A comprehensive, up-to-date look at modern Russian higher education. By the mid-eighteenth century, when the first university appeared in Russia, many European nations could boast of long and glorious university traditions. But Russia, with its poorly developed system of elementary and secondary education, lagged behind other European countries and seemed destined for a long spell of second-tier performance. Yet by the mid-twentieth century, the fully reformed system of Soviet higher education was perceived as an unexpected success, one that transformed the country into a major scientific power throughout the Cold War. Today, the international community is keeping close tabs on the fast development of world-class higher education in Russia, specifically its large-scale changes and reforms. Higher Education in Russia is the first comprehensive, up-to-date overview and analysis of modern Russian higher education. Aimed at a large international audience, it describes the current realities of higher education in Russia, as well as the main principles, logic, and relevant historical and cultural factors. Outlining the evolution of the higher education system in tsarist Russia throughout the nineteenth century, Yaroslav Kuzminov and Maria Yudkevich describe the development of its mass-scale higher education system from the end of the Second World War to the collapse of the Soviet Union and beyond. They also discuss the principal elements of today's Russian higher education system while exploring the system's governance model and the logic of its resource allocation. They touch on university selection, the structure of the country's academic profession, the organization of research, and the major excellence programs of leading universities. Illustrating the idea that the development of the higher education system is very much linked with the European experience, the authors argue that Russian higher education was often the domain of successful (and not so successful) education experiments and innovations. Higher Education in Russia is a must-read for scholars of higher education and Russian history alike.

This book provides the first evidence-based reference about inclusive education in Kazakhstan, one of the post-Soviet Union countries. This nation, as well as many other central Asian countries, is undergoing a radical transformation and change in education which encompasses the implementation of inclusive and special education. This book is composed of chapters synthesized from various studies and captures different aspects of the implementation of inclusive education in Kazakhstan. The implementations of inclusive education in any educational system require a multi-dimensional, multi-level and an integrated approach. It requires collaborative efforts on part of all stakeholders including governance, pedagogical, auxiliary and support structures. This book is a collection of evidence-based studies in a Kazakhstani educational context that demonstrates the multifaceted nature of the process to realize an educational system that is inclusive. The book highlights some of the fundamental requirements and challenges for this process to succeed. Among the main issues addressed in this book are the understanding of inclusive education, the transition towards inclusive education given the soviet legacy, the role of school leadership, teachers, parents and other stakeholders in the process. The findings in each chapter demonstrate some of the milestones and challenges of inclusivity. This work will be of interest to academics, scholars, students and teachers in this field.

Stalin’s Niños examines how the Soviet Union raised and educated nearly three thousand child refugees of the Spanish Civil War. An analysis of the archival record and numerous letters, oral histories, and memoirs uncovers a little-known story that describes the Soviet transformation of children into future builders of communism and reveals the educational techniques shared with other modern states. Classroom education taught patriotism for the two homelands and the importance of emulating Spanish and Soviet heroes, scientists, soldiers, and artists. Extra-curricular clubs and activities reinforced classroom experiences and helped discipline the mind, body, and behaviours. Adult mentors, like the heroes studied in the classroom, provided models to emulate and became the tangible expression of the ideal Spaniard and Soviet. The Basque and Spanish children thus were transformed into hybrid Hispano-Soviets fully engaged with their native language, culture, and traditions while also imbued with Russian language and culture and Soviet ideals of hard work, comradery, internationalism, and sacrifice for ideals and others. Throughout their fourteen-year existence and even during the horrific relocation to the Soviet interior during the Second World War, the twenty-two Soviet boarding schools designed specifically for the Spanish refugee children – and better provisioned than those for Soviet children – transformed displaced niños into Red Army heroes, award-winning Soviet athletes and artists, successful educators and workers, and in some cases valuable resources helping to rebuild Cuba after the revolution. Stalin’s Niños also sheds new light on the education of non-Russian Soviet and international students and the process of constructing a supranational Soviet identity.