Moralizing literature in curriculum for female students (the late XVIII — early XIX centuries)

Abstract

The subject of this research is the analysis of didactic works used in the late XVIII — early XIX centuries in the educational process of the first Russian institutes for women — the Educational Society of Noble Maidens and School of the Order of St. Catherine in St. Petersburg. The new secular upbringing and education – one of the core ideas of the European Enlightenment, at that time was perceived in Russia as a state task, which required the establishment of closed educational institutions, such as cadet corps and institutes for women. The primary method for distribution of pedagogical ideas was moralizing literature of the Western European educators, which were translated into the Russian language and became available for the audience; and the second half of the XVIII century marks the emergence of publications of the Russian authors. This article is first to follow the sequence of changes of textbooks and “books for reading” selected for the students of the Educational Society of Noble Maidens and School of the Order of St. Catherine in St. Petersburg using hermeneutic method, as well as conduct their historical-comparative analysis based on the principle of historicism. The translated works of the Western European educators were replaced by the curriculum specifically created for the Russian female students at the request of the Empress Maria Feodorovna, which included the advanced ideas of both Western and national educators. It was another step in a difficult path towards establishment of the national pedagogical system.