Innovation strategies for education: Liberal and Utilitarian Educational Tendencies in the Higher Education System

Tomsk polytechnic university, 634050 Lenina str., 30, Tomsk, Russia

^a Corresponding author: pogukaeva@mail.ru

Abstract

This paper discusses innovation strategies for education. . The authors of the paper argue that the leading modern universities are the educational and training ones. The global changes in higher education have happened due to several reasons: information playing a key role in modern society (nowadays, it is possible to find plenty of information on any questions); the task of education is to develop educational, professional and cultural skills of students, which is not the original central idea of modern European countries as well as Russia; the tendency to unite several higher education institutions. The authors acknowledge that there are several trends in higher education: the multilevel system; modern information technologies; the distant educational system and development; university complexes; new educational standards; new educational technologies and management structures etc. At the same time, the authors claim that there are at least two systems (tendencies) in the theory of university development: liberal and pragmatic. The former is connected with the educational university’s mission; the later is related to the needs of modern society.