barrier to tenderness

[anne marie devlin]

the Duchess in Alice in Wonderland always comes to mind - speak roughly to your little boy and beat him when he sneezes, he only does it to annoy because he knows it teases. But to return to Alina's comment that neither children should be seen ... nor 'black pedagogy' are Soviet/Russian constructs that is precisely the point I intended making.  I imagine that deriving children of tenderness was a more global phenomenon particular to a time rather than a place.  It was certainly the case here in Ireland where many children in any form of state/church care up to the late 1980's were subjected to systematic psychological, physical and sexual abuse.  It has been proven that the abuse was sanctioned and approved of by both church and state and tacitly by society as a whole. However, it concerns me , that whenever social issues surrounding Russia and the former Soviet states come up, it is always negative.  From personal experience of working in Russian schools and choosing to send my daughter to Russian detskii sad and then onto school, I can say that she and the rest of her class were treated with great warmth and cre. AM
 > Date: Sat, 1 Dec 2012 09:56:27 +0000
> From: John.Dunn at GLASGOW.AC.UK
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] barrier to tenderness
> To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> 
> It is all in Chapter 17 of Domostroi: Како дѣти оучити и страхомъ сп[а]сати
> This lists in detail the dire fates that lie in wait for you and your household if you fail to show sufficient determination (or, as we would now say, brutality) in disciplining your children.
> 
> John Dunn. 
> ________________________________________
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Alina Israeli [aisrael at AMERICAN.EDU]
> Sent: 30 November 2012 21:24
> To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] barrier to tenderness
> 
> The fact that "children should be seen and not heard" is a strictly British concept, not German. I wonder if bottling in the emotions would give rise to a желчный цвет лица, hence желтая англичанка.
> 
> Vygotsky was just a "historic" name for much of the 20th century in Russia. You have to remember that education and particularly psychology were governed by the only truly scientific approach, namely marxist-leninist approach. (I took such a course in psychology, so I know it first hand.)
> 
> You may also find it curious that the psychology dept in Moscow has been in existence only since 1966: http://www.psy.msu.ru/about/info.html
> So has the one in Leningrad / St. Petersburg: http://www.psy.spbu.ru/history
> 
> There was no psychology between the early 30's and mid-60's.
> 
> Freud's name was uttered publicly for the first time at an international congress in Tbilisi in 1979: http://rjews.net/v_rotenberg/1m.html#.ULkSunHoVCY. Russia was in a hurry covering the distance the West covered in the previous 80 or 90 years.
> 
> Vygotsky's work started being published (again or anew) only in the 80's: http://www.gumer.info/bibliotek_Buks/Psihol/vug_all/index.php
> 
> And everyone knows that it takes a long time from the moment of publication to make it to the national consciousness.
> 
> 
> On Nov 30, 2012, at 11:56 AM, anne marie devlin wrote:
> 
> While 'black pedagogy' may have been a feature of Russian education - in the broadest sense, it's also worth remembering that Vygotsky was also Russian.  His holistic approach and the theory of zone of proximal development are perhaps the most influential early childhood theories certainly in Europe.
> The idea that children should be strictly disciplined and seen and not heard are not confined to Russia and with the rise of Gina Ford, seem to be making a come back.
> 
> AM
> 
> 
> Alina Israeli
> Associate Professor of Russian
> WLC, American University
> 4400 Massachusetts Ave.
> Washington DC 20016
> (202) 885-2387  fax (202) 885-1076
> aisrael at american.edu<mailto:aisrael at american.edu>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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