International cooperation and its role in the development of the Irkutsk regional educational system in the post-Soviet period (1992-2005)

In the post-Soviet period, the Russian Federation participated in internationalizing, adopted the international experience of the management system, introduction of social institutions into the management, innovative pedagogical technologies, thus cooperating with the developed countries in different fields of education. Russia gained great experience in this sphere; many researchers presented different practices of international cooperation in school education, with that, in Irkutsk Oblast the topic is not adequately investigated. The urgency of studying the problem is determined by the need for research, systemization and analysis of the gained experience of international cooperation in different school educational activities for further introduction of different forms of the interaction in the region. The main subject of realizing the policy of international educational cooperation in the region was the Chief Education Authority of Irkutsk Oblast. International cooperation in the region was performed in different directions: the system of state-and-public management introduction, participation in international competitions of teachers and students, exchange of pupils, seminars and conferences on upbringing and education, bilateral arrangements with Japan, Poland, South Korea, obtaining charity support, introduction of the world advanced pedagogical technologies into the educational system. The interaction was supported by different international public associations (ЕСНО, ACCELS, IREX, the Red Cross, and others) and charity funds ("World Wide", "Plan", "ChildHope", and others). The analysis of international cooperation practice in the education of Irkutsk Oblast (1992-2005) allows to state that the open post-Soviet space gave the Russian society an opportunity to become familiar and study the international educational system of economically developed countries. The Chief Education Authority and innovative teachers turned out open to dialogue, thus getting a chance to make positive changes in the regional educational sphere due to the experience and support of different international structures. Pupils got a possibility to study regional geography for real. The region location extends geography of international relations and involves countries having diametrically opposite educational environments. The education of the region should hereafter actively develop and support the practice of bilateral arrangements in the educational sphere of the region and different educational organizations to study the educational systems of specific countries more thoroughly and to gain their positive experience. It is necessary to support the existing forms of the cooperation and to develop new ones as they have a positive effect on the education of the region.

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