Selected Works of V. A. Sukhomlinsky (Five-Volume Edition). Volume 1

Author: Cai Ting, Wang Yigao, and Zhu Jing, editors
Publisher:
Publishing Date: August 1, 2001
Features: This book was completed by the authors from October 1969 to April 1970. It is a comprehensive report on their major academic works, prepared as a doctoral dissertation for defense. Unfortunately, shortly after completing the paper, the authors passed away, and the defense was never held. However, the Soviet educational community recognized it as an outstanding doctoral dissertation. In his educational practice, Sukhomlinsky focused on the issue of cultivating well-rounded individuals. This was the "theme" of his educational research. He believed that "the mission of the school is to cultivate harmonious and unified (i.e., comprehensively developed) individuals," and all his practical activities and theoretical explorations were guided by this "theme." The book mentions the task that Lenin proposed for socialist society: "to educate, train, and cultivate well-rounded and comprehensively trained individuals, i.e., those who can do any kind of work." Then Sukhomlinsky said, "Cultivating well-rounded individuals cannot be achieved through a set of specially concocted measures. To realize the idea of comprehensive human development, it is necessary to thoroughly improve the entire educational process." Cultivating well-rounded individuals is a very meticulous process and also a very subtle issue. The book also discusses the eight aspects of comprehensive development, and the authors provide detailed elaborations on each. Cultivating well-rounded individuals is an important educational belief of Sukhomlinsky and also the core of his educational thought. This book is a summary of Sukhomlinsky's many years of educational practice and research. To cultivate students with a rich and noble spiritual world, the authors tracked and studied the lives of over 700 students from 29 classes over the entire 10-year period from enrollment to graduation. Based on a wealth of practical materials, they analyzed the growth process of these students in terms of morality, intelligence, physique, aesthetics, and labor during their childhood, adolescence, and youth. They revealed the psychological development of their perception, thinking, emotions, interests, needs, will, and the different characteristics of their speech, as well as the role of various factors in shaping their spiritual demeanor. This book integrates theory into practice, featuring numerous vivid examples alongside well-considered theoretical summaries, and introduces some theories and knowledge in pedagogy and psychology in an accessible manner. Educating through collectives was one of Sukhomlinsky's long-term research topics. His work The Collective Education of Students, published in 1956, received widespread acclaim from readers. Methods of Cultivating Collectives was written in the last two years of his life and published in 1971, and it was highly valued by the Soviet educational community at the time. This bookly reflects the author's collective education philosophy. It is divided into four parts: the school collective and its principles of cultivation; the ideological and civic foundation of the collective; the formation of the collective's influence on individual education; and the personality of teachers, the teacher collective, and the student collective. Through numerous vivid examples, the book theoretically elaborates on some common issues encountered in collective education work. Many of these experiences have universal significance and are worth studying and referencing by educators in our country, especially principals and teachers in primary and secondary schools. Of course, due to differences in nationality and specific circumstances, some of the views and practices introduced in the book may not be entirely applicable to our actual situation. Readers are encouraged to analyze and discern when reading.