This paper analyzes the conceptual bases for introducing and implementing the subject "Foundations of World Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics" in the public schools of the Tambov region. It draws upon official data presented by the Diocesan Administration and the regional Department of Education. The article also provides the results of independent monitoring of the introduction and teaching experience of the "Foundations of Orthodox Cultures" in the Tambov regional schools that was carried out by the staff of the Center for Religious Studies of Tambov State University. The work included questionnaires, attendance at parents' evenings, conversations with teachers who were trained in the subject and who had experience teaching these disciplines. The author analyzes different positions concerning the teaching of "Foundation of Orthodox Culture" in schools; identifies the most significant problems in this area, which includes the preparation of teachers and the low motivation of teachers and students; and gives examples of positive experience.

Keywords: Foundations of Orthodox Culture, knowledge about religion in school, the problem of teacher training, the parental opinion.

The issue of teaching knowledge about religion at school is still acute in Russian society. According to opinion polls, in 2009 (that is, at the beginning of the introduction of the subject on religions in Russian schools), a significant increase in the number of students was observed.

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the number of respondents to the question " Should there be a subject in school related to knowledge about religion?" they responded positively to 1.

In 2011, Patriarch Kirill put it this way: "The introduction of the' Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture 'is one of the most important issues on the agenda of church-state relations, which is largely crucial for the fate of Russian education and directly affects the interests of millions of parents and their children." 2
Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church often talk about the spiritual and moral crisis experienced by Russian society, and consider the teaching of "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture" (OPK) in schools as a means of overcoming it. For example, the director of the Moscow Orthodox St. Peter's Gymnasium, Priest Andrey Posternak, recently stated:

"Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture" is a subject about how a young person can make a moral choice, learn to distinguish between good and evil in the modern world, where, unfortunately, moral criteria have long ceased to determine social life. And history shows that only religion can establish moral criteria in society and the state.3
The constant process of reforming Russian education and the elimination of the educational component from the educational process, which has turned into a service for the formation of professional competencies, is pointed out as a negative factor.

The goals outlined in the "Concept of inclusion in the new generation of state standards of general secondary education of the subject "Orthodox Culture," as part of the new educational area of the curriculum "Spiritual and Moral Culture" proposed by representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church do not raise objections in themselves:

1. Would you be for or against teaching children the basics of religion and the law of God at school ? // VTsIOM Press Release No. 1318. [https://wciom.ru/database / baza_rezultatov_oprosa_s_l992_goda, accessed 25.04.2017].

2. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. From the Report at the Diocesan Meeting of the City of Moscow on December 23, 2011. [http://p2.patriarchia.ru/2011/12/23/1233797630/doklad_2011.doc., accessed from 25.04.2017.].

3. Religion at school: what threatens us with the defense industry / / Orthodoxy and the world [http://www.pravmir.ru/religiya-v-shkole-chem-grozit-nam-opk/, accessed from 28.04.2017].

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- development of children's upbringing in the state and municipal education system, expansion of opportunities for the formation of spiritual culture and morality of children in general education institutions, which is recognized by society as one of the main conditions for overcoming negative social trends and processes;

- implementation of the educational needs of citizens representing various ideological, including confessional, groups of the population in the Russian Federation, their children in the state and municipal education system, in general education institutions;

- streamlining the practice of studying religious culture courses of different faiths in general education institutions, as well as other worldview, ethical, philosophical and religious studies training courses developed on the basis of non-religious worldview approaches.4
However, the public reaction to the introduction of a religious subject in schools is mixed. Some people believe that any separation of children within the school on religious grounds is explosive in the current Russian conditions; others say that this system will provide an opportunity to study their own culture and religion. There is no unanimity in the Russian Orthodox Church itself. Everyone agrees only that the school does not have sufficient personnel with the necessary knowledge to introduce this subject. Only supporters of the "ideological-formal" approach are optimistic: "All members of the Board (the Board of Trustees of the Central Federal District for the implementation of the project "Revival of spiritual and moral Heritage".- Author's note) agreed that spiritual and moral education is the ideological basis of the state"5. According to representatives of this position, for teachers of the defense industry, extra knowledge is even harmful - it is enough to study the course of the Law of God.

In the Tambov Region, this project is being implemented in accordance with the "Concept of inclusion in a new generation of public administration".-

4. The concept of including in the new generation of state standards of general secondary education the subject "Orthodox Culture "as part of the new educational area of the curriculum" Spiritual and moral Culture " [http://pstgu.ru/download/1217097893.cron4.pdf, accessed from 4.05.2017].

5. Dukhovno-moralnoe vospitanie v Tambovskoy oblasti v 2007 - 2010 godakh [Spiritual and moral education in the Tambov region in 2007-2010]. 2010. N 9. P. 27.

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The process of introducing the subjects "Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics" (ORCSE) is controlled by the diocesan administration and is under the supervision of the head of the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis, who has a higher but military-technical education and is a strong supporter of the above-mentioned ideological approach. A legitimate question arises as to how competent they are in implementing educational programs and examining subjects that require knowledge in the humanities, ethics, pedagogy, and didactics. The responsible employee of the regional Department of Education and Science answered this question as follows:"It is the representatives of the diocese who are most competent in this area." In order to work more effectively, the Diocese and the Department of Education have established a joint working group to test the comprehensive training course "Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics" .6 The public, parents, and higher school teachers do not participate in the discussion and implementation of this initiative, and employees of the Department of Education and Science consult only with representatives of the diocesan administration, even on the issue of determining an alternative course for people who choose the subject of "Secular Ethics". It turns out that the point of the "Concept of inclusion..."itself is violated.:

Employees of research centers, university teachers are involved in the preparation and examination of indicative educational standards for relevant academic subjects, approximate curricula...7

In " Concepts..."it is indicated that teaching in the subjects of this course is controlled by the relevant religious organization, including the content of the courses and the staff. The Law" On Education " states::

6. Bishop Feodosiy of Tambov and Michurinsk. Experience of interaction of the Tambov diocese with educational management bodies in the field of teaching "Fundamentals of Orthodox culture" / / Tambov Diocesan bulletin. 2010. N 7. P. 20.

7. The concept of including in the new generation of state standards of general secondary education the subject "Orthodox culture "as part of the new educational area of the curriculum"Spiritual and moral Culture".

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Approximate basic educational programs in terms of academic subjects, courses, disciplines (modules) aimed at obtaining students ' knowledge about the basics of the spiritual and moral culture of the peoples of the Russian Federation, about moral principles, about the historical and cultural traditions of the world religion (world religions), are examined in a centralized religious organization for compliance of their content with the faith, historical and cultural traditions of this organization in accordance with its internal regulations 8.

However, the above texts do not specifically mention the selection of personnel for teaching religious subjects. At one time, we heard from the President of the Russian Federation and the Minister of Education that secular specialists in the field of knowledge about religious cultures and ethics will come to the school to teach subjects within the framework of the ORCSE educational area.9
To our question about who will teach this subject in schools in the Tambov region, Archpriest Igor Grudanov, head of the diocesan Department of Religious Education, gave an unequivocal answer that representatives of the diocese will decide who will be allowed to practice this discipline. As the main selection criterion, he identified the" ecclesiastical orientation " of the teacher, without specifying what this means. Russian researchers in the field of studying religiosity still argue about the meaning of this term, introduced into scientific use by V. F. Chesnokova 10. In scientific studies, when using this concept, criteria for "measuring church membership" are distinguished, among which such criteria as the frequency of attending services, confession, communion, and fasting are most often mentioned. Most likely, in this case, we mean the teacher's experience of church life. But the procedural question remains: how to check the availability of such experience? This is possible only in the case of introducing control over the worldview, religion, etc.-

8. Federal Law" On Education in the Russian Federation " No. 273-FZ of December 29, 2012, as amended in 2017-2016. [http://zakon-ob-obrazovanii.ru, accessed from 3.05.2017].

9. Meeting in Barvikha, June 22, 2009. [http://www.newsru.com/religy/21jul2009/soveshchanie.html, accessed 24.04.2017].

10. See: Chesnokova V. F. Churching: the phenomenon and methods of its study, Moscow, 2000; Chesnokova V. F. In a tight way: the process of churching the population of Russia at the end of the XX century, Moscow, 2005.

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This is unconstitutional. Or is it enough to pay lip service to certain ideals?

