Conversations about Important Things


Conversations about Important Things, or Important Conversations for short, is a name for a series of compulsory school lessons in Russia that covers various topics from the Russian government's perspective, such as national identity, public holidays, and world events. Important Conversations lessons take place every Monday morning during the school year, following the flag-raising ceremony.
Important Conversations was developed by the Institute for Education Development Strategy, on behalf of the Russian Ministry of Education, and was part of a 17-year long effort by the Russian government to introduce "patriotic education" to schools in Russia. The first Important Conversations lessons took place nationwide on 5 September 2022, and are generally considered to be part of the Russian government's information war against Ukraine|information war] in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian war since 2022, which they call a "special military operation".
The Russian government has defended Important Conversations, claiming that it promotes "national unity, patriotism and traditional values". However, many teachers and parents have resisted the initiative as an attempt by the Russian government to introduce political propaganda and militarism into the education system. In response, teachers and students have faced reprisals for not participating in Important Conversations lessons, in the context of the ongoing crackdown on protests against the invasion.

Background

The origins of using school lessons to promote "Russian values" go back to July 2005, when then-Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov approved funding for a similar programme called "Patriotic Education for Citizens of the Russian Federation". According to geography teacher Kyamran Manafly, the government sent to schools materials for "patriotic lessons" for many years since 2005, but many teachers ignored them due to lack of interest from the students. On 21 May 2020, The Moscow Times reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin made another effort to introduce "patriotic lessons" by making citizenship and war history compulsory subjects under the Russian education law.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Russian government increased their efforts to introduce "patriotic education" into schools, although some schools improvised such lessons or events shortly after the invasion started. According to The Moscow Times on 19 April 2022, the Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov announced plans for children to study history from Class 1 onwards instead of Class 4, and for schools to hold a flag-raising ceremony every Monday morning, from the start of the 2022–2023 school year. Schools in the Kaluga and Voronezh oblasts introduced flag-raising ceremonies in mid-April.
Plans for more children to study history evolved into Conversations about Important Things, which was unveiled by Kravtsov and the Institute for Education Development Strategy on 20 June 2022: according to the Institute, Important Conversations aimed to teach history and socio-political values from the Russian government's perspective. The initial budget for the development of Important Conversations, which began in mid-April, was 22 million rubles, or about US$326,000 in 2022.
The first Important Conversations lessons took place nationwide on 5 September 2022, although Russian President Putin hosted an inaugural lesson with selected students in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, on 1 September 2022. The programme is currently designed for primary and secondary schools, but some kindergartens have also trialled Important Conversations lessons in their classes since October 2024.

Schedule and content

The Conversations about Important Things takes place every Monday from 09:00 local time, during the school year and after the flag-raising ceremony. Since 20 February 2023, Channel One Russia's Good Morning programme included a segment involving Important Conversations, every Monday at 08:36 Moscow Time.
The lessons cover various topics from the Russian government's perspective, such as national identity, public holidays, and world events. Some of the lesson plans reference developments associated with the Russo-Ukrainian war since 2022, which the Russian government calls a "special military operation", and attempt to cover up or deny widely documented evidence of War crimes in the [Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present)|war crimes] committed by Russian forces. Each topic on the official website for Important Conversations lessons have separate sections for Classes 1–2, Classes 3–4, Classes 5–7, Classes 8–9, Classes 10–11 and Secondary Vocational Education.
According to The New York Times on 3 June 2023, local school administrators were responsible for implementing Important Conversations: this meant the actual amount of politics and propaganda in the lessons depended on the school administration's stance towards the Russian government. For example, one teacher forced students to sing and dance to Ya russkiy by Russian singer Shaman, while another taught algebra as an "important conversation" in the context of mathematics.

