Showing papers in "Journal of Education Policy in 1996"
TL;DR: The authors argue that choice in education is systematically related to social class differences and the reproduction of class inequalities, and argue that good parenting is defined, at least in part, in relation to the "responsibilities" of choice.
Abstract: Parental choice is one of the keystones of current education policy in the UK. A combination of open enrolment, per‐capita funding and deregulated admission procedures is encouraging competition between schools for student enrolments (at least in areas where there are surplus places). Parents are encouraged to see themselves as consumers of education, and ‘good parenting’ is defined, at least in part, in relation to the ‘responsibilities’ of choice (The Parents Charter, Department of Education 1992). Within education policy choice is taken to be both neutral and individualistic. In this paper, we attempt to challenge that neutrality and to argue that choice in education is systematically related to social class differences and the reproduction of class inequalities.
372 citations
TL;DR: The distinction between education and training remains crucial if we see the Dual System as integral to a political economy based on'stakeholder' values and practices as discussed by the authors, as implied by their recent joint publication, and what the Third Way means in practice has always been difficult to define.
Abstract: Since this paper was conceived the Modernising Blair government has come into power in the United Kingdom and Gerhard Schroder has been elected to lead an SPD coalition in Germany. Initially it appeared that both were singing from the same hymn sheet extolling the virtues of a Third Way, as implied by their recent joint publication. However, what the Third Way means in practice has always been difficult to define. Tony Blair extols the virtue of shareholder capitalism, Schroder appears to remain wedded to a politics of social partnership. In relation to education and training the distinction between the two remains crucial if we see the Dual System as integral to a political economy based on ‘stakeholder’ values and practices. The fact is that, although the Dual System is confronted with a set of important challenges, training levels are still far superior in Germany to those of the UK. Moreover, from our research in Germany, it seems that the multinational German corporations also appear committed to the Dual System. In our view if nations are to thrive in the twenty-first century it will be through the skills and understandings of the population, what we call ‘collective intelligence’ in a book to be published soon (Brown/Lauder 2000). But the Third Way as defined by New Labour in Britain precludes such a possibility. The tolerance of extremes of wealth and poverty, flexible labour markets which ensure that profits can be made out of cheap unskilled labour, and the reduction in elfare provision which has led to the democratisation of insecurity and fear throughout much of society, cannot be the way forward.
300 citations
TL;DR: The authors examine the crisis of welfare liberalism with specific reference to New Zealand education in order to speculatively reappraise the central principles upon which a revived welfare state could be constructed and in terms of which publicly provided education can be justified.
Abstract: This paper critically examines the crisis of welfare liberalism with specific reference to New Zealand education in order to speculatively reappraise the central principles upon which a revived welfare state could be constructed and in terms of which publicly provided education can be justified. Specifically it will seek to achieve these goals through a number of interrelated tasks. Firstly, it will examine the claims of neo‐liberal theory and argue that contradictions within this theory make its demise likely. To do this it will focus on themes relating to the efficiency of markets, rationality and consumer choice, the state and central planning as well as the issue of liberty. Secondly, in a more positive analysis, it will examine prospects for a return to the welfare state in the near future. This will involve an examination of some important criticisms of the traditional welfare state and an assessment of possible models in terms of which a revived, non‐bureaucratic welfare state could be constructed.
123 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that these discussions tend to position state power as dualistic, pitting one set of actors against another without inquiring into the patterns that locate different actors.
Abstract: In a variety of national contexts, there have been discussions about the changing relations of the state to the educational arena. Often, these discussions talk about centralization and decentralization of the state or of the devolution of power, the latter referring to shifts in the loci of power to geographically local contexts, for example through community governance of education. These discussions, it is argued in this essay, tend to position state power as dualistic, pitting one set of actors against another without inquiring into the patterns that locate different actors. The structuring of oppositions between state and civil society, public and private, government and economy does not adequately characterize the diverse ways that rule is exercised. The purpose in this essay is to relocate the problem of the state in the problematic of governing; to consider the state as networks of relations among various actors and discursive strategies that regulate and discipline the citizen. Pedagogy is explor...
