Russian Federation

In 1998-1999 teachers were trained at 670 educational institutions, including 81 pedagogical universities and institutes, 61 classical universities, 22 other VUZs, 183 pedagogical colleges, 163 pedagogical secondary schools, as well as 96 institutions of advanced training and professional retraining. The number of teachers employed in secondary education exceeded 2,000,000. Out of 1,700,000 teachers working at state schools, 75 percent had a higher education. The share of teachers with specialized secondary education was 23.0 percent in general secondary education and 72.5 percent in preschools.

The secondary professional level of teacher training is represented by pedagogical schools (uchilishcha) and pedagogical colleges, the latter usually affiliated with higher educational institutions. Uchilishcha and colleges train preprimary, primary, and incomplete secondary school teachers. The length of study is two or three years. The specialization may be in labor, art, technical drawing, music, singing, or physical training. An important part in the curricula belongs to the subjects of the psychological and pedagogical cycle: anatomy, physiology, hygiene, psychology, and methods of teaching. Great attention is also devoted to the profile disciplines, which provide the necessary professional level in a particular area. This kind of education is regarded as the initial stage of teacher training. Graduates can go on to study at higher educational institutions. Joint programs established between VUZs and secondary pedagogical schools or colleges (complexes of continuing education: school, VUZ, or pedagogical college VUZ) allow students to proceed directly to the second or third year of the institute or university.

The second stage, higher pedagogical education, exists either as the traditional five-year model, or the new multilevel model (four plus two years), which consists of module-blocks, rather than traditional subject cycles. The six areas of knowledge constituting the curricula include: "Natural Sciences," "Socioeconomic Issues," "Humanitarian Issues," "Professional Training," "Pedagogy," and "Art." Students are regularly required to engage in teaching practice, which lasts several weeks. Most of the teachers are trained in two specialties, but only 30 percent of them use their minor in practice. The teachers' usual workload is 18 hours a week. They receive extra pay for the work done above this norm or for additional responsibilities (acting as class academic director).

Every five years teachers have to participate in advanced training organized by specialized institutes or departments. Some 78 teacher training VUZs have postgraduate programs in 14 areas of knowledge (more than 80 specialties with 3,000 students). Schools usually maintain close contacts with local methodological councils and institutes of advanced training. The latter offer traditional short-term courses, a combination of full-time and part-time studies, independent work, individual consultations, and problem solving seminars. Teachers also take part in professional development seminars and conferences, attend lectures delivered by university professors, and discuss their colleagues' demonstration classes. State social organizations, such as the Council for Teacher Training Education, the Association of Pedagogical Universities and Institutes, and local councils of directors of secondary pedagogical institutions, play an important part in the unfolding of an effective teachers' network. Participation in advanced training is counted in the process of attestation.

In 1992 the Ministry of Education developed unified principles for the attestation of primary and secondary school teachers. It established twelve qualification groups and four categories that would reflect the teacher's professional level. The teacher's qualification is assessed every five years by special commissions and involves two stages: a qualification test in the form of an examination, interview, report, or defense of a project; and an analysis of the teacher's lessons; testing the students' knowledge; colleague, parent, and student evaluation of the teacher's work. The first category is the highest and requires significant teaching experience, excellent knowledge of the subject, use of innovative methods and materials, leadership, creativity, and active participation in extracurricular events. The salary depends on the assigned category.

There is no special training for university professors. They are usually recruited from capable graduates with good research potential. Their total annual workload, including all kinds of activities (teaching, research, methodological and extracurricular work) is 1,550 hours. The decision about the number of classroom hours (from 150 to 900) is made individually for each faculty member. University professors also have to upgrade their qualification once every five years. They can take a sabbatical (from one to twelve months long) in order to study the experience of their colleagues at other universities, consult with senior scholars, or do research of their own. Aspirantura and doktorantura are also considered to be forms of advanced training. After five years of work in a particular faculty position, university teachers have to go through a competition process. In reality, it is not so much a competition, but rather a report on the previous five years of work with recommendations for the future made by immediate supervisors and colleagues.

The most influential research institution is the Russian Academy of Education (RAO). It was established in 1991, upon the disintegration of the Soviet Union, on the basis of the USSR Academy of Pedagogical Science. RAO has five regional branches: Siberian (Krasnoyarsk), North-Western (St. Petersburg), Southern (Rostov), Central (Moscow), and Volga Region (Kazan). The staff of the Academy is engaged in fundamental research, which deals with the history and theory of education and upbringing, the development of methodological aspects and basic principles of schooling, and other issues.

Limited resources in the educational sphere, nonpayment of salaries, and distrust of the official promises to improve the state of schools have significantly injured the reputation of the teaching profession. Consequently, more than 11 percent of teaching positions in preschool and general secondary education (89,100 spaces) is vacant. The situation is especially bad in rural areas, where only 40 percent of schools and 19.5 percent preschools have enough teachers (in the city correspondingly 59.0 percent and 80.5 percent). In the late 1990s the teachers' trade union organized a number of strikes to demand the payment of salaries from the government. The teachers, traditionally used to the role of the conscience of society, detested the idea of going on strike, but for many of them it was the last resort in the struggle for the right to be paid for their work. Another problem is the lack of male influence in secondary schools, because teaching has become predominantly a female occupation; in 1998-1999 more than 80 percent of teachers were women.

Because of the development of personality-oriented pedagogy, teacher training institutions are increasingly charged with the task of diversifying their programs. The establishment of schools of new types (lyceums, gymnasiums, colleges, etc) requires a supply of teachers with indepth knowledge of particular subjects and a greater research potential. On the other hand, numerous institutions for children with health problems and deviant behavior create the demand for defectologists, psychologists, and specialists of other profiles. The flow of refugees from the former republics of the Soviet Union accounts for great numbers of children with insufficient knowledge of Russian and different levels of preparation in basic subjects. Institutions also face the necessity to train teachers for the sociocultural sphere and the expanding network of non-formal education. All these factors indicate that the areas and types of activities for teachers with higher education have substantially extended. There are 42 officially distinguished pedagogical specialties.

Among the priorities of the Russian government is the development of legal, economic, and cultural conditions for continuous teacher training, enhancing the prestige, social status, and the living conditions of teachers. The decision to increase the share of expenses on education in the federal budget is expected to bring the teachers' salaries up to the level of average wages in industry.

The National Doctrine of Education, the laws "On Education," "On Higher and Post-Graduate Education," and the Program of the Development of Teacher Training Education in Russia in 2001 to 2010 have formulated the following requirements to the system of teacher training: to provide higher education for all the teachers employed in preprimary and general educational institutions; to create conditions for their further professional growth through advanced training; to attract talented specialists to the educational system; and to ensure adequate conditions for the work of specialist with advanced degrees in institutions of higher learning.