Suchergebnisse

Chapter 1. Introduction: Understanding Political Economy of Education in Central Asia: the review of the challenges (Assel Sharimova, Naureen Durrani and Hélène Thibault ) -- Chapter 2. Political economy of Soviet education in Kazakhstan: A critical review (Diana Toimbek) -- Chapter 3. The right to education of disabled children in Semipalatinsk in the context of the post-Cold War (Aigerim Mussabalinova) -- Chapter 4. Religion and education in contemporary Uzbekistan: Religious and spiritual challenges in public education (Zilola Khalilova) -- Chapter 5. Islam, women, and higher education in Uzbekistan (Rahimjon Abdugafurov) -- Chapter 6. Exploring STEM teacher educators' understanding of gender-responsive pedagogies in Kazakhstan (Ainur Almukhambetova) -- Chapter 7. Gender, language and social inequalities in the textbooks in the History of Kazakhstan (Zhazira Bekzhanova) -- Chapter 8. Medium of instruction, national identity and attitudes towards gender roles (Alexandra Nam) -- Chapter 9. The politics of languages in education: issues of access to education and labour market participation of minority ethnic groups in Kazakhstan (Fariza Tolesh) -- Chapter 10. Equity-minded assessment from the perceptions of university stakeholders in Tajikistan (Vasila Bozichaeva) -- Chapter 11. A political economy analysis of factors influencing the expansion of Russian (Sherzod Khaydarov) -- Chapter 12. The role of NGOs within the education sector (Natalya Hanley).

This open access book is intended as an original contribution to the conversation on the role and challenges of education in Central Asia to promote social cohesion by looking at Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Examining education challenges within the countries' wider historical, social, political, and cultural context, the contributions explore existing discourses concerning national identity, religion, language, gender, inclusion, internationalisation of education, and non-state actors through a Political Economy Analysis (PEA) lens. With the understanding that education is both a powerful mechanism of social reproduction in societies and a driver of social change, the book attempts to promote political economy analysis of education as a helpful analytical tool for educational debates and reform agendas in the region and thus will be a valuable resource for policymakers, practitioners, and scholars in this region and beyond.

For the third time in three decades world leaders reaffirmed their promise of "Education For All" when adopting Sustainable Development Goal 4 in 2015. It is the most far-reaching commitment to quality and equity in education so far, yet, there is no consensus on what the agenda means in practice. With a decade left until the 2030 deadline, Grading Goal Four calls upon the education community to engage more thoughtfully and critically with SDG 4 and related efforts. As an ever-growing number of actors and initiatives claim to contribute to its achievement, it is becoming clear that the ambitious but broad priorities within the goal are vulnerable to cherry-picking and misrepresentation, placing it at the heart of tensions between instrumentalist and rights-based approaches to education. This text, a critical analysis of SDG 4, provides a framework for examining trends and developments in education globally. As the first volume that examines early implementation efforts under SDG 4, Grading Goal Four formulates a critique along with strategies for moving forward. By scrutinising the challenges, tensions and power dynamics shaping SDG 4, it advances rights-based perspectives and strategies for effective implementation and builds capacity for strengthened monitoring and analysis of the goal.

This paper comprehensively examines how school leaders in Kazakhstan managed schools during the COVID-19 school closures. An online survey was conducted with 1,298 school leaders, representing 17.5% of all Kazakhstani schools. Anchored in the concept of crisis leadership, the instrument measured school leaders' views regarding teachers' digital competence, their support toward teachers in digital pedagogy, as well as their practices in communicating with parents and teacher autonomy and monitoring. The results of bivariate tests indicate that a significant proportion of schools offered teachers online professional development opportunities to improve their digital instruction, with school location and size influencing the level of training in digital pedagogy received by teachers. Notably, school leaders' confidence in their teachers' ability to teach effectively online increased significantly after receiving training in digital pedagogy. School leaders also maintained regular communication with parents, but this increased their workload, particularly for women and urban school leaders. Most school leaders allowed teachers to choose online platforms and revise curriculum content, while also monitoring teachers' attendance and observing online lessons. These practices varied based on the school's medium of instruction. This study significantly contributes to crisis leadership by examining practices during school closures in addressing teachers' digital competence, communication challenges, and teacher autonomy, with insights on variations by school type, location, and leaders' gender. The study's findings have significant implications for post-pandemic school leadership, emphasizing equity in professional development opportunities for teachers, effective communication with stakeholders, and striking the right balance between teacher autonomy and monitoring.