This form of training revolutionized the educational system; it made it possible for mass education with the least expenditure of resources. It is not for nothing that scientists and educators all over the world devoted their fundamental works to it, subjecting to thorough analysis all the advantages and disadvantages. Today, the class-lesson system of education is the leading system for organizing school education in many countries of the world. Its vitality over several centuries indicates its high productivity, accessibility and loyalty to change.
Classroom education system
At all times, the school faced the most important task: not just the assimilation of students in some disciplines, but also education, the formation of it as a person for further self-determination and adaptation in society. The successful implementation of the tasks was only in the case when the interaction of the teacher and students was a purposeful formed learning system that provides a unified development of scientific disciplines and independent work skills.
Understanding the organization of the class-lesson teaching system, its essence boils down to the fact that students of the same age and level of development make up the class. And this class throughout the entire period of study retains its constant composition. The main form of system training is a lesson that has a clear organized structure and time frame. Traditionally, one lesson is separated for a specific subject or topic where the teacher supervises all the students' work. And he will make the final decision on academic performance in his subject separately for each student.
The makings of classroom instruction can be found in the history of ancient civilizations. For example, in ancient Greece, the Athenian and Spartan schools of education. There, enrollment in the school was provided for by a certain age, and the learning process went according to a predetermined plan, and students were periodically grouped for joint classes. Also, some elements of this system were observed in monastery schools in the Middle Ages.
Creator of a classroom-training system
Having a number of socio-economic prerequisites, the classroom lesson system gradually formed as a substitute for individual learning. At the junction of the 15th and 16th centuries in Europe, a need arose for a different approach to education. The first steps in building a class-lesson teaching system were made by F. Melanchthon (1528) in German educational institutions. He divided the school into classes with a specific curriculum and curriculum in each. This provided the basis for the formation of a subsequent system.
The theoretical justification of the system, the development and its improvement belong to J. A. Komensky (1592-1670), who embodied its principles by organizing schools in the Czech Republic and Poland. In his works “The Great Didactics” and “The Laws of a Comfortable School,” he summarized and summarized the extensive experience of pedagogy, giving the initial outline of a class-lesson teaching system. These works were not published immediately, however, they were able to cause a wide resonance in society and were initially recognized in some Western countries. Today the works of the Czech teacher are fundamental in scientific pedagogy and translated into many languages of the world.
By the 19th century, the classroom education system of Comenius was universally recognized and established as one of the leading school education systems in the world.
System Features
Historically, the group method of teaching has been known for a long time, but it was with the class-lesson system that it was possible to achieve high results of student performance as a single group.
The main features of the classroom system:
- There are two groups of people who teach - teachers, and who study - students.
- The educational process is divided into specialized disciplines, each of which is studied separately.
- Students are divided into coeval study groups - classes, with a constant composition.
- The entire study group is simultaneously studying the same topic in the same way.
- There is an agreed schedule, common for the whole class, which contains information about the beginning and end of classes, the number of subjects for each day, their duration and rest time between them.
Main component
An important unit of the entire educational cycle is the lesson. In the classroom system of teaching, the requirements for it are determined by the principles of the educational process, goals and objectives.
All requirements come down to three main points:
- Didactic (educational) include: information, the use of the latest technology, a creative approach, a combination of various methods and forms of conduct, the alternation of teamwork with independent, feedback.
- Educational - building relationships with students (attentiveness and interest in academic performance), education of universal values and positive qualities.
- Developing requirements are the cultivation of interest in educational activities and creative activity, determining the level of development of children and the development of further development steps.
Regardless of the training system and its methods, the lesson will always remain the main form of building the educational process.
Traditional education
The class-lesson system of instruction is a traditional form of instruction prevailing in many schools of the world. She was born during the Industrial Revolution as a response to her increasing demands. A progressive industry required the training of many trained workers. And the school provided such personnel, preparing students for factory work.
But time does not stand still, humanity has stepped into the information era. At the end of the 20th century, pedagogy was faced with the need for student-centered learning. An “order” began to flow more and more on a person who was able to quickly navigate in changes and make atypical decisions in the current tasks. Now a creative person with non-standard multi-level thinking is in demand. Unfortunately, the traditional education system does not cope with the task.
Advantages and disadvantages of the system
The history of world pedagogical practice contains a storehouse of the most diverse forms of instruction. And the class-lesson teaching system as one of them also once passed its emergence, formation and improvement, and now it is steadily moving towards its sunset. Increasingly, the question began to be raised about its shortcomings, backwardness, inability to answer the demands of the times. But along with this, no one will deny the advantages of the system: the clearly defined structure of the educational process and educational work, the interaction and cooperation of students within the group, the cost-effectiveness of training.
However, for all its significant advantages, the classroom lesson system still has significant disadvantages. And first of all, this is that it is focused on the "average" student, on the mass level, without taking into account any individual abilities. At the same time, weak and strong students remain aloof, restraining themselves in their development. And there is also a group of schoolchildren who think in a completely “different way”, for whom the perception of reality follows, for example, the kinetic path, they have the hardest time.
Criticism of the Comenius system
The revealed minuses of the class-lesson system served as the basis for quite justified criticisms against her. The Polish teacher Ch. Kupisevich, working with the issue of problem-based learning, noted that this system imposes an artificial atmosphere of work. He also noted that the frequent change of subjects for short periods of time does not give students the proper depth of knowledge and immersion in the subject, hence the poor progress. And such a thing as a second year, in most cases, is explained by the fact that not all children withstand the imposed pace of work.
Criticism of the education system intensified even further at the end of the last century. This was the impetus for the search for new training systems, and for the modification of the traditional system.
Improvement Attempts
Searches and attempts to redraw the classroom education system began in the 18th century. The first proposal for modernization was made by the English priest A. Belle and teacher D. Lancaster. They proposed a peer education system where older students, under the guidance of a teacher, shared knowledge with younger ones. The practice of such training was used in England and India, but the Belle-Lancaster system was not widely used.
Further research into the modernization and development of the classroom education system was reflected in the Batov and Mannheim systems at the end of the 19th century. Even later, American teacher E. Parkhurst developed a Dalton plan system, according to which classes with students were held individually in laboratories and classrooms. Despite the appreciation received, the system was not able to take root in any state.
In today's practice, groups or classes of students are created on the basis of the classroom lesson system to study the subject to choose from a particular teacher. And after the exam, the class immediately disbands. This approach to learning allows you to adapt as much as possible to the opportunities and interests of the students themselves, where they set their own pace.
Classroom system in Russia
On the territory of the Russian state, the class-lesson system came into practice in the second half of the 18th century. A significant contribution to the adaptation of the system to local schools was made by KD Ushinsky. Being a devoted supporter of the works of Comenius, he paid special attention to the organization of the school lesson and its types. With the support of Catherine the Great, school education began to gain momentum. And already by the 19th century, the number of educational institutions in Russia was growing significantly.
The class-lesson teaching system has firmly established itself in Russian schools; it has been the main form of education for a long time. Attempts to update it by individual teachers gave rise to the practice of non-traditional methods of classroom work. For example, developing education of L.V. Zankov (in 1950-1960) or the method of advanced education of S.N. Lysenkova.
Recently, the priority of Russian education has been the organization of experimental schools, which continue to be born as a result of criticism of the classroom education system. These schools, as engines of innovation, are called upon to play a significant role in the search for the best forms and methods of education.