Russian “Defectology”

Abstract

Created as a part of the general Russian educational system, special education in Russia has mirrored all the good and bad qualities of that system. It was during the Soviet phase of its existence that Russian remedial education developed its specific and unique character, reflecting the structure and values of the global social environment. Despite the fact that Russian society realized the need to change its general educational system, remedial education remained untouched by reconstructive forces. This article discusses both the background and the current state of treatment of children with disabilities in Russia. The theoretical basis of the modern Russian approach to disability, the current needy population, and the existing system for referral and rehabilitation are described, and emerging trends and new perspectives on the Russian treatment of children with disabilities are presented.

A retrospective on care and denial of children with disabilities in Russia

“…According to Etkind (1993), when Pedology was thrown out, special schools and kindergartens along with psycho-neurological dispensers where mentally retarded children were taken care of were closed. The use of IQ tests were becoming more and more common in much of Western Europe, but after the ban of pedology (in 1936) it was no longer popular using such tests in Soviet Russia (Grigorenko 1998). Thus the divide between educable/noneducable children was developed in defectology by the use of different psychological, pedagogical and medical methods.…”