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4 - Reforming a Whole School System

The Case of Kazakhstan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2021

By
Colleen McLaughlin ,
Liz Winter ,
Olena Fimyar  and
Natallia Yakavets
Edited by
Colleen McLaughlin  and
Alan Ruby
Colleen McLaughlin
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Alan Ruby
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
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Summary

In 2011, Kazakhstan began the wholesale reform of the educational system, that is, the curriculum, assessment, teacher development, language policy, funding mechanisms, leadership, teacher appraisal and teacher working conditions. Innovative methods of implementation were used including the use of new networks of schools. The authors were partners to the establishment of the schools of innovation (NIS), which were the experimental sites that served as models for the later translation to the whole school system that completed in 2020. Since 2016, the authors, with a team from Nazarbayev University, have systematically researched the attitudes and perceptions towards the implementation of the new curriculum so as to gain insight into the challenges on the ground and to learn about implementing such a radical transformation in mainstream schools. The case study explores the model of change, its implementation and the different perspectives of the teachers and school leaders, parents, local leaders of education, school students and the national stakeholders and policymakers.

Keywords

Kazakhstan reform of schoolingperceptions of stakeholderssystematic research
Type
Chapter
Information
Implementing Educational Reform
Cases and Challenges
 , pp. 67 - 90
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

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