Adapting or Changing: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Teacher Education in Russia

Adaptation of the Russian education system to the changes forced by the COVID-19 pandemic was complicated by the sheer size of the country, which entails the differentiation of the regions in terms of the quality of education, access to knowledge networks, communication resources, and top universities. Amid the pandemic, the country's education system experienced an initial shock after the introduction of distance learning in March 2020, attempted to return to classroom learning in September 2020, and introduced blended learning in October 2020. Each stage brought about changes in organization and management of teaching and learning processes, development of online learning platforms and courses, and technological improvements. A diversified teacher education system impeded these changes. In effect, only the largest among 300 education institutions that offer teacher education programs had the necessary resources to provide high-quality distance and blended learning. Their experience could form the basis for creating a standardized model of teacher training for the purposes of blended learning. This is most probable in the context of the tight control and the top-down approach typical of the Russian education system. The article, therefore, analyzes some examples regarding teacher training during the pandemic implemented at Russian universities. These cases have the potential to become major trends that would ensure consistency of the country's education system in extreme situations that might recur in the future.