Establishment and Organization of Activities of Professional School at Lebedyn St. Nikolas Convent of Kyiv Eparchy (the second half of the 19th - the beginning of the 20th century)

Two-grade Women's (Professional) School (1888-1918)

The curriculum of two-grade parochial schools with a two-year course in each grade (a total of 4 years of study) practically coincided with the curriculum of women's four- grade professional schools of the Ministry of National Education. Students had to be provided with a full board and live in a dormitory. The tuition fee was 80 rubles per year Об открытии училища при женском Лебединском монастыре. Киевские епархиальные ведомости. 1888. № 25-26. С. 33..

At that time, such schools were called 'professional' because of the fact that, in addition to general education subjects, they were supposed to pay more attention to teaching crafts, needlework, and sewing. It was planned to transform the women's progymnasiums, (until that time Lebedyn six-grade Professional School was of such type), into that type of institution, with the aim of giving their students a completed primary education, the basics of religious and moral education and teaching various types of women's needlework for the purpose of running a household and providing for themselves in the future life.

In view of the arguments given by the Hegumenia of Lebedyn St. Nikolas Convent, the Council of Kyiv Women's Professional School of the Ecclesiastical Department found it inexpedient to transform the previously functioning at Lebedyn Convent two-grade Women's Professional School with a two-year course of study into a four-grade one-year Professional School Журнал совета Киевского женского училища духовного ведомства мая 14 дня 1892 г.... С. 155.. That was explained by the fact that the course of the lower grades of Kyiv Women's Professional School of the Ecclesiastical Department did not give the level of completed education. For the admission of female graduates who had completed four-year course at Lebedyn Women's Professional School, Kyiv Professional School would have to open the 5th and 6th classes in parallel. Such changes would have required additional material and financial costs from Kyiv Professional School, as it would have had to increase the number of classrooms and double the teaching staff. Such changes would have significantly reduced the costs for the provision of the students themselves. Therefore, it was decided to keep Lebedyn Women's Professional School as a two-grade institution with a two-year term of study in each grade. It was only planned to increase the number of needlework lessons in it and reduce the number of subject lessons, which would give its educational process a more professional orientation.

To solve the issues of organization of education and upbringing in the School, a pedagogical council was established, which included the head of the School, priests who taught the Law of God, and all teachers and their assistants. In addition, it was also proposed to create a board of trustees that included authoritative and influential persons. Lebedyn Women's Professional School was to be subordinated to the vicar, who was in charge of parochial schools of Kyiv Eparchy. The leadership of the School and its pedagogical council were to work out and submit for consideration of the eparch a draft of 'Regulations on Lebedyn Women's Professional School', a weekly schedule of lessons, and the list of the necessary staff for the School.

Lebedyn Women's Professional School, which was being established at that stage, began its work in the new 1898-1899 school year. The educational institution was under the jurisdiction of Kyiv Eparchy Council and was directly subordinated to the vicar responsible for the activity of parochial schools. The main task of the activity of School then became the provision of primary and professional education as well as moral and religious upbringing of the daughters of Kyiv Eparchy clergy.

The School was located, as before, in Lebedyn St. Nikolas Convent. The financing of the educational institution was carried out, first of all, at the expense of the convent itself, as well as the payments by the parents of the students for their education and living in the School. Tuition fees ranged from 50 to 75 rubles per year for the clergy and from 100 to 150 rubles for the representatives of other social strata Проект положения о Лебединском женском (профессиональном) училище при Лебединском женском монастыре Киевской епархии. Киевские епархиальные ведомости. 1892. № 12. С. 157..

Lebedyn Women's School at that time functioned as a two-grade professional school. Each grade lasted for two years. The number of female students in each class could not exceed 40 people. Children from 10 to 12 years old were admitted to the first grade. To enter the first grade, it was necessary to pass an exam on the knowledge of the course of elementary literacy. At School, the students learned the Law of God, the Russian Language, Arithmetic, Geography, the History of Russia, Housekeeping, Penmanship, Drawing, and Geometric Drawing. Students also mastered various types of handicrafts: sewing, embroidery, knitting, tailoring, bookbinding, etc Ibid. С. 157, 163.. It was the latter that had the most hours in the weekly workload. The teaching of educational subjects was delivered using the textbooks approved by the Holy Synod and according to programs drawn up by the pedagogical council of the School in accordance with the programs of two-grade parochial schools and the first four years of study of the women's eparchy school Отчет о состоянии Лебединского женского духовного профессионального училища за 1898-1899 учебный год. Киевские епархиальные ведомости. 1900. № 3. С. 38..

The responsibility of direct supervision and management of the Professional School continued to be entrusted to the reverend mother of Lebedyn Convent, Hegumenia Euthalia Ibid. С. 43.. She performed the equipping with services and utilities of the educational institution. The position of the supervisor was also introduced to the staff of the School, who was given the right to directly manage the educational process of the School. She was elected from among the teaching staff and was approved for the position by the eparch. The teacher of the Law of God was appointed by the Eparchy Council, and the subject teachers - by the pedagogical council of the Professional School.

