The Perplexed World of Russian Private Schools: Findings from field research

Lisovskaya, Elena; Karpov, Vyacheslav

doi:10.1080/03050060020020426

Cited by 21 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…During the 1990s, this epistemological axis became instrumental in constructing a historical rupture between socialist past and capitalist present, using the narrative of "crisis" as a central rhetorical device. For example, research studies and policy reports pointed to the rapidly declining funding for education, HIV/AIDS epidemic among youth, the declining status of the teaching profession, the erosion of values, and growing socioeconomic stratification of societies through education (see Lisovskaya & Karpov 2001;Bodine 2005;Eklof & Seregny 2005;Silova 2009;Niyozov 2004). Often, the narrative of "crisis" invoked binary conceptual frameworks to understand post-socialist change, whereby Western neoliberal education reform "packages" would be positioned as ideals for emulation (Silova & Steiner-Khamsi 2008;Silova 2010;Takala & Piattoeva 2012).…”

Section: Coloniality Of Knowledge After the Cold Warmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interrupting the Coloniality of Knowledge Production in Comparative Education: Postsocialist and Postcolonial Dialogues after the Cold War

Silova

Millei

Piattoeva

2017

Comparative Education Review

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This article explores the coloniality of knowledge production in comparative education in and about (post)socialist spaces of Southeast/Central Europe and former Soviet Union after the Cold War. We engage in a particular form of decoloniality, or what Walter Mignolo terms delinking. Delinking challenges the "emancipatory project" of modernity and colonial relations and sets out to decolonize knowledge, thus interrupting dominant understandings about the organization of the world, society, and education. We do not propose to replace this epistemology with another or others, but take it as the target of critique in a world where many different views could co-exist on a nonhierarchical basis. Our critique is threefold. First, we engage in rethinking and rewriting the socialist past(s) through new and multiple frames to reveal potential possibilities for imagining multiple post-socialist future(s). Second, we show the relations and the intertwined histories of "different worlds," thus unsettling the established spatial partitions of the world. Third, we examine how coloniality has shaped our own identities as scholars and discuss ways to reclaim our positions as epistemic subjects who have both the legitimacy and capacity to look at and interpret the world from our own origins and lived realities. We believe that this kind of delinking fractures the hegemony of Western-centric knowledge, enabling comparative education to gain a global viewpoint that is more inclusive of different voices. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 held the promise of opening new dialogues between the formerly separated three worlds. However, soon after 1989, this space closed and the possibilities for dialogue became subsumed into broader globalization debates, positioning the post-socialist region of Southeastern/Central Europe and its education systems on a "journey" towards the West and (re)directing knowledge flows from West to East and North to South (Silova 2014). This closure is symptomatic of a well-established tradition in comparative research to use the West as a single yardstick for understanding the world. 1 Ranging from modernization theory to world culture theory to postmodern theory, the discussion of non-Western education systems is often framed as "an aberration to the European 'norm' either in respect to their origins or to the extent to which they demonstrate 'postmodern' characteristics" (Tikly 1999, 617). While offering an interpretation of broad trends associated with globalization processes, the preference for Western-centric theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches (re)produces a familiar yet inevitably one-sided image of the world. At the same time, it homogenizes the multiplicity of non-Western realities, devalues epistemic differences, and overlooks alternative interpretations (Connell 2007; Takayama et al. 2016). We are thus painfully reminded that, in the aftermath of the Cold War, the foundation of modern knowledge production remains both "territorial and imperial" (Mignolo & Tlostanova 2009, 206; se...

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Section: Coloniality Of Knowledge After the Cold Warmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interrupting the Coloniality of Knowledge Production in Comparative Education: Postsocialist and Postcolonial Dialogues after the Cold War

Silova

Millei

Piattoeva

2017

Comparative Education Review

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“…This conclusion agrees with findings of other studies of educational sectors in Russia. For instance, Lisovskaya and Karpov (2001), who studied Russia's private schools, find extensive use of informal networks by school principals as a survival strategy. They contend that because the legal framework is conflicting and underdeveloped, private schools often behave in legally dubious ways.…”

Section: Manipulation and "Backdoor" Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Private Higher Education in Russia: Free Enterprise Under State Control

Suspitsin

Suspitsyna

2007

European Education

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Free Enterprise Under State ControlThis study examines the strategies that Russian private colleges and universities use to navigate the legal and normative pressures of the state in the free market of educational services. The tension between state control and free enterprise is analyzed through the prism of legitimacy as it is produced and maintained by the system of quality assurance. Following the crisis in higher education and society at large in the early 1990s, the system of quality assurance emerged in response to the calls for regulation and accountability of higher education institutions. Today it is a complex array of state laws, policies, and control mechanisms directed at both the public and private sectors of education. This study poses the central question: What are the strategies, approaches, and mechanisms that

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“…Elite public schools, such as specialised state schools, gymnasiums, and lyceums, are fully controlled and funded by governments and usually have competitive admissions systems. The term 'elite public school' itself is oxymoronic (Lisovskaya and Karpov, 2001); such schools often accommodate the demand from privileged families who seek higher quality schooling and exclusive environments. Elite state schools generally compete with private schools.…”

Section: Private Sector Families Religious and Philanthropic Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are we using Friedman's roadmap? A comparative analysis of stimuli of private school enrolments in post-Soviet countries

Chankseliani

2014

International Journal of Educational Development

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Highlights•This paper examines comparative trends in private schooling in the post-Soviet states.•Private enrolments in post-Soviet countries are considerably below world averages.•Private schooling may be complementing rather than substituting public schooling.•Low public investment in education may be associated with higher private enrolments.•In countries with relatively high private enrolments government funds private schools.

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The Perplexed World of Russian Private Schools: Findings from field research

Cited by 21 publications

References 0 publications

Interrupting the Coloniality of Knowledge Production in Comparative Education: Postsocialist and Postcolonial Dialogues after the Cold War

Interrupting the Coloniality of Knowledge Production in Comparative Education: Postsocialist and Postcolonial Dialogues after the Cold War

Private Higher Education in Russia: Free Enterprise Under State Control

Are we using Friedman's roadmap? A comparative analysis of stimuli of private school enrolments in post-Soviet countries

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