The Convergence of Educational Paradigms: Policy Borrowing, Adaptability, and Institutional Reform in Uzbekistan’s Modern School System

Аннотация

The present paper aims to provide a comparative analysis of educational policy borrowing, institutional adaptation,
and reform in the modern school system of Uzbekistan within the context of 21st-century global paradigms. It
explores a three-way axis of educational systems: the East Asian meritocratic and digitalized educational system (China),
the Western humanistic educational system focused on student well-being (Finland), and the rapidly developing economy
of Uzbekistan, which serves as both an ideological and geographical bridge. The study is based on the stages of attraction,
decision, implementation, and indigenization of foreign frameworks into the local context, as outlined in the structural
model of policy borrowing developed by Phillips and Ochs. Special attention is given to the systemic risks of uncritical
policy transfer, such as student burnout (the Chinese phenomenon of “involution”) and administrative challenges resulting
from premature decentralization (the Finnish model). The paper proposes a pathway of “structured autonomy” and strategic
syncretism, combining the strong accountability mechanisms of the East with the flexibility of the West in human
resource management to support the sustainable development of national human capital