Why I'm not longer going to school in Smolensk

It is a shame that the government-run public schools in Russia are left to the fraudulent bureaucratic side of things where the common bonus structures lead to corporate corruption, fraud and other forms of unethical behaviour involving headmasters and their deputy directors. At the same time school teachers live at or under the federal poverty level; as we can see, it is almost impossible to reverse the moral degradation of school staff here once it has taken hold.

Surprisingly, being within the poverty threshold, public schoolteachers in this country never resist role as 'concealed administrative resource' in Russia's national elections. Unfortunately, putinism  has transformed the teachers into slaves of a particular type — the slaves are struggling for the right to remain slaves. It looks like a kind of pareidolia in which teachers respond to a stimulus, by perceiving pattern of patriotism where none exists.

Why do school headmasters ask you to do something unethical in your job? Why do teachers publish in "sham" journals falsify data? Why do school staff members and administrators ignore pupils' misbehaviour? Why do teachers actively cheat in their school records which leads to a huge personal tragedy for the children and their parents when unscrupulous students beat out honest, hard-working applicants for university spots? Answers to these and similar questions will clearly contribute to better understanding the depth of the problem.

Similarly, the pupils are affected negatively thus their future prospects are compromised. The teens feel frustrated with the status quo, pessimistic about the possibility of change, and torn between their dreams for the future and the rigid bell-ridden schooling designed to prepare indentured servants harvesting for the party elite. That said, this goes with lowered productivity and absenteeism.

To make things worse, last month the school told that the teachers could keep their position only if they were fully vaccinated with unproven Sputnik COVID jab in two doses. But, legally, no, you can't be forced to take a vaccine; you're not going to be physically restrained and given a vaccine by any legitimate public health authority...

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I simply could not cope up with this toxic unethical school culture and refused to work for any who did this. That's why I left school.

My Online Advice

E-learning is an incredibly powerful tool that many schools abroad have embraced following new Covid-19 cases which resulted in the lockout. But here in Russia, remote learning without quality platforms is becoming less personal, less engaging, and less effective. It is solely dependent on  school teacher enthusiasm and usually involves primitive correspondence courses wherein the student corresponds with his teacher via e-mail.

But, let’s take a look at some of the advantages of e-learning; let's imagine that we are working with an ideal distance learning system. Then what our e-learning - now with Smolensk connection - would be like if we were using such awesome platforms?

Also, I will talk about phrases  and concepts rendered in English which teachers of English as a foreign language can find useful when speaking about remote learning environment.

Point 1. Excellent online advice team.

Often your students need reassurance and lots of conversations to explore the option of online learning; how validated and valued the course is.

Point 2. Fantastic tutors and course leader.

Need enthusiasm, professionalism and knowledge during these challenging times? Look no further!

Point 3. All programmes are 100% online.

Basically, you choose the programme you want, enrol and enjoy access. You take classes at a time that works for you.

Point 4. A wide range of online learning platform activities.

Online tasks must engage the whole spectrum of learners; to be accessible and well-explained.

Point 5. Well thought out modules.

The material for study should give a great deal of flexibility to the student; lead to a more thorough understanding of educational issues, be very formative in their range and depth.

Point 6. Quick Delivery Of Lessons

As compared to traditional classroom teaching method, this mode has relatively quick delivery cycles. This indicates that the time required to learn is reduced to 25-60% of what is required in traditional learning.

Point 7. Access To Updated Content

A prime benefit of learning online is that it makes sure that you are in synchronisation with modern learners. This enables the learner to access updated content whenever they want it.

Point 8.  A vibrant online community.

You can study in your own home and this is convenient. But it can also be a little lonely. So you need a community, where you can collaborate with others on the course and even engage in online debate.

Conclusion

Due to the wide set of benefits it gives to pupils, e-learning may become quite popular and appreciated among students and teachers. But very often there are numerous important drawbacks to e-learning, which we have been experiencing for this month of coronavirus lockout.

Podcast download link ⏬

Degradation

The days of chivalry and respect seem to be long gone these days. Over the past 15 years or so many people who live in Smolensk have become more rude and disrespectful. I believe there are many contributing factors that have led to this rudeness. Selfishness and greed for money have led to many other byproducts such as disrespect to people and the lack of accountability to anyone. Kids treat their parents and teachers with disrespect and also treat each other badly. 

I am a school teacher and have been for about 4 years now. For just the time I have taught at school I have seen a complete turnaround from when I came. The disrespect and attitude that some of people have is crazy.

We don’t question the conventional wisdom that childhood is in crisis; we want to say that poverty and terribly low moral standards that engulfed substantial majority of families and darkened their lives have become a new issue for the state system of education. It is not simply about raising the price of education; many more fundamental problems arise – schools know much more about the state of Russia Olympic Team than they do about the state of their children. It shows that there is a lot of hypocrisy and double standard practices within the national education system.

Even further, this seems to be the age of tolerance and acceptance because we are all forced to accept someone's wrong-doings. Society is in fear about being accountable and being able to tell someone else that they are doing something wrong. The Moscow Patriarchate headed by ecumenical patriarch Cyrill has allowed this to creep in the very fabric of Russian way of life, where we get the ‘feel good’ gospel and sin is overlooked and become accepted by every civilian institution.

There are many things to blame on this but it all comes back to selfishness. All good manners can be summed up in one sentence: Do unto others as you would have them to do unto you. In other words, treat others as you want to be treated.

Language School as a Cult

The Cyril & Methodius Language Gymnasium in Smolensk sometimes produces better-than-av­erage academic results, but it also selects students based on ability, whereas all-in­clusive compre­hensive schools accept poorer students in the first place.

All language schools, have juvenile subcultures. You have skaters, punks, goths, met­tallers, jock and a mix of other cliques in the western tradition. You will never be­lieve me, but it is consid­ered to be normal and to suppress it is unhealthy and impos­sible. I remember sitting in a meeting and someone from Cyril & Methodius would be making Halloween PowerPoint presentation. Cam­eras flashed and teachers ap­plauded ...

Yet few today in Smolensk are aware that this holiday originated in paganism, not Christian­ity, and that it is the most dangerous "holiday" in the year. For long ages, Hal­loween has been a night especially dedicated to satanic agencies. How can it be that teachers of the Orthodox Lan­guage Gymnasium in the name of saints brothers Cyril and Method­ius think that worshiping west­ern cults can brush up your Eng­lish? How can any­one be Christian if they believe in pagan­ism? St John the Apos­tle gives the answer to that (in verses 24-25), “I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead”. 

To have language schools where everyone is part of the same cult or group, or are taught a particular western ideology, leads to a complete separation between those who at­tend the language school to those that don't.

When these English speaking people come to mix with others with other views, the ideologi­cal conflicts are very much amplified.

School Science Day in 37 Smolensk Comp

     Now, sadly enough, when the world has become one global village due to high travelling speeds and Internet connection, we face the problem of choosing the right route. Having found myself in the blind alleys of virtual sightseeing at my English lessons, I decided to find out what pupils of my school were really interested to see in London.

     London+4+kids+2014-2015
     British Bulldog Certificate
 
     Irish+Traditions+2014-2015

     London+4+kids+2015-2016