Aleksandr Nikulin

• Occupation: Director, Center for Agrarian Research, RANEPA, under the President of the Russian Federation
• Affiliation: RANEPA
  
• Address: Russian Federation

The scholar and pedagogical heritage of the outstanding agrarian and the polymath scholar Alexander Vasilyevich Chayanov (1888-1937) is examined. The main landmarks and achievements of the scholar’s intellectual life are character ized. The development of Chayanov’s pedagogical ideas in their relation to both the university audience and the educational communities of peasants is investigated. It is shown that Chayanov as a teacher sought to combine harmoniously “algebra and poetry” in teaching process: his almost positivist systematization of the sciences and methods of exposition of the studied subjects was organically accompanied by the use of numerous metaphors and emotional techniques necessary for the effective development of students’ knowledge and curiosity. For example, the metaphor of the university as the temple of the “Promethean fire” is definitely a system-forming for the entire pedagogical worldview of Chayanov. The unique ability of Chayanov to work with different audiences (students and peasants) differing fundamentally in their age, background, worldview and to choose some or other specific composition of pedagogical methods and techniques for each particular audience is highlighted. The relevance and importance of Chayanov’s pedagogical works in modern science and education, especially in the agrarian sphere is discussed