Showing papers in "Policy Futures in Education in 2020"
TL;DR: In a post-Covid-19 world, the authors of as discussed by the authors have pointed out that the impact of higher education planning and policies was an inherent disaster, and argued that in some ways Covid19 was a mere accelerator of the processes that were put into motion some time ago, rather than a radical changemaker.
Abstract: Recently, I had an interesting meeting with a long-known colleague. What would have been an unusual meeting a couple of months ago, for two colleagues who work at the same institution, has now become the ‘new normality’ – we met over a scheduled Zoom meeting. In the meeting, she shared her observation that while Covid-19 has taken education by storm, its impact on higher education planning and policies was an inherent disaster. This sudden act and immediate change to the way higher education composes itself was claiming the space for staff and students and changing the way we were existing and being. In this, however, she argued, that in some ways Covid-19 was a mere accelerator of the processes that were put into motion some time ago, rather than a radical changemaker. That is, that something that was inevitable to occur, has suddenly, without consultation, formed a clear, easiest and most logical path forward in a time of crises. The question that my colleague asked, as we talked on Zoom, was will we ever be able to return the genie back into the bottle? In a world heading towards ‘post-Covid-19’ realities, I will try to model my colleague’s thought towards a couple of scenarios that higher education has experienced. The first one is related to the sudden shift to online teaching and learning, including webinars as a way to disseminate research. The second idea relates to the thinking around international students and student mobility, which had been heralded, up to Covid-19, as a victory of globalization and an essential revenue stream for tertiary institutions. In the world pre-Covid-19, academics had received a clear nod from University administration that their programmes and courses should start being translated and slowly become part of online offerings. This policy push in higher education was sometimes a direct
146 citations
TL;DR: The authors examine the discourses underlying this view and find that education within capitalism too often reproduces social and economic inequalities, and that schools are depicted as failing and teachers are blamed, and conclude that "teachers are often blamed".
Abstract: Education within capitalism too often reproduces social and economic inequalities. Schools are depicted as failing and teachers are blamed. In this paper, I examine the discourses underlying this s...
57 citations
TL;DR: One debate among business owners and policymakers centres on whether higher education institutions (HEIs) have failed to transform the younger generation by developing their competencies, skills, and capabilities as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: One debate among business owners and policymakers centres on whether higher education institutions (HEIs) have failed to transform the younger generation by developing their competencies, skills, v...
33 citations
TL;DR: Contemporary college student activism has been particularly visible and effective in the past few years at US institutions of higher education and is projected only to grow in future years as discussed by the authors, which is projected to be the case for the next few decades.
Abstract: Contemporary college student activism has been particularly visible and effective in the past few years at US institutions of higher education and is projected only to grow in future years. Almost ...
32 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors expand on the concept of educational life and build on an autonomist Marxist framework that better allows us to understand neoliberalism's parasitic operations, and then they propose an alternative approach to the problem.
Abstract: This essay expands on the concept of educational life and builds on an autonomist Marxist framework that better allows us to understand neoliberalism’s parasitic operations. Following this, the las...
19 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyse European Council and European Commission policy documents from 2000 to 2016 by drawing on the idea of discourses and governing with neoliberal political rationality, showing that the financial crisis and policy initiatives launched to mitigate its consequences made it possible to mainstream the neoliberal rationality of individual competition and flexibility as an inseparable part of youth policy steering.
Abstract: This article focuses on neoliberal governing by the European Union of cross-sectoral youth policies directed at young people ‘at risk’. The aim is to show how the alliance of discourses of employability and precariousness in these policies has emerged and how these discourses operate in policy. In the article, we analyse European Council and European Commission policy documents from 2000 to 2016 by drawing on the idea of discourses and governing with neoliberal political rationality. Our results show that the financial crisis and policy initiatives launched to mitigate its consequences made it possible to mainstream the neoliberal rationality of individual competition and flexibility as an inseparable part of youth policy steering.
17 citations
TL;DR: Insight is provided into how teachers’ interactions with videos may contribute to enhancing their agentic capacity to learn and transformative digital agency in the ICTMOOC and for the design of videos in online courses.
Abstract: This study examines how videos may support participants’ learning in the Information and Communication Technology Massive Open Online Course (ICTMOOC) aimed to develop digital skills with pre- and ...
16 citations
TL;DR: In the United States, the proliferation of charter schools remains a top priority for neoliberal education reformers and their private sector allies as discussed by the authors, and many of these schools are owned and run by private operators.
Abstract: In the United States, charter school proliferation remains a top priority for neoliberal education reformers and their private sector allies. Such schools are owned and run by private operators yet...
15 citations
TL;DR: In many educational jurisdictions, school systems are striving to demonstrate constant improvement as discussed by the authors, and the latest iteration of this concern is represented by the recent federal government's "Growth and Opportunity Agenda".
