The article analyzes the educational and developmental po-tential of the Sunday school as a phenomenon of the Orthodox Church, the purpose of which is to educate young people in the best traditions of the Christian faith and piety. Special attention is paid to the musical component in the context of doctrinal subjects aimed at introducing students to liturgi-cal life and churching. In the conclusion, it is concluded that it is necessary to use the potential of Orthodoxy as a teaching on the salvation of the soul, which ultimately leads to the spiritual transformation of the individual.
Sunday school, Orthodox worldview, spiritual education, Standard of the Orthodox component of education, Russian Orthodox Church, doctrinal subjects, church singing
At present, the problem of spiritual and moral education of the younger generation remains among the most urgent in our country and therefore is considered at the state level. So, the government of the Russian Federation in 2007 adopted a new edition of the Federal Law "On Education", positioning the leading role of education at all levels of education [1].
Today, the main goal of upbringing in Russia is the creation of "material, spiritual, organizational conditions for the formation of an integral complex of social and value qualities, views, and beliefs in every citizen, ensuring his successful development" [2]. N. D. Nikandrov concretizes this definition, emphasizing the orientation of the educational process on the formation of the worldview, as "a person's attitude to the world, to himself, to others, to God" [3]. Hence, the main task of spiritual and moral education in accordance with the Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Charter of the parish of the Russian Orthodox Church is considered to be religious education based on the canons of confessing and spreading the Orthodox faith.
The form of organization of religious education in Russia is Sunday schools at the Orthodox Church, the purpose of which is to educate young people in the best traditions of the Christian faith and piety. It is these planned results that presuppose the knowledge of God, church life and the human soul formed in children, which is primordially correlated with Russian educational traditions [4].
Researchers note that the concept of "Sunday school" appears in pedagogical literature in the middle of the XIX century. simultaneously with the mass distribution of the Sunday schools themselves. At that time, educational institutions of two types were attributed to Sunday schools: first, church schools intended for the confessional education of children and youth; second, schools that provide access to literacy for people who are unable to attend regular schools are "general education" Sunday schools. Common to these two categories of Sunday schools was that classes were held on weekends or holidays [8].
As A.V. Ageeva notes, Sunday schools are distinguished by:
– organization of classes on weekends and holidays;
– no tuition fees;
– lack of age and class restrictions for students;
– admission throughout the year and the associated constant renewal of the student body;
– free attendance of classes;
– the presence of extracurricular activities;
– small and uneven age groups;
– a clear educational orientation;
– the leading role of church singing.
General musical education partially solves these problems. So, in the conditions of this form, the program of I.V. Koshmina "Sacred Music: Russia and the West" for grades 1-3 of primary school. The specificity of this program was focused precisely on the spiritual component of Russian and foreign musical culture. The thematicism of the program convinces of this. So, from the first year of study, children get acquainted with the main Christian holidays, church services, the architecture of the temple, bell ringing. In the second grade, these topics were considered in the educational process using new musical material. In the third grade, the subject of development was biblical and evangelical images in music, music of other Christian denominations was introduced.
The program "Sacred Music. The world of beauty and harmony. 1-4 grades ", developed by I.V. Koshmina and V.V. Aleev, whose convictions in the explanatory note of the program clearly position "the humanization of the personality of primary schoolchildren in the process of familiarizing themselves with sacred music, the return to the original traditions of the national worldview" [5].
Sacred music is one of the layers of musical culture, on which the program "Music" by G.P. Sergeeva, E. D. Cretan, T.S. Shmagina. So, one of the sections of the program has the title "Singing About Russia - What to Strive for in the Temple". The content of the section assumes the development of such didactic units as the genres of sacred music - prayer, troparion, stichera, magnificence. Along with this, children get acquainted with the work of composers who introduced spiritual images into their secular works. The most striking example of this are the plays from the "Children's Album" by P.I. Tchaikovsky - "Morning Prayer", "In Church", based on the true church theme of the penitential psalm to the tune of the sixth voice "Have mercy on me, God, according to your great mercy" [6, p.78].
Special attention in the program of G.P. Sergeeva, E. D. Cretan, T.S. Shmagina paid to the bell ringing as an important part of the temple worship [6]. Carefully shaping children's ideas about this amazing phenomenon of church worship as a means of expressing joy, sadness and triumph of the Orthodox faith, the authors of the "Music" program acquaint younger schoolchildren with evangelism, pealing, chimes, and later teach them to listen to the bells in the works of M.I. Glinka, M.P. Mussorgsky, S.V. Rachmaninov, S.S. Prokofiev, as well as in the paintings of I. Levitan, A. Lentulov.
Children learn spiritual music through the twelve great holidays - Christmas, Epiphany, Annunciation, Holy Trinity Day, etc. Thus, in the first grade in the section "Music Around Us", students have the opportunity to gain experience in perceiving the chanting of the birth of Christ by different nations of the world within the reach of children's consciousness images of Christmas songs [6].
