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Part III

VIDEO EPISODES AND EXERCISES ON EDUCATION

DURING AND AFTER THE USSR

1.Work in pairs. Share your ideas on what you know about the education in Russia.

2.You are going to listen to Carole Sigman who is a researcher in the political science and an expert in Soviet education systems. She gave her interview in Paris at an exhibition marking 20 years since the fall of the USSR. Now watch the video and listen to what she has to say on educational differences before and after the Soviet Union collapse, then answer the questions.

Note: OECD (сокр. от Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development – Организация экономического сотрудничества и развития, ОЭСР).

1.What difficulties does higher education face in Russia?

2.How was higher education financed in the Soviet Union?

3.Were there any advantages in it?

4.What happened later? Why has the situation changed?

5.What has been going on since 2000, according to Carole Sigman?

3.Watch the video again and find the English equivalents for the words and word combinations:

1) связь;

2) профессионально-технические колледжи;

3) обязательные занятия;

4) малоимущий; неимущий (политкорректный термин);

5) истощиться, иссякнуть;

6) платные места;

7) бесплатные места;

8) частные преподаватели, репетиторы;

9) ретироваться, удаляться, уходить;

10) принимать должность, обязанности;

11) то есть;

12) недофинансирование;

13) плата за обучение.

4.Use the words and phrases given below to complete the sentences: curriculum, links, obligatory, taking over, state-financed, social mobility.

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1.The system allowed for __________________________, particularly for the most deprived.

2.There were _____________________ classes in Marxism and Leninism.

3.Higher educational system used to be entirely _____________________, especially after World War II.

4.The ______________________ contained a certain amount of ideology, even at technical courses.

5.There were strong ___________________ between companies and vocational colleges.

6.Since the year 2000, we see the state once again _____________________

the management of the sector

5.How do you think the changes in Russia will affect the educational system of our country in the next ten years? Give a short talk.

6.Compare your predictions with others in your group. Try to agree on a ranking from most likely to least likely.

AGAINST EARLY SCHOOL LEAVING

1.In pairs discuss what you like and dislike about early schooling.

2.Watch the video about early school leaving and fill in the gaps with the information from the video.

To reduce the numbers of young Europeans leaving school with minimum

1____________________, the European Commission is proposing action. But why

is such concern?

2 _________________ young Europeans today have only basic secondary education qualifications. If that. Ending their education there they don’t take up alternative training either. It leaves them 3 _______________________ for the job market, prime candidates for unemployment and dependency on social support.

Europe’s Commissioner for Education 4 _________________ how early school-leaving harms not just individuals but economies and social development.

Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, «Early schoolleaving is potentially damaging for all of us. Europe cannot afford for this to continue. And that is why the Commission has today adopted a package aimed at helping member-states to address early school-leaving more effectively».

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The European Commission has set a goal to slash the EU’s overall early school-leaving rate from 5 _________________ to 6 _________________ by 2020.

Austria, Finland, Lithuania, the Check Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Poland are already at all within there but Spain, Portugal and Malta’s rates are higher than 7 _____________________.

Prevention, intervention and 8 __________________________ in the form of another chance such as an 9 ______________________ are the pillars of the Commission’s help planned along with better coordination among the 10

_____________ EU states, for example, through exchange of best practices and better targeting of EU’s financial resources. The block’s education ministers are due to meet to discuss the plan next month, the aim being to adopt strategies based on the Commission’s proposals by next year.

«Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one».

Malcom Forbes (US publisher)

«A school’s reason for existence is to provide opportunity for existence».

J. L. Carr (British novelist)

ERASMUS +

1.Work in groups. Ask your partners to tell you about all the schools and educational institutions they have attended.

2.You are going to watch the video about Erasmus +. While watching it, fill in the missing information from the video.

… and Erasmus + will come online in 2014, what will it consist of?

Dennis Abbot, EU spokesperson for education, «Well, first of all, I don’t think there’s any risk of Erasmus disappearing. Last year there was a problem with the 1 ______________, there was a bit of a 2 __________________, but the mem- ber-states mostly 3 _____________________ most of the difference. In terms of the future, Erasmus +, Erasmus + is a new programme which is gonna start in 4

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_____________ _____________. It’s bigger and it’s better than Erasmus. Let me explain. Erasmus is, I’m sure many of your viewers know, focuses on students’ and staff 5 ___________________ between Universities. Erasmus+ still focuses on a higher education student mobility but it also includes opportunities to study, or train, or volunteer abroad for 6 ___________________ students, for apprentices, for teachers, for youth workers and volunteers. So it’s covering all of our old programmes which were focused on these areas and it’s also much bigger in terms of the numbers. If we look at the previous seven years, 7 ______________________

people benefited from grants to study, train, work or volunteer abroad. In the next seven years the EU will pay grants for more than 8 _______________________

people to have that experience. And why are we doing this? We’re doing this because we believe that international experience abroad really improves people’s

9 _________________ and their 10 _________________________ ».

3. Discuss three of the following questions.

1.What are the reasons people go away to study?

2.What problems can someone who is studying abroad face?

3.Would you like to study in a foreign country? Why/Why not?

SERIOUS GAMES

1.Work in groups. Share information on how you use computers for your studies. Compare answers with other groups and make a list of uses for your class.

2.Watch the video about Serious Games Expo and answer the questions.

1.Why do developers claim that Serious Games are revolutionary?

2.What are the current trends of Serious Games?

3.How can Serious Games be used for health and well-being?

4.How can Serious Games be used to teach managers to deal with staff prob-

lems?

5.What is the advantage of e-learning compared to traditional methods?

6.How can Serious Games help with engine repairs?

7.How can train drivers use Serious Games?

8.What other simulators are mentioned in the video?

9.Give your opinion about using Serious Games.

3. Make a list of your predictions about schools/ universities in the future.

Discuss them in pairs.

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4. Imagine that a wealthy person has offered to cover the cost of three important changes at your university. In pairs discuss which three changes you would like to see and why.

SCHOOLS IN BRITAIN

1. Look at the sentences below and fill in the gaps using the appropriate word or expression from a, b or c.

2. Look at the definitions below, and write the words they define. The first letter of each word has been given to you.

1. A child at school. (e.g., The piano teacher thinks she is her best p_ _ _ _)

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