Social Transformation and Educational Reform (Research on Major Educational Reforms in Russia)

Author: An Fangming, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-02-01
Features: In terms of research on comparative education, it requires us to reflect on its methodology, as well as to reflect on the fundamental theoretical system of comparative education and its evolutionary logic, and to analyze and examine the cultural background and cultural perspectives of researchers. Through this comprehensive reflection, we can determine the scientificity of comparative education research and its conclusions to what extent and in what sense; and only through reflection can we fully analyze and interpret educational phenomena in different countries, ethnic groups, and human societies, thereby revealing the true meaning of the connection between our analysis and interpretation and the corresponding educational facts. Therefore, only by advancing through critique and reflection can we, while drawing on foreign comparative education research theories, create a unique domestic research paradigm. Comparative education in a globalized perspective should range from macro-theoretical studies to micro-realistic research. This book attempts to reveal the "potential for liberation" inherent in education itself during social transformation, thereby achieving harmony between micro and macro orientations. Society is a complex dynamic system, and education is a crucial subsystem within it. Education is inevitably closely linked to social transformation while also interacting with and adapting to other social subsystems. To understand education, it must be examined and studied within the dynamic process of social transformation. This book pioneers a new model in the field of comparative education by placing educational reform issues within the broader context of social transformation. The entire book takes the educational reform of Russia as the research subject, enumerating the changes in politics, economy, culture, science and technology, religion, and ethnicity that occurred during Russia's five major historical turning points over more than a thousand years—from the introduction of Christianity, the invasion of the Mongol Tartars, to the reforms of Peter the Great, the victory of the October Revolution, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. From multiple perspectives, it examines the changes and innovations in Russia's educational policies, systems, forms, content, functions, and outcomes brought about by each social transformation, and analyzes the essence and driving forces of Russian educational activities from a macro to micro level. It provides some valuable experiences for China's educational reform, which is also undergoing social transformation.