Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Лев Николаевич Толстой), 1828-1910
A very brief biography
Tolstoy wrote much, and much has been written about him. Perhaps best
know for his novels, he was also a nonconformist spiritual, political, and
educational thinker. Born into the Russian aristocracy, his family’s estate was
Yasnaya Polyana (trans. “clear glen”) where he spent most of his life. After an
apparently happy childhood (despite the deaths of both parents), he squandered
his youth on the pleasures of the world. Tolsoy spent some time at university but
did not finish. His short time as a soldier provided fodder for some of his earlier
published writings, which won him notoriety as an author and access to Russia’s
top literary circles.
Rejecting the elitism of the intelligentsia, he went home and ran a school
for peasants on his estate from 1859 to 1863. For two years he published an
educational journal called, not surprisingly, Yasnaya Polyana. His new wife did
not want to compete with the school for his attention, and Tolstoy closed it.
His life was a spiritual journey. Although never very orthodox to begin
Count Leo Tolstoy c. 1860
with, he moved further and further away from institutional religion and doctrine.
histolines.com
He argued for Christian pacifism and nonviolent anarchy. Although he used the
Bible in his school, in his later years he rejected most of it except the Sermon on the Mount and embraced aspects
of Buddhism and Hinduism.
Tolstoy’s Pedagogy
The Nature of the Learner
Tolstoy was deeply influenced by Rousseau, who believed in the innate goodness of children (Troyat
1967, 216). The younger we are, Tolstoy held, the closer we are to truth, goodness, beauty and nature. In addition,
he glorified the Russian peasant and the “pure” peasant way of life. He even considered becoming one.
In the absence of force, people want to learn. In On Popular Education, Tolstoy wrote, “The need of
education lies in every man; the people love and seek education, as they love and seek the air for breathing” (5).
Mandatory schooling, unfortunately, quenches this natural love of learning. Anticipating his later anarchy,
Tolstoy the pedagogue believed that human nature will order itself if we do not intervene too quickly with rules or
discipline (Crosby 1904). Thus, there were no rewards or punishments in his school.
Epistemology
Although Tolstoy became less and less orthodox, he was never a relativist (Moulin 2008). There was
eternal truth to be known. However, he emphasized the subjective experience of the truth rather than the truth
itself (Moulin 2008). Truth could not be imposed and could hardly be taught—it must be discovered. Even moral
absolutes could not be forced.
The Aims of Education
Because the young are pure, education only corrupts (Crosby 1904). Then why educate children? For the
sake of the children themselves. He wanted to “reveal the people to themselves” (Troyat 1967, 219) rather than
impose elitist or aristocratic ideas on them. Thus, school was not a civilizing force or a way up the social ladder
(there was no such thing in Russia back then). On the contrary, associating with the peasants would purge the
higher classes of their worldliness (Troyat 1967).
Because he resisted all forms of imposition (even religious), Tolstoy claimed not to have a philosophy of
education. A philosophy of education implies a received tradition of ideas (i.e. the “right” ideas) that must be
imparted to the young (Moulin 2008).
Tolstoy’s pedagogy was more than student-centered, it was student-driven. He prepared topics and
curriculum, but the length and duration of lessons was ultimately based on student interest. Some lessons never
got off the ground because the students simply saw no use in them. Others were extended hours longer than
originally intended as the children begged for more.
Role of the Teacher
Commenting on European education, Tolstoy observed that school “order” existed solely for teacher
comfort. He questioned, should not schools conform to student needs like “conversation, motion, and
merriment”? (On Popular Education, 16) In his own school, there was plenty of all three, much to the
consternation of new teachers who balked at the noise and rowdiness.
Because student interest drove the curriculum, the teacher should not come in with fixed ideas about what
and how things ought to be taught. Teacher did prepare lessons, but they needed to keenly observe students’
reactions and adjust accordingly. The school ought to be a “pedagogical laboratory” (On Popular Education, 19).
Tolstoy believed teacher-student rapport was more important than subject matter or methodology. He was
keenly sensitive to children and their emotions. The most important question for him was how to foster a lifegiving relationship between those who want to learn and those who want to teach (Moulin 2008, 347). Those who
did not want to learn did not have to. Neither school attendance nor homework were mandatory. The students did
not even have to pay attention. The sensitive teacher provided a context of freedom and waited for student
readiness (Crosby 1904).
Curriculum
The school day lasted from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. although students came and went as they pleased.
There were twelve scheduled lessons: mechanical and graded reading, compositions, penmanship, grammar,
sacred history, Russian history, drawing, sketching, singing, mathematics, conversations about the natural
sciences, and religious instruction (Yasnaya Polyana School, 5). Despite the appearance of a rigorous curriculum,
Tolstoy’s student-driven approach curtailed certain subjects. For instance, he had trouble teaching Russian history
without fictionalizing it. The truth bored the children (Crosby 1904). He had no success interesting children in
geography and finally gave it up. Stories from the Old Testament, though, were especially popular. Dumbeddown children’s Bibles did not inspire interest, so he stuck with the unabridged text (Crosby 1904). He had no
desire to “uplift” the peasants through appreciation of classic art. If the masses did not appreciate art, it was not
the fault of the people; it was the fault of the elite who had produced it.
When choosing assignments that match students’ level, teachers need to be careful not to transpose adult
ideas of what is simple. For instance, writing about “wheat” seems easy, but it is much more abstract than “a trip
to town.” Children, Tolstoy observed, prefer the concrete and specific to the abstract and general (Crosby 1904).
Methodology
Storytelling and question-and-answer were common methods. Tolstoy despised one-by-one recitation.
His students shouted answers over each other; no one was forced (Crosby 1904). Much of this happened
informally on walks when the children raised questions like “What good is art?” Tolstoy observed that teachers
have a tendency to make things easy on themselves by choosing methods comfortable for them. However,
instructional methods must be judged by student satisfaction and the applicability to various student aptitudes and
preferences, not expediency (Crosby 1904). Tolstoy concluded, “the method of education is experiment, and its
only criterion freedom” (On Popular Education, 31).
References
Crosby, Ernest Howard. 1904. Tolstoy as a Schoolmaster. Chicago: The
Hammersmark Publishing Co.
Moulin, Dan. 2008. “Leo Tolstoy the Spiritual Educator.” International Journal
of Children’s Spirituality 13 (4): 345–53.
Tolstoy, Leo. 1904. “On Popular Education.” In The Complete Works of Count
Tolstoy: Pedagogical Articles, translated by Leo Wiener, IV:3–31.
Boston, MA: Dana Estes and Company.
Tolstoy, Leo. 2015. Yasnaya Polyana School. The Perfect Library. CreateSpace
Publishing.
Troyat, Henri. 1967. Tolstoy. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
Page from Tolstoy’s ABC Book
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