TTT: Traditions-Talents-Technologies

The «Phystech-Lyceum» Strategy «TTT: Traditions. Talents. Technologies» was first adopted in 2010

The best school in the country should prepare citizens who are able to respond to any demands of the time. At the moment, the most important problem is the loss of moral guidelines by society as a whole, and, as a consequence, the disappearance of a coherent system of moral education in schools. Until 1917, Orthodox education was conducted at the school, and during the Soviet years, communist moral ideals were actively promoted, reflecting universal human values. Today, this task is no longer considered a priority; it is carried out by individual teachers or directors due to their convictions and views, but these efforts are not consolidated into a single, integral system. The school, as a public institution, is called upon to pass on to new generations the moral values ​​accumulated over previous centuries. In our opinion, the best school should not only cultivate an intellectually capable person, but also lay the foundations of the child’s character, relying on true moral values; educate a well-rounded personality, knowing the history of the Motherland and the world cultural heritage, capable of creative work, self-improvement, living in a team, actively defending the interests of a common cause — a citizen of a new country, Russia of the 21st century.

Preservation of traditions

The Lyceum has rich traditions, the origins of which go back to the famous educational system of MIPT, created by outstanding Russian scientists headed by Nobel laureate Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa. This system, which has been educating the best Russian scientists in higher education for more than half a century, has proven its exceptional effectiveness for school education using the example of the Phystech-Lyceum. All graduates of the Lyceum enter leading universities, where they invariably find themselves among the best students, and after graduation they succeed in career growth. And our task is to develop these glorious traditions of MIPT in every possible way, achieving a constant increase in the level of knowledge and skills acquired by our students, developing an atmosphere of creativity and thirst for knowledge, which distinguishes both the large Phystech and our Lyceum.

Based on the fact that school life should be based on universal human values ​​and centuries-old traditions that have developed in Russia and the world, the primary task is to create a comprehensive system of moral education in the Lyceum. It should be noted that since the establishment of the Lyceum, the education system within its walls has been distinguished not only by the thoroughness, depth, and solidity of students’ knowledge, but also by the formation of a broad outlook of Lyceum students. Over the twenty years of the Lyceum’s existence, such traditions have been formed as a high level of academic education, brought into line with the latest achievements of science, scientific research of Lyceum students, conducted under the guidance of highly qualified teachers, active creative work of students and teachers, and patriotic focus of students. All these traditions must not only be preserved, but also developed.

The first «T» — Traditions — form the foundation of the educational process at the Lyceum. Traditions set the direction of development, determine value guidelines. Understanding that the basis of education for a child is the family, we also set ourselves the goal of building a system of relationships between the family and the school in the Lyceum, united by common views on the goals and objectives of education.

Developing talent in every child

Today, in the conditions of ever-increasing global competition, simply «pumping» students with standard knowledge is no longer enough. An individual approach to education is more important than ever, creating an environment for the maximum development of talents that each child has. A person can become truly effective and competitive only by maximally revealing his talent, using it for the benefit of others. This is how one finds his calling and success in life. The task of the school is to create an environment that is most conducive to the development of creative abilities. Important elements of such an environment are the continuity of traditions, close interaction between the school and MIPT, maintaining contact with graduates of the Lyceum, building a system of personal mentoring, which was laid down by P. L. Kapitsa.

Another important element of such a system is the active involvement of parents in the life of the school and the upbringing of students. A century ago, the parents of most schoolchildren were illiterate, the teacher was often the only person with a higher education, communication with whom was available to the child. Today, and especially in our lyceum, many parents have a good education, and therefore they can make a greater contribution to the education and upbringing of their children at school. Moreover, the complexity of the tasks facing teachers and students has grown incredibly. The high demands placed on students today do not allow us to treat school as a supermarket where educational services are sold and expect outstanding results.

We proceed from the fact that every child has different talents from birth, which are waiting to be maximally revealed and applied for the benefit of others and the country. Our task is to create an environment for the disclosure of abilities, self-realization and creative activity of each student.

The new, post-industrial era requires from an individual not so much knowledge as finding one’s calling and maximizing one’s potential. The highest form of creativity is working on yourself, allowing you to feel like a full-fledged Person, living on the basis of conscience, not egoism, discipline, not indulgence of your passions, personal responsibility, not dependence on circumstances, enthusiasm, not indifference.

We understand the duty to develop yourself, your talents in the biblical sense: «To everyone who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from everyone who does not have, even what he has will be taken away» (Parable of the Talents, Gospel of Matthew, 25, 14-30).

The second «T» — Talents, allows you to find your unique path of development and your calling in the direction determined on the basis of the first «T», Traditions.

Mastering new technologies

We set ourselves the task of actively studying the latest methods and technologies used in education around the world. Continuous development and improvement of the qualification level of teachers and lecturers will allow us to easily master them and implement them in the Lyceum in order to raise citizens of the new Russia who have a fundamental education and possess modern skills necessary for competitiveness at the highest world level.

Everyone is familiar with the phrases: «a capable boy, but disorganized», «a talented girl, but has problems with communication.» For many years, solving these problems was not considered a task for the school. However, these skills: self-organization, interaction with people, teamwork — have become the most important for success in life today. Methods for teaching these skills have long been developed. Therefore, this can and should be taught at a very early age, and the best school is able to do this. And this is just one example of new skills that are rapidly entering our lives. It is necessary to monitor all changes in the surrounding reality and modernize education in accordance with them, while maintaining its academic basis.

The transfer of information has become instantaneous, which has led to people writing many short letters and passing multimedia information to each other. Therefore, it is necessary to teach children presentation skills, both electronic and oral, and the ability to work with clip information in a variety of formats.

Since today the volume of human knowledge is increasing at a colossal speed, the task of “teaching how to learn” comes to the fore, because it is impossible to predict what kind of knowledge a person will need in the future, but it is absolutely clear that a lot of it will be needed in the most unpredictable, still unknown areas.

In addition, the constantly expanding volume of knowledge leads to the fact that working on any problem alone is impossible. Therefore, teamwork is becoming a key competency of a modern person.

The best modern school must meet all the requirements determined by various changes in the world.

The third “T”, Technologies, allows you to move along the chosen path of self-improvement at maximum speed and at a modern level.

The school’s strategy until 2020 was successfully implemented, and the ideological foundations of the strategy allowed the School to become one of the most dynamically developing in the country.