Позитивные изменения. Образование. Школа будущего (Тематический выпуск, 2022)/Positive changes. Education. The school of the future (Special issue, 2

«Все-таки есть преподаватели, энтузиасты своего дела, которые горят своей работой. И, конечно же, много замотивированных детей, которые хотят учиться. Есть дети с уникальными способностями. Это все тоже заслуга в большей степени учителей. Оснащение школ, отношение преподавателей к детям меняется. Потому что они все-таки понимают, что ребенок есть ребенок, и учатся находить подход, учатся находить время для каждого ребенка, используют разные методы и опыт зарубежных школ. Просто это все пока не внедряется повсеместно. Но будем надеяться, что в школе будущего все будет по-другому», — заключает Татьяна Глицан.

Schools in Russia and Abroad: What to Learn, and Why

Yuliya Vyatkina

DOI 10.55140/2782–5817–2022–2-S1–22–29

What is the difference between the approaches to learning in Russian and foreign schools? For example, why do graduates of British private schools often succeed in life, become politicians, Nobel Prize winners, and Oscar winners? The editorial board of the Positive Changes Journal tried to understand why secondary foreign education is so popular among our compatriots and find out what Russian schools lack and whether domestic education has any strengths in comparison.

Yulia Vyatkina

Editor, Positive Changes Journal

WHY MANY PEOPLE WANT TO STUDY ABROAD

Traditionally, parents worldwide are interested in the schools of the United Kingdom, United States and Canada. The success of the students attending these schools can be measured by how many of them entered foreign universities, such as Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and other famous higher educational institutions in Great Britain and North America. Another way to gauge the level of preparation of students in foreign schools is to see what positions they get to in the future.

Karina Sharin, the founder and director of Chelsea Education, writes in her book "How to Give Your Child a British Education without Going Broke and Losing Your Nerve” that "the real English education is the best gift you can give your child, other than love". According to her, this will make a child grow up a confident person, capable of forming, expressing and defending his/ her own opinion. He/she will have friends all over the world, and he/she will speak pure English, which he/she will never forget. Having "soft skills" will make it easy for him/her to build a career.

What is the reason? As experts in international education say, the curricula of Russian and foreign schools differ greatly in their approach to teaching, to the children themselves, and to the organization of the school space.

For example, schoolchildren in Russia study a large number of subjects without any choice (any options only appearing in the senior specialized classes), while in Great Britain subject specialization begins much earlier. The older the child gets, the more narrowly focused the curriculum will be. In fact, by the time our schoolchildren reach the 9th grade, their peers in Britain have already completed the general education curriculum, and the high school education, with its specialized curriculum, gives them advantage when entering the University.

The U. S. and Canadian educational programs are much like the Russian educational system. American schools have their own final exams — the SAT and ACT, while Russia has the Unified State Exam, or USE. In addition, just like in Russia, there is a large pool of compulsory subjects there, which a student must master throughout the school years. Some subjects are studied all the way through high school. However, the older the children get, the more choice they have in what subjects they like or need for further study.

In Russia, school is primarily a knowledge base, which is important for admission to the university. In foreign schools, along with academic knowledge, a lot of focus is on developing soft skills. This includes, first of all, leadership skills, not necessarily entrepreneurial ones; rather we are talking about organizing teamwork.

Over the last couple of years, according to experts in international education, American schools have set more ambitious goals for themselves: they want to raise proactive leaders who will contribute to a better future, to benefit the world.

Other soft skills taught abroad include emotional intelligence and time management. The schedule in foreign schools is quite strict, you have to plan everything yourself and be responsible for the result. In the future, this helps when you enter the university and, of course, in professional life.