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Despite the intended aims of PD programs for teachers, critical questions remain about their effectiveness in general, rather than the number of PD programs teachers participated in and completed. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a content-specific knowledge (CSK)-focused PD program for teachers in low-performing schools in Kazakhstan, delivered online over 2 months. Using secondary data, it estimates teachers’ CSK gains and identifies patterns of variation in outcomes that can inform the design of future large-scale interventions. Overall, the PD program involved 43,724 teachers across 943 schools and required substantial financial and human-capital investment. Evaluating the effectiveness of this 80-hour online PD under these conditions is essential for accountability and for generating evidence that can guide future PD policy and program improvement. To answer the study’s RQs, a pre-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design was employed. However, this study focuses on 7037 Math, Physics, Biology, and Chemistry teachers out of 43,724 from 943 targeted schools. These schools were selected from urban and rural areas based on their results in international and national exams, and their teachers were mandated to complete PD programs specifically designed for them. Overall, the average CSK gain was very small, and heterogeneity in the average gains was detected across demographic and categorical variables. Pretest results consistently predict posttest outcomes, with some adjusted subgroup differences remaining after controlling for pretest as the baseline CSK. In multilevel analysis models, the main share in posttest variances was attributed to individual characteristics, with a small but important share attributable to schools and regions. This means that contextual conditions also shape teachers’ CSK results. As a result, these insights indicate that the well-known “one-size-fits-all” approach to improving teachers’ CSK through online PD programs will cause uneven gains and suggest that improving the effectiveness of these PDs will require targeted mechanisms.

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This article explores how the leadership style of school principals influence on teacher’s job satisfaction in modern Kazakhstan using the example of one public and one private secondary school. Although international research has consistently linked participatory and transformational leadership with positive teacher outcomes, empirical research on how these models function in Kazakhstan's hybrid management system, where centralized government regulation coexists with increased institutional autonomy, is limited. In this study, using a convergent approach using mixed methods, the survey data of 49 teachers (based on an adapted teacher job satisfaction questionnaire) is combined with in-depth semi-structured interviews with two principals and five teachers. Quantitative analysis reveals patterns in aspects such as professional autonomy, recognition, team atmosphere and professional development. A qualitative thematic analysis examines how leadership power is implemented, discussed, and perceived in everyday school practice. I argue that school management in Kazakhstan operates on the basis of a pragmatic hybrid model combining democratic consultation, mutual support, shared responsibility and selective directive control. Teachers report higher job satisfaction when principals actively encourage participation in decision-making, individual professional growth and an atmosphere of trust. In private schools, greater institutional autonomy allows for significant investments in professional development and recognition systems, which contributes to comparatively higher satisfaction in these areas. In public schools, formal consultation procedures and collegial discussions partially compensate for financial difficulties and high administrative burden. However, systemic pressures, especially bureaucratic pressures and limited resources, limit the full impact of leadership practices on teacher well-being. These results call into question the simplistic application of Western models of leadership, demonstrating that power in Kazakhstan is constantly being rethought and reconciled between hierarchical heritage and new norms of participation. This article shows that leadership practices that support autonomy, competence and interconnectedness are key to maintaining teacher motivation in transitional education systems. This research contributes to broader academic discussions within Central Eurasian studies about institutional reforms, management transformation and the daily realities of professional life in the post-Soviet space. It offers an empirical understanding of how educational leadership influences the day-to-day experience of teachers in Kazakhstan.

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This paper examines how PhD students in Kazakhstan experience mandatory publication requirements introduced as part of national higher education reforms aimed at enhancing research quality and global competitiveness. Implemented within broader post-Soviet transformations and Kazakhstan’s integration into the Bologna Process, the policy requires PhD candidates to publish in Scopus- or Web of Science–indexed journals prior to degree conferral (Kuzhabekova, 2025). While designed to strengthen research capacity and increase international visibility, the reform reflects global trends associated with academic capitalism (Slaughter & Rhoades, 2004) and neoliberal university governance (Brown, 2015; Shore, 2008), in which measurable research outputs serve as key indicators of institutional performance.

Drawing on the conceptual frameworks of academic capitalism and neoliberal university logic, this study employs a descriptive qualitative design (Sandelowski, 2000). The analysis is based on semi-structured interviews with 22 PhD students from public universities across Kazakhstan. Interviews were conducted in Russian and Kazakh, transcribed verbatim, translated into English, and analyzed using descriptive content analysis to identify recurring patterns and shared experiences.

The findings indicate that although students acknowledge the aspirational goal of increasing international recognition, the publication requirement generates significant unintended consequences. Participants report intense pressure to produce measurable outputs, reflecting an audit culture that prioritizes performance metrics over intellectual development (Ball, 2012; Espeland & Sauder, 2007). Uneven access to experienced supervisors, research infrastructure, funding, and English-language support creates stratified conditions of competition, reinforcing patterns documented in other non-Western contexts (Lei, 2019; Kudaibergenova et al., 2022). In response, students adopt strategic and instrumental research behaviors, such as modifying research topics to align with perceived Western journal expectations and, in some cases, resorting to questionable publication practices (Hladchenko, 2023; Horta & Lee, 2023). Supervisory relationships shift from Humboldtian models of mentorship toward more transactional management of publication outputs (Ruegg, 2004). Tensions also emerge between global visibility and local scholarly relevance, particularly in the humanities, where research grounded in the Kazakh language and cultural contexts is perceived as less publishable internationally, reflecting broader hierarchies in global knowledge production (Mignolo, 2013).

