"They taught to think freely here"

Officials decided to turn the Children's School "Malaya Academy of Arts" in St. Petersburg into an ordinary leisure center. The building at the "Malaya Academy" is selected, the director was dismissed. The Academy itself is accused of sectarianism.

Passing along the Fontanka embankment opposite the Summer Garden, you can immediately go to the Neva, or you can enter the courtyard of the house on the corner of the embankment and Tchaikovsky Street - and to overshadow from beauty. Because in this courtyard there is a garden of mosaic sculptures , which the connoisseurs of the city like to show friends and tourists. This courtyard, which has long been among the informal attractions of the city, is the creation of the hands of teachers and students of the “Malaya Academy of Arts”, which is immediately located (or rather, there were three weeks ago), as well as parents, neighbors - all who wanted to take part in the creation of this beauty.

In the garden "Malaya Academy"

The Malaya Academy of Arts settled here 33 years ago, in 1984, children from 7 to 17 years old study in it, and do not study as it happens in ordinary art schools, but according to the author’s methodology of the Honored Artist of Russia, as well as the corresponding member of the Academy of Psychological Sciences of Ukraine Vladimir Lubenko. These are not just mugs of painting, modeling, music, mosaics or theater - according to the parents of those children who go here, or rather, went three times a week, this is a place where children learn to speak, think, freely express their thoughts. Therefore, the news that the “small academy” will no longer be - in any case, in the form in which it existed until recently, was perceived as a blow. On February 27, the director of the Malaya Academy was fired, after him the all teaching staff submitted the statements of departure. The committee of indignant parents spontaneously formed spontaneously. Frina - the mother of two children 5 and 7 years old, who study at the "Malaya Academy," he considers her a wonderful alternative to the existing education.

- I think - this is my personal opinion - that our usual education is tough, post -Soviet, not at all aimed at the general development of the child. The “Small Academy” is captivated by the fact that it contributes to the development of an analytical apparatus in the child, stimulates to make his own decisions, to independent awareness of phenomena. In schools, children are given only cliches, and here a versatile program is compiled here, for 3 hours they discuss with children, they are engaged in creativity, they are given theatrical skills, they study the letter, the word - such an extensive versatile activity. They have classes in the Hermitage - the child receives a full -fledged general education. The fact that the "Academy" is destroyed is terrible. If we want our children not to drink, not to smoke, do not jerk down the streets, we need to stimulate the development of such wonderful centers as the "Academy", all the more free, accessible to everyone. I doubt that if the Academy is reborn somewhere else on a paid basis, I can drive two children there. And here - I am more than sure - now there will be ordinary art mugs, because our children studied according to a specially developed system, without which nothing will work out. For many years she was accepted, encouraged, licensed, and what happened now, I do not understand.

- Have you heard that the author of this system is accused of sectarianism?

- Yes, but these accusations seem dubious to me. You can blame anyone for this, but there should be some reason, but I did not see anything like this. If we call a sectarian a system that teaches people to think, analyze, then we will go very far.

In the garden "Malaya Academy"

The daughter of Elena Inyakina studied at the "Malaya Academy of Arts" for 5 years, and Elena gladly recalls these years.

-Masha came here when she entered the 1st grade. She was very shy, could not explain anything, tell. And when she began to engage here, she gradually revealed, learned to express her thoughts, she was taught to reason, retelling, children taught poems, poems, her memory developed. She really liked to go to museums: when we were there as part of an adult excursion, she was not so interesting, and then the teachers agreed, and the children came in a group, they all told them at their level. Then they always discussed what they saw, explained, if anyone did not understand something, painted. The Academy has its own theater, we participated in productions, helped make costumes, scenery, and parents also attracted to this, everyone talked and better recognized each other. There were holidays where the children talked about their achievements, they sang songs - they themselves chose a song and sang in chorus, all together, with their parents. There is a very good team, they laid her a wonderful foundation, and it became easier for her to study at school, the material is better absorbed. We heard that they want to close the “academy” and make an ordinary center of children's leisure, but there are many like that, and the “Academy” is one - it will be very sorry.

In the garden "Malaya Academy"

One of the activists of the parent committee, Yana Golovina , whose 7-year-old son is studying at a “small academy” since last year, says that her boy was simply transformed here.

