A History of Education in Modern Russia: Aims, Ways, Outcomes

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A History of Education in Modern Russia is the first book to trace the significance of education in Russia from Peter the Greats reign all the way through to Vladimir Putin and the present day. Individual chapters open with an overview of the political, social, diplomatic and cultural environment of the period in order to orient the reader. Dowler then goes on to analyse the aims of education initiatives in each era before considering the ways in which Russians experienced education, both as students and as teachers. Each chapter concludes with an assessment of the outcomes and consequences of education policies in the period, both the successes and failures as well as the impact of education on the cultural, social, economic and ultimately political environments. The chronologically arranged book also traces and then summarises underlying key themes like the tension between an open system of education and an estate-based system; the push and pull between utility and the broader goal of human development; and the effects of centralized, authoritarian control that for much of the period limited local initiative and starved the regions of adequate resources.

Reviews

This scholarly written book delivers much detailed information on education during the late Tsarist Russia, and the Soviet and Post-Soviet eras. It is a valuable reference work on Russian education and is highly recommended for anyone interested in any aspect of education in Russia during the periods discussed. * International Journal of Russian Studies *
This well-written history of education provides a state-of-the-art overview of education (private as well as public) from 1700 to the present. It synthesizes a large corpus of scholarly literature and offers fresh insights into the dynamics and impact of education on the development of modern Russia. * Gregory Freeze, Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield Professor of History, Brandeis University, USA *
A timely and much needed overview that skillfully synthesizes the latest scholarly literature on the subject and will certainly become a must for anyone interested in the subject. By carefully placing schools and schooling in their historical context Wayne Dowler maps out the waves of reforms, counter-reforms, and counter-counter-reforms in Russian education from Peter I to Putin. * Igor Fedyukin, Associate Professor of History, HSE University, Russia *

Author Bio

Wayne Dowler is Professor of History at the University of Toronto, Canada. He is the author of Russia in 1913 (2012), Classroom and Empire: The Politics of Schooling Russias Eastern Nationalities, 1860-1917 (2000) and Dostoevsky, Grigor'ev and 'Native Soil' Conservatism (1982).