The problems of globalization in education, joining of Kazakhstan to the Bologna process, its influence to the development of high school science, an openness of educational theories are considered in this article.
Globalization as the megatendency of development of education is traced in the most of the countries of the world. Globalization of education as the term can be found in works of international scientists and specialists. We shall note, that the process of globalization includes two directions (it is bilateral), i.e. on the one hand there are impulses sent by the countries generating integration processes, on the other hand - there is a desire of the country itself to be integrated into the world educational space.
In Kazakhstan the next key characteristics are traced:
⇒ "localization" - penetration and adaptation of the western methods and techniques, technologies and forms of education. However the internal content either remains the same, or undergoes serious adaptive processes (for example, credit system of education);
- " Horizontal communications " - introducing forms of western high schools in education system of Republic of Kazakhstan (for example, KIMEP); nascence of the international high schools based on partnership of two states and financed by them (for example, the Kazak-British technical university, the Kazakhstan-Russian university, etc.);
- Realization of joint scientific and educational projects;
- Openness of the education system that enable an increase of the number of foreign students, as well as opportunity of citizens of RK to learn, to improve their skills abroad. The portion of such students is gradually increasing (for example, amount of students who won the grant of the state program "Bolashak" to study abroad increased from 785 students in the period 1994-2004 and achieved 3000 ones from 2005). At the same time, on the other hand, an expansion of the education content by the "transnational knowledge" (new theories of various sciences);
- formation of distance learning system;
⇐ Aspiration to enter into the international educational space enables the unification of levels of preparation (bachelor degree - master degree - PhDoctor degree), educational standards, recognition of educational documents, degrees, etc.;
- Unification of specializations according to the International standard classification of education (UNESCO)
- universities and the high schools Joining to the international and regional associations;
- The international accreditation of educational programs in the foreign centers of assessment and accreditation, etc.
The program documents and decrees on education development were accepted by Kazakhstan Government, the reforms on integration into world educational space are systematically introduced.
Nowadays the Ministry of Education and sciences of Republic of Kazakhstan goes through active negotiations on joining the Declaration of Bologna in 2009. Analysis of the Bologna process development history and its comparison, confront to the Kazakhstan reforms clearly illustrate the influence of decisions of Bologna agreements on trends of reform evolution in Kazakhstan. It is connected not only with Bologna process, but also with the process of globalization of a society, universal tendencies of educational policy of the developed countries and decisions made at the forums of UNESCO, forums of Ministers of Education of the countries OECD. In particular, the 6 tasks of the Bologna declaration of 1999 were transformed into the 10 tasks of the current period of development. Just in 2003 there was a significant qualitative turn - orientation to the European translation system of test units ЕСТS, to the uniform sample of the diploma supplement of UNESCO, to three-levelness of the higher and postgraduate education "the bachelor degree - a master degree - PhD degree", to the affiliating to process of the CIS countries, including our neighbor Russia. Since 2003 in Kazakhstan the credit system of study was actively introduced, since 2005 the postgraduate school of the first level named "aspirantura" and this one of the second level named "doctorantura" were transformed to Philosophy Doctoral studies. Now RK high schools have actively joined in process of the international accreditation of educational programs.
The Principles of Bologna process considerably transform modern Kazakhstan education, create really its new identity. More than 10 years of reforms to approach the Kazakhstan education to the international one, understanding of new tasks require a new mentality, a new way of thinking from teachers. However without high skilled internal potential of personnel of high schools, without national traditions and large methodical schools, without high methodical preparation of teachers these significant transformations are impossible.
The question of transformation of the post-graduate study of the first level (aspirantura) and the second level (doctorantura) to the master and Ph Doctoral studies is ambiguous. The Soviet system of science (candidates and doctors) is more specialty-oriented and designated that corresponds to modern development of a science. In our opinion transition to unique PhD degree is one step back at the preparation of the scientific staff. One can evaluate it by comparing the list of scientific specialist branches of RK and the classifier of specialist branches of the high and postgraduate education of the doctoral studies PhD. Now in RK the question to leave as it is the scientific degree of the doctor of sciences is discussed. The degree of Ph Doctor is recognized as educational (academic) and a scientific degree close to the candidate of sciences..
