Policy,practice, and reconversion in Spanish educational reform: teaching and teacher education in physical education

Abstract

Since the late 1980s, reform of the Spanish education system has been justified by reformists as a response to the social and economic changes that have occurred in Spanish society since the democratic transition in the 1970s. Consolidation of democracy, development of technology and economic convergence with the advanced nations of Europe have been seen as the major challenges for educational reform. Restructuring and legitimation processes derived from the requirements of the new reform have been conceptualized as a policy of reconversion, the main purpose of which is to maintain, or achieve, a strong competitive position in the international market. In this paper, conceptualizing educational reform as a reconversion process will allow us to link aspects of the new curriculum (content, pedagogy and assessment), school organization, teaching and teacher education in physical education with wider economic, social and cultural influences and explore the tensions and conflicts between policy and practice in PE in schools. The paper will argue that there is a widening gap between the interests of progressive educationalists and the direction of market‐driven education reform.     

From a Language to a Theory of Resistance: Critical Pedagogy,the Limits of “Framing,” and Social Change

In this article, Rebecca Tarlau attempts to build a more robust theory of the relationship between education and social change by drawing on the conceptual tools offered in the critical pedagogy and social movement literatures. Tarlau argues that while critical pedagogy has been largely disconnected from its roots in political organizing, social movement literature has shifted away from a theory of educational processes within movement building. Specifically, she suggests that the currently dominant “framing perspective” in the social movement literature is incredibly limited in its ability to analyze the pedagogical aspects of organizing. Conversely, while scholars of critical pedagogy are extremely convincing when critiquing U.S. schooling, the field is weaker when theorizing about how teachers using critical pedagogy can link to larger movements for social transformation. Critical pedagogues need more organizational thinking and social movement scholars need a more pedagogical focus. Tarlau suggests three conceptual frameworks for moving forward in this direction: the notion of social movements as pedagogical spaces, the role of informal educational projects in facilitating the emergence and strength of social movements, and the role of public schools as terrains of contestation that hold the possibility of linking to larger struggles for social justice.     

Competing Paradigms of Educational Justice: Parent Organizing for Educational Equity in a Neoliberal Reform Context

This article examines a grassroots parent organizing effort in a large, high-poverty, urban school district. Drawing from ethnographic field research at a community-based popular education organization, the study describes how parent organizers worked to educate and mobilize Latina/o immigrant parents on issues of educational justice and equity. It identifies three pillars of their approach—a social theory, a theory of change, and a theory of knowledge— and argues that these were not reducible to a set of practices or methods; rather, they constituted a coherent paradigm of educational justice. This paradigm differs in significant ways from the neoliberal justice paradigm that currently dominates education reform and policy. By examining points of tension between these two competing paradigms, this article seeks to accomplish two aims. First, it aims to deepen our understanding of how underlying paradigms of educational justice shape the work of educating, organizing, and reforming schools. Second, it aims to expose the cultural specificity, or non-universality, of the neoliberal paradigm in order to challenge its hegemonic status in education reform and policy.     

Constructing inclusive education in a neo‐liberal context: Promoting inclusion of Arab‐Australian students in an Australian context

School systems are a major social change agent capable of challenging social inequalities and economic disadvantages. Yet, while schools in Australia are being confronted with increasingly culturally diverse populations as well as an increasing focus on student retention, this transformative role is increasingly being played out in a broader educational context that has been found to replicate rather than challenge patterns of social inequality. Successive governments in Australia have responded to this context with a raft of policy initiatives. This paper, based on three‐year longitudinal research undertaken in the city of Melbourne, outlines this policy context and introduces the theoretical approach that underpins its innovative approach to managing cultural diversity in educational institutions. It argues for, and presents, a multidimensional model for managing cultural diversity in schools, one that provides the tools for transformative practices to be undertaken to effect positive change in school environments for the benefit of all students.     