Abstract: In many educational jurisdictions, school systems are striving to demonstrate constant improvement. In Australia, the latest iteration of this concern is represented by the recent federal g...
15 citations
TL;DR: In numerous countries, the widening participation of underrepresented groups in higher education has become an official part of education policies as mentioned in this paper. But inequalities continue in some areas, and inequalities continue to exist.
Abstract: In numerous countries, the widening participation of underrepresented groups in higher education has become an official part of education policies. However, inequalities continue in some areas, inc...
15 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on ensuring that more students from traditionally underrepresented populations have the opportunity to enter and complete college is ensured by ensuring that they receive a college degree.
Abstract: As workforce participation increasingly requires a college degree, ensuring that more students from traditionally underrepresented populations have the opportunity to enter and complete college is ...
TL;DR: The question as mentioned in this paper is to what extent the prevailing description of educational reality that can be found in contemporary research, policy and practice can be considered complete, and the answer is that it is not complete.
Abstract: The question I address in this paper is to what extent the prevailing description of educational reality that can be found in contemporary research, policy and practice can be considered complete. ...
TL;DR: The purported purpose of school choice policies is to increase students' access to “good schools,” however, there is little discussion of where those good schools are located, nor of the ways in w...
Abstract: The purported purpose of school choice policies is to increase students’ access to “good schools.” There is little discussion, however, of where those good schools are located, nor of the ways in w...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors use the work of Amy Gutmann as a heuristic device to describe and explain the prevalence of market-based models of authority in education and use this as a basis for their own work.
Abstract: This is the second of three articles on “Sources of Authority in Education”. All use the work of Amy Gutmann as a heuristic device to describe and explain the prevalence of market-based models of E...
TL;DR: In 2018, Sweden has integrated programming in mathematics education with the rationale that "programming and computational thinking have emerged as compulsory skills in elementary school education" as mentioned in this paper, with the goal of teaching computational thinking to elementary school students.
Abstract: Programming and computational thinking have emerged as compulsory skills in elementary school education. In 2018, Sweden has integrated programming in mathematics education with the rationale that ...
TL;DR: There is a rational assumption built into some research projects that policy contexts are influenced by the quality of the evidence as discussed by the authors, which is, at best, only somewhat true some of the time.
Abstract: There is a rational assumption built into some research projects that policy contexts are influenced by the quality of the evidence. This is, at best, only somewhat true some of the time. Through p...
TL;DR: The Finnish educational system is well known for its excellent learning results, highly trained teachers and egalitarian values as mentioned in this paper. However, when the political leanings of the government change, its p...
Abstract: The Finnish educational system is well known for its excellent learning results, highly trained teachers and egalitarian values. However, when the political leanings of the government change, its p...
TL;DR: In this paper, the current positioning of the child and care within international/national childcare policy is called into question, and a plea is constructed to "Won't somebody think of the children".
Abstract: ‘Won’t somebody think of the children’ is a battle cry calling into question the current positioning of the child and care within international/national childcare policy. This plea is constructed w...
TL;DR: The authors argue that the "new governance" narrative should be revised and modified to reflect context-specific details of the policy sector and styles of government, and discuss the modified networ...
Abstract: This paper argues that the ‘new governance’ narrative should be revised and modified to reflect context-specific details of the policy sector and styles of government. I discuss the modified networ...
TL;DR: The Opt Out Florida (OOF) movement as discussed by the authors is a predominantly woman-led group seeking to dismantle neoliberal education policy by coaching children to boycott high-stakes standardized test scores.
Abstract: This article explores the Opt Out Florida (OOF) movement, a predominantly woman-led group seeking to dismantle neoliberal education policy by coaching children to boycott high-stakes standardized t...
TL;DR: This paper explored the realm of educational politics and the organization of opposition to neoliberal school reform in the United States of America, and pointed out that a distinguishing feature of the current refor...
Abstract: This article explores the realm of educational politics and the organization of opposition to neoliberal school reform in the United States of America. A distinguishing feature of the current refor...
TL;DR: The year 2018 marked the 10th anniversary of the global economic crisis of 2008 as mentioned in this paper, and austerity has been a constant ever since the crisis, which has been criticised by many.
Abstract: The year 2018 marked the 10th anniversary of the global economic crisis of 2008. In Europe, austerity has been a constant ever since the crisis. This article critically engages with recent institut...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors recognise that globalisation has indelibly influenced how the arts are valued, practiced and taught in diverse regions of the world, and they recognize that globalization has also influenced how performing arts teachers are valued and trained.
Abstract: Performing arts teachers, in diverse regions of the world, recognise that globalisation has indelibly influenced how the arts are valued, practiced and taught (Rowe, Martin, Buck, et al., 2018). As...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that universal public access to early childhood education and care has not occupied a prominent place in feminist demands to end patriarchy, and not only has such access gone largely unmet in most of the world.