When entering the Lebedyn Women's Professional School, all students got a place in a dormitory, the premises for which were provided and maintained by Lebedyn St. Nikolas Convent. Orphans were accommodated there for free, their stay in the dormitory was paid for by the Convent. The rest of the children were paid for by their parents. The Professional School also provided its students with three meals a day, clothes, shoes, and textbooks. The School had a hospital for its students Проект положения о Лебединском женском (профессиональном) училище при Лебединском женском монастыре Киевской епархии. Киевские епархиальные ведомости. 1892. № 12. С. 161..

The educational process at that time was organized as follows: educational classes lasted from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with 10-minute breaks in between and 30 minutes for dinner. The schedule was made in such a way that three subject classes were delivered before 11:30 a.m. and handicraft classes were given from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Homework was scheduled from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. every evening, with a 30-minute break for supper. Evening classes were supervised by the teachers. At 9 p.m. there was an evening prayer and lights out Отчет о состоянии Лебединского женского духовного профессионального училища за 1898-1899 год... С. 39..

At the beginning of the 20th century, Lebedyn Women's Professional School already had 150 students. The educational institution continued to be focused on providing children with the basics of daily practical and, in the future, quite possible professional activities. An example of that was the School's participation in the first All-Russian exhibition of monastic works. Students had to do handicrafts for a significant part of the after-school time. They made decorative flowers, decorated icons, knitted socks, gloves, and lace, made shoes, and did household work.

Students who completed the full course of a two-grade Professional School with a four-year course of study got certificates with the right to take the exam for the position of a parochial school teacher. Those who wanted to enter other educational institutions were admitted after passing a separate exam.

The situation in which the Orthodox monasteries of Kyiv Eparchy found themselves during the hard times of the First World War and the Bilshovyk anti-church policy did not pass by Lebedyn St. Nikolas Convent and its Professional School. From 1917 to the beginning of the 1920s, the Convent functioned under a state of emergency. In 1923, the Professional School at the Convent ceased to exist. According to the resolution of the Secretariat of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee (VUTsVK) of November 21, 1929, Lebedyn St. Nikolas Convent was eliminated, and its property was looted. Hegumenia Smarahda was arrested by the NKVD authorities and later tortured to death in prison. The agricultural commune 'Chervonyi Zhovten' was established on the territory of Lebedyn St. Nikolas Convent Мариновський Ю.Ю. Лебединський Свято-Георгіївський монастир та Лебединський Свято- Миколаївський монастир // Енциклопедія історії України: Т. 6. Ла-Мі / Ред. кол.: В.А. Смолій (голова) та ін. Київ: Вид-во «Наукова думка», 2009. С. 65-66..

Conclusions

The second half of the 19th - the beginning of the 20th century was characterized by the rise of the activities of convents and the strengthening of their role in the religious, cultural, and educational spheres of society's life. The modernization changes taking place in the surrounding environment also pushed the Orthodox abodes to certain changes, which had the most visible effect in the educational sphere. For Lebedyn St. Nikolas Convent, that reflection manifested itself in the establishment of a Professional School for girls of the spiritual rank, which among the women's professional schools of the Ecclesiastical Department of Kyiv Eparchy looked like a rather powerful educational institution and was a worthy competition to other Kyiv women's professional schools.

We can distinguish 4 stages in the development of Lebedyn Women's Professional School: 1859-1872 - establishment and development of a four-grade School; 1872-1886 - activities of a sixth-grade School; 1888-1890 - establishment of a two-grade Women's School; 1890-1918 - a two-grade, four-year Women's Theological School with the basics of professional training.

The history of the School shows that it was a fully formed educational institution with a distinctive management system, proper staffing, and teaching and educational process. Considering the fact that the Orthodox monasteries of the Synodal period were the promoters of the Russian state ideology, and the educational subjects in educational institutions of all levels, including monastic ones, became the basis for the Russification policy and the inculcation of great-power Russian chauvinism, an undeniably positive aspect in the functioning of the monasteries was their educational activities and involvement of socially disadvantaged children and children from the poor strata of the society, mainly in rural regions, into the educational process.

The history of Lebedyn Professional School shows that the monastery schools aimed to give children a practically useful education. Learners mastered crafts, the basics of art, and various labor specialties that could have been useful in their future life. The process and methods of teaching were interconnected with spiritual and religious education.

The School, as well as the Convent itself, often faced a lack of sufficient funds for the arranging of the educational institution and its proper functioning. The weak point of the Professional School's activity was the lack of permanent teaching staff, who received, moreover, rather modest salaries. Employees of such schools did not have the rights of civil servants. Therefore, educational institutions could not count on a permanent and stable body of teaching staff, since working there did not give teachers the right to a pension or any other employment rights.

Thus, it should be emphasized that during the studied period, there was an increase in the social activity of female monasticism. Educational initiatives played an important role in the social service of the convents.

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