102 citations
TL;DR: Following the 1994 democratic elections, education policy in South Africa has moved from collective and transformational priorities, salient during the 1980s period of resistance, to a centrist and pro-human capital position as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Following the 1994 democratic elections, education policy in South Africa has moved from collective and transformational priorities, salient during the 1980s period of resistance, to a centrist and pro‐human capital position. While the democratic movement talked much about core reforms in the social relations inside classrooms, the new Government of National Unity is focusing on system‐wide rationalisation (including a unified qualifications scheme), developing management information and incrementally changing spending patterns. School quality is being addressed but with much less emphasis on democratising social relations and changing the character of classrooms than anticipated during die years of resistance. This paper describes this dramatic shift in education policy priorities, focusing on central government and two contrasting provinces. It employs two theoretical frameworks ‐‐ political economy and institutional theory ‐‐ to explain the causes and forms of this new set of policy priorities. We expr...
66 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that local responses to educational change promoted in the name of transnational economies and consumer culture are uneven and suggest that it is wrong to assume that parents comprise a unified constituency with similar interests in relation to education or that they can and do take up identical positions in the contemporary politics of school reform.
Abstract: This paper draws on research with parent activists in Ontario, Canada, to argue that local responses to educational change promoted in the name of transnational economies and consumer culture are uneven. In particular, it suggests that it is wrong to assume that ‘parents’ comprise a unified constituency with similar interests in relation to education or that they can and do take up identical positions in the contemporary politics of school reform.
53 citations
TL;DR: For some time now it has been possible to argue that the notion of empowerment has reached a critical stage in its semantic development; simultaneously bedecked in the sequins of market glitterspeak or the vibrant patchwork of postmodern socialisms its semantic fabric is inclined to fall apart at the touch as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: For some time now it has been possible to argue that the notion of empowerment has reached a critical stage in its semantic development; simultaneously bedecked in the sequins of market glitterspeak or the vibrant patchwork of postmodern socialisms its semantic fabric is inclined to fall apart at the touch. Whilst it is true that its burgeoning use has gone hand in hand with its increasingly elusive meaning, paradoxically the significance of empowerment has become more rather than less compelling. This paper offers a preliminary attempt to come to grips with empowerment so that we are in a better position to decide whether it is a helpful notion or whether we would be better off ditching it and focusing our energies on a more satisfactory alternative. Having set the contemporary scene I go on to look at the ‘neutral’, process account of empowerment which claims to be context and value‐free. In the third section I build on some of the emerging issues and sketch out an emancipatory account The fourth sectio...
45 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the relationship between language and power in education policy, focusing on accountability as the specific focus for an analysis of discursive power in the shaping of education in the 1990s.
Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between language and power in education policy. It takes the example of accountability as the specific focus for an analysis of discursive power in the shaping of education in the 1990s. In doing so, it examines the ways in which language contributes to the construction and maintenance of norms and consensual positions in education. Drawing on work in critical linguistics and cultural theory, the paper considers how recent changes in education might be analysed in a way which relates specific examples of social and linguistic practice to larger scale theoretical concerns. The examples which provide the specific focus for discussion in this paper relate to the concept of accountability and are drawn from an empirical study of the enactment of the statutory curriculum for English in secondary schools in 1992‐93.
30 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine and define some of the capacities that are key to local educators' efforts to enact ambitious reform proposals in South Carolina, and raise questions about the effects of policy when it requires local school systems with unequal capacities to take on the authority state policymakers seem so eager to give them.
Abstract: This paper looks at practitioners’ capacities to learn from policy. Although policy researchers have for some time asserted that local capacity is critical in enacting policy reforms, few have defined this capacity. We examine and define some of the capacities that are key to local educators’ efforts to enact ambitious reform proposals in South Carolina. These reforms propose giving local educators greater control over curricular and instructional decisions and a more challenging pedagogy for all students. We raise questions about the effects of policy when it requires local school systems with unequal capacities to take on the authority state policymakers seem so eager to give them. 1. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco April 1995. We are indebted to our colleagues in the Education Policy and Practice Study at Michigan State University. Work on this paper was supported by the Education Policy and Practice St...
