The Year of Teacher and Mentor opened at St Petersburg University

The St Petersburg International Educational Forum is an open platform for discussions, exchange of experience, and a frank professional dialogue about education. At the forum, prominent scholars, teachers, lecturers, politicians and cultural figures discuss education as a fundamental basis for society where the role of a teacher is paramount, and the efforts of the government should be aimed at making teaching a high-prestige profession.

The ceremony brought together Vladimir Medinsky, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation; Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education of the Russian Federation; Alexander Beglov, Governor of St Petersburg, member of the Board of Trustees of St Petersburg University; Nikolay Kropachev Rector of St Petersburg University, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences; and Valery Fadeyev, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights.

Vladimir Medinsky opened the ceremony by discussing the importance of the fact that 2023 was declared as the Year of the Teacher and Mentor by Russian President Vladimir Putin. ‘Knowledge is not enough. What is needed is education,’ said Vladimir Medinsky, talking about the versatility of the role of a teacher.

Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education of the Russian Federation, also spoke about the importance of a teacher in the life of every person: ‘This year, we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Konstantin Ushinsky, a great Russian teacher and researcher. He said that the teacher not only transfers knowledge to schoolchildren, but also forms a worldview, educates the soul, love for one’s small and large homeland, for parents, for traditions. This is what is called the revival of our true traditions that our national education system has been famous for.’

Dear teachers! I want to sincerely thank you for your selfless service, for bringing the best to our children, for being you!

Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education of the Russian Federation

Alexander Beglov, Governor of St Petersburg, took part in the ceremony to award the best teachers. He presented a commemorative badge ‘350 Years of Peter the Great’ to Elena Kazakova, Director of the Institute of Pedagogy at St Petersburg University, for high achievements in professional and social activities in St Petersburg. Elena Kazakova is a winner the Russian Professorial Assembly Prize and the owner of the medal of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. She acted as a moderator during the Educational Forum plenary session. At the initiative of St Petersburg University, the plenary session discussed the school subject ‘Social studies’. It was held in the format of a professional conversation on the topic "Social science: from a school subject to the worldview of the nation".

The shift to a constructive discussion of modern challenges in the education system was made by Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University, in his welcoming speech. ‘St Petersburg University experts are concerned about the fact that teaching social science receives unreasonably little attention. In our opinion, this conflicts with the mission of the subject in the context of its role in shaping the worldview of our students,’ he said.

In 2022, at the initiative of Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University, the University experts conducted a detailed survey of social science teachers in St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. In November 2022, there was a round table "Teaching social science in general education institutions".

In his plenary report, the Rector paid special attention to preparing social science teachers and spoke about a number of programmes in this area at the University. ‘By order of the Sirius Educational Centre, St Petersburg University researchers, i.e. economists, philosophers, political scientists, psychologists, lawyers, and lecturers, have developed a professional development programme for acting teachers of social studies. The work was under the guidance of Dean of the Faculty of Law Sergei Belov. The goal of the programme is to answer the current questions of teachers, and show them the integrative function of the value-semantic core in building the modern worldview of schoolchildren,’ said Nikolay Kropachev. He added that St Petersburg University plans to actively participate in the implementation of the tasks associated with the formation of the value-semantic unity of our country.

Under the guidance of Elena Kazakova, Director of the Institute of Pedagogy, St Petersburg University has developed a master’s programme "Teacher for a School of High Technologies". The programme is aimed at preparing teachers of social studies who are teachers of a new generation.

At the plenary session, there was a report by Valery Fadeyev, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation. He discussed the need to promote traditional moral and cultural values. The meeting participants noted that in the context of universal digitalisation, one of the key issues is the creation of up-to-date teaching aids. Natalia Tretiak, Director of the Prosveshchenie Publishing House and a graduate of St Petersburg University, spoke about the preparation of inspiring social science textbooks. In her opinion, the main difference and advantage of the textbook over many Internet sources is its reliability.

Summing up the results of the plenary session, Elena Kazakova said: ‘We are lucky to get a good education. Let’s do everything so that our children also get a good education and can be happy!’

The St Petersburg boarding school for pupils and the Institute for Cognitive Studies at St Petersburg University organised the platform "Scientific environment". Tatiana Chernigovskaya, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Education, Director of the Institute for Cognitive Studies at St Petersburg University, took part in the work of the panel. She offered to answer the question "What kind of future are we building and how are we preparing those who will live in it?" as part of the discussion on the topic "Education in the 21st century and cognitive neuroscience".