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Report from Russia E-W Zeebox dean of the summer session at the University of Minnesota and 10 other university faculty members recently completed a 30 day 9000 mile trip through the Soviet Union the trip was financed by a grant from the family foundation of St. Paul. While in Russia Dean Ziebart interviewed his colleagues and obtained their first hand impressions for this program. Now here is Dean Zeb on the bark reporting from the Soviet Union. With me here a lot of it go to the Black Sea and then provide it to Robert back off a locker at the University of Minnesota had a great deal of international experience and education here in the Soviet Union and traveled for several miles to this great nation. And had experience in Western Europe get back to that education very carefully study.
I know that new development and there have been striking. Do you are familiar with what Sylvia Gould in a broad general way and kind of the new trend in education here. There are two. Primary ships in objectives. The first most important from the Soviet point of view is to increase the practicality of the school work. Now in the last three years. Neither can your school. Which begins with children the age of seven in the last three years grades eight nine and ten. The youngsters boys as well as girls will be specializing in one of several. Technical fields. Automobile mechanics carpentry. Electricity as it's called here which will include all electric motors appliances. And general technical
preparation got equipment for understanding machine process. One of the things which we in the United States think other character reading education currently is not only the practical aspect about which you're speaking but also a more advanced technological. One substantial and unique emphasis on courses which would prepare one first scientific endeavor mathematics and so on. Yes. All of the students in the Soviet Union take the same courses. Although they're not equally successful. For example if the guard. In the second grade. Will be carried through the 10th. Chemistry is equally important. Biology. Is not studied. Quite as much. Mathematics runs through the entire tenures school
and if the Soviet children. Actually learn what is in the textbooks that I've seen they go quite far. To Berkeley and one quote. Not in your opinion do what is in our textbooks but I think I'm beautiful that kind of question for at least a moment or two because I wanted to ask you about foreign languages I've been very much impressed in they visited with the amount of attention which is paid to languages including English and cold and I had no idea about the validity of this figure. I'm told that in the Soviet Union there are 41 teachers of English. One director said that he thought that it was too low another that he thought it was a little bit too high. But in any case great numbers doing in effect is that important do you think they're doing an important job. It's not being effective. I've been told by highly placed authorities that the language instruction for
generally speaking so it is being revised and the new program language structure is very interesting. I've witnessed that action. School specializes in a single foreign language to fly that need two or three and a secondary school in our school be known as an English school or a french. And English or French will begun in the first grade because through the years. The hope to the children of course the floor. The cover and the Russians realize that the teachers very few of them have had any experience with people who are new to the language. Coming back to the effect of the pre-scientific work which I imagine about to go the introduction to basic decided again is the teaching of it in your opinion very effective.
It is in school after school. I think. And I have been accompanied by people who are specialists in physics and chemistry independent labs. Physics laboratories is not the physics collector. So the students were mocking the physics class. The particular power can use the lab. They're very well equipped. I was told by one man that there was not a single school in his community of half a million people that had a laboratory comparable to the one we were seeing which was in a very ordinary Ukrainian school. Dr. Becker That was I was very much interested to in Kiev I shouldn't affect my own experiences here that we visited a laboratory at the university dealing with the field of experimental fanatics in which I had interest for a long time and the equipment they're not thinking only of the obvious things such as tape recording equipment. But some of the other scientific equipment for the handling problems and
experimental fanatics seemed to me to be very high quality and there was adequate equipment all those things at a premium seemed to be a real need for a basic pension. The experience so far any basis for making a generalization about a major problems which are faced by the people in the field the Akula or if not too broad a question. A major problem. A major problem is a problem you so r in the phonetics lavatory spec'd. Many Soviet schools are running two ships. However. They run two ships rather than crowd the classroom no classroom that I have seen has had more than 27 students. I was told by the assistant superintendent of schools in the case that theory is the legal maximum or permitted there. I think there is no
other great problem. For example. There's no problem this time back. And I feel that those who have spoken with me have been very honest and direct. And actually my questions I asked about the discipline problem. We have it at home don't have it here. The private rooms are orderly walk but the teacher does not function as a policeman. The teacher is a teacher. Her role his role is uniformly to help students learn and I've been convinced that this is a real real godless reality Russian teachers take it seriously the police do. The encouragement of students what we call motivation of the students who are slow or is interested or from homes that are this interested in schooling. All of this is done by the Young Pioneers primarily by the students who are most successful in the class. I think I may interrupt you at that find it necessary I am sure even a
brief discussion of the kind to mention the role of the anti-terror organisation in relation to education because these organisations work oh very closely with the school indeed there is a young pioneer. Remember to eat school and in many cases the leaders too and I do think that if you do a minute or two. That relationship if you do and how does it operate. All of us who've been getting good have been orderly I think in a very favorable reaction. Part not quite so favorable because there appears to be rigidity. As being rigid. I thought that the order was something to be gotten. First it was accepted by the
students. Perhaps there was a little more order in with us when we were in the crisis and rise of the Young Pioneers a very interesting organization. The students that are the pioneers. Perhaps. In the second or third grade after they have lacked the Cub Scout stage as it were with the young our progress. As young pioneers that formally initiated. And are taught from the beginning that the goal of the pioneers is to help another pioneer. The Pioneer palaces and all of the cities of any size and their pioneer houses in the southern districts of those cities and in the palaces of any number of circles. Or area interest groups such as languages for example within
which circle of languages will be crops. Want to make English one of French another Hindi Chinese or whatever. The fire powers operate after school hours. Are open all day long because the schools many of them are into ships. The fact is well-trained. Moxy. And the students get a good deal in languages and in machine shop work a good deal of supplemental training supplementary to the school. Really nothing in the American system which is comparable is pretty abundant analog and they and the system in the United States. Not if you take the YMCA YWCA other organizations youth groups and put them together. Then you will have an animal rights better function that the primary.
