Model schools of the Russian Empire in the period between the late 19th and early 20th centuries (based on the materials of Samara Province)

This article analyzes the activities of model schools, which were the bases for practical training of teachers in the educational institutions of the Ecclesiastical Department. Having emerged on the initiative of the Chief Prosecutor K. P. Pobedonostsev as a means of introducing future pastors to work in the established system of church schools, they were the places for students of theological educational institutions to undergo pedagogical practice until the end of the Synodal period. Initially, the creation of such educational institutions was planned at theological seminaries, but then it spread to girls’ schools, as well as new types of pedagogical institutions: church teacher training and second-class schools. In theological educational institutions, model church-parish schools existed as a separate structure with sufficient funding and teaching staff, whereas in teacher’s schools this function, as a rule, was performed by the first classes of the primary level of education. Model schools, faced financial difficulties, nevertheless served as centers for training teachers for church-parish schools in the districts. This experience of practical training of future teachers in the educational system of the Holy Synod has been little studied by the authors, and therefore is relevant for research. This article is based on the historical and descriptive method, which allowed us to create a picture of the formation and development of model schools, relying on published legislative and office documents, and also to illustrate this process with data on the Samara diocese, based on periodicals and archival documents.