Abstract: Whereas universal public access to early childhood education and care has long occupied a prominent place in feminist demands to end patriarchy, not only has such access gone largely unmet in most ...
TL;DR: The authors investigates the challenges that tertiary educators face when seeking to implement education-policy reforms in China and presents the narratives of tertiary dance education teachers in the context of dance education.
Abstract: This article investigates the challenges that tertiary educators face when seeking to implement education-policy reforms in China. Our qualitative study presents the narratives of tertiary dance ed...
TL;DR: For example, this article argued that the United States was still recovering from an economic meltdown caused in part by an underregulated fraudulent mortgage lending system and the wealthiest 1% gaining an increasingly larger percentage of all the wealth, while median income has remained stagnant for the last half century.
Abstract: When we first conceptualized this special issue in spring 2016, there were reasons to hope that neoliberalism might be nearing an endpoint. Neoliberalism, as a particular and extreme form of capitalism, faced two intertwined crises, one economic and the other environmental. Almost 10 years after the economic crash of 2007, the United States was still recovering from an economic meltdown caused in part by an under-regulated fraudulent mortgage lending system and the wealthiest 1% gaining an increasingly larger percentage of all the wealth, while median income has remained stagnant for the last half century (Saez & Zucman, 2019). Simultaneously, the environmental crisis worsened as climate change and global warming results in more frequent and stronger storms; drier conditions leading to more brush and forest fires in California, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere; longer and deeper droughts; increased desertification; sea-level rise and flooding (Mirowski, 2013). Consequently, there are more refugees and more conflicts between those who have and those who don’t. In addition, humans are dispersing more and more dangerous toxins across the globe. Most recently, scientists are discovering that humans and all living things are being contaminated by micro-plastics that they are ingesting and storing (Cox et al., 2019). Consequently, it was becoming increasingly apparent that neoliberal policies, which aim to replace governmental and collective oversight of the economy, the environment, and education with individual decisions within markets, are a significant cause of these crises. Therefore, it seemed that people were increasingly realizing that neoliberalism—as a way of making individual and societal decisions—was on the verge of being replaced. Indeed, initiatives such as nations promising to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions they produced suggested that alternatives to neoliberalism were becoming increasingly possible. However, over the last five years, neoliberalism has not only remained dominant economically, but has also remained the dominant social imaginary (Rizvi & Lingard, 2010).
TL;DR: This paper explored the learning content of "multiculturalism" for children in Taiwan's elemen... by reading, reviewing, analyzing and discussing the literature related to "multilingualism".
Abstract: By reading, reviewing, analyzing and discussing the literature related to ‘multiculturalism’, this article aims to explore the learning content of ‘multiculturalism’ for children in Taiwan’s elemen...
TL;DR: Connecting neuroscience and education is a desire in contemporary society, related to the recur- ring calls for education to become more evidence-based as mentioned in this paper, which is the goal of our work.
Abstract: Connecting neuroscience and education is a desire in contemporary society, related to the recur- ring calls for education to become more evidence-based. Research in educational neuroscience strives ...
TL;DR: In this paper, an ethnographic study examined the consequences of increased privatization of early childhood education (ECE) in Nepal and Kenya and found that overreliance on high-stakes games led to over-reliance in high-quality education.
Abstract: This ethnographic study examined the (un)intended1 consequences of increased privatization of Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Nepal and Kenya. Qualitative data showed overreliance on high-stakes...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the consequences, both truly unintended and (un)intended, of current early childhood education and care policies around the globe, focusing on the duplicitous agenda, what they call an (unintended consequence.
Abstract: Every action has consequences. Like a stone thrown into a pond, the ripples extend outward, often further and deeper than we can see. This is true whether it is policy, practices, or individual choices. In the case of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), many influential policies have been fueled by the highly competitive and accountability-driven Global Education Reform Movement (GERM). These have not been without consequences. Policies have an impact and lead to changes, some of them intended and others (un) intended, and many of these consequences are concerning and, frankly, unethical. As Diane Ravitch has pointed out: “The privatizers hail disruption and call it ‘creative,’ but it is neither creative nor beneficial” (2020: 8). Of course, policymakers and those in power always frame such policies in socially acceptable and appealing terms, and sometimes it may be indeed true that such policies translate into practice differently than intended, creating unintended consequences for children, teachers, or even society on a larger scale. Other times, however, such consequences are anticipated and welcomed by those in power to benefit them. These consequences often protect agendas that are not widely accepted, such as making a profit at the expense of families and children in need or shaping a generation by eroding ideals of democracy and equality. It is this type of consequence, with its duplicitous agenda, what we call an (un)intended consequence, that is the focus of this issue. This special issue aims to explore in detail the consequences, both truly unintended and (un)intended, of current early childhood policies around the globe. One must ask who is