The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret’s Institute

The article examines the contribution of Ivan Lagovsky (1899–1941) to Christian pedagogy of the Russian diaspora. The author draws attention to the fact that Lagovsky’s pedagogic activity is closely connected with the Russian Student Christian Movement (RSCM), which has become a kind of “laboratory” for the development of new methods and forms of work. Lagovsky was V. V. Zenkovsky’s main assistant in the work of the Religious and Pedagogical Cabinet in Paris, he organized pedagogical meetings and seminars, made reports, coordinated the work with children in the RSCM; after moving to Estonia, he established the work with children and youth within the framework of the RSCM in the Baltic States. Lagovsky’s contribution to the theory of pedagogy is connected, first of all, with the fact that he develops the V. V. Zenkovsky’s ideas about the “integral school”. Lagovsky emphasizes that an integral approach could be found not only in a religious, but also in an anti-religious school (the experience of Soviet Russia); that with an integral religious approach we are not talking about the quantitative ratio of secular and religious school subjects or the introduction of religious attributes into the educational process, but about the revision of fundamental principles of pedagogy. The main point should be attention to the spiritual life of the child, their spiritual growth, the event of his meeting with Christ. For this end, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the spiritual state of modern youth, pay attention to physical education, understood as “religious culture of the body”, the development of creative abilities, and involvement in culture. The article also outlines those religious philosophical and theological views of Lagovsky, which help us better to understand his theory of pedagogy (Orthodox philosophy of corporeality, theology of culture, “realism” in theology). Particular attention is paid to the importance for Christian pedagogy of not only talking about Christ, but also witnessing about Him. In the life of Ivan Lagovsky such witness’ testimony was his martyrdom: arrested by the NKVD in Estonia, he was executed and canonized as a martyr.