SELF-EDUCATION OF THE WORKERS The C ultu ra rall Task o f the the Struggling Proletariat b>
A. LUNACHARSKI Peoples' Comm Commissa issary ry f o r Education Education under the the T{ussian Socialist Federal Soviet ‘ Republic.
Also Als o a Brief B rief Acco Ac count unt o f the Educationa Educationall Work of the Russian Soviet Republic
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Published by T H E W O R K E R S' S' S O C I A L I S T F E D E R A T I O N ,
SELF-EDUCATION OF THE WORKERS The culturc of the proletariat struggling to free itself is a class culture, sharply defined, an d based on strife. It is romantic, and, from its very intensity, its form suffers, because time does not allow a definite and pcrfect form to be elabo rated from its stormy and tragic substance. Classes and nations which have reachcd their highest development are classical in their culture. Classes str iving for self-expression are romantic, and their romanticism pos sesses the typical characteristics o f the “ storm and stre ss ” ; classes doomed to decay assume another form of romanticism, that o f melacholy, disenchantment, and decadence. We must not conclude that there is no intimate relationship between Socialist and proletarian culture because they so sub stantia lly differ from each other. We must bear in mind that the stru gg le is one for an id e a l: that o f the culture o f brotherhood and complete freedom; of victory over the indi vidualism which cripples human bein gs; and o f a communal life based not on compulsion and the need of man to herd together for mere self-preservation, as it was in the past, but on a free and natural merging of personalities into super* personal entities. Not only do the very characteristics of this ideal prescribe definite forms of co-operation in the midst of the prevailing world strife: these forms are themselves the direct outcome o f the peculiar position occupied by the working class in the cap italist world order, w’hich has forced the workers to be the best organised and most united class in the community. No ideal can spring from a soil or seed alien to it; the methods and weapons used for its attainment must be in harmony with itself. Th erefore from the stru gglin g proletariat we must not expect the splendour o f the harvest and the perfec tion o f form and unfettered grace o f victorious strength. These w ill reveal themselves in the future. Nevertheless, we have every reason to expect that proletarian culture, because of its 2
struggle, its toil, and suffering, will possess characteristics which would pro bably be unthinkable in the social order o f a triumphant Socialism. But the question arises whether this struggling proletariat really has a culture o f any sort Most certainly. In the first place, it possesses in Marxism all that is essential—the fine and powerful investigation of social phenomena, the basis of sociology and political economy, the cornerstone of the philo sophic conception o f the world. In these the proletariat is already in possession of treasures which can bear comparison with the most brilliant achievements o f the human brain. Moreover, in many countries the proletariat has evinced a remarkable organising power in the politica .1 sphere. It is true that the dead creation of the past still holds the new life in its a im s; the bourgeois parliamentarianism and nationalism has permeated the young political organism of the proletarian parties and o f the Workers’ International itself. The crisis is acute; the disease, of which the left Social Democrats gave warning whilst it was yet in its incubatory period, is most virulent— indeed, many asserted that it wfould prove fatal—but one can even now declare that it will be over come and utilised, and that the political organisations o f the proletariat will emerge from the fearful ordeal stronger and more influential than ever. In the economic aspects of the struggle, one cannot say that the ideal o f the thinkers and tacticians o f the trade union movement has been reached; but one must be filled with admiration for the complicated and beautiful structure of the industrial and craft organisation which, though as yet incom plete, impresses both friend and foe. A ll working-class organisations have undergone a wonderful development. The International Congress of Stuttgart imbued the trade union movement with Socialist ideals, and by its famous resolution placed the movement on a level with the political Socialist Party. The Congress of Copenhagen practically did the same for the co-operative (?) movement, and there was every reason to hope that the Congress of Vienna would emphasise the vast importance o f the fourth form o f proletarian culture, namely, the struggle for education. The development of the educational movement is seen in the foundation o f proletarian colleges by m any Socialist parties, the transference to Socialist organisations of a number 3
