Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Russian experience: national curricula, national standards, textbooks

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
ZDM – Mathematics Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and Russia, the largest of the countries formed in its place, has gone through notable changes in the period since then. This paper is devoted to the study of how (and whether) the mathematics curriculum has changed. At one time, before the revolution of 1917, Russian mathematics education was closely connected with Western European mathematics education (above all, German and French). Subsequently, their paths diverged, and later, Russian mathematics education became very highly regarded around the world. What, then, has happened over the last three decades? To what extent does the Russian curriculum today differ from the old Soviet curriculum and from contemporary curricula in other countries? The answers to these questions are of interest to an international audience already because they help in understanding the processes and distinctive characteristics of the development of mathematics education, including differences that might be concealed even behind identical terms. Based on a detailed analysis of Russian standards and textbooks, conclusions are drawn about the processes in the transformation of the curriculum that have occurred over thirty years, including the conclusion that the period of transition that began in the late 1980s is still not over. The Russian curriculum, of course, is not exactly the same as the curriculum of Soviet times, but the differences between them are by no means revolutionary. The paths of the development of mathematics education in Russia and in Western Europe and the United States, having at some point diverged, have still not come back together.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. This and subsequent translations from Russian are by the author.

References

  • Abramov, A. (2010). Toward a history of mathematics education reform in Soviet schools (1960s–1980s). In A. Karp & B. Vogeli (Eds.), Russian mathematics education. History and world significance. (pp. 87–140). World Scientific Publishing.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Alimov, Sh. A., Kolyagin, Yu. M., Sidorov, Yu. V., Fedorova, N. E., & Shabunin, M. I. (1996). Algebra i nachala analiza 10–11 [Algebra and elementary calculus 10–11]. Prosveschenie.

    Google Scholar 

  • Commission on the reorganization of secondary education. (1920). The problem of mathematics in secondary education. Bureau of education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Committee on education of St. Petersburg. (1994). Sbornik normativnykh i metodicheskikh materialov [Collection of normative and methodological materials]. Committee on education of St. Petersburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dneprov, E. D. (1999). Tri istochnika i tri sostavnye chasti nyneshnego shkol’nogo krizisa [Three sources and three components of today’s school crisis]. Yabloko.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorofeev, G. V. (Ed.). (2005). Algebra: 7 klass: uchebnik dlya obshcheobrazovatel’nykh uchrezhdenii [Algebra: Textbook for grade 7 of general educational institutions]. Prosveshchenie.

    Google Scholar 

  • FGOS (Federal’nyi gosudarstvennyi obrazovatel’nyi standard) osnovnogo obschego obrazovaniya. (2018). Izdanie 7 [Federal State educational standard for basic general education. Edition 7]. Prosveschenie.

    Google Scholar 

  • Firsov, V. (Ed.). (1989). Planirovanie obyazatel’nykh rezul’tatov obucheniya matematike [Planning mandatory outcomes in teaching mathematics]. Prosveschenie.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gladky, A. V. (1994). Kakim ne dolzhen byt’ standard [What a standard must not be like]. Matematika v shkole, 2, 4–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Institut obscheobrazovatel’noy shkoly. (1993). Standard srednego matematicheskogo obrazovaniya [Standard for secondary education in mathematics]. Matematika v shkole, 4, 10–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Karp, A. (2010). Reforms and counter-reforms: Schools between 1917 and the 1950s. In A. Karp & B. Vogeli (Eds.), Russian mathematics education: History and world significance. (pp. 43–85). World Scientific Publishing.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Karp, A. (2011). Schools with an advanced course in mathematics and schools with an advanced course in the humanities. In A. Karp & B. Vogeli (Eds.), Russian mathematics education: Programs and practices. (pp. 265–318). World Scientific Publishing.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Karp, A. (2012). Andrey Kiselev: The life and the legend. Educação Matemática Pesquisa, São Paulo, 14(3), 398–410

