教育、技能、经济:近期英国教育改革重点

英国教育与技能部先后公布<14～19岁教育和技能白皮书>、<技能--在商务中增强,在工作中提高>白皮书,意在大力推进英国职业技能教育的改革与发展进程,其着眼点十分明确,牢牢抓住了"教育、技能、经济"这一核心要害与未来的发展路向.这对我国职业教育改革具有积极借鉴和建设性启发.     

Information and advocacy: Forgotten components in the strategies for achieving inclusive education in South Africa?

Abstract

Commitment to a single, inclusive education system has been the aspiration of reform in education in a democratic South Africa as articulated in White Paper 6: Special needs education: Building an inclusive education and training system (Department of Education 2001). This article reports findings from a qualitative study which took place in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), which ascertained participants’ evaluation of the extent to which the policy ideals of inclusive education, as articulated in White Paper 6 were being achieved. Findings revealed that there was evidence of inclusive education beginning to be implemented in KZN in that barriers to learning for many students were being addressed and removed. The specific provision in policy documents directed towards children with disabilities was behind schedule, however, and there was little evidence of full inclusion of students with disabilities in regular education. One component that was furthest behind in the milestones was the implementation of the information and advocacy programme. Implications and further consequences of this are discussed.     

Changing South African schools?: an analysis and critique of post‐election government policy

This article provides an exposition, analysis and critique of post‐election policy concerning state schooling in South Africa. In particular the article focuses on the White Paper on the Organisation, Governance and Funding of Schools. Policy is analysed at three levels, namely the economic, ideological/discursive and the political. At the economic level it is argued that although the White Paper makes provision for redress of past inequalities, limitations in government expenditure are limiting the possibilities for reform. It will also be argued that the White Paper must be seen as the outcome of contestation between different discourses concerned with race, culture and education. Finally the White Paper has been shaped by the interim constitution as well as by political struggles within the state and civil society.     

Contextualising Education in Pakistan,a White Paper: global/national articulations in education policy

This article contextualises Education in Pakistan, a White Paper (2007), an influential education policy paper in Pakistan. The focus is on the ways the White Paper constructs its own contexts as a complement to the policy solutions proffered. Here we recognise Seddon’s point about the discursive work of policy in constructing context. We focus on the way the White Paper constructs its political/ideological context and its global/national context. The White Paper works with the trope of a binary construction of Islam – fundamentalist or moderate – which rearticulates Orientalist Western constructions. The analysis of the construction of the global/national contexts demonstrates the framing of the policy by the Millennium Development Goals, and the Washington and post‐Washington consensus.     

Eyes wide shut: the fantasies and disavowals of education policy

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the tensions between education policy’s attachment to notions such as excellence and inclusion and its investments in managerial tropes of competition, continuous quality improvement, standards and accountability that are at odds with and which undermine its attachments. In order to explore these tensions, I draw on the psychoanalytic notion of fantasy, explained through Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes wide shut. My argument is that while the individual and society are both constituted through unavoidable division, antagonism and opacity, these notions are obscured through the operations of fantasy which holds out the promise of wholeness, harmony and redemption. In particular, education serves as a key site in which these fantasmatic ideals are promoted and pursued, a claim I substantiate via an analysis of the UK government’s 2016 White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere. Specifically, I read the White Paper in terms of five fantasies of: control; knowledge and reason; inclusion; productivity; and victimhood. My argument is that while fantasy is an inescapable element that inevitably structures what we take to be ‘reality’, education policy might strive to inhabit fantasy differently, thereby finding ways of escaping its current mode of seeing education with eyes wide shut.     

Pick ’n’ mix,select and project; policy borrowing and the quest for ‘world class’ schooling: an analysis of the 2010 schools White Paper

Education reform is increasingly portrayed as a quest to achieve a ‘world class’ education system through a process of identifying and adopting the practices of those systems whose pupils perform best in league tables of achievement. This is the rationale for the range of new policies proposed by the coalition government in the schools White Paper published in November 2010, which promotes whole-system reform in England. This article examines the White Paper and analyses the sources and nature of the evidence for reform and the congruence between the policy intentions and their associated policy actions. The analysis suggests that the evidence for the proposed reforms and policy actions is at best tenuous. Both the White Paper and its key sources of evidence are characterised by: a selective use of data: a propensity to mix and match the sources of comparison; and an overall tendency to employ comparisons with high-performing systems elsewhere as a façade to legitimate preferred policy options.     

Social justice intents in policy: an analysis of capability for and through education

Primarily developed as an alternative to narrow measures of well-being such as utility and resources, Amartya Sen’s capability approach places strong emphasis on people’s substantive opportunities. As a broad normative framework, the capability approach has become a valuable tool for understanding and evaluating social arrangements (e.g. education policies and development programmes) in terms of individuals’ effective freedoms to achieve valuable beings and doings. This paper explores the recent emergence of ‘capability’ in Australian education policy, specifically in the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper. We explore capability as a framing device and reveal how its various meanings are at odds with the scholarly literature, specifically Sen’s conception of capability and its implications for social justice in and through education. The analysis shows that the social justice intent of a capability approach appears to be overtaken in the White Paper by an emphasis on outcomes, performance and functionings that seek to serve the nation’s economic interests more than the interests of students, especially the disadvantaged.     

The (mis)use of the Finnish teacher education model: ‘policy-based evidence-making’?

Abstract

Background: International achievement studies such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have an increasing influence on education policy worldwide. The use of such data can provide a basis for evidence-based policy-making to initiate educational reform. Finland, a high performer in PISA, is often cited as an example of both efficient and equitable education. Finland’s teachers and teacher education have not only garnered much attention for their role in the country’s PISA successes, but have also influenced education policy change in England.

Main argument: This article argues that the Finnish model of teacher education has been borrowed uncritically by UK policy-makers. Finnish and English philosophies of teacher preparation differ greatly, and the borrowing of the Finnish teacher education model does not fit within the teacher training viewpoint of England. The borrowed policies, thus, were decontextualised from the wider values and underpinnings of Finnish education. This piecemeal, ‘pick “n” mix’ approach to education policy reform ignores the fact that educational policies and ‘practices exist in ecological relationships with one another and in whole ecosystems of interrelated practices’. Thus, these borrowed teacher preparation policies will not necessarily lead to the outcomes outlined by policy-makers in the reforms.

Sources of evidence: Two teacher preparation reforms in England, the University Training Schools (outlined in the UK Government’s 2010 Schools White Paper, The Importance of Teaching) and the Master’s in Teaching and Learning (MTL), are used to illustrate the problematic nature of uncritical policy borrowing. This article juxtaposes these policies with the Finnish model of teacher education, a research-based programme where all candidates are required to complete a Master’s degree. The contradictions exposed from this analysis further highlight the divergent practices of teacher preparation in England and Finland, or the disparate ‘ecosystems’. Evidence of educational policy borrowing in other settings is also considered.

Conclusions: Both the MTL and the White Paper reforms overlook the ‘ecosystem’ surrounding Finnish teacher education. The school-based MTL contrasts with the research-based Finnish teachers’ MA. Similarly, the University Training Schools scheme, based on Finnish university-affiliated, teaching practice schools, contrasts heavily with the rest of the White Paper reforms, which contradict the philosophies and ethos behind Finnish teacher education by proposing the move of English teacher preparation away from the universities. The analysis highlights the uncritical eye through which politicians may view international survey results, looking for ‘quick fix’ options instead of utilising academic evidence for investigation on education and education reform.     

