ISSN 0798 1015

Especial • Vol. 38 (Nº 56) Year 2017. Page 9

Kazan Educational District in 1917: Transformation of the Educational System and Problems of School Communities

Distrito educativo de Kazan en 1917: Transformación del sistema educativo y problemas de las comunidades escolares

Gulnara Mansurovna BURDINA 1; Irina Evgenievna KRAPOTKINA 2; Inga Vladimirovna MASLOVA 3; Liliya Gabdelvalievna NASYROVA 4; Zemfira Vilenovna GALLYAMOVA 5

Recibido: 26/10/2017 • Aprobado: 25/11/2017

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Materials and methods

3. Results

4. Discussion

5. Conclusion

References

1. Introduction

The current state of Russian education makes the public understand that the mechanical transfer of the Western experience to Russia in the sphere of education brings about unpredictable and often negative results. More and more researchers pay attention to the rich national reform experience, which took into account the Russian historical traditions and was based on its own resources and staff. In this regard, it becomes necessary to study the reforms implemented in different periods of Russian history. Special attention should be paid to the experience of 1917, when the Russian bourgeoisie, after gaining power, tried to plan and implement reforms independently, without regard for the autocratic bureaucracy. In many spheres, including in the sphere of education, radical innovations were planned. Unfortunately, most of them remained unperformed in conditions of a difficult internal situation, the struggle of various political forces and contradictions within the Provisional Government.

In this regard, the issue of the transformation of the educational system within the framework of one of the leading educational districts in the Russian Empire, the Kazan educational district, becomes relevant.

The scientific novelty of research is that the article for the first time analyzes the history of Russian education in 1917 in the context of the historical situation of that period and in terms of one educational district.

2. Materials and methods

The position of the topic at the intersection of the problems of several historical discourses – the history of state institutions and the history of education – makes it necessary to develop a special methodology for its study. The methodological research framework is based on the dialectical principle of cognition of the society in combination with objectivity and historicism. The principle of objectivity presupposes a comprehensive study of historical events and processes in all their complexity and inconsistency. Moreover, special methods of socio-humanitarian sciences were used in carrying out the study: the biographical method and the qualitative analysis of documents. The application of the biographical method made it possible to further study the hidden cause-effect relations of events, the motives of human behavior. Through the qualitative analysis of documents, it became possible to use a wide range of archival sources.

3. Results

In the history of Russia, the first decades of the twentieth century were the time of the most complex and dynamic socio-political and socio-economic processes, which were directly reflected in the history of Russian education. The policy in the sphere of public education contributed to the further development of educational institutions due to the skillful coordination of actions by the Ministry of Education and the administration of the educational districts. The Educational District Center located in Kazan was one of the oldest in the Russian Empire; therefore, by the beginning of the twentieth century (the final period of the district development) its traditions and methods of work had been formed. Internal political contradictions and circumstances of foreign policy, in which the Russian Empire appeared by 1917, also dragged the administration of the Kazan educational district into the problematic area. At the same time, the educational district leadership continued to follow the developed course in the organization of educational work. In the district, an integral system of education management was formed; it had a clear structure with interrelated elements, each of which performed strictly defined functions. The activities of the district centers have become a progressive element aimed at identifying regional and territorial features in the educational system by the local educational administration. This resulted in the use of local features in the organization of the educational process.

The Kazan Educational District Administration supervised all educational institutions under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education: Kazan and Saratov Universities, Kazan Veterinary Institute, higher women's courses, secondary and lower educational institutions. In 1914, there were 1,745 educational institutions in the Kazan educational district.

After the events of 1905-1907, the educational system was viewed as a political phenomenon; in this connection, all actions were evaluated from the point of view of political reliability of both teachers and students.

In this regard, Emperor Nicholas II and his government faced the problem of reorganizing the existing system of educational institutions by implementing the following tasks:

1) to resolve the university issue;

2) to implement a reform of the secondary school;

3) to organize a network of vocational technical schools;

4) to develop women's education;

5) to increase the number of primary schools;

6) to introduce universal education (Dneprov, 1991, pp. 100-150).