As a result, it turned out to be impossible to carry out the declared control, as well as to find the necessary number of "ecclesiastical" teachers. The latter show all the features of the generalized portrait of a modern Russian; in particular, the discrepancy between the declared religiosity and the level of performance of religious practices. Thus, according to the results of a survey conducted by the Center for Religious Studies of Tambov State University on the territory of Tambov and the region, 87.9 % of respondents identified themselves as Orthodox; 81.5% identified themselves as believers, and only 42% confidently identified themselves as believers, while 39.5% preferred to choose the option "I am rather a believer". Only 8% of respondents, in their opinion, regularly participate in the life of the church, community, attend divine services; the majority-more than 60% - attend divine services, church on major holidays (Christmas, Easter) or in connection with such events as epiphany, wedding, memorial services, the arrival of icons, relics, and other shrines 11.

Currently, primary school teachers or subject specialists (most often teachers of world art culture and literature) teach military-industrial complex classes in the region's schools. Our conversations with teachers have shown that most of them do not have the necessary knowledge or motivation to teach such a course. Some have openly stated that they hold atheistic beliefs, but this course is assigned to them, and they can hardly imagine how they will read it.

All our interlocutors, without exception, noted that ten-day advanced training courses cannot provide full-fledged training for conducting a defense industry course. The teacher must have knowledge of the history of Christianity and Orthodoxy, the content of Orthodox dogma and moral teaching, church rites and traditions, Christian art, etc., which is impossible to master in ten days. In addition, some of the teachers who have been retrained, please report:-

11. The main purpose of the study is to study the influence of religion on the belief system, motivation of behavioral acts, and social practices of modern Russians on the example of residents of Tambov and the Tambov region. The research method is a questionnaire survey based on the developed tools. Study period: February-March 2013-2014 The general population consisted of residents of Tambov and the Tambov region. The sample set was determined by 3,200 respondents living in the Tambov Region. The software package Portable IBM SPSS Statistics v19 was used for data processing.

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It is clear that the courses did not provide them with educational and methodological materials necessary for teaching, but, on the contrary, required them to bring materials, developments, and presentations for lessons to the general, a kind of resource bank. In turn, one of the course teachers admitted in an interview that teachers are given lectures only on Orthodox culture, since the Institute for Advanced Training did not attract and did not intend to attract specialists of a broader profile - religious scholars and philosophers (for conducting classes on ethics). At the same time, in 2014 (that is, four years after the experiment began), Metropolitan Theodosius of Tambov and Rasskazovsky spoke in one of his speeches about the lack of systematic knowledge of faith and Christian traditions among teachers of the military-industrial complex due to the fact that they did not receive Orthodox upbringing in the family, and about the spiritual and psychological unpreparedness of some teachers to teach the military-industrial complex 12.

There is some contradiction in the position of the representatives of the church: on the one hand, it is confidently stated that its bearers, primarily clergy, can fully tell about the Orthodox faith and tradition: "Who can tell about the spiritual and moral traditions of our people better than a clergyman? "(quote from the speech of the head of the socio-cultural center" Preobrazhenie "at the meeting of the educational and methodological association of teachers of the subject"Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture" 13). On the other hand, clergymen are not invited to the school to teach religious knowledge on an optional basis. Perhaps this is due to the complexity of such teaching. Another reason may be that Orthodoxy is beginning to be considered by church leaders as a factor in the construction of state ideology, the formation of civil identity, and in this case, the mass and formalized nature of teaching knowledge about Orthodoxy as a cultural tradition is quite acceptable. Therefore, this subject is often taught in schools by random people who know little about the subject and are even far from faith.

On the proposal of the regional university to attract trained specialists in religious studies to teach, there was

12. Metropolitan Feodosiy of Tambov and Rasskazovsky. Povyshenie kachestva prepodavaniya "Osnov pravoslavnoi kul'tury" v shkole [Improving the quality of teaching "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture" at school]. 2014. N 10. P. 26.

13. Meeting of the methodological association / / Tambov Diocesan vedomosti. 2011. N 12. P. 18.

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a refusal was received. The refusal to use the potential of religious scholars trained to teach such a course is associated with a negative assessment of religious studies itself, which was learned by the head of the diocesan department of religious education: "Religious studies tries to put itself above religions, it is a malicious science and it should not be in the Russian education system." It seems that this point of view has acquired the status of a "party" attitude and was dictated to officials of the regional Department of Education, which was not slow to discover: for example, a representative of the Department of Education, in response to a proposal to involve religious scholars in the implementation of this project, both as teachers and experts, expressed the sense that real religious scholars - these are priests of the diocesan administration, and therefore it is guided in its activities primarily by the words of the patriarch. We have to state that one more point of the declared " Concept of inclusion..." not followed:

The implementation of all actions and activities based on the provisions of this Concept at all levels should be carried out openly and publicly, with the broad participation of the pedagogical and parental community and the control of civil society institutions.14
Another important factor is the active use of administrative resources in this area. In an interview with the Soyuz TV channel, the ruling bishop noted::

We cooperate not only in terms of reviving shrines. I would like to say that much is being done in the Tambov region in terms of educating young people. Here we have very good relations with the Department of Education of our region, with the director's office, with teachers, and the parent community 15.

