Pedagogical Practice at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music: Temporal Parallels

Abstract

The article discusses the history of Pedagogical Practice, an academic discipline inextricably linked with the Gnesin House that has been under revision since the mid-2010s. To identify its fundamental principles, an analysis of the transcripts of the meetings of the Artistic Council of the Gnesin State Musical-Pedagogical Institute (GSMPI) from 1947–1952 is conducted. The documents note the role of practice in the educational process (as it was understood and defined by the founders of the Institute), its duration and connections with other subjects of the pedagogical and methodological cycle, as well as various forms of conducting classes at different levels of education. Parallels with the current state of the discipline taught at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music (GRAM) allow us to draw conclusions about possible prospects for its development: the use of an assistant form at the specialist and master’s levels, which will allow future teachers of the middle and higher levels to become familiar with the specifics of their work, and to conduct practical training in existing educational institutions. The novelty of the study consists in its introduction into scholarly circulation of archival data published for the first time, along with the restoration of a historical snapshot over a five-year period that reveals the features of the “Gnesin pedagogical concept” that characterises the unique approach of GSMPI/GRAM.

Keywords: Gnesin State Musical-Pedagogical Institute, Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, teaching practice, “Gnesin Pedagogical Concept”, assistant practice, disciplines of the pedagogical and methodological cycle