The control over the educational system arranged by the Ministry and the Educational District Administration was quite understandable: the development of the educational system was hampered in order to prevent the growth of democratic ideas among the students and forward-minded teachers. The Ministry set a goal not so much to manage educational institutions as to manage the society through school. The set tasks have not been finally solved. The change of ministers of education only led to confusion around the tasks set by the government. As noted by D.I. Latyshina, "...The Ministry of Education keeps its balance and, trying to prevent radical changes, permits various innovations, on the one hand, and reinforces the outdated principles of school policy, on the other hand. The situation in the educational sphere is unsteady and characterized by the official policy to preserve many archaic school features..." (Latyshina, 1998, p. 253). 1917 was a turning point in the socio-economic and social life of the country and a certain facet in the history of education. Revolutions affected the fate of both the country and every citizen.

The tasks of the Kazan District Administration in the studied period were as follows: 1) coordination of activities in all educational institutions of the district; 2) organization of the activities of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee; 3) control over the implementation of the adopted disciplinary standards; 4) assistance in the development of foreign education.

The analysis of the work of the Kazan Educational District Administration and the Chancellery of Trustee for the first decades of the twentieth century makes it possible to highlight the established features of the organization of the activities of the district center.

Firstly, the work of the structural units of the Kazan Educational District Center was a coordinated mechanism with a clear distribution of functional responsibilities between the ranks of the Administration and the Chancellery of Trustee. The District Administration has developed the principles of its activities in accordance with the regulations adopted by the Ministry regarding the organization of the educational process in the Povolzhsky region.

Secondly, the emerging growth of the bureaucratization of the education management system could have a negative impact on the functioning of the Kazan Educational District Center. However, such a process was hampered due to the fact that the Ministry of Education preserved strict standards on the number of staff in the Kazan District Administration and the Chancellery of Trustee.

Thirdly, in organizing the work the Educational District Administration tried to focus on solving the most important and timely tasks facing the regional educational authorities. Despite certain difficulties caused by wartime, unstable socio-economic and political situation throughout the country, the functioning of the Kazan Educational District Center in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was characterized by concerted work, which was to a certain credit of the trustees who managed to organize and control the activities of all subordinate departments.

Not all the trustees, who worked as the head of the Kazan Educational District Center, made significant contributions to the educational sphere. As a rule, in the administrative and economic work some strictly adhered to ministerial directives, others – tried to show their own initiative, the third – were hostages to the circumstances.

The last trustee of the Kazan Educational District Center was Honored Professor, Doctor of Medicine, Acting State Counselor Mikhail Mikhailovich Lomikovsky (October 19, 1915 – April 29, 1917) (Russian State Historical Archive (RSHA). Fund 740, Series 18, File 214, p. 74).

The position of the trustee of the educational district, on the one hand, was very honorable and prestigious, but, on the other hand, the head of the Educational District Administration bore an enormous responsibility. Mikhail Mikhailovich suffered many difficulties, including those related to the coordination of work in the entrusted educational institutions in the prerevolutionary period. His professional career was quite successful.

M.M. Lomikovsky came from a noble family, graduated from Kharkov University, the Faculty of Medicine. After graduation from the university in 1874, on the proposal of the trustee of the Kharkov educational district, he was appointed as a staff physician at the therapeutic clinic of Kharkov University. Since 1878, he began teaching. In 1901, Mikhail Mikhailovich was appointed a dean of the Faculty of Medicine. During the years of service in the Ministry of Education, M.M. Lomikovsky was awarded the Order of St. Anne (1st degree), St. Stanislav (1st degree), St. Vladimir (3rd degree), a medal in commemoration of the reign of Emperor Alexander III and the 300th anniversary of the reign of the Romanov dynasty. Due to his demonstrated managerial abilities, M.M. Lomikovsky was appointed as a trustee of the Kazan educational district on October 19, 1915. He was provided with the following allowances:

- salary and table allowance – 8,000 rubles;

- residence allowance – 2,000 rubles;

- pension for the title of Honored Professor – 3,000 rubles (RSHA. Fund 740, Series 18, File 214, pp. 13-19 overleaf).

In the reply letter, Mikhail Mikhailovich expressed gratitude and appreciation to the Minister of Education, Count Pavel Nikolayevich Ignatiev, for the great honor of his offer; he assured that he would do the best to justify his trust. An amount of 1,000 rubles was allocated from the special funds of the men's secondary educational institutions of the Kazan district for the one-time allowance to cover the cost of movement of the Trustee M.M. Lomikovsky to the place of employment (RSHA. Fund 740. Series 18. File 214. P. 37).