After evaluating all pluses and minuses, we are for the integration into the European educational space. Its advantages are the mobility of students and teacher, of specialists, the transparency of the educational levels, availability of the European education, opportunity of continuation of education abroad, strengthening of a high school science, etc. However there is a necessity of a competent educational policy of our state that can in advance predict how to resolve difficult questions and arising problems with the least losses, as softly as possible.
We emphasize a great value of development of the high school as the "research and innovative university". Al-Farabi Kazakh National University is the leader of the Kazakhstan education, takes the first place in a Kazakhstan high school rating. Here the great attention was always paid to education and development of scientific schools, expansion of a scientific infrastructure of the university. The university conducts annually more than 200 scientific researches, about 60 of them are international i.e. with foreign partners. Modern integration processes activated comparative researches of education. It is connected as with the analysis on the macrolevel that is analysis of developments of national education systems, so as comparative researches on the microlevel that means educational theories and technologies of education.
The openness of the Kazakhstan education allows to compare our high schools to foreign partners. In April 2008 the group of the Kazakhstani teachers of al-Farabi KazNU directed by professor G.K.Akhmetova passed training in CALT UCL of the London open university. The first comparative evaluation of researches in the field of education and the techniques of education in our university and these ones in UCL has allowed us to allocate following similar positions in approaches:
- research of globalization and internationalization of education, preparing of the international curriculum;
- planning and organization of educational environments, including electronic;
- planning and organization of education process;
- application of active methods of education and electronic education;
- application of methods of problematic education, etc.
From the scientific and practical points of view differences are:
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Kazakhstan |
Great Britain |
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Terminology: educational technologies, technology of education, etc. In our didactics the next concepts are intelligibly defined and divided.: methods of training and methods of teaching, laws and principles of training, etc There is a term of education as education of qualities of the specialist, etc. |
The next terminology is often used: strategy of training, tactics of training, etc. The Main idea of training: designing of knowledge by students themselves. For techniques of training the key ingredients of training are defined; principles of training are developed for use of each method. Techniques of how to use the certain method of training are more detailed. The role of the teacher-facilitator is constantly detailed, etc. |
Nowadays technologies of education are based on the idea of independent construction forming of knowledge by students (construction knowledge) in foreign methodology of education. And we speak more often about the transfer of system of basic knowledge, and then about education of skills to expand, fill up the knowledge with "construction of knowledge in system".
We discussed some questions of pedagogical science and its development with English colleagues. However, they tell about the theory of education, psychology of education, avoiding to use the concept of pedagogics. Such approach explains absence of uniformity in terms, unequivocal understanding of categories of a pedagogical science and complicates precise statement of problems. Studying of German, Italian and other European traditions shows another approach. In a high school practice foreign teachers use well known technologies of active training in small group, problem training, etc. In the base of developed detailed technologies Dr. M. Weyes offers three ideas: stimulation of the deep approach, taxonomy SOLO of Biggs, taxonomy of 6 basic cognitive levels of Blum. In Kazakhstan great value is attached to development of pedagogical innovations, for example, to works of S.T.Shaubaeva, S.N.Loktionova, etc. Features of innovative education are: (a) work on an advancing, an anticipation of development; (b) an openness to the future; (c) an orientation on the person, his/her development; (d) obligatory presence of creativity elements; (e) partner type of relations (cooperation, coauthorship, mutual aid), etc. We together with the Senior Teacher of The General and Ethnic Pedagogics faculty in the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. M. Sadvakassova have collected more than 120 innovative methods of education which are presented in the study-guide "Innovative methods of education or How to teach interestingly".
Comparison of theoretical positions of the Kazakhstan and foreign pedagogics allows to speak about similar development of the theory (the theory of education and pedagogics), however we lag a bit behind in practical realization and we had to work a lot.
The work is submitted to Scientific Conference "The Problems of International Integration of Educational Standards", England (London) - France (Paris), April 20-28, 2009. Came to the Editor´s Office on 10.02.2009.