Английская Википедия:Conversations about Important Things

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Файл:Разговоры о важном. "Классный марафон".png

Visual identity of Conversations about Important Things.

Conversations about Important Things (Шаблон:Lang-ru, Шаблон:Lit), or Important Conversations for short, is a name for a series of compulsory school lessons in Russia that covers various topics from the Russian government's perspective, such as national identity, public holidays, and world events. Important Conversations lessons take place every Monday morning during the school year, following the flag-raising ceremony.

Important Conversations was developed by the Institute for Education Development Strategy, on behalf of the Russian Ministry of Education, and was part of a 17-year long effort by the Russian government to introduce "patriotic education" to schools in Russia. The first Important Conversations lessons took place nationwide on 5 September 2022, and are generally considered to be part of the Russian government's information war in relation to their invasion of Ukraine, which they call a "special military operation".

The Russian government has defended Important Conversations, claiming that it promotes "national unity, patriotism and traditional values". However, many teachers and parents have resisted the initiative as an attempt by the Russian government to introduce political propaganda and militarism into the education system. In response, teachers and students (along with their parents) have faced reprisals for not participating in Important Conversations lessons, in the context of the ongoing crackdown on protests against the invasion.

Background

Файл:2020-03-10 Sergey Kravtsov.jpg

Sergey Kravtsov, one of the architects of Conversations about Important Things, in March 2020

The origins of using school lessons to promote "Russian values" go back to July 2005, when then-Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov approved funding for a similar programme called "Patriotic Education for Citizens of the Russian Federation". According to geography teacher Kyamran Manafly, the government sent to schools materials for "patriotic lessons" for many years since 2005, but many teachers ignored them due to lack of interest from the students. On 21 May 2020, The Moscow Times reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin made another effort to introduce "patriotic lessons" by making citizenship and war history compulsory subjects under the Russian education law.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian government increased their efforts to introduce "patriotic education" into schools, although some schools improvised such lessons or events shortly after the invasion started. According to The Moscow Times on 19 April 2022, the Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov announced plans for children to study history from Class 1 onwards instead of Class 4, and for schools to hold a flag-raising ceremony (similar to the Pledge of Allegiance in the United States) every Monday morning, from the start of the 2022–2023 school year. Schools in the Kaluga and Voronezh oblasts introduced flag-raising ceremonies in mid-April.

Plans for more children to study history evolved into Conversations about Important Things, which was unveiled by Kravtsov and the Institute for Education Development Strategy on 20 June 2022: according to the Institute, Important Conversations aimed to teach history and socio-political values from the Russian government's perspective.

The first Important Conversations lessons took place nationwide on 5 September 2022, although Russian President Putin hosted an inaugural lesson with selected students in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, on 1 September 2022. The initial budget for the development of Important Conversations, which began in mid-April, was 22 million rubles, or about US$326,000 in 2022.

Schedule and content

The Conversations about Important Things takes place every Monday from 09:00 local time, during the school year and after the flag-raising ceremony. Since 20 February 2023, Channel One Russia's Good Morning programme included a segment involving Important Conversations, every Monday at 08:36 Moscow Time (UTC+3).

The lessons cover various topics from the Russian government's perspective, such as national identity, public holidays, and world events. Some of the lesson plans reference developments associated with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which the Russian government calls a "special military operation", and attempt to cover up or deny widely documented evidence of war crimes committed by Russian forces. Each topic on the official website for Important Conversations lessons have separate sections for Classes 1–2, Classes 3–4, Classes 5–7, Classes 8–9, Classes 10–11 and Secondary Vocational Education.

According to The New York Times on 3 June 2023, local school administrators were responsible for implementing Important Conversations: this meant the actual amount of politics and propaganda in the lessons depended on the school administration's stance towards the Russian government. For example, one teacher forced students to sing and dance to I'm Russian (Шаблон:Lang-ru) by Russian singer Shaman, while another taught algebra as an "important conversation" in the context of mathematics.

Critical reception

The Conversations about Important Things were unpopular with many teachers and parents, with many criticising the lessons as an attempt by the Russian government to introduce political propaganda into the education system, despite laws that did not allow it.

