FIVE DAYS IN THE RUSSIAN MOORS

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by Fred de Haas

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       I arrived in Moscow, Russia on a sweltering day in May to make a Middle Years Programme (MYP) authorisation visit with Monica Flodman from the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) Stckholm Office. We were to visit several schools in Moscow. Sheremetyevo airport is rather unwelcoming to visitors from abroad: one has to stand for quite a long time in a long queue before entering the arrival hall. Oddly, Russia is most welcoming to visitors who are leaving the country. The departure hall is very sophisticated indeed.
       I was welcomed by Louba, an assistant to Sacha Kondakov, a lecturer in geography at Moscow State University and go-between for schools and the IBO. Louba started speaking in impeccable English - this impeccability was upheld by the interpreters, all teachers, whom we were to met in the days ahead. So much for my Russian language courses.
       The next day we were lucky to make it safely to School 45 (those Moscow drivers again). Another positive experience awaited us. We were taken to the office of the principal, Leonid I Milgram, a man who - to the eyes of many, including ourselves - is an exceptional person. When he turned 75 years old - he is still far from thinking of early retirement - his staff organised a week-long celebration. At one point, during a theatrical presentation, he was invited to the stage and forced to do angel's garb, wings and all. In Mr. Leonid's House - school 45 for the uninitiated - there is a place for everyone. There is a family atmosphere at the school and Leonid is everybody's father or grandfather, which he obviously enjoys.
       We spent a fruitful and busy day at School 45 and were delighted to see the enthusiasm with which the teachers had identified with the MYP. The English B teacher, an elderly man who mot long ago fiercely opposed the innovative programme, dragged me into the language labto show me his latest educational software. „I've worked with him for thirty years,"Mr Leonid explainedto us in his presence. „He has always been like this. At first he resists, then he becomesone of your most enthusiastic supporters." At lunch - we were sitting with all the teachers at a long table merrily chatting away - two guitar players and a singer, all teachers, started playing some of those wonderfully melancholic Russian songs which carry you right to the tragic soul of Russia.
       Mr Leonid had planned a surprise for us at the end of the day. Cameras and microphones from the Moscow press and Russian television were waiting for us in his office. We did not have the faintest idea what was expected of us and felt rather tired after a long day's work but we made sure that School 45 was sufficiently highlighted.