    Google Scholar 

  • Karp, A. (2019). Dmitry Chizhov and the examination of mathematics textbooks in Russia during the 1820s–1830s. In K. Bjarnadottir, F. Furinghetti, J. Krüger, J. Prytz, G. Schubring, & H. J. Smid (Eds.), Dig where you stand 5. Proceedings of the fifth conference On-going research in the history of mathematics education. (pp. 205–220). Utrecht University Freudenthal Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karp, A. (2020). Russian mathematics education after 1991. In A. Karp (Ed.), Eastern European mathematics education in the decades of change. (pp. 173–228). Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Karp, A., & Vogeli, B. (Eds.). (2011). Russian mathematics education: Programs and practices. World Scientific Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karp, A., & Werner, A. (2011). On the teaching of geometry in Russia. In A. Karp & B. Vogeli (Eds.), Russian mathematics education: Programs and practices. (pp. 81–128). World Scientific Publishing.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kilpatrick, J. (2009). The social efficiency movement in the United States and its effects on school mathematics. In K. Bjarnadóttir, F. Furinghetti, & G. Schubring (Eds.), “Dig where you stand”. Proceedings of the conference On-going research in the history of mathematics education. (pp. 113–122). University of Iceland School of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilpatrick, J. (2011). Slouching toward a national curriculum. Journal of Mathematics Education at Teachers College, 2, 8–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilpatrick, J. (2014). From clay tablet to computer tablet: The evolution of school mathematics textbooks. In K. Jones, C. Bokhove, G. Howson, & L. Fan (Eds.), Proceedings of the international conference on mathematics textbook research development. (pp. 3–12). Southampton: University of Southampton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, D. (2003). A brief history of K-12 mathematics education in the 20th century. In J. Royer (Ed.), Mathematical cognition. (pp. 175–259). Information Age Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, D. (2007). A quarter century of US “math wars” and political partisanship. Journal of the British Society for the History of Mathematics Bulletin, 22, 22–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kliebard, H. M. (2004). The struggle for the American curriculum, 1893–1958. Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kliebard, H. M., & Franklin, B. M. (2003). The ascendance of practical and vocational mathematics, 1893–1945: Academic mathematics under siege. In G. Stanic & J. Kilpatrick (Eds.), A history of school mathematics. (pp. 399–440). National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolyagin, Y. M. (2001). Russkaya shkola i matematicheskoe obrasovanie. Nasha gordost’i nasha bol’. [Russian school and mathematics education. Our pride and our pain]. Prosveschenie.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolyagin, Yu. M., Sidorov, Yu. V., Tkacheva, M. V., Fedorova, N. E., & Shabunin, M. I. (2009). Algebra i nachala matematicheskogo analiza 10–11 [Algebra and elementary calculus 10–11]. Mnemozina.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolyagin, Yu. M., Tkacheva, M. V., Fedorova, N. E., & Shabunin, M. I. (2015). Algebra i nachala matematicheskogo analiza 10–11 [Algebra and elementary calculus 10–11]. Prosveschenie.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuznetsova, G. M. (1998). Matematika. 5–11 klassy. Sbornik normativnykh dokumentov [Mathematics. Grades 5–11. Collection of normative documents]. Moscow: Drofa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mordkovich, A. G., & Semenov, P. V. (2009). Algebra i nachala matematicheskogo analiza 10–11 [Algebra and elementary calculus 10–11]. Mnemozina.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pratusevich, M. Y., Stolbov, K. M., & Golovin, A. N. (2009). Algebra i nachala matematicheskogo analiza 10 [Algebra and elementary calculus 10]. Prosveschenie.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravitch, D. (2000). Left back: A century of failed school reforms. Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • RF (Russian Federation). (1992). Federal’nyi zakon ob obrazovanii [Federal law on education]. Retrieved from: https://rg.ru/1992/07/31/obrazovanie-dok.html. Accessed 17 Feb 2020

  • Sharygin, I. F. (1997). Geometriya 7–9 [Geometry 7–9]. Drofa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistiko-analiticheskii otchet o rezul’tatakh gosudarstvennoy itogovoy attestatsii po obrazovatel’nym programmam srednego obschego obrazovaniya v Sankt-Peterburge [Statistical-analytic report on the outcomes of the State final attestation in educational programs at the general secondary educational level in St. Petersburg]. (2019). St. Petersburg.

  • Usiskin, Z. (2007). Do we need National Standards with teeth? Educational Leadership, 65(3), 38–42

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA

    Alexander Karp

Authors
  1. Alexander Karp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexander Karp.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Karp, A. The Russian experience: national curricula, national standards, textbooks. ZDM Mathematics Education 53, 1471–1483 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-021-01268-9

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-021-01268-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation