Educational Reform in Post-Soviet Russia: Legacies and Prospects by Ben s> Eklof Larry E. Holmes , Vera Kaplan (review)

Abstract

384 SEER, 85, 2, 2007 resounding mark on the Bucharestinvesting scene. Who is to say that today Romania is not reaping the benefit from his inspiredchoice of priorities? Department ofPeaceStudies TOMGALLAGHER Universi4 ofBradford Eklof, Ben; Holmes, Larry E. and Kaplan, Vera (eds). Educational Reform in Post-Soviet Russia:Legacies andProspects. The Cummings Center Series, 20. FrankCass, London and New York, 2005. xvi + 350 pp. Notes. Tables. Appendices. Glossary.Index. ?7?.??. UNDERSTANDING the nature of a country's education system is, of course, an essentialprerequisiteif one wants to acquire a trulyprofound understanding of the political, economic and social characteristicsof that country, and the attitudesand behaviour of its citizens. We are fortunate,therefore,that there are scholarswho are stubborn and committed enough to carry on with the studyof Russianeducation, notwithstandingthe relativeneglect of this subject within the Russian studies community in the West. This fine volume edited by Ben Eklof, Larry Holmes and Vera Kaplan tackles effectively a key challenge posed by the lack of attention paid to educational issueswithin Russian studies, namely the dilemma of how much detailan authorshouldseekto provide:shouldone attemptto cover the whole story of Russian educational reform and riskdiluting the argument, or focus in on discreteissues, at the riskof failing to establishthe significanceof such issues within the broader societal and institutional contexts at stake? The editors here, and their contributors(scholarsbased in the UK, USA, Israel and Russia),combine forces to provide a most effectiveresponse to this challenge . The editorswisely do not attempt to provide comprehensivecoverage in the volume, choosing insteadin the firstsection to providea set of insightful and provocativelyfreshanalysesof the courseof educationalpolicy since I99I; followed by a series of case studiesof select key aspectsof the school curriculum and its delivery.The emphasisis on secondaryeducation,with occasional extension of the analysisinto other areas of the education system. Followingon from Ben Eklof's concise and usefulcontext settingIntroduction , PartOne (EducationalPolicy)begins with a thought-provokingcontribution from Viacheslav Karpov and Elena Lisovskaia,in which they compare the educational 'revolutions'and subsequentconservativereactionsto change in post-I789 France, post-I9I7 USSR, and post-IggI Russia. LarryHolmes's lucid analysis of the Soviet school under Stalin delivers further historical contextualizationfor the studentof contemporaryRussianeducation, demonstratingthe extent yet also the limits of the state's reach into the classroom (even under Stalin),and the degrees to which educationalistsand pupilswere able to deviate from centrallyimposed standardsand requirements.This is a theme taken up by Stephen Kerr, in the firstof two chapterspenned by him, in which he examines the historyof innovation in Soviet and Russian education . Next is a subtle investigation of the democratization of the Russian school by Isak Froumin, a former school director, who examines this issue REVIEWS 385 from a range of angles, including the democratization of school administration , teacher-pupilrelations,and the teaching of democracy in school crucial questions in Russia's democratic transformation,yet often overlooked in 'mainstream'literature.Kerr's second chapter tacklesthe issue of the impact of demographic changes on educational policy, while Part One is completed by a smalldetour from Russian education,with a studyby Kara Brown of the education of Russian speakersin Estonia. Part Two is labelled 'The teacher, the textbook and educationalpractice', and begins with a valuable portrait of the teaching profession by Ben Eklof and the late Scott Seregny,in which they trace the significanceof the relationship between teachers and the State from pre-revolutionaryRussia to the present, with teachers having to cope with the demands of an intrusiveand restrictivestate,yet also tending to turnto the state,ratherthan the local community , for material and moral support. The subsequent chapters deal with variousaspectsof the social science and humanitiescurriculum: Janet Vaillant on civic education; Vera Kaplan, Alexander Shevyrev and Igor lonov with individualcontributionson the natureof change in historyteaching (including detailed analyses of textbook provision);and Nadya Peterson on continuity and change in approaches to the study of literature. The focus on these aspects of the curriculum is fullyjustified, given the place they held in the Soviet school system, and the need since the late i98os to addressthe issue of their 'deideologization'.Part Two ends with an overviewbyJames Muckle of the conduct of lessons in the Russian school. The result,then, is a very strongvolume which deservesattention not just from specialistscholarsof...