The results of this interaction are quite significant: In Tambov region today, 96% of parents chose to teach their children the "Basics of Orthodox Culture". On the bewilderment of the journalist,

14. The concept of including in the new generation of state standards of general secondary education the subject "Orthodox culture "as part of the new educational area of the curriculum"Spiritual and moral Culture".

15. The Archpastor. Metropolitan Theodosius / / Soyuz TV Channel. [: http://tv-soyuz.ru/peredachi/arhipastyr-efir-ot-11-oktyabrya-2016g, доступ от 12.12.2016].

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If a person thinks that this percentage is too high, Vladyka answers without a shadow of a doubt that there is a lot of work behind it. In addition, he confidently expresses the opinion that this is how it should be, since parents really understand the importance of raising their children on the values that Christianity preaches. "These are really good indicators that were achieved only due to the fact that there is a kind and mutually beneficial collaboration"; "of course, some of the significant moments I mentioned indicate that there is an understanding in this area that today we must think and care about young people and, of course, educate them on high evangelical moral values."16
However, in 2010, at the beginning of the experiment, which included the Tambov Region along with 19 other subjects of the Russian Federation, a Commission consisting of representatives of the diocese, the Institute for Advanced Training and teachers noted that there were difficulties in implementing this initiative. Among the main problems were the low motivation of teachers and the complexity of the subject in terms of content for primary school teachers, since the course requires great erudition from them.

The initial monitoring of parents 'attitudes to the selected modules conducted in 2009 showed that 55% of parents chose the military - industrial complex, 37% - secular ethics, and 7% -" Fundamentals of World religious Cultures " 17.The Commission assessed this result negatively and decided to conduct a second monitoring after working with parents, head teachers, and teachers. There was a need for secondary monitoring under the supervision of employees of the Department of Education. According to the results of the second monitoring, 92% of parents have already chosen the defense industry, from which we can conclude that the measures taken were successful.

The staff of the Center for Religious Studies, as independent researchers, conducted parallel research in 2012-2017. its own monitoring of the situation with the implementation and experience of teaching the military-industrial complex course in schools in the city and region, which included a whole range of activities: questionnaires, attendance at parent meetings where this issue was discussed, conversations with teachers who were to conduct this course

16. Ibid.

17. Bishop Feodosiy of Tambov and Michurinsk. Experience of interaction of the Tambov diocese with educational management bodies in the field of teaching "fundamentals of Orthodox culture" //Tambov Diocesan bulletin. 2010. N 7. P. 19.

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the subject, and those who have already had experience teaching similar subjects.

To the question "What subject should be taught in school?" in 2013, 34.54% of the Tambov Region respondents chose "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture" and "Fundamentals of Orthodox Knowledge", 40.98% also chose "History of Religions" and "Religious Studies", 10% - "Spiritual Local Lore" and 12.63% said that none of the above mentioned ones (Figure 1).

Diagram 1. Responses of residents of the Tambov region to the question: Which of these subjects should be taught in school?(%)

Taking into account the results of the pilot survey, which was conducted a year before the main stage of the questionnaire, we can say that the data on subjects did not change significantly, but the number of those who answered that such a subject should not be in school increased: from 8% to 12%. The 2017 survey-which was conducted only in one school, but specifically among parents who had to choose a module, and not all residents, as in previous surveys-already showed 16% of those who believe that religious education is not necessary; 32% were in favor of religious education only. in the family 18. The latter indicates an increase in tension in the discussion of this topic: some saw an opportunity to escape from difficulties and conflicts by refusing to introduce such a subject.