of schools and Sunday schools, the ever-increasing number of scicntific and literary Socialist clubs. The attention paid to child welfare and the education of the young in connection with the organisation o f proletarian clementar. schools will (ead to the transformation o f working-class fam ily life. The woman must ccase to be enslaved by the proletarian kitchen and the proletarian nursery; the latter, we must admit, is at present practically non-existent. 1 merely refer to the most important of the series of questions with which the Socialist proletariat has begun to grapple both theoretically and practically. Before the war but few Social Democrats had realised the truth, conclusively proved by Spencer, that even the best menial training has little influence on tne will unless it be accompanicd by the development o f the finer human feelings. The ethical and aesthetic education of the workers’ children in the spirit of Socialist ideology is a supreme necessity. Ro sa Luxemburg is more than right when she s a y s : “ Wc shall hardly make any progress without a clear under stan din g of the work o f proletarian self-education.” Comparatively little has been done in this direction, which may be termed the sphere of enlightenment, and in which the creative power of the proletariat must very clearly manifest itself. Even before the war the need for this enlightening self-cducation was very strongly felt; and work had been started in that direction. But the war so clearly showed the workers the shortcomings o f this most important aspect o f their culture that, notwithstanding the wholesale waste and destruc tion in Europe during the past four years, we mav expect to see in the near future a great revival of working-class energy in this direction. THE LITERATURE TRAIN. On November ist last Lenin inaugurated the first "R e d T ra in .” which w il l tour the towns and v illa g e s o f So vie t Russia. Prom this “ Red Train ” of Propaganda over jo,ooo pamphlet* and books were sold for ready cash in the first seven days, and 60,000 educational books were distributed fre ely to variou s local So viets. The weekly » ile o f the “ Isre stia ,” also carried on from this train, increased during the same period by 10,000 copies. T w elve mass mee tings were held at variou s stopping places. T ra ve llin g with the train are cinematograph operators taking films and painters making sketches o f the lif e of each town visited . The films and sketches are exchanged in order to acquaint the people of tho vario us distr icts with each other’s mode o f life , habits, and dress. FREE REFERENCE LIBRARIES. B y a decree dated November 3rd, 1018, all private libraries were declared pu blic property. Uooks kept therein can henceforw ard be read and consulted by everyone. RUSSIAN RAILWAYMEN AND EDUCATION. Along the rail w ay line Moscow-Kiev-Voronezh the ra ilway m en on th eir own initia tive have organ ised elementary and secondary schools. Books, teac hing , and meals are pro vided free . Homes fo r orphans have been established. 4
EDUCATIONAL WORK OF T H E RUSSIAN SOVIETS Socialist Russia is rapidly forging ahead in educational matters. The printing press is b u sy; scnools and libraries open everywhere, in towns, in villages, and along railway routes. The cinema has dropped the "co wbo y ” film, and is turned to instructive purposes. Workers are ac tu ally learning foreign langu ages, during the evening, at the Ministry o f Foreign Affairs. A t the Congress o f Public Instruction held in Moscow, Comrades Lunacharski and Oulianov (Mrs. Lenin) delivered two important speeches, explaining, in general lines, the policy of the Soviets towards education. L u n a c h a r s k i ’ s S p e e c h .
The Bolsheuk revolution has given prominence to the question of education. The people made the revolution to conquer political j>ower, economic independence, and the free dom o f education. To conquer, even at one stroke, is not enough : one must organise. Tne intellectuals, who gave their assistance to the Lvov and Kerensky regime, have refused it to the Government o f the workers and peasants They have used sabotage against it. Nevertheless ,we have been able to do much useful work, especially since Febru ary last. The old system o f education has been completely abolished; the old educationists have been dism issed; the curriculum based on “ Church and Latin ” has been swept away. Co-education o f both sexes has been introduced. W hat will the “ New School ” be? It cannot, in any wav, resemble that which the ruling class had organised for tne “ infe rio r” working people. In order to destroy this " c la s s ’ ' education we have to adopt the principles of “ one standard of education for a ll ,” without special privileges for any. The people being the principal factor in the production o f com modities, it follows, o f necessity, that the “ new school ” must be one that prepares the student to work. The teachers also must be persons able to work. The motto o f the new school must be : “ To live is to work.” We therefore take “ w ork ” as the starting-point of our pedagogical system, as the chief subject of our teaching, aiming at the increase of technical
knowledge. Our students must feel themselves part and parcel o f the work o f the community. Th e young girls and boys must prepare themselves to become big producers. Moreover, we must never lose sight o f the fa ct that the chief aim o f educa tion is the knowledge of the various forms of human culture, which, in its turn, includes all forms o f mental and manual activity. The artistic and ph ysica l education must be the fitting completion o f the technical. There must be educational freedom and freedom tn the school. We must preserve our ancient monuments, since these are to us the witnesses of the old Russian civilisation, but, at the same time, we hope to see the birth of an art completely in touch with the emotions of the modem world: of an art that will lead us to further conquests for liberty. M r s.
