The tärbïe conundrum: promoting social and national values through education in Kazakhstan

The primary purpose of this paper is to examine the development of values education in contemporary Kazakhstan. We investigated educators’ conceptualization of tärbïe, which broadly encompasses values and social education, in the context of political transition in the nation. While the dimension of tärbïe aims for holistic education, findings indicated the significance of teachers’ internalized beliefs and experiences and their responses to socio-political and ideological shifts in enacting values education. Qualitative analysis revealed teachers’ fluid conceptualization and practice of values education within three overarching orientations. However, it also noted teachers’ lack of knowledge or training specific to values education, which could further exacerbate its enactment.