Lifelong religious education in a traditional society: the experience of the old believers in Russia

the article analyzes the practice of religious education in the modern religious community of the Old Believers. The peculiarity of this practice in the Old Believers' environment lies in its stability and viability, as evidenced by the history of the Old Believers in Russia. The content of the websites of the main Old Believers strains is a source base of the present study. Through content analysis, the author reveals that the current educational practice of the Old Believers combines several directions. The paper outlines the education forms present in the Old Believers' environment, such as formal education (religious education in educational institutions), non-formal education (spiritual courses in communities) and informal education (learning through pilgrimage, «thirst for knowledge» of other community members). Furthermore, the author describes the innovative forms of learning that have arisen in modern communities, such as youth summer camps, lecture halls and use of Internet sources. The paper traces the analogy between the Old Believers' teaching system and a secular educational model, even though they have different values and goals. The system of lifelong religious education of the Old Believers in modern Russia is of solely communal nature but it is built taking into account the needs of the community members in raising knowledge level. The information presented in this article may be of interest to experts in the field of lifelong learning, religious scholars, and instructors at religious educational institutions.