Education of Teachers in Russia

A comprehensive study of teacher training in Russia, this book focuses on the present while also providing background information on tsarist and Soviet teacher training. The concluding chapter provides a provocative discussion of problems and challenges common to teacher training in Russia and America. Having lived in Russia for extended periods of time since 1975, the authors base their book not only on scholarly sources but on their first-hand observations and experiences in Russian schools and teacher training institutions, and on questionnaires and interviews with Russian students, parents, teachers, administrators, and teacher educators. The authors provide a comprehensive study of the lifelong teacher training process in Russia, starting with pedagogical gymnasiums and extending through training in colleges, institutes, universities, and public schools. The book focuses on the present but provides the reader with necessary background information on education of teachers during the tsarist and Soviet periods. Whether discussing teacher education under Alexander II, Stalin, Gorbachev, or Yeltsin, the Longs show the close interrelationship among general, school, and teacher education history. The book concludes with a provocative discussion of problems and challenges common to teacher training in Russia and America. The authors convincingly argue that effective reform of schools in either Russia or the United States must start with reform of teacher training.