Presidential Library holds contest "The future of the Fatherland in the hands of a Teacher"

On August 5, 2024, the official portal of the Russian Historical Society announced the end of the first qualifying stage of the The Future of the Fatherland in the Hands of a Teacher contest organized by the Presidential Library. The contest, which began on April 1st, has received more than 620 submissions.

This contest aims to identify successful pedagogical practices and explore the potential of the electronic resources of the Presidential Library for educational purposes. The main objectives of this event are:

– Dissemination of knowledge about the history, theory, and practice of Russian statehood and the importance of the Russian language as the official language of the Russian Federation;

– Encouraging the use of electronic resources from the Presidential Library in educational settings;

– Creating conditions for the development of creative abilities and self-fulfillment of teachers in institutions of basic general, secondary general, and secondary vocational education, as well as specialists in information and library centers.

One of the key requirements for participation in this contest is the obligatory use of at least two library and/or archive materials from the digital collection of the Presidential Library in the course of the lesson (abstracts of dissertations are not permitted).

At present, the library holds over a million depository items, including book publications, archive documents, periodicals, photographic, audio, and video materials on various subjects, such as Russian history, sociology, Russian language and literature, geography, and other fields.

The contest is open to teachers from educational organizations in the Russian Federation, as well as educators and specialists from information and library centers that conduct educational activities within their institutions. Participants must have at least one year of work experience. There is no limit on the number of participants from each organization, but each project must be submitted by a single author. Participation is free. Detailed terms and conditions are available in the Regulations for the contest.

Projects are assessed in seven categories: "Best Russian Language Lesson", "Best Literature Lesson", "History Lesson", "Social Studies Lesson", "Geography Lesson", "Lesson on Basics of Spiritual and Moral Culture of the Peoples of Russia", and "Educational Event".

The participants of the contest may submit no more than one entry in each category.

The contest will consist of three stages:

- Qualifying stage - from April 1 to August 5, 2024
- Semi-finals - from September 9 to 30, 2024 (three finalists will be selected for each category)
- Final - from October 7 to 25, 2024 (video recordings of approved projects will be received and winners will be determined)

Materials for the final should be sent to the email address pedkonkurs@prlib.ru.

Details on the structure and format of entries are available in the Contest Regulations.

There will be one winner and up to two runners-up in each category.

The results of each stage and operational information about the contest are available on the Presidential Library's portal: pedkonkurs.prlib.ru.

Based on the results of the final stage, winners are determined. If there are two or more contestants with the same number of points in the final round, the winner will be chosen based on the total number of points earned throughout the contest.

During the evaluation of the submitted works, among other factors, the appropriateness of using resources from the Presidential Library and their completeness are considered.

Winners in each category of the contest will be invited to attend a ceremony at the Presidential Library in December 2024 to receive their awards. They will also receive diplomas and permission to publish their methodological materials on the Presidential Library portal in the "Presidential Library for Teachers: Teaching with Primary Sources" project.

The Presidential Library has been hosting a contest for teachers since 2023.