Russian Pre-Service and Young In-Service Teachers’ Views on Cultural Dimensions of Russian Education: Power Distance

Abstract

The article discusses Power Distance as one of the cultural dimensions of Russian education based on the perceptions and views of Russian pre-service and young in-service teachers. These views were elicited in the context of a 2 ECTS master’s degree course, “Cultural Dimensions of Education,” offered at Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia. The course includes Hofstede’s framework of cultural dimensions and the manifestation of these dimensions in educational settings, Hall’s cultural-factors theory (particularly high- and low- context cultures and monochronic versus polychronic cultures), but the research focuses on only one of the cultural dimensions, Hofstede’s Power Distance. The students’ reflections on their own experiences presented in writing as case studies and discussed with their peer students have been analyzed. Evidence has been gained that large Power Distance is a typical feature of Russian educational settings’ attitudes and relationships among all the actors—school administration, teachers, pupils, and their parents.

The article discusses some of the cases presented and analyzed by the students and their arguments supporting their points of view.