The role of mass media in education policies: a Chinese case study

The role of mass media in education policy processes is increasingly complex, but research on its contribution is far from adequate. This study uses the higher education quality assurance policies issued in China at the beginning of this century to explore the roles played by mass media in the creation and implementation of education policies. Mass media’s current influence on Chinese education policies mainly includes promoting policy agenda setting, enhancing policy legitimacy and monitoring the process of policy implementation. However, its role in constructing a platform for public discussion and improving policy design needs to be strengthened.     

Whose knowledge counts in international student assessments: examining the AHELO epistemic community of economics experts

International student assessments have become the ‘lifeblood’ of the accountability movement in educational policy contexts. Drawing upon Stuart Hall’s concept of representation, I critically examined who comprises epistemic communities responsible for developing the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes economics strand. Through my analysis, I identify homogeneity among test-makers, missing voices, and western concepts as represented ideas that become fixed and circulated through policy channels. In an era of accountability and comparison, comparative international student assessments are becoming increasingly normative in educational settings. As scholars, policymakers, and educators use these test results, we must critically examine who is responsible for producing these tests.     

Education collaboration to promote school participation in northern Ghana: A case study of a complementary education program

This study explores the perceived benefits and challenges of the collaboration model of a complementary education program which operates in marginalized communities in northern Ghana. The scope of the paper includes the background, collaboration as a transformative process, research methodology, findings, and discussion. The study revealed that: (a) the collaborative partners’ “shared values” were a major drive of the collaboration; (b) the collaboration model was fluid, contextual, and an unstructured process; (c) the process provided new strategies promoting school participation in northern Ghana; and (d) the collaborative partners’ idiosyncrasies posed a major challenge to the collaboration.     

Educators' perceptions of continuing professional development for teachers in South Africa: A qualitative study

Abstract

The effectiveness of educational reform initiatives depends on the quality of teachers. Professional development (PD) of teachers has therefore become a major focal point of school improvement initiatives. The National Policy Framework for Teacher Education and Development (2007) attempts to address the need for suitably qualified teachers in South Africa. The study discussed in this article was qualitative within purposefully selected schools. Its aim was to explain educators' perceptions of continuing professional development in the light of the national policy. The following major findings emerged from the data analysis: (1) overall view of PD in the education system, (2) experience of types of PD programmes, and (3) impact of PD programmes on schools.     

How international scholarship recipients perceive their contributions to the development of their home countries: Findings from a comparative study of Georgia and Moldova

International scholarships support higher education abroad, often with the expectation that recipients will ultimately “give back” to their home countries. Little is known about how scholarship alumni from low- and middle-income countries view their contributions and whether activities differ between countries. By comparing Georgia and Moldova, this research indicates that employment is the central way that alumni perceive that they “give back,” with government positions deemed most influential. In Georgia, alumni assumed federal posts, whereas in Moldova, alumni sought positions in international organizations and businesses, resulting in differing contributions to national development. Findings aim to inform sponsored student mobility programs promoting socioeconomic development in participants’ countries.     

Aspirations and tensions in developing international mindedness: case study of two students in an IB school in an Indian Ocean Island Nation

International mindedness is considered by many educational researchers and organizations as a determining feature in international education. This article used data as part of a PhD case study inquiry to explore how international mindedness is developed by two students in an IB school in an Indian Ocean Island Nation. Through a qualitative approach within an interpretivist paradigm, it provides insights into the complexities of the students' development of international mindedness through the following questions: Why do the students aspire to develop international mindedness? What are the tensions they experience in developing it through the theory of knowledge programme in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP)? Using socio-cultural frameworks, the article discusses theories on knowledge development, identity and post-colonialism. Data were collected through a survey, journal entries and interviews. The analysis was conducted using theoretical sampling, categorization and coding. The findings revealed that students' cultural backgrounds and identities are critical factors determining their sense of engagement with the development of international mindedness in the IBDP. They indicated also that the Diploma Programme (DP) knowledge content needs to be carefully addressed by the International Baccalaureate (IB) host school, which also must consider the socio-cultural and historical factors of the country in which it is found, in negotiating a locally meaningful implementation of the IB's international mindedness.     