25 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that current arrangements for the funding, coordination and provision of nurse education constitute a novel and complex quasi‐market and the development of the market is not positioned simply as the result of an explicit neo‐liberal agenda for nurse education.
Abstract: Although nurse education is now a mainstream activity in English universities, its penetration into the education literature is limited and there has as yet been little dispassionate analysis of recent policy development in this area. Yet nurses are the most significant occupational group in the provision of direct patient care in the National Health Service (NHS). In 1992, for example, over 200 approved institutions in England were providing basic nurse training to around 50,000 student nurses at a cost of over ,£600 million a year. This paper reviews and analyses the development of policy in relation to nurse education between 1985 and 1996 and argues that current arrangements for the funding, coordination and provision of nurse education constitute a novel and complex quasi‐market In contrast to recent assertions in the nursing literature, the development of the market is not positioned simply as the result of an explicit neo‐liberal agenda for nurse education. Rather it has emerged incrementally as a ...
23 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a conceptual framework (the public market) applicable to educational policies that incorporate parental choice and school autonomy as important components of the provision of schooling is proposed, and a sociologically informed framework within which theorising about market oriented reforms can be located.
Abstract: In studying market‐orientated reforms in education, there is a need to explain and account for their impact.1 In this paper, we aim to provide a conceptual framework (the public‐market) applicable to educational policies that incorporate parental choice and school autonomy as important components of the provision of schooling. This offers, we suggest, a sociologically informed framework within which theorising about market‐orientated reforms can be located. The purpose underlying its construction is analytical: that is, its purpose is not to advocate or provide a rationale for market‐orientated reforms, but to assist in understanding and accounting for their consequences.
TL;DR: This paper argued that significant numbers of young Australians are likely to continue to leave school early and that their location in the labour market means that they are an increasingly disadvantaged group whose access to the conditions for establishing a livelihood are marginalised.
Abstract: The new agenda for education and training in Australia which has emerged during the 1990s aims to increase the participation of young people in post‐compulsory education and training. The policies are driven by an assumption that Australia's micro‐economic reform requires a workforce which has been equipped by the education system with specific skills for employment. However, within this policy development, little consideration has been given to the issue of early school leavers. This paper argues that significant numbers of young Australians are likely to continue to leave school early. Their location in the labour market means that they are an increasingly disadvantaged group whose access to the conditions for establishing a livelihood are marginalised. The composition of early school leavers in Australia retains strong continuities with the past. Structural change to the youth labour market, however, means that the implications of early school leaving have changed. Yet the new education and training ag...
Abstract: This paper contributes to the debate about conceptualising policy research by considering Howell's (1990) call that researchers reveal the ‘principle of choice’ which guides the selection of topics, strategies and resources in research. Specifically, it addresses the question of what information must be made available to other researchers so that there can be productive continuing conversations’ (Ball 1994:174) about policy research and its conceptualisation. An examination of the policy sociology literature indicates that the specification of the ‘principle of choice’ requires discussion of the intellectual resources deployed in the research and a consideration of the processes of intellectual work which render these resources meaningful. This specification is then applied in relation to my current research, the ‘Social Organisation of Education Practice’ (soep) project to investigate the changing relationship between education and training in Australia. The products and processes of intellectual work th...
TL;DR: In 1984, the Education Commission was established as a quasi governmental body to advise on all aspects of education policy in Hong Kong as discussed by the authors, which involved a greater degree of public participation in the policy making process.
Abstract: In 1984 the Education Commission was established as a quasi governmental body to advise on all aspects of education policy in the colony. Within the Hong Kong context the Education Commission's establishment was novel for it created a single body to advise on all aspects of education policy and it involved a greater degree of public participation in the policy making process. This paper examines the motives for its establishment, the means by which the state maintained control of the policy making process and the impact of the policy measures initiated by the Education Commission.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors deal with the provision of educational services and access to higher education of the Negev Bedouin Arabs in Israel, in the context of the social change this community is undergoing.
