Резюме. The first steps of education in gymnasiums and universities in the main East Slavonic states are described. The first town with teaching in Slavic languages was Lithuanian Vilnius. Slavic education spread step by step from Lithuania via Polotsk and Kyiv to Moscow. The first institution of higher education in Moscow was established in 1687. It was Ellino-Greek Academia. First Russian Academic Gymnasium and University with the traditional curriculum were founded in 1725 in Saint-Petersburg. Yet, many years after that, the students in the first Russian university were absent. The university educational process in Russia started in 1755 at Moscow. So it took about 200 years to bring University education from Lithuania via Belarus and Ukraine to Russia.

Ключови думи: Slavic language, Western oriented curriculum, theological schools, Moscow University

Introduction: new challenges of modern education and their historical background

Each educational system is built to meet the demands of social environment. Changing environment immediately creates new educational demands. The full list of knowledge necessary for normal life changes in accordance with changes in the social environment. Some old skills and laws are not required any longer and some new ones become useful. Therefore the time of active learning constantly increases. As the result, the period of education gets longer in each century. Modern education is connected with new ways of personal mobility like faculties, students, globalization of didactic technologies and computerisation. These factors are serious challenges for university staff (Romanenko & Nikitina, 2012). The education time comparisons of education technologies are usually not long term. Moreover, they do not take into account geographical and cultural specifics of an educational system. As a result, there is an urgent need for the critical study of the origin of education in any country. The history of European education is described in detail in several books (Riché, 2005; Heiman, 1985; De Ridder-Symoens, 1992; Cook, 1974; Gultek, 1995). However, education technologies in African and some Asian countries may be regarded as in their infancy. Processes in the area where several East Slavonic tribes lived may be treated as intermediate. Therefore, the main goal of this article is to illuminate the process of the first steps of education at secondary and tertiary levels in Russia. All data of interested knowing is presented in the well-known sources. We only gathered it together and presented our results to the readers who have curiosity to know something about the history of Russian education. The main part of the materials was published in Russian. We provided the list of these materials in the overview (Romanenko & Nikitina, 2000).

One has to discuss a set of problems to select correctly the original time for study. Let us clarify the preliminary points. At first, it will be a concept of higher education. Higher education is a process of creating special knowledge, skills and abilities – KSA. These KSA are professionally oriented. However, education at the primary level creates simpler KSA. Yet they are mandatory for all trainees. Secondly, let us determine the general education for colleges with different structures which have timetables, standard curriculum, and group classes. The standard curriculum remains the same from year to year. Such education in Western Europe originated at the Renaissance (Riché, 2005; Heiman M, 1985; De Rider-Symoens, 1992; Cook, 1974; Gultek, 1995). It is well known that hierarchy of levels is necessary for this type of education. According to John Amos Сomenius (Jan Komensky) (Schaller, 1962), the full curriculum requires no less than four levels. The first level is elementary. It creates general KSA. Secondary and tertiary levels create specified competences. After finishing the second level the students have to be taught seven liberal arts. The University curriculum is usually divided into two major levels. To enroll in the University, each freshman has to finish an independent primary school. This system has been used in all Western European Universities since the end of medieval ages (Cubberley, 1920).

The origin of higher education in the lands of East Slavonic population went slower relative to the Western European states. Creating the new educational system took approximately two centuries (Romanenko & Nikitina, 2000; Cubberley, 1920). The borders of the states in this area were not stable at that time. Unlike Western Europe the cultural and confessional space in the East European Slaves was more heterogeneous. Many of different confessional and secular schools which were known in this area at this period never influenced the curriculum of the future Russian Universities. Therefore it is necessary to take into account the institutes where curriculum was partially taught in the Latin and other languages. Slavonic and Greek languages taught using the curriculum and Orthodox theology are necessary for determination of the objects of study. New schools and scholar centers were not established immediately. It was a long lasting process. The native inhabitants of East Europe had their own educational prehistory which affected new schools. The historical development of three modern East Slavic nations was not simple. It was more dramatic and complex than can be imagined at the first glance. Yet in the area of inter cultural contacts these nations were very close. Their mutual affinity was visible and positive. Respectively, it would be better to study their historical and cultural growth together. The common history of these tribes permits one to study all peculiarities of the origin of higher education in Russia.