Mikhail Mikhailovich Lomikovsky was appointed as a head of the Kazan educational district at the age of 66. His family life was unsuccessful. Having moved to Kazan, he left his wife Maria Aleksandrovna and daughter Maria in Kharkov. Due to family problems M.M. Lomikovsky, regularly sent letters to the Minister asking him to give an extraordinary leave to meet with his family. Letters are imbued with anxiety for the family and deep feelings. It can be assumed that, on the one hand, the appointment to the post of the trustee of the Kazan educational district was honorable, but, on the other hand, Mikhail Mikhailovich was burdened with his job duties and remoteness from family members. Therefore, he used every opportunity to visit his family in Kharkov.

In the letter of December 5, 1915, M.M. Lomikovsky informed the Minister P.N. Ignatiev: "Going on an official trip to Saratov on December 14 this year, where I will probably be up to the 20th of December, I transfer the management of the educational district to the Senior District Inspector Bogoyavlensky.

In the district everything is going well.

I most respectfully ask Your Excellency to grant me a leave from December 20 to January 15, 1916. It is extremely necessary for me to take care of my family members, whom I have to leave for a permanent stay in Kharkov due to difficult family circumstances.

I ask Your Excellency to accept the assurance of my true respect and complete devotion" (RSHA. Fund 740, Series 18, File 214, p. 40). The Minister satisfied this request.

On July 21, 1916, M.M. Lomikovsky sent the following letter: "I sincerely thank you, Your Excellency, for permission to go home, to the Homeland, to have rest and put my family affairs in order. Today I transfer the management of the district to my assistant S.I. Lyubomudrov. I most respectfully ask you to excuse me for being late sending a printed report on the Pedagogical Congress, I hope to send it next week; the printing house is to blame, there are no responsible permanent workers, there is no possibility to cope with the proof.

Thank God, in the district everything is going well, except for some restless people (Mr. Divitsky, Director of Public Schools of the Simbirsk Governorate, and Mr. Mirolyubov, Inspector of Public Schools). In due time, if I may, I will ask Your Excellency's permission to transfer them to the appropriate positions to other places" (RSHA. Fund 740, Series 18, File 214, pp. 47-47 overleaf).

M.M. Lomikovsky wrote similar letters to the Minister P.N. Ignatiev and then to N.K. Kulchitsky quite regularly. In all letters, Mikhail Mikhailovich assured the Ministry that everything was going well in the district and the studies went smoothly (RSHA. Fund 740, Series 18, File 214, pp. 47 overleaf – 50 overleaf). The Trustee Assistant S.I. Lyubomudrov successfully coped with the duties of the district manager that probably gave M.M. Lomikovsky the opportunity to be often absent. The Trustee Assistant was the second person in the Administration, in the absence of the Trustee he acted as a district manager, followed the duties of the district inspectors and gave orders to the heads and directors of the educational institutions.

However, this did not solve the main problem related to the family problems of M.M. Lomikovsky. On March 14, 1917, Mikhail Mikhailovich sent the following letter to the Ministry: "I most earnestly ask Your Excellency to grant me a leave for Easter holidays to go to Kharkov, where my family lives. Serious illness of my wife and elder sister involuntarily forces me to visit them from time to time; my daughter studies at higher women's medical courses, under such difficult family circumstances I cannot bring my family to Kazan and therefore I dare to bother you with my request, deeply hoping that you ... will show understanding for my situation.

To tell you the truth, I dare to express my sincere respect and ask you, if there are no obstacles, to transfer me to my homeland, to the Kharkov educational district. I have worked in the Kazan educational district for two years; the climatic conditions in Kazan are too harsh for me, a southerner.

In the Kazan educational district entrusted to me, everything is going well and the studies go smoothly, about which I had the honor to report to you in the telegram... May it please your honor, I will transfer the management of the district to my assistant Mr. Lyubomudrov" (RSHA. Fund 740, Series 18, File 214, pp. 47 overleaf – 50 overleaf).

