Teacher and parental views on inclusive education policy lending in the Czech Republic

In international education policy articulations by organisations such as the UNESCO, inclusive education is defined rather vaguely, usually in terms of human rights. Yet, national reception it is more or less taken for granted. Analyses of policy lending show that when national education traditions are not respected, the lack of clarity about the concrete form of inclusion is further augmented by resistance to a foreign import. Taking the example of the implementation of inclusive education in the Czech Republic, a secondary analysis of survey results on responses from teachers and parents is presented. This analysis contributes to a better understanding of the reactions of two groups of actors who have had only a marginal involvement in preparing the implementation of inclusion; specifically, teachers at ordinary schools and parents of pupils with special education needs. Teachers are critical of inclusion, which they regard as special care for individual pupils with special education needs. It is only in schools which have lengthy experience with integration that a transformation of the school culture and the teaching profession in the direction of greater teamwork has taken place. The imperative of inclusion coming from above is regarded more as interference with what is a spontaneous development. The view of parents to pupils with special education needs was that systemic support to inclusion was lacking. Parents are forced to be intermediaries between other actors, but often do not have enough information and are not respected by teachers as experts on their children.     

Alternative models of entrance exams and access to higher education: the case of the Czech Republic

The study compares the potential effects of a university admission exam model based on program-specific knowledge and an alternative model relying on general study aptitude (GSA) in the context of a strongly stratified educational system with considerable excess of demand over supply of university education. Using results of the Sonda Maturant 1998 survey, we show that in the specific context of the Czech Republic, displaying the above characteristics in the given period, an admission exam model based on general study aptitude tests may improve the access of talented individuals with lower socioeconomic status to university education. Our simulations show that with the GSA model (provided the model assumptions are met), the relative chances of an applicant with a university-educated father would be only by one-fourth higher than the relative chances of a student with a less educated father, as compared to the more than a one-third difference in case of the model emphasizing program-specific knowledge. The odds ratio for the GSA model is by 28% points lower for mother’s education.     

从西波系米亚大学的发展看捷克高等教育变革

通过考察西波系米亚大学的改革与发展历史,分析捷克高等教育的现状,指出捷克高等教育未来的发展方向。     

The policy object: a different perspective on policy enactment in higher education

This paper proposes a new perspective for higher education policy research. It introduces the concept of policy object to designate the discrete preoccupation(s) of a policy text (e.g. a new governance regime, a quality system, or new degrees) and suggests that actor conceptualisations of the policy object intersect with other elements in the policy process to shape enactment and outcomes. First, the policy object concept is described. It is argued that the policy object does not have an objective existence and two concepts are proposed to explain it: ontology and enacted ontology. The former refers to what actors believe the policy object is, a socially-construed context-determined conceptualisation, whereas enacted ontology refers to what the policy object becomes further to enactment under the influence of ontology. Second, the paper presents the findings of a comparative study of master degrees further to the Bologna process in different national and institutional settings to illustrate the policy object approach. This research puts forward arguments to suggest that the policy object could be an important variable to consider in policy research. This somewhat different lens, inviting fine-grained attention to a specific policy object (its ontologies and enacted ontologies), could bring additional insight into policy outcomes.     

Changes and trends in secondary agricultural education in the Czech Republic

Programmes of education for farmers in the form of Winter Schools, in the early 19th century, were gradually broadened into agricultural education for employment in farming or as preparation for higher education. In the 20th century, vocational education was developed at Apprenticeship and Secondary Schools to meet the needs of large-scale state farms introduced during 1953–60 by the communist political regime. Teacher education for these schools was developed during the 1950s and 60s, based on Agricultural Universities. Sudden and rapid change followed the political changes in 1989 when land was returned to private ownership in a new structure of agriculture based on market economy. This led to changes in production and a decrease in the number of people employed in agriculture. The number of students in the Agriculture Secondary Schools remained more or less the same, but curricula were substantially changed. Some schools diversified into new areas such as agro-tourism and environmental management. Those that continued with agricultural studies developed specialised areas such as farm business management and economics. Information technology became an important area of study. The schools began again to offer education and advice to local farmers. Early in the 21st century, change is again evident as policy for rural development becomes the diversification of rural economies to create a countryside which is less dominated by agriculture. New, sustainable economic activity comes from alternative uses of farm buildings, market niche crops and livestock products, and attraction enterprises for people in urban areas. The paper reviews the major trends and changes of the past 150 years and suggests how these are likely to project into the future of agricultural education in the Czech Republic.     

Student expectations of the financial returns to higher education in the Czech Republic and England: Evidence from business schools

In this paper, the short-cut method is used to estimate expected rates of financial returns to higher education in the Czech Republic and a modified version of the method is used to suit the current English system of deferred tuition fees. First year university students were asked to estimate their expected earnings with and without a university degree at two points in time. The findings show that students perceive higher education to be a profitable investment and that rates of return vary by gender as well as by country and place of study. We conclude that the current level of tuition fees in England does not act as a disincentive for students to enter higher education.     

