| Imeri Basiladze Akaki Tsereteli State University, Kutaisi (Georgia) [imeri.basiladze@atsu.edu.ge], ORCID ID: 0009-0009-3728-9999 Lela Tavdgiridze Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University (Georgia) [lela.tavdgiridze@bsu.edu.ge], ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8108-8718 Maia Bolkvadze Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University (Georgia) [maia.bolkvadze@bsu.edu.ge], ORCID ID: 0000-0002-4041-5871 | Download https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20963986 |
Abstract:This article examines the politicization of pedagogical education in Soviet Georgia between 1921 and 1932, focusing on the transformation of educational thought under Bolshevik rule. Drawing on archival materials, government decrees, pedagogical textbooks, and works by Georgian and international educators, the study explores how Soviet ideological imperatives reshaped educational policies, teaching methods, and pedagogical theory. Particular attention is paid to the adaptation and reinterpretation of American and European educational models, including the ideas of John Dewey, within the Soviet ideological framework. The article argues that the early Soviet period was characterized by intensive pedagogical experimentation; however, these innovations gradually became subordinated to Marxist-Leninist ideology and political objectives. The study demonstrates that the increasing politicization of education contributed to the centralization of educational governance, the marginalization of alternative pedagogical approaches, and the establishment of a unified Soviet educational model aimed at shaping the “new Soviet citizen”. The findings contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between education, ideology, and nation-building in Soviet Georgia during the formative decades of Soviet rule.
Keywords: Soviet Georgia; politicization of education; Soviet pedagogy; educational reforms; ideology; pedagogical textbooks.
- Declaration by Authors
- Ethical Approval: Approved
- Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.