From Fordism to neo‐Fordism: Industrialisation theory and distance education — a Chinese perspective

This article provides a Chinese perspective on the recent debate concerning industrialisation theory and distance education. It is argued that China's regular higher education has a craft‐like nature and that China's Radio and TV Higher Education (RTVHE) represents one of the most industrialised forms of education in the world. It is then proposed that China's RTVHE has entered a transitional phase from Fordism to neo‐Fordism in the period since the second half of the 1980s. Some specific conditions which limit the applicability of industrialisation theory to distance education in the Chinese context are then described.     

The Open Learning Initiative: A successful marketing strategy or a devaluation of the Australian system of higher education?

The Open Learning Initiative (OLI) which resulted in the Australian Federal Government setting up a brokering company now known as Open Learning Australia (OLA), first opened its doors in March 1993. Since that time, educators, administrators, politicians and student groups have followed its development with considerable interest. The need to monitor and evaluate this new initiative was given high priority, hence the studies conducted by the Senate Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training and the University of Melbourne's Centre for the Study of Higher Education. OLA is now into its third year of operation and its final year of Government financial support. By now it is perhaps becoming more apparent just what are its achievements and what are the areas of concern being raised by critics, observers and stakeholders in relation to its impact on Australian higher education.     

Open Learning: The answer to the government's equity problems? A report of a study on the potential impact of the Open Learning initiative on people with disabilities

This paper describes the process and results of a study to gauge the potential impact of the Open Learning initiative on people with disabilities. A problem‐solving approach was employed, using nominal group technique. Due to the nature of the study this was conducted at a distance, by written correspondence. The ideas generated suggested that the Open Learning initiative's impact will lie in its claim to flexibility, with its potential to give all people an opportunity to gain a university degree, to relieve physical access barriers and to reduce geographical isolation. Aspects of Open Learning which may not improve quality and/or access were identified as potential difficulties in gaining access to support and advice services, library and research facilities and academic support. The opinions generated were as much a reflection of the inflexibility of the current university structure as a request to the Open Learning Agency to respond to suggestions for greater accessibility. The Commonwealth's investment in Open Learning could be interpreted as a shift in policy from a belief that access and equity in Australian higher education should be addressed by specifically targetting perceived disadvantaged groups, to a policy encouraging more open and flexible forms of learning.     

Globalisation,post‐Fordism and open and distance education

Post‐Fordism and globalisation are interrelated contemporary features of social and economic development. Open and distance education are reflexively engaged with post‐Fordism and globalisation and this raises issues for policymakers and practitioners in open and distance education alike. Drawing on recent work by the author (Evans 1995a, 1995b) this article discusses some individual, social and educational issues concerned with globalisation, especially in relation to the emerging post‐Fordist forms and practices of open and distance education, and to the cross‐cultural contexts involved.     

Diagrams of Europeanization: European education governance in the digital age

Abstract

European education governance is increasingly affected by and effectuated through digital means. This article presents an analysis of the way in which Europe is increasingly deploying digital technologies, and more specifically websites, in order to shape and communicate its education policies. Drawing on the notion of the diagram as the multimodal combination of texts and visuals into a single plane, the article scrutinizes two websites that play a central role in the production and distribution of policy data: first, the European Commission’s Directorate Education and Culture website presenting the Education and Training monitor; second, the Open Education Europa website stimulating the deployment of Open Education practices in Europe. Conceived as active devices, various diagrams on these websites are analyzed in view of the operations they perform. It is argued that these diagrams portray related interplays of absence and presence, enact specific spaces into being, and call for specific ways of taking action upon the reality they purport to represent. As such, diagrams have become an integral part of European education governance in the digital age.     

Special education provision in Zimbabwe

Munhuweyi Peresuh, Senior Lecturer in Special Education at the University of Zimbabwe, and Lesley Barcham, Distance Learning Co-ordinator, with the British Institute of Learning Disabilities, examine issues of policy, provision, facilities and human resources characterising special education in Zimbabwe, and analyse the key opportunities and difficulties in providing special education in a developing country. Their article examines the impetus for growth in integrated provision for children with disabilities and difficulties in learning.     

Post‐Fordist visions and technological solutions: Educational technology and the labour process

This paper is concerned with the relationships between pedagogy, technology and the production of education. A central theme is that these relationships are coalescing around three conceptual arrangements of production, characterised by the terms Fordism, neo‐Fordism and post‐Fordism. Each of these ideal‐type models suggests very different social, political and educational outcomes. The paper starts by introducing these terms within the literature. Second, the post‐Fordist debate in distance education is summarised, identifying its strengths, weaknesses, omissions and objectives. Third, the labour process in higher education is explored in more depth, and its relationship to democracy and technology highlighted. The paper concludes with a focus on constructivist models of educational technology and their socio‐political implications.     

