Conversations about Important Things[1] (ru|Разговоры о важном|translit=Razgovory o vazhnom,), or Important Conversations for short,[2] is a name for a series of compulsory school lessons in Russia that covers various topics from the Russian government's perspective, such as national identity, public holidays, and world events. Important Conversations lessons take place every Monday morning during the school year, following the flag-raising ceremony.
Important Conversations was developed by the Institute for Education Development Strategy, on behalf of the Russian Ministry of Education,[3] and was part of a 17-year long effort by the Russian government to introduce "patriotic education" to schools in Russia.[4] The first Important Conversations lessons took place nationwide on 5 September 2022,[1] and are generally considered to be part of the Russian government's information war in relation to their invasion of Ukraine, which they call a "special military operation".
The Russian government has defended Important Conversations, claiming that it promotes "national unity, patriotism and traditional values".[2] However, many teachers and parents have resisted the initiative as an attempt by the Russian government to introduce political propaganda and militarism into the education system. In response, teachers and students (along with their parents) have faced reprisals for not participating in Important Conversations lessons, in the context of the ongoing crackdown on protests against the invasion.[5]
The origins of using school lessons to promote "Russian values" go back to July 2005, when then-Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov approved funding for a similar programme called "Patriotic Education for Citizens of the Russian Federation".[4] According to geography teacher Kyamran Manafly, the government sent to schools materials for "patriotic lessons" for many years since 2005, but many teachers ignored them due to lack of interest from the students.[6] On 21 May 2020, The Moscow Times reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin made another effort to introduce "patriotic lessons" by making citizenship and war history compulsory subjects under the Russian education law.[7]
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian government increased their efforts to introduce "patriotic education" into schools, although some schools improvised such lessons or events shortly after the invasion started.[8] According to The Moscow Times on 19 April 2022, the Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov announced plans for children to study history from Class 1 onwards instead of Class 4, and for schools to hold a flag-raising ceremony (similar to the Pledge of Allegiance in the United States) every Monday morning, from the start of the 2022–2023 school year.[9] Schools in the Kaluga and Voronezh oblasts introduced flag-raising ceremonies in mid-April.[10]
Plans for more children to study history evolved into Conversations about Important Things, which was unveiled by Kravtsov and the Institute for Education Development Strategy on 20 June 2022: according to the Institute, Important Conversations aimed to teach history and socio-political values from the Russian government's perspective.[3]
The first Important Conversations lessons took place nationwide on 5 September 2022, although Russian President Putin hosted an inaugural lesson with selected students in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, on 1 September 2022.[6] The initial budget for the development of Important Conversations, which began in mid-April, was 22 million rubles, or about US$326,000 in 2022.[11] [12]
The Conversations about Important Things takes place every Monday from 09:00 local time, during the school year and after the flag-raising ceremony.[9] [13] Since 20 February 2023, Channel One Russia's Good Morning programme included a segment involving Important Conversations, every Monday at 08:36 Moscow Time (UTC+3).[11]
The lessons cover various topics from the Russian government's perspective, such as national identity, public holidays, and world events. Some of the lesson plans reference developments associated with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which the Russian government calls a "special military operation",[5] and attempt to cover up or deny widely documented evidence of war crimes committed by Russian forces.[14] Each topic on the official website for Important Conversations lessons have separate sections for Classes 1–2, Classes 3–4, Classes 5–7, Classes 8–9, Classes 10–11 and Secondary Vocational Education.[15]
