I grew up in a Western Siberian city of Novosibirsk, in a working class family. My father was a factory worker, and my mother a payroll officer at a state construction company. After graduating from high school I attended the Novosibirsk Teachers’ College (which later became a university) from 1980 to 1985.  For two years, from 1983 to 1985, I worked as a history and social studies teacher in local schools, while completing my studies. I also volunteered in youth organizations and in the City Youth Center, where my future wife Svetlana and I met. Then I accepted an Assistant Professor position at the Department of Educational Theory and Methods in the Novosibirsk Teachers’ College, Faculty of History.  My workload included teaching courses in Education, Extracurricular Activities, Educational and Developmental Psychology, and Teaching Skills.  I also supervised as student teacher program and other forms of field-based teacher training. 

The Novosibirsk Teachers' Institute is an excellent regional school.  Its program in many ways resembles a typical American teacher education program.  It offered not only a solid training in subject matter and methods of teaching, but also encouraged a creative and critical approach to teaching.  I worked closely with the department of Dr. Anikeeva, a well-known Russian scholar of Vygotskian school of Educational Psychology.  My basic intuitions about education developed in Novosibirsk.  I also read extensively in Russian and Western educational theory, developmental and social psychology, and in more exotic fields like actors’ training.  My first papers on the essence of education and the role of play in education were written and published at that time.  I also acquired valuable experience in faculty committee service and institutional reforming. 

From December of 1987 to January of 1991, I was a full time graduate student at the Research Institute for Theory and History of Education, Russian Educational Academy in Moscow.  This part of my training was very successful and productive.  I received a Young Scholar Award in 1988.  My monograph Posobie dlya nachinayushchikh robespierov (Beginning Robespierre’s Guide) received the Best Popular Book of the Year Award from “Znanie” publishing house.  I continued to attended numerous conferences and published extensively.

My Moscow period was very important for me.  It was a draw of luck for me to work under the direct supervision of a prominent Russian scholar Ludmila I. Novikova.  Her name is associated with several generations of Russian scholars in Education, so I enjoyed a company of some of the best Russian scholars working in character education.  Novikova developed a democratic tradition within Russian educational thought.  The graduate program in Novikova's laboratory consisted of lengthy discussions, and of notoriously numerous rewritings of one’s papers and dissertation.  I acquired the solid skills of the academic writing and analysis, most of which turned out to be just as useful in American institutions of higher education.  As many other doctoral students, I was also heavily involved in peer advising for those entering the program on their dissertation design and theoretical frameworks.

Dr.  Novikova required all her students to acquire an intimate knowledge of at least one school, regardless of the dissertation topic.  I had an opportunity to observe and to teach in the lab school #825 in Moscow. This school is known nationally for going beyond traditional understanding of schooling and for its community building experience. I also undertook a case-study research of three other schools.  My dissertation – Driving Forces and Contradictions of School Development – offers a comparative analysis of four successful schools, and outlines the stages and critical moments in the development of a “good” school.  This work has shown me that successful schools can be very different from one another, and still share some deeper structural qualities.  I finished the graduate program in Moscow in January of 1991, and briefly returned in Siberia to continue teaching in Novosibirsk Teachers' College.

In August 1991 I enrolled in the International Scholarship Program at the University of Notre Dame, where I was awarded a full scholarship.  The decision whether to accept this opportunity had been a very difficult one.  First, I had to put my career in education on hold for the field of Peace Studies, and second, I had to move to another country and begin everything from scratch.  However, it turned out to be a very good decision.  The Institute for the International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame offers a unique program.  Fourteen students from twelve different countries study and live together and engage in a community building experience.  It was a challenging but an exciting time.  My interest in the issues of cultural diversity, my ideas about the complexity of international relations come from what I have learned during that year.

I received an M.A.  in Peace Studies, which is an interdisciplinary field, with elements of International Relations, World Order, and Conflict Resolution, in July of 1992.  The program's readings covered diverse issues, from the American Civil Rights movement to the Just Wars theory, from Human Rights to L. Kohlberg’s Just Communities experiments.  Haim Gordon, a visiting professor from Israel, had a profound impact on my academic interest by introducing me to Martin Buber's philosophy of dialogue. 

In the Fall of 1993, after a year of independent studies, odd jobs and waiting, I enrolled in a doctoral program in Social and Cultural Foundations of Education at the University of Washington's College of Education.  At the same time I was awarded the NAFSA scholarship for graduate students from the former Soviet Union, which was renewed for 1994/1995 academic year. 

Professor Donna Kerr, who served as my advisor, taught a new seminar every quarter, making a point of introducing her students to a combination of newer works along with some classical books on philosophy, education and other disciplines.  I read on many different subjects, from Aristotle’s theory of virtues to psychoanalysis; from feminist thought to Albert Camus' novels.  The most important thing that I have learned from Dr. Kerr is that one’s writing makes sense only when it connects to one’s own life. She created an impressive cohort of graduate students of which I was fortunate to be a member. We keep in close touch with each other, professionally and personally.

My American dissertation is entitled An Ontological Understanding of Dialogue in Education.  The dissertation establishes an ontological concept of dialogue and analyses its implications for education.  Dialogue, I argue, is not simply a form of communication.  Rather, it defines human existence, and therefore should serve as a foundational concept in educational theory.  This dissertation was successfully defended in the summer of 1996.  I spent 1996/97 academic year as a Research Associate (another term for postdoctoral training) at the University of Washington.  My time then was divided among working on my book, and making a living as substitute teacher in the Seattle Public schools.  I found the substitute's position a valuable observational point, from which I could discover some subtle details of the school life that would have been inaccessible to me otherwise.

In 1997 I received recognition and financial support from the National Academy of Education and Spender Foundation.  Bakhtin’s philosophy of dialogue was at the center of my interest for some time; however, my research agenda is changing.

In the Fall of 1999, I was hired as an Assistant professor, and in 2004 promoted to the Associate Professor, and eventually became Chair of the Educational Foundations and Inquiry Division, Bowling Green State University. I spent seven years at BGSU, have learned much, made wonderful friends, and enjoyed my work thoroughly.

In July 2006, I started a new job as a Director of School of Teacher Education at the University of Northern Colorado.  Read my blog about this experience.

970-351-2701, sasha.sidorkin@unco.edu

University of Northern Colorado, McKee 216
Greeley, CO 80639