The evolution of Education Studies in higher education in England

In this article we examine the recent development of Education Studies as an undergraduate subject of study in England. The evolution of Education Studies is inextricably linked to the political context which it exists to critique. Changes within teacher education have spawned education studies in a number of guises. It is only latterly that policy changes have created the conditions for Education Studies to thrive as a subject in its own right. The genesis of the subject is traced through a brief historical analysis and its current various manifestations are outlined. The nature of Education Studies is discussed. Fundamentally, the authors contend that Education Studies provides a set of analytical discourses that facilitate critique of shifting knowledge bases, policy contexts and socio-economic developments as they impact upon education.     

Public education matters: Reclaiming public education for the common good in a global era

This article argues that public education needs to be reclaimed to fulfill its role as a “democratising force” to address social and economic inequality and to respect and recognise diversity and difference. By analysing historical developments in federal policy, funding and economic contexts a case is developed to demonstrate that the role of the state has been dismantled and the public nature of education has been reduced. The factors responsible are articulated and discussed with particular reference to the impact of neo-liberal policy, the “marketisation” of education and new public management. Measures such as those taken by Education Queensland that support the development of school leaders and teachers to engage in research, development and critical debate are supported. International examples of how systems have revitalised and supported the public nature of education are discussed. These include more intelligent accountability systems that respect the professionalism of teachers and collaborative curriculum development strategies that engage with all, including those who are least powerful such as the students.     

中英远程教育课程导学比较研究

课程导学是远程教育的核心。远程教育中导学水平的高低和效果的好坏,取决于远程教育机构的导学体系以及远程教育导学者的导学方式和导学内容。文章对英国（主要是英国开放大学）和中国（主要是中央电大系统）远程教育中的课程导学体系、导学方式和导学内容进行比较分析,研究其间的差异和利弊,指出英国开放大学在课程导学上有许多值得我国学习和借鉴的做法,包括：组建有效的课程团队,加强课程资源建设;改变导学方式,引导学生自主性学习;丰富导学内容,激发学生学习兴趣。     

British Labour Party education policy and comprehensive education: from Learning to Live to Circular 10/65

Fifty years after the production of Circular 10/65, which confirmed comprehensive education as the national policy for secondary education in England and Wales, it is possible to trace the idea of comprehensive education from the 1940s to the 1960s, to understand the position of the Labour Party in its development, and to assess the nature of the contribution of Circular 10/65 itself to comprehensive education in Britain. There were strong connections between the 1944 Education Act and Circular 10/65. In particular, Michael Stewart, the Labour Party education policy review of 1957–1958, and the 1958 report Learning to Live that arose from this, played a key mediating role. Awareness of public opinion through the then novel device of market research and a determination to consolidate ambitious reforming ideals into a practical strategy for educational reform over the longer term formed part of the party’s revisionist approach under Hugh Gaitskell, and helped to provide the basis for Labour’s policy on comprehensive education when it returned to power in 1964.     

Building a policy space via mainstreaming ICT in European education: The European Digital Education Area (re)visited

This article examines the ideational construction and definition of the European Digital Education Area (EDEA) as a policy space and mechanism for the mainstreaming of digital technologies in Europe's education and training systems. It revisits the foundational pillars on which it is premised, proposed in a previous iteration of the concept: formal legislation, mainstreaming of digital education actions and interlinked networks of practice. Employing a mixed methods approach, involving discourse analysis of key policy documents enacted over the past two decades, an online survey of ICT project coordinators under the Lifelong Learning Programme, and interviews with policy officers at the European Commission, the study reinforces the structure and utility of the EDEA for ICT diffusion in education. It argues for its formal acknowledgment as a political priority and key policy area enforceable through instruments similar to those existing under the Bologna Process for a coherent, concerted and strategic approach to digital education at EU level.     

Toward Sustainable Open Education Resources: A Perspective From the Global South

Abstract

One of the emerging issues in educational discourse today is the development and use of Open Education Resources (OER) and their potential in expanding access and improving the quality of education, particularly in developing countries where there is a dearth of quality materials. This article seeks to contribute to the debate on OER. It critically examines the experiences of the Commonwealth of Learning in the creation and dissemination of OER and identifies lessons learned. It also suggests concrete ways in which various stakeholders can contribute to the sustainability of OER.     

Viewpoint on distance education ‐ towards a focus and a future. ICDE World Conference, 11 August 1988. Oslo,Norway

Professor Charles Wedemeyer has appropriately been called the father of American distance education; he could also be termed an uncle of the British Open University, having acted as a consultant before the University opened to students.

As William Lighty Professor of Education at the University of Wisconsin at Madison he broke the ground for much subsequent research in the field of distance education. His most familiar published work is his book Learning at the Back Door (University of Wisconsin Press, 1981).

