Russia’s History and Education System

Presented by Carl Krauss for EDU357: International and Cross-Cultural Education at Eastern Connecticut State University

Introduction

• Russia’s long-lasting history of social unrest and ideological differences with the Western world have made the nation a topic of interest for centuries. • The divide between Russia’s culture and government and

the culture and government of the US has been the source of tension for almost a century.• To understand the similarities and differences, I’ve

researched the history of Russian education and contrasted it with the educational practices of the United States.

Brief History of Russia: Important Dates

• 1689-1725 - Peter the Great introduces far-reaching reforms, including creating a regular conscript army and navy, subordinating the church to himself and creating new government structures (Russia Timeline).• 1917 October - Bolsheviks overthrow provisional

government of Alexander Kerensky, with workers and sailors capturing government buildings and the Winter Palace in St Petersburg, and eventually taking over Moscow (Russia Timeline).

Brief History of Russia: Important Dates

• 1991 - Russia becomes "independent" as the Soviet Union collapses and, together with Ukraine and Belarus, forms the Commonwealth of Independent States, which is eventually joined by all former Soviet republics except the Baltic states (Russia Timeline).• Since 1991 – Russia experiences episodes of social reform

and social unrest in disputed territories like Chechnya

Russian vs US Education: Basic Statistics

Russia• School Life Expectancy: 14 years• Literacy: 99.7%• Education Expenditures: 4.1% of

GDP• Youth Unemployment: 14.8%From Russian Ministry of Ed.:• Academic Year: September to June• Drop Out Rate: 3.6%

United States• School Life Expectancy: 17 years• Literacy: 99%• Education Expenditures: 5.4% of GPD• Youth Unemployment: 17.3%

From US Dept. of Education:

• Academic Year: September to June• Drop Out Rate: 6-8%

From CIA World Factbook:

Ideological Similarities in Education:

• Russian Education:• “Modernization of Russia is impossible without a transition from our industrial society to an information society that builds on knowledge exchange” (Koholstova 63).• “For the first time in the practice of this country, educational standards have been designed not for the purpose of accomplishing a narrowly sectoral task…but rather the social and strategic task of seeking out, aggregating, and fixing as a conventional norm all the essential requirements of education from the standpoint of the individual, the family, society, and the state” (Dronov 78).

• These goals are similar to those of the United States Education system; taking interest in developing individual success and benefit.

Reforms in Russian Education

• Steps are made towards a more traditionally Western style of education in Russia, as more and more higher learning universities and ideological changes are adapted.• After almost two decades of mostly talk rather than action,

reformers are attempting to introduce almost simultaneously renovation to standards of competence, teaching practices, and university level degree programs (Luk'ianenko 59).

Division From the Past

• Russian Education was formerly wrought with nationalist ideology and clouded by the interests of past leaders seeking to depict Russia as at permanent conflict with the West (Zajda 293).• From the era of the Bolshevik Revolution up until the present day,

the value of individual human life was suppressed by the value of the socialist nation as a whole. Education was limited to the interests of the entire country, not the success of the individual.• Modernizing Russian Education must implement methods of new

liberal education, but acknowledge the drastic differences (Andreev 20)

The New Methods and Perspectives

• With the advancement of liberal ideological education, literature and the creative process are coupled to curriculum once dominated by studies in industrial topics like science and math.• “In the course of accomplishing the new ideological tasks of

education, the main burden will rest on a number of subjects that can be provisionally called the “ideological nucleus”: history, science, geography, Russian language, Russian literature, and foreign language” (Dronov 82).

Introducing Western Concepts

• With the break-up of Soviet dominance in Russia, the outlook on education has taken a more Western sensibility.• “The evangelical movement in the Soviet Union, enabled

by Western financial and academic support, began to generate momentum that led to the establishment of several private Christian schools (Titarchuk 383).

Teaching Each Other’s History

• In the Cold War Era, two vastly different perspectives of the same events were founded by Russian and US educators. • Since the mid-1990’s, Russian and US universities and

students have begun to embrace the culture and history of each nation.• “At the start of the new millennium, U.S. history courses in

Russian universities are an integral part of the curricula at the B.A., M.A., and Specialist levels (Kurilla 1138).

