Studying the novel The Young Guard by Alexander Fadeev in school: The use of cultural–creative technology in teaching

Abstract

Introduction. The contemporary search for new meaning-forming foundations of national self-awareness and for an understanding of Russia’s distinctive historical mission underscores the particular importance of literature pedagogy as a scholarly field that creates channels for transmitting the spiritual and moral values of Russian culture. Today, the future of the country and the younger generation depends more than ever on the methodological mastery of the modern teacher.

Materials and Methods. The study involved a dialogue with contemporary school students on the novel The Young Guard by Alexander Fadeev. This dialogue was structured in accordance with the principles of A. P. Valitskaya’s cultural–creative school. Aesthetic reading is inseparable from analysis, and the principal outcome of this unity is the image-symbol, primarily expressed through metaphor. Within the cultural–creative model of education, the ‘formation of self-consciousness and self-awareness occurs through the processes of empathy and value-based comprehension–appropriation of knowledge about the world and the human being within it … through play-based, dialogic, and creative methods’ (Valitskaya 2021, 225).

Results. The effectiveness of this technology was confirmed in a pedagogical experiment conducted in schools in St Petersburg. The overall logic of the lesson system was structured around a central guiding question: ‘Why did the war of 1941–1945 become “Patriotic” for our people?’ At different stages, a lesson incorporated elements of problem-based learning, aesthetic dialogue, the dialogue of the arts, and project-based learning. In their final essays, all students expressed different variations of three core themes: historical memory as a foundation of a nation’s life; the confrontation of worlds (Nazism vs. socialism); and the enduring significance of the young guard’s feat.

Conclusions. Further research may focus on how The Young Guard is perceived by school students from different generations (Soviet and contemporary). Techniques for creating an attitude to reading the novel using the age projection method also require further investigation. The integration of the cultural–creative school’s principles into contemporary school literary education enriches educational dialogue with new meanings and enables students to feel involved in the creation of the image of the world of national culture.