His long and distinguished career has included the Presidency of the International Council for Distance Education (ICDE), and the award of an Honorary Doctorate from the Open University in 1975.

He has attended many ICDE World conferences over the years, and in Oslo in the summer of 1988 gave a viewpoint on distance education for the future. Professor Wedemeyer has indicated that perhaps this paper will be the last he writes in this area; “This does not indicate a lack of interest... but at 77 years... I find it difficult to keep up with the volume of reading alone that must be maintained if I want to write among the best in our burgeoning field’.     

Policies on special needs education: competing strategies and discourses

This paper critically examines the array of policy approaches that have been adopted in the field of special needs education in Scotland over recent years. These are characterized in the following ways: (1) supporting or changing the child—an individualized approach; (2) making schools inclusive for all—a systems approach; (3) challenging the mainstream—an anti‐discrimination approach. Each approach creates different distributions of power, accountability and resource allocation. They formulate categories and eligibility requirements that can both include and exclude children (and their parents), and create rights and duties with varied potential and limitations. Thus, the policy approaches may aver their promotion of inclusion but, in fact, they create a new quilt of inclusive and exclusive policies and practice. This is further examined through the analysis of official statistics, which suggests that there has been little difference in the proportion of children who are excluded spatially from mainstream schools and classrooms. Recent legislation, the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, claims to underpin a radical new approach to promoting inclusion. However, many features of the Act suggest that it will reinforce the power of professional groups, rather than investing more power in children and their parents. There is a real danger that, whilst policy frameworks shift, practices remain the same as a result of inertia and resistance to change.     

Researching the impact of education policy: difficulties and discontinuities

The article examines the importance of effective secondary education for all children as Australian society embraces globalization. In a global era, where societal development will rely on the knowledge and skills of the workforce, an effective education will become even more important for socio‐economic engagement and equality. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds are the most vulnerable to globalization as they are less likely to achieve academically or go on to benefit from the restructured neo‐liberal economy. Education policy will need to continue to support the right of each individual to be prepared for life in general, and employment in particular. Opportunities for democratic pedagogy, curriculum and education policy to respond to risk are outlined and critiqued in relation to the ongoing need for justice in education systems. If adequate funding is not provided for secondary education and directed to ensure an effective education is available for all students, obtaining a quality education will increasingly shift from a right to a privilege in Australian society.     

Research ethics in open and distance education: Context,principles and issues

Since the early 1980s there has been increasing debate about research ethics and a gradual increase in the institutionalisation of ethics approval and monitoring. Initially this occurred in areas of biomedical research, but more recently all areas of research which involve human beings as sources of data have been included. Australia, along with other nations, has been intimately involved in these developments and now has a firmly established structure of Institutional Ethics Committees (IECS) topped by the Australian Health Ethics Committee (AHEC) for the approval and monitoring of human research ethics. Although there are guidelines and codes of practice, many issues remain still to be resolved as the panoply of research methods and practices is extended and encountered. Australian research in open and distance education is being caught in the embrace of IECs and their guidelines, and the Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia is preparing its own code of research ethics. This article outlines the context and discusses the major ethical issues and implications for research in open and distance education. It considers issues of both principle and practice, and points to some of the special circumstances which researchers in open and distance education face.     

Globalisation and the curriculum: Proposals for the integration of education and training in South Africa

In South Africa, the post-apartheid government has committed itself to an integrated approach to education and training. This article addresses South African policy debates, illustrating that global trends such as integration are shaped by significant local influences in the production of specific policy positions. The integration debate in South Africa reflects both equity and human resource development concerns, and is more fully developed in adult basic education and training than in formal post-compulsory education. The article analyses the proposals for integration as part of a complex policy agenda, arguing that the implementation of integration proposals will not be straightforward. This is due to the genesis of the integration debate in training rather than both education and training, its assumptions about economic development, and the contested nature of the policy process.     

Perspectives on inclusive education: learning from each other

Many courses of study are currently available that address inclusive education and, increasingly, distance education is seen as a flexible and appropriately inclusive way to deliver such courses. In this article a team of colleagues, Kieron Sheehy, Jonathan Rix, Melanie Nind and Katy Simmons, discusses the development of an Open University course, E243 Inclusive Education: Learning from Each Other, which was launched in February 2004. The team reflects on their own process of learning from each other and from the rich network of people involved, mirroring some of the course themes in their own journeys. Collaborative learning became a key theme within the course, both as a method for teaching within the ‘inclusive classroom’ and also as the process for producing a course in a contested and challenging area. This experience allowed the team to change and develop their own perspectives on important issues and, it is suggested, allowed the course to include ways in which students could be supported in having the same opportunity.