Reform of Teacher Education in the Post-Soviet Space

Ian Menter is Emeritus Professor of Teacher Education, University of Oxford, UK.

"The Reform of Teacher Education in the Post-Soviet Space is an important and timely book. Charting the development of teacher education in fifteen post-Soviet countries, it shines a much-needed analytical light on an often under-researched aspect of our education ecosystem. The national accounts highlight both similarities and points of departure in how national education systems are products of historical, social, cultural and political developments, and reveals how teacher education is the bedrock of educational change and resistance to change. Moreover, the book furthers our understanding of vernacular globalisation, highlighting developmental trajectories taken in each of the fifteen countries, and how they have been influenced by international trends and local drivers. In doing so, the book foregrounds how important it is to understand the crucial activity of teacher education in all parts of the world."Clare Brooks, Professor of Education, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, UK."This book makes a compelling case of how teacher education evolved in the post-Soviet period in fifteen nations. It presents a comprehensive overview of the process of change and its influencing factors, a process that has been marked by complexity and diversity. The Reform of Teacher Education in the Post-Soviet Space: A Comparative Analysis of Fifteen Independent Countries shows the key importance of teacher education but also how international understandings of policy and practice as well as national priorities (re)shape the developments in this domain. Both convergences and divergences explain how the fifteen countries dealt with the Soviet legacy and how positive and negative elements have affected different relationships across the nations. A valuable contribution to the field and a must read book for all those who are interested in better understanding teacher education internationally."Maria Assunção Flores, University of Minho, Portugal.

• Part 1 Setting the scene1. Political and economic reform in the post-Soviet space2. Educational reform in the post-Soviet spacePart 2 The fifteen cases3. Pedagogical education in Armenia in the post-Soviet period4. The case of Azerbaijan5. Teacher training in the Republic of Belarus6. Estonian teacher education: reforms and innovation7. Teacher education policies in Georgia8. Teacher education in Kazakhstan: past, present and future9. The case of the Kyrgyz Republic10. Transformations in teacher education practices since the restoration of independence to the Republic of Latvia11. Teacher education in Lithuania: striving for the prestige of the teaching profession or for a stronger agency?12. The reform of teacher education in the Republic of Moldova13. The modernisation of teacher education in Russia14. In-service teacher education in Tajikistan: continuities, changes, and challenges15. Transforming education in challenging environments: teacher education and internationalising higher education in Turkmenistan16. Teacher education in Ukraine: experience in overcoming centripetal tendencies17. Continuity of teacher education in UzbekistanPart 3 A comparative view18. Similarities and differences, continuities and changes19. Conclusion: where next?