On educating people and pedagogy of freedom (Chernyshevskiy's review of the journal «Yasnaya polyana»)

Both L. N. Tolstoy and N. G. Chernyshevskiy considered the problem of people’s attitude to education but in a different way and from different perspectives: Tolstoy — from a consistently anthropological point of view, Chernyshevskiy — from a consistently sociological one. L. N. Tolstoy clearly described the main problem of school organization — this organization contradicts the child’s nature, his inner needs and interests. It is for this very reason that the child reacts against the teacher’s efforts. The pedagogical objectives of the teacher, who presumably knows the child’s needs better and tries to steer the child’s immature will in the right direction are in absolute discord with the child’s life objectives.