zankov Leonid called for students to have their skills formed as a result of a deep understanding of the science underlying the subject. Thus, another principle appeared, according to which the leading role should belong to theoretical knowledge. It was aimed at increasing the cognitive focus of primary education.
Learning awareness
No less important is the awareness of learning. It was understood as an understanding of the content of the material. The system of L.V. Zankov expands this interpretation. The learning process itself must also be conscious. Adjoining this is another principle that Leonid Zankov proposed. We will tell about him too.
Relations between pieces of material
The objects of close attention should be the connections existing between the parts of the material, the laws of computational, grammatical and other operations, as well as the mechanism for the appearance of errors and their overcoming.
This principle can be disclosed as follows. Younger schoolchildren have an important feature of studying the material, which is that the activity of its analytical comprehension decreases rapidly if the students are forced to analyze one or another unit of material for several lessons in a row, to carry out the same type of mental operations (for example, using the form of the word to select verification words to it). Zankovās mathematics is therefore very different from mathematics taught using other systems. Indeed, it is this subject that is most often studied by others on the same type of problems, against which Leonid Vladimirovich stands. It is known that at this age children are very tired of doing the same thing very quickly. As a result of this, their efficiency decreases, the development process slows down.
The system of L.V. Zankov solves this problem as follows. In order not to "stagnate", it is necessary to investigate units of material in connection with others. Each section should be compared with others. It is recommended to conduct a lesson on the Zankov system in such a way that students can find similarities and differences between different parts of the educational material. They should be able to determine the measure of the dependence of the didactic unit on the rest. Material should be understood as a logical interacting system.
Another aspect of this principle is to increase the capacity of time devoted to training, and to increase the efficiency. This can be done, firstly, through the integrated development of the material, and secondly, by the absence of separate periods in the program designed to repeat what was studied earlier, as in the traditional methodology.
Thematic blocks
Zankov's training system assumes that the material is compiled by the teacher into thematic blocks. They include units that closely interact with each other and depend on each other. Studying them simultaneously saves study time. In addition, it becomes possible to study units over many lessons. For example, in traditional planning, 4 hours are allocated for the study of each of these two units. When combining them into a block, the teacher has the opportunity to touch each of them for 8 hours. In addition, by finding links with similar units, the material that was covered earlier is repeated.
Creating specific learning conditions
We have already said that extracurricular work plays a large role in this system. But not only her. The employees of Zankovās laboratory, like the scientist himself, were guided by the fact that certain conditions of instruction in the classroom favorably affect the development of all students, both weak and strong. In this case, development occurs individually. Its pace may be different, depending on the abilities and inclinations of each individual student.
The current state of the Zankov system
More than 40 years have passed since the development of all these principles. Nowadays, there is a need to comprehend these ideas from the point of view of modern pedagogy. After examining the current state of the Zankov system, scientists came to the conclusion that the interpretation of some principles was distorted in pedagogical practice.
Distort the meaning of "fast pace"
"Fast pace" began to be understood mainly as a reduction in the time devoted to the development of the material. However, the pedagogical means and conditions that Zankov used were not implemented to the extent appropriate. But it was they who made the training of schoolchildren more intense and easier.
Zankov proposed to intensify the process of studying subjects due to the fact that didactic units were considered comprehensively. Each of them was presented in its various aspects and functions. Previously completed material was constantly included in the work. With the help of these means it was possible to abandon the āchewingā of students already known, which was practiced traditionally. Zankov sought to avoid monotonous repeated repetitions that lead to spiritual apathy and mental laziness, and therefore inhibit the development of the child. The words "fast pace" were introduced by him in contrast to this. By them is meant a qualitatively new organization of instruction.
Misunderstanding the meaning of theoretical knowledge
Another principle according to which the leading role should be given to theoretical knowledge is also often misunderstood by educators. The emergence of the need for this was also due to the nature of the techniques used in the mid-20th century. At that time, primary school was considered a special stage of school education. She had the so-called propaedeutic character. In other words, she only prepared the children for high school. Based on this, the traditional system formed in the child - mainly in the reproductive way - the necessary skills to work with material that can be applied in practice. Zankov, however, opposed such a purely practical way of mastering the first knowledge by schoolchildren. He noted the inherent cognitive passivity. Zankov pointed out the need for conscious mastery of skills, which is based on working with theoretical data about what is being studied.
Increased intellectual workload
In the modern implementation of this principle, as shown by the analysis of the state of the system, there has been a bias towards too early assimilation of theoretical knowledge by schoolchildren. Moreover, their understanding with the help of sensory experience is not developed at the proper level. This leads to the fact that the intellectual load increases significantly and unjustifiably. In the classes where training takes place according to the Zankov system, they began to select the most prepared for school. Thus, the conceptual foundations of the system were violated.
Today, English is especially popular for students using the Zankov method. This is understandable, because this language is very popular today, and traditional methods of teaching it do not suit everyone. However, you need to understand that by choosing English for your students according to the Zankov system, you may be disappointed. The fact is that this technique is not always used correctly. Modern teachers often distort the Zankov system. Russian language, mathematics, biology and other subjects are also taught using this technique. The effectiveness of its use largely depends on the teacher.