Adapting or Changing: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Teacher Education in Russia

Roza Valeeva,Aydar Kalimullin

doi:10.3390/educsci11080408

Roza Valeeva, Aydar Kalimullin

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11080408

Copy DOI

Abstract

Adaptation of the Russian education system to the changes forced by the COVID-19 pandemic was complicated by the sheer size of the country, which entails the differentiation of the regions in terms of the quality of education, access to knowledge networks, communication resources, and top universities. Amid the pandemic, the country’s education system experienced an initial shock after the introduction of distance learning in March 2020, attempted to return to classroom learning in September 2020, and introduced blended learning in October 2020. Each stage brought about changes in organization and management of teaching and learning processes, development of online learning platforms and courses, and technological improvements. A diversified teacher education system impeded these changes. In effect, only the largest among 300 education institutions that offer teacher education programs had the necessary resources to provide high-quality distance and blended learning. Their experience could form the basis for creating a standardized model of teacher training for the purposes of blended learning. This is most probable in the context of the tight control and the top–down approach typical of the Russian education system. The article, therefore, analyzes some examples regarding teacher training during the pandemic implemented at Russian universities. These cases have the potential to become major trends that would ensure consistency of the country’s education system in extreme situations that might recur in the future.

Highlights

At the beginning of 2020, along with the rest of the world, Russia faced an unexpected external factor that opened up a qualitatively new stage in the development of the state, society, economy, and education [1]
This article aims to provide a critical insight into teacher education in Russia during the COVID-19 pandemic; to identify and highlight educational policy responses to the challenges of pandemic lockdown; to ascertain major trends ensuring consistency of the country’s education system in extreme situations; and to present the examples regarding teacher training during the pandemic implemented at Russian universities
The international educational mobility of Chinese students studying at the universities of the Russian Federation, including pedagogical higher educational institutions, was considered as a threat

Summary

Introduction

At the beginning of 2020, along with the rest of the world, Russia faced an unexpected external factor that opened up a qualitatively new stage in the development of the state, society, economy, and education [1]. The world healthcare industry was unprepared to fight the new virus and, the only reasonably effective measure to prevent the spread of the disease was social distancing and self-isolation Under these circumstances, an appropriate response of the country’s education system was the unplanned shift to “emergency remote teaching” [2]. For the first time in its history, the country’s higher education system (as well as the education system in general) faced a fundamentally new situation when all educational activities, including education management at all levels, moved to a remote format This involved the use of distance learning technologies to organize teaching and deliver education. Unlike previous transformations and reforms, this situation can be characterized, firstly, by the total coverage of the entire education system of the country; secondly, by the lack of any special preliminary preparation for such a transition; and, thirdly, by an instantaneous shift to a completely different training format

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion