The present historical moment may seem a particularly inopportune time to review Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam's latest exploration of civic decline in America. After all, the outpouring of volunteerism, solidarity, patriotism, and self-sacrifice displayed by Americans in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks appears to fly in the face of Putnam's central argument: that \"social capital\" -defined as \"social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them\" (p. 19)'has declined to dangerously low levels in America over the last three decades. However, Putnam is not fazed in the least by the recent effusion of solidarity. Quite the contrary, he sees in it the potential to \"reverse what has been a 30to 40-year steady decline in most measures of connectedness or community.\"' As an example of how the current \"war on terrorism\" could generate a durable civic renewal, Putnam points to the burst in civic practices that occurred during and after World War II, which he says \"permanently marked\" the generation that lived through it and had a \"terrific effect on American public life over the last half-century.\" 3 If Americans can follow this example and channel their current civic

Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community

The power of feedback.

Preface 1. Why a global language? 2. Why English? The historical context 3. Why English? The cultural foundation 4. Why English? The cultural legacy 5. The future of global English References Index List of tables.

English as a Global Language

The End of History and the Last Man

The East Asian miracle: Economic growth and public policy: By the World Bank. (New York: Oxford University Press for the World Bank, 1993. 389 pp. $19.95, paper.)

In this article I revisit and extend arguments made in 1996 and 1997 about the relationship between globalisation, the state and education policy. I was particularly concerned then to see how a small but strong state, Singapore, was responding in the education arena to globalisation. I also wished to draw attention to the literature on the high rates of economic growth achieved by the East Asian ‘tigers’ in which education, training and capital–labour accommodation played a large part; in all these countries the state was strong, being in the market as well as managing it. But with globalisation and neo‐liberal economic policies growing in strength, the havoc caused by the 1997 Asian economic crisis and the new geopolitical and security environment following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US, there is a need to reconsider some of the arguments and to review the policy responses, especially in education. Is there evidence of the state weakening? Are more pro‐market policies changing governance and f...

Globalisation, the Singapore developmental state and education policy: a thesis revisited

The challenges facing the Singapore education system in the new millennium are unique and unprecedented in Asia Demands for new skills, knowledges, and flexible competencies for globalised economies and cosmopolitan cultures will require system-wide innovation and reform But there is a dearth of international benchmarks and prototypes for such reforms This paper describes the current Core Research Program underway at the National Institute of Education in Singapore, a multilevel analysis of Singaporean schooling, pedagogy, youth and educational outcomes It describes student background, performance, classroom practices, student artefacts and outcomes, and student longitudinal life pathways The case is made that a systematic focus on teachers' and students' work in everyday classroom contexts is the necessary starting point for pedagogical innovation and change This, it is argued, can constitute a rich multidisciplinary evidence base for educational policy

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02188790500032467

Towards Research-based Innovation and Reform: Singapore schooling in transition

The educational reforms being enacted in Singapore can be considered exceptional in that they are being undertaken within a highly effective system. We explore these reforms using Brown and Lauder's ideal-typical analysis of ‘neo-Fordist’ and ‘post-Fordist’ models of national economic development. Singapore's reforms have been extensive, ranging from changes to early childhood education through to tertiary education. We examine the nature of state-market relations in education within the context of Singapore's ‘soft authoritarian’ political culture and assess the chances of success of the reforms.

After effectiveness: new directions in the Singapore school system?

This paper explores the concept of globalisation and educational policy making in the context of a recently developed ‘strong state’, Singapore. It suggests both the need to clarify the concept of globalisation from such concepts as dependency and centre-periphery and to avoid overly deterministic accounts of the influence of global trends on education policy making. An analysis is provided of policy initiatives in Singapore between 1979 and 1991 located within state-based imperatives to respond to both global and state-centric challenges.

Globalisation, the state and education policy in Singapore

It is organized by the World Bank in partnership with Singapore and Vietnam, with financial support from Norway, Singapore and the Donor Partners of the Education for All Fast Track Initiative. 2 This paper highlights key features of the development of education in Singapore over the last 40 years, focusing on how Singapore has been able over this period to develop its education system from a level in the early 1960s quite similar to that of many African countries, to reach a level comparable to the best OECD countries. The analysis is done in the context of the economic and social transformation of Singapore since 1965.

Saravanan Gopinathan

Papers

Globalisation, the Singapore developmental state and education policy: a thesis revisited

Towards Research-based Innovation and Reform: Singapore schooling in transition

After effectiveness: new directions in the Singapore school system?

Globalisation, the state and education policy in Singapore

The development of education in Singapore since 1965