By centering PhD students’ lived experiences, this study contributes to scholarship on doctoral education under neoliberal reform in post-Soviet and Global South contexts. It demonstrates how outcome-based policies reconfigure doctoral training by individualizing responsibility for systemic constraints and transforming intellectual inquiry into academic capital accumulation. The paper calls for more balanced doctoral policies that support equitable resource distribution and recognize diverse forms of scholarly contribution.

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Educational reform in post-Soviet contexts is often framed through deficit narratives that cast local legacies as impediments to Western modernity. This paper challenges such framings by utilising a third-space lens to analyse how Kazakh language teacher educators navigate the structural constraints of state-mandated reform. We used a multimodal phenomenological approach involving five experienced Kazakh language teacher educators as research collaborators. Our methodology utilized three distinct registers of engagement: questionnaires featuring comic strips, the “Significant Circles” visual mapping tool, and dialogic interviews using metaphorical image cards. This approach allowed us to move beyond traditional boundaries of professional discourse to reveal the submerged epistemological labour of the trainers. The study provides a novel decolonial framework for understanding teacher agency by introducing “living through epistemicide” as a pathway toward epistemic freedom. Findings indicate a definitive shift from deficit discourses toward a narrative of epistemic vitality. We demonstrate how “untranslated” local pedagogical philosophies serve as vital intellectual resources for educators navigating asymmetrical knowledge systems. By mobilising these frameworks alongside imported models, educators enact a triple consciousness that resolves apparent contradictions through principled reasoning. This study unsettles global hierarchies of expertise, repositioning Kazakh teacher educators as central theorists who reclaim the right to interpret the world from their own location. Furthermore, our collaborative positionality as Kazakh and South African scholars fosters a South-South dialogue that purposefully bypasses the traditional center-periphery model of knowledge production.

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This study examined how professional identity (PI) shapes ethical resistance to corruption within Kazakhstan’s higher education sector, addressing the persistent gap between formal anti-corruption reforms and everyday academic practice. Using a mixed-method design, the research demonstrated that PI functions primarily as an internal ethical anchor rather than as a trigger for overt confrontation. Quantitative findings showed that faculty members exhibit significantly higher levels of ethical awareness, transparency commitment, and accountability orientation than students, reflecting the cumulative effects of professional socialisation. However, these gains do not translate into greater public advocacy, as no significant difference was found between faculty and students in integrity advocacy.

This apparent paradox is resolved through qualitative analysis, which revealed the prevalence of “silent resistance.” Academics with strong PI routinely uphold their ethical standards through discreet actions—such as refusing to participate in unethical practices or selectively complying with flawed procedures—while avoiding visible confrontation that could jeopardise their professional standing. In this context, silence should not be interpreted as ethical disengagement but as a rational and adaptive response to institutional environments characterised by hierarchical power, informal governance, and limited psychological safety.

The study also broadens the understanding of corruption by identifying structural rigidity as a form of institutional corruption. Inflexible administrative and research governance systems compel academics to compromise professional judgement even in the absence of personal gain, thereby eroding integrity at the systemic level. Crucially, the findings show that strong PI alone is insufficient to enable overt resistance when resource barriers and fear of retaliation persist.

Overall, the study contributes to corruption and higher education research by foregrounding professional identity as a key mechanism of ethical resilience and by reframing resistance as a spectrum of practices shaped by institutional risk. Sustainable anti-corruption strategies must therefore move beyond compliance and punishment toward creating identity-safe environments that support ethical action.

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As the Uzbek nation undergoes significant socio-political and educational reforms, there is a growing interest in pedagogical models that foster critical thinking, civic engagement, and student agency. One of the core modules, which are given to Foundation level students at Westminster International University in Tashkent is Critical Thinking and Citizenship module. This module is delivered exclusively through seminars and aims to develop foundation students’ competencies as active and informed global citizens, as it is included community engagement component, where students are trying to identify and solve problems in local communities and based on design thinking approach. The module is closely tied with targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The principal teaching methodology for this module is Project-Based Learning (PBL). Students engage in hands-on projects requiring collaboration, communication, information analysis, and problem-solving for community issues, followed by recommendations to stakeholders. Another core teaching approach integrated into the module is the Socratic Method which fostering deep inquiry. Students formulate questions, analyse answers, participate actively by offering diverse perspectives, debate, argue, and rebut (Conor, 2022).

One more key approach in the module’s development is Design Thinking, which involves five elements: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test (Singh, 2023). Design thinking is a human-centered, iterative process that builds essential problem-solving skills in students by emphasizing empathy, creativity, and real-world application. It shifts education from rote learning to active, collaborative problem-solving, preparing students for complex challenges. Through this approach, students learn to understand users’ needs, analyse problems from multiple perspectives, clearly define issues, generate ideas, critically evaluate solutions, and select the most suitable ones. It is quite innovative approach in teaching skills-based seminars, which not widely used by local academicians and usually considered being not applicable outside of engineering studies.

