K.D. Ushinskii at the Smolny Institute. Restructuring the system

Abstract

The article deals with the restructuring of the educational system in closed women’s institutes, which took place in the early 1860s. The first part of the article considers a backstory of the reform, characterizes the academic part of the institutes, starting with the Smolny Institute, founded in 1764, up to the 1850s, as a dynamically developing structure. The second part is concerned with the activities of K.D. Ushinskii as a class inspector at the Smolny Institute. Ushinskii developed a new draft curriculum, justified approaches to the distribution of academic subjects by classes, depending on the age of students, whereas the native language was defined as the main subject of study. According to the project, the number of lessons increased by reducing their duration, a 7-year training period with an annual training course was established. Ushinskii’s project, approved in 1860, served as a normative model for other women’s institutes. In addition, the subject of the analysis was the conflict within the institute itself, which was the result of Ushinskii’s decisive actions, on the one hand, and the desire of the head of the Institute and her supporters to preserve the institute’s traditions intact, on the other. In conclusion, the inference is made about the significance of the transformations carried out by Ushinskii, and on the readiness of the Office of the Empress Maria’s Institutions for transformation.