But if general ideas about spiritual music are laid down in general musical education, the Sunday school solves these tasks more consistently and deeper, involving not only musical listening activity, but also singing in the choir, improving not only vocal abilities, but, first of all, contributing to awareness of moral and spiritual categories in the minds of singers [7]. Thus, the Sunday school introduces pupils to the liturgical life of the Church, promotes churching.
The basis of the Sunday school is doctrinal subjects. In the classroom, Temple studies, Sacred history of the Old and New Testaments, the basics of the divine service of the Orthodox Church, the history of the Christian Church, the lives of the saints, the Orthodox catechism, the Church Slavonic language are studied. Actively mastering church singing, children participate in divine services and prayers. In other words, the subjects studied in Sunday school are aimed not so much at comprehending the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, as at developing the ability to live in accordance with the knowledge gained about love. kindness and truth.
Taking this into account, teaching children the Law of God in Sunday school is aimed not so much at expanding their erudition as at educating people with strong convictions, with a deep Christian worldview, with a developed and subtle moral sense, people with faith and conscience. And this feature unites various types of Sunday schools in the Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan dioceses - "theological", "educational", "historical-patriotic", "family", "missionary", "creative", "mixed", "pilgrimage", "Multidisciplinary" (classification of A.V. Ageeva). This phenomenal feature explains the fact that the President of Russia V.V. Putin in his public speeches of the possibility of the spiritual revival of the country with the obligatory use of the potential of Orthodoxy, as a doctrine of the salvation of the soul, which ultimately leads to the spiritual transformation of the individual [8].
Realizing this, the Sunday school with attention and diligence, patiently and carefully is engaged in the upbringing of young parishioners [9]. At the same time, taking into account the potential of folk pedagogy, the principle of conformity to nature, the Sunday school leads its novices to the comprehension of complex truths through the preparation of matinees, performances timed to the main Christian holidays - the Nativity of Christ, the Resurrection of Christ, the Descent of the Holy Spirit - Trinity, the Day of Remembrance of the faithful Peter and Fevronia, Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Along with folk pedagogy, Sunday school education is based on the traditions of N.I. Pirogov [10] and KD. Ushinsky [11]. But there is also a special mission of a Sunday school teacher. Thus, a religiously minded teacher will not start his own business without the blessing of the Church. Thus, he initially brings the spirit of churchness into the school, treats teaching with reverence, realizing the degree of his responsibility to God [12].
Each lesson in Sunday school begins with a joint prayer "to the King of Heaven" for 6 tones, which is performed by all students with the teacher. The explanation for this is a simple truth: before starting any business, we must ask for help from the Source of holiness, the Holy Spirit, so that everything that we create serves to the glory of God. The lesson ends with the prayer "It is worthy to eat" for 8 tones. The vocal quality of spiritual chants is determined by the melodiousness of the Church Slavonic language, and the texts of liturgical songs "tune the souls of those singing to a state of prayer, distinguished by the depth of spiritual content" [13, p. 3]. Therefore, it has been repeatedly noted that "church chants fill the soul of a person with grace, drain from it a pure spring of affection and love" [4, p. 4]. In addition, spiritual chants bring people together. In this regard, there has always been a pious custom in the Orthodox Church to sing sacred hymns not only in the church during divine services, but also outside the church, in private, in the family or home [14]. It is also no coincidence that G.P. Stulova recommends at first mastering such chants, which are usually performed by all the people at divine services: "Our Father", "I believe", "Heavenly King", "Virgin Mary, rejoice." Then there are the Sunday troparia of eight tones.
It should be noted that researchers rightly draw attention to the fact of the influence of church singing on the correctness, beauty, distinctness and separation of speech, both read and spoken [15]. A clear pronunciation of the text opens up the opportunity to ponder over individual words and sayings, to seek their deep, edifying meaning, their sacred religious meaning, to feel with all our heart the inner inspiring power of the Law of God.
Thus, a number of conclusions can be drawn:
- Today Sunday schools have become the main form of religious education and spiritual and moral education in the parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church.
- The Sunday School of the Russian Orthodox Church carries out the functions of an organization for teaching children about religion, as well as developing the skills and abilities necessary for leading the way of life of an Orthodox Christian.
- The Orthodox worldview is the spiritual core of Sunday school education, the teaching of which is determined by the Standard of the Orthodox component of education, adopted by the Russian Orthodox Church.
- The basis of the Sunday school is doctrinal subjects. In the classroom, Temple studies, Sacred history of the Old and New Testaments, the basics of the divine service of the Orthodox Church, the history of the Christian Church, the lives of the saints, the Orthodox catechism, the Church Slavonic language are studied. Church singing is a compulsory subject of Sunday school, which naturally correlates with the song principle of Russian musical culture and the ideas of collegiality, understood in Russian religious philosophy, as a free spiritual unity of people both in church life and in worldly community, communication in brotherhood and love.
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