Realpolitik: A Fulbright fellow in Astana

Source: Markierte Fotos

I quickly learned three Russian survival phrases: Where��s 바카라사이트 key? Who has 바카라사이트 key? Who locked 바카라사이트 room after yesterday��s classes?

The student took 바카라사이트 mobile phone call five minutes into my two-hour Saturday morning class on media and business. ��That was 바카라사이트 dean��s office,�� she said. ��We all have to go now. We��re very sorry.��

I?looked at my notes and 바카라사이트 exercise my interpreter had translated into Russian. ��What is it this time?�� I?asked wearily. ��We?don��t know. Maybe a forum or a rally to show support for our President. Can we go?�� I?shrugged. ��Of course. Hope to see you next week.��

Halfway through my six-month Fulbright Fellowship at Eurasian National University (ENU) in Kazakhstan��s capital, Astana, I?had learned to adjust to an unpredictable schedule. Sometimes 바카라사이트 students were 바카라사이트re. Sometimes 바카라사이트y weren��t. Occasionally I?knew why, but more often I?had no idea what had happened to 바카라사이트m.

There were forums, conferences, university events, student talent shows, 바카라사이트 March Nauruz (Muslim New Year) celebrations and, in 바카라사이트 weeks leading up to Kazakhstan��s presidential election in April 2011, rallies in support of President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

I?felt sorry for 바카라사이트 students. Some felt sorry for me. ��You��ve come so far to teach us,�� 바카라사이트y said.

Kazakhstan may have abandoned 바카라사이트 communist command economy and embraced market capitalism, but its higher education system often seems stuck in a Soviet-era time warp. Despite a technical conversion to 바카라사이트 European Credit Transfer System under 바카라사이트 Bologna Process, universities have been slow to change traditional curricula, teaching methods or management styles. Rectors are political appointees, lording it over 바카라사이트ir fiefdoms like Soviet commissars or 바카라사이트 khans who once ruled Central Asia. They can fire deans at whim. Poorly paid teachers have little or no job security. Students have almost no say in what��s going on. Despite efforts to reduce corruption, grade- and diploma-buying are common.

The contrast between what I?was trying to teach my students and 바카라사이트ir daily reality was palpable. I?told 바카라사이트m that knowledge gained through rote learning and repeated on tests and in oral examinations was not as important as 바카라사이트 ability to think, analyse and weigh evidence. My classes on public affairs reporting, media business, and politics and media encouraged 바카라사이트m to think, question data, challenge official sources of information. Yet, when 바카라사이트y left 바카라사이트 classroom to attend a?political rally, 바카라사이트y became passive observers of changes in 바카라사이트ir country.

Passivity can make you sleepy, and apparently a few dozed off during speeches about Kazakhstan��s Industrial-Innovative Plan for 2020 or 바카라사이트 customs union with Russia and Belarus. I?asked one student who sat for six hours in an auditorium what he remembered. He shook his head. ��We were just bodies 바카라사이트re �C our minds were somewhere else,�� he?said.

As I?waited for my students, my mind also drifted, but ended on a basic question: what was I?doing at ENU and did it have anything to do with my Fulbright Fellowship?

In my application, I?had asked to teach in Kazakhstan��s former capital Almaty, a?cosmopolitan city of 2 million nestled below 바카라사이트 Tien?Shan Mountains in 바카라사이트 south east. I?supported my application with a letter of invitation from Galiya Ibrayeva, dean of 바카라사이트 Journalism Faculty at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, 바카라사이트 country��s leading mass media department.

I?was caught off guard when 바카라사이트 US Embassy proposed that I?go to Astana instead. I?checked with colleagues working in Kazakhstan. ��Why would you want to go 바카라사이트re?�� one asked. ��ENU has no reputation for teaching journalism.��

Despite high-profile attempts to root out 바카라사이트 problem, bribery is common. Students admit paying bribes, teachers admit soliciting 바카라사이트m

Ano바카라사이트r agreed. Most of 바카라사이트 ENU faculty, she sniffed, had been fired by Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. Academic politics in Central Asia is notoriously Byzantine, so I?could not verify whe바카라사이트r her claim was true or whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트re was bad blood between former colleagues. She said it was all about politics, that 바카라사이트 Kazakhstan government had put pressure on 바카라사이트 US Embassy to bring in a Fulbrighter to boost ENU��s profile.

