CONF.- Challenges of Education Reform: Central Asia, Columbia U., Jan. 23-24
Posted by: Rafis Abazov <polra99@hotmail.com>
Harriman Institute
Presents
The Challenges of Education Reform:
Central Asia in a Global Context
International Conference
The event is free and open to the public
Dates: Friday, January 23- Saturday 24, 2009
Location: The Kellogg Center, International Affairs Building, Room 1501.
International Affairs Building ,
420 West 118th street,
New York, NY 10027
For more information please contact Alla Rachkov, email: ra2044@columbia.edu
Iveta Silova, email: ism207@lehigh.edu
Rafis Abazov, email: ar2052@columbia.edu
The program and the list of participants also available on our website;
http://www.harrimaninstitute.org/programs/central_asian_events.html
Conference Program
January 23, 2009
Time: 9:30 - 11:00 a.m.
Location: The Kellogg Center, International Affairs Building, Room 1501.
(1) Education Reform in Central Asia: Commonalities and Varieties or
of Post-Socialist Transformation
Reflecting on almost 20 years of post-Soviet transformations, this
panel will examine some of the commonalities and varieties of
education development trends in Eastern/Central Europe, the former
Soviet Union, with particular attention to Central Asia. Do the
countries of the former socialist bloc share any common features of
post-socialist education reform? Are there any education reform
features that are unique to Central Asia and/or vary within the
Central Asian region? To what extent are "lessons learned" in the
former socialist bloc (Eastern and Central Europe and the former
Soviet Union) relevant to Central Asian countries in general and
Turkmenistan in particular?
Chair: Catharine Theimer Nepomnyashchy, Director, Harriman Institute,
Columbia University
Panelists:
* Education Reform in Central Asia and the Republic of Kazakhstan,
Ambassador Aitimova (Kazakhstan's Ambassador to the United Nations,
former Minister of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan)
* Varieties of Post-Socialist Education Transformations, Iveta
Silova, Assistant Professor of Comparative and International Education
(Lehigh University)
* Can Post-Soviet Education Systems Build Knowledge-Based Societies?
Mark Johnson, Associate Professor of History (Colorado College)
Discussant:
* Vladimir Briller, Director of Strategic Planning and Institutional
Research, Pratt Institute
Time: 11:30 - 1:00 p.m.
Location: The Kellogg Center, International Affairs Building, Room 1501.
(2) Higher Education Reform in Central Asia: New Challenges and Opportunities
Since the collapse of the socialist bloc, universities across the
region have been coping with new challenges and opportunities. They
have attempted to make their curricula relevant to global labor
markets. They have managed to introduce new technologies and adhere to
new criteria for equity and administrative efficiency. How have
universities in Eastern/Central Europe and the former Soviet Union
responded to these challenges? Are there any "lessons learned" in
Eastern/Central Europe that could be meaningfully applied in Central
Asia? This panel will discuss issues of distance education, Internet
technologies, liberal arts, and other key challenges and opportunities
in higher education reform.
Chair: Jenik Radon, Adjunct Assistant Professor of International and
Public Affairs, Columba University
Panelists:
* Comparative Issues in Central Asian Higher Education Reform, Steven
Heyneman, Professor of International Education Policy (Vanderbilt
University)
* The Geography and Geometry of the Bologna Process: Centers,
Peripheries and the Possible Invisible Hands, Voldermar Tomusk, Ph.D.,
Open Society Institute Higher Education Support Program (HESP)
* Internationalizing Higher Education in Central Asia: Definitions,
Rationales, Scope, and Choices, Martha Merrill, Associate Professor of
Higher Education (Kent State University)
Discussant:
* Peter D. Jones, Post-Doctoral Fellow (University of Bristol)
Time: 2:30 - 4:00 p.m.
Location: The Kellogg Center, International Affairs Building, Room 1501.
(3) Aligning international aid with local education priorities:
Examining Western and alternative technical assistance in Central Asia
In many Central Asian countries, the contours of post-Soviet education
reform have been increasingly set by international donors, including
the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, UN agencies, USAID, and
international NGOs. However, it is still common to find a mismatch
between the discourse of donors and the needs and homegrown strategies
of countries in the region. At the international level, donors have
been increasingly able to "speak the same language" by orienting their
efforts towards pre-defined sets of targets like those embodied in
Education for All and the Millennium Development Goals. Nonetheless,
it is still to be seen whether those initiatives truly resonate with
national governments and the way forward they see for their own
dilemmas. This panel will spur extensive discussion about the
interaction between international donors and governments in
educational agenda setting and will examine concrete cases of
alignment/conflict between aid providers and aid recipients in education.