The power struggle over education in developing countries: The case of the UNESCO-World Bank Co-operative program, 1964-1989

This paper examines the relationship between the World Bank and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) between the 1960s and the 1980s. It focuses on the Co-operative Program (CP) between the two organizations, which was established in 1964 and lasted officially until 1989. In the context of the Co-operative Program, the Education Financing Division (EFD) was established, a joint unit located in UNESCO, with the purpose of carrying out technical missions to assist governments in the identification and preparation of educational projects and the formulation of funding requests to the World Bank. Drawing on archival research and interviews with former UNESCO and World Bank officials, the paper traces the history of the Co-operative Program, which was characterized by intense power struggles exacerbated by Cold War tensions. During the 25 years of the duration of the Co-operative Program, the World Bank developed into the most influential policy shaper for education in developing countries, while the influence of UNESCO, created in the post-World War II order as the United Nations’ designated organization for education, declined. Using Bourdieu’s concept of fields and DiMaggio and Powell’s concept of isomorphism as analytical lenses, the World Bank’s expansion to a development agency will be explained by its greater autonomy as a field, endowed with more capital based on the rationalization of education and isomorphic processes of professionalization of the “field of power” of educational planning. To the detriment of UNESCO, the World Bank became the powerhouse of a global governance structure that was built with support from the United States government and furthered by the rise of economics.     

An emerging donor in education and development: A case study of China in Cameroon

This paper analyzes China's new approaches of education aid to Africa through a case study of Cameroon. China's cooperation has been characterized by different discourses and different historic relationships with recipient countries than those of traditional donors. Sino-African policies have gone through different stages, each connected to wider political and economic realities. Currently, a broadening of China's engagement with Africa can be noticed through increasing aid packages and the inclusion of African countries other than those that had traditionally been close to China. Cameroon has been one of the countries that have had a relatively extended cooperation with China. Four types of Chinese education aid to Africa are illustrated by this paper: (i) Confucius Institutes, which are providing language and culture-related training in host countries; (ii) longer term scholarships and short-term training for Africans in China; (iii) school construction; and (iv) stand-alone education projects. By analyzing how these three different types of aid are taking place in Cameroon, various and apparently contradictory strategies and discourses materialize.     

《国家中长期教育改革和发展规划纲要(2010-2020年)》的价值结构分析

本研究将政策文本中的价值分为反映物质层面的实体价值和反映精神层面的符号价值。通过对《国家中长期教育改革和发展规划纲要(2010-2020年)》的价值结构分析以及与改革开放以来前三次教育改革政策文本的比较,《规划纲要》的价值结构具有以下特征:1、实体价值比重大于符号价值,价值组合以实体价值为主;2、实体价值比重上升,技术价值占实体价值首位3;、符号价值比重下降,意识形态和规划目标是符号价值的主要组成部分。研究进一步指出,《规划纲要》价值结构的变化体现了政策制定者更加注重以人为本、公平等价值观念。     

Creating (in) equalities in access to higher education in the context of structural adjustment and post-adjustment policies: the case of chile

By analyzing the access of different socio-economic groups to post-secondary institutions by quintile, this paper examines the impact produced by higher education financing policies in Chile during the Pinochet (1973–1990), the Aylwin (1990–1994) and the Frei (1994–2000) administrations. To this purpose, CASEN databases and semi-structured interviews conducted with former and current government officials as well as higher education administrators provide valuable information to measure the impact that higher education financing policies had on different socio-economic groups. Access to post-secondary institutions is seen in relation to two aspects: (a) enrollment rates by type of institution and sector and (b) access of students (18–24 year-old group) by family per capita income level. Major conclusion set up that despite increased participation across all socio-economic groups within the post secondary system, upper and upper-middle income students gained access to higher education disproportionately compared to lower, lower-middle, and middle income groups during the 1987–1998 period.

The role of International Non-Governmental Organisations in promoting adult education for social change: A research agenda

This paper explores the role of International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) in adult education as one instrument of global civil society to effect social change. Postcolonial theory is utilized to explore the complex relationships between the concepts of ‘globalisation’, ‘global civil, society’, and ‘adult education for social change’. In seeking change for social justice postcolonial theory examines the construction of cultural discourse within the epistemologies of (neo-) colonial and decolonising contexts, as well as how such discourse helps to shape and change social realities and identities. We propose a postcolonial research agenda for studying the adult education role of INGOs.     

The implementation and development of science process skills in the natural sciences: A case study of teachers' perceptions

Abstract

The notion of scientific literacy, with its concomitant emphasis on science process skills gave rise to this study. This case study research sought to explore the perceptions of four primary school Natural Sciences teachers with respect to the implementation and development of science process skills at classroom level in a disadvantaged urban primary school in South Africa. Qualitative data, generated via focus group interviews and classroom observations were analysed. These data revealed that the implementation and development of science process skills were strongly influenced by the teacher's confidence and understandings of these skills, and that these in turn could be coupled to their present and past experience of science process skills. A key recommendation of this study, that might go some way to addressing these issues, is the implementation of high quality and sustained (over a long period of time) appropriate in-service training of primary school Natural Sciences teachers.     