For this conference I am presenting research which adopts a qualitative case study approach, focusing on the experiences of instructors, students, and stakeholders involved in an active citizenship module at Westminster International University in Tashkent (WIUT). Through semi-structured interviews, the study explores the perceptions of these key actors regarding the module's implementation. In addition to interviews, I review students’ feedback on the module and analyze their final products. This research contributes to the broader discourse on educational transfer and contextualization, offering critical insights for curriculum developers, policymakers, and international educators seeking to implement transformative pedagogies in culturally distinctive environments.

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Abstract: Thе аrtiсlе disсussеs thе соnсерt оf еdutаinmеnt, gamification, whiсh соmbinе еduсаtiоnаl аnd entеrtаinmеnt tесhnоlоgiеs fоr mоrе еffесtivе imрlеmеntаtiоn оf knоwlеdgе. Thе аuthоr аnаlуzеs thе mаin didасtiс рrinсiрlеs, inсluding thе rеlаtiоnshiр bеtwееn thеоriеs, соnsistеnсу оf рrеsеntаtiоn аnd ассеssibilitу оf lеаrning fоr diffеrеnt аgе саtеgоriеs. A сlаssifiсаtiоn оf edutаinmеnt mеdiа is givеn, whiсh is dividеd intо trаditiоnаl (bооks, films, rаdiо рrоgrаms) аnd mоdеrn (еlесtrоniс tеxtbооks, соmрutеr simulаtоrs, wеb tесhnоlоgiеs). Sресiаl аttеntiоn is раid tо thе rоlе оf mоdеrn infоrmаtiоn аnd соmmuniсаtiоn tесhnоlоgiеs in thе lеаrning рrосеss. It is соnсludеd thаt thе usе оf this mеthоd mоrе еffесtivеlу аllоws for tо рrераrе tеасhing mаtеriаls fоr рrосеssing studеnts' ассоunts with thе hеlр оf intеrасtivе аnd ореn fоrms оf lеаrning. Additionally, thе аuthоrs оf thе rеsеаrсh рареr соnduсtеd а survеу аmоng 50 tеасhеrs аnd 100 studеnts lеаrning English аnаlуzе аnd studу thе rоlе оf mass-media in language learning.

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A liberal arts education that is at the core of American University of Central Asia (AUCA) is very unorthodox for high school graduates coming from Central Asian countries. The transition from high school to AUCA is often followed by a set of unique challenges that prevent students from successfully earning their university degrees. For these reasons, the Early Intervention Program (EIP) was launched at AUCA with the sole purpose of identifying these challenges and supporting struggling students through the university’s support services in a timely manner.

The EIP employs a set of tools including surveys to assess students’ performance during each semester, starting from Fall 2024. This paper will present some findings from the surveys. It gathers data both from the faculty’s perspective as well as from students' self-assessments and reports. Faculty members are asked to identify struggling students and indicate the reasons for flagging them as struggling. First-year students, on the other hand, are asked to report on the courses they find the most challenging, rate their academic performance and personal well-being.

The EIP revealed certain patterns in academic well-being, perceived challenges, and help-seeking behavior among first-year students that allowed university student support services to provide targeted academic support. According to the surveys, courses in academic major, English Composition as well as math-related courses were found to be the most challenging for first year students, suggesting that these areas may require additional support from student support services such as the Academic Advising Center (AAC), Writing and Academic Resource Center (WARC), counseling services, faculty advisors, and peer advisors. For instance, the AAC held 168 individual meetings with students flagged for academic concerns and helped each develop an Individual Plan for Academic Success (IPAS) in Fall 2025, while the WARC delivered 2,732 attended tutoring sessions, including writing consultations, Writing Fellows support, and group study sessions.

Our argument is that such a holistic approach to support first year students’ academic performance and their well- being throughout their educational journey can significantly enhance retention and graduation rates. Higher education institutions should develop strategies for early intervention and immediate, targeted support not only improve first-year students’ academic experience and well-being, but also guide them towards successful graduation.

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As the largest country in Central Asia, Kazakhstan offers a strategically important site for analysing how global curriculum agendas are recontextualised in national policy. It shows how international reform ideas are translated in a post-Soviet context. Finland was selected as the comparative case because it is a Nordic country with a well-established curriculum tradition, a contrasting governance architecture, and strong performance in international large-scale assessment. The aim of this study is to compare how lower-secondary curriculum and assessment-regulation documents in Kazakhstan and Finland formulate educational expectations, link them to assessment criteria, structure thematic emphases, and align with global educational discourses. The lower-secondary level was selected because it provides a comparable stage of compulsory education in which foundational expectations and assessment rules are formally articulated before upper-secondary differentiation reduces cross-national equivalence.