Abstract: This paper deals with the provision of educational services and access to higher education of the Negev Bedouin Arabs in Israel, in the context of the social change this community is undergoing. The Negev Bedouin have been transformed from semi‐nomads and agriculturists to urban town dwellers. Education in general, and higher education in particular, are crucial to their adjustment and development. As members of the Arab minority in Israel, they face a number of inequities in the provision of educational services, access to higher education and access to job opportunities. The Negev Bedouin schools face additional problems related to the lack of qualified teachers and proper facilities. These schools have the highest drop‐out rates and the poorest success rates on the matriculation exams in the country. As of the 1993‐94 academic year, there were only 135 Bedouin Arab university graduates and 163 university students. Their higher education ratio is 2 per 1000, which is far below the Israeli national avera...
TL;DR: The authors argue that reform policies are additive, layered and unpredictable, and they suggest that a theory of learning should underlie policymakers' implementation decisions, and that the multiplicity of reforms may block genuine learning.
Abstract: This commentary on the papers starts with the view that reform policies are additive, layered and unpredictable. Given this nature of reforms, the author suggests certain lessons for policymakers and policy researchers to learn. First, that a theory of learning should underlie policymakers’ implementation decisions. Second, that the multiplicity of reforms may block genuine learning. Third, that understanding the relationship between policy and practice requires an ‘inside‐out’ perspective which takes the changing of educational practice as the central concern rather than the policy environment.
TL;DR: In this paper, the meaning of diversity in education has been examined, and the claims made by advocates and opponents of increased diversity have been examined and some principles which might guide public deliberation on the issues.
Abstract: Issues of linguistic religious, racial and ethnic differences in education have been at the centre of some of the sharpest conflicts in Canadian history. This paper deals with the meanings of diversity, considers some examples of institutional diversity in Canadian education, examines some of the claims made by advocates and opponents of increased diversity, and identifies some principles which might guide public deliberation on the issues.
TL;DR: In this paper, an alternative is presented that moves beyond liberal/individualistic/progressive approaches, and instead positions teachers to not only ask questions about the technical competence of their teaching and the culture of professional relationships in their schools, but also pushes them to question the nexus between schooling and s...
Abstract: There is a good deal of intrinsic appeal and widespread support for the notion of teacher evaluation for development and growth, as distinct from conformity, compliance and control. Phrases like ‘collaboration’, continuous learning cultures ‘'partnerships’, ‘collegiality’ and ‘teachers‐as‐learners’ roll easily off the lips, but we are beginning to discover that these supposedly more enlightened approaches have their own quite serious shortcomings. It is not that control perse disappears in the new democratic models of teacher evaluation. It is just that it is harder to locate in form and substance. This paper explores how the democratic genres of teacher evaluation are far from benign. An alternative is presented that moves beyond liberal/individualistic/progressive approaches, and instead positions teachers to not only ask questions about the technical competence of their teaching and the culture of professional relationships in their schools, but pushes them to question the nexus between schooling and s...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use secondary school students' understanding of the technology/environment interface to highlight the problems associated with curriculum fragmentation and argue that these problems cannot be solved without removing these arbitrary boundaries.
Abstract: This paper uses secondary school students’ understanding of the technology/environment interface to highlight the problems associated with curriculum fragmentation. It identifies the structure of the school day as a strong factor in forcing students to create boundaries between subjects and implicates the unitization of the curriculum in Western Australia in further strengthening the compartmentalisation of students’ knowledge. It considers ways in which the structure and definition of teacher's work produces its own fragmentation which parallels that experienced by students. Finally it links the fragmentation of student experience, teacher experience and environmental problems and argues that these problems cannot be solved without removing these arbitrary boundaries.
TL;DR: This paper presented at the CVCP/SRHE seminar on postgraduate education in London on 7 June 1995, and was the first paper to address the problem of post-graduate education.