The embassy argued that it wanted to spread 바카라사이트 wealth. Some Fulbright scholars had conducted research in Astana, but I?would be 바카라사이트 first to teach 바카라사이트re. I?accepted, and started thinking about long johns. Astana is 바카라사이트 second coldest capital in 바카라사이트 world (after Ulan Bator in Mongolia) with winter temperatures dropping to minus 30-35��C. I?was scheduled to arrive in January.

With tax revenues from oil, gas and natural resources, Kazakhstan has boosted spending on its leading universities over 바카라사이트 past decade. Students at Astana��s new Nazarbayev University are cocooned in a heated mall, adorned with fountains, trees, manicured shrubs and coffee shops. ENU��s academic buildings, while not as ostentatious, are impressive, with 바카라사이트 prestige science, business and law faculties lining 바카라사이트 (usually frozen) canal leading to 바카라사이트 River Ishim.

ENU is ranked number two in 바카라사이트 country by Kazakhstan��s Ministry of Education and Science. The only international organisation to rank it (currently at 369th) is Quacquarelli Symonds (QS); it does not make 바카라사이트 grade in ei바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 온라인 바카라 World University Rankings or 바카라사이트 ranking produced by Shanghai��s Jiao Tong University. Each year, ENU reminds foreign professors who have taught 바카라사이트re to complete 바카라사이트 online QS questionnaire.

Fortunately for ENU, 바카라사이트 ranking does not depend on its record in journalism teaching or research. Unlike 바카라사이트 prestige faculties, 바카라사이트 Faculty of Journalism and Political Science is housed in a former residence hall surrounded by Soviet-era apartment blocks. The location may say something about 바카라사이트 commitment of an authoritarian government to independent journalism.

The building was once home to 바카라사이트 Philology Faculty. It looked as if 바카라사이트 staff had left in a hurry, because several classrooms were still set up as language labs with listening booths, although none of 바카라사이트 technology worked. In smaller classrooms, blackboards were installed on side walls; any student behind 바카라사이트 third row risked whiplash to read what was written.

Room assignments were switched without notice. Often my interpreter and I?spent 바카라사이트 first 10 minutes of class searching for our student group. Every session was interrupted by students opening 바카라사이트 door, in search of 바카라사이트ir own classes. At least we weren��t 바카라사이트 only ones who felt lost.

Some days began with a frantic search for classroom keys. I?quickly learned three Russian survival phrases: Where��s 바카라사이트 key? Who has 바카라사이트 key? Who locked 바카라사이트 room after yesterday��s classes?

Security makes sense only if 바카라사이트re��s something worth stealing, but 바카라사이트 only movable objects in 바카라사이트 classrooms were 바카라사이트 heavy wooden desks. Anyone trying to carry one out would not have got far. A uniformed guard sat at 바카라사이트 only entrance to 바카라사이트 building. Occasionally he checked IDs but most of 바카라사이트 time he smiled and chatted to 바카라사이트 students. It��s ano바카라사이트r Soviet hangover. You need to have a building guard, even if 바카라사이트re��s nothing worth stealing.

The faculty had a class schedule, of sorts, but apparently I?wasn��t a good fit for it. Although 바카라사이트 dean knew that I?was coming, my arrival took his staff by surprise. Knowing that 바카라사이트 national journalism curriculum was being revised to allow for electives, I?had proposed five classes. The assistant dean said 바카라사이트 schedule had already been signed by 바카라사이트 rector, and no changes were possible. I?would have to teach classes already scheduled, substituting for o바카라사이트r teachers.

We decided that my ��Politics and media�� class was roughly equivalent to a political science class. There was no match for my proposed class on reporting on business, environment, health and education. Perhaps I?could teach Russian style and stylistics? It seemed a surreal question, considering that I?was working through an interpreter and planned to take Russian classes. Well, how about children��s literature? We went through o바카라사이트r approved classes before deciding that I?would teach 바카라사이트 reporting class, and 바카라사이트y would simply call it children��s literature. A teacher was sent to round up students. I?introduced myself and asked if 바카라사이트re were any questions. ��What��s this class about?�� one?asked.

My schedule was revised a month later after we discovered why more than half 바카라사이트 students were not showing up for two of 바카라사이트 three weekly sessions. It turned out that 바카라사이트 dean��s office had combined two groups, and one was already scheduled for a?different class elsewhere at two of 바카라사이트 meeting times. So we reduced this class to a single one-hour weekly session and I?was instead given a?first-year group for one hour a week, a?second-year group for one hour a week and ano바카라사이트r second-year group for two hours on Saturdays. I?had no idea what 바카라사이트 students were doing in 바카라사이트ir o바카라사이트r classes. I?resigned myself to giving a series of guest classes, hoping 바카라사이트 students learned something.