基础教育“重点校”政策分析

我国基础教育"重点校"政策是社会经济非均衡发展战略在教育中的体现。"重点校"政策在推动部分学校教育质量提高的同时,也扩大了城乡间、学校间在资源配置和教育质量上的差距,导致了教育公平的缺失,使得基础教育群体间入学机会不公平,尤其接受优质教育不公平。应从制度入手,推进教育管理制度、教育人事制度、教育财政制度的改革,缩小基础教育校际差别,逐步取消"重点校"政策,使公众享受到较为公平的教育。     

Context matters: primary schools and academies reform in England

There is little conclusive evidence linking academies reform in England with school improvement. While this reform has been effective in improving educational outcomes in some contexts, it has been resoundingly unsuccessful in others. Nevertheless, political faith in autonomous schooling as key to a world-class education remains strong. This paper considers how matters of context impact on approaches to and enactments of this policy. Drawing on case study data from two groups of primary schools from (1) a local authority and (2) an academy chain, the paper examines the particular situated, professional, material and external factors that impact on these schools’ capacities to cope with and respond to academies reform. In light of the continued tendency within policy for schools to be dematerialised, the paper argues the ongoing significance of greater attention to matters of context in understanding how schools are navigating the complex terrain of this reform.     

Education rights,education policies and inequality in South Africa

In this article we explore education policy changes in South Africa through a rights-based framework. We situate our analysis in the context of deepening poverty and inequality arguing that progress (or the lack thereof) in schools cannot be divorced from poverty and its consequences. We show that education reform in South Africa has been situated within a policy frame that results in a tension between cost recovery and redressing historical backlogs. We argue that the introduction of user fees and the burden of other costs have rendered abstract the idea of education as a ‘right’. The definition of rights is extended to include the quality of education and educational opportunities. We question the constitutional and legislative romanticism surrounding a rights-based discourse and encourage a re-conceptualisation of human rights in education. Finally, we examine the resurgence of education social movements in relation to democratisation, educational transformation and human rights in South Africa.     

Educational change in Scotland: policy,context and biography

The poor success rate of policy for curriculum change has been widely noted in the educational change literature. Part of the problem lies in the complexity of schools, as policy-makers have proven unable to micro-manage the multifarious range of factors that impact upon the implementation of policy. This article draws upon empirical data from a local authority-led initiative to implement Scotland's new National Curriculum. It offers a set of conceptual tools derived from critical realism (particularly the work of Margaret Archer), which offer significant potential in allowing us to develop greater understanding of the complexities of educational change. Archer's social theory developed as a means of explaining change and continuity in social settings. As schools and other educational institutions are complex social organisations, critical realism offers us methodological tools for tracking the ebbs and flows of change cycles over time, presenting the means for mapping the multifarious networks and assemblages that form their basis.     

Opportunities and Challenges in Collaborative Reform Practice: School–Community Partnerships through Art in Korean Schools

The Korean government’s policy toward art in schools and educational autonomy has recently undergone major directional changes, with the Ministry of Education (MOE) encouraging individual schools to find their own ways to become more self‐regenerating, especially by developing community partnerships through art. This recently published policy direction has the potential to challenge traditional school practice as it demands an initiative role of schools and the active involvement of teachers in building partnerships with local communities. Concerned about the impact of the new school art policy on practice, this article attempts to clarify the opportunities and challenges involved in the expected collaborative reform practice by examining the outcomes reported by pilot schools based on their first year of implementing the new school art policy. To this end, this article first identifies the distinctive aspects of the new policy from previous studies on school–community partnerships developed in Korea over the past decade. This is followed by an identification of practical issues and needs by reviewing the outcomes of recent survey results on the perceptions of teachers who participated in conventional school–community partnership programmes. These results will be compared to the problems found in the outcomes reported by pilot schools. Findings will be discussed to assess implications and provide suggestions. This contextual analysis of practitioners’ responses to new art‐based collaborative reform practices developing in Korea may contribute to an expansion of international discussions about educational reform through art.     

