‘Quality revolution’ in post-Soviet education in Russia: from control to assurance?

Минина, Елена

doi:10.1080/02680939.2016.1250165

Cited by 20 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 40 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Measurable learning results occupy the central position in the statements on quality, and multiple quality stakeholders including parents, teachers, education managers and employers are mentioned in this document (Minina, 2017). However, the setting of quality criteria is still portrayed as an exclusive prerogative of the state, which exercises quality control in input (through institutional accreditation and audit) and in output (through measurable outcomes) levels (Minina et al, 2018).…”

Section: Qae In Modern Russia: a Comprehensive System Resembling Globmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soviet, post-Soviet and neo-liberal: Governing Russian schools through quality assurance and evaluation

Gurova

2017

Policy Futures in Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper problematizes the dichotomy between neo-liberalism and socialism and the tendency to view the post-socialist condition as a process of convergence with 'Western' and 'global'. It does so by analysing the development and implementation of a quality assurance and evaluation (QAE) policy in school education in the context of the Russian Federation. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russian national QAE policy has changed greatly and currently resembles the agendas of transnational organizations in education. At the same time, the national policy and the political discourse on quality continue to draw on Soviet as well as post-Soviet legacies. Juxtaposing the case of Russian QAE policy with theoretical models of post-bureaucratic governance in education, the paper also questions clear-cut distinctions between 'old' and 'new' governance regimes. The analysis in the paper is guided by two questions: 1) What has changed and what has remained unchanged in Russian education policy with the transition from the Soviet period to current state? and 2) How do different legacies and influences contribute to the QAE policy implemented at the local level? The brief inquiry into the history of Russian QAE policy focuses on three periods: post-war Soviet Russia, the transition period of the 1980-1990s and modern Russia. Recognizing the specific characteristics of each of the reviewed periods, the paper highlights complexities, contradictions and continuities within and between previous and present regimes of education governance in Russia. The analysis of the QAE policy implemented at the local level demonstrates the blending of diverse legacies, and the prevalence of Soviet-era practices in school governance.

show abstract

Section: Qae In Modern Russia: a Comprehensive System Resembling Globmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soviet, post-Soviet and neo-liberal: Governing Russian schools through quality assurance and evaluation

Gurova

2017

Policy Futures in Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Russia's Ministry of Education launched a series of reform initiatives, the most significant of which consisted in implementing new State Educational Standards. According to these documents, Russia's educational ideology, which was previously rooted in centralisation, collectivism and conformity, was now to be informed by new educational neoliberal values of "regional differentiation, student-centred learning, standardisation, institutional accountability, educational equity and quality assurance" (Minina 2016). Taking into account functions delegated to PTAs in the Russian education system, it can be supposed that it is these associations that become the agents of such a radical change.…”

Section: Sociocultural Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this paper, we set out to investigate the PTA leadership potential, as well as the role and specific personal characteristics of middle leaders in the Russian school education system, which has some unique -and presumably interesting for today's professionals -experience of providing high-quality education (Minina, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leadership Potential of Professional Teacher Associations in Russia: Formation of Middle Leaders

Merenkov

Antonova

Popova

2019

JLE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This research study is aimed at investigating distributed leadership practices in the Russian school system, of which professional teacher associations (PTA) constitute a distinct feature. In particular, we set out to investigate the PTA leadership potential, as well as the role and specific personal characteristics of middle leaders in the Russian school education system. These associations are formed by the school administration on the basis of subject areas, bringing together teachers of maths, history, etc. Teachers join PTAs on a voluntarily basis. The key function of such organisations consists in the implementation of innovative educational approaches and techniques. In order to analyse their leadership potential, we carried out a sociological survey among the employees of high-profile secondary schools (gymnasiums and lyceums) situated in the major Russian city of Ekaterinburg. The research methodology comprised structured interviews with 110 respondents, along with in-depth interviews with 2 school directors, 4 school deputy directors and 6 heads of professional teacher associations. Our results show that the fundamentals and principles of distributed leadership are actively implemented in Ekaterinburg schools. The school administrations encourage the creation of professional teacher associations grouped around subject areas, delegating to these structural units the functions of improving the quality of teaching the respective subjects and disseminating educational innovations, at the same time as fulfilling the requirements of the state and regional education authorities. Such associations are headed by middle leaders, who are nominated by their colleagues and whose candidacy is approved by school seniors, taking into account their professional achievements, experience of leading pedagogical innovations and the presence of the right personal qualities necessary for productive collaborative work. These people perform the role of mediators, operating at the interface between various levels within the school. Although viewed as a school’s personnel reserve for the positions of principals and head teachers, our respondents consider themselves to be ‘more teachers’ or ‘innovators in education’ than administrators. The development of the leadership qualities of such professionals in the Russian school system is shown to be hindered by a ‘glass ceiling’ – a certain limit in their career growth. This discouraging factor results in some middle school leaders searching for professional self-realization opportunities outside the school system, in the spheres of business, science or culture that are believed to provide more opportunities for self-advancement.

show abstract

“…While accountability reform at a national level in Russia has been discussed in Russian and international publications (e.g. Bolotov, 2018;Minina, 2016;Piattoeva, 2015), an analysis of this reform enactment in schools is still lacking. Our data, which consist of observation notes and interviews, were collected in 2015, during an in-depth qualitative study of two schools located in the 'working-class' part of a major city in Russia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

School actors’ enactment of a performative accountability scheme in Russia: Tensions, dilemmas and strategies

Gurova

Camphuijsen²

2019

European Educational Research Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In European and global educational debates, performative or test-based accountability has become central to modernizing and raising the performance of education systems. However, despite the global popularity of performative accountability modalities, existing research finds contradictory evidence on its effects, which tend to be highly context-sensitive. With the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of the mechanisms and contextual factors that explain the effects of performative accountability, this study investigates the enactment of a performative accountability scheme adopted in the Russian school system. The analysis is based on interview and observation data collected during an in-depth qualitative study of two neighbouring schools with contrasting logics of action. Our findings illuminate the specific ways in which accountability policy outcomes are mediated and shaped by schools’ context and agency. We show how schools with different logics of action react to external pressures, and how different professional groups within schools experience policy pressures in dissimilar ways. We conclude that performative accountability mechanisms reinforce instrumental, and impede expressive, logics of action in schools. In both cases they produce tensions, particularly for schools in disadvantaged areas.

show abstract

‘Quality revolution’ in post-Soviet education in Russia: from control to assurance?

Cited by 20 publications

References 40 publications

Soviet, post-Soviet and neo-liberal: Governing Russian schools through quality assurance and evaluation

Soviet, post-Soviet and neo-liberal: Governing Russian schools through quality assurance and evaluation

Leadership Potential of Professional Teacher Associations in Russia: Formation of Middle Leaders

School actors’ enactment of a performative accountability scheme in Russia: Tensions, dilemmas and strategies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About