Basically being trained for an activity and the Communist Party is right in your opinion and accurate and the inaccurate assumption totally falls. In the summers if they pioneer camps there must be a good deal of political indoctrination through songs and. That sort of fact that during the I think its purpose is recreation and learning. You observe the Soviet School Dr. Beck did you find it a major weakness. Weakness is one that is found outside of Russia as well. Western Europe. Too much time taken a class of individual student recitation. Which forces the Russian schools then to assign a good deal of homework for example. In the grades 1 through 4 are the primary grades there's an hour to an hour and a half homework expected and not grades five to seven. It's two to two and a half hours a night and grades 8 9 and 10. Two and a half to three hours at night and the Russian Ministry of Education is very concerned about
this lot. I've heard one or two illustrations of what I think you're talking about in terms of waiting for activity during the criterion a different kind of question about teacher salaries and teacher workload today roughly compared with those in the United States that are lighter sheered elementary school teacher teaches four hours a day six days a week. The secondary school teacher teaches three hours a day six days a week but can't figure she wishes to teach up to six additional hours for extra pay. Director pay point which you're making leaders directly then into the salary questionnaire the teachers are relatively well paid or are poorly paid poorly paid to question teachers and the upper secondary grades who have the maximum salary their stars are higher than the lower grades. After seven hundred ten roubles a month there's beginning pictures after 25 years increased only to nine hundred thirty five roubles which as you know
is no more a semi skilled worker in a factory in terms of the purchasing power of the ruble or Soviet Union those are very low indeed. Let me know there's a morale problem and I know I know more our problem. The status of the teacher in Nashik is hot. Teachers that have wished to teach this out it would not be higher than this. Would you be willing to comment and accept an unfair question or two on that. We cannot answer about the status of the teacher here. I would encourage him IQ may be higher than the status of the teacher in the secondary school at a primary school is that correct. I think it is correct. Thank you very much for coming by Dr back for making They've got an education. I didn't have any feedback reporting from the Soviet Union and I get to Robert back at the College of Education at the University of Minnesota. Thanks again Bob. You heard E-W Zeebox dean of the summer session at the University of Minnesota in
another recorded report from Russia. Another report will be heard next week at this time. This series is edited by station KUNM University of Minnesota. The programs are distributed to the station through the facilities of the National Association of educational broadcasters. This is the Radio Network.
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Series
Report from Russia
Episode
Dr. Robert Beck
Producing Organization
National Association of Educational Broadcasters
KUOM (Radio station : Minneapolis, Minn.)
Contributing Organization
University of Maryland (College Park, Maryland)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/500-2f7jtr5s
If you have more information about this item than what is given here, or if you have concerns about this record, we want to know! Contact us, indicating the AAPB ID (cpb-aacip/500-2f7jtr5s).
Description
Episode Description
E.W. Ziebarth speaks to Dr. Robert Beck about the time he has spent in the Soviet Union.
Series Description
E.W. Ziebarth, Dean of the summer session at University of Minnesota, and ten other faculty members embarked upon a month-long trip through the Soviet Union. Ziebarth interviewed his peers about their thoughts on the trip.
Broadcast Date
1959-01-01
Topics
Global Affairs
Public Affairs
Media type
Sound
Duration
00:15:21
Credits
Host: Ziebarth, E. W. (Elmer William), 1910-
Interviewee: Beck, Robert H. (Robert Holmes)
Producing Organization: National Association of Educational Broadcasters
Producing Organization: KUOM (Radio station : Minneapolis, Minn.)
AAPB Contributor Holdings
University of Maryland
Identifier: 59-17-6 (National Association of Educational Broadcasters)
Format: 1/4 inch audio tape
Duration: 00:14:42
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Citations
Chicago: “Report from Russia; Dr. Robert Beck,” 1959-01-01, University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed March 28, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-2f7jtr5s.
MLA: “Report from Russia; Dr. Robert Beck.” 1959-01-01. University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. March 28, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-2f7jtr5s>.
APA: Report from Russia; Dr. Robert Beck. Boston, MA: University of Maryland, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-500-2f7jtr5s