The Pedagogical Periodical Press in the Riga Educational District (1832-1915)

This work explored the pedagogical periodical press in the Riga Educational District in the period 1832-1915. The principal sources for the study were a set of works of a reference-encyclopedic nature. The study's findings revealed that due to its small population the Riga Educational District had a relatively small number of pedagogical journals - just seven. A major producer of pedagogical periodicals was Reval Gymnasium (established in 1631). It is at this educational institution that one of Russia's first pedagogical journals, Raduga , and Europe's first journal on mathematics instruction, Uchebny Matematichesky Zhurnal , emerged in the 1830s. Both were published by the school's instructors. Another two pedagogical journals ( Gimnaziya and Pedagogichesky Yezhenedel'nik ) were published in the 1890s - both by G.A. Yanchevetsky, Director of Reval Gymnasium. Unlike the instructors, the director had significant funding at his disposal - and that enabled him to publish the periodicals for nearly 10 years, whereas the former had to discontinue their projects as early as the second year. Two of the periodicals served as the educational district's official organ - first Bulletin of the Dorpat Educational District , and later (following a reorganization of the district and the transference of its capital to Riga) Bulletin of the Riga Educational District . In 1908, an attempt was undertaken to produce Shkol'naya Zhizn' , intended as a vehicle for publishing the unofficial part of Bulletin of the Riga Educational District . However, this attempt failed too - the publication ceased to exist that same year.