- I have the most ordinary child, he has no special talents. But he is with behavioral difficulties - with a shortage of attention and hyperactivity, so that from other leisure centers and circles we were even asked to leave - he interferes with: mobile, like yula, no attention, interest is quickly lost, cannot control his emotions. I already lowered my hands - and then we got to the "Academy", and in one month everything has changed, this is just a miracle. He began to speak more slowly, he became so thoughtful, he does homework for half an hour, and before his 5-10 minutes was not in place to keep it in one occupation. He had an interest, he just runs to this "Academy". They all really have their classes there: classes begin, a school class closes, then completely enlightened children come out, they tell you what it was there, show their work. The kids there are mainly constructed, reflected on the meanings, about concepts, learn to discuss, formulate their opinion. This is a rarity in our education system. And such wonderful changes in the child occur at the expense of the teaching staff. What conquers me as a parent: a deeply respectful approach to children. Each child is a personality, everything that he speaks, nor invented - all this is value, teachers and we are so tuned. The older guys, count, are already professionals, they themselves choose what to do with them - theater, visual arts. The Academy has applied meaning: they are very deeply studying mosaic art, everything that you see in the courtyard is done with your own hands. Sometimes even completely outsiders come to help - they want to try themselves what a mosaic is. The Academy has a huge number of projects - both implemented and planned. But we were faced with the complete indifference of the district administration, from which the decision on the abolition of the "Academy", to withdraw it from the composition of youth clubs, comes. Now we had a forced break in the classroom, after it, teachers conducted two classes directly in the open air. Our dismissed director says: do not worry-apparently, they are going to rent a room somewhere. But then you will have to pay for classes, and many simply will not pull it. In my opinion, such management is barbaric and wrecking for the cultural environment of St. Petersburg, for children. Instead of keeping the legacy received by the current team of the district administration, the new officials took and simply cut down the forest. My question is: why is the administration of the Central District all the management allows itself? We want to study with our teachers and no one else!

The press secretary of the Central District Administration Elena Titova did not allow me to record her comment, but verbally explained that the director was fired not just like that, but with reprimand, for violation of financial and economic activities, that the team really went together with the director, but the teachers are ready to take back-the “Malaya Academy of Arts” will continue activities, but in the form of conventional circles in painting, forging and other types arts, without the methodology, which is the main achievement of local teachers. According to Elena Titova, since January 2017, teenage clubs no longer have a license for educational activities - now they have the right only to entertain and organize leisure. As for the methodology, Titova emphasized that one does not appear in the Charter of the “Small Academy”, and in addition, she recommended reading an article where this technique is called sectarian.

According to the dismissed director of Vitaly Martynov , the “Malaya Academy of Arts” at one time simply forced to enter the system of teenage clubs, and in 2011 not teachers, namely, officials excluded Lubenko’s licensed technique from her charter.

Vitaly Martynov

- I was fired for no reason. I have documentary evidence that numerous checks did not find any violations with us - and the prosecutor’s office checked us, and the Investigative Committee. Our "Malaya Academy of Arts" arose in 1984 at the Russian Museum, it was founded by the honored artist of Russia Vladimir Lubenko, he has his own methodology for educating a person through science and art. She began to show good results, we won at the exhibitions of VDNH. But in 1997, injuries were organized against us, a label was hung out that we were a sect. Inspections went, but as a result it was refused to initiate a criminal case, they did not find anything bad. But that article about the sect continues to reprint the year after year. Meanwhile, in 1984, these premises were allocated to us precisely for training according to this technique, and in our charter it was indicated that we are obliged to develop this system and that the director is obliged to undergo appropriate training. In 2001, we became a state institution. Our system is aimed at forming an independent thinking in a child, this is the most important thing. If in a regular school they tell him that 2x2 = 4, then we ask him: why 2x2 = 4? He includes thinking, figurative vision, we try to use all his creative abilities as much as possible. We proceed from the fact that every child is a genius, we just need to immerse him in such an environment that would reveal all his capabilities. We have versatile objects - painting, architecture, movement united by one program. We multifacetively investigate each phenomenon, and the child begins to carefully relate to what he sees around. We begin with the simplest elements, and then they connect them, reflect them, look for the whole reason. For example, drawing a still life, we look at what character the jug is, what kind of drapery, what kind of people are, what relations between them are. Yes, this is a game, but it gives such an effect that even blatant children become more organized, learn to highlight the main thing in any situation. We do not have such that the child says something wrong: everything that he says is valuable, only he must understand and see why he says so.

- Where do these accusations come from in sectarianism?