高职非计算机专业计算机基础课程内容的定位解析

目前对高职非计算机专业计算机基础课程的教学内容研究较少,教学内容也比较混乱,影响了该课程的教学效果,尽管教育部计算机基础课程教学指导委员会制订的＂白皮书＂主要是针对本科计算机基础教学的,但对高职院校计算机基础课程的教学也具有重要的指导意义。以＂白皮书＂为依据,结合我院多年的计算机基础课程教学改革经验,对高职非计算机专业计算机基础课程的内容进行了较为准确的定位。     

How inclusive education is understood by principals of independent schools

Inclusive education has become a practice that has been adopted by many schools across the globe and most usually in first-world countries. As a whole-school system, it occurs less frequently in developing countries including South Africa which unlike many developing countries has a sound infrastructure and many excellent schools in both the state and the independent sectors. Education White Paper 6: Special education: Building an inclusive education and training system was published in 2001 with the express intention of developing an inclusive education system in South Africa. Some South African independent schools have successfully implemented valuable forms of inclusion in their schools and this is the phenomenon that was studied. This study reveals various aspects of the inclusive process including the pivotal role that principals play in the transformation process of which inclusive education is the harbinger. It also analyses why principals choose to embrace a paradigm that on the surface is uncomfortable and not an easy option. We used narrative research as methodology for this qualitative research. The basic tenet was that inclusion leads to belonging and excellence in education. The major findings were that inclusion to most principals was about taking action, humanity and emotion. The principals also described inclusion as personal and pragmatic. The implications for action are of interest not only to principals, but to anyone who is seriously interested in innovative and more humane forms of anti-oppressive education.     

‘If they can say it they can write it’: Inclusive pedagogies for senior secondary physical education

Pedagogical practices are fundamental to teachers' work, and in the spaces of schooling impact significantly on students' success and achievement (Evans, J. 1986. Physical Education, Sport and Schooling: Studies in the Sociology of Physical Education. London: Falmer Press.). This is especially the case for students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are deeply reliant on schooling for their educational resources. This article explores the interrelationships between pedagogical practices, the physical education curriculum at the senior secondary level and learning by both students and a teacher in a school located in an area of socio-economic disadvantage. Action research investigating a pedagogical redesign of a unit of ‘Skill Acquisition’ is the specific focus. Of key interest are pedagogical practices that incorporated opportunities to learn ‘about’ Skill Acquisition ‘through’ and ‘in’ movement. These practices attempted to develop and apply scientific literacies specific to the human movement sciences, which are important for academic success in senior secondary physical education. Findings reveal high student engagement, increasing utilisation of scientific literacies and application of new learning to life-world situations. We argue that pedagogical practices that integrate learning ‘about’ ‘through’ and ‘in’ movement disrupt default modes of teaching theoretical concepts in physical education, which diminish opportunities for academic success amongst students from low-socio-economic backgrounds.     

英国教育改革新动向：学校和家长将享有更多的权利

2005年10月25日,英国教育与技能部公布了题为《为了全体学生:更高的标准,更好的学校》的白皮书,其主要内容是改革教育体制,给学校更大的自由,给家长更多的权利,为每个孩子提供优质的教育。     

Mrs Thatcher’s first flourish: organic change,policy chaos and the fate of the colleges of education

This paper revisits the abolition of the colleges of education in England and Wales, specialist providers of teacher training which were effectively eradicated in the years after Margaret Thatcher’s 1972 White Paper Education: A Framework for Expansion. Its central argument is that the way in which change was enacted thereafter represented a significant break with the model of policymaking which had held sway since the end of World War Two. Whilst more far-reaching change would come after Mrs Thatcher’s ‘conversion’ to neo-liberalism later in the decade, the fate of the colleges of education was, I argue, an important if largely overlooked episode in the history of education – especially in terms of violating the collaborative relationship between central government and local authorities which had, until that point, dominated education policy in post-war Britain.     

