There are topics in themselves difficult, but necessary for discussion. For example, the topic of anti-corruption education. You should turn to it, if only because today’s youth has formed a stable stereotype: Russia is the most corrupt country in the world! And, alas, this is not a joke. Even a mini-survey on the scale of one class shows that children do not believe that it is possible to live well and honestly in our country.
But adults do. Especially the theorists who gathered at the traditional urban scientific and practical conference “Topical issues of anti-corruption education and upbringing in educational institutions of St. Petersburg”, held at the St. Petersburg Academy of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education. It is clear that there are many documents – from the recommendations of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation to regional anti-corruption plans, in which it is prescribed to entrust the school with the implementation of a noble goal – the education and formation of rejection of a corruption worldview. And educational organizations diligently and conscientiously fulfill the prescribed.
Petersburg generally believes that the region has developed a comprehensive system of anti-corruption education, which includes a wide range of activities – from meetings with representatives of law enforcement agencies to special advanced training courses for teachers. Many educational organizations organize systematic work, within the framework of which lessons, class hours, quests, station games, theme weeks, discussions, etc. are held for children. won’t give.
However, the same experts warn that the topic of corruption, like the topic of drugs, needs to be more careful. When studying, for example, the forms of corruption, it is important not to forget to talk about sanctions, punishment for certain acts of corruption. When formulating the topic of a class hour or discussion, you also need to be extremely careful. Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Social Science and Cultural Education of St. Petersburg Academy of Postgraduate Education Konstantin Bityukov cited as an example one of the discussion conversations, which was called “Corruption: gain or loss?”. What is wrong with such a formulation? The fact is that in the course of the dialogue there may be someone who will convincingly prove that corruption is more a gain than a loss. Therefore, the teacher is faced with the task of explaining not so much the “winning or loss” of corruption, but the disproportion of these concepts, there can be no “wins” in this topic! Therefore, a professional approach is needed in presenting the anti-corruption topic.
The director of Lyceum No. 369 of the Krasnoselsky district of St. Petersburg, a member of the regional headquarters of the ONF in St. Petersburg, Konstantin Tkhostov, agrees with the last thesis. Unprofessionalism can, on the contrary, arouse an unhealthy interest in the topic. The experience of past years shows that inept and ill-conceived initiatives regarding the fight against drugs only draw the attention of young people to psychoactive substances. In fact, as Konstantin Tkhostov noted, corruption does not begin with a box of chocolates to the teacher, but with the proud exclamation of the parent that he “placed” the child in the best school. All schools are the best, and each works honestly within the framework of the current legislation.
But if it comes to that, tutoring is also legalized corruption. When do you get tutoring? When the child did not understand something in the lesson, he skipped the topic. What prevents you from making the lesson open, that is, recorded and hosted on an accessible server, where you can watch, listen and understand it again, including with the help of parents? If the educational space of the school is open, then there are no prerequisites for corruption. Corruption cannot exist where it is not formed by the environment.
Indeed, a lot depends on the environment, the director of the St. Petersburg College of Water Resources, Valery Andreev, is sure. The educational institution has developed a plan and conducts many activities for anti-corruption education and enlightenment, however, the guys, having an internship, often get acquainted with manifestations of corruption at a plant or factory. For example, they are offered the best tool, the best order, a comfortable workplace, etc. for a certain monetary reward. This brings dissonance into their attitude towards such a social phenomenon as corruption.
According to Yury Viktorov, deputy director for VR at school No. 146 in the Kalininsky district of St. Petersburg, children often admit that they do not believe in an honest career path, in a social elevator, because they learn about examples of corruption from informal sources. And they face a contradiction: on the one hand, anti-corruption campaigning at school, on the other hand, corruption reality in life.
– The guys are seriously concerned about the issue of corruption during the elections, cases of fraudulent votes, ballots, – says Yury Viktorov. – But I give my own example, because for 10 years I was the chairman of one of the precinct election commissions. And in my ten years of practice there was not a single such case! So, during the presidential elections in our polling station, 53% of citizens voted for Vladimir Putin. And no one from the territorial commission approached me with a request, for example, to redo it, to overestimate the results. Therefore, children need such living examples. There is a similar dissonance between word and deed in all countries. There is no need to make Russia the most corrupt state. It seems to me that there is a certain fault of the media in this. If in the USSR there was too much with stories about how bad it was abroad, now there is too much with stories about how good it is abroad and that there is an absolutely problem-free society there. Therefore, when a corruption scandal occurs there, everyone is surprised and considers it propaganda.
“In my opinion, we should all be allies, because neither the teacher nor the school as a separate institution can fight this evil alone,” concludes the deputy director. – Each of us individually, we will be engaged in anti-corruption education, but not to form an anti-corruption worldview. Its foundations are laid in the family, and it is necessary to educate not only schoolchildren, but also their parents. And for this, on the same TV, well-thought-out youth content is needed that would touch on important topics, stir up the soul, as the plots of the program “Under 16 and older” once stirred her. We need examples of adequate punishment for acts of corruption, we need satirical programs, etc. When the whole society treats corruption condemningly, then this vice can be defeated.
Natalia ALEKSUTINA, St. Petersburg