Challenging neo-liberalism,building democracy: creating the Citizen School in Porto Alegre,Brazil

In this article, we situate the processes of educational policy and reform into their larger socio-political context. We describe the ways in which a set of policies has had what seem to be extensive and long lasting effects because the policies are coherently linked to larger dynamics of social transformation and to a coherent strategy that aims to change the mechanisms of the state and the rules of participation in the formation of state policies. We describe and analyse the policies of the ‘Popular Administration’ in Porto Alegre, Brazil. We specifically focus on the ‘Citizen School’ and on proposals that are explicitly designed to radically change both the municipal schools and the relationship between communities, the state and education. This set of policies and the accompanying processes of implementation are constitutive parts of a clear and explicit project aimed at constructing not only a better school for the excluded, but also a larger project of radical democracy. The reforms being built in Porto Alegre are still in formation, but we argue that they have crucial implications for how we might think about the politics of education policy and its dialectical role in social transformation.     

The Fourth Way of Finland

Globalization has increased mobility of people, resources, and ideas. It is also affecting how governments think about education and what schools teach to their students. Attributes related to education for a knowledge society, sustainable development, or 21st century skills are parts of current national educational policies and reforms. A powerful pretext for global educational reform thinking is current international student assessments. As a consequence, particular educational reform orthodoxy has emerged that relies on a set of basic assumptions in order to improve the quality of education and fix other educational deficiencies. This article describes the beginning of the present global educational reform movement discussing some of its key characteristics and implications in practice. Although overlooked by many policy analysts, Finland represents a striking and highly successful alternative to this global educational reform movement. The scholarly work of Andy Hargreaves is seen as essential in understanding the requirements and resources that are needed in securing good public education for all in the future.     

The Role of School Exclusion Processes in the Re-Production of Social and Educational Disadvantage

ABSTRACT

English education policy has increasingly focused on the need to intervene in an intergenerational cycle of poverty and low attainment. The accompanying policy discourse has tended to emphasise the impact of family background on educational outcomes. However, as the capacity of parents to secure positive educational outcomes for their children is closely linked to the quality of their own education, low attainment is rather more closely connected to what happens in schools than this focus suggests. Pupils from groups known to be at increased risk of low attainment are also known to be at increased risk of involvement in the disciplinary processes of schools. This paper draws on the findings of a small-scale qualitative study to highlight some of the limitations in the educational provision accessed by Secondary age pupils involved in school exclusion processes. The assumptions and tensions at practice level that underpinned this provision are also discussed. In the conclusion it is argued that a much stronger focus on the learning of these pupils could improve their attainment and contribute to a reduction in social and educational inequalities in the future.     

Commitment‐‐building approaches to school restructuring: lessons from a longitudinal study

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.     

HIV/AIDS and Education: a study on how a selection of school governing bodies in Mpumalanga understand,respond to and implement legislation and policies on HIV/AIDS

Very little research has been done in South Africa on HIV/AIDS and education. This article is a small attempt to plug the gap. The purpose of the research is to investigate the legal and policy provisions and implications regarding HIV/AIDS for rural and township schools in the Mpumalanga district of South Africa. It seeks to answer three questions: (1) What is the status of policy and legislation on HIV/AIDS and Education in South Africa? (2) How do schools understand, respond to and manage issues of law and policy regarding HIV/AIDS? (3) What are the possible areas of conflict between legal and policy provisions and educational practices and behaviours? After examining the different laws relating to HIV/AIDS and education in South Africa a case study approach is used to explore the research questions in a number of rural and township schools. The findings highlighted a general ignorance of basic human rights issues, the right to confidentiality, the right to security from discrimination if it is known that a teacher or a pupil is HIV positive, the right to privacy and the right, under certain circumstances, to disclosure. The findings also reveal a distance between policy and practice so that schools need to develop vigilance with respect to any legal challenges that they might face at a local level. The findings also show that governing bodies should be made aware of the general legal issues surrounding the individual and HIV/AIDS before they can introduce fair and balanced policies.     