The Associated Press reported that some parents were shocked by the militaristic nature of Important Conversations lessons, with some comparing them to the "patriotic education" of the former Soviet Union. There was notable controversy over the lesson plan for Our country — Russia, which originally instructed teachers to tell students from Class 3 onwards that Russia was "more precious" than life (Шаблон:Lang-ru), and that it was "not scary" to die for Russia (Шаблон:Lang-ru).

The opposition trade union Alliance of Teachers called for parents to boycott the lessons, and for teachers to either refuse to teach the lessons, or present them from a more critical perspective than that of the Russian government. The Associated Press reported cases of teachers attempting to depoliticise Important Conversations by developing their own content for the lessons.

The initial criticism resulted in the Russian Ministry of Education making revisions to the lesson material in an attempt to reduce mentions of the military and current events (such as the invasion of Ukraine), which included the removal of controversial passages from Our country — Russia. However, there is evidence that the lessons continue to actively reference the war in Ukraine. Teachers who refused to teach the lessons risk either losing their jobs or being designated as a "foreign agent", and some teachers have left (or considered leaving) Russia in protest of Important Conversations.

Parents have also called for the right to withdraw their children from Important Conversations lessons: although the Russian Ministry of Education initially claimed that the lessons were voluntary extracurricular activities, Russian students and their parents have been investigated by the police, or threatened with expulsion, for refusing to attend Important Conversations lessons.

The Ministry of Education later admitted that the classes were compulsory, warning that students may be sanctioned for skipping the lessons. On 19 February 2023, the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group reported that the Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov planned to force parents of students to attend Important Conversations lessons.

Analysis

In November 2022, Times Higher Education reported that academics had different opinions on how the Conversations about Important Things would affect the development of beliefs among Russian students. Professor Grigory Yudin of the Moscow School for the Social and Economic Sciences expressed concern that Important Conversations increased the risk of turning otherwise apathetic or anti-war students into "willing fighters". However, Professor Isak Froumin of the Higher School of Economics and researcher Svetland Shenderova believed that Important Conversations would fail: Shenderova in particular stated that Important Conversations may backfire in the same way as scientific communism, by fuelling the students' hatred towards the Russian government's ideology, which includes Putinism.

List of Important Conversations lessons

2022–2023

List of Conversations about Important Things lessons for the 2022–2023 school year

Шаблон:Abbr	Topic		Notes	Шаблон:Abbr
	English name	Russian name
05 Sep 2022	Knowledge Day	Шаблон:Lang
12 Sep 2022	Шаблон:Vanchor	Шаблон:Lang	Early versions of the lesson plan for children from Class 3 onwards included discussion of expressions such as "It's not scary to die for the Motherland" (Шаблон:Lang-ru).
19 Sep 2022	165th anniversary of the birth of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky	Шаблон:Lang
26 Sep 2022	Senior Citizens' Day	Шаблон:Lang	This topic commemorates the International Day of Older Persons, which occurred on 1 October.
03 Oct 2022	Teacher's Day	Шаблон:Lang
10 Oct 2022	Father's Day	Шаблон:Lang
17 Oct 2022	Music Day	Шаблон:Lang	This topic commemorates International Music Day, which occurred on 1 October 2022.
24 Oct 2022	Russia — a world leader in the nuclear industry	Шаблон:Lang	The topic was supported by Rosatom and the Homo Science Project.
31 Oct 2022	colspan="3" Шаблон:N/a
07 Nov 2022	National Unity Day	Шаблон:Lang
14 Nov 2022	We are different, we are together	Шаблон:Lang
21 Nov 2022	Mother's Day	Шаблон:Lang
28 Nov 2022	Symbols of Russia	Шаблон:Lang
05 Dec 2022	[Civil] Volunteers of Russia	Шаблон:Lang
12 Dec 2022	Constitution Day	Шаблон:Lang
19 Dec 2022	Fatherland's Heroes Day	Шаблон:Lang	This topic covers the commemorative day that occurred on 9 December 2022.
26 Dec 2022	New Year's Day: family holidays and dreams	Шаблон:Lang
02 Jan 2023	colspan="3" Шаблон:N/a
09 Jan 2023	Christmas holiday	Шаблон:Lang
16 Jan 2023	Breaking through the siege of Leningrad	Шаблон:Lang
23 Jan 2023	Media literacy and computer security	Шаблон:Lang
30 Jan 2023	Movement of the First	Шаблон:Lang	This youth organisation was created on 18 December 2022: the topic was supported by the Institute for the Study of Childhood, Family and Education of the Russian Academy of Education.
06 Feb 2023	Russian Science Day	Шаблон:Lang
13 Feb 2023	Russia in the world	Шаблон:Lang
20 Feb 2023	Defender of the Fatherland Day	Шаблон:Lang
27 Feb 2023	Traditional family values	Шаблон:Lang
06 Mar 2023	Year of Teachers and Mentors	Шаблон:Lang
13 Mar 2023	110th anniversary of the birth of Sergey Mikhalkov	Шаблон:Lang	Sergey Mikhalkov (born on 13 March 1913 N.S.) wrote the lyrics of the national anthem of Russia.
20 Mar 2023	Day of the reunification of Crimea with Russia	Шаблон:Lang	This topic commemorates the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, on 18 March 2014.
27 Mar 2023	Theater Day: 160th anniversary of the birth of Konstantin Stanislavski	Шаблон:Lang	This topic commemorates World Theatre Day, which occurred on 27 March 2022.
03 Apr 2023	Earth Day	Шаблон:Lang
10 Apr 2023	Cosmonautics Day: we are first!	Шаблон:Lang	This topic commemorates Yuri Gagarin, the first person to go to space.
17 Apr 2023	Day of Remembrance of the genocide of the Soviet people by the Nazis and their accomplices	Шаблон:Lang
24 Apr 2023	Labour Day: world of professions	Шаблон:Lang
04 May 2023	Victory Day: Immortal Regiment	Шаблон:Lang
15 May 2023	Day of Children's Public Associations	Шаблон:Lang	This topic also promotes the Movement of the First youth organisation.
22 May 2023	About happiness	Шаблон:Lang