Abstract: † An earlier version of this paper was presented at the CVCP/SRHE seminar on postgraduate education in London on 7 June 1995
TL;DR: In this article, the results of a four-year study which examined the processes and consequences of restructuring in local schools are summarized in this paper and identified six key lessons about productive restructuring processes and outlines a promising image of schools capable of such restructuring.
Abstract: Government‐initiated school restructuring began in the Canadian province of British Columbia in 1989. It was accompanied by significant commitments of new funding for schools and high levels of awareness on the part of central officials about the requirements for effective policy implementation. The content of this restructing mirrored efforts in many other jurisdictions but was exceptionally comprehensive. Results of a four‐year study which examined the processes and consequences of restructuring in local schools are summarized in this paper. The paper identifies six key lessons about productive restructuring processes and outlines a promising image of schools capable of such restructuring. Also proposed is an ‘educative’ approach by governments toward educational reform policy and its implementation.
TL;DR: The authors argue that policy makers' attempts to enact policy can be viewed as a form of teaching and that local educators can be seen as learners from policy, and they trace the evolution of this pedagogical perspective in their work, and preview the contribution the papers in this volume make to developing this frame.
Abstract: In this paper we examine relations between education policy and local practice. Situating our work within the literature on the local implementation of education policy, we develop a pedagogical perspective for understanding relations between policy and local practice. We argue that policy‐makers’ attempts to enact policy can be viewed as a form of teaching and that local educators can be seen as learners from policy. This pedagogical perspective provides a theoretical frame for the papers in this volume. We trace the evolution of this pedagogical perspective in our work, and we preview the contribution the papers in this volume make to developing this frame. We also present details of our research methods. 1. We are indebted to our colleagues in the Education Policy and Practice Study, EPPS is supported in part from grants from the National Science Foundation, Pew Charitable Trust, Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Consortium for Policy Research in Education, which is funded by a grant from the US De...
TL;DR: A variety of school choice proposals in the US have emerged in a variety of forms to address numerous ills of the US public school system as mentioned in this paper, including alternative education in the public...
Abstract: School choice proposals in the us have emerged in a variety of forms to address numerous ills of the nation's public school system. To date, these forms include alternative education in the public ...
TL;DR: A new moralism has resulted in an increased self-policing and contestation about the way students are treated by state schools as mentioned in this paper, and state schools can be seen as a key institutional arena of contemporary sexual politics.
Abstract: At present state schools can be seen as a key institutional arena of contemporary sexual politics. A new moralism has resulted in an increased self‐policing and contestation about the way students ...
TL;DR: In this article, a case study of teacher evaluation in a suburban, Protestant education district of thirteen schools in Alberta is presented. And the evaluation policy required that school administrators complete evaluations of teachers every three years, although there were different requirements for teachers who transferred into the district, teachers who who transferred within the district and...
Abstract: This article is one of eight case studies prepared for Alberta Education (the provincial Department of Education) specifically the Teacher Evaluation Policy Impact Project, on the subject of teacher evaluation. A suburban, Protestant education district of thirteen schools participated in this study. A five‐member research team of university faculty and graduate students collaborated on the case study. Four of them have re‐presented the findings in this journal article. The educational background and teaching experiences of the teacher participants were rich and diverse. They brought an understanding of teacher evaluation from their personal experiences with evaluation in provinces and territories throughout Canada across their career spans. The district's teacher evaluation policy required that school administrators complete evaluations of teachers every three years, although there were different requirements for teachers who transferred into the district, teachers who transferred within the district and ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors pointed out the difficulties raised by the use of double objectives (i.e., inspection of teaching and improvement of student learning) in teacher evaluation policies.
Abstract: Analysis of the findings from this provincial study point to the difficulties raised by the use of double objectives ‐‐ inspection of teaching and improvement of student learning ‐‐ in teacher evaluation policies. The policy assumes that one is directly connected to the other and that the conditions under which one is conducted are also conducive to the realization of the second objective. In practice, these proved to be horns of a dilemma. We have to respect the lived experiences of teachers and administrators about teacher evaluation and we have to find a way to be accountable to the public Practices which help resolve this dilemma are identified as those most likely to emphasise student success and to reaffirm the importance of professional growth for all educators.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the restructuring of the world of work and education and training in Australia and its implications for women and girls, and point out the ways in which the notions of "a workplace" and "the competent worker" are deeply gendered.