Critical reception

The Conversations about Important Things were unpopular with many teachers and parents, with many criticising the lessons as an attempt by the Russian government to introduce political propaganda into the education system, despite laws that did not allow it.
The Associated Press reported that some parents were shocked by the militaristic nature of Important Conversations lessons, with some comparing them to the "patriotic education" of the former Soviet Union. There was notable controversy over the lesson plan for Our country — Russia, which originally instructed teachers to tell students from Class 3 onwards that Russia was "more precious" than life, and that it was "not scary" to die for Russia.
The opposition trade union Alliance of Teachers called for parents to boycott the lessons, and for teachers to either boycott the lessons as well, or to present them from a more critical perspective than that of the Russian government. The Associated Press reported cases of teachers attempting to depoliticise Important Conversations by developing their own content for the lessons.
The initial criticism resulted in the Russian Ministry of Education making revisions to the lesson material in an attempt to reduce mentions of the military and current events, which included the removal of controversial passages from Our country — Russia. However, there is evidence that the lessons continue to actively reference the war. Teachers who refused to teach the lessons risk either losing their jobs or being designated as a "foreign agent law|foreign agent]", and some teachers have left Russia in protest of Important Conversations.
Parents have also called for the right to withdraw their children from Important Conversations lessons: although the Russian Ministry of Education initially claimed that the lessons were voluntary extracurricular activities, Russian students and their parents have been investigated by the police, or threatened with expulsion, for refusing to attend Important Conversations lessons.
The Ministry of Education later admitted that the classes were compulsory, warning that students may be sanctioned for skipping the lessons. On 19 February 2023, the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group reported that the Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov planned to make parents of students attend Important Conversations lessons.

Analysis

In November 2022, Times Higher Education reported that academics had different opinions on how the Conversations about Important Things would affect the development of beliefs among Russian students. Professor Grigory Yudin of the Moscow School for the Social and Economic Sciences expressed concern that Important Conversations increased the risk of turning otherwise apathetic or anti-war students into "willing fighters". However, Professor Isak Froumin of the Higher School of Economics and researcher Svetland Shenderova believed that Important Conversations would fail: Shenderova in particular stated that Important Conversations may backfire in the same way as scientific communism, by fuelling the students' hatred towards the Russian government's ideology, which includes Putinism.

Related programmes

In September 2023, the Russian government introduced a similar programme for universities, called Foundations of Russian Statehood. The compulsory subject was developed by, a political scientist and deputy rector at the Russian Presidential [Academy of National Economy and Public Administration], and is taught to first-year university students in their first semester.
Schools have also installed specially decorated desks to commemorate former students who died fighting in the Russo-Ukrainian war: the desks are part of the Heroes' Desk project, first introduced in 2018 to commemorate Heroes of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. In August 2025, the Russian Ministry of Education published a list of "patriotic" songs that school music teachers should teach.

List of ''Important Conversations'' lessons

2022–2023

The following topics were prescribed by the Russian Ministry of Education for the 2022–2023 school year: no lessons were taught on 31 October 2022 and 2 January 2025.
The following topics were prescribed by the Russian Ministry of Education for the 2023–2024 school year: no lessons were taught on 6 November 2024 and 2 January 2025.
  • 4 September 2023: "Knowledge Day"
  • 11 September: "Where Russia is"
  • 18 September: "100th anniversary of the birth of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya"
  • 25 September: "Electoral system of Russia "
  • 2 October: "Teacher's Day "
  • 9 October: "About teamwork"
  • 16 October: "On the other side of the screen: 115 years of Russian cinema"
  • 23 October: "Special Forces Day"
  • 30 October: "National Unity Day" – This topic covered a public holiday that occurred on 4 November.
  • 13 November: "Russia: looking into the future"
  • 20 November: "About family relationships"
  • 27 November: "What is the Motherland?"
  • 4 December: "We are together"
  • 11 December: "The country's constitution" – This topic covers Constitution Day, a commemorative day that occurs on 12 December.
  • 18 December: "Heroes of our time"
  • 25 December: "New Year's family traditions of different peoples of Russia"
  • 9 January 2024: "From A to Z: 450 years of The Alphabet by Ivan Fyodorov"
  • 15 January: "Taxation literacy"
  • 22 January: "Unconquered: 80th anniversary of the liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade"
  • 29 January: "Allies of Russia"
  • 5 February: "Russian Science Day"
  • 12 February: "Discoverers' Day"
  • 19 February: "Defender of the Fatherland Day"
  • 26 February: "World Festival of Youth"
  • 4 March: "How do you find your place in society?"
  • 11 March: "From the southern seas to the polar edge"
  • 18 March: "Crimea and Sevastopol: 10 years in their home port" – This topic commemorates ten years since the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, on 18 March 2014.
  • 25 March: "Unity of the peoples of Russia" – This topic was created in response to the Crocus City Hall attack. According to Russia.Post of the George Washington University on 27 March 2024, the content of the topic references attempts by the Russian government to blame Ukraine and the Western world for the attack, despite the Islamic State – Khorasan Province group claiming responsibility by providing body camera footage from one of the attackers.
  • 1 April: "Russia is a healthy power" – This topic, which covers personal health, was postponed from 25 March 2024 due to the Crocus City Hall attack.
  • 8 April: "I see Earth! It is so beautiful!" – This topic commemorates Yuri Gagarin, the first person to go to space.
  • 15 April: 215th anniversary of the birth of Nikolai Gogol"
  • 22 April: "Work is cool" – This topic covers youth employment.
  • 29 April: "Eco-friendly consumption"
  • 6 May: "Victory Day" – This topic covers the Soviet Victory Day, on 9 May.
  • 13 May: "Russian language, great and mighty: 225 years since the birth of A.S. Pushkin"
  • 20 May: "Be ready! The Day of Children's Public Associations" – This topic also promotes the Movement of the First youth organisation.