National curricula regulate educational expectations and assessment through the statement genres they employ and the tightness of linkage between expectations and criteria. This study uses an NLP-based comparative document analysis design operationalized through computational text analysis (text-as-data). Using cross-lingual semantic similarity methods based on multilingual embeddings, it quantifies alignment between curriculum expectations and assessment criteria across countries. The analysis encodes atomic statements from official documents (Kazakhstan: 25 expectations, 56 criteria; Finland: 210 objectives, 62 criteria) and estimates coupling through directional best-match similarity, threshold coverage, one-to-one matching, and size-matched bootstrapping.

Both systems exhibit strong internal coherence, but with different architectures. Kazakhstan shows near-isomorphic alignment between outcomes and criteria (0.9479), indicating that assessment criteria closely mirror intended learning outcomes. Finland reflects an anchored-breadth pattern, with strong links from objectives to criteria (0.8351) and even stronger links from criteria to objectives (0.9401), suggesting that criteria are tightly anchored in objectives while the objective layer remains broader. Cross-system convergence is higher for expectations and objectives than for criteria, indicating that evaluative phrasing is more system-specific than curricular intentions. Alignment across thematic dimensions and global discourses is also patterned: Finland is stronger on literacy, civic and social learning, sustainability, and inclusion, whereas Kazakhstan is comparatively stronger on digital competence in practice; STEM salience is broadly similar across both systems.

The study contributes a replicable statement-level framework for measuring curriculum-assessment coupling across national systems, shows that apparent convergence in curricular aspirations may conceal divergence in regulatory design, and suggests that cross-national comparability is more feasible at the level of curricular intentions than at the level of evaluative rules.

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This paper examines the transformation of the discourse on higher education in Kazakhstan, tracing its evolution from an economically instrumental value toward a broader understanding as a public and societal good. The study explores how the positioning of education within state policy has shifted over time, reflecting changing priorities in governance, development, and nation-building.

The analysis is based on a qualitative review of key strategic and regulatory documents, including state programs, sectoral concepts, and presidential addresses as core agenda-setting texts. Particular attention is given to the Concept for the Development of Higher Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2023–2029), as well as earlier policy frameworks, in order to identify discursive shifts in the framing of education. The paper also examines the constitutional foundations of education as a public good, with particular attention to the recent constitutional reforms in Kazakhstan, and analyzes the extent to which these renewed normative commitments are reflected in policy implementation.

The central argument is that Kazakhstan’s education policy reflects a discursive shift without full policy realignment. While official narratives increasingly emphasize the societal and public value dimensions of education, actual policy instruments and governance mechanisms remain largely anchored in economic rationality, efficiency, and labor market responsiveness. This creates a structural tension between declared goals and implemented practices.

By situating this case within broader debates on human capital, public value, and post-Soviet governance transformation, the paper contributes to the literature by demonstrating how discursive change can precede, but not necessarily guarantee, substantive policy transformation. It argues that understanding this gap is critical for assessing the future trajectory of education reforms in transitional contexts.

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Drawing on Olsen’s (2007) institutional dynamics and Christiansen and Lægreid’s (2001) public sector reform frameworks, this paper examines how higher education reforms in Kazakhstan are understood, negotiated, and implemented from the perspective of national-level policymakers. While much of the existing literature on higher education reform focuses on institutional or faculty-level experiences, this study recenters analysis on policymakers as key actors shaping reform trajectories, priorities, and constraints in a highly centralized system.

The study adopts a qualitative case study design (Yin, 2014), based on in-depth interviews with eleven senior policymakers, including former Ministers and Vice Ministers of Education and senior officials and departments’ heads at the Ministry. By foregrounding policymaker narratives, the paper explores how reforms are conceptualized at the system level and how policy intentions interact with entrenched governance structures, legal frameworks and institutional realities.

Findings reveal a persistent tension between Kazakhstan’s ambition to build a globally competitive and innovation-driven higher education system and the enduring legacy of centralized, hierarchical governance rooted in the Soviet past. Policymakers themselves acknowledge that reform implementation is constrained not only by institutional resistance within universities, but also by bureaucratic inertia and risk-averse decision-making within government structures. This dual constraint highlights that barriers to reform are not confined to the institutional level but are embedded within the policy apparatus itself.

Furthermore, policymakers point to significant regional disparities that shape uneven reform outcomes, particularly in regional universities facing infrastructural limitations and difficulties in attracting qualified academic and managerial staff. These insights complicate dominant reform narratives by showing how national policies are mediated, adapted, and sometimes diluted across different local contexts.

The paper argues that understanding reform implementation in post-Soviet contexts requires closer attention to policymakers’ perspectives, as they play a critical role in both enabling and constraining change. The findings highlight a fundamental tension between the normative ideal of participatory, context-sensitive governance and the prevailing state-driven, top-down reform model. This tension raises important questions about the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of recent reforms, including large-scale initiatives such as the expansion of international branch campuses. By centering policymakers as agents of reform, this study contributes to global debates on higher education change by offering empirical insights from a non-Western, post-Soviet context, and by rethinking where agency and constraint are located in reform processes.

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Competency-based learning and transversal skills have become central themes in global education policy discourse, promoted through international organizations and transnational policy networks. Yet the integration of these reform agendas raises important questions in education systems historically structured around centralized governance and high-stakes examination regimes. Rather than assuming straightforward policy convergence, this study examines how competency-based reform agendas are negotiated within institutional contexts shaped by inherited governance architectures and assessment structures.

