<p>This is a descriptive ethnographical study with the purpose of examining teachers’ and students’ experiences of oral examination at a State Pedagogical University in western Russia. The study also focused on finding the characteristics of oral examination and the contextual factors influencing its implementation. The research was done using participatory observations and interviews. The results show that interviewees experience oral assessment in general as positive. Their descriptions are summarised and analysed using a number of key concepts, of which flexibility, subjectivity, individualisation, and fairness are the most important. The study also shows that contextual factors such as culture, traditions, and organisational framework have large impact on how the examination is done. The conclusion is that oral examination has both gins and losses, since the teacher’s active participation creates possibilities for individualisation and deep probing of the students’ knowledge, but is also a source of bias because of its subjectivity.</p>

This is a descriptive ethnographical study with the purpose of examining teachers’ and students’ experiences of oral examination at a State Pedagogical University in western Russia. The study also focused on finding the characteristics of oral examination and the contextual factors influencing its implementation. The research was done using participatory observations and interviews. The results show that interviewees experience oral assessment in general as positive. Their descriptions are summarised and analysed using a number of key concepts, of which flexibility, subjectivity, individualisation, and fairness are the most important. The study also shows that contextual factors such as culture, traditions, and organisational framework have large impact on how the examination is done. The conclusion is that oral examination has both gins and losses, since the teacher’s active participation creates possibilities for individualisation and deep probing of the students’ knowledge, but is also a source of bias because of its subjectivity.

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Le présent travail met en lumière la dialectique des relations entre l’État et le système de l’enseignement supérieur en Russie sur une période de cent ans : de 1917 à 2017. S’appuyant sur une multitude des sources hétérogènes véhiculant les raisons et les causes des changements dans la politique publique russe, nous révélons l’évolution du rôle de l’État dans la gouvernance du secteur de l’enseignement supérieur lors de deux époques : soviétique et postsoviétique.L’analyse de cette politique sectorielle est effectuée en lien avec la politique générale de l’État russe afin de mettre en évidence leurs interactions déterminées par le contexte et les grands objectifs de l’État, mais aussi par le poids du passé soviétique, l’hérédité institutionnelle et le besoin de se moderniser face au monde qui évolue vite. Nous démontrons que malgré des grands changements apportés par les événements politiques nationaux et des nouvelles tendances mondiales dans l’enseignement supérieur, l’État russe demeure un acteur principal du processus de la détermination de la politique universitaire russe et de la stratégie du développement de ce secteur / The present work brings into focus the dialectic relations between the State and the higher education system in Russia from 1917 to 2017. Based on various and heterogeneous sources conveying the reasons and the causes of changes in Russian public policy, this work throws light upon the evolution of the State’s role in the governance of higher education sector in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia.The sector-specifique policy is analysed together with the general policy of the Russian State in order to reveal their interactions determined by the context and the main goals of the State as well as its past legacy, an institutional inheritance and a constant need for modernisation in the face of a changing and highly competitive world. We argue that despite significant changes brought on by national political events and by international trends in higher education, the State in Russia remains a main actor in establishing higher education policy and strategy for its developement.