18. Survey of parents of a school in Tambov, February 2017 Sample: 44 parents.

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The introduction of a subject at school suggests that at a parent-teacher meeting, parents should choose one of the suggested modules. Meetings attended by researchers as parents of students and reported by other parents were usually held as follows. The 4th grade homeroom teacher informs you that the last quarters of this class and the first quarter of the 5th grade will be taught a subject about religions. When asked by parents "Why do we need it?" teachers usually answer: "Our children need to know about their traditions, including religious ones." The question" Can I give up this subject? " is given a negative answer, since the subject is mandatory for everyone. The latter indicates that gradually, during the implementation of this initiative, there was a departure from the originally proclaimed principle of voluntary participation in the study of this course. The teacher then informs the parents that there are several modules to choose from, summarizing that everyone should choose "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture". To the questions "Why?"and "Can I choose a different module?"there were answers:" The defense industry is the study of our traditional culture"; "Other modules anyway there is no one to teach, as we were taught only the defense industry in advanced training courses." Since parents were given almost the same arguments in favor of the MIC, it can be concluded that teachers in advanced training courses received instructions on how to respond if parents chose other modules. This is confirmed by a number of other facts. Thus, we learned from the teacher of the advanced training courses for teachers who were to teach this subject that she gave a small course of lectures only on the basics of Orthodox culture; at the same time, she directly admitted that she was incompetent to talk about other religious cultures. In turn, the head of the Tambov Diocese's Department of Education and Catechesis, Archpriest Igor Grudanov, speaking to teachers at one of the regional conferences, recommended explaining to parents that the course "Secular Ethics" is atheistic, that no one even wanted to write a textbook for this course, because its content is so contradictory, and that Russian culture is inextricably linked with Orthodoxy. Such arguments, of course, influenced the choice of parents.

At the same time, it should be noted that representatives of the church often present the situation in exactly the opposite way.

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This happens when the choice of parents tends to favor the subject of "Secular ethics":

Insufficient awareness of parents about their right to choose the desired module of the comprehensive course " Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics "(ORKiSE). Most parents do not know about the purpose and objectives of the course "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture" (OPK). They are strongly recommended the "Fundamentals of Secular Ethics", or at least the so-called "Fundamentals of World Religions". So, most often there is a situation that can be described as "choice without choice" 19.

What are the concrete results of introducing the subject "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture" in schools in the Tambov region, that is, what do we have in practice?

The result was quite natural: teachers in the classroom analyzed textbook material with their children and, having no deep knowledge of Orthodoxy, presented their own, sometimes very peculiar, ideas about Orthodox culture. Sometimes children developed quite distorted knowledge in this area. We can give examples of such curiosities revealed in the course of communication with schoolchildren after they completed this course: one student "learned" that the Trinity is the three gods; another said that the Holy Spirit is when a priest waves a censer. It is not very clear why teachers raise the most difficult questions of Christian teaching in lessons for children aged 10-11, but it is obvious that they do not have enough knowledge about the basics of Orthodox teaching.

Most often, it was necessary to record the students ' lack of knowledge on the subject. For example, the children could not answer our question about the main Orthodox holidays, as well as the question of what event the Easter holiday is associated with. Only after a hint about colored eggs, most of the children were able to name the holiday with which such a custom is associated. It should be noted that at the time of the conversation, no more than a month had passed since Easter Sunday, and the exchange rate fell on the current half-year. Conversations with children of the 9th grade showed that most often all-

19. Pivovarov B., Archpriest. Why the Russian school needs the Basics of Orthodox culture / / To the Truth. Missionary and apologetic project [http://www.k-istine.ru/орк /opk_pivovarov-02.htm, accessed from 15.04.2017].

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but they don't remember much about the course. Some of them recalled lessons where they discussed topics that affected them personally: about heroes, about friendship. Few people actually mentioned religious topics.

It is also interesting to cite the opinion of parents formed after their children studied the military-industrial complex, which is reflected in the table.

Table 1. Assessment of the military-industrial complex course by parents. Survey wording: "Evaluate the value of the military-industrial complex course for children"

Acquiring new knowledge about traditions and culture

4096

Moral education of the child

24%

Provides religious education

8%

Another option

4%

Total respondents

44 parents

Thus, the majority of parents perceived the course as a cultural one, introducing children to Orthodoxy as a cultural tradition; parents also paid attention to topics related to moral concepts: friendship, honesty, kindness, charity, etc.; only a few (8%) saw elements of religious education in it.