1
e m x ’ s S peech .
Comrade Oulianov began by observing that, since the Bolshevik revolution, there has arisen in the people an immense desire for education, but ignorance, the dreadful result o f the old regime, cannot disappear in a day. A vast number of persons, already engaged in production, cannot return to school; hence the pressing need of a post-scholastic education. We must cover the country, she explains, with a multitude of elementary schools for adults, for tne illiterate, and for the semi-illiterate. In Soviet Russia ignorance must disappear. W e ask everybody’s assistance in this great work. Know ledge and science, just like property, must not be the privilege o f the few, but accessible to all. It is the common duty of everybody to impart knowledge to others. The essential thing to be remembered is that we must teach people how' to make use o f books. The student— let us ca ll him the post-scholastic, the evening, or the artisan student— must know how to use the dictionary and he must always have it handy by him; likewise, books of reference, encyclopaedias, etc. We must not only give him a key to open the door, but we must tell him where that door leads to. Under the old reeimc, the intellectuals amongst the workers and peasants were chiefly interested in abstract sciences, since they opened to them new- horizons. Those, on the contrary, who aimed at bettering their position wer^ interested sole ly in the practice o f science. The effect o f the revolution has been that practical science is o f interest now, even to the most po liti ca lly advanced o f our workers. In order to organise produc tion in an efficient manner, to put in the right direction tne great peasant communities, good technical education is necessary. The workers and the peasants have learned that without scien tific knowledge they will never be able to control the economic life o f the nation. Th erefore the whole character o f pro fes sional education must be changed. Form erly it aimed at givin g to the wrorker a purely mechanical pro ficien cy; now it must give him a larger view of his trade, and of its importance -5
and value to society. Education must also give him the theoretical knowledge of the various sciences that are linked with his d a ily work, the history o f his trade, the history of Mw ork ,” an d o f production in the several forms o f past society. It must tell him what part his special trade plays in the economic evolution of tne world, and the best means of increasing the communal production. This know ledge was not needed when the worker was only a machine, producing for others; it is necessary now that he is working for himself and for the free community in which he lives. A fter that there must be the “ Popular U niversity,” which w ill take the place of secondary education for the present adult worker. In that University there will be lectures, excursions, visits to museums, etc. Tne cinema, if properly used, can be o f great assistance. The Commissary o f Education has just opened a credit of six million roubles to assist and prepare educational films. There must be Museums o f Social Econom y, in order to spread knowledge on social and political questions. We have callcd in specialists to assist the Government in preparing "su bject catalogues,” with short explanatory notes, for all the circulating libraries instituted by the Soviets, and there will be a central buying office to feed all provincial libraries. A rt , too, must not be lost sight o f in our post scholastic education. The Comm issary o f Instruction has formed a musical and a theatrical section, and one also for decorative art; these will work jointly to assist the workers in their efforts towards mental improvement. The theatrical sectfon w ill shortly put w'ithin the reach o f all the pla ys of Romain Rolland. We are also doing our utmost, continued Com rade Oulianov, to open Peoples’ H alls, to take the place o f the churches of the old fegime. Above all, she said in conclusion, all these forms of technical, scientific, and artistic activity, to be truly popular in their character, must be moved by popular enthusiasm and carried out by the workers themselves, under their direct control. He on ly can be educated who works to educate A m p e r s a n d . himself. NEW SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES. During 1918 the Soviet Government opened over 1,000 new elementary schools in the ooon ty o f Moscow alone, and more won Id have been opened but for the difficulty o f finding new teachers. D arin g iq iS six new Un iversities were established in Soviet Russia. D urin g the last two hundred years o f the old regim e there existed o n ly tw elve U niversities in all Russ ia • A cens us has been taken o f a i! ch ildre n o f school age and the educa tional system reorga nised. There w ill now be two scholastic p e rio d s: one of five y t * r s ; another of four. The former is obligatory for everybody. The larg e building o f the Ca fi-Chantant “ M axim.” a fashionable dancing and drinking resort of Moscow, has been commandeered, and is now used as a popular day and evening school. Clubs for juveniles have been formed in several quarters of Moscow, to withdraw the children from the demoralising influences of tbe streets.
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