PIRLS 2006 Encyclopedia

PIRLS 2006 EncyclopediaThe teacher training curriculum for each higher education institution is developedon the basis of the State Education Standards for higher professional education andincludes the study plan, programs of study for all subjects and courses, and programsfor teaching practice in school. The curriculum includes federal, regional or institutional,and student components. The federal component, covering 70% of training time,ensures that all students across the country studying the same specialization at highereducation institutions would have 70% of the content of education in common. Thedistribution of time between the institutional and student components is decided by theindividual institutions.The teacher-training curriculum includes four cycles of subjects and electivecourses. There is no specialization in teaching reading. Training in the teaching ofreading is included in methodology and instruction in teaching Russian language andliterature course. Each cycle includes federal, regional or institutional, and studentcomponents. The first cycle, accounting for about 17% of class time and consisting ofgeneral humanitarian and social-economic subjects, is relatively the same for all highereducation institutions, regardless of the specialization. The following subjects, only fourof which are compulsory for all higher education institutions, are included in the firstcycle: foreign language, physical education, history of the fatherland, philosophy, culture,politics, jurisprudence, Russian language and the culture of speech, sociology, philosophy,and economics. The second cycle consists of general mathematics and general sciencesubjects (5% of class time). The third cycle, general professional subjects (18% of classtime) for primary education, includes psychology (492 hours), pedagogy (500 hours), ageanatomy, physiology and hygiene, and the basics of medicine. Finally, the professionalcycle accounts for the largest block of time (55% of class time) and includes Russianlanguage, children’s literature, introduction to the history of literature, methodologyand instruction in teaching Russian language and literature (570 hours), mathematics(250 hours), science, technology, fine arts, and music. Elective courses represent thesmallest proportion in the curriculum (5% of class time).Russian FederationTeacher In-service EducationPrimary teachers take part in in-service training every 5 years. In-service teacher trainingis no longer compulsory and is in the process of changing its orientation to align withthe new goals of education. The emphasis has switched from subject content to studentdevelopment, so that teachers will receive more training in active learning strategies andchild development.According to the state education policy, teachers’ work will be evaluated not byknowledge level but by the main developmental indicators of their students. Accordingly,some in-service training focuses on new ways of assessing student achievementand development.338