An example of the ambiguous interaction of church authorities with educational authorities at the regional level is the situation with the repair of another building for the Tambov Theological Seminary, from which, thanks to the use of the same administrative resource, a secondary school was evicted. In the already mentioned big interview of 2016 on the Soyuz TV channel, Metropolitan Feodosiy of Tambov and Rasskazovsky said::

Today, as I have already said, the seminary is developing, it is located in a large, spacious building of the bishop's house, but just recently we received another building for the seminary on the territory of the monastery, which once housed one of the secondary schools in the city of Tambov. Now the school has been removed from the monastery's territory, and we are making a second seminary building in this building, reconstructing it already in accordance with the requirements of Rosobrnadzor, according to the wishes and requirements of our Educational Committee. Therefore, there will be everything you need for a decent living and study

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our seminarians: beautiful refectory, assembly hall, hopefully 200 seats, 20 classrooms.

It is obvious that the bishop is confident in the correctness of his position and that he is not at all embarrassed by the eviction of schoolchildren and teachers from the building. In private conversations, former students of this school expressed indignation over this event, which resulted in many of them forming a negative attitude towards the church as a whole.

Patriarch Kirill believes that the experiment on the introduction of ORCSE in schools has been recognized as a success by all. It is possible that in its conclusions it is based on data from official reports of regional educational departments. We had to attend a meeting of the Working Group on the Harmonization of Interethnic Relations in the regional administration with such a report on the results of the Tambov Region's participation in the project to introduce the subject of ORCSE, or rather the military - industrial complex, in all schools. Formally, everything looked revealing and effective. But when analyzing the report data in a meaningful way, a lot of questions arose. The first one is about embedded performance indicators. For example, after two years of experimentation (that is, teaching this course in 4th grades) how can we conclude that the level of drug addiction has decreased by 24%? It also seems untenable to conclude that family relations have improved by 70%, and other indicators simply cannot be empirically confirmed during this period.

Another important area of education is higher education. At the initiative of the diocese, a program in theology was opened at the regional university. The nature of organizational measures indicates that a political initiative is being implemented: "Today, of course, we are trying very hard to solve the tasks set by His Holiness the Patriarch," Metropolitan Theodosius of Tambov and Rasskazovsky says in an interview. But this is an ideological task, since in this model religion is considered as a new form of civil-national ideology. So, most often they talk about such goals as strengthening the nation and the state, traditional values, the revival of spirituality, and the formation of a system of spiritual security.

20. The Archpastor. Metropolitan Theodosius / / Soyuz TV Channel [http://tv-soyuz.ru/peredachi/arhipastyr-efir-ot-11-oktyabrya-2016g, accessed 12.12.2016].

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Our experience of observation and analysis does not give grounds for concluding that religious education in the form in which it is introduced into the Russian education system will contribute to the goals of moral education, the harmonization of interethnic and interreligious relations. Military-industrial complex lessons at school do not form even minimal knowledge of the religious tradition being studied.

As for the implementation of the theology program at a regional university, due to the" formal-party " approach to this initiative, positive results are also not expected. First of all, the region does not have the personnel to teach the subjects of the theological block. The local theological seminary, which has two candidates of historical sciences with a basic historical education and does not have a single teacher with a theological degree, cannot help in this case. The level of training of seminarians is rather low, and the training is limited to mastering the liturgical charter, which is primarily necessary for future or existing clergy. True, the bishop has assembled an excellent theological library in the seminary, but without teachers with the necessary professional knowledge, this cannot solve the problems.

The situation is even more complicated with the teaching of religious studies in the theology program. The appointment of appropriate teachers was carried out by the head of the diocesan education department in coordination with the bishop-the university was completely excluded from this process. Therefore, it is not surprising that, for example, the discipline "New Religions" is entrusted to a priest who has neither a scientific degree nor pedagogical experience. At the same time, the university has a specialist on this issue, involved in the program on religious studies, Doctor of Science in the specialty "philosophy of religion and religious studies". What is the reason for the suspension of this specialist? As it was explained to us, this is a worldview "unreliability", the fact that this specialist in his research allowed negative assessments of the church's activities. This was also the case with the course on religious law. The university has a corresponding specialist who is a member of various commissions for relations with religious organizations and the chairman of the regional council for conducting religious studies expertise.-

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However, this course was taken over by the head of the diocesan Department of religious Education, who has a basic technical education. There is an unjustified ideological selection of teachers for the implementation of the program, provoking conflicts in the university teaching staff, and not the desire to accumulate the existing scientific and pedagogical potential. So far, no one cares about the content and educational and methodological approaches. A natural result of the fact that incompetent people are engaged in the development of this direction at the university was the appointment of a person who is far from religion as the head of the theology program, although this program is primarily open for training teachers in the subject "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture" in schools in the region.

