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Russian Education and Society. SISRE 590/EDLPS 541 Steve Kerr Tuesdays, 1:30-3:20. Agenda for 3/31. The Course Student introductions Instructor introduction. Formative Influences . Imperial traditions Soviet variations Generalities: Russia: European or Asiatic? Western or Eastern?
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Russian Education and Society SISRE 590/EDLPS 541 Steve Kerr Tuesdays, 1:30-3:20
Agenda for 3/31 • The Course • Student introductions • Instructor introduction
Formative Influences • Imperial traditions • Soviet variations • Generalities: • Russia: European or Asiatic? Western or Eastern? • Spirituality: “Россию умом не понять....” • Worldview: Influence of the “Tatar Yoke” (Russia never experienced the Renaissance/Reformation)
Control • From top down, all aspects of the educational system • Curriculum & materials • Structure and function of schools • Teacher education
Centralization • Planning and budgeting • Change and "reform" programs • Preparation and dissemination of curricula, teaching approaches, etc. • Research and development efforts • Problematic for Russia’s large minority populations
Quality vs. Mediocrity • Special schools, big universities, advanced curricula – some of best in world • Rural schools, average kids, vocational-technical tracks – some of worst in the world • Pioneering efforts to work with special-needs students (but few efforts at integration)
Ideology • Pre-1917: Orthodox Church • Post-1917: Marxism-Leninism • Major component of all social sciences, arts (to some extent sciences) • Conformity required for advancement in the social system • After Stalin, increasing passive resistance to ideological demands
Late Soviet Disintegration • By late 1970s: • System became increasingly non-meritocratic – access was a "consumer benefit" • Emerging stratification by school status -- specialized vs. regular, vocational schools • De-humanizing aspects of the system became increasingly obvious by early 1980s
Immediate Post-Soviet Period • Lots of experimentation: Schools, teaching methods, curricula, level of control and support • Many public intellectuals and scientists flocked to help schools • Emergence of new “voices” – publishers, newspapers, consultants, etc. • Quick re-stratification of schools and access by wealth, influence, status
Today • Can the system help develop and support a modern economy? • Will more contemporary models of teaching and learning emerge? • Can rural-urban differences be reconciled? • And yet… Many schools "look and feel“ similar to what was present in 1960s-80s