Integrating Physical Education and Geography in elementary education in the Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovenia

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses the lack of international knowledge and research in interdisciplinary curriculum development and teaching in the subjects of Physical Education and Geography. The authors analysed and compared elementary school curricular documents from two ex-communist countries, the Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovenia (an ex-socialist Yugoslav republic) to reveal how integration of Physical Education and Geography can be embedded at the policy level. A questionnaire survey among teachers examined how the integration is implemented in practice. The authors present some practical examples to show how Physical Education and Geography integration can be achieved. The findings of the study indicate that while interdisciplinarity is an important policy goal of the educational systems of these two countries, integration is not being implemented in practice.     

Tertiary education in the Czech Republic: the pathway to change

This article analyzes recent policy proposals to reform Czech tertiary education. A brief overview of the evolution of Czech tertiary education presents the background against which emerging policy trends in education are examined. We relate the changes in tertiary education to the policy framework and recommendations of the OECD, underpinned by the ideology of neoliberal globalization. Finally, we discuss some issues that the Czech government is encountering while trying to implement its new policies in tertiary education and the consequences these policies may have on Czech tertiary education, academia and students.     

GATS and the steering capacity of a nation state in higher education: case studies of the Czech Republic and the Netherlands

This paper looks at the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) as an important part of the international trade law system and explores if and how it affects the steering capacity of a nation state regarding higher education. It offers a new conceptual framework to look on the impact of GATS on higher education within its increasingly complex environment by distinguishing between the ‘static’ dimension (GATS’ rules and disciplines) and the ‘dynamic’ dimension (stakeholders’ standpoints, views and actions). Furthermore, by comparing two case studies conducted in the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, it connects the theoretical framework on GATS and the steering capacity of a nation state with specific national conditions and complements case studies that have been so far carried out in other countries. We concluded that neither through the static dimension nor through the dynamic, was the steering capacity in the two cases affected directly: nation states remain the prime actors regarding higher education. Nevertheless, exercising their power over higher education has become more complex and nation states must take more consequences of their internal policy choices into account, which may be difficult to predict.     

Issues in higher education budgeting policy

This review of the papers by Bowman, Millot and Schiefelbein; and Jones, Thompson and Zumeta; relates the implications of these papers to policy issues in budgetary practice and appropriations for higher education in the United States. Recent developments related to reform of the budgeting and appropriations processes in several states are discussed in terms of the congruence of perceived economic goals for higher education with the apparent public policy goals of the states.     

地方高校发展与高等教育政策调整

近年来,我国地方高校在规模迅猛扩张的同时,普遍陷入了多重发展困境之中。从制度变迁的类型和路径依赖两个角度来看,这种困境产生的制度根源有两个:一是以中央政府为主体的激进式强制性制度变迁的局限性,二是对传统高等教育管理模式的路径依赖。今后高等教育政策调整必须遵循两个基本的指导思想:一是弥补激进式强制性制度变迁的局限,二是摆脱对传统高等教育管理方式的路径依赖。     

高等教育的外部性与高等教育财政政策的选择

高等教育的外部性主要表现在对经济和社会的外部性两个方面.高等教育的不同产品、不同类型的高等学校具有不同的外部性.高等教育财政政策应考虑外部性因素,适当根据外部性的大小进行财政政策的选择,完善国家学生资助体系,同时建立高等教育财政经费的社会监督机制.     

Change in higher education in the People's Republic of China

Developments in Chines higher education since the creation of the People's Republic in 1949 are reviewed with special reference to the periods before and after the Cultural Revolution. Recent changes in admission policies the use of work experience, the linking of theory with practice, length of course, and teacher-student relationships are discussed.     

高等教育发展趋势与政策分析

近几年是我国高等教育发展最好的历史时期,是发展思路非常清楚的时期,同时也是争议颇多的时期。目前,我国高等教育面临的长期国情是:穷国办大教育、经济发展不平衡、望子成龙愿望、以发展促问题解决;新的挑战为:大众化新平台、全面建设小康社会、经济全球化大趋势、城镇化发展;新的理念有:可持续发展、和谐社会、创新型国家、终身学习。为此,我国高等教育的进一步发展必须坚持学校的多样化分类发展与特色定位,这是教育教学的根本要求;需要促进现代大学制度建设,这是高等学校内部管理保障的要求;需要加强评估对拨款的影响,这是高等学校外部的保证要求;还要引导高等学校的区域扩展,这是全面建设小康社会的教育需要。     

Neo-liberalism and the politics of higher education policy in Indonesia

This paper examines Indonesia's experience with neo-liberal higher education reform. It argues that this agenda has encountered strong resistance from the dominant predatory political, military, and bureaucratic elements who occupy the state apparatus, their corporate clients, and popular forces, leading to continuation of the centralist and predatory system of higher education that was established under the New Order. The only areas in which neo-liberal reform has progressed have been those where the neo-liberal agenda has aligned well with that of popular forces and there has been little resistance from predatory elements. In presenting this argument, the paper illustrates the role of domestic configurations of power and interest in mediating global pressures for neo-liberal higher education reform. It accordingly suggests that Indonesia needs to construct a model of higher education that simultaneously fits with the reigning political settlement and produces better research and teaching outcomes than the present model.