Teacher Education Reform as Political Theater: Russian Policy Dramas

Contents
Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
	Teacher Education Reforms in the Global Neoliberal Context
	Research Context: Educational Change in Russia
	Political Theater as a Conceptual Framework
	Anthropology of Policy as the Methodological Approach
		Research Sites and Data Sources
		The Researcher as Intern
	Overview
Part I: Historical Context: Sowing the Seeds of Discontent
	On the Eve of the Revolution: Education and Teacher Preparation in Imperial Russia
	The Revolution and the 1920s: The Time of Experiments and a Pursuit of New Forms
	The 1930s: The Emergence of a Dichotomy between Classical Universities and Pedagogical Institutes
	The 1940s: The Aftermath of the War and the Trouble with Base Schools
	Decades of the 1950s–1970s: The Rise of Competing Priorities
	The 1980s: The Beginning of the End and the Era of Innovators in Education
	The 1990s: Winds of Change Sweeping through the Country
	Transformations in the New Millennium: Let Modernization Begin (Again)!
	Concluding Thoughts
Part II: Directing Social Change: Russian Policy Dramas
	1. Actors
		Modernization Drama
		The Setting: LEU and Other Institutions
		Main Policy Actors
			Anton Mikhailovich
			Vadim Alekseyevich
			Joseph Abramovich
			Maksim Davydovich
			Sergey Valdisovich
			Oleg Victorovich
			Dmitriy Grigoryevich
			Fedor Aleksandrovich
			Tatyana Borisovna
			Larisa Nikolayevna
			Stepan Sergeyevich
			Michael Barber
			Georgiy Petrovich Shchedrovitsky
			Reformers’ Networks
	2. Masks and Guises
		The Mask of the Name
			Modernization
			The Promise of Support
			Role of the Policy: Scale and Use of State Resources
		The Mask of Intentions
		New Ideologies for Improving the Quality of the Teaching Force
			Increasing Practical Preparation
			Opening Entry into the Profession
			Decreased Authority of Pedagogical Universities
		Mask of Origins: New Words, New Worlds
		Mask of Uncertainty: Concrete Models or Abstract Proposals
		Mask of Evidence
		Concluding Thoughts
	3. Dress Rehearsals and Missing Directors
		Official Timeline
			Working Group
			First Meeting of the Working Group: February 2013
			Mirotropl’ Conference: April 2013
			Fevral’sk Conference: April 2013
			October Seminar at LEU
			Seminar at Ognensk State Pedagogical University: March 2013
		The Unofficial Timeline
			Auditions, or Recruitment for the Large Working Group
		Discrepancies in Timelines and Inner Workings of Power
			The President’s Speeches
			Pedagogical Education Reforms in Presidents’ Decrees and Roundtable Discussions
		Concluding Thoughts
		A Composite Chronology of Policy Formation Events
	4. Light and Shadows
		“Double Negative Selection”
		The Ministry of Education’s Monitoring of Higher Education Institutions
			Ineffective Institutions
			“The Ineffective Monitoring of Effectiveness”
			“Bringing Down” Pedagogical Universities
			“Defended, Not Surrendered”
		Building a New World: New Schools, New Teachers, and New Subjects
			New School Producing a New Subject
			New Teacher: Not to Enlighten or Educate, but to Develop and Regulate
			Shchedrovitsky Connection: Pedagogy to Blueprint New Subjects
		Corporate Connections: Shadows in the Dark
		Concluding Thoughts
	5. Props, Scripts, and Playwrights
		International Assessments
		Global Education Race
		Reforms in Other Countries
			The Study of International Experiences
		Michael Barber and the McKinsey Reports
		Overlaps in Scripts
		Universal versus National: The Drama of Preserving the Difference
		Concluding Thoughts
	6. Money Matters
		Battle Over the Concept
		Policy Metamorphosis
		Funding to Purchase Acquiescence
			Sources of Funding
			Grant Competition
		Training the Actors
			Initial Training
			Ongoing Training
			Final Run-Through to Streamline the Performance
		The November Conference: The Final Performance or a Premiere?
		The Aftermath
Epilogue
	Summary of the Modernization Drama
	Critical Reflexivity
	Theoretical Insights
		Actorhood
		Visibility and Responsibility
		Ethics in Political Theater
		Aesthetics in Political Theater
	Political Theater as a Tool of Coercion
	Practical Implications
		Political Theater as a Tool of Liberation
		Dialogic Engagement
		Collectivity
		Collaboration Across Borders
		Historicity
Appendix A. Summary of the Policy
Appendix B. Theoretical Foundations
	Performance
		Performance of Disguise
	Social Drama
	Political Spectacle
	Spectacle in the Postmodern Society
	Political Theater
Appendix C. Methodology and Data Analysis
	Critical Ethnography
	Multi-Sited Ethnography of Policy
	Fieldwork
	Analysis
	Text
	Insider/Outsider
Notes
References
Index