Mikhail Bakhtin

path and life in teaching

Abstract

For the first time in the history of Russian pedagogy, the authors present a reconstruction of the path and professional life of the eminent Russian thinker M. M. Bakhtin (1895-1975) in the pedagogical field. Based on archival materials and biographical research, the main stages of Bakhtin’s teaching activity are presented — from his early tutoring during his school years to his work as a lecturer at the Mordovian Pedagogical Institute and later at Mordovia University in the post-war period. The authors argue that the pedagogical component of Bakhtin’s scholarly biography occupies a place no less significant than his research work. Moreover, for most of those who knew Bakhtin in everyday life – his students, alumni, and people who met him in various life circumstances – Bakhtin the teacher was no less important than Bakhtin the scholar. This is confirmed by the memories and letters of his students, as well as by the inscriptions in books presented to him. Throughout his teaching career, Bakhtin developed his own understanding of the tasks of creation and education – his own philosophy of education – which can be called “pedagogy of responsibility.” The article presents an analysis of a draft of M. M. Bakhtin’s speech to the graduates of the Faculty of History and Philology at Mordovia University, which contains the fundamental principles of his “pedagogy of responsibility.” These principles clearly correspond to the foundations of Bakhtin’s early philosophical and ethical program. Responsibility for one’s own work and for one’s students is the most important principle that Bakhtin emphasizes in this text. According to him, what transforms teachers into true educators is the continuity of tradition, fidelity to one’s choice, and opposition to indifference.