Focusing on Estonia, Kazakhstan, and Türkiye, the paper analyzes how these systems have engaged with competency-based reform in compulsory education between 2005 and 2025. Drawing on historical institutionalism (Mahoney & Thelen, 2010; Pierson, 2000) and policy mobility scholarship (Ball, 1998; Steiner-Khamsi, 2014), the study conceptualizes reform as an institutionally mediated process in which global policy scripts encounter historically embedded governance arrangements. The analysis examines national curriculum frameworks, reform strategies, and assessment policies to trace how reform agendas are articulated and incorporated within existing institutional structures.

To capture these dynamics, the study adopts a multi-layer institutional framework that distinguishes between discursive, assessment, and governance dimensions of reform. The discursive layer reflects the circulation and reinterpretation of global competency-based policy narratives within national curriculum discourse (Anderson-Levitt & Gardinier, 2021), while the assessment layer examines how examination regimes function as governance technologies that mediate reform trajectories (Evans et al., 2019; Ozga, 2009). The governance layer addresses the institutional arrangements through which reforms are enabled, constrained, or layered within historically embedded systems.

The findings suggest that competency-based reform does not simply replace established institutional arrangements. Instead, reforms are selectively adapted and layered onto existing governance and assessment infrastructures, producing hybrid trajectories in which global policy agendas coexist with established institutional practices. By examining how reform agendas interact with historically embedded systems, the paper contributes to debates on education governance, policy diffusion, and institutional transformation in Central Eurasia.

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The modern educational paradigm is characterized by the increasing integration of digital technologies into education; therefore, digital competence is considered one of the key professional competencies of future teachers, including mathematics teachers. In the state educational standards for the training of future mathematics teachers, digital competence is defined as the ability to acquire and apply new knowledge using information technologies to solve complex problems in professional and educational contexts.

Currently, university instructors work with students of Generation Z, whose values are still in the process of formation and whose socialization takes place in a digital environment. In the academic community, there are differing opinions regarding modern students: some emphasize the benefits of digital technologies in professional development, while others highlight their potential harm and addictive nature. Overall, Generation Z requires further research in both personal development and cognitive processes. The results of our survey of second-year students—future mathematics teachers—showed that digital technologies play a significant role in their lives. They prefer searching for information on the Internet and frequently use artificial intelligence in their studies. They consider practical classes conducted in interactive, group-based, and game-based formats, as well as discussion-based lectures, to be the most engaging and effective.

Practical experience of working with students shows that they value independence, individuality, and sincerity in communication; they are result-oriented and demonstrate productivity in cognitive activities. Nevertheless, they require continuous motivation, and their activities often depend on feedback from the audience. Taking into account these characteristics of “digital students,” tasks and algorithms for independent work in the methodology of teaching mathematics are formulated clearly and in detail. During classes, students presented the results of their independent work and received immediate assessment scores according to a cumulative grading system. In addition, considering that all students are capable of using various learning tools—such as educational videos, online platforms, mobile applications, and interactive tests—the course syllabus includes links to electronic learning resources.

Thus, digital technologies serve as an effective tool for motivating, engaging, and enabling self-expression among modern students, ultimately contributing to an increase in their cognitive activity.

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This study analyzes the reform aimed at enhancing the status of public servants in Kazakhstan, specifically teachers. The 2020 reform led to an increase in teachers’ salaries and provides an opportunity to examine the dynamics of wage growth across different contexts.

Over the past decade, teacher salaries have become one of the key elements of education policy in Central Asian countries. Salary increases have been viewed as a tool for improving the quality of human capital, as well as a measure to attract and retain personnel in the public sector and to reduce regional disparities in the availability of qualified specialists.

Designing incentive systems for public sector teachers remains a major challenge, and contemporary public sector reforms are often characterized by the introduction of business-oriented incentive mechanisms, particularly pay-for-performance schemes in public institutions. At the same time, a number of studies have shown that such reforms do not always produce clearly positive outcomes for public servants in the social sector.

Kazakhstan has followed a path of maintaining centralized control and the stavka-based system, while achieving a significant increase in the average salaries of school teachers through the introduction of a qualification system and a range of additional payments linked to subjects taught and working conditions.

This paper is primarily empirical in nature. It uses panel data on individual teacher salaries for 2019–2024, based on de-identified data from the Bureau of National Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The study documents how teachers’ salaries evolved over a five-year period that included a major policy change. In addition, it takes into account structural characteristics of schools in 2022 and 2024, including distance to the regional center, the number of students and teachers, and other factors.

By shifting the focus from teachers as a professional group to wage reform as a governance mechanism, the paper contributes to debates on state capacity, inequality, and policy implementation. The findings highlight the importance of context in shaping the actual effects of seemingly universal social reforms.

Although discussions often emphasize the common structure of such reforms, less attention has been paid to how wage dynamics vary across contexts after their implementation. This article contributes to that discussion by providing an empirical analysis of post-reform wage trajectories using individual-level administrative data.