According to The New York Times on 3 June 2023, local school administrators were responsible for implementing Important Conversations: this meant the actual amount of politics and propaganda in the lessons depended on the school administration's stance towards the Russian government. For example, one teacher forced students to sing and dance to I'm Russian (ru|Я русский|Ya russkiy) by Russian singer Shaman, while another taught algebra as an "important conversation" in the context of mathematics.[16]
The Conversations about Important Things were unpopular with many teachers and parents, with many criticising the lessons as an attempt by the Russian government to introduce political propaganda into the education system, despite laws that did not allow it.[8]
The Associated Press reported that some parents were shocked by the militaristic nature of Important Conversations lessons, with some comparing them to the "patriotic education" of the former Soviet Union.[17] There was notable controversy over the lesson plan for Our country — Russia, which originally instructed teachers to tell students from Class 3 onwards that Russia was "more precious" than life (ru|Счастье Родины дороже жизни), and that it was "not scary" to die for Russia (ru|За Родину-мать не страшно умирать).[18] [19]
The opposition trade union Alliance of Teachers called for parents to boycott the lessons, and for teachers to either boycott the lessons as well, or to present them from a more critical perspective than that of the Russian government.[2] The Associated Press reported cases of teachers attempting to depoliticise Important Conversations by developing their own content for the lessons.[17]
The initial criticism resulted in the Russian Ministry of Education making revisions to the lesson material in an attempt to reduce mentions of the military and current events (such as the invasion of Ukraine),[13] which included the removal of controversial passages from Our country — Russia.[20] However, there is evidence that the lessons continue to actively reference the war in Ukraine.[5] [21] Teachers who refused to teach the lessons risk either losing their jobs or being designated as a "foreign agent", and some teachers have left (or considered leaving) Russia in protest of Important Conversations.[2] [22]
Parents have also called for the right to withdraw their children from Important Conversations lessons: although the Russian Ministry of Education initially claimed that the lessons were voluntary extracurricular activities,[13] Russian students and their parents have been investigated by the police, or threatened with expulsion, for refusing to attend Important Conversations lessons.[5] [23]
The Ministry of Education later admitted that the classes were compulsory, warning that students may be sanctioned for skipping the lessons.[13] [24] On 19 February 2023, the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group reported that the Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov planned to force parents of students to attend Important Conversations lessons.[21]
In November 2022, Times Higher Education reported that academics had different opinions on how the Conversations about Important Things would affect the development of beliefs among Russian students. Professor Grigory Yudin of the Moscow School for the Social and Economic Sciences expressed concern that Important Conversations increased the risk of turning otherwise apathetic or anti-war students into "willing fighters". However, Professor Isak Froumin of the Higher School of Economics and researcher Svetland Shenderova believed that Important Conversations would fail: Shenderova in particular stated that Important Conversations may backfire in the same way as scientific communism, by fuelling the students' hatred towards the Russian government's ideology, which includes Putinism.[25]
| Topic | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English name | Russian name | |||
| 05 Sep 2022 | Knowledge Day | Russian: День знаний | ||
| 12 Sep 2022 | Russian: Наша страна — Россия | Early versions of the lesson plan for children from Class 3 onwards included the teaching of expressions such as "It's not scary to die for the Motherland" (ru|За Родину-мать не страшно умирать). | ||
| 19 Sep 2022 | 165th anniversary of the birth of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky | Russian: 165-летие со дня рождения К. Э. Циолковского | ||
| 26 Sep 2022 | Senior Citizens' Day[26] | Russian: День пожилых людей | This topic commemorates the International Day of Older Persons, which occurred on 1 October. | |
| 03 Oct 2022 | Teacher's Day | Russian: День учителя | ||