At the same time, it is already possible to say that in the student community, a negative attitude towards the Russian Orthodox Church takes on the features of a stable trend. In the 1990s, some researchers stated that a pro-Orthodox consensus had been formed in Russian society: Orthodox, believers of other religions, and non-believers expressed a positive attitude towards the Russian Orthodox Church. Back then, only a few people showed negative reactions, but today we are seeing a change of vector in student classrooms. The number of young people identifying as atheists has increased. Ten or even five years ago, very few people claimed to be such, and such a worldview choice was extremely unpopular, causing outrage or bewilderment among most of those around them. But the situation has changed, and more and more young people consciously call themselves not indifferent to religion, but atheists. It is interesting that in the course of our conversations, we often find out that such young people admit the existence of a certain transcendent force, but categorically oppose religion and religious institutions. Moreover, many of those who identify themselves as Orthodox also show a similar attitude. When asked about the reasons for this attitude, young people give approximately the same answers: scandals related to expensive items and cars from clergy; immoral acts committed by them; property claims of the church, confiscation of buildings and land; lack of significant participation of the church in solving social problems. Based on the results of research trips around the region, our team members noted that the conversation was very interesting.-

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questions about religion have become irritating and repulsive. It seems that the church is rapidly losing the credibility it had in the 1990s and 2000s.

At the same time, the region also has a positive experience of teaching subjects related to the study of religious traditions in schools. For example, at a school in the village of Kuzmina Gat, where teachers themselves have developed an educational and methodological kit for the ORKSE course, together with students they constantly participate in various competitions and projects, conduct research on the history of the local church, and compile biographies of priests.

The St. Pitirim Tambov Gymnasium confidently demonstrates positive results. However, in this case, only a part of the primary school can be objectively judged, in the classes of which the subject of the military-industrial complex is taught once a week for all five years and the system of additional education is developed, including such subjects as Spiritual singing and Folk Art. The system of extracurricular activities is also focused on religious holidays and other events. It should also be noted that in this case, children and parents know about this profile of this educational institution and, therefore, are initially motivated to study the religious tradition.

Teachers of the gymnasium have many years of experience in teaching relevant subjects and use modern interesting methods: for example, the project of S. I. Belan to create together with schoolchildren an interactive map " Tambov shrines yesterday and today "or the project of O. M. Eroshkina"Virtual Museum as a means of forming a unified information environment in the field of spiritual and moral education". A.V. Seregina, a teacher of the military-industrial complex , is an experienced methodologist in the field of teaching knowledge about religion at school. We have repeatedly attended her lessons and master classes. She is the author of numerous teaching materials that have received recognition at the federal level. The main principle of its methods is to get away from edification and tell children about Christianity through its connection with art, literature, and morality. Seregina takes into account real indicators of modern Russians ' religiosity, and therefore, in our opinion, achieves a positive result. The peculiarity of the process of reproduction of religious traditions in modern societies lies in the fact that there is no introduction to culture through religion, but, on the contrary, introduction to religion through culture: through customs, traditions existing at the CE level-

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individuals or communities, through art, philosophy, and ethics. In support of this, we can cite the results of a survey of residents of the Tambov region on which forces can best strengthen moral values in our society today (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Tambov Region residents ' response to the question: What forces can best strengthen moral values in our society today? (in %)21

We can see that by a large margin, residents name their family and place high hopes on education, while religion (with an indicator 2 - 3 times lower) occupies the third position, and not the first (as supporters of the "formal-ideological" approach to the introduction of military-industrial complex in schools might expect).

Based on the results of our observations, we can draw some conclusions.

First of all, children develop deep ideas about religious culture only as a result of a systematic approach, when interdisciplinary connections are established, when the knowledge gained in the military-industrial complex lessons is consolidated in additional classes, and gets creative use in the preparation of performances, concerts, and children's projects. In our opinion, a positive effect of teaching religious subjects in schools is possible, but - within the framework of specialized Orthodox schools, where children come to study who are determined to do so, and where it is possible to gather a team of enthusiastic teachers.

21. Survey of residents of the Tambov region, 2015. Sample: 1200.

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If we try to talk about traditions, cultural norms and values through religion (with the continuity interrupted in the Soviet era), then we find that society is immune to this. As a result, we do not get knowledge about religious culture, but a flawed knowledge of tradition and a leveling of religious feelings.

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