Teachers' Pedagogical Approaches in Kyrgyzstan
Teachers’ Pedagogical Approaches in Kyrgyzstan: Changes and Challenges Duishon Alievich Shamatov Introduction This chapter describes pedagogical approaches that are used by teachers in primary and secondary schools of Kyrgyzstan, and presents the results of a study, conducted in 2013, which was designed to increase understanding of pedagogical approaches and thereby contribute to future reforms in national education policies and educational practices for improved learning. Background Country context Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a small, landlocked and mountainous independent nation in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan’s territory is close to 200,000 square kilometres, bordering China to the east, Tajikistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west and Kazakhstan to the north (Shamatov, 2005). Kyrgyzstan was previously one of the 15 republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Soviet rule was established between 1918 and 1922 (Landau and Kellner-Heinkele, 2001). During Soviet rule, and especially from the 1960s onwards, many Kyrgyz people became “Russified” (Ibraimov, 2001). This was reflected in people’s dress, personal behaviour, language and modes of speech at the time (Akiner, 1998). Korth and Schulter (2003) observed that many Kyrgyz, particularly those who lived in urban areas, became deeply immersed in Russian culture and barely spoke their mother tongue. Major changes in the political life of the USSR began in the mid-1980s, when Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the policies of perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness) to overcome social, political and economic stagnation in the country (Davies, 1989). ‘Windows opened up to the pluralism of opinions, cultural and political associations and various forms of economic activities’ (Niyozov, 2001, p.
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