Contemporary Soviet Education. A Collection of Readings from Soviet Journals.

Overview & Synopsis

The materials in this collection first appeared in issues of Soviet Education, a journal of translations from Soviet sources, published by the same publisher, since 1958. An earlier collection, "Education in the USSR," appeared in 1963. An introductory essay is provided by George S. Counts who has served as an editorial advisor to "Soviet Education." Counts discusses the factors which impede outsiders' understanding of Soviet education and briefly discusses its most fundamental and distinctive enduring features, such as its role, scope, focus of power, and social goals, the latter requiring great emphasis on the social sciences. Arranged under these topics: Soviet Youth, Educational Psychology, Preschool Education, Elementary Education, Secondary Education, Higher Education, Grade Repeating, Mathematics Education, Genetics Education, Programmed Instruction, Communist Upbringing, Economics of Education, the 28 articles from the period 1963-1967, are taken primarily from Sovetskaia pedagogika, Narodnoe Obrazovanie, Nachal'naia shkola. The remaining 11 selections are from other journals and national newspapers. A final article gives a statistical summary of Soviet education through 1967, including figures for the Russia of 1914. (DJB)