2023–2024

List of Conversations about Important Things lessons for the 2023–2024 school year

Шаблон:Abbr	Topic		Notes	Шаблон:Abbr
	English name	Russian name
04 Sep 2023	Knowledge Day	Шаблон:Lang
11 Sep 2023	Where Russia is	Шаблон:Lang
18 Sep 2023	100th anniversary of the birth of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya	Шаблон:Lang
25 Sep 2023	Electoral system of Russia (30th anniversary of the Central Election Commission)	Шаблон:Lang
02 Oct 2023	Teacher's Day (educational advisors)	Шаблон:Lang
09 Oct 2023	About teamwork	Шаблон:Lang
16 Oct 2023	On the other side of the screen: 115 years of Russian cinema	Шаблон:Lang
23 Oct 2023	Special Forces Day	Шаблон:Lang
30 Oct 2023	National Unity Day	Шаблон:Lang	This topic covered a public holiday that occurred on 4 November.
06 Nov 2023	colspan="3" Шаблон:N/a
13 Nov 2023	Russia: looking into the future	Шаблон:Lang
20 Nov 2023	About family relationships	Шаблон:Lang
27 Nov 2023	What is the Motherland?	Шаблон:Lang
04 Dec 2023	We are together	Шаблон:Lang
11 Dec 2023	The country's constitution	Шаблон:Lang	This topic covers Constitution Day, a commemorative day that occurs on 12 December.
18 Dec 2023	Heroes of our time	Шаблон:Lang
25 Dec 2023	New Year's family traditions of different peoples of Russia	Шаблон:Lang
02 Jan 2024	colspan="3" Шаблон:N/a
09 Jan 2024	From A to Z: 450 years of The Alphabet by Ivan Fyodorov	Шаблон:Lang
15 Jan 2024	Taxation literacy	Шаблон:Lang
22 Jan 2024	Unconquered: 80th anniversary of the liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade	Шаблон:Lang
29 Jan 2024	Allies of Russia	Шаблон:Lang
05 Feb 2024	Russian Science Day	Шаблон:Lang
12 Feb 2024	Discoverers' Day	Шаблон:Lang
19 Feb 2024	Defender of the Fatherland Day	Шаблон:Lang

See also

• Education in Russia
• Movement of the First
• Politics in education
• Propaganda in Russia
• Scientific communism
• Young Army Cadets National Movement