Crescent way from Vilnus via Polotsk and Kyiv to Moscow

European development of medieval Kyiv Rus’ was interrupted by the invasion of Mongolians. A few years after the fall of Kyiv on December 6th, 1240 the area of East Slavic people was divided into two big parts. In one of them, small towns gradually merged around Moscow. Eventually they became Russia. The second part incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Eidintas et al., 2013; Magoocsi, 1966; Plokhy, 2010; Bain, 1908). The cultural level of incorporated Slavic population was high enough to drive the native Lithuanian inhabitants into the area of Slavonic cultural tradition. As a result, Lithuania transformed into so-called Drugaya Rus’. It may be translated as Second Russia or Other Russia. The old Russian language became the official state language in this state. The Grand Duchy of Lithuanian, Russian and Zhemoitian became the official title of this State. In some ancient documents, one can find the name of the inhabitants of this State. It was Christian people Russian and Lithuanian (Eidintas et al., 2013). Stage by stage the situation in Lithuania changed. In 1386 the so-called Union of Krew was formed. This was the first step towards formation of the Union of Lublin of 1569. The new united state Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was established. The Slavic areas were painlessly divided between Polish Crown and Lithuanian Duchy (Eidintas et al., 2013; Magoocsi, 1966; Plokhy, 2010; Bain, 1908). These parts were the seeds of creation of two modern nations. The first one was Ukrainian. It was under Poland. The second part was Belorussian. It was on the Lithuanian land. Different confessions lived in peace for several decades on the lands of this unified state. Catholic, Orthodox, and some reformation confessions were recognized there in practical life. There was a period when the Gusist’s rebels and Poland people discussed a possibility of creating a new union between Commonwealth and Czechs. This idea was proposed at the time of reformats’ war in the Czech’s lands.

A lot of different schools were established during this period in this part of East Europa. In 1566, in the town of Vilnius, the school of civil law sciences was formed. In 1579, in the same town, Academia was established. The King Stephen Bathory transformed it very soon into the University. The subjects in this University were taught not only in Latin but also in Slavonic language. Moreover, a part of Orthodox literature was printed there in the Latin language during this short period. Before the Vilnius and Kyiv Academies were established all inhabitants of this area who wanted to study in universities could move freely in the Western Universities. The most known and popular Universities were the ones in Krakov, Prague, Padua, Bolognia, Leipzig, Wittenberg and Königsberg. A number of South Russian towns adopted Magdeburg Law. Briefly, these lands were a cradle of new East Slavonic culture and education. The main point of this cultural region was Polotsk, one of the largest market cities of this time. It was the capital of Duchy. In this part of the land they also started East Slavonic book printing, which is connected with the famous name of Fransisk Skorina. He was born and received his primary education in the town of Polotsk.

It is well known what happened later. Catholic activity started then in the part of Poland Crown. Jesuits appeared in the State. They took all curriculum under the strict control. Special colleges were created by them for these purposes. Polonisation of Lithuania started. The University at Vilnius was temporarily closed. After its re-opening, this University was transformed into a typical Western institution with curriculum taught only in Latin. As result of these processes, the Cossack uprising led by Bogdan Khmel’nitsky began (Toynbee, 1960). This Cossack uprising and civil war were of inter-confessional nature in their form. These events caused a fight against Catholics in Moscow. At the same time, a fight of the noble people of Orthodox confession started in the areas around Moscow. Inter-confessional fight led to a creation of independent Orthodox brotherhoods. These brotherhoods were originated as unions of laymen. They recognized Orthodox fraternities as official. The primary Slavonic literacy was the main goal of these brotherhood schools. Several famous persons of Slavic culture and arts got their basic KSA in these brotherhood schools. At this time, the most powerful Orthodox magnate was Prince K. Ostrozky. He was influenced by Western culture. At 1580 he established a new Academy in the town of Ostrorog where they taught in Latin and the curriculum was open to Greek.