英国《为了全体学生：更高的标准，更好的学校》白皮书评述

英国的基础教育在布莱尔政府上台后得到了迅速发展,这与新工党将教育作为最优先的战略密不可分。2005年10月,继布莱尔成功连任英国首相后,教育与技能部颁布了《为了全体学生:更高的标准,更好的学校》白皮书,揭开了英国教育改革的新篇章。本文分析了该白皮书出台的背景,并对白皮书的主要目标和内容进行了简要评述。     

Thoughts on the White Paper of 1991 1

The White Paper Higher Education: A New Framework, (May 1992), announced a set of new policies for British universities and polytechnics without offering either argument or evidence. The policies include the end of the binary system, the creation of new higher education funding councils, and a strong emphasis on new mechanisms for quality assessment and control. The White Paper projects rapid enrolment growth, but says nothing about the resources needed for the expansion or the significance for growth of Further Education or the European Community.     

The challenge of managing technical and vocational curricula in schools

The main arguments advanced in this article are that major curriculum innovations are likely to be most fruitfully developed if they incorporate the best features of tried and tested models existing both in the UK and abroad. Also a coherent approach to the management of innovations is a sine qua non for their success. Both TVEI and CPVE are considered comparatively and relevant management issues outlined. It is concluded that the secret of success lies to a great extent in management training. Both the HMI report (1986) on education in the FRG and the White Paper (Education and Training, 1986) add eloquent testimony to the message of this article.     

Policy rhetoric and the renovation of English schooling: the case of Creative Partnerships

My critical evaluation of the government's White Paper, Learning to Succeed: a new framework for post-16 learning, which was published in the Journal of Educational Policy (2000, 15(2), 237-246) has provoked a critique by Pat Ainley, which is the main purpose of this section of the journal on Documents and Debates. He claims that my article suffers from two sins of omission: first, I am apparently unaware that the new legislation excludes higher education; and second, I have apparently failed to see that the Learning and Skills Council may become a new Leviathan rather than a new enlightenment. Both criticisms are, in my opinion, wide of the mark for the reasons given below, and this response ends with some comments on Pat Ainley's contribution.     

英国中小学教育改革最新动向——《教学重要性》白皮书解读及启示

2010年11月24日,英国教育部颁布了《教学重要性》白皮书,对开展教师培训和专业化发展、维护校长和教师的自主性和权威性、改革国家课程标准、建立新的学校发展制度、促进教育公平等多个方面提出新的要求。《教学重要性》白皮书的颁布,反映未来一段时间内英国中小学教育改革的新发展、新动向,对英国中小学教育的发展将产生深远的影响,同时也为我国基础教育的发展提供了启示。     

Life in Special Schools in South Africa: Voices of Former Students

We describe educational experiences of people with disabilities who attended special schools in South Africa. We found significant differences in education between White and Black participants in terms of teaching quality, access to therapy and assistive devices, class sizes, subjects, and grades offered. Additional differences were noted between participants with congenital and early-onset disabilities, and those with degenerative or acquired disabilities who moved from a mainstream school to a special school. Thirty-six percent of participants in this study completed their education after Education White Paper 6 (EWP6), South Africa’s inclusive education policy had been implemented. Despite this, findings suggest that all these participants experienced similar challenges as those who received their education during the apartheid era. This study highlights the important need to address the existing “special school” scenario, and effectively implement the principles of EWP6.     

Corrupt language,corrupt thought: the White Paper The importance of teaching

This article deconstructs the language of the 2010 UK Coalition Government's White Paper, The Importance of Teaching. It uses analytical frameworks related to rhetoric established by Aristotle and Cicero. It explores the mechanisms of language using both critical discourse analysis and content analysis, offering quantitative data on the content of the paper and qualitative data on the literary strategies employed. It is concerned not only with how what is communicated persuades but also the ethics of persuasion; what is suggested and to what end. The article suggests a mutually reinforcing relationship between poverty of language and poverty of thought. The Coalition Government asserts an heroic stance to act radically to free victimised teachers from the burdens of bureaucracy imposed by the previous government. However, rather than radical action to make change, the findings suggest that the White Paper presents an illusory carapace of change that conceals fundamental continuity. It reassures all of the commitment of government and audiences to change while sustaining education as fundamentally unchanged.