It is the pedagogical training of teachers that affects the quality of schools, and it is the quality of schools that affects the quality of professional training. Having begun the reform of education, we have forgotten that it should start with the educators. Russia has made a historical turn. The new society and the new economy require new people with a new value system, with different skills, with largely different knowledge. All aspects of the modernization of school education (curriculum, organizational structure, technology) presuppose a different type of teacher and a different type of school administrator. The article deals with the problems that the changes in society have posed to the school system, and thus to the system of pedagogical training as well, which was caught largely unprepared. The author has long recognized these challenges (such as the low social status of the teacher, low wages, the necessity of profound changes in his/her training etc.) and has been trying to find the answers to them in his work. The lack of reforms in this crucial sphere has already created real and serious risks not only to the system of education, but in fact to the very future of Russia as a whole, including its economy, politics and defense. The article considers a wide range of issues in the pedagogical training that demand serious reform.

The article considers the problems in reforming the relations between the children and the teachers in schools. The author argues that it is possible to achieve higher levels of the quality of education only if the underlying principle of these relations changes. Namely, the idea that children have the right to an education ought to replace the idea that acquiring an education is their duty. Such a change in the value system would favor abandoning the enforced character of education. This would help to remove the barriers that limit the abilities of a student to independently solve problems in various situations. The creation of a diversified education system in the post-Soviet period led to the emergence of important yet insufficient preconditions for the formation of an education system based on the idea of rights, including the right to choose a specific program and a specific school. The next step in this direction would be to develop educational standards ensuring the right of all children to an education that would enable them to solve cognitive, communicative and other important problems.

The mass system of further training of teachers in the spheres of education policy, economics of education, education law, and curriculum development should lead the reform process and become the main experimental grounds, a pilot project structure for the education reform. In the Eureka school network, a complex of innovative programs has been developed. These programs offer an alternative to the traditional methods of professional development. The complex is targeted first and foremost at the self-realization of the child. It enables teachers engaged in joint projects with students to find new approaches and to acquire new skills. However, obstacles created by the Education Academy and the lack of a market considerably diminish the motivation to study new kinds of educational activity. This further marginalizes teachers.

The authors consider the problems of teachers in Russia from a comparative perspective. It is shown that the wages of teachers in Russia are much lower than that of their colleagues abroad. The employment structure in the education sector is also very different from that in other countries. Various ways for staffing Russian schools are discussed. It is noted that the current trends might lead to the formation of a large sector of low-quality education.

The particular features of the job market and the trends in the employment sphere of the education sector are analyzed in the article. It is shown that the «over-occupation» and the relatively low wages in education institutions are closely connected and institutionally predetermined. The salaries in the public education system are rigidly connected to the minimal wage, which is determined by politico-bureaucratic procedures uniformly for all regions. That unavoidably leads to lower salaries in education as compared to principal non-public economy sectors. Low salaries stimulate an artificial expansion of employment, which in its turn even further lowers the salaries. The absolute number of the employed in this sector in Russia remained approximately stable during the period in question, although the share of the sector in the overall employment in the economy has increased, so it is much higher than in most developed countries. Within Russia, the level of employment in the education sector varies significantly among regions, its share is the highest in the least economically developed ones.

The paper considers particular features of the definition of the concept of «knowledge» in a knowledge-based society. It is shown that in a knowledge- based society certain paradoxes emerge in the sphere of education, which require a reassessment of the goals and tasks of universities. The authors introduce the concept of an «intellectual enterprise», that is, of a skill allowing one to develop a competitive advantage in a knowledge-based society. Ways to acquire this skill are given, and the goals of a modern university as a social institution are formulated.

Marks D. Academic Standards as Public Goods and Varieties of Free-Rider Behaviour // Education Economics. 2002. Vol. 10. №2. P.145—163.

The article analyzes the current state of the sociohumanities in Russia. The author gives evidence of the growth in the quantity of programs certain disciplines, such as political science, economics, law studies and sociology. According to the author’s opinion, the sociohumanities are more in demand than the natural sciences in present-day Russia. The reasons are to be found in the current state of Russian society and in the special relationship between Russian science and the «worlds» of business and politics. The high demand for certain sectors of the sociohumanities in Russia is accompanied by the loss of their knowledge-producing functions; these sectors are turning into an intermediary for transmitting the knowledge produced by Western research into national social practice.

The article presents a comprehensive view on current problems in the professional development of teachers, estimates the potential in this sphere, and describes the principal directions in the reforming of the professional development system.