Most leaders of the Cossack uprising were well educated. The most famous leader of Cossacks Bogdan Khmel’nitsky had an excellent cultural background. He finished the Jesuit College at Lviv (L’vov), and had good command of several foreign languages. His officers were well educated too. The detachment of hired Cossacks of 2,000 persons participated in the siege of Dunkerk in 1645 supporting France. Cossacks of John III Sobiesky (Jan Sobiesky) were a key part of European troops during the second defense of Vienna in 1683 (Toynbee, 1960). All these events prove good cultural background of Cossack officers and their knowledge of foreign languages. Thus, the lands of Western and South-Western Slavic population created the conditions for establishing fully Orthodox Slavic education. In 1615 the fraternity of Kyiv established a brotherhood school which after some transformations became the well-known Kyiv-Mohila Academy (Ševčenko, 1984; Hosking, 2012). It was named in honor of Petr Mohila, who was one of its founders. This Academy was recognized by Russian Tsars. It was one of the oldest academic and theological schools among the East European countries. This Academy was transformed into a theological school at 1819 and was reborn as a non-state University in modern times. We can say the problem of independent Orthodox education in the area of East Slavs was solved after formation of this Academy.

So, during this period, the new culture and Slavic education spread through the whole area of the East Slavic part of Western Europe. In particular, some Belorussian lands and towns such as Polotsk and Vilnius side by side with Lviv (L’vov) were the first seeds in the field of education of East Slavic languages. The Kyiv-Mohila Academy, and partially the University of Vilnius were the first East-Slavic institutes of higher education. The track of establishing Slavic higher education was in a form of a geographical arc: from Lithuania and Belarus via Kyiv towards Moscow. In terms of time frame, the intensity of this process was very high. The University at Vilnius was established in 1579, the Kyiv Academy was established in 1632, and finally the Moscow Academy was established in 1687. The formation of the Moscow Academy is the final point of the preliminary stage of educational reform in Russia.

This educational arc track from Vilnius via Polotsk and Kyiv to Moscow was in the areas of three modern States: Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. Polotsk, Kyiv and Novgorod the Great were the main towns of these areas at that time. The majestic cathedrals of Holy Sophia were built in these three towns. These three cathedrals were built nearly simultaneously. The first wooden church in Novgorod was established in 949. Soon it was rebuilt in stone. This reconstruction was finished in 1045. There are two approximate dates of the Kyiv stone cathedral building. The first one was 1017, the second was 1037. The Holy Sophia in Polotsk was erected in the period of 10441066 (Ševčenko, 1984; Hosking, 2012). In traditional Orthodox confession, Sophia is frequently treated as Divine Wisdom. The three cathedrals were built with principal architectural novelty: they have five independent domes. It was the obvious influence of the famous Holy Sophia Cathedral in the City of Constantinople (Bizantie). This City was a traditional center of Orthodox culture and education. So, we can say these three cathedrals were the symbols of education. They were very notable points on the educational way from Western lands to Moscow. It is interesting to note the cathedrals named by Holy Sophia are seldom in East Slavonic states. That is why we say the ancient inhabitants of East Slavonic lands understood very well the real importance of education.

The first Russian university

Unlike Lithuania and Poland, the problems with regular education in Muscovian (Moscow) lands were more difficult (Kloczowski, 2008; Dawis, 1996; Kliuchevsky, 1913). Despite the difficulties connected with the Tatar-Mongol pressure, the contacts between Moscow and Western Europe were active. However, no special institutions for elementary and higher forms of education were known there at this period. Many authorities of Moscow were very well educated. Some of them were influenced by Western culture. Tsar John (Ivan) IV – John the Terrible, and his grandfather John III like several noble persons left behind a great epistolary heritage (Dawis, 1996; Kliuchevsky, 1913). Yet, in all these cases, one can see the results of personal teaching only. The need in well-educated and excellently taught persons certainly existed in each State. Tsar John IV tried to find a way to create a group of well educated persons. His death and the death of his son Feodor meant the end of the Moscow branch of the Rurik Dynasty. The new Tsar Boris Godunov was a brother-in-law of Feodor (Dawis, 1996; Kliuchevsky, 1913; Soloviev, 1976-1991). The unprecedented closeness of Moscow to many Western countries was observed during his reign (Kliuchevsky, 1913). The documents of this period say Boris Godunov dreamed about the formation of a high school in Moscow. It was supposed that teachers would have to be invited from Western Europe. Godunov repeated the idea of John the Terrible to send some young civilians to learn in England. Yet, none of them returned back to Moscow.