In the letter as of March 25, 1917, M.M. Lomikovsky expressed his wish for transferring him to the Kharkov educational district again: "... The conditions of my family life have been extremely unfavorable for me and, therefore, I am bothering you with my request to transfer me to Kharkov, if my position as a trustee deserves it. I spent a year and a half in Kazan under the most difficult life conditions, having inherited the management of the district from people, whom you know perfectly well.

The difficult circumstances of my constant stay away from my family, two members of which are seriously ill and often need my help, morally oblige me to take care of them as well. Having been appointed as a trustee of the Kazan educational district, I was sure that whenever a vacancy occurs, I would be transferred to the Kharkov district. In this regard, I ... ask you ... to show understanding for my situation and give me the opportunity to continue my work in the Kharkov district. Supported by your sympathy, I will put all my efforts and all my experience for the benefit of our dear Motherland, in the matter of public education ..." (RSHA. Fund 740, Series 18, File 214, pp. 56-56 overleaf).

The higher management refused the request of Mikhail Mikhailovich, offering him to write a letter for resignation, which he wrote on April 10, 1917. According to the decree of the Provisional Government as of April 29, 1917, M.M. Lomikovsky was dismissed from the post of the trustee of the Kazan educational district (RSHA. Fund 740, Series 18, File 214, p. 19 overleaf). Chairmen of parents’ committees of secondary educational institutions of Kazan held a meeting where it was decided to send to the Minister of Education an urgent telegram with the request to leave Lomikovsky as a head of the district. However, S.I. Lyubomudrov was officially appointed as an Acting Manager of the Kazan educational district.

During his short-term work as a trustee, M.M. Lomikovsky left a mark in the history of the Kazan educational district. On March 19-22, 1916, the Ministry of Education organized a Congress of Trustees. The meeting discussed the following issues: the end of the academic year, the organization of examinations, the organization of the educational process in certain educational institutions, the problems of evacuated educational institutions, and the organization of extracurricular education (Congress of Trustees, 1916, p. 6). The contents of all resolutions and circular orders issued by the Ministry and the trustee of the educational district during that period were filled with departmental optimism and strict bureaucratic style; there was no critical assessment and no opinion was expressed on the ongoing events.

By the time Mikhail Mikhailovich took office, the Kazan Educational District Administration received a circular proposal from the Ministry of Education on further expansion of the powers of the trustee. This was done in order not to turn the Educational District Center into a kind of intermediary, giving the head of the district the competence to resolve local issues (for example, specifying tuition fees, opening public libraries at initial training colleges, granting traveling and daily allowances) (RSHA. Fund 740, Series 15, File 279, pp. 1-30 overleaf). The adoption of such measures could contribute to further strengthening of the authority of the educational district leadership in the public eye, which was important from the point of view of educational goals. "Expanding the competence of local bodies in this way and making it complete, which makes them independent in the vast area of ​​issues to be resolved, the Ministry is responsible only for general supervision ..." (List of Duties, 1915, pp. 1-2).

By the 1916-1917 academic year, the Ministry actually only began to observe the situation that evolved in the educational districts. Thus, on March 24, 1917, a telegram was sent from the Minister of Education Gerasimov to the trustee of the Kazan educational district, stating that the District Administration and the heads of educational institutions should provide the Ministry with the information on the course of academic studies only when they are violated (National Archives of the Republic of Tatarstan (NA RT), Fund 92, Series 2, File 25460, p. 168).

From that time, the trustee of the educational district could initiate the organization of congresses of directors and teachers of secondary general and technical educational institutions at the Administration; leave unsuccessful students for refresher training; upon the decision of the Pedagogical Council postpone the graduation and final tests to autumn for those students, who could not pass them in spring; accept for graduation and final tests those students, who have been studying in an educational institution for less than 3 years; grant monetary allowance to the teachers, who are now working or worked earlier (from the loan of the Directorates of National Schools) (List of Duties, 1915, p. 3).

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the trustee of the educational district combined the duties of an independent head of a separate educational department that carried out the workflow management; the main observer for the course of teaching and the head of pedagogical affairs in a separate educational district; an auditor of the structural units of the district.

The coordinated work in the District Administration and the Chancellery of Trustee allowed M.M. Lomikovsky to assign part of his duties to the immediate employees.