Chair: Alex Cooley, Associate Professor of Political Science, Barnard
College, Columbia University
Panelists:
* Dealing with Western Donors: The Conditions of SWAP, Paris
Declaration, and Strategy Development, Gita Steiner-Khamsi, Professor
of Comparative Education (Teachers College, Columbia University)
* Higher Education as Foreign Policy: The European Union and Central
Asia, Peter D. Jones, Post-Doctoral Fellow (University of Bristol)
* Alternatives to Western Aid: Enlightenment from within the Muslim
World, Victoria Clement, Assistant Professor of History (Western
Carolina University)
Discussant:
* Steven Heyneman, Professor of International Education Policy
(Vanderbilt University)
Time: 4:30 - 6:00 p.m.
Location: The Kellogg Center, International Affairs Building, Room 1501.
(4) Use of Information Technologies in Education
This panel will asses new trends in using information technologies and
new media in transferring knowledge (teaching) and creating knowledge
(research). American universities have been among the pioneers in
utilizing information technologies and new media in a classroom and
have accumulated significant experience and know-how. The speakers
will discuss current trends and debates related to the innovative use
of information technologies in the classroom. What have we learned
from past experience? Is this know-how transferable to developing and
transitional countries? How can we utilize this experience in
developing future cooperation in the field of education between
Columbia University and Central Asian Universities?
Chair: Rafis Abazov, Adjunct Assistant Professor (School of
International and Public Affairs and Harriman Institute, Columbia
University)
Panelists:
* Louise Rosen, Earth Institute (Columbia University)
* Sreenath Sreenivasan, Dean of Student Affairs and Professor (School
of Journalism, Columbia University)
* Gita Steiner-Khamsi, Professor of Comparative Education (Teachers
College, Columbia University) & Hugh McLean, Director of Education
Support Programs (Open Society Institute, London)
Discussant:
* Catharine Theimer Nepomnyashchy, Director, Harriman Institute,
Columbia University
January 24, 2009
Time: 9:30 - 11:00 a.m.
Location: The Kellogg Center, International Affairs Building, Room 1501.
(5) Teacher professionalism and status in the post-Soviet school environment
This panel will examine how post-socialist transformations have
affected the professional status and morale of schoolteachers in
Central Asia. In particular, it will examine whether and how low
teacher salaries contribute to the declining status of the teaching
profession, making teaching unattractive. Furthermore, it will discuss
why most countries face teacher shortages in rural areas and
experience a feminization and an over-aging of the teaching
profession. Besides demonstrating the urgent need for reform, an
examination of the change in the professional status of teachers also
lends itself to the study of globalization in education. Almost twenty
years after the political upheaval that took place in this part of the
world, teacher salaries in the region have been strikingly resistant
to major changes. Does the current fragmented salary structure in the
region reflect the cultural understanding of the teacher's role? What
are the implications of the continuing decline of the teaching status
in the region?
Chair: Iveta Silova, Assistant Professor of Comparative and
International Education, Lehigh University
Panelists:
* From Teaching Load to Workload: The Consequences of Teacher Salary
Reform in the Former Socialist Bloc, Christine Harris-van Keuren
(Teachers College, Columbia University)
* Teaching as a Profession in Contemporary Kyrgyzstan, Alan DeYoung,
Professor of Education (University of Kentucky )
* Dilemmas and Challenges of Teachers' Professional Lives in
Post-Soviet Tajikistan: What Sort of Teachers' Professionalism Could
we Talk About? Sarfaroz Niyozov, Assistant Professor of Education
(OISE, University of Toronto)
* Testing the system: Examining teacher corruption in Central Asia,
Eric Johnson, recent Teachers College PhD graduate now living in Ghana.
Discussant:
* Kathryn H. Anderson, Professor of Economics, Vanderbilt University
Time: 11:30 - 1:00 p.m.
Location: The Kellogg Center, International Affairs Building, Room 1501.
(6) Education in Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan has faced many challenges and experienced many
opportunities in education since the fall of the Soviet Union. Limited
access to Turkmenistan since the 1990s has, however, perplexed
scholars and researchers seeking to understand the central issues
posed by education reform in this Central Asian country. Now with the
budding relationship between Turkmenistan and Columbia University, a
unique opportunity exists for a new look at the changes and future
plans for education in Turkmenistan. This panel will consist of
Turkmen delegation officials, and will engage the audience in a
meaningful dialogue. What does education look like in Turkmenistan
today? What are the newly defined educational priorities? How is new
leadership transforming the education landscape in Turkmenistan? What
are the problems, benefits, and strategies for internationalizing the
Turkmen education system?
Chair: Kimberly Marten, Professor and Department Chair, Department of
Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University
Panelists:
* Members of the Turkmen Delegation
Discussant:
* Kimberly Marten, Professor and Department Chair, Department of
Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University
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