After the death of Boris Godunov, a long period of the civil war, Polish invasion, and several uprisings began. This period is known as the Time of Trouble, which finished only in 1613. The reign of the new Romanovs’ Dynasty started. All Tsars of Romanovs’ house had a desperate need for well educated people. The young Russian State needed persons with diplomatic competence, persons who could count taxes, operate with results, and so on. The new Russian State claimed a new position in the Orthodox world. Therefore, the problem of correction of Orthodox confessional books was created. We shall not discuss the reform of Patriarch Nikon. Yet, we can say for its realization the State needed to have well educated and competent persons whom Russia really did not have at that time. We can say that the State needed the reformation of all kinds of its existence and that there were no persons available for such work. We can’t say the period of Tsar Alexis (Aleksei Mikhailovich in Russian) was calm. These were long years of wars and uprisings. The result of the so-called Treaty in Pereyaslav in 1648 was the incorporation of the Left Bank Ukraine into Muscovia (Plokhy, 2010; Hosking, 2012). After this event a lot of educated monks under the auspices of Feodor Rtishchev moved from Kyiv to Moscow. Famous Epiphanius Slaventsky was one of them. The main goal of inviting these people to Moscow was to try them for teaching a new generation of Moscow youth. Tsar Alexis understood the need for well-educated persons. He took serious care about the education of his own children. Well educated and gifted in writing Simeon Polotsky (1629-1680) from Kyiv was invited for this purpose. Later he took an active part in organization of the Slavonic-Greek-Latin Academy. The charter of its establishment was signed in 1682. Yet, the Academy as a real institution began its operation after 1685-1687. It operated under the guidance of two Greek monks. Over 70 students were enrolled in it.

Not only the children of Tsar Alexis were well educated. The closest assistants of the Tsar, such as F. Rtishchshev and A. Ordin-Nashchekin, were also good educated and knew several foreign languages. First of all, all of them knew Latin, and frequently Polish and German. At this period, Polish language in the area of East Europe, like Latin, was the main language of international contacts. One of the main persons of the next reign was the Duke V. Golitsin. He is remembered as a brilliantly educated person. Golitsin wanted to send the children of famous families for education in Western countries. This idea was known earlier at the reign of John the Terrible. At the period of Alexis’ reign, many noble persons were educated in Ukraine. For example, it was someone named Ozerov who started as an assistant of Rtishchev in Kyiv-Mohila Academy.

During the period of Alexis’ reign, there was an intense growth of cultural development. At this time a set of festivals in the palaces of the Tsar were accompanied with different performances. All actors moved with the Tsar from place to place. Thus, the need for setting up new educational institutions can be seen in the pre-Peter Russia. There was a real base for foundation of these institutions. Yet, there were some problems with finding the teaching staff. The first time when the State recognized this problem was at the time of correction of Confessional literature. Competent persons were invited from Ukraine for church reform, and also for personal education and educational institutions. The Greeks were invited more carefully. They lived in the Muslims areas and that is why they were frequently suspected in close contacts with Muslims priests, and scientists. After agreement between Moscow and Cossacks at Pereyaslav many educated persons moved from Ukraine and Poland to Moscow. The cultural flow from Ukraine to Moscow at that time was as intensive as never again (Dawis, 1996). That is why the period of the end of XVII till the beginning of XVIII century was the period of implementing a set of educational, philosophical and confessional European ideas from Ukraine into the Russian society. As a result, the teachers’ staff came to Russia via Ukraine in the framework of the whole cultural stream. Most of new teachers belonged to the same Orthodox confession as the native Russians. Opposite this, some personal teachers in wealthy families sometimes belonged to the other confessions. To prevent this, the private teaching was strongly forbidden immediately after the Slavonic-Greek-Latin Academy had been established. All Russian authorities were afraid of Latin influence. Teaching was allowed to Russian or Greek persons only. Yet, Greek teachers had to possess special documents confirming their strong positions in Orthodoxy.

