ABSTRACT
At least three features of the Czech case set it apart from the Russian (described in the preceding chapter). First, the initiation of educational change in the Czech Republic occurred almost literally overnight; in Russia, reform was initiated several years before the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and continues to the present time, under tumultuous circumstances. Second, in the Czech Republic, change for the most part took place in the absence of any established plan for achieving a desired vision or goal: the concept of ‘planning’ – fi rmly associated with the Communist regime – was collectively rejected after the ‘Velvet Revolution ’. In Rus-
sia, by contrast, change (at least initially) was characterized by a clear vision, its implementation, however, was obstructed by deteriorating economic conditions. Third, in the Czech Republic, Communism was imposed externally by the Soviet Union after World War II, whereas in Russia, communist ideology emerged from within, born of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution (Dneprov , 1999).
