“We Must Teach Russians to Respect Their Own”: the Experience of Holding an Olympiad for Schoolchildren on the History of Russian Statehood

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Since 2012, Lomonosov Moscow State University, as part of the Lomonosov schoolchildren’s Olympiads, has annually held the History of Russian Statehood Olympiad. Over the decade of its existence, the Olympiad has turned into a major cultural and educational event, becoming at the origins of the living interest of young statesmen in the glorious history of the Fatherland. This article explores the history of the Olympiad on the basis of a contextual approach, analyzes the methodological experience of compiling and selecting Olympiad tasks, considers the educational mission of Lomonosov Moscow State University, demonstrates the mechanism for involving and directing civil demands of society in creative processes of scientific understanding of the fundamental foundations and most important events of Russian statehood. The features of the Lomonosov schoolchildren’s Olympiad on the History of Russian Statehood Olympiad allow to characterize it as a unique interdisciplinary Olympiad for schoolchildren, which makes a great contribution to the patriotic education of young generations of Russians, contributes to the development of their intellectual creativity and the creation of conditions for supporting talented youth.