ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book intends to give the reader an idea of the period in the life of the Soviet secondary school which is usually referred to as that of the 'thaw', of the post-Stalin reforms and of the Khrushchev administration (1954–64). It examines the process and results of the school reforms of that period. The book is devoted to analyse the public opinion of teachers and writers connected with schools as presented in the press. It includes a study on the situation in Soviet schools today (the first half of the 1980s) which, judging from articles in the Soviet pedagogical press, are on the threshold of another reform. The book is concerned with problems of secondary schools, both Soviet and Western, will find something of interest.
