The article discusses the genesis of pedagogical courses in the history of Russian education, from the mid-1860s, when they were created, to 1917. The acute shortage of teaching staff in some periods of Russian history dictated the need to find innovative solutions for teacher training. The historical realities of the post-reform 1860s–1870s, when the number of educational institutions in Russia increased significantly, led to the birth of pedagogical courses. Teacher training courses also contributed to the eradication of illiteracy in the early Soviet period. Since the second half of the twentieth century up to the present day courses as a form of training and retraining of teachers remain in the system of additional professional education. The aim of the study was to identify and substantiate the reasons that contributed to the formation and development of pedagogical courses in the system of pedagogical education in Russia. This article uses a set of historical-pedagogical research methods: historical and genetic method, source and historiography analysis, comparative pedagogical method, content analysis. As a result of the use of the causal method of research, the following reasons were identified. Firstly, the development of primary and secondary education in the country required the replenishment of the teacher corps. Secondly, the Russian education system oriented to the best foreign experience, primarily European, in which, by the middle of the 19th century, pedagogical courses took shape as an element of the system of professional training of teachers. Thirdly, the liberal nature of the post-reform policies contributed to the expansion of the rights to teacher education. Fourthly, the public and private initiative developed. Fifthly, the state supported the idea of pedagogical courses, fixed them in legislation and partially funded them. Sixthly, low-cost courses compared to other forms of professional training of teachers. The spread of pedagogical courses in the second half of the 19th century is due to the fact that zemstvos did not have sufficient funds to open teacher seminaries, so they opened short-term permanent courses for the training of teachers of public schools. Until 1917, there were both public and private pedagogical courses in Russia. They were financed mainly by zemstvos, but were under the control of state governing bodies. The courses played an important role in the training of teachers for primary and secondary education. They became a real phenomenon in the life of the Russian school of the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries. The spread of pedagogical courses was due to the fact that they made it possible to train teachers in a short time at low cost. It is no coincidence that, as a form of professional training, pedagogical courses were in demand by the Soviet school and are still an important component of the system of continuous pedagogical education.
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