Журнал Фронтирных Исследований (Nov 2023)
The Emergence of Secondary Professional Education in Kazan Educational District in the course of the Russian Empire Modernization
Abstract
The conditions of modernization at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in the Russian Empire gave rise to an “educational revolution,” which, among other outcomes, led to the rapid development of professional education. In an article drawing on data from the Kazan educational district, the author posits that the emergence of secondary professional schools wasn’t driven merely by economic imperatives. Rather, it was molded by the rising educational demands of the populace, policies of social segmentation, and a strengthened collaboration between state and public sectors in the domain of education. The first professional schools appeared in the provinces of the district in the mid-19th century, aligning with the onset of the peasant reform and the region’s agrarian specialization. The period spanning the late 1870s to the 1880s witnessed the state laying the groundwork for a structured professional education system, a move colored by the prevailing politics of social segmentation. As the 19th century waned and the 20th dawned, mounting requirements for economic expansion – rooted in a more inclusive societal stratum, evolving liberal economic policies, and the recognition of education as pivotal to progress – enhanced social mobility. This progression reached its zenith with the bolstering of state-public partnerships in education and a marked surge in the number of professional schools. Viewing the state as a beacon of progress, a portion of public schools transitioned to state governance. Concurrent with the rise of educational institutions bearing mixed ownership, this highlighted the burgeoning ambitions of the bourgeoisie to shape policy. The educational overhauls, coupled with a broadening educational footprint, redefined the social milieu, accentuating elite hegemony and recalibrating class and cultural inequities. The educational system’s institutional path mirrored the dynamics of social segmentation, progressively bridging the gap between secondary vocational and classic general education. This article caters to scholars delving into domestic education, as well as the social, cultural history, and the modernization narratives of the waning imperial epoch.
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