Networks as Agents of Innovation: Teacher Networking in the Context of Vocational and Professional Higher Education Reforms

The effective implementation of educational reform is an issue that confronts both those that plan and sponsor those reforms and those that are affected by them. This article discusses networking processes in the context of reform in vocational and professional higher education. When exploring failures in educational change processes, issues associated with facilitating the adoption, adaptation and implementation of educational change have not been sufficiently addressed. Here, we use the concept of social innovation, which is relatively new in innovation research, to explain the mechanisms that facilitate educational reform, and emphasise the relationship between interaction and the perception of change. In this paper, we examine how networking among teachers is related to their perception of educational change and how the effective implementation of educational reforms can be influenced by such networking. By differentiating the various types of networks we explore the relationship between networking and educational change. The article is based on the findings of a quantitative survey of 228 Estonian teachers in vocational and professional higher educational schools administered in 2010.     

美国全纳教育的发展、实施策略及问题

美国全纳教育经历了30年的发展,从最初的一种教育理念发展为波及全美中小学的教育改革运动。全纳教育取得的成功使其成为当代美国基础教育改革的重要成果和标志之一。回顾美国全纳教育的兴起与发展、分析美国全纳教育的实施策略及其存在的问题对我国当前的基础教育改革具有特殊的借鉴意义。     

国家-社会视角下的农村基础教育发展:教育政治学分析

本文从国家—社会的视角剖析了农村基础教育百年来的发展过程,集中探讨了近些年农村社会发生的若干重大过程,如税费改革中县乡财政关系的调整、农村中小学布局调整中利益格局的变化及私立教育兴起等对农村基础教育的发展及其治理结构的影响,描述了农村基础教育发展的不同阶段国家与社会关系的变化,着重分析了这些过程中政府之间以及政府、学校与民众之间围绕教育治理所发生的互动关系,指出了农村基础教育发展的某些新动向。     

Ongoing inequality in a 'knowledge economy': Perceptions and actions

The concept of the 'knowledge economy' is increasingly used to underpin education policy in developed countries. In Australia, it has been applied to post-compulsory education policy, with efforts to increase retention in senior secondary education and reform of vocational education in the senior years. The article draws on two research projects with senior secondary schools. Many students (and their teachers and parents) perceived qualifications not so much as providing the knowledge considered necessary by government policy for the contemporary economy, but rather as a 'screen' used by employers to sort and select. Knowledge of opportunity structures and access to resources, while not only defined by social class, operated to create differential access to available choices in the educational market place. Despite ongoing inequality, the article argues that the hope many students expressed in relation to education can be fulfilled in practice.     

Private Education in Poland: Breaking the Mould?

The burgeoning private sector is perhaps the most tangible of the changes in education which followed the upheavals of 1989/90 in Central and Eastern Europe. This article sets out to analyse the growth of private education in Poland and its contribution to the ongoing processes of democratisation and educational development. The authors argue that the euphoria of the period immediately following the overthrow of one-party communism encouraged unrealistic expectations of educational reform. Their analysis of private sector schooling in Poland suggests that its development has occurred in a haphazard fashion, reflecting the uncertainties of a society undergoing a painful process of transition. Symptomatic of this has been the failure to establish a clear regulatory framework for the private sector – an omission which has undermined the credibility of private schools. Nevertheless, the authors argue that the development of private sector schooling in Poland has brought diversity and a degree of innovation to a system previously almost devoid of either. There is now an urgent need for the evaluation and dissemination of private sector initiatives, which can serve as examples for future educational decision-making in Poland.     

Freedoms and Perils: Academy Schools in England

Can Dewey's Moral Principles in Education throw light on a contemporary policy issue in education, namely the privatisation of education through the establishment of academy schools in England? The article first considers what the policy entails, in terms of its conception of education as a market commodity. The next section suggests an alternative conception, drawing particularly on Deweyan claims for the fundamentally normative and relational nature of teaching, through his definition of democracy as ‘a form of associated living’ and the school as a place for such association. The third section relates the two conceptions of education and in their light considers tensions and conflicts in the academisation policy concerning inclusion, equity and social cohesion. The article concludes that the establishment of academy schools compromises these values and constitutes a danger to the commons, that is, to socially consensual and equitable ways of being together.