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The paper examines how media discourse contributes to the construction of legitimacy during institutional reform, focusing on the transformation of the Academy of Sciences in Kazakhstan. Situating the analysis within broader debates on power, knowledge production and post-Soviet institutional change, the study explores how competing representations of the 'old' and 'new' Academy are mobilised in public discourse. The paper draws on a dataset of 30 media publications covering the 2022-2025 reform of the Academy and applies critical discourse analysis (CDA) informed by Teun A. Van Dijk's ideological square. The analysis shows that the pre-reform Academy is frequently portrayed as elitist, opaque, and disconnected from scientific merit, while the reformed institution is constructed as transparent, merit-based, and aligned with national development priorities. The findings suggest that media discourse plays a major role in facilitating a shift from a public-academic model of science toward a state-corporate model, in which scientific institutions are increasingly embedded within governmental and strategic policy frameworks. This transformation reflects broader dynamics in Central Eurasia, where institutional reforms are closely intertwined with questions of political authority, modernisation and control over knowledge production. By linking discourse analysis with institutional change, the paper contributes to (re)thinking Central Eurasia as a space where power is exercised not only through formal policy instruments but also through narrative construction and symbolic reordering. It further highlights the importance of digital and traditional media as arenas in which legitimacy is negotiated and contested during periods of structural transformation. The reform is further interpreted as part of broader transformations in the governance of knowledge production and academic institutions in Kazakhstan, with implications for the autonomy and organisation of the higher education and research system.

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This paper examines Flagman Online, a Kazakhstani digital school, a case of how distance education can transform education in conditions of uncertainty and rapid changes. Distance education is regarded as a temporary and technical approach to education. However, the study demonstrates that distant education can serve as a full-fledged education along with offline education and not only imparts knowledge but also engages students within the social contexts of the school, community, and global society.

Flagman Online was established for students who are citizens of Kazakhstan residing abroad, fostering their link to their homeland and roots while teaching the Kazakh language and culture. These students, in turn, become ambassadors for Kazakhstan and represent Kazakhstan globally through sports and other fields.

The study presents the findings of surveys conducted among students and their parents, focusing on remote education experiences over the past two years. The survey reveals students' perspectives regarding distance education, teaching quality, assessment and feedback, mentorship, career counselling, and psychological assistance. Special emphasis is placed on student satisfaction, support, and sense of belonging, especially their feelings of inclusion within the school community.

This study used a case study design with a mixed-methods approach. It combined a descriptive analysis of answers from a closed-ended questionnaire with a thematic analysis of open-ended responses, and also included focus group interviews with students and parents.

The research indicates, using Flagman Online as an example, that distance education in modern Kazakhstan can address several important issues. These include providing consistent, high-quality education and development for schools in remote areas, allowing students studying abroad to access the national curriculum, and helping students focus on sport and other fields continue their training and prepare for competitions.

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The paper addresses the mass publication practices of scholars in Uzbekistan in predatory (fraudulent) journals. A significant proportion of the members of the editorial boards of these “journals” are also from Uzbekistan. Are the authorities fully aware of the consequences of the erosion of academic ethics among the scholarly and teaching community resulting from such practices? By being aware of the problem and turning a blind eye to it, the state—represented by its officials—effectively becomes complicit in such fraudulent activities.

Publications in predatory journals cause direct harm to the development of science in Uzbekistan and tarnish its international reputation.

The paper proposes a set of measures aimed at curbing the flow of publications by Uzbek scholars in predatory journals. It is necessary to:

- officially adopt Beall’s list as a primary reference for identifying predatory journals and establish a national list of “low-quality” or “non-academic” journals;

- conduct a comprehensive audit of the publications of Uzbek scholars;

- reassess the academic status of scholars in light of their publications in predatory journals; revoke previously granted bonuses and privileges awarded for articles published in such journals; prohibit counting such publications as valid scholarly output; and exclude membership in the editorial boards of predatory, fake, or hijacked journals from recognized academic achievements;

- treat participation in such journals as detrimental to the reputation of Uzbek scholars, and consider the profits derived from these activities as a form of fraud;

- compile a list of recognized international and national databases whose indexed journals (as well as monographs—especially substantial ones—book chapters, brochures, and presentations at international conferences) should be considered in dissertation defenses, academic evaluations, awards, and the allocation of benefits and allowances; establish a commission for journal evaluation and ranking;

- encourage national journals to seek inclusion in recognized international and national indexing databases;

- create an “Uzbek Science Citation Index” (UzSCI) and initiate cooperation with the Russian Science Citation Index (RSCI) to integrate these systems; further propose the creation of a CIS-wide bibliographic and abstract database, and subsequently, within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), an integrated Eurasian database (ESCI).

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Contemporary education research predominantly applies data-driven epistemologies, standardised indicators, widely accepted ranks and instrumental policy demands, margining ethical judgment, moral responsibility, and questions of value. This paper proceeds debates on knowing and acting by centring locally grounded ethical formation as a foundational yet under-theorised dimension of higher education. Drawing on Madhok (2020), who argued that “there are not enough concepts to capture and produce theorized accounts of different, historically specific and located forms of worldmaking in ‘most of the world” (p. 395), this paper develops the concept of Tolyq Adam (the holistic person), articulated by the Kazakh philosopher and poet Abai Kunanbayev (1845–1904), as a theory-capable educational philosophy emerging from Kazakhstan, Central Asia.