We can study now how the new forms of education were created in the Eastern part of the Russian world. Contacts between Russia and Western countries existed at all times of their history. Soloviev (1976-1991) wrote: “Our ancient history has more connections with the West that we can imagine at the first glance”. The period of Tsar Alexis’ reign was the most favorable time for establishing of inter-cultural contacts between Russia and Western Europe. Also Soloviev wrote that this was the only period of Russian history when it was organic unity of personal contacts and inter cultural exchange with national originality.

The first institution of higher education was the well-known Slavonic-Greek-Latin Academia. The first name of this Academia was Ellino-Greek Academia. It was founded in 1687 at the reign of Feodor III (Feodor Alekseevich in Russian) who was the elder brother of Peter I. Feodor Alekseevich ruled from 1676 till 1682 (Kliuchevsky, 1913; Heiman, 1993; Soloviev, 1976-1991; Martin, 2008). The curriculum in the new Academia included Slavonic, Greek, and Latin languages, seven free arts and theology. It was a traditional curriculum of the West European universities at that time. Most of the teachers in this Academy were of Kyiv and Polotsk origin. Some of them graduated from Western Universities. By 1811, the special Russian University education became quite effective. That year, the Academia was transformed into theological institution. After a little while, in 1814 it was transformed again into the Ecclesiastical Academy. This year it moved to the Troitse-Sergievskaya Lavra. It currently exists now in the same form and in the same place.

This first institution of higher education in Russia did not meet all necessary requirements of the University. The death of Tsar Feodor Alekseevich suspended the process of creating a new educational system in Russia. It continued at the time of Emperor Peter the First. His educational reforms were devoted primarily to establishing military and medicine schools. In 1724 he signed the principal order. This order proclaimed the foundation of the new Science-Educational system: Academy of Science, Academical University and Academical Gymnasium (Romanenko & Nikitina, 2000). New members of the Academy, named academical professors, were invited from Western Europe. Most of the teachers of University faculties and gymnasium were also invited from different Western Countries. The Academy as an active institution started in 1725 after Peter the First’s death. The gymnasium also started its work without serious problems. The process of teaching in the new University was more complex. Invited professors had obligations to give a certain number of lectures and classes. Yet, there were no students in this University and professors were forced to lecture each other. This Institution had such a strange fate. Yet, all known documents supported the idea that this was really the first regular University of Western type in Russia. Therefore, the celebration of the 275th Anniversary of the first university in Russia, which took place in 1999 in Saint-Petersburg, was not accidental. Continuous operation of the University began in Saint-Petersburg from 1819 at the reign of Emperor Alexander I. So, it took about one century to organize regular education in this institution. Approximately in the middle of this period, namely on January 23rd, 1755, the Moscow University was inaugurated. This date is celebrated every year as the Day of Russian students. For many years after this event there was a dispute whether Saint-Petersburg University or Moscow one is the oldest higher education institution in Russia. In the century after Peter I death some technical high schools were also created in Russia. Several secular higher education institutes were also formed between 1724 and 1819. So, a long way of formation of the system of regular higher professional schools was successfully completed in the second decade of the XIX century. After this, the Slavonic-Greek-Latin Academy was transformed into a theological school. The Emperor Alexander I established many gymnasiums. During the period of the following reign of Nikolay I, a number of higher professional schools and Universities were set up. In view of this, we can say that in the first half of the XIX century, the regular education in Russia at all necessary levels transformed into a strong active system which itself was similar to the one of Western European countries.

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