Leo Tolstoy was not only one of the greatest writers to have lived, he was also an educator, who opened a school for peasant children on his estate, Yasnaya Polyana, in 1859, and worked intensively there until 1862. He maintained his interest in education until his death, and was involved in several educational projects, including the writing of a primer, or ABC book, to be used in the teaching of reading to children.
Tolstoy wrote about his experiences as an educator, and about the educational convictions he developed, in the Yasnaya Polyana journal, which he edited while teaching at his school, and in articles and correspondence written later in his life. His first experiences as an educator took place during the formative years before he married, and contributed significantly to his views on education, literature, and art. Some observers have even suggested that his attempts to teach Russian history to peasant children provided the impulse that led him to write War and Peace.
Tolstoy believed that true education could only take place when it was submitted to voluntarily, in conditions of freedom. He allowed students to come and go at will, so that teachers would know when students were truly engaged, and when they had lost interest and had “switched off”. Tolstoy had a fundamental faith in the goodness within each child, and thought that much that passed for education at the time actually corrupted children’s inherent goodness. In this he was influenced by Rousseau, for whom he had great admiration.
Never one to do things half-heartedly, during his first phase as an educator he travelled extensively through Europe to study approaches to education in Germany, France and England, and met with significant educators, including Diesterweg. He came away from his trip convinced that Russian educators should not follow the examples provided by European education but should develop their own approach to suit local conditions. Indeed, he developed an aversion for educational theory in general, believing that every educational situation is unique, and that a teacher’s close relationship with their pupils would lead them to find a way to meet their unique needs.
The school that Tolstoy opened in 1959 was closed in 1862, following a raid by secret police, who were responding to a complaint that Tolstoy’s teachers were revolutionaries. Around this time Tolstoy also married and began work on his novel War and Peace.
Tolstoy did not lose interest in education, however, and he subsequently wrote a primer for use in teaching children how to read. Its first edition was a relative failure in terms of its sales and its adoption by practising teachers, but its second edition became a classic, and has been widely used by teachers throughout much of the century and half since it was published. Tolstoy also reopened his school on a smaller scale and continued to have close relations with the children on his estate until his death in 1910.
More information about Tolstoy’s approach to education can be found on websites and in publications listed on this page.