Abstract: This paper discusses the restructuring of the world of work and education and training in Australia and its implications for women and girls It outlines some of the ways in which government policies are restructuring the Australian workforce and workplaces and points to the promises this agenda makes and the possible price of these for women It then focuses on the changes taking place in the post‐compulsory years of schooling, also in Australia, looking at both the policies that are reshaping the curriculum to make it more oriented to the workplace and at the implications this has for the post‐school options of young women In this regard it points to the ways in which the notions of ‘a workplace’ and ‘the competent worker’ which are inherent in policy are deeply gendered, suggests that the definition of ‘effective participation’ is disempowering for workers generally and women workers particularly and that the specific vocational competencies on offer are likely to be particularly unhelpful for women a
TL;DR: In this article, a more strategic engagement with credit transfer is recommended in the belief that public policy seeks to develop student choice and mobility to promote a wider vision of learner enablement.
Abstract: For 30 years public policy towards higher education in the UK has commended the development of credit transfer and the mobility of credentials. Moreover, policy developments internationally encourage the view that improved credit transfer is essential for an affordable higher education system committed to democratic participation and sustainable human development in a changing global economy. Yet, as this paper shows, despite persistent encouragement by government, employers and others, progress in the UK remains slow. Part of the problem may lie in the different perceptions of credit transfer held by various parties. Thus attention is paid to these differences, and a more strategic engagement with credit transfer is recommended in the belief that public policy seeks to develop student choice and mobility to promote a wider vision of learner enablement. The paper draws on research undertaken for the report: Choosing to Change: Extending Access, Choice and Mobility in Higher Education, elaborating on some ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine aspects of the recent expansion of Post-Compulsory Education and Training (PCET), and explore various ways in which a market, credit and contract culture find expression in the fast changing arrangements of Post‐16 Education Policy in the UK, and whether this reflects a transition from a Fordist to a post-Fordist learning society.
Abstract: With mass post‐compulsory education and training now coming on stream the question arises, whose interests does it serve? In addressing this question this paper examines aspects of the recent expansion of Post‐Compulsory Education and Training (PCET). It explores various ways in which a market, credit and contract culture find expression in the fast changing arrangements of Post‐16 Education Policy in the UK, and whether this reflects a transition from a Fordist to a post‐Fordist learning society. In looking at what sense can be made of this transition, the paper reflects on why the post‐Fordist ideal translates into the neo‐Fordist nightmare, and what can be done about it. It is argued that it is one thing to employ a post‐Fordist or post‐modern analysis of contingency and diversity in education, and quite another to confuse such analysis with the onset of a new post‐industrial order, at least in the UK. Drawing on earlier collaborative work with colleagues (Avis et al. 1996) this paper looks toward a fo...
TL;DR: In this article, the responses of the headteacher to a turbulent external policy and market environment are explored using data from an ethnographic study of one English primary school, where the response to changing external conditions included downsizing the staff and introducing a new form of organisation, the "step" system, which necessitated restructuring staff deployment.
Abstract: This article argues that central government policies are impacting on the primary school in complex ways and one result is the emergence of a new type of in‐school organisation. Using data from an ethnographic study of one English primary school, the responses of the headteacher to a turbulent external policy and market environment are explored. The headteacher's reaction to changing external conditions included downsizing the staff and introducing a new form of organisation, the ‘step’ system, which necessitated restructuring staff deployment. The restructured organisation created new teacher roles with which to introduce curriculum change, retrain the teachers and monitor and evaluate the new initiatives. This required a new type of flexible and collaborative primary teacher to train and supervise colleagues in their changed work. The article concludes by locating this new mode of organisation in organisation theory. It is considered to be a ‘manipulative’ rather than ‘moving mosaic’.