Why was astronomy abolished in schools?

Many people are worried about the question: why did they cancel astronomy in school? Science, which not only affects the applied development of important branches of knowledge today: space geodesy and space navigation, rapidly developing in the 21st century, but is also responsible for shaping the worldview, giving an idea of the world and the place of man in the universe.

When did it happen?

In Soviet times, astronomy was an independent subject, which was assigned to 35 hours in the 10-11th grade, and represented a course in natural sciences. Students who leave school after 9th grade, did not even begin to study a discipline of world-wide significance. One hour a week nevertheless allowed the country to be a leader in space exploration, to successfully conduct astronomical Olympiads and to have a huge army dedicated to this science.

In 1991, the subject of "astronomy" in schools ceased to be basic, which led to his ousting from the program. At the beginning of the two thousandth graduation classes, four textbooks with different levels of presentation were offered, but in 2008 none of them received official permission from the Ministry of Education and Science for use in educational institutions (Order No. 349). This put the teaching of astronomy outlawed.

Prehistory

And this is in a country where there is a three hundred-year experience of transferring knowledge about the cosmic bodies and the structure of the universe. Even under Peter I, astronomy in schools became compulsory for students. For a century it was a separate discipline, which is a unique phenomenon in the pedagogy of the world. Before the revolution, the highest level of teaching was achieved due to the following factors:

• Differentiation of training.
• Variety of programs.
• Freedom of teachers in the choice of techniques.
• Great equipment.
• Possibilities of integration with the course of physics.

After the revolution, traditions were preserved, and in the 1930s, unified programs, means and methods of training were created. In the 40's, the main goal was the formation of a scientific worldview, from these considerations the course of astronomy continued to develop. In the 80-90s, a gradual "blurring" of the subject began, which did not fit into the structure of the new educational standards.

What today?

The official ban on the inclusion of astronomy in the curriculum is not, but the decision is left to the discretion of the school leadership. Most educational institutions provide brief information on the subject within the integrated courses. Astronomy for primary school as the simplest ideas about the world is included in the program for the "Surrounding World". In high school - in physics (50 pages).

In some regions, such as Chuvashia, this small section can be safely attributed to astrophysics, for it is filled with calculations and complex tasks. This in the end does not allow to give correct representations, than the stars differ from the planets and what is the Milky Way. But many schools along with traditional programs from 2010 began to study the basics of religious cultures. Modern graduates confuse astronomy with astrology, which was previously considered pseudoscience.

Effects

VTsIOM regularly conducts surveys of Russians, showing that one-third of the citizens are convinced that the Earth does not revolve around the Sun, but vice versa. Domestic media in September hurried to announce the introduction of NASA changes into the system of zodiac signs, which caused some excitement among the residents of the country. Although this was done by the Americans specifically for children and youth audiences, to show the inaccuracy of astrology.

His youth learns about the structure of the universe not through the lessons of astronomy at school, but from fantastic Hollywood blockbusters and computer games. Among the myths that are firmly established in the minds of fellow citizens - the belief that we are surrounded by aliens, the flights of Americans to the moon - this is a hoax, and the lunar phases actually affect the harvest of the suburban area. A person who considers himself civilized does not know how the universe works and how it affects the planet Earth. Aggressive illiteracy of the population was particularly evident during the fall of the meteorite in February 2013 near Chelyabinsk.

Why did it happen?

So, formally, nobody canceled the study of astronomy, the school did not receive prohibitive instructions, but it left the educational institutions. Why?

Schools provide teaching primarily the basic subjects defined by the Russian Federation, then - the subject of the Russian Federation, and only then - left to the discretion of the school. To introduce a separate discipline into the schedule, you must fulfill three conditions:

• The decision of the parents, which should be of a collegial nature.
• Equipment for teaching.
• Presence of the staff, capable to transfer necessary knowledge.

As a rule, the main interest of the parents is the USE, which became mandatory since 2009, and the entry of one's own child into the university. It is for this reason that the school does not even study the 50 pages from the textbook on physics given under the information on astronomy. To gain time for training graduates to the final exam. The equipment does not require large expenses, but it is necessary, and again schools prefer to save. The biggest problem is the staff.