The educational process in the schools of the Kazan district went smoothly according to the established schedule. Official documents did not contain the information on cases of unrest or anti-government activities, in which teachers and students could participate. Upon instructions of the trustee, the Directorate of Kazan national schools and inspectors "distracted" students from pressing problems and political activism by all means. Since the 1915-1916 academic year, the Ministry of Education introduced so-called "rehearsals", the passing of trial examinations in the secondary educational institutions. In this regard, various opinions were expressed by teachers, parents and students as well. The Minister sent a circular order to the Kazan Educational District Administration with a proposal to analyze the first "rehearsals" and express an opinion on the most appropriate use by students of their leisure time, both during the academic year and on holidays. In the reply M.M. Lomikovsky noted that the "rehearsals" went smoothly according to the schedule. Parents expressed their concern about the fact that trial tests tire and intimidate students more than the exams. Practice showed that "rehearsals" achieved the goal of complementing, consolidating and combining the students' knowledge on separate studied subjects and they were used for self-assessment of a teacher and determining the degree of effectiveness of the techniques and methods used during the lessons. As a result, "these rehearsals reassured parents and caused a positive attitude toward them" (NA RT. Fund 92, Series 2, File 23973, pp. 47-47 overleaf). Mikhail Mikhailovich also noted that the directorate of educational institutions took care of students’ health promotion in every way, organized outdoor games on gymnastic playgrounds of educational institutions; the work of student libraries was organized during the holidays; group training sessions were planned for underachievers.

In the spring of 1917 there were difficulties with the Kazan Higher Women's Courses. They functioned in the 1980s as "private, disenfranchised courses" and therefore the Ministry of Education questioned whether the curriculum of these courses corresponded to that of higher education institutions. On this basis, the trustee M.M. Lomikovsky was recommended to suspend the work of graduates of the Kazan Higher Women's Courses in secondary educational institutions (NA RT, Fund 92, Series 2, File 25277, p. 32).

The Kazan District Administration paid special attention to the promotion of the fight against high prices (Circular on the Kazan Educational District, 1916, p. 55). The complex socio-economic situation caused by the wartime led to the fact that all government and public structures were involved in the development of appropriate recommendations. The educational department was charged with the wide dissemination of the idea of savings among students.

The District Administration initiated and controlled orders that were fulfilled in training workshops of secondary technical and vocational schools for the needs of the front; the students also helped to repair agricultural machinery (NA RT. Fund 92, Series 2, File 23913, p. 5). Thus, the educational leadership reached the goal of civil and labor education of the younger generation.

In summer, the educational district leadership organized the activity of labor squads consisting of volunteer students. They provided assistance in field work to the families, whose members were at the war (NA RT. Fund 92, Series 2, File 23913, p. 7). In the circular order as of May 17, 1917, the Minister of Education called for assistance to the country: "In order to ensure the timely sowing of fields and harvesting, the Provisional Government is mobilizing the living forces of the country. In particular, the teaching staff and students of educational institutions are involved as in the past years, they are organized in labor squads with the aim of helping the village, which has been deprived of the manpower ... in the interests of the correct organization of the work of students and the provision of households with the labor force in the harvest time till September 1, 1917", when the academic year begins (NA RT, Fund 92, Series 2, File 25277, p. 55).

The level of educational work in non-Slavic educational institutions of the Volga region was increased; pedagogical courses for the school teaching staff were organized (NA RT. Fund 160, Series 1, File 1935, pp. 20, 227, 231). The opening of student organizations at educational institutions, the purpose of which was to promote self-education and self-development of students, was welcomed (NA RT. Fund 92, Series 2, File 25460, p. 177). Thus, the Kazan Educational District Administration and heads of educational institutions tried to fully and responsibly perform their duties and resist the anti-government sentiments and provocations.

Already in the summer of 1917, no actions of the leadership of the Kazan Educational Center could save the district from the revolutionary influence and subsequent reorganization of the entire educational system.

In the letter as of July 4, 1917, S.I. Lyubomudorov reported to the Minister of Education, O.P. Gerasimov, that the situation in the Kazan Educational District Administration is very difficult. They could not involve employees in the work during the holidays. All the work was performed by two people – Lyubomudrov and the district inspector Vasilyev. This letter was also a kind of "cry for help", an appeal to pay attention and help to cope with the critical situation.