| 10 Oct 2022 | Father's Day | Russian: День отца | ||
| 17 Oct 2022 | Music Day | Russian: День музыки | This topic commemorates International Music Day, which occurred on 1 October 2022. | |
| 24 Oct 2022 | Russia — a world leader in the nuclear industry | Russian: Россия — мировой лидер атомной отрасли | The topic was supported by Rosatom and the Homo Science Project.[27] | |
| 31 Oct 2022 | colspan="3" | |||
| 07 Nov 2022 | National Unity Day[28] | Russian: День народного единства | ||
| 14 Nov 2022 | We are different, we are together | Russian: Мы разные, мы вместе | ||
| 21 Nov 2022 | Mother's Day | Russian: День матери | ||
| 28 Nov 2022 | Symbols of Russia | Russian: Символы России | ||
| 05 Dec 2022 | [Civil] Volunteers of Russia | Russian: Волонтеры России | ||
| 12 Dec 2022 | Constitution Day | Russian: День Конституции | ||
| 19 Dec 2022 | Fatherland's Heroes Day | Russian: День Героев Отечества | This topic covers the commemorative day that occurred on 9 December 2022. | |
| 26 Dec 2022 | New Year's Day family holidays and dreams | Russian: Новый год. Семейные праздники и мечты | ||
| 02 Jan 2023 | colspan="3" | |||
| 09 Jan 2023 | Christmas holiday | Russian: Светлый праздник Рождества | ||
| 16 Jan 2023 | Breaking through the siege of Leningrad | Russian: Прорыв блокады Ленинграда | ||
| 23 Jan 2023 | Media literacy and computer security | Russian: Медиаграмотность и цифровая гигиена | ||
| 30 Jan 2023 | Movement of the First | Russian: Движение первых | This youth organisation was created on 18 December 2022: the topic was supported by the Institute for the Study of Childhood, Family and Education of the Russian Academy of Education.[29] | |
| 06 Feb 2023 | Russian Science Day | Russian: День российской науки | ||
| 13 Feb 2023 | Russia in the world | Russian: Россия в мире | ||
| 20 Feb 2023 | Defender of the Fatherland Day | Russian: День защитника Отечества | ||
| 27 Feb 2023 | Traditional family values | Russian: Традиционные семейные ценности | ||
| 06 Mar 2023 | Year of Teachers and Mentors[30] | Russian: Год педагога и наставника | ||
| 13 Mar 2023 | 110th anniversary of the birth of Sergey Mikhalkov | Russian: С. В. Михалков. 110 лет со дня рождения | Sergey Mikhalkov (born on 13 March 1913 N.S.) wrote the lyrics of the national anthem of Russia. | |
| 20 Mar 2023 | Day of the reunification of Crimea with Russia | Russian: День воссоединения Крыма с Россией | This topic commemorates the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, on 18 March 2014. | |
| 27 Mar 2023 | Theater Day 160th anniversary of the birth of Konstantin Stanislavski | Russian: День театра. 160 лет со дня рождения К. С. Станиславского | This topic commemorates World Theatre Day, which occurred on 27 March 2022. | |
| 03 Apr 2023 | Earth Day | Russian: День земли | ||
| 10 Apr 2023 | Cosmonautics Day we are first! | Russian: День космонавтики. Мы первые! | This topic commemorates Yuri Gagarin, the first person to go to space. | |
| 17 Apr 2023 | Day of Remembrance of the genocide of the Soviet people by the Nazis and their accomplices | Russian: День памяти о геноциде советского народа нацистами и их пособниками | ||
| 24 Apr 2023 | Labour Day world of professions | Russian: День труда. Мир профессий | ||
| 4 May 2023 | Victory Day | Russian: День Победы. Бессмертный полк | ||
| 15 May 2023 | Day of Children's Public Associations | Russian: День детских общественных объединений | This topic also promotes the Movement of the First youth organisation.[31] | |
| 22 May 2023 | About happiness | Russian: Про счастье |
| Topic | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English name | Russian name | |||
| 04 Sep 2023 | Knowledge Day | Russian: День знаний | ||
| 11 Sep 2023 | Where Russia is | Russian: Там, где Россия | ||
| 18 Sep 2023 | 100th anniversary of the birth of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya | Russian: К 100-летию со дня рождения Зои Космодемьянской | ||
| 25 Sep 2023 | Electoral system of Russia (30th anniversary of the Central Election Commission) | Russian: Избирательная система России (30 лет ЦИК) | ||
| 02 Oct 2023 | Teacher's Day (educational advisors) | Russian: День учителя (советники по воспитанию) | ||
| 09 Oct 2023 | About teamwork | Russian: О взаимоотношениях в коллективе | ||
| 16 Oct 2023 | On the other side of the screen: 115 years of Russian cinema | Russian: По ту сторону экрана. 115 лет кино в России | ||
| 23 Oct 2023 | Special Forces Day | Russian: День спецназа | ||
| 30 Oct 2023 | National Unity Day | Russian: День народного единства | This topic covered a public holiday that occurred on 4 November. | |
| 06 Nov 2023 | colspan="3" | |||