The puzzling relationship between international development and gender equity: The case of STEM postsecondary education in Cambodia

Gender inequality persists in certain science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) postsecondary fields. Notably, cross-national evidence suggests the STEM gender gap is smaller, not wider, in less developed nations. This is the first known case study to examine this gap within a developing country: Cambodia. This study investigates the following question: how does development – specifically socioeconomic and gender equity indicators – affect women’s share of enrollment in specific STEM and STEM-related fields? Merging two sources of national data, we leverage provincial census figures and institutional administrative data to estimate women's enrollment share in STEM as well as in specific fields (i.e., accounting, information technology, and health). Findings show women’s share of STEM and information technology majors is larger outside the capital. Further, socioeconomic development and urbanization indicators distinctly predict women’s share of health and information technology majors. These fields also have an inverse relationship between women’s share and gender egalitarian characteristics. We discuss potential explanations and implications for gender and inequality in higher education, within and between nations, in the context of larger theoretical debates on the nature of sex segregation.     

The role of international organizations in aid: A case study of a teacher education programme in Sierra Leone

By the early 1970s, the Sierra Leone government realized that the educational system was not meeting the developmental needs of the country. In an attempt to reverse the increasing trend of migration to urban areas, to improve rural productivity and the quality of rural life, and to counteract other deleterious effects of this system, in 1974 the government collaborated with Unesco, UNDP and the African Development Bank in launching the Bunumbu project to train primary school teachers for rural areas. This linked a training college with 20 pilot schools and the local community. This paper critically examines the role played by each of the international organizations in executing the project. It gives examples of resources wasted in supplying inappropriate equipment and expensive building materials, and argues strongly for more consideration of local conditions, and for the involvement of local training agencies and local labour, in any similar future plans. The paper concludes with a discussion of who really benefits from international aid and resolves that both recipients and donors should abandon grandiose schemes.

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Zusammenfassung In den frühen 70er Jahren stellte die Regierung von Sierra Leone fest, daß das Bildungssystem nicht den Entwicklungsbedürfnissen des Landes entsprach. Um die ständig wachsende Abwanderung in städtische Bereiche rückgängig zu machen, die ländliche Produktion und die Qualität des ländlichen Lebens zu verbessern, und um den nachteiligen Auswirkungen des Bildungssystems entgegenzuwirken, arbeitete die Regierung mit Unesco, UNDP und der Afrikanischen Entwicklungsbank zusammen, um das Bunumbu-Projekt ins Leben zu rufen, das Grundschullehrer für ländliche Bereiche ausbilden sollte. Dadurch wurde eine Lehrerbildungsanstalt mit 20 Pilotschulen und der lokalen Gemeinschaft verbunden. In diesem Bericht wird die Rolle untersucht, die jede der Organisationen bei der Durchführung dieses Projekts spielte. Beispiele werden dafür angeführt, wie Ressourcen durch die Lieferung ungeeigneter Geräte und teuren Baumaterials vergeudet wurden. Der Verfasser betont, daß die lokalen Bedingungen und die Einbeziehung lokaler Ausbildungsstellen, sowie lokaler Arbeitskräfte bei vergleichbaren künftigen Plänen mehr zu berücksichtigen seien. Der Bericht schließt mit einer Diskussion darüber, wer bei internationaler Entwicklungshilfe der Nutznießer sei, und kommt zu dem Schluß, daß sowohl die Geber als auch die Empfänger grandiose Vorhaben aufgeben sollten.

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Résumé Au début des années 1970, le gouvernement du Sierra Leone s'est rendu compte que son système éducatif ne répondait pas aux besoins nationaux en matière de développement. Dans une tentative faite pour freiner l'exode croissant vers les zones urbaines, pour améliorer la productivité des campagnes et la qualité de la vie rurale, et afin de refréner les effets délétères de ce système, le gouvernement a lancé, en 1974, en collaboration avec l'Unesco, le PNUD et la Banque Africaine de Développement le Projet Bunumbu dont l'objectif consistait à former des enseignants pour les écoles primaires des zones rurales. Ce projet a établi des liens entre une école normale, 20 écoles pilotes et la communauté locale. Le présent article procède à l'examen critique du rôle joué dans l'exécution du projet par chacune des organisations internationales. Il met en relief le gaspillage des ressources dans l'achat d'un matériel inadéquat ou de matériaux de construction très onéreux, et plaide vigoureusement en faveur d'une prise en considération des conditions locales, de la participation des organisations de formation et de la main-d'oeuvre locales aux plans similaires qui seront mis en oeuvre à l'avenir. L'auteur ouvre enfin un débat pour savoir à qui profite réellement l'aide internationale et en conclut que bénéficiaires comme donateurs devraient abandonner toute idée de projet grandiose.

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The financial support of the IDRC (Ottawa) in providing air ticket and living expenses in Sierra Leone is gratefully acknowledged.     

