Background to the project
The TEMPUS project, ‘Capacity Building for Independent Learning in Higher Education in Uzbekistan’ is a partnership between the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education, Westminster International University in Tashkent, University of Westminster, UK and Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU) in Poznan. The purpose was to prepare an action plan for promoting greater independent learning in the higher education system of Uzbekistan.
Background
With young people under the age of 25 years constituting almost 56% of Uzbekistan’s total population, government education policy is clearly critical to the country’s development. Since independence Uzbekistan has made impressive gains in educational attainment with illiteracy virtually eliminated and almost 6 million children studying at school. However, as in other social sectors, education has been affected by the difficulties of the transition period.
In higher education in particular there are signs of stress. There is recognition at the highest level that the content, processes and organization of Uzbekistan’s higher education system should be reformed to better serve the needs of changing economic, social and political conditions and ensure a successful transition to a knowledge-based market economy. The National Programme for Personnel Training (NPPT) adopted in 1997 provides a long-term strategy for fundamental reform in key areas. Uzbekistan’s more recent participation in the Bologna Process is another driver in the implementation of reform in higher education.
The Ministry of Higher and Specialised Secondary Education (MHSSE) of Uzbekistan has already made significant progress and been active in launching a number of reform initiatives and experience has shown that ‘top down’ solutions, often involving prescriptions from foreign experts who may not have fully understood the social and cultural context, have been less effective than initiatives which are articulated and embraced by the professionals who are actually involved in the delivery of higher education. What has become clear is that building capacity in the MHSEE is more effective than interventions which bypass MHSEE structures. In designing reform itself, MHSEE will own and thus more effectively implement reform.
Several key areas have been targeted by MHSSE for reform. These include:
- Improving links between higher education and industry and making courses more relevant to professional life
- Introducing a quality assurance system
- Establishing a more ‘personalised’ modular system
- Upgrading the skills of teaching staff
- Placing a greater emphasis on independent learning within the higher education curriculum
Of these reform areas it is that of independent learning which may present the best prospects of positive change in the short term as well as having positive knock on effects in other areas. The reasons for this are set out below.
Shifting the focus onto the students
At present the higher education system in Uzbekistan is structured around funding teachers and institutions rather than empowering students to learn. The inherited Soviet system which featured outdated and didactic curricula with teacher-centred pedagogy and an assumption that repetition of factual knowledge imparted by the teacher constituted proof that the student had mastered concepts, is now perceived as being of low quality and irrelevant to modern educational needs. The government of Uzbekistan has recognised the need to move towards more flexible curricula and pedagogic approaches which put students at the centre and encourage independence. President Islam Karimov has himself emphasized this:
“We all understand quite clearly that the main task of a teacher is to help students acquire and develop the habit of independent thinking. However, unfortunately, this does not always take place in practice. If young people are not allowed to learn to think freely and independently, the effectiveness of education will inevitably go down.” (Harmoniously Developed Generation is the Basis of Progress in Uzbekistan, 1998)
Opportunities for independent learning already exist
At present the average undergraduate student spends only about 32 of the stipulated 54 weekly study hours in formal teacher-led instruction. There is a need to equip students with the necessary skills to plan and direct their own learning and to train teachers so they are better able to facilitate this.
However, there is a recognised need to move further in the direction of independent learning, such that not only will students more effectively learn but also to free up time and resources for greater investment in professional development of teachers. Devoting more time to their own scholarship would enhance the teachers’ ability to assist students in independent learning, and the reduction in teaching time will also create opportunities for retraining to enable the teachers to effectively fill the new roles required of them as Uzbekistan moves further along in the direction of the Bologna Process.
A move towards more independent learning is in line with the Bologna Process
Inherent in the principles of Bologna is the understanding that formal systems of provision need to become much more open and flexible, so that such opportunities can truly be tailored to the needs of the learner. Independent learning by definition implies greater flexibility and is, for example, fundamental to the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) which is predicated on a significant proportion of the 1500-1800 hours of student workload each year being independent learning. Continuing with the model of teacher centred learning will prove a significant obstacle to any reform along the lines of the Bologna Process. Teacher centred learning devalues prior learning gained through professional experience, and without developing skills in independent study, students will not be able to continue learning after their formal education comes to an end.
Independent learning does not need to be resource intensive
While in the long term a commitment to independent learning requires a restructuring of the higher education budget and investment in libraries and ICT, this doesn’t mean that the important steps in independent learning cannot be taken in the short-term. For the foundation of independent learning is not so much material resources as a shift in mindset that sees students as responsible for their own learning. Independent learning is as much about helping students to make the most of existing resources and informal learning structures as it is about Internet access and well-stocked libraries, and it is in assisting in this paradigm shift that short-term interventions can be very effective.
Independent learning is already an integral part of the WIUT curriculum
The unique position of WIUT as an Uzbek university offering its students UK validated degrees and an educational experience modelled on British universities has enabled us to ‘pioneer’ new ways of working. WIUT students are given a high degree of responsibility for their learning and considerable amounts of time are allotted for self-directed study. The majority of our teachers are graduates of British or American universities and so have direct experience of studying in a system which places great emphasis on independent learning. We have already begun to promote discussion about independent learning and to disseminate best practice in this area by inviting academic staff, including Rectors, from other institutions to visit WIUT and learn from our experience.
The project proposed here would take this process further by working directly with MHSSE policy makers to develop an effective and affordable national strategy for the introduction of independent learning in higher education institutions.