The new goals that are emerging in the course of the modernization of education demand changes in the form and content of pedagogical training. One of the tools for the professional training of an educator, very common now in Western higher education, is the teaching portfolio of a student. It enables the student to efficiently plan and evaluate the process and results of his or her studies. The portfolio is an indicator of the readiness of the future teacher to engage in independent professional activities. The article considers the teaching portfolio of an alumna of Kalamazoo College (Michigan, USA). The general structure of the portfolio is described, principal sections are quoted, comments are given that explain how the use of the portfolio changes the learning process of a student and makes professional training more efficient. The authors arrive at the conclusion that it is desirable to introduce the student teaching portfolio in this country, and that it is possible to flexibly adapt it to the particular features of pedagogical training in Russia.

Translated materials of the U.S. Education Commission.

The participants discussed the following questions:

What is pedagogical training today? What are the results of the change in the status of pedagogical colleges and their transformation into classical universities? How can the quality of teachers’ training be increased?

What teachers are needed and who comes now to work in schools? What opportunities do teachers have to develop professionally? Where can he or she obtain further pedagogical education? Who should form the demand for the training of teachers? What kind of teacher training is more in demand at schools: fundamental or pedagogical?

How should a modern teacher be trained?

The article presents information on the number of education institutions that prepare teachers, on the number of education students in the posthigh- school institutions, and on their enrollment and graduation. Information about the professional development of teachers at vocational training institutions is given. The work uses the data of the Federal Service for Government Statistics. The materials were prepared by I.Yu. Zabatirina, V.I. Kuznetsova and O.K. Ozerova, senior research fellows of the Center for Statistical Research and Economics of Knowledge at HSE.

The article analyzes the readiness of teachers of high schools to change their professional culture and their teaching style according to the new demands of state and society. The article identifies two aspects: first, whether teachers internalize the demands of parents and state representatives, and second, the primary motivation that leads to the choice of this profession. The readiness of teachers for changes in their professional activity is considered in the context of the socio-cultural transformations currently going on in Russia. The article is based on the data of a large-scale survey performed in May–June 2005 by the Center of Sociological Studies of Moscow State University in the framework of the project «Reforms of the Education System». The project, financed by an IBRD loan, is being carried out by the National Foundation for Staff Training.

A research on the orientations and life trajectories of alumni conducted in 2004 included polling the alumni of vocational junior high schools continuing their education at vocational colleges. This made it possible to analyze the influence of general education on the formation of life plans by the students of vocational colleges, and how this general education helps to realize these plans. Analysis showed that general education is in demand among the students of vocational junior high schools. Therefore, it seems that excluding general education from vocational junior high schools curricula could cause a decrease in enrollment in these schools, which would make the main goal of the education reform (namely, the production of competent, educated, motivated and modern teachers) even more difficult to achieve.

The article considers some aspects of the influence of education on income: how the level of education affects the probability of being employed and the job level, as well as how it affects the differentiation of incomes. It further considers the influence of income on education: the inequality in the access to education for children and adults. The research uses the data of the Russian monitoring of economics and health and of the National Survey of Well-Being of Households and Participation in Social Programs, as well as government statistics and specially created questionnaires. Recommendations for social policies in the sphere of education and income are given.

The article considers the problems of the emergence of Masters programs in Russia. If gives a brief historical review of approaches to the organization of such programs as they existed from the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. The author describes the features of Russian Masters programs that distinguish them from Western programs.

The article offers a historical survey of the emergence and development of pedagogical education in Russia from the 17th century up to the beginning of the 21st century. The leading national traditions in the pedagogical education dating from the end of the 17th century are elucidated, namely, the use of both «the university model» and of «the specialized model» of teachers’ training; and the understanding (since the beginning of the 19th century) that pedagogical education is the principal link on which the functioning of the entire educational system depends. The article defines and characterizes the traditional problems of the national education system, including the optimal proportion of general pedagogical disciplines and special disciplines in the curriculum for each historic period, and the quality and quantity of pedagogical colleges. The role of modernization in the general evolution of education in Russia is shown. The main directions in the development of the theory and practice of pedagogical education in 2003–2004 are formulated in the light of current target programs.

The article paints a social portrait of the faculty of Moscow universities from the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. The research is based on the study of personal sources and of numerous statistical data. The article provides information on the social status and the social, political and scientific activities of Moscow professors, and shows their role in the development of the national science and higher education in post-reform Russia. The influence of Moscow professors on the formation of a new type of personality and of new cultural connections in Russian society at the turn of the centuries is also discussed.

The article explores the special features of the functioning of quasimarket systems in the education sector and in the domain of health care in the UK. Interest in this institution is motivated by the necessity of reforms in the social sphere of the Russian economy. The chronic lack of funds and their inefficient use, the drain of skilled workforce, outdated facilities, and the low quality of provided services are all consequences of insufficient funding and the outdated structure of the education and health care sectors in Russia. In these circumstances, a change in the economical structure of these sectors can be considered only as a short-term solution. In the long run, the authorities face the problem of forming new institutions that will be able to create economic incentives both for the successful development of the education sector and for the emergence of affordable health care that would comply to modern standards of quality.