ECER 2016, Dublin, 23-26 August, 2016

1. Working
Education in
the Socialist
Bloc
A Comparative Analysis
Dr. Lajos Somogyvári
University of Pannonia Teacher Training Centre
Veszprém, Hungary
somogyvari.lajos@mftk.uni-pannon.hu ECER 2016, Dublin
www.uni-pannon.hu

2. • The topic of working
education
• History and theory
• Methodology and research
questions
• Background: coexistence,
competition, destalinization
and the scientific-technical
revolution
• Research
• Conclusion
Overview
Picture 1. Students of the Grammar School Attila József in the Craft and
Engine-builder Factory (Work and School, January, 1962, front cover)

3. Working Education in the Socialist Pedagogy
A Forgotten Story
• Working Education / Polytechnic
- Main component of the socialist pedagogy and idea of
the communist personality
- It had got different dimensions: ideology, politics,
economy, science and practice of education
• References of the topic
- Mostly contemporary (UNESCO reports, Shapovalenko,
1963)
- Focused on the Soviet Union (Coumel, 2009)
- Western pointview (DeWitt, 1961, Holmes– Read–
Voskresenskaya, 1995)
- Representatives of this pedagogy are unknown
nowadays

4. Methodology and Research Questions
• Methodology
- Different sources: journal articles, reports of conferences,
regulations, decrees, files and archives of the Hungarian
Educational Ministry and Party Committees
- Purifying the texts from ideology
- Duality of secret archives and public declarations
• Main goal of the presentation
A, Describe the implementation of an educational reform (1958-
1961)
B, Comparing decision making mechanisms, discourses and
activities
• Actuality of the topic (questions then and now)
- Connection between school and life
- General and vocational education

5. Historical Background
• Changing form of the communist system (Kalmár, 1998)
- Destalinization and consolidation (impact of the XXth Congress)
- Coexistence and the East-West Cultural Exchange
- Competition: „Catch up and surpass” until 1970
- Experience of revolutions and revolts
- The scientific-technical revolution
„Reform of the secondary and higher education will be the new
Sputnik.”
(Khruschchev in the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 11 April, 1958, see:
Notes about the Responses to the Speech of Comrade Khruschchev, MNL OL MSZMP KB TKO 288. f. 33./1958/3.ő.e.)

6. Khruschchev’s
Appearance
• April, 1958, XIIIth
Congress of
Komsomol: Critique of
the Soviet school
• September, 1958:
„Regarding the
Strengthening of Ties
Between School and
Life and the Further
Developing the System
of Public Education”
Affirmation of the
Party
• November, 1958:
Approving Theses –
Central Committee and
the Cabinet
• December, 1958: The
School Reform-Law –
Supreme Soviet
• January-February,
1959: XXIst Congress
Science and the
Pedagogues
• Academy of Education
Sciences (Kairov,
Goncharov,
Shapovalenko etc.):
researches, perspectives
• Practice of education:
experiments, public
discussion
Introduction of the School Reform: The Soviet Precedent

7. Main elements of the decision making-process (OPI, 1965)
1., Congresses of the Communist Parties:
2., Theses / Principles published:
A, September, 1958 – Khruschchev’s Theses in the Pravda
B, January, 1959 – GDR, Central Committee of the Party: Theses
C, March, 1959 – Principles by the IIIrd Congress of Polish United Workers’ Party
D, September, 1960 – Theses of the Reform Committee in the Hungarian
Népszabadság (Freedom of the People – Journal of the Central Committee)
3., Simulated discussions:
A, 1957-1960 - Bulgaria
B, September 1958 - February, 1959: Soviet Union
C, 1958-1959 – Czechoslovakia, experimental year, conferences
D, 1959: GDR
E, 1960-1961 – Directives to the Academic Year, experiments in Poland
F, September 1960 – October, 1961: Hungary

8. • 24th December 1958 – „Strengthening the ties of
the School with Life, and Further Developing the
System of the Public Education in Soviet Union”
(Law)
• 23rd April, 1959 – „Strenghtening the ties of the
School with Life, and Further Developing of
Education in Czechoslovakia” (Decree of the
Central Committee)
• 16th September, 1959 – „Strengthening the ties of
the School with Life, and Further Developing the
System of the Bulgarian Public Education” (Law)
• 2nd December, 1959 – „Developing the System of
Public Education in the German Democratic
Republic” (Law)
• 21st January, 1961 – „Reform of the Elementary
and Secondary Schools” (Decree of the Central
Committee)
• 17th October, 1961 – „Act III of 1961 on the Public
Education of the Hungarian People’s Republic”
(Law)
Legislation
Picture 2. Propaganda in the Western World. October, 1958,
London

9. Discourses of the Reform: Actors, Interest Groups and Legitimation
1., Party leaders (Ideology)
2., Representatives of the economy
A, 7-year plan in the Soviet Union (1959-1965) – needs of the economic growth
B, Aspects of the labour market
3., Involving Education Sciences
A, role of the Academies, Research Institutes and the professional communication
B, translating the language of ideology
4., Teachers’ Practice
A, experiments
B, conferences, debates: explanation of the reform (PTA-meetings)
C, new curricula, new subjects, modification of the school-system