Cadres decide everything

Today, even in Moscow, where a huge number of educational institutions with special training in the field of natural sciences, only 20 (out of two thousand) preserved astronomy. In schools, there is a catastrophic lack of teachers in this discipline. Prior to 1978, only Gorky Pedagogical Institute was preparing, and in ten universities, as of 1980, there was specialization according to curricula (Moscow, Baku, Kiev, Tashkent, Telavi, Chelyabinsk, Leningrad, Rostov, Chernigov, Nikolaev). In the year, only 600 students were recruited.

Because of the small number of hours in schools, teachers began to prepare teachers with a general specialty - in physics and astronomy, which led to the skewing of teaching toward physics. The method of teaching astronomy was lost. Today in the pedagogical universities because of the lack of demand, the astrophysics departments have not been preserved. Therefore, teachers are helpless in teaching the material.

Year of astronomy

It is symbolic that astronomy in Russian schools was ousted from the curricula on the eve of the year of astronomy. In 2009, 400 years after G. Galilei conducted the first observation of the heavenly bodies with the help of a telescope, the world community noted a breakthrough in the field of knowledge about the universe. Scientists participating in the conference appealed to the authorities with a statement about the need to overcome ignorance in natural science, which is a part of culture, and universal astronomical education. For this science is today the most dynamically developing.

The initiative was supported by the rector of the Moscow State University V. Sadovnichy, the state corporation Roskosmos, the employees of planetariums, who started collecting signatures in support of teaching astronomy to schoolchildren, however, under Minister A. Fursenko, no changes occurred.

The position of the new head of the Ministry of Education and Science

Olga Vasilieva has a different position on this issue. In September 2016 she said: astronomy in Russian schools will appear in 2017. This will happen at the expense of the second foreign language, which is allocated 250 hours. If they are reduced, it will be possible to include lessons in the basic program of the general education school. As a textbook, the version of Straut EK and Vorontsov-Velyaminov BA will be proposed.

Due to congestion of students, it is planned to provide one hour a week for a new subject. It would seem that the scientific community should rejoice, but what do scientists say about this?

Opinions of scientists

Discussions on this issue have been going on for a long time. Deputies and the public share the concern about the lagging behind of the once leading space power in many areas. Professor of Moscow State University A. V. Zasov focuses attention on the fact that astronomy in schools should touch upon world outlook issues, form a scientific understanding of the world, and therefore accompany the student throughout the entire period of study.

Interest in celestial bodies, stars and other galaxies has been emerging since 11-12 years, but in these years the guys do not know the amount of knowledge in physics and mathematics that is necessary for mastering astronomical knowledge. The importance of the same thing can not be underestimated. Through astronomy:

• The work of the laws of physics outside the Earth is illustrated.
• There is an acquaintance with the development of outer space and modern achievements in this field, which requires the combined efforts of leading powers.
• Teenage curiosity is satisfied, an interest in cognition is brought up.

The problems of the return of astronomy

Educators understand that with one stroke of the pen, astronomy in schools will not appear today. If the problems of textbooks and the allocation of hours are not so difficult, then the restoration of the system of training teachers will require 5 to 15 years. It is necessary to return the chairs of astrophysics, the interest of scientists, the state order.

Many believe that discipline will not survive as an independent one. It will be necessary to include the necessary sections in the teaching of related subjects: physics, geography, mathematics, chemistry, the creation of integrative courses. To do this, we need to revise the concept of their content in schools with varying degrees of complexity in educational programs.

Teachers are concerned about the level of preparation of students. Every year, some children do not cope with the final exams (USE). 2016 was not an exception: 4.7% did not overcome the basic, 15% - a professional level in mathematics. The minimum passing grade in physics was only 36 points (out of a hundred). In all technical universities it is a core subject. It is necessary to achieve that natural sciences become truly prestigious in society.

Afterword

Why is astronomy at school canceled at a time when the country is losing ground in technological progress? Perhaps because it is easier to manage people whose consciousness is dominated by medieval notions of the structure of the world? There are fears that with the appearance in the school of the foundations of religious cultures instead of the science of the development of the universe in a decade, graduates will leave school with confidence in the divine origin of all living things and that the Earth rests on three whales. I would not like to think that astrology is the main science by which life should be checked, and the place to be treated with ailments is not the polyclinic, but the cabinet of the psychic.