Department of General Education Disciplines

The Department’s primary objective

Provide theoretical, methodological, practical, and organizational support to enhance the learning process and improve the quality of educational services. The Department achieves this goal by implementing a student centered and competence-oriented approach.

Regarding the field of improving the quality of educational services, the Department aims to conduct educational
activities at a level that meets the state standard of education, thereby providing consumers of education with the best quality teaching. It is essential to note that the Department’s activities are geared towards delivering
high-quality education that meets the expectations of the stakeholders.

Educational activities

The Department of General Education Disciplines ensures the implementation of a cycle of general education disciplines within the framework of the State Compulsory Educational Standard of the Republic of Kazakhstan:

at the bachelor’s degree level:

Kazakh (Russian) language
Foreign languages (English, German and Chinese)
History of Kazakhstan
Philosophy
Socio-political knowledge module(Political Science, Sociology, Cultural studies, Psychology);
Physical Culture

at the master’s degree level (scientific and pedagogical area):

Higher school pedagogy
Management Psychology
History and philosophy of science
Foreign language (major)

Research projects

Digital Culture in Higher Education: European Perspective Activity from Erasmus JMO (Tleshova Zh.K., Gerfanova E.R.)
The politics of languages in education: issues of access to education and labour market participation of minority ethnic groups in Kazakhstan. The case of Uzbeks by PEER (Tolesh Fariza)
Connectivity and trust building in Islamic civilization (Dzhampeissova Zh.)
“Development of intercultural citizenship in the context of internationalization of higher foreign language education in the Republic of Kazakhstan” under the Zhas Galym program 2022-2024. The Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (E.F. Gerfanova)
“The use of assistive technologies in inclusive education in higher educational institutions of Kazakhstan (AITU)”. Scientific supervisor: Uyzbayeva A. Name of the competition: GF of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2023-2025.
“Representation, visualization of the tragic lessons of history related to political repression and famine in Kazakhstan in the 20-80s of the 20th century” 2022 (Mamytova S.N., Shayakhmet N.U.)

International activities

The Department cooperates within the framework of research projects, internships and exchange of experience with such international organizations and universities as Erasmus JMO, PEER, University of Michigan (USA), Faculty of Turkish Language and Literature of Akdeniz University (Antalya, Turkey).

Foreign and local scientists and teachers Martin Curtis (Oxford University Press teacher-trainer), Richard Smith, Robert Gordon and Mariam Sciala (instructors of Academic English, Nazarbayev University) Douglas Hartman (Professor, Michigan State University) Wolfgang Moser (a retired German diplomat and former ambassador), Mark Alexander-Warne (MA, IELTS instructor and examiner, senior lecturer of AITU in 2019-2022 yy.) were invited to give thematic lectures, seminars and master classes for faculty and academic staff and students of the University.

Scientific and educational and socio- cultural activities of students

The Department of General Education Disciplines annually organizes events aimed at attracting students to scientific activities, participation in cultural and educational meetings and the sports life of the University.

Department structure

Zhibek Tleshova

Director of the Department

Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences
Winner of the Bolashak International Scholarship – 2012 (Cambridge, UK)
Winner of grants from the Embassies of the United Kingdom, the United States and Erasmus + JM
Author of more than 35 academic and methodological works, including: 1 monograph, 2 training manuals on higher education and teaching methodology
6 publications in peer-reviewed journals, of which 2 are in journals indexed in Scopus (Q1)
10 publications in journals included in the List of publications recommended by the Committee for Quality Assurance in the Field of Science and Higher Education of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Teaching staff

Educational and methodological publications and author’s courses of the teaching staff of the department ensure the quality of education and the development of academic knowledge and skills of students. During the work of the University, our teaching staff has produced 16 textbooks, teaching aids and author’s courses.