Iveta Silova

Education and Environmental Sustainability (2016-present)

Research Team: Iveta Silova, Hikaru Komatsu, and Jeremy Rappleye

Our collaborative research explores the role of culture and education in environmental sustainability. Drawing on environmental  philosophy and ecofeminism literature, we argue that cultural dimensions strongly relate not only with people’s environmental attitudes but also with their actual environmental impacts (see Komatsu, Rappleye, and Silova, 2019, 2020). We empirically demonstrate that people in societies with strong individualism tend not to accept anthropogenic causes of the climate crisis and tend to have greater environmental impacts on Earth, compared to people in more interdependent societies. These cultural differences could be partially explained by how individual members view themselves in relation to other members, as well as the extent in which they are willing to control their own desires and behaviors for the sake of collective social benefit (independent versus interdependent self). We suggest that education plays a central role in (re)articulating both culture and self, thus enabling us to make a cultural shift toward environmental sustainability. However, to do so “education” itself – as it is currently understood as modern schooling – must undergo a cultural shift. To accomplish this, we attempt to bring into focus alternatives beyond the familiar Western education paradigm (Silova, Rappleye, & Auld, 2020; Silova, Rappleye, You, 2020; see also Common Worlds Research Collective, 2020).  

Memories of (Post)Socialist Childhood and Schooling (2014-present)

Research Team: Iveta Silova, Zsuzsa Millei, and Nelli Piattoeva

This research project focuses on memories of socialist childhood written by cultural insiders who were brought up and educated on the eastern side of the Iron Curtain, spanning from Central Europe to mainland Asia. It enables participants to explore - collectively and individually - their own experiences of Soviet/socialist education and childhood by analyzing lived experiences, memories, and artifacts of socialist childhood and schooling. The goal is to make visible to ourselves as researchers how we have mastered (and been mastered by) particular theories and understandings of (post)socialist transition, education, and childhood. Our memories offer insights into the manifold nature of childhoods that cannot be simply reduced to an ideological oppression exercised through socialist state control or official school curriculum and pedagogy. Rather, these evocative memory stories illuminate the diverse spaces of childhoods interweaving with broader political, economic, and social life. They also highlight the multiple ways of becoming and being children in historical contexts that are far more ambiguous than previously acknowledged. Drawing on the research traditions of autobiography, autoethnography, and collective biography, we challenge what is often considered “normal” and “natural” in the historical accounts of socialist childhoods and engage in (re)writing histories that rub against traditional imaginaries of Cold War divisions between the East and West. You are welcome to explore our anarchive of childhood memories, which creates a kaleidoscopic image of identities, regions, religions, cultures, and histories. Please also browse through our book, "Chilhood and Schooling in (Post)Socialist Societies: Memories of Everyday Life" (2018) and join our upcoming conference "Spinning the Sticky Threads of Childhood Memories: From Cold War to Anthropocene" (October 20-21, 2021).

Research project website: Decolonial and De-Cold War Dialogues on Childhood and Schooling

Rethinking Theory and Methods for Educational Research in(Post)Socialist Contexts (2014-2018)

Research Team: Iveta Silova, Noah Sobe, Alla Korzh, Serhiy Kovalchuk

This research project explores the shifting social imaginaries of post-socialist transformations to understand what happens when the new and old utopias of post-socialism confront the new and old utopias of social science. It addresses the theoretical, methodological, and ethical dilemmas encountered by researchers in the social sciences as they plan and conduct education research in post-socialist settings, as well as disseminate their research ndings. Through an interdisciplinary inquiry that spans the elds of education, political science, sociology, anthropology, and history, the book explores three broad questions: How can we (re)imagine research to articulate new theoretical insights about post-socialist education transformations in the context of globalization? How can we (re)imagine methods to pursue alternative ways of producing knowledge? And how can we navigate various ethical dilemmas in light of academic expectations and eldwork realities? Drawing on case studies, conceptual and theoretical essays, autoethnographic accounts, as well as synthetic introductory and conclusion chapters by the editors, this project brings together scholars and education practitioners to advance an important conversation about these complicated questions in geopolitical settings ranging from post-socialist Africa to Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The contributors not only expose the limits of Western conceptual frameworks and research methods for understanding post-socialist transformations, but also engage creatively in addressing the persisting problems of knowledge hierarchies created by abstract universals, epistemic difference, and geographical distance inherent in comparative and international education research. This research project questions the existing education narratives and rethink taken-for-granted beliefs, theoretical paradigms, and methodological frameworks in order to reimagine the world in more complex and pluriversal ways. Please see our book and podcast to explore more.

Education Merit on a Global Scale: The History and Conceptualization of Merit and Educational Meritocracy in China, Italy, Russia and the United States

Research Team: Noah W. Sobe (Univeristy of Loyola Chicago, Principal Investigator), Iveta Silova (Arizona State University), Giovanna Barzanò (University of Rome III), and Jinting Wu (University of Buffalo) 

According to the UN Declaration of Human Rights, primary education is a fundamental human right. Higher education, however, is to be accessible to all on the basis of ‘merit.’ Yet, merit does not have a globally homogenous meaning. What is recognized as ‘merit’ is a cultural and historical production that produces certain ‘kinds’ of human beings and consequential forms of inclusion and exclusion. This research investigates how education systems in China, Italy, Russia and the United States sought to produce educational merit across the 20th century. Though what counts as merit is deeply local and exhibits intra-national variations, educational merit has also long been conceptualized against a global horizon of comparison and international competition -- from the World’s Fair era, through the Cold War, to today’s international assessments and efforts to produce global citizens and globally competent workforces. This historical study is aiming to offer a new way of thinking about globalization and education that sees global forms as produced by local actors. By seeking to illuminate the ways that education reformers in China, Italy, Russia and the United States have historically sought to create education systems that successfully measure and mobilize merit against a global horizon of comparison and international competition, our project represents a profound re-thinking of the connection between globalization and education.