The project unites all participants in the educational process: children, teachers and parents complete practical tasks to fill their schools and kindergartens with living content, master new skills, attract partners and funding for their initiatives. Three winners of the team track will receive grants of up to 1.5 million rubles, 100 winners of the leadership track will go to the Summer School.
The game is held by the University of Childhood Foundation with the support of the Rybakov Foundation, which has been engaged in systemic changes in education for 9 years. “We have understood a lot during this time. For example, that it is not worth changing education from the outside. Changes for the better are successful when people themselves recognize their need, initiate changes and live them as their own decision. And we can offer them a tool for such changes that has proven its effectiveness - the Big Game,” said Ekaterina Rybakova, founder and president of the Rybakov Foundation.
The results of the study presented at the press conference served as evidence that the Lev Vygotsky Great Game is responding to the challenges of modern education. It was conducted by the Rybakov Foundation, the Childhood University Foundation, and the HSE Institute of Education among teachers participating in the Rybakov Foundation's educational initiatives.
Evgeny Terentyev, Director of the HSE Institute of Education: “The study was conducted in the summer of 2024. We chose the Outcome Harvesting methodology to focus not on the respondents' opinions, but on their behavioral changes. First, we conducted 25 in-depth interviews and identified the main changes in the lives of teachers under the influence of the Rybakov Foundation's initiatives. Based on the responses, we compiled a questionnaire and conducted an online survey of 1,059 teachers. This allowed us to assess the prevalence of changes.”
Of the 1,059 respondents, 50% were teachers aged 45 to 59. Most work in public institutions, and only 8% in private ones. The largest number of respondents live in the Central and Siberian Federal Districts (21% each). The smallest number of respondents are from the North Caucasus Federal District — 2%.
Higher salaries, lower desire to leave the profession, more motivated students: the impact of the Lev Vygotsky Big Game
Irina Kondratieva, head of projects for assessing the social impact of the Rybakov Foundation ecosystem, spoke about the changes in the lives of teachers: “We found out that participation in the Lev Vygotsky Big Game and our other initiatives changes the professional and value approach of teachers. Thus, more than 90% of teachers began to perceive children as active participants in the educational process and use child-oriented teaching methods. 94% of teachers began to pay attention to the development of social and emotional skills of students and, in general, use new educational methods.”
According to Ekaterina Rybakova, this is a promising result that correlates with the main challenge of modern education: preparing children for life and work in a constantly changing world. "The teachers participating in our projects see their mission in developing the child's personality. When a child becomes a subject of the educational process, and not a passive object who is told what to do, this solves the problem of children's low motivation for learning, as reported by 59% of respondents. This approach is the key to ensuring that happy people who are ready to live in a changing world graduate from schools. These people can make responsible decisions, act based on their strengths, and collaborate with others."
46% of teachers began to earn more after participating in the Rybakov Foundation's activities. This is important, because the teachers themselves named two main difficulties in their work: low wages (58%) and bureaucratic burden (64%).
In addition, the Big Game named after Lev Vygotsky changes the social role of teachers. 89% of respondents began to expand their circle of professional acquaintances, better convey information to colleagues, and involve parents in education. 38% created communities in their kindergartens and schools, professional communities in the regions, that is, they began to show themselves as leaders and organizers of education.
These systemic changes led to the fact that the desire of teachers to leave the profession decreased by half: from 21% to 11%.
How to participate in the Big Game named after Lev Vygotsky to feel positive changes, receive grants and prizes
The Big Game named after Lev Vygotsky is open to Russian-speaking participants from any country in the world. These can be employees and students of any schools, kindergartens, colleges and other educational organizations working with children from 0 to 18 years old. Parents, graduates, entrepreneurs, local residents also participate in the game.
The game has two tracks: team and leadership. Participation in the team track will increase the motivation of children to study, build relationships between students, teachers and parents, and attract funding for educational projects. In the leadership track, teachers, parents and students will be able to develop their organizational and communication skills and prove themselves as educational leaders.
Participants will complete practical tasks from Arnie's chatbot and share the results on social media. For example, in a team track, you will need to assemble a team with the participation of the administration, a teacher, a student, a parent, a graduate, a partner, conduct various activities for your community, and communicate with local patrons. The participants of the leadership track will master the format of developing dialogue with children (circles), will be able to transform the learning environment, and will learn how to resolve conflicts. Each task will bring game crystals, which can be exchanged for prizes from partners.
The game will run until March 19, 2025. 10 finalist teams will come to Moscow for the Case Championship. Three teams will receive grants of 1.5 million, 1 million and 0.5 million rubles for the implementation of projects conceived at the case championship. In the leadership track, 100 winners will come to the Summer School of the University of Childhood. This tradition has been going on for 9 years. Graduates of summer schools create communities in their regions, bring together the most motivated colleagues, attract grants and partners for the development of education.
To popularize the legacy of the outstanding psychologist Lev Vygotsky, the game chatbot Arnie has studied Vygotsky's works and will answer any questions from participants about education and upbringing, based on the ideas of the scientist.
Just like last season, entrepreneurs, social activists, and community leaders can join the Big Game as patrons. They will be able to become role models for participants, launch their own challenges and encourage activity with additional prizes and grants.
You can find out more about the game on the website: https://rybakovschoolaward.ru and on the project's social networks: