September 2025, № 3 (247), pages 36-40

doi: 10.25198/1814-6457-247-36

Churkina N.I. “CHILDREN’S COMMISSAR”: THE IMAGE OF AN ADULT IN PEDAGOGICAL UTOPIAN PROJECTS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURYThe adaptation of Soviet educational practices, including the revival of the mass children's public organization, raises the question of the role of an adult in the children's community. Therefore, the description and analysis of the activities of successful educational practices of the second half of the twentieth century (the Commune of Young Frunzensky Children, the Karavella detachment, etc.) allows us to highlight the features of the pedagogical position of leaders that allowed them to become a "cultural model" for their students. Based on the application of the ideas of D.V. Dimke about pedagogical utopias of the Soviet era, the sociological concept of R. Oldenburg, it is concluded that the following can be attributed to the important features of the Soviet pedagogical utopia: the creation of a community of children and adults based on the principles of equality; the development of grassroots democracy; the construction of the material space of the community as a "third place". As a result of the historical and pedagogical theoretical research, I have established that the key feature of the pedagogical utopia of the Soviet period was the unique pedagogical position of the "children's commissar", who became models of acceptable (cultural, social, pedagogical) behavior and activities for children. This position of an adult was based on a special ideology – faith in the humanistic ideals of the Soviet system, romanticization of the heroes of the revolution and war, rejection of double standards. Interaction with children was built on the principles of democratization – equality with children, community of symbolic and discursive practices, a combination of regulation and spontaneity. Leaders and other adults involved in the activities of utopian pedagogical projects possessed high personal qualities – humanity; active civic position, had developed applied skills in tourism, crafts, sports, art. It is possible to adapt and use the experience of their activities in the training of modern advisers to the director on education and interaction with children's public organizations.Key words: pedagogical utopia, director’s advisor on education, commune of young Frunzensky residents, communal methodology, Soviet school, history of education, cultural model.

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About this article

Author: Churkina N.I.

Year: 2025

doi: 10.25198/1814-6457-247-36

Editor-in-chief

Sergey Aleksandrovich
MIROSHNIKOV

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