The Public Education Committee was established at the District Administration. "... with all the friendly attitude of its members and close teamwork that has been established, (the Committee) not so much helps, as complicates the work, demanding the leadership to hold meetings and execute its orders. There is no time left for dealing with current matters, responding to ministry inquiries, viewing incoming mail and imposing resolutions.

These circumstances force me to ask you to appoint a district trustee as soon as possible in place of the dismissed M.M. Lomikovsky or ... the second district inspector in place of the dismissed V.S. Bogoyavlensky ... If this is also impossible, then I would ask for the secondment of the Director of the Kazan Second Men’s Gymnasium V.P. Bryukhanov to help the district, a person who is respected by all teachers and people from all walks of life, and it needs to be done as soon as possible.

As for me personally, unfortunately I should say that my strength is giving out ... There is no need to explain what I have to experience under the present conditions of service in Kazan, to maintain a balance with strenuous efforts and establish the order among the most opposite social trends, with the reluctance of subordinates to work and with increased requirements for the work assessment.

The intense and restless activity of the last three years has greatly exhausted my health and upset my internal balance. I feel that I will not be able to cope with the work for a long time (at the meetings I begin to lose consciousness) and, therefore, I dare to ask you – once the management of the educational district gets back to normal – to grant me a long vacation for improvement of my health and restoration of my weakened strength... " (RSHA. Fund 740, Series 18, File 214, pp. 71-72 overleaf). However, the Ministry was indifferent to the fate of Lyubomudrov, his request was not satisfied.

Since November 1917, the Administrator of the Kazan educational district received reports from Pedagogical Councils of Kazan educational institutions. The documents stated that decisions had been made to close specialized schools, let students go on Christmas holidays (NA RT. Fund 92, Series 2, File 25460, pp. 18, 23, 30) and resume classes in January 1918.

On November 29, 1917, the Chairman of the Pedagogical Council of the Kazan Fourth Women's Gymnasium, established by V.A. Ryakhina, reported to the Administrator of the Kazan educational district that on November 27 and 28 lessons were not conducted. At the meeting, parents decided not to let the children go to the gymnasium "during these troubled days, especially since rallies took place in the vicinity of the gymnasium, where a fierce party struggle was going on" (NA RT. Fund 92, Series 2, File 25409, pp. 27-28). The Pedagogical Council decided that the classes will be completed on December 21, 1917. Christmas holidays will last until January 8, 1918.

Similar messages came to the Kazan Educational District Administration from the majority of educational institutions located in the governorate cities, where the unrest was most active. More and more complaints were received from parents about the fact that teachers shirked from their immediate duties, did not know the subject well (NA RT. Fund 92, Series 2, File 24837, pp. 5-7). However, the Educational District Administration could no longer control the situation.

4. Discussion

The discussed problem is directly related to the study of the main issues of the history of education in Russia, as well as to the development of the school network management system both in the capital centers and in the regions of the country.

Despite the fact that the institute of trustees, formed in the Russian Empire, who headed the educational districts during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, attracts special attention of researchers, the history of the development of the system of educational districts in Russia remains insufficiently studied. Meanwhile, it should be noted that trustees conducted the government policy in the sphere of education at the local level.

The main stages of the Russian historical development of the studied period are related to the internal political course of the last Russian emperor; therefore, the studies that clearly characterize the policy of Nicholas II at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have been used in the work (Arbatsky, 1917; Bakhmetiev, 1917).

The Soviet period of the Russian history was marked by a critical approach to virtually all scientific and actual achievements of imperial Russia. The works of N.A. Konstantinov, F.F. Korolev (Konstantinov, 1956; Korolev, 1958) contain the extensive factual material, but they are "one-sided" since the authors examine individual aspects of education fragmentarily and superficially, without considering the foundations of the management of the educational system. The relationship between the Ministry of Public Education and the school can be traced here, but the middle management – the Educational District Administration – is not considered.

In research of the history of Russian education of the "post-Soviet" period, attempts were made to describe the main stages of the development of Russian school in detail, rethink the existing concepts, take a fresh look at the past, refusing the established stereotypes.

