Nina Yefimovna Borevskaya
(1940 - )

Short Biography & Significant Contribution

Nina Yefimovna Borevskaya, born in Moscow, graduated from the Institute of Oriental Languages, Moscow State University in 1965. Since 1967 she has been working at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies (IFES) affiliated to the Russian Academy of Sciences. Having started her work as a pure sinologist with primary field of study in philology (medieval and modern literature), she contributed significantly to research on the educational system of China.

Since the end of the 1970s Prof. Borevskaya focused her research on contemporary Chinese educational reforms. Education has not been a popular topic in Russian sinology, thus, such research included a number of aspects of educational reforms in the People's Republic of China (PRC): development of a new educational strategy, youth socialization, structural reforms, educational governance and financial reforms, resurgence of private institutions, etc. She published 5 books and about 100 chapters and articles on this topic. The wide range of her investigations made the corpus of publications complex and deeply embedded in current social, economic and political reforms. For example, A Concise History of Chinese School and Pedagogical Thoughts was the first and only book in Russia in such an area. In this book Prof. Borevskaya tried to enrich the Chinese and Western scholars' research on this topic by drawing comparisons with the development of Western pedagogical ideas.

An important phase in Borevskaya's career was a long-term stay as a visiting scholar at the Comparative and International Education Center, State University of New York at Buffalo (the International Research & Exchange Board fellowship) under the guidance of Prof. William Cummings. Being a visiting scholar in the Center provided her with a significant theoretical foundation and gave a strong impetus for her to start comparative research with the focus on Russia and China. Her postdoctoral thesis published under the title, The State and the School: Chinese Experience at the Turn of the IIIrd Millennium was an implicit comparative study. Her next book Russia-China: Educational Reforms at the Edge of the 20-21st Century. A Comparative Analysis (Nina Ye. Borevskaya, Vladimir P. Borisenkov, Zhu Xiaoman, eds.)was the first binary collaborative comparative project with about 20 scholars from both China and Russia. The structure of the book included parallel chapters culminating in authors' comparisons on various issues, and with final theoretical notes contributed by Nina Borevskaya and Mark Bray-resulting in a novel and unique production (the book was published in Chinese and Russian). It also contains a 100-page English Appendix, to be published by the Comparative Education Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong within its CERC Monograph Series.

As a member of the European Association for Chinese Studies Nina Borevskaya participated in many of its Conferences, serving as a convener of the panel on "Chinese Education and the World" at three of the events. In 1994-1995 she made a few presentations at the Conferences of Comparative and International Education Society (USA) in Boston and Los Angeles and in 2004 - at the XII World Congress on Comparative Education (Cuba).

Professor Nina Borevskaya is doing her diligently in activities of the Russian Council of Comparative Education, partially evidenced by a recent chapter publication on its history in the edited volume Histories of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies and its Members --a significant contribution to international awareness of the situation of Russian comparative education.

Educational Background

Moscow State University, Institute of Oriental Languages, Chinese Department, undergraduate and graduate courses (1959-1965)

Moscow State University, Institute of Oriental Languages, postgraduate course (1965-1969)

Moscow State University, Candidate of Sciences (PhD) in Philology, dissertation titled "Chinese Novel of the 16th Century" (1970)

Institute of Far-Eastern Studies (IFES) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Sciences (post doctorate highest degree) in History, dissertation titled "Formation of Chinese Educational Strategy in the Period of Reforms (80s-90s of the XX Century)" (2002)

Professional Background

Institute of Far-Eastern Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Department of Spiritual Civilizations of Asia; Head Researcher, Head of a Project (1967 to present)

Russian Academy of Education, Institute of Educational Theory and History, part-time leading researcher (2001-2006)

Visiting professor, invited lecturer and field researcher at Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing and Shenyang Normal Universities, The University of Hong Kong (various years between 1997-2007)

Affiliations (associations, organizations, institutions)

Governing Board of the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP-UNESCO, Paris), Member (2008-2012)

International Editorial Advisory Board of Comparative Education Research Centre (The University of Hong Kong) & Springer book series "CERC Studies in Comparative Education", Member (2005 to present)

Vice-Chair of the Russian Council of Comparative Education (2004 to present)

Comparative Education Society of Hong Kong, Associate member (1999 to present)

European Association for Chinese Studies, Member (1988 to present)

Soviet Association of Sinologists, Secretary General (1986-1991) [now Russian Association of Sinologists], Member

Selected Publications

Borevskaya, N.Ye. (1974). The PRC School. Moscow: Nauka [in Russian]

Antipovsky, A.A., Borevskaya, N.Ye., & Frantchuk, N.V. (1980). The PRC Science and Educational Policy: 1949-1979. Moscow: Nauka [in Russian]

Bain, O. & Borevskaya, N. (1997). Reforming Modern Education: Russia. In W.K. Cummings & N.F. McGinn (Eds.),International Handbook of Education and Development: preparing schools, students and nations for the twenty-first century (pp. 341-362). Oxford: Pergamon.

Borevskaya, N.Ye. (1997). The Role of the State in Educational Adjustment in the PRC. In P. Altbach & W.K. Cummings (Eds.), The Challenge of Eastern Asian Education: Implications for America (pp. 265-274). Albany: SUNY Press.

Borevskaya, N. (2001). Searching for Individuality: Educational Pursuits in China and Russia. In G. Peterson, R. Hayhoe & Y. L. Lu (Eds.), Education, culture and identity in twentieth-century China (pp. 31-53). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Bray, M., & Borevskaya, N. (2001). Financing Education in Transitional Societies: Lessons from Russia and China.Comparative Education, 37(3), 345-365.

Borevskaya, N.Ye. (2002). A Concise History of Chinese School and Pedagogical Thoughts. Moscow: IFES Press [in Russian]

Borevskaya, N. (2003). The PRC Educational Modernization Strategy: the Shift of a Paradigm? Berliner China-Hefte, No. 25.

Borevskaya, N.Ye. (2003). The State and the School: Chinese Experience at the Turn of the IIIrd Millennium. Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura [in Russian]

Borevskaya, N. (2004). China and Russia: Unified and Varied Exams. People's Education, No. 7. 30-40. [in Russian]

Borevskaya, N. (2007). Educational Legislation and Educational System in the PRC. In Educational Legislation and Educational Systems of Foreign Countries (pp. 316-370). Moscow: Academia [in Russian]

Borevskaya, N. (2007). Soviet Pedagogy in Chinese Scholars' Assessment. Pedagogy, No.8, 57-70. [in Russian]

Borevskaya, N. (2007). Chinese Educators on Educational Reforms in the New Russia. Pedagogy, No.10, 80-90. [in Russian]

Borevskaya, N. (2007). The Russian Council of Comparative Education. In V. Masemann, M. Bray & M. Manzon (Eds.)Common Interests, Uncommon Goals: Histories of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies and its Members(pp. 299-308). Hong Kong & Dordrecht: Comparative Education Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong & Springer.

Borevskaya, N.Ye., Borisenkov V.P. & Zhu Xiaoman (Eds.). (2007). Russia - China: Educational Reforms at the Edge of the 20-21st Century: A Comparative Analysis. Moscow: Nauka. [in Russian with English Appendix]

Created: 7/22/2008

Updated: 4/6/2009

Contributed By: Andrey Uroda, The University of Hong Kong