Abstract
SOVIET EDUCATION of the 1920s has attracted much attention from both historians and educators. (1) Until 1931 Soviet educational authorities sponsored a flurry of measures many of which were initially advanced in the writings of such western educators as John Dewey, Helen Parkhurst, and Maria Montessori. Study of this romantic and period (2) in the history of Soviet education is therefore un(lerstandlable. No complete and penetlrating examination, hlowever, of the communlnist party's attitude toward the reforms of the 1920s exists. (3) lToo frequently, authors have analyzedl Soviet educational policies apart from the context of political and economic necessity. This has led to an underestimation of the importance of political and economic considerations in the party's thinking on education and, consequently, to an exaggeration of the progressive or idealist aspects of Soviet educational reform. Several Americans, for example, who observed first-hand Soviet sclhools d(Iuring the 1920s came away thoroughly impressed by the apparent progressivislll of Soviet education and the party's attitude towalrd it. They even (lared hope for the creation ol a generation of youth sufficiently independent to challenge the dogmatic sectarianism of Soviet political idleology. (4) After a brief tour in 1928, John Dewey, greatly pleased with much of what he saw, ventured the opinion that the experimental spirit of Soviet education and its awakening of initiative and independlent judgment would militate against a servile acceptance of dogma las dogma. (5) Unfortunately, Dewey's prediction proved overly optimistic. He like so many otlhers failed to understand the extent to which political and economic expe(liency permeate(l the party's thinking. The present study, based primarily on all analysis of party decrees and(l
Published Version
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