Abai’s philosophy conceptualizes human development through the integration interrelated concepts such as aqyl (reason), jürek (heart), and qayrat (will). This paper interprets these concepts as mutually constitutive dimensions of ethical formation, linking epistemic judgment, value orientation, and responsible action. Tolyq Adam offers an alternative to fragmented, performative, and competence-driven models of higher education by foregrounding education as a process of ethical self-formation.

Since 2023, this philosophy has been systematically operationalised at Almaty Management University through the Tolyq Adam program developed within the School of Transformative Humanities and Education. At the core of the program lies the LEADER framework, which articulates six interrelated capacities for contemporary higher education: lifelong learning, empathy, analytical and creative thinking, dialogue and discourse, ethics and ecology, and resilience. These principles are embedded across eight compulsory general education courses reaching over 1,000 first-year students annually. In this sense, the Tolyq Adam program operates not merely as a curricular innovation but as an institutional epistemic design that redefines the purpose of general education. Survey data from 2024–2025 indicate substantial student-reported growth across these dimensions, alongside the implementation of more than 100 student-led community projects translating ethical reflection into social action.

Methodologically, the paper employs conceptual analysis and framework synthesis within traditions of educational philosophy. First, it explicates the concept of Tolyq Adam, defining and clarifying its conceptual boundaries and epistemological assumptions while addressing risks of mistranslation and avoiding its reduction to vague or universalised notions of “holism”. Second, the analysis derives three analytically distinct yet interrelated dimensions of ethical formation: epistemic (aqyl), affective (jürek), and volitional (qayrat). These dimensions are synthesised into a conceptual framework that links ethical formation to pedagogical orientations emphasising reflexivity, moral judgment, and the translation of knowledge and values into action.

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In the modern era of globalization, Kazakhstan's strategic priorities include preserving the national language and culture, as well as developing spiritual resilience and moral values among young people. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized the importance of improving the quality of human capital and education based on spiritual values in his speech, emphasizing the need for the education system to produce not only professionals but also spiritually and morally mature individuals. At the crossroads of civilizations and growing cultural diversity, researching the impact of national language and cultural traditions on students' psychological well-being and academic performance is an extremely important topic.

This research aims to identify the impact of linguacultural language teaching and national traditions on students' psychological well-being and academic performance, drawing on contemporary empirical and theoretical studies published in international scientific databases (Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, etc.).

The study analyzes the key concepts of social and cultural identity, acculturation, and multilingual education, as well as the benefits of positive psychology approaches in education. Current research shows that the preservation and development of the national language is an important factor in the formation of self-esteem, cultural identity, and psychological resilience in students. Furthermore, cultural identity has a positive impact on the successful adaptation of students to the socio-academic environment, especially in a multicultural educational environment.

The methodological basis of the work is a comparative analysis of international empirical studies, including meta-analyses, which show a significant positive correlation between students' psychological well-being and their academic performance. Furthermore, special attention is paid to the role of linguistic competence as a mediator between cultural identity and student academic performance, as well as the influence of the educational environment on the formation of a positive attitude toward learning.

The study's findings demonstrate that integrating national language and cultural traditions into the educational process effectively reduces psychological stress, increases motivation, and creates a comfortable academic environment, thereby improving students' psychological well-being and academic performance. In conclusion, the study confirms the need to develop language teaching strategies based on cultural heritage and national values as key factors in improving students' spiritual and psychological well-being, their personal development, and learning effectiveness.

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This paper focuses on deans’ self-perceptions and faculty perspectives on leadership in Kazakhstani higher education. Amendments to the Law of Education (2018) in Kazakhstan formally granted universities greater authority over academic, financial, and managerial decision-making. These reforms have significantly reshaped the leadership role of deans, shifting them from a predominantly centralized and administratively controlled position to the one that combines academic leadership with managerial, entrepreneurial, and externally oriented responsibilities. Consequently, the leadership practices of deans have become increasingly managerial and complex (Patton, 2021; Seale & Cross, 2016). The focus of this research is 1) to investigate how deans conceptualize and practice leadership within their respective institutional settings; 2) to investigate the challenges they encounter as a result of the ongoing reforms and how they respond to them; 3) to identify similarities and differences in deans’ perceptions and practices and challenges across two institutions; and 4) to explore faculty perceptions of deans’ leadership approaches and culture in their organizations. The research context included two different Kazakhstani universities (public and private), which recently expanded their autonomy, with document analysis and interviews with deans and faculty as the two main data collection tools. The sampling includes 24 participants in total. The findings reveal that deans in both universities generally express optimism about governance reforms and report adopting more transformative and distributed leadership approaches. However, many also acknowledge the need to balance democratic practices with authoritarian decision-making in response to faculty resistance, administrative burdens, and resource constraints. Faculty perceptions diverge sharply by institutional type. In the public university, faculty largely describe leadership as democratic, inclusive, and supportive, emphasizing participation in decision-making and institutional stability. In contrast, faculty in the private university frequently characterize leadership as opaque, unfair, and insufficiently participatory, pointing to tensions between formal autonomy and internal governance practices. These contrasting perceptions suggest that, despite policy-level declarations of autonomy, its practical realization remains uneven, often formal rather than substantive.

