Position/Status

Research Project Development Officer

College Research Associate, Wolfson College

E-mail Address

ny250@cam.ac.uk

Phone

+ 44 (0)1223 767685

Qualifications

• PhD (The Open University)
• MRes (The Open University)
• MA (University of Warwick)
• BA (Belarusian State University)

Membership of Professional Bodies/Associations

• British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS)
• European Educational Research Association (EERA)
• American Educational Research Association (AERA)
• Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain (PESGB)

Profile

Natallia Yakavets joined the Faculty of Education to work on Kazakhstan Educational Programmes. Before coming to Cambridge, she taught Research Methods at the Institute of Education, University of Warwick. She holds a PhD in Educational Leadership and Management from the Open University and  has substantial experience of international collaborative research projects in the fields of educational policy, educational leadership and management, curriculum reform, teacher preparation and continuing professional development in Eastern Europe. The central focus of her current research is on internationalisation and school reform in Kazakhstan, the challenges of rapid fundamental development reform in post-Soviet economies, and leadership preparation and practices.

Academic Area/Links

Leadership for Learning

Educational Leadership, Policy, Evaluation & Change (ELPEC)

Research Topics

• educational policy
• social capital and leadership development
• complex multi-agency partnership
• comparative education
• curriculum reforms and educational transformations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
• teacher education
• qualitative/quantitative research methods

Current Research Projects

• Internationalisation and Education Reform in Kazakhstan Research Project (IERK)

Teaching

• Supervisions  MEd/MPhil: Educational Leadership and School Improvement
• Lecturing and supervisions: Teachers Leading School Change and Research Methods and Perspectives (Bolashak programme)

Principal and Recent Publications

Refereed Journal Articles/ Book Chapters

Yakavets, N. (2016). Societal culture and the changing role of school principals in the post-Soviet era: The case of Kazakhstan. Journal of Educational Administration, 54 (6), 683-702. [DOI: 10.1108/JEA-12-2015-0118]

Yakavets, N. (2016) Negotiating the Principles and Practice of School Leadership: the Kazakhstan Experience. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, [DOI: 10.1177/1741143216628537]

Yakavets, N., Frost, D. & Khoroshash, A. (2015) School Leadership and Capacity Building in Kazakhstan, International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice, [DOI: 10.1080/13603124.2015.1066869]

Yakavets, N. (2014). Reforming Society through Education for Gifted Children: the Case of Kazakhstan, Research Papers in Education, 25(5), 513-533, [DOI: 10.1080/02671522.2013.825311]

Yakavets, N. (2014). Educational reforms: the first decade of independence, in D. Bridges (Ed.), Educational Reform and Internationalisation: The case of school reform in Kazakhstan. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. Link

Yakavets, N. and Dzhadrina, M. (2014). Educational reforms in Kazakhstan: ‘Entering the world arena’, in D. Bridges (Ed.), Educational Reform and Internationalisation: The case of school reform in Kazakhstan. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. Link

Fimyar, O.,Yakavets, N., and Bridges, D. (2014). Educational reform in Kazakhstan: the contemporary policy agenda, in D. Bridges (Ed.), Educational Reform and Internationalisation: The case of school reform in Kazakhstan. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

Frost, D., Fimyar, O., Yakavets, N., and Bilyalov D. (2014). The role of the school director in education reform in Kazakhstan, in D. Bridges (Ed.), Educational Reform and Internationalisation: The case of school reform in Kazakhstan. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. Link

Rouse, M., Yakavets, N. and Kulakhmetova, A. (2014). Towards inclusive education: swimming against the tide of educational reform?, in D. Bridges (Ed.), Educational Reform and Internationalisation: The case of school reform in Kazakhstan. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. Link