My English exam certificate

The week seems to have gone great! I’ve read the entries by Kathrin and Emmy from the Global Media Forum, which I find quite interesting. In spite of the red tape that prevented me from visiting the conference and meeting my fellow bloggers, several positive things relating to education happened to me, as well, this week. They brought about a storm of emotions, but they also gave some food for thought.

First of all, shortly before the launch of our education blog, a group of my adult students and I took part in an international English exam. And I’m really glad to hear that most of my students passed it successfully and got their certificates from Europe this week!

During the course we’ve also touched upon their expectations and life goals. Despite having different ages and positions in society, everyone agreed that learning a foreign language would give them many more opportunities abroad. For some, that meant in terms of working (one of my students was an international journalist). For others, it was about having the chance to study abroad. Some even hinted at encouraging their children to emigrate – if they end up not doing it themselves (This is a topic I discussed here). I hope the summer will give my students a chance to put their skills into practice and endow them with new ambitions.

Summer: time for some relaxation

Secondly, my university group had to go through defending our senior theses, the research papers that are required to earn our degrees – and we did it successfully! Looking back on the months we spent on preparing our research and analyzing statistics, I wonder to myself whether out efforts were worth it; did we pursue anything apart from getting a top mark? But unfortunately, I cannot answer with an emphatic “yes.” Why?

Well, any department offers its students a range of topics for their senior papers – but in regional universities, there are more chances to get a topic that has nothing to do with real life and the skills you may need in building your future. It’s mostly because some universities give courses for appearances’ sake – to show off (“Look, we’ve opened a new department this year – it’s like in the X university, which is in the top 50 in Russia. Of course, what they do not say is: We don’t have enough staff to deal with the curriculum and the equipment is a bit out-of-date.”). This is where the issue of a degree’s value arises. Still, in my group there were research papers devoted either to the professional sphere (a project on a new type of language school) or to vital social topics (like tolerance).

It kind of makes me think of Pink Floyd and the image of a wall. In a positive sense, I now have a new brick to add to my educational wall, and I intend to continue building it.

We need action on the ground, not high-flying abstractions

As Maria noted in her last entry, she believes the social dialogue in Argentina is heading the wrong way – and it seems that every country faces such points in its development. As I look back on my university years, I agree with her.

Sometimes there is too much talking and not enough real action (I don’t just mean the educational sphere only; it can be noticed in all of Russian economic or political life). With all due respect to the talented and brilliant professors and teachers of previous generations who helped several Russian geniuses (mathematician Grigori Perelman, for example) to reveal their potential, I would like to see changes in educational life. What’s quite interesting is that many of my fellow students feel the same; the demand for a new model is in the air. At the same time, those in charge of social institutions are a bit puzzled about the future – as a result, society moves both forward and backward. It reminds me of a fable where three animals have to make enormous efforts to move a carriage, but the carriage remains stuck in one place because they couldn’t come to an agreement.

Documents for senior year research in linguistics

What do I mean by “backward?” All of the red tape and bureaucracy is one example. It’s especially apparent when students prepare their final year research projects. But those pushing forward are stronger. It makes me glad to hear when people are doing things not for bureaucratic abstractions but for concrete goals, like when friends of mine say they are doing something for particular people (working as a tutor or launching their own projects, for example). That is a lot better than hearing they are working for abstract things like “customers” or “corporations.”

I hope the conference devoted to education – Global Media Forum, which is taking place in Germany this week and where my fellow bloggers are in attendance – will result in significant action (especially with the many participants from other continents in attendance). And I hope it will prompt people or small organizations working in education to promote learning and to encourage others to be not just another face in the crowd but to stand out with their own ideas and goals.

It’s like playing chess where you learn to think ahead in order not to lose. Once you adapt the strategy of chess to real life – you’ll benefit!

Taking a bit of time before starting college isn't a bad idea

Kathrin’s recent entry mentioned Simon, whose worries as a pupil made me think about something relating to education beyond universities. A favorite topic among those getting ready to graduate: the gap year.

As I understand, it’s quite popular in Western countries. A spare year is open to you; it allows you to broaden your horizons while learning something new or doing some part-time work – or simply travel. One of its aims is to give you some extra time to plan your future. It’s natural that your interests may lie in different spheres by the end of school – so I think it’s good to take some time to think them over and decide where you want your path to lead. But for some reason, this positive phenomenon is practically unknown in lots of countries, including Russia. Why?
One reason is that the number of universities and colleges has increased significantly over the last two decades – getting higher education has been made into a fetish. If you don’t have a diploma or don’t enter a university immediately after school – you are seen as a loser. What about those who have some peculiarities of mental development or have shown no interest in further education? Jobs that require physical skills could be a good solution for them, but the system of colleges and vocational schools has degraded since the early 1990s, when “the new Russia” appeared on the political map. And it is really difficult to rebuild this system – but it is vital if we don’t want to over-saturate the market with university diplomas that are hiding the fact that graduates have few professional skills. That can happen especially in regions where universities created courses within their programs but never found qualified professors to be responsible for teaching them.

I'd like to see gap years become more popular in Russia

Another reason people don’t go for gap years in Russia may be that all males over 18 must spend a year in the army. There are some ways to defer conscription, and studying in a university means getting it. As most boys finish school at 17, they have to enter university right after it, otherwise they will be recruited. But why don’t people want to spend a year in the army? Well, unfortunately, people in Russia think there’s too much violence against younger conscripts and too much corruption. That’s why parents prefer their sons to go on to college. I wonder why don’t consider reforming the army. After all, that’s what civil society is supposed to do when it is not satisfied with a situation.

The third reason that stops people is money. Travelling during a gap year is not what many families can afford (and teenagers usually haven’t saved much money themselves by the end of school), so parents invest in the traditional model of education. Self-education used not to be popular, but as Bob Dylan sang, “The times they are a-changin’…”.

I do hope the practice of a gap year will spread among the people in my country. It means experience, learning how to manage your independence – it’s another brick in building your personality.