TRAINING OF PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS AND THE PROJECT OF THE TEACHERS' INSTITUTE AT ST.-PETERSBURG UNIVERSITY (1816–1822)

The shortage of teachers for educational institutions of all levels was one of the main obstacles to the implementation of reforms in the field of education in the Alexander I reign. To solve this problem, the government was forced to constantly turn to European educational practices, where by that time various teaching methods were used. After a series of unsuccessful attempts to solve the problem of teacher training, the government in the mid-1810-es drew attention to the Lancastrian method, popular in Europe, which made it possible to spread literacy in Russia with minimal costs. In order to master advanced teaching methods, in 1816, the curator of the St.-Petersburg educational district, S. S. Uvarov, sent four pupils of the Pedagogical Institute to England. At the same time, Uvarov, wishing to consolidate the Lancaster method in Russia and organize the process of training primary school teachers, proposed a project to create a special pedagogical institution — the "second category" of the Main Pedagogical Institute. The "second category" was to become a teacher training center for county schools and gymnasiums that could use the mutual learning method of Joseph Lancaster and the experience of I. G. Pestalozzi. However, against the background of increased reaction in the field of education, the project of the "second category" did not receive proper support in the leadership of the Ministry of public education. Due to the extension of the stay of students of the Pedagogical Institute abroad, financial problems, criticism of the Uvarov project by opponents in the ministry, the alleged "second category" was opened only at the beginning of 1820 under the name of the Teachers' institute at St.-Petersburg university. The Teachers' Institute existed for a little more than two years and was closed by the new curator of the metropolitan school district, D. P. Runich, in 1822. The main reason for its liquidation was the danger of spreading "dubious" ideas in the conditions of European revolutions and the activity of "secret societies" in Russia.