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This paper dwells on the good practices of network university as a product of intergovernmental collaborative activities towards sustainable modernisation of higher education through internationalisation. The university alliances such as University of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (USCO), BRICS University, Baltic University Programme, European Iuniversities Initiative, UNITA (in Italy) serve as an example of international academic and research networking, born by the political will and changing the educational landscape in the regional and international levels. These consortia play a formidable role in further advancement of academic mobility, joint degrees, students and staff internships, quality assurance of study programmes, alongside with research opportunities enhancement. Successful development of this initiative is possible when the nation states provide consequtive legal, financial, and methodological support. Currently, one of the national higher education internationalisation priorities in Kazakhstan is establishment of another network university, under the umbrella of Turkik nation states. This needs more research on the existing models, their sustainability, strengths, weaknesses and threats. The paper is based on a literature review of research publications available in Google Scholar, Semantic scholar, and other databases, conference papers, and governmental documents from open sources.

The neoliberal Good governance theory would lead to better understanding of the goals and mechanisms of activities performed by these university alliances. These theory dimensions such as accountability, engagement, quality, and transparency facilitate the analysis of network university consortium interactions across and within the national borders.

The paper can be of interest for a wide range of the readers engaged in the design, implementation, coordination, and evaluation of academic and research internationalisation projects and programmes under the umbrella of network univerity.

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Education is widely recognized as a foundational pillar of social and economic development. Yet, in practice, the effectiveness of any education system is not determined by policy frameworks or curriculum design alone but by the lived realities of teachers—their professional status, motivation, and overall well-being.

Decades of scholarship on educational change consistently highlight the central role of teachers in shaping meaningful reform processes (Fullan, 2001; Hargreaves, 1994). In Kyrgyzstan, conversations around the dignity and societal standing of teachers have become increasingly urgent. This study seeks to engage directly with these concerns by examining how teachers themselves understand their professional status, working conditions, and the level of recognition they receive within society.

Drawing on survey data from over 300 teachers across different regions of Kyrgyzstan, this paper explores perceptions of professional recognition, workload, and respect. The findings reveal a profession deeply anchored in purpose. Many teachers describe their work not simply as employment, but as a mission aligned with the intellectual and moral development of the younger generation. Relationships with students, colleagues, and parents emerge as key sources of motivation, reflecting the inherently relational nature of teaching and professional life (Little, 1990).

At the same time, teachers articulate clear and persistent challenges. Increasing administrative demands, limited opportunities for sustained professional development, and a perceived gap between the societal importance of teaching and its public recognition all shape their professional well-being. These experiences resonate with international research emphasizing that teacher effectiveness is closely tied to professional respect, supportive working conditions, and strong systems of preparation and development (Darling-Hammond, 2017).

By bringing teachers’ voices to the center of the discussion, this study underscores the importance of strengthening both the professional status and public recognition of educators as a core component of educational development. The findings contribute to broader regional and global conversations on teacher professionalism, educational reform, and well-being in Kyrgyzstan and the wider Central Asian region.

References

Darling-Hammond, L. (2017). Empowered educators: How high-performing systems shape teaching quality around the world. Jossey-Bass.

Fullan, M. (2001). The new meaning of educational change (3rd ed.). Teachers College Press.

Hargreaves, A. (1994). Changing teachers, changing times: Teachers’ work and culture in the postmodern age. Cassell.

Little, J. W. (1990). The persistence of privacy: Autonomy and initiative in teachers’ professional relations. Teachers College Record, 91(4), 509–536.

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The rapid emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) tools has risen new opportunities to support students in developing evaluative judgment and feedback literacy in academic writing. However, learners may find AI generated feedback misaligned with assessment criteria, lacking practical relevance, or uncomfortable given its non-human source.

This paper examines the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to support the development of critical thinking and peer-feedback literacy in Academic Writing course among undergraduate IT students. The intervention employs a student-centered approach in which students first generate peer feedback independently, then interact with AI tools, and finally critically evaluate AI-generated suggestions before producing a revised response. It is argued that this structured critical engagement with AI can enhance the quality of peer-feedback and improve students’ academic writing performance. Using a classroom-based quasi-experimental design, the study analyzes changes in feedback quality and writing outcomes before and after the AI-supported intervention. Data sources include student writing samples, peer-feedback forms, and reflective responses. In contrast to concerns that AI-generated feedback may be misaligned with assessment criteria or lack practical relevance, this study suggests that guided interaction with AI can promote greater feedback specificity, encourage higher-order thinking, and strengthen students’ peer-feedback skills.

The findings are expected to demonstrate that integrating AI through a critical, human-centered framework provides a practical and pedagogically sound model for enhancing feedback practices in higher education. The study acknowledges several limitations, including the relatively small, single-institution sample (40 undergraduates students of Astana IT University, Kazakhstan), one assignment-based experiment. The paper potentially contributes to ongoing discussions on the effective integration of AI in feedback instruction practices and the development of students’ capacity to evaluate and question AI-generated outputs.