    2024–2025

The following topics were prescribed by the Russian Ministry of Education for the 2024–2025 school year: no lessons were taught on 4 November 2024, 30 December and 6 January 2025.
  • 2 September 2024: "Imagine the future: the Day of Knowledge"
  • 9 September: "The age of information"
  • 16 September: "Railways of Russia" – The topic was supported by Russian Railways.
  • 23 September: "The path of grain"
  • 30 September: "Teacher's Day"
  • 7 October: "Legends about Russia"
  • 14 October: "What does it mean to be an adult?"
  • 21 October: "How to create a strong family"
  • 28 October: "Russian hospitality"
  • 11 November: "Your contribution to the common cause"
  • 18 November: "Artificial intelligence and humans"
  • 25 November: "Taking care of yourself and others"
  • 2 December: "Mercy mission: for the Volunteer Day"
  • 9 December: "Heroes of the Fatherland Day"
  • 16 December: "How are laws made?"
  • 23 December: "One country, same tradition"
  • 13 January 2025: "Day of the Russian Press"
  • 20 January: "Student's Day"
  • 27 January: "Year of the Defender of the Fatherland"
  • 3 February: "Business and technological entrepreneurship"
  • 10 February: "The Arctic – territory for development"
  • 17 February: "What does it mean to serve the Fatherland? 280 years since the birth of Fyodor Ushakov "
  • 24 February: "My small homeland"
  • 3 March: "International Women's Day"
  • 10 March: "Mass sports in Russia"
  • 17 March: "Day of the reunification of Crimea and Sevastopol with Russia: 100th anniversary of Artek" – This topic commemorates 11 years since the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, on 18 March 2014.
  • 24 March: "What does it mean to serve the Fatherland? 280 years since the birth of Fyodor Ushakov "
  • 31 March: "Service through creativity: why do people need art? 185 years since the birth of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky"
  • 7 April: "Day of Unity of the Peoples of Russia and Belarus: the Union State"
  • 14 April: "Civil aviation of Russia"
  • 21 April: "Medicine of Russia"
  • 28 April: "What is success?"
  • 5 May: "80th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War" – This topic covers the Soviet Victory Day, on 9 May.
  • 12 May: "Life in motion"
  • 19 May: "The values that unite us"

    2025–2026

The following topics were prescribed by the Russian Ministry of Education for the 2025–2026 school year:
  • 1 September 2025: "Why does a person need to study?"
  • 8 September: "Russian language in the digital age"
  • 15 September: "Creativity that unites" – This topic was taught ahead of Intervision 2025, a Russian-backed alternative to the Eurovision Song Contest that took place in Novoivanovskoye on 20 September.
  • 22 September: "Peaceful atom: Day of the Nuclear Industry Worker"
  • 29 September: "Digital sovereignty of the country"
  • 6 October: "What is respect? For Teacher's Day"
  • 13 October: "How can different generations understand each other?"
  • 20 October: "About Russian cities: for National Unity Day"
  • 27 October: "What is respect?"
  • 1 November: "A society of unlimited possibilities"
  • 10 November: "Breeding and genetics: 170th anniversary of Ivan Michurin"
  • 17 November: "How to resolve conflicts and cope with difficulties? For Psychologist's Day"
  • 24 November: "My profession: saving lives"
  • 1 December: "Domestic animals"
  • 8 December: "Russia is a country of victors: for Fatherland's Heroes Day"
  • 15 December: "Law and justice: for Constitution Day of the Russian Federation"