In this regard, collective works and individual monographic studies are of interest (Zhurakovsky, & Kurakov, 2000; Lapteva, 1998; Makarkin, & Naumchenko, 1996; Dneprov, 1991). For example, V.M. Zhurakovsky and L.P. Kurakov specify ​​the need to transfer part of the administrative functions on education to the regions; at the same time, as noted by the authors, it is important to study the experience of the functioning of the educational districts of tsarist Russia. In general, the above-mentioned publications focus mainly on the establishment of educational districts in Russia at the beginning of the nineteenth century; they consider the network of educational institutions (by types of schools) without characterizing the Educational District Administration, its structure, activities and functioning. The determination of the degree of influence of the educational district centers on the education of the peoples of the Russian Empire at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries, when virtually age-old activity of the educational district administrations was worked out in detail.

It is necessary to say a special word about the works on the history of education in the Kazan governorate and Tatarstan, where the studied aspect reveals the regional features of the government policy in the sphere of education of a single educational district. The authors of the monographs adhere to the previous traditions, reflecting certain problems of the development of the educational system in the Kazan educational district (Iskhakova, 1999; Iskhakova, 2001).

Worthy of mention are the works of foreign researchers studying the Russian educational district system that characterize the activity of educational institutions and the importance of educational districts in public education (Eklof, 1986; Eklof, 1990; Eklof,1993; Smirnov, 2014; Sheinis, 2015).

The historiographical review shows that when studying problems related to the activities of the Kazan educational district during the Great Russian Revolution, a human factor (i.e. trustees of the Educational District Center) was neglected; the issues related to the district administration activities on the organization of methodological assistance to the teaching staff of schools and the formation of the pedagogic process among students were not addressed.

5. Conclusion

The first decades of the twentieth century were a troubled period for the Russian Empire. This time in the national history is most often associated with the revolutionary events that swept our country. However, the complexity of the situation was also expressed in the restructuring of the entire social system, including the public educational system.

After the revolutionary events of 1905-1907, the active politicization of teachers and students began in the educational system, which increases the control over the contents of the educational process and the trustworthiness of teachers.

Having come to power as a result of the February Revolution, the Provisional Government was forced to adapt the management mechanism to new conditions. The system of educational districts and the post of a trustee of the educational district, which proved effective during the nineteenth – beginning of the twentieth century, were preserved. But the crisis phenomena penetrated into the administration of the Kazan educational district, which, on the one hand, was reflected in the unwillingness of the last trustee to properly perform his duties and, on the other hand, in the surprising short-term attitude of the Ministry of Public Education toward the matters of the personnel policy of the educational district leadership.

By the spring of 1917, the situation in the district was complicated by the growing economic crisis in the country, which led to a price increase. To combat high prices, the district administration tried to support craft workshops of colleges with additional orders, initiated the activity of labor squads, and popularized the idea of savings.

By November 1917, under the pressure of parents concerned about the political situation, the educational institutions of the Kazan district began to suspend the educational process, announcing long-term Christmas holidays.

The Soviet bodies that came to power in 1917 liquidated the system of educational districts, abolishing their management bodies (the resolution of the RSFSR People's Commissariat for Education of January 21, 1918 "On the abolition of the trustees of educational districts and their assistants, chief and district inspectors, their secretaries and assistant secretaries, as well as boards of trustees and chancelleries in the educational districts"). The functions of the abolished bodies were assumed by the Boards of Public Education under the governorate Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants' Deputies (Zaitsev, & Posokhov, 2000, p. 13). Since that time, a new stage in the development of the Soviet educational system began.

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1. Elabuga Institute (branch) of Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, Russian Federation, 423604 Tatarstan, Elabuga, Kazanskaya St. 89; E-mail: burdinagm@yandex.ru

2. Elabuga Institute (branch) of Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, Russian Federation, 423604 Tatarstan, Elabuga, Kazanskaya St. 89

3. Elabuga Institute (branch) of Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, Russian Federation, 423604 Tatarstan, Elabuga, Kazanskaya St. 89

4. Elabuga Institute (branch) of Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, Russian Federation, 423604 Tatarstan, Elabuga, Kazanskaya St. 89

5. Elabuga Institute (branch) of Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, Russian Federation, 423604 Tatarstan, Elabuga, Kazanskaya St. 89