| 13 Nov 2023 | Russia: looking into the future | Russian: Россия: взгляд в будущее | ||
| 20 Nov 2023 | About family relationships | Russian: О взаимоотношениях в семье | ||
| 27 Nov 2023 | What is the Motherland? | Russian: Что такое Родина? | ||
| 04 Dec 2023 | We are together | Russian: Мы вместе | ||
| 11 Dec 2023 | The country's constitution | Russian: Главный закон страны | This topic covers Constitution Day, a commemorative day that occurs on 12 December. | |
| 18 Dec 2023 | Heroes of our time | Russian: Герои нашего времени | ||
| 25 Dec 2023 | New Year's family traditions of different peoples of Russia | Russian: Новогодние семейные традиции разных народов России | ||
| 02 Jan 2024 | colspan="3" | |||
| 09 Jan 2024 | From A to Z: 450 years of The Alphabet by Ivan Fyodorov | Russian: От А до Я. 450 лет "Азбуке" Ивана Фёдорова | ||
| 15 Jan 2024 | Taxation literacy | Russian: Налоговая грамотность | ||
| 22 Jan 2024 | Unconquered: 80th anniversary of the liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade | Russian: Непокоренные. 80 лет со дня полного освобождения Ленинграда от фашистской блокады | ||
| 29 Jan 2024 | Allies of Russia | Russian: Союзники России | ||
| 05 Feb 2024 | Russian Science Day | Russian: День российской науки | ||
| 12 Feb 2024 | Discoverers' Day | Russian: День первооткрывателя | ||
| 19 Feb 2024 | Defender of the Fatherland Day | Russian: День защитника Отечества | ||
| 26 Feb 2024 | World Festival of Youth | Russian: Всемирный фестиваль молодёжи | ||
| 04 Mar 2024 | How do you find your place in society? | Russian: Как найти свое место в обществе? | ||
| 11 Mar 2024 | From the southern seas to the polar edge | Russian: От южных морей до полярного края | ||
| 18 Mar 2024 | Crimea and Sevastopol: 10 years in their home port | Russian: Крым и Севастополь: 10 лет в родной гавани | This topic commemorates ten years since the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, on 18 March 2014. | |
| 25 Mar 2024 | Unity of the peoples of Russia | Russian: Единство народов России | This topic was created in response to the Crocus City Hall attack. According to Russia.Post of the George Washington University on 27 March 2024, the content of the topic references attempts by the Russian government to blame Ukraine and the Western world for the attack,[32] despite the Islamic State – Khorasan Province group claiming responsibility by providing body camera footage from one of the attackers.[33] | |
| 01 Apr 2024 | Russia is a healthy power | Russian: Россия - здоровая держава | This topic, which covers personal health, was postponed from 25 March 2024 due to the Crocus City Hall attack.[34] | |
| 08 Apr 2024 | "I see Earth! It is so beautiful | "[35] | Russian: «Я вижу землю! Это так красиво!» | This topic commemorates Yuri Gagarin, the first person to go to space. |
| 15 Apr 2024 | 215th anniversary of the birth of Nikolai Gogol | Russian: 215-летие со дня рождения Н.В. Гоголя | ||
| 22 Apr 2024 | Work is cool | Russian: Труд Крут | This topic covers youth employment. | |
| 29 Apr 2024 | Eco-friendly consumption | Russian: Экологичное потребление | ||
| 06 May 2024 | Victory Day | Russian: День Победы | This topic covers Victory Day, on 9 May 2024. | |
| 13 May 2024 | Russian language, great and mighty: 225 years since the birth of A.S. Pushkin | Russian: Русский язык. Великий и могучий. 225 лет со дня рождения А.С. Пушкина | ||
| 20 May 2024 | Be ready! The Day of Children's Public Associations | Russian: Будь готов! Ко дню детских общественных организаций | This topic also promotes the Movement of the First youth organisation. |
| Topic | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| English name | Russian name | ||
| 02 Sep 2024 | Imagine the future: the Day of Knowledge | Russian: Образ будущего. Ко Дню знаний | |
| 09 Sep 2024 | The age of information | Russian: Век информации | |
| 16 Sep 2024 | Railways of Russia | Russian: Дорогами России | The topic was supported by Russian Railways.[36] |
| 23 Sep 2024 | The path of grain | Russian: Путь зерна | |
| 30 Sep 2024 | Teacher's Day | Russian: День учителя | |
| 07 Oct 2024 | Legends about Russia | Russian: Легенды о России | |
| 14 Oct 2024 | What does it mean to be an adult? | Russian: Что значит быть взрослым? | |
| 21 Oct 2024 | How to create a strong family | Russian: Как создать крепкую семью | |
| 28 Oct 2024 | Russian hospitality | Russian: Гостеприимная Россия | |
| 04 Nov 2024 | colspan="3" | ||
| 11 Nov 2024 | Your contribution to the common cause | Russian: Твой вклад в общее дело | |
| 18 Nov 2024 | Artificial intelligence and humans | Russian: Искусственный интеллект и человек |