Master's degree

On October 27, 2020 the Rector of MGIMO A.V. Torkunov opened a new master's programme "Modern Pedagogy and Educational Design" at the Department of Educational Systems and Educational Technologies. The Master's programme is aimed at training new teachers and renewing the Russian education system, and is a logical step in the development of teacher education at MGIMO and the University's conscious and confident entry into school education.

Features of the programme

This is the first pedagogical programme in Russia that is based on the principle of training school teams. Students in the programme are teams of three or more people:

form and promote a professional learning community culture
become holders of best practices and drivers, change the way of doing things
and their way of thinking
take an exploratory role in relation to their practice and
work together through the method of lesson study
rethink the tools of new pedagogy and initiate new projects
see the team as a resource, a community, co-authors, a source of experience,
inspiration and mutual learning; create and develop horizontal links

The key teaching method is lesson study - action research - pedagogical research in action. The team immersion in lesson study takes place in face-to-face sessions at the partner schools in the different regions several times a year. The students immediately engage in team-based learning, jointly designing their lessons, observing, analyzing, adjusting, and transferring innovative practices from one classroom to another. The shared experience brings the school teams together.

This is what Marina Pinskaya, supervisor of the Master's programme, says about teamwork in the programme: "The professional learning community, or professional learning community of teachers, is a way of forming and acting as a school team of teachers who improve their practice and solve school-wide problems. School teams become drivers of change, scaling learning projects into a planned outcome that helps teachers move forward with their children and the school itself.”

Programme partners

During the life of the programme, our partners have become:

Gorchakov Lyceum of MGIMO (Odintsovo)
International School for Blended Learning (Moscow)
School "Olimp Plus" (Moscow)
Vector School (Voronezh)
Kh. Ibraghimov Mathematics school No. 1 (Grozny, Chechen Republic)
"Kvant Republican Centre for General and Continual Education (Grozny, Chechen Republic)
Lomonosov School Scientific and Educational Complex (Bishkek, Republic of Kyrgyzstan)

Disciplines taught in the programme:

History of pedagogical thought
The Modern Lesson: Approaches, Methods and Technologies
Developmental psychology and specific of age
Design of educational programmes
“Key Competencies Formation and Assessment” Workshop
“Learning Environment” Workshop
“Assessment in the Classroom” Workshop
"Best Practices of General Education in Russia and Abroad” Workshop
"Inclusion and Educational Psychological Techniques" Workshop
"Practical tools for pedagogical communication” Workshop
"Leadership and Social Projects" Workshop
Research work
"Instructional design" Project workshop
Design of a professional development trajectory
Education policy
The image of the teacher in art
Research of academic resilience
Foreign language in professional communication

The future of graduates

After graduation, a graduate becomes a sought-after professional in contemporary education and can develop in one of the following professional roles

teacher with knowledge of modern pedagogical tools and technologies, head of subject department, head of methodical association, deputy director for educational work
a methodologist, supervisor, project manager in the department of training and development in business structures and other organizations
developer of new educational products and tools for schools and other educational projects, programmes and organizations
educational expert for governmental, cultural, non-profit organizations and foundations
teacher of pedagogical disciplines in higher education

Entry requirements

Higher professional education
Admission to the programme is based on the results of a professional interview and portfolio contest
Admission to MGIMO
Entrance Examination Programme

Study conditions

10 budgetary seats
15 off-budget seats
2 years of full-time education
Applied Master's programme with the opportunity to combine work in school and immediately apply the tools worked out with children
The Master's programme focuses on working with school teams and the school as a whole. As applicants, the Admissions Committee primarily considers a school team of at least three people sent to the programme by the school management. Such a team becomes a pillar and support in the modernisation of the learning process and the development of the school.
Individual students can also join the Master's programme with the opportunity to undertake an internship at one or more of the partner schools.
English language studies in accordance with MGIMO standards.

Programme supervisor

Marina Pinskaya - Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor of Interfaculty Department of Educational Systems and Pedagogical Technologies, supervisor of the Master's programme.

Useful links:

Master Programmes’ Prospectus
Modern Pedagogy and Educational Design programme - first year results. MGIMO, July 16, 2021
Defence of coursework, June 30, 2021.
Interviews of 1st year Master students
Pinskaya M.A. "The Competence Approach in the Basis of Educational Programme of Applied Pedagogical Master's Degree", Scientific and Practical Magazine "Shkol'nye Tekhnologii". June 2021
Horizons of the New Look at MGIMO, MJ #2/2020
"Contemporary pedagogy and educational design". MGIMO's New Master's Degree. MGIMO, October 28, 2020.
A modern school in Voronezh has abandoned homework and grades. Vesti Voronezh, March 9, 2022
This is interesting: Vector School, TV Gubernia, March 2, 2022
MGIMO teachers in Voronezh discussed how to form practical skills in children. De Facto, 2 March 2022

Master's programme: Modern Pedagogy and Educational Design