Early Soviet ideas of spiritual and moral education: theoretical heritage of the state commission on education

The paper focuses on the genesis of the Soviet model of spiritual and moral education. On the example of the activities in 1917-1918 of the State Commission on Education under the leadership of A.V. Lunacharsky shows the process of its organizational and ideological-theoretical work. The specifics of interaction between the Commission and the People’s Commissariat of Education in the process of preparing program documents and measures for the development of the Soviet education system are reconstructed. Principles of spiritual and moral education are examined on the basis of directive materials developed by the State Commission on Education. The source base for the study is archival materials from the funds of the State Archives of the Russian Federation and the National Academy of Education of the Russian Academy of Education, reflecting the results of the scientific and pedagogical collective work of members of the State Commission on Education. Conclusions are drawn about the nature of its theoretical legacy. The outcomes were of a transitory nature during this period, but at the same time they were a unifying force of society’s movement towards the new Soviet system. The results obtained from the study are of great importance for the historical and pedagogical educational and popular science literature.