National History Curriculum and Standards for Secondary Schools in the Russian Federation

Abstract

The chapter examines academic standards and history national curricula in both the Russian Federation (RF) and Australia. The chapter argues that ideology plays a significant role in defining new curricular and standards policy documents in Russian history in secondary schools. The 2014 history standard suggests that students should be taught in the spirit of patriotism and that patriotism should be the outcome of history classes, celebrating significant military victories. This is a vivid example of the dominant role played by ideology in history education in the RF. The national history curriculum documents and standards exist in schools across the RF. There are two types of officially prescribed documents: standards and curriculum programs. Standards are employed to control and regulate general educational aims and ideas, teaching priorities, and a list of school subjects. Curriculum programs cover specific school disciplines and include at least three components: (a) aims, (b) content, and (c) suggested pupils’ activities.