Teaching Each Other’s History

• International relations with the US through media and foreign exchange studies instill interest in US history in Russian students• “This new level of student familiarity with America poses a

challenge for their professors, who no longer hold a monopoly on knowledge of the United States; a student's personal experience may exceed that of his or her teacher” (Kurilla 1139).• Similar opportunities are provided to US students, exchange

programs are established between US and Russian Universities. History curricula for university students in both nations are dependent on the study of each other’s nation.

Problems in Russian Education

• Given shattering changes in government in the past 30 years, the social landscape of Russia has been disorganized and the values of the Russian people have yet to shift from interest in the ideology to interest in personal value• The main challenge in this process is the need either to

articulate the ideology of the modern Russian society or to offer a clear and well-grounded value system. Being free and working for the common good, people within the education system could replace ideology with a set of values focusing on social and moral qualities (Kholostova 67)

Problems in Russian Education

• Though the government has progressed from total control by Soviet leaders in the past years, the current administration maintains similar attitudes toward education as previous governments.• “School history texts, as instruments in the Russian process of

ideological transformation and nation-building, are currently closely monitored by the State. In other countries, these processes are still present but in less formal and more ad hoc ways. In the Russian Federation, it represents an ideologically driven and changing nation-building process, overseen by the Putin government” (Zajda 291).

Problems in Russian Education

• The cultural and political shift from the Cold War era has created a conflict between governance and preserving traditional Russian values concerning society and the nation.• “Any state policy of social change is made more

complicated due to the lack of a clear ideological platform in the country” (Kholostova 64).

The Potential Future of the System

• “Being free and working for the common good, people within the education system could replace ideology with a set of values focusing on social and moral qualities” (Kholostova 64).• The implementation of Western ideals and concepts of self-

value in Russian education may one day create a system of education focused on the success of the student, as well as potentially eradicating leftover Soviet attitudes towards education.

The Potential System of the Future

• Appealing to the national benefits of stimulating the expansion of education may provide motivation to move forward and use education as a tool for personal and national development.• “It is essential to designate the task of the development of

education as a most important system-forming resource of socioeconomic growth in the rank of a top-priority task of state policy” (Dronov 79).

Two Similar Systems

• Despite nearly a century of dispute, the education practices of Russia and the United States grow more and more similar every day.• The acknowledgement of individual growth and success is

now emphasized in the Russian education system, yet lingering Soviet attitudes still exist in the interest of nationalism. • Considering the previous differences in nations, the

concept of similar education systems provides a positive outlook towards future interactions.

Citations

• Andreev, A. L. (2013). On the Modernization of Education in Russia. Russian Social Science Review, 54(5), 4-21.

• Dronov, V. P., & Kondakov, A. M. (2010). The New Standards of General Education: The Ideological Foundation of the Russian School System. Russian Education And Society, 52(2), 77-84.

• Education in Russia (n.d.). In Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. Retrieved April 11, 2013, from http://en.russia.edu.ru/edu/

• Kholostova, T. (2007). Problems in Today's Russian Education System. Journal Of Education, 188(3), 63-73.

Citations

• Kurilla, I. I., & Zhuravleva, V. I. (2010). Teaching U. S. History in Russia: Issues, Challenges, and Prospects. Journal Of American History, 96(4), 1138-1144.

• Luk'ianenko, M. V., Polezhaev, O. A., & Churliaeva, N. P. (2013). Engineering Education in Russia in an Era of Changes. Russian Education & Society, 55(4), 58-71. doi:10.2753/RES1060-9393550404

• Russia Timeline (2012, March 6). In BBC News. Retrieved April 8, 2014, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1113655.stm

• Russia (2014, February 18). In CIA World Factbook. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html

• Titarchuk, V. (2011). The Origins of Christian Liberal Arts Higher Education in Russia: A Case Study of the Russian-American Christian University. Christian Higher Education, 10(5), 381-396. doi:10.1080/15363759.2010.532742

Citations

• United States (2014, February 18). In CIA World Factbook. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html

• Zajda, J. (2007). The new history school textbooks in the Russian Federation: 1992-2004. Compare: A Journal Of Comparative Education, 37(3), 291- 306. doi:10.1080/03057920701330164