- I know some people who accuse us, they open their systems, licenses them, but only they teach for money, and we - for free. We had a bunch of checks, and they did not find anything. We always acted only by law, tried to save money, we arranged this site mosaic in the yard. This is a unique international project, we have so much with us about it! This is material confirmation of how people like it, how they need it. Unfortunately, the district administration does not hear us, apparently, she does not want to deal with us - it’s easier to ruin us.

- The administration says that the new director is already selected, that they will engage in both forging and painting - to everyone.

- Yes, there will be a club in interests, but there will be no unique education system. They now have such a policy that the club should not engage in education or education, but only leisure. They will forge at leisure. And our child should think through each work, we have a consistent study of the laws of nature, laws of painting, for example, we study what symmetry is, what asymmetry is - in nature and in painting, we begin with one molecule - we go to bacteria, to different creatures, to their structure, interaction with each other, teach the child an integral vision of the world. And within the framework of this study, painting or mosaic is already born - this is a secondary product, the main thing was not for us. I have nothing against ordinary schools where you can simply plant children to draw a still life, but we must maintain the uniqueness of what we have. We believe that it is precisely the education of personality that is important for Russia. If a person sees how everything in life is difficult and multifaceted, he will be more careful, more attentive to parents, will cease to be a consumer and dependent, this is a comprehensive positive effect on the child. Yes, and adults also studied. This is our difference - we go more from the self -expression of personality, the affirmation of its uniqueness, help the child express his thoughts and feelings. We approach the child as someone who is able to create something unique, what no one did before him so that he would become free in choosing his path. We have a scientific system, and there has never been a religious component. This system even at one time was a research project at the Academy of Sciences.

In the garden "Malaya Academy"

Learning clubs for youth in the Central District is already 27. According to Vitaly Martynov, in 33 years on the "Malaya Academy of Arts" only once fell slander that this is a sect, but there were not a single complaint from the parents of the children here. The Martynov said about the scientific system of education in the "Malaya Academy of Arts" is confirmed by the Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Logopathology of the St. Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University (SPbGPMU), Alexander Kornev .

- I know the "Malaya Academy of Arts" for a long time, since the years when its founder Lubenko was alive. It was interesting to me on both sides: at first I met their system, and when I realized that it was interesting and useful, and new, I brought my daughter to them, she was about six years old. The system interested me both from the pedagogical point of view and from psychological: relying on it, I even developed a correctional technique, it is used in one of the centers, although it, of course, is much already than their polymodal technique. Their basic basis is very different from our traditional methods in pedagogy. This is the formation of a child under the influence of different types of art - there is a peculiar painting, expression of himself through movement, even through vocals, and plus to this - which is rarely combined with these things - the ability to express their thoughts is instilled there. In the classroom, creative tasks are solved - for example, to express through their impressions, feelings, sometimes even concepts. This made a strong impression on me, because traditionally, children are taught by school rules, and in art schools correctness, accuracy is the main criterion. When they prepare professionals, this is adequate, and when it comes to the development of a child, especially in preschool age, creativity is very intimate and expensive for him, and the situation when they begin to criticize it, for sure - not accurately, correctly, it is very painful when his vision does not coincide with what adults expect. I liked that they create partnerships between the teacher and children and - what you can’t meet in our schools - allow children to express their thoughts, no matter how different they are for adults. Staying in such an atmosphere for a child is very important and useful. My daughter is already an adult, but she recalls these years with warmth, and I see that they have laid some basics in her - both aesthetic and simply general humanitarian. Therefore, if they are opened under a dull structure called a teenage club, this, consider, will bury the entire system, and it is unique. Indeed, in the best of times they had a lot of branches in different places, including in Ukraine, with which we had other relations. By the way, they are still very revered there. Indeed, this "Malaya Academy" makes a very pleasant impression on those who are ready for non -trivial approaches. It is unfortunate if it is not possible to defend this island of humanistic pedagogy - I have never met such a synthesis anywhere.

According to the psychologist, neither from his daughter, nor other children who studied at the “Malaya Academy of Arts”, he found the slightest signs of the influence of any sect, and he considers attacks from this side completely groundless. Perhaps a formal reason for them was the terminology from the homegrown philosophy of the founder of the "small academy", which, however, did not impose anyone on anyone. It was his personal inner path, which led him to wonderful pedagogical discoveries. What difference does it make, Alexander Kornev believes, which became the impetus for creating a unique pedagogical system, here it is necessary to judge by the result, and the result speaks for itself.

Today, the premises from the "Malaya Academy" are selected, the homeless teaching team is looking for where to revive their brainchild. Уволенный директор сокрушается и о помещениях, отделанных своими руками, об интерьерах с мозаичными панно.