Imaging Russia in Russian Federation. Elementary, middle and high-school history books
Imaging Russia in Russian Federation. Elementary, middle and high-school history books

Summary/Abstract: This article analyses the content of history textbooks published by the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Education for eleven- to seventeen-year olds. Using these textbooks as the basis of the analysis, this investigation will also examine Russian pedagogical literature on classroom didactics to determine how successful Russian history teaching is. This essay scrutinizes the goals and methodology of the authors commissioned by the Ministry of Enlightenment by focusing on content organization and selectivity, narrative flow, the inclusiveness and accuracy of terms, and accompanying pedagogical aids. In particular, the article highlights central historical examples. Comparisons with other polities come into play in order to flesh out culturally and historically distinctive features of the Russian background more effectively. An all-embracing issue is the degree to which the Russian political atmosphere effects textbook content and to what extent current history textbooks have evolved beyond their Soviet predecessors. Three of several conclusions follow. One is that the content and tone of Russian history textbooks lack the stridency of the Soviet milieu, although biases and distortions are numerous, especially for the post-Tsarist period. Second, in many instances the Ministry of Enlightenment has been able to preserve a degree of autonomy in its commissioned history textbooks from overt governmental interference as long as its topics were not of key importance for the Putin government’s historical narrative. A third determination is what this study can tell us about Russia in the context of history education.

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