ABSTRACT
Recent reforms to education systems across the world have, unsurprisingly, tended to place great emphasis upon school practices as the means to raise standards and cope with what is widely perceived to be declining behaviour on the part of young people across many of the world’s countries. While it is a truism that teachers, and schools, are of vital significance in inculcating positive student attitudes and behaviour, it is nevertheless important to recognise the impact of broader socioeconomic and sociocultural influences that play a major role in everyday interactions and practices (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006). As influences at all levels of any given ecosystem are typically reciprocal (Elliott & Tudge, 2007) it is often difficult to separate out the ways by which each plays a part in fostering children’s development. However, the experience of Russia since 1991 offers a unique and invaluable perspective on the interplay of key factors that may help when considering motivational and behavioural challenges confronted by all societies
Education in the former Soviet Union was long considered to be one of its success stories (Canning, Moock, & Heleniak, 1999) with high standards of behaviour and achievement being notable features (Muckle, 1990). In this section I outline some of the ways in which this was achieved. A key component appears to have been a remarkable sense of continuity between the 1930s and the early 1990s (Hufton & Elliott, 2000) in which relatively minor changes arose incrementally through researched and planned development. Classroom practices, expectations of students and the classroom assessment system were remarkably consistent over this period. As one Western researcher visiting Soviet classrooms (Schweisfurth, 1998) noted:
Teachers were bemused and amused when queried about the reasoning behind such classroom routines as putting books in a certain place on the desk, or raising hands in a certain way. Things had always been so and they hadn’t really thought about it. (p. 3)
Given this scenario, it is hardly surprising that the upheavals of the late 1990s proved to be so traumatic for teachers and parents. It was also a troubling time for a whole generation of children for whom so much of their cultural legacy seemed to be ill-equipped to help them to cope with future challenges.
