The realities of being a woman-teacher in the mountains of Tajikistan

This article presents the realities of being a woman teacher during the total and radical transition from Soviet to post-Soviet periods. The case of Nigin (a pseudonym) is presented through a dialectical, socio-historical and symbolic inter-actionist approach. This is constructed through (a) the amalgamation of various research methods (e.g., case study, life history and critical ethnography) used throughout data collection, analysis, and representation; (b) the presentation of Nigin’s life and work by moving between the larger context (district-village-school) and the classroom (content-methods-relations), and (c) employment of Nigin’s life and work as window to understanding the tensions between the continuities and changes in the society (e.g., modernity and tradition, free-market economy and socialism, religious revival and secularism, including incumbent atheism, literacy and education rhetoric and reality). By positioning Nigin’s life, educational worldview, instructional practices, and relationships at the center of the study, the case reveals how Nigin’s negotiation of her identity is constantly reshaped through the multiple realities and factors

Researching education and society in Central Asia

Although researching of and publishing on different aspects of the society in Central Asia and the post-Soviet world has become a popular activity in the international context, little attention is paid to the concept, processes, and conditions of researching in Central Asia itself. Yet, the quality of the research outcomes, which depend on the above factors, and which constitutes a foundation for policy and practice decisions, including in education is of paramount importance. This paper is about themes, concepts, issues and challenges involved in the process of understanding and carrying out research in Central Asia. It draws upon the outcomes of a number of experiences, namely: (a) the presenter’s personal experiences of conducting research in Central Asia, (b) interviews and informal conversations with a number of scholars involved in studying education and society in Central Asia, and (c) review of literature on research. The concepts and processes of researching are connected with literature on Soviet and post-Soviet research conditions. The paper highlights implications for the quality of research products, researching capacity, conditions of researching, and for training local and external researchers to undertake qualitative inquiry in Central Asia. Writing a paper on the challenges of educational research in Central Asia is a challenging task for a number of reasons, the most important of which is the dearth of reliable and valid data due to the underdeveloped research tradition in Central Asia, the lack of research facilities, critical scholarship and a lack of confidence in sharing the research data for identifying solutions to the problems

Challenges to education in Tajikistan: The need for research-based solutions

Education in Tajikistan today is acknowledged by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Tajikistan and by international agencies as facing many challenges. Infrastructure and materials need replacement or repair; curriculum needs to be adapted to changing conditions; professional development for teachers is required, while means to retain experienced teachers and attract new ones need to be found. At the same time, children\u27s\u27 meaningful access to education has been threatened by various factors that reduce their attendance and participation in education, keeping some youth out of school altogether. This chapter argues that research in education in Tajikistan and the development of research capacity throughout the educational system is one of the prerequisites for improving the education of youth in Tajikistan. The chapter outlines Soviet educational research traditions and the systematic centralization of curriculum development and research during Soviet times outside the republic and the resultant local underdevelopment of curriculum development and educational research capacity on independence. Educators in Tajikistan today are influenced by inherited and new ideas on curriculum, pedagogy, teacher training, textbooks and assessment, and analyzes documents issued by the Ministry of Education and the World Bank to identify current discourses on the education system\u27s needs. Nevertheless, there is still insufficient knowledge about the current state of education in Tajikistan, and a lack of information about the attitudes of all stakeholders towards educational change. The chapter cites recent field work on the lives and work of teachers in the field as an example of how practitioners\u27 experience is both in accord and discord with views of both the Ministry of Education and external educational development agencies, and suggests that effective long-term development of education in Tajikistan needs more grounding in qualitative and quantitative research, and a greater development of local research capacity at all levels of the educational system

Exploiting globalization while being exploited by it: Insights from Post-Soviet education reforms in Central Asia

Building on an examination of comparative and international literature and their research and development experiences, the authors highlight a number of continuities, changes, and issues between Soviet and post-Soviet, international and Central Asian experiences of borrowing and lending of education reforms. Even though Central Asian actors and institutions are not totally helpless victims and though international experts and NGOs appear well-meaning in these globalizing education transfers, the processes are leading toward reproducing global and local dependencies and inequalities.The trajectory of education reforms in Central Asia echo those of other developing countries. In response, the authors urge local policy makers and comparative educators to join in a critical and reflexive strategic venture of re-encountering and reshaping the global and neoliberal offers to serve the needs of interconnected local and global justice

Researching education and society in Central Asia

Although researching of and publishing on different aspects of the society in Central Asia and the post-Soviet world has become a popular activity in the international context, little attention is paid to the concept, processes, and conditions of researching in Central Asia itself. Yet, the quality of the research outcomes, which depend on the above factors, and which constitutes a foundation for policy and practice decisions, including in education is of paramount importance. This paper is about themes, concepts, issues and challenges involved in the process of understanding and carrying out research in Central Asia. It draws upon the outcomes of a number of experiences, namely: (a) the presenter’s personal experiences of conducting research in Central Asia, (b) interviews and informal conversations with a number of scholars involved in studying education and society in Central Asia, and (c) review of literature on research. The concepts and processes of researching are connected with literature on Soviet and post-Soviet research conditions. The paper highlights implications for the quality of research products, researching capacity, conditions of researching, and for training local and external researchers to undertake qualitative inquiry in Central Asia. Writing a paper on the challenges of educational research in Central Asia is a challenging task for a number of reasons, the most important of which is the dearth of reliable and valid data due to the underdeveloped research tradition in Central Asia, the lack of research facilities, critical scholarship and a lack of confidence in sharing the research data for identifying solutions to the problems