“THE USEFULL CLASS OF CIVIL SERVANTS”: TO HISTORY OF FORMING RUSSIAN TEACHER-STUFF IN THE FIRST HALF OF XIX-th CENTURY (on the materials of Russian North)

The history of the Russian school cannot be imagined without considering the position of the teacher asan integral element of the school system. Based on the materials of sources reflecting the regional projection of theeducational reforms of Alexander I and Nicholas I as a long-term course, the most important condition for theireffectiveness is considered, namely the quality of teacher training. On the basis of legislative and office documents, thelegal, educational and social status of provincial teachers in the 1800s–1840s, their family and financial situation aretraced. The authors analyze the public reputation of teachers, the peculiarities of everyday life and social mobility ofthis socio-professional group, as well as the social origins of the ethics of the teaching profession that was being formedat that time. The observations are based on the funds of the Ministry of Public Education, the Office of the trustee of themetropolitan Educational District, St. Petersburg University and Pedagogical Institute, as well as the little-studied fundsof three provincial school directorates: Olonets, Arkhangelsk and Vologda. The results of school reforms of the firstthird of the XIX century are traced on the regional material, the most important of which was the formation of a systemof schools and a staff of professional teachers operating in provincial and county towns. Their multiplicity, commonorigin and career paths, awareness of corporate unity and, moreover, the preservation and maintenance of ties with St.Petersburg testify to the important role of St. Petersburg University and Pedagogical Institute in the enlightenment ofthe region, performed by them both as administrative centers and indirectly – through their graduates as agents ofinfluence. In the early 1850s, the number of professional teachers in the three provinces under consideration exceeded300 people, not counting primary school teachers, which is comparable to the available data for other educationaldistricts. This local community is representative for understanding the peculiarities of the legal and social status of aprovincial teacher in pre-reform Russia. The management system of schools, as well as the personnel policy andconditions of the teaching service at that time were changing within the framework of the all-Russian model of education and social construction “from above”, therefore, the conclusions obtained from the regional material create an understanding of the stages and social results of the modernization project of the authorities as a whole.

St Petersburg educational district, history of education, teachers, history of the Russian North