10. Discourses of the Reform: Actors, Interest Groups and Legitimation
• „Let’s bring the school closer to life!”
(Interview with Pál Bakonyi, see: Sáska, 2007, 199.)
- preparation to the labour, modern sciences and technical skills
- changing functions of the grammar school, case of theoretic overload
- mass education, prolongation, secondary school qualifications
• Utopian concept of the new society and the new socialist citizen
- working education as political indoctrination
- moral of working education
- the workers-farmers foundation
• Possible problems
- defending classic/humanistic education (teachers, parents)
- needs of further education (students, parents)
- effectiveness

11. Working Education in Practice: Curriculum Revision
Bulgaria Czechoslovakia GDR Hungary Poland Soviet Union
Reading, writing. literature 1946 2442 3154 2079 2340 2407
Foreign Languages 413 495 912 396 429 568
History 318 362 537 259 429 452
Mathematics 1264 1485 2128 1353 1755 1818
Physics 157 231 608 198 312 244,5
Chemistry 129 165 456 132 156 150
Biology 236,5 297 494 264 468 302
Geography 302,5 231 418 264 390 340
Arts 380 429 342 396 312 266
Music 411 297 380 495 312 303
Physical education 528 693 912 528 624 606
Practical and vocational skills 400 632 1140 462 624 833
Total: 6783 8151 11748 7194 8307 8556
Table 1. Subjects and number of intended instruction hours after the school reform (by Kornidesz, 1968, 95.)

12. Reading, writing,
literature
27%
Foreign languages
6%
History
5%Mathematics
19%
Physics
3%
Chemistry
2%
Biology
4%
Geography
4%
Arts
4%
Music
4%
Physical
education
7%
Practical and
vocational skills
8%
Other
7%
Working Education in Practice: Curriculum Revision
Figure 1. Allocation of of instruction time to subjects in the period of compulsory education, average in the 6 socialist
countries (by Kornidesz, 1968, 95.)

13. Working Education in Practice: New Forms of Education
A, Kindergarten:
Gardening and self-service
B, Elementary School:
Practical Training: handicraft and
needlework
C, Secondary School:
- one day per week – working in the
agricultural/industrial labour
D, Higher Education:
- advantage at the entrance exams
Picture 3. The Young Bookbinders of Grammar School
Miklós Radnóti in Working. (Public Education,
1960/1, back cover)

14. Working Education in Practice: New Forms of Education
Picture 4. Report from Karl-Marx-Stadt
(Public Education, 1959/17, back cover)
Text 1. Contract between the Chemical Factory
Composition and the Grammar School of Tab (30th
July, 1960)

15. Conclusion
• Missing conditions
• „Education is the case of the whole society” –
workers as educators
• Different interests
• Actuality of this topic
Party
Labour
Market
Science
and
School
Table 3. Actors and interests of the school reform

16. References
• Coumel, Laurent (2009): The Scientist, the Pedagogue and the Party Official: Interest Groups, Public Opinion and
Decision-making in the 1958 Education Reform. In: Ilic, Melanie – Smith, Jeremy (eds.): Soviet State and Society under
Nikita Khruschev. Routledge, Abingdon – New York. 66-86.
• DeWitt, Nicholas (1961): Education and Professional Employment in the U.S.S.R. National Science Foundation,
Washington.
• Holmes, Robert – Read, Gerald H. – Voskresenskaya, Natalya (1995): Russian Education: Tradition and Transition.
Garland Publishing, London – New York.
• International Yearbook of Education (1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962). UNESCO.
• Jóború Magda (1961): Élet és iskola. (Life and School) Gondolat, Budapest.
• Kalmár Melinda (1998): Ennivaló és hozomány. A korai kádárizmus ideológiája. (Food and Dowry. Communist Ideology
in the Early Kádár Period) Magvető, Budapest.
• Kornidesz Mihály (1968): Az általános iskola néhány kérdése az összehasonlító pedagógia mérlegén. (Aspects of
General Education in a Comparative Context) In.: 100 éves a kötelező népoktatás. (Centenary of the Compulsory
Education) Tankönyvkiadó, Budapest, 91-102.
• Khruschev, N. S. (1958): Regarding the Strengthening of Ties between School and Life and the Further Development of
the Public Education System. Soviet Education, 1, 2. 3-8.
• Notes about the Responses to the Speech of Comrade Khruschchev. (Feljegyzés. Hruscsov elvtárs akadémiai beszédének
visszhangja) MNL OL MSZMP KB TKO 288. f. 33./1958/3.ő.e
• OPI (1965): Közoktatásügy Európa szocialista országaiban. (National Institute of Pedagogy: Public Education in
European Socialist Countries)
• Proposals to the Revision of the Public Education System. (Javaslat a Politikai Bizottság elé oktatási rendszerünk
felülvizsgálatára) MNL OL MSZMP KB TKO 288 f. 5/106. ő. e.
• Sáska Géza (2009): Közműveltség és magántudás. (Public Culture and Private Knowledge) ÚMK, Budapest
• Shapovalenko, S. G. (1963): Polytechnical Education in the U.S.S.R. UNESCO, Paris-Amsterdam.
• Temesi Rudolf (1962): Közoktatási reform és közoktatási tervezés. (Reform of Public Education and Educational
Planning) Pedagógiai Szemle, 1962/9, 798-810.