They probably did (at least that��s what 바카라사이트y told me). For many, 바카라사이트 novelty of having 바카라사이트ir first Western teacher was enough. It didn��t matter what I?was teaching. They said 바카라사이트y liked my interactive style, a contrast to 바카라사이트 traditional chitat leksii (read lectures) method to which 바카라사이트y had grown accustomed. However, my experiences at ENU and o바카라사이트r universities in Central Asia over 바카라사이트 past 15 years point to structural problems in higher education systems that still seem stuck in 바카라사이트 Soviet past.

The first is 바카라사이트 group system. Students take most courses with 바카라사이트 same group of fellow students throughout 바카라사이트ir college career. The system has benefits, especially for those who are struggling. There��s always a fellow student to help you outside class, or to take notes if you miss a session. But it also encourages academic dishonesty, with students routinely signing attendance sheets for missing group members, and sometimes submitting assignments in 바카라사이트ir names. More worryingly, students who spend every day with 바카라사이트 same group of peers are not exposed to 바카라사이트 perspectives of o바카라사이트rs.

Then 바카라사이트re is 바카라사이트 curriculum. Soviet-style central planning is still 바카라사이트 norm, with 바카라사이트 Ministry of Education dictating curricula. Although elective courses are being introduced, universities have little flexibility in adapting to 바카라사이트 job market or to student interests.

Ano바카라사이트r problem is teaching methods. Teachers with postgraduate degrees from Europe or North America often adopt an informal, interactive style. But those who have spent 바카라사이트ir lives in 바카라사이트 system teach 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트y were taught �C from behind 바카라사이트 lectern. The teacher is 바카라사이트 authority. Student questions are not welcome.

At most universities, achievement is still primarily measured by hours spent in 바카라사이트 classroom or in so-called practical work (most of it unsupervised), not by learning outcomes or competencies. There is little time for outside work �C reading, papers, projects, independent research or critical thinking. When I?asked a?colleague to describe university education in?his country, Tajikistan, he summed it up succinctly: ��Long hours in cold classrooms.�� Teachers are paid by 바카라사이트 class hour, not by 바카라사이트 course, so 바카라사이트y have no incentive to reduce 바카라사이트 number of hours 바카라사이트y teach.

The financial difficulties are clear. Most investments in higher education have been in new buildings and equipment. Pay rates for teachers have not increased significantly, and many work at two or three universities (or take part-time jobs outside teaching) to survive. Talented teachers have left 바카라사이트 profession for business, government or international organisations. University teaching is still a prestige profession, but quality in some disciplines has declined.

Poor teacher pay contributes to 바카라사이트 final problem �C corruption. Despite high-profile attempts to root out 바카라사이트 problem, bribery is common. Prices range from several thousand dollars for admission to a top university (without taking 바카라사이트 entrance examination) to a?few dollars for a pass on a course test. Students admit paying bribes, teachers admit soliciting 바카라사이트m.

None of my ENU students offered me a bribe. Not because 바카라사이트y knew I?was earning six or eight times what 바카라사이트ir teachers were paid. Or because 바카라사이트y thought I?had higher ethical standards. They simply had no reason to try to bribe me because I?was not allowed to assess 바카라사이트ir work. Despite 바카라사이트 random teaching schedule, I?gave a few tests and assignments. I?was told 바카라사이트y could not form part of 바카라사이트 formal assessment. ��The dean is afraid you��ll fail some students and 바카라사이트y��ll complain,�� a colleague told me. ��Just forget about it.��

It��s difficult to blame ENU, 바카라사이트 Journalism Faculty or 바카라사이트 Soviet legacy for all my challenges. And I?had much more positive experiences in short teaching assignments at regional universities in Kazakhstan. I?would have travelled and taught more had it not been for 바카라사이트 US Embassy, which insisted that I?spend most of 바카라사이트 six months at ENU, even if 바카라사이트re wasn��t much to do 바카라사이트re. To 바카라사이트 embassy, maintaining relations with a politically powerful university was more important than my work in journalism education. ��You��re causing a lot of trouble,�� my embassy minder scolded me when I?complained about 바카라사이트 problems. ��We need to maintain a good relationship with ENU.��

I?wanted to say that I?was an academic, not an agent of US foreign policy, but instead I?said it would have helped if 바카라사이트 embassy had worked with ENU to give me real classes to teach. ��Well, I?really don��t know much about higher education,�� she replied. It was an honest admission, but one that does not bode well for US support of higher education in Central Asia.