Professor Konysheva’s article “When Will Our School Learn to Take into Consideration Life’s Lessons?” describes with great concern the “pathological frustration” of our children in the national system of education in Russia. Carefully selecting every word, the author adds to her diagnosis one more term, which does not leave any hope – “general pathological affection,” thus highlighting the systematic nature of this morbid process.
The use of medical terminology and our own parental experience, as well as our profession as university instructors, give us the experience to offer our own point of view on the most painful issues raised in the author’s article.

We agree with the author that the present education system is overfilled with verbalisms. However, it is worth mentioning that the rejection of classical textbooks in Mathematics in the 1990s and the transition to “innovative” problem-solving teaching required additional intelligence from students, especially in terms of their ability to think abstractly and to have a strong operative memory. However, this approach contradicts our present understanding of the peculiarities of cognitive development among different children.

Frankly speaking, despite all methodological and linguistic research (resulting in the competence-based approach to education, etc.), there hasn’t been any radical change towards greater effectiveness in secondary and higher education. The abundance of handbooks and other materials that teach students how to study effectively did not result in the emergence of a qualitatively improved high school or college graduate. Thanks to new technologies, the education process has become more convenient for only certain categories of people. Evaluating the prospects of modern education in Russia as a whole, it is worth noting that the low motivation of students in regards to their education is due to the fact that proficiency and culture are all too often not seen as decisive factors in obtaining employment and social status. The real problem seems to lie in the faulty tradition of hiring personnel based on biased arguments.

The general evidence of a growing psychopathology of Russian society during the period of so-called perestroika made a “great contribution” to the devaluation of education. When we talk about psychopathology we mean first, managers with an acute self-conceit and arrogance, then, mass media, and finally the so-called elite. The latter vividly demonstrated variants of psychotic and destructive behavior and life style (what would have been considered socially unacceptable in the past), and what has been accepted later and even considered a rewarding way of life.

The verbalism of education has also been facilitated by the system of Unified Graduation Examinations: standardized tests that are focused to a great degree on intensive verbal instruction. Another (so-called) “modernization” of today’s education system is the emergence of commercialization in education, with low-profile universities guaranteeing an easy undergraduate degree.  Negative features in education also deal with the total verbalization of children who willingly escape into virtual reality with the help of a computer. Is it therefore any surprise when a child confuses virtual life with reality? 

Professor Konysheva suggests transferring the operational part of cognitive activity into material form, i.e. to integrate theory with practice. This is quite logical; however it should be remembered that the material form of some classes (shop class, for example) is often primitive in the majority of schools, due to modest teaching capabilities and the poor financial situation of schools and students. Could it be that the author merely meant having the students sweep the schoolyard or polish a piece of metal (although students should definitely know how to do these tasks as well)? 

The limitation of individual creative development at school can be caused by the contradiction between students’ unwillingness to stand out from their peers and the goal of developing individual abilities. The everyday suppression of creative and non-standard approaches to educational problem-solving shows that those students who do stand out from the rest of the class are often given a hard time by their classmates. Regrettably, we are not yet prepared to feel happy for our neighbor’s success. There are very few cases demonstrating the opposite.

Sharing Professor Konysheva’s concern about the poor health of modern schoolchildren, we think it is worthwhile to assess the school situation through the eyes of neurologists, as it is a subject, which to a large extent controls the processes of development of a person’s cognitive abilities and social adaptation.

The functional state of the neural system rigidly determines one’s level of health and feeling of satisfaction (if any) with one’s quality of life, as well as one’s ability to effectively acquire knowledge and skills in education.  This is the essential prerequisite for our concept of the constant neurological monitoring of the growing brain, which was implemented in the Program of Neurological Support for Secondary School Students at Different Stages of Their Education (1; 2).  The goal of this program is to increase cognitive potential, to improve adjustment skills to the educational process and social conditions, and to generate a dedicated attitude towards a healthy life style as a result of the early arrest of bad habits capable of developing into socially significant neurological illnesses such as stroke, toxic and vessel encephalopathy, and dementia.

The primary role of neurological support is based on the responsibility of the structural and functional basis of the brain to provide for students’ memory, attention span, creativity, and perception of their social roles. The neurological support of schoolchildren is even more advisable during their adolescence and negotiation of complicated social, moral, and cognitive obstacles, because this process is often accompanied by an imbalance in the system of “psycho-vegetative” and endocrinological functions, which affects students’ studies and social relationships.

We consider students’ school education and growth to be physical and cognitive adjustments to a new social environment under the conditions of permanent change of the psycho-endocrine-somatic continuum of the child. On some occasions this process is ideally realized. In other cases, however, it is accompanied by hyperactivity and creativity in the child, and there are also some cases when this process is delayed.

By taking into account the bad habits of 10-13-year old students, we have developed a project, Cultivation of a Healthy Brain, which is currently being implemented. It required surveys of students’ health and mood at this age and their ideas about bad habits resulting in socially significant neurological diseases. The project also takes into account students’ “neuro-vegetative” and cognitive peculiarities and their academic progress. These surveys helped build an interactive lecture course on preventing bad habits and promoting a healthy way of life. The course is differentiated for school children of three different age groups, as well as their parents and teachers.

The cultivation of “a healthy brain” is not only a task for students, but also for their parents and teachers; they can become the children’s allies in the future, creating a “magic circle” of protection that will facilitate an emotionally and psychologically comfortable life while opposing multiple temptations.  Dedication to a healthy life style will enable students to become more motivated in their studies and will help them to find their appropriate place in our society.

We believe that such neurological support of education is not at all an excessive measure in the 21st century. Correction of brain dysfunction when necessary, in addition to the active and early prevention of bad habits and faulty life perspectives, will create a favorable environment for treating the “general pathological affection” of the Russian system of education, which was vividly described in Professor N. Konysheva’s article. 

References

1. Laskov V.B. et al. (2010). Cultivation of a healthy brain: incentive educational program of neurological support of secondary school students  and early prevention of their bad habits facilitating the development of stroke, vessel dementia and other socially significant neurological illnesses.  //Handbook for doctors-neurologists, school psychologists, teachers and students’ parents/ V.B. Laskov, I.V. Laskova, N.V. Voronina. – Kursk: Kursk State Medical University.  [In Russian].
2. Laskova I.V., Laskov V.B. (2010). Program of neurological support for secondary school students at different stages of their education: substantiation, goals and methodology: Monograph. - Kursk: Kursk State Medical University. [In Russian]