The ecological footprint as an educational tool for sustainability: A case study analysis in an Israeli public high school

Education is widely acknowledged to be a means for advancing environmental sustainability. Many schools have recently introduced the idea of sustainability into their educational agenda and curriculum. This study uses an innovative method of communicating the principle of sustainability, the ‘Ecological Footprint’ Analysis, which illustrates the impact of community lifestyles upon the natural environment. This paper describes the process of integrating the concept of the ecological footprint at the high school level, analyzes the school's ecological footprint, and discusses its contributions to education for sustainability in schools.     

香港教育“立交桥”:资历架构的新进展——学分累积与转移(CAT)政策和原则分析

香港地区的资历架构历经十余年的建设已经逐渐走向成熟,2014年7月又正式推出了《香港资历架构学分累积与转移:政策及原则》文件,文件阐明香港高校建立的学分转移制度及程序应有透明度、公平和灵活易用,学分转移的决定应有学术依据,以学习成果为基础等基本原则。制定学分转移政策,具有可以减少重复学习及促进学习者在不同行业、资历级别和类别之间的流动为目标的基本价值。资历架构下的认可资历有级别、资历名衔及学分的特点。资历学分认定主体为高校、培训机构和非本地教育提供者。各类学分认定主体分别采用"固定比率"和按照"学习成果"的算法等评定办法。香港资历架构新进展的政策,对国家开放大学"学分银行"建设的启示:香港资历构架建设可作为内地"学分银行"建设的路线图加以参考,香港资历架构学分累积与转移政策可为解决内地"学分银行"实施在技术性和操作性上的问题提供帮助。     

The significance of context for curriculum development in engineering education: a case study across three African countries

Curriculum reform is a key topic in the engineering education literature, but much of this discussion proceeds with little engagement with the impact of the local context in which the programme resides. This article thus seeks to understand the influence of local contextual dynamics on curriculum reform in engineering education. The empirical study is a comparative analysis of the context for curriculum reform in three different chemical engineering departments on the African continent, located in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. All three departments are currently engaged in processes of curriculum reform, but the analysis shows how the different contexts in which these efforts are taking place exert strong shaping effects on the processes and outcomes for that reform.     

The role of cognition in teaching and learning: A case study

Abstract

A growing body of research has emphasized the important role that prior knowledge, experience, beliefs and attitudes play in the interpretation of policy reforms. Spillane, Reiser and Reimer (2002) assert that teachers use their prior knowledge in making sense of new directives to change their practice, pointing out how teachers arrive at different interpretations of the same policy message, sometimes even misunderstanding the policy intent. They highlight how teachers often are biased towards policy interpretations that fit with their prior beliefs and values. However, few of these studies exist in a third world setting. This article tries to bridge this gap by focusing on a case study that was executed in a South African classroom. The findings suggest that the teacher in this study were largely guided by his own beliefs of what constitutes good teaching and that curriculum policy is constantly shaped, reshaped and adapted to the situation in a process of great complexity.     

The scope for using international indicators of inclusive education in Kuwait and GCC countries: A preliminary study involving special education teachers

In both the literature on inclusive education and in international policy development, there has been considerable interest in the use of sets of indicators for the implementation of inclusive education at national and local levels. Drawing on sets of indicators developed in Europe and the Pacific Islands, this study proposes a set of such indicators for Kuwait. These indicators are then presented in a survey of 161 special education teachers working in public elementary mainstream schools across Kuwait. Analysis of the results is used to explore how such indicators could play a role in promoting policy implementation for inclusive education in Kuwait and more widely in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.     

The (bio)politicization of neuroscience in Australian early years policies: fostering brain-resources as human capital

Abstract

At the present, human capital theory (HCT) and neuroscience reasoning are dominant frameworks in early childhood education and care (ECEC) worldwide. Popular since the 1960s, HCT has provided an economic understanding of human beings and offered strategies to manage the population with the promise of bringing improvements to nations. Neuroscience arguments added new ways to regulate human beings, and thus another ‘hopeful ethos’ and investment into the future. In this paper, we examine different positive, life-improving, and hopeful takes on early childhood as forms of biopolitical government, which are closely related to the enhancement of individual capacities and the shifting problems of the neoliberal state. Curiously, this process, grounded on biological fatalism and naturalizing arguments, has led to new class categorizations and ways of social discrimination. We hence argue that even though a ‘hopeful ethos’ is offered through the (bio)politicization of neurosciences, it has led to eugenic arguments by re-inscribing social and economic differences into differences in brain architecture. Finally, we aim to demonstrate that ECEC policy offers an example of how current policies govern through scientific evidence and softer forms of ‘government by example’, at the same time moving the government of population into the home, and with that privatizing and personalizing self-investment.