Content of Secondary Education in the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th century (the Example of Ust-Medveditsky Women's Secondary School of the Don Cossack Host)

The purpose of the article is to analyze the specifics of education in the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th century. Archival materials covering various activities of the Ust-Medveditskaya women's gymnasium in the last quarter of the 19th century are used as documentary grounds of the study. Researches particularly focus on the content of educational process examining the curricula of Russian literature, geography, history, and foreign languages. They also outlined scientific discussions on content of educational process in Russian province of the 19th century and the relations of the process with the general trends of education development in the country. According to studied materials education in the Russian Empire was not solely limited to the purpose of transferring knowledge and skills, but aimed to develop values in students' worldview be means of teaching certain subjects. The main sources of the paper are examination sheets, pedagogical council and general annual reports of Ust-Medveditskaya women's gymnasium. After reviewing archival documents and scientific sources, the authors concluded that the learning process included a significant number of positions whose purpose was educational impact on students, the formation of the system of values and proper behavior, which follows them. In addition, the test assignments allow us to judge that the pedagogical concepts assumed an interest in the personality of pupils and the support of their cognitive activity. The authors also put forward a hypothesis according to which the development of female education could become the reason for a change in the value-targeted foundations of educational activities in the future - the transition from the exclusively educational orientation of teachers to an educational and organizational one.