Boris Podolny, deputy head of the executive committee for regional work of the All-Russia People’s Front, notes that schools are increasingly losing their educational function for a variety of reasons. At the same time, it is the school that must ensure the harmonious development of the individual (as a person and as a member of society), if any youth movement is established by the state. For the new movement to take off, three conditions must be met: the will to finance, a clear academic framework (methodological and pedagogical), and the absence of coercion. In addition, it is worth considering the regional specifics.
"We have a very big country, and it’s very diverse. We often forget that. The logic of managing large systems suggests taking one model and applying it to the entire country. In reality, this doesn’t really work very well. The regions are too different, both in terms of living conditions and in terms of geography and scale. In my opinion, the «one-size-fit-all» practice would not work for the whole country, instead there should be a practice tied to different region types," Boris Podolny says.
Olga Zubkova, President of the Friendship Notebook National Association for the Development of Education and author of her own project, the LAMPA International Film Festival of Socially Oriented Short Films, believes that the new movement must take into account the needs of children, so that every child and teenager could find something to their liking.
"There should definitely be counter-vectors. We need to understand what we, the adults – professionals, family, school – can give children in terms of moral education, relevant experience, knowledge and skills. What can we give from what is in demand, taking into account different ages and different needs? We need to understand what children, teenagers, and young people care about in order to find the common ground that would become a starting point or form the conditions for viable technologies," she says.
Boris Podolny adds that in addition to considering the children’s opinions, the views of teachers, psychologists, people with great professional competence and experience are equally important.
"Absolutely, there should be a broad enough discussion not only at the level of collecting feedback from schoolchildren. We now have a tendency of chasing the consumer feedback. A schoolchild is also a consumer in a sense. However, if we endlessly shift responsibility to consumers who have no special competences, we risk getting our results wrong," says Boris Podolny.