LEO TOLSTOY’S FOLK PEDAGOGY: A DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION IN EDUCATION

Elena V. Martynenko

doi:10.29121/shodhgyan.v3.i2.2025.60

Authors

Elena V. Martynenko Senior Lecturer, Department of Foreign Languages for Economic Studies, PhD Candidate in Pedagogy, Department of Economic Theory, Rostov State University of Economics ("RINH") 69 Bolshaya Sadovaya Street, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhgyan.v3.i2.2025.60

Keywords:

Leo Tolstoy, Folk Pedagogy, Intergenerational Continuity, Moral Education, Child-Centered Learning, Russian Folklore

Abstract [English]

This article examines Leo Tolstoy’s contributions to folk pedagogy, focusing on his experimental school at Yasnaya Polyana (1859–1862) and his ABC Book (Azbuka, 1872). Rejecting authoritarian education models, Tolstoy championed child-centered learning, cultural relevance, and moral development through folklore. His methods—emphasizing freedom, dialogue, and peasant wisdom—anticipated progressive education movements by decades. Despite criticism from Tsarist officials, Tolstoy’s pedagogy influenced later reformers, including Montessori and Dewey. This study analyzes his key principles, pedagogical innovations, his predecessors and enduring relevance in contemporary education debates.

References

Dewey, J. (1897). My Pedagogic Creed. E.L. Kellogg & Co.

Eikhenbaum, B. (2018). Lev Tolstoy: The Seventies (M. R. Katz, Trans.). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1960)

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Continuum.

Krupskaya, N. (1918). On Education. Proletarskaya Revolyutsiya.

Montessori, M. (1912). The Montessori Method. Frederick A. Stokes.

Robinson, K. (2010). Changing Education Paradigms. RSA.

Tolstoy, L. (1862). Education and Culture [Воспитание и образование]. In Collected Pedagogical Works (1) (32-48). Pedagogika.

Tolstoy, L. (1862). The School at Yasnaya Polyana. Yasnaya Polyana Press.

Tolstoy, L. (1872). Azbuka [ABC Book]. R. Volkova.

Tolstoy, L. (2015). On Education (A. Maude, Trans.). In Tolstoy on education (45-78). University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1875)

Ushinsky, K. D. (1857). On the Usefulness of Pedagogical Literature. Journal of the Ministry of Public Education, 94(6), 1-25. (Original work: Ушинский, К. Д. (1857). О пользе педагогической литературы)

Zajda, J. (2020). Globalisation and Education Reforms: Paradigms and Ideologies. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1743-2

Zakharash, T. B. (2003). Pedagogical Unity of Individual and Collective Experience in the Continuity of Generations. APSC SKNTS VSh. (Original work: Захараш, Т. Б. (2003). Педагогическое единство индивидуального и коллективного опыта в преемственности поколений)