Policy and Practice in Assessment in Anglophone Africa: Does globalisation explain convergence?

This paper explores policy and practice in assessment in developing countries in anglophone Africa in the context of globalisation. A simple interpretation of some globalisation theory suggests that there should be a convergence in the form and content of assessment following on from innovations in practice in metropolitan countries, in this case England. The analysis of assessment instruments shows that there has indeed been some convergence across the nine African cases examined, but that this is not best explained by the adoption of innovations current in the metropole. More powerful explanations are grounded in the structural similarity between the African systems. Amongst other things this leads to gaps between the rhetoric of assessment reform and the reality of assessment practice. These persist despite consistent projections in the assessment literature (both national and international) and in externally supported curriculum and assessment projects of what should be valued, what should be assessed, and what may be relevant to future employment.     

Coming of Age? Overview of Career Guidance Policy and Practice in Australia

In recent years significant international focus has highlighted the critical importance of managing life, learning and work in a constantly changing labour market. This changing world and the corresponding need for individuals to engage in repeated decision-making about learning and work has raised the importance of and necessity for the provision of career development services across the lifespan. This challenge is being addressed by many countries across the globe. Within this context, this paper discusses the initiatives enhancing the status of career service provision in Australia.     

Accession or Exclusion? University and the Disabled Student: A Case Study of Policy and Practice

Students who are disabled are under-represented in higher education. One reason for this may be that education is not covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) and disability statements to government made by individual institutions are more for information than an expression of mission or committed action. The growing empowerment of disabled people themselves has radically shifted thinking about the disabled in society and in this paper student views on provision in one large UK University are collected. Questionnaire and interview data highlight the existing shortcomings in terms of physical access but also in terms of disability awareness among those whose job it is to provide effective university education for all. The findings are broadly in line with researches elsewhere. The paper urges that further research be undertaken and that all universities urgently examine their own situation.     

New Technology and Learning: Policy and Practice in the UK, 1980–2010

A previous version of this paper was first presented in October 1998 as an inaugural professorial lecture at the University of Huddersfield. It focuses mainly upon issues related to policy and practice in schools, with some cross-referencing to higher education. It is divided into three sections: the politicised nature of policy for new technology in education in the UK; key issues from the author's research on new technology and learning; and speculations on re-organising schooling with the help of new technology. The first section provides an analysis of the aspirations of politicians and how these shaped policy, as well as assessing the successes and weaknesses of policy implementation. The second section surveys the outcomes of a number of research studies, carried out over fifteen years, and from these identifies some generic findings about the impact of new technology on learning and ways of maximising its beneficial effects. The third section suggests an approach to re-structuring schooling to make best use of the lightweight, mobile, new technology tools, which are about to be widely available.     

Adjuncts in Social Work Programs: Good Practice or Unethical?

Social work education programs rely heavily on adjunct instructors, as do most academic institutions. This article adds to existing literature on adjuncts by focusing on the unique issues in social work education, using social work values and ethics as a focus. The benefits and detriments for adjuncts, programs, and students in schools of social work are reviewed. Social justice issues are explored with respect to adjuncts and nontraditional students. The author recommends supporting adjuncts by offering an orientation and a mentor, providing health benefits, distributing course times more evenly, and providing more advance notice of course offerings.     

Shifting codes: education or regulation? Trainee teachers and the Code of Conduct and Practice in England

In 2009, the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) introduced a revised Code of Conduct and Practice (2009) for registered teachers. The code also applies to all trainee teachers who are provisionally registered with the GTCE and who could be liable to a charge of misconduct during their periods of teaching practice. This paper presents the results of a small-scale piece of research that utilises Q-methodology to ascertain trainee teacher alignment with the code. Our research concludes that trainee teachers in the sample have a high degree of homogeneity in relation to prioritising specific areas of the code, namely those pertaining to ethical behaviours. They do not prioritise those areas of the code relating to classroom-based skills which they have yet to develop. The paper questions the efficacy of a code which represents an aggregate of a code of conduct, a code of ethics and a set of standards for practice.     

A missing link? Contemporary insights into principal preparation and training in Russia

Over the last decade, the Russian education system has undergone significant transformation that has radically changed the expectations placed upon the school principals. This current reform process has placed far greater responsibilities and accountabilities upon principals to secure school effectiveness and improved student learning outcomes. This article offers some insights into the way in which principals in Russia are currently prepared and trained. It outlines initial quantitative findings from Russian principals, as part of a contemporary, large-scale empirical study of principal leadership preparation and training. The emerging empirical evidence highlights that the new principal standards and training requirements in Russia reinforce “managerial approaches” that are not necessarily meeting the needs of principals.     

A Cloistered Virtue? Pedagogical Research and Policy in UK Higher Education

Educational research is under challenge in the UK. Although the current focus of the challenge is school education, pedagogical research in higher education is not immune from collateral effects. This article examines the relevance of the 'educational research debate' to pedagogical research in UK higher education; outlines the conflicting pressures on pedagogical research; argues a case for an increase in the value placed on pedagogical research; and indicates some policy options through which the status of pedagogical research in higher education could be raised.     

Recovering the Lost Métier of Philosophy of Education? Reflections on Educational Thought,Policy and Practice in the UK and Farther Afield

A Special Issue of the Journal of Philosophy of Education in November 2012 explored key aspects of the relationship between philosophy of education and educational policy in the UK. The contributions were generally critical of policy developments in recent decades, highlighting important shortcomings and arguing for more philosophically coherent approaches to educational policy‐making. This article begins by focusing on what the contributions to the Special Issue—particularly two of them—have to say about the relationship between philosophy of education and educational policymaking. It then goes on to argue that this relationship can best be understood through an exploration of education as a practice in its own right (as distinct from a subordinate practice). Such an exploration seeks to shed light on the proper métier of philosophy of education. In the course of the exploration the kind of thinking predominant in recent international patterns in educational policy is contrasted with a different kind of thinking which has yielded rich gains in Finland. Important distinctions are drawn between the inherent and extrinsic benefits of educational practice and between the internal and external politics of practice. These contribute to the articulation of philosophy of education as a distinctive discipline of thought and action which is necessary to the work of practitioners and policymakers alike.     

Just in time and future-proofing? Policy,challenges and opportunities in the professional development of part-time teachers

Abstract

Part-time teachers form a growing proportion of the global Higher Education (HE) workforce. Their backgrounds can vary from Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) teaching for the first time, to practitioners bringing workplace experience into HE and sessional teachers, all with differing professional development needs. This paper builds on previous research to consider structures and practices promoting sustainable, effective professional development for part-timers, to propose proactive holistic professional development, and raise institutional awareness of the challenges of reaching part-timers. A case study exploring the lived experiences of part-time staff illustrates key features of part-timers’ preparation for their current work and future aspirations.     

Different Assessments,Common Practice? Mathematics testing and teaching in the USA and England and Wales

Recently, the state has used testing more extensively to influence instructional practice. But how much do assessments actually influence practice? To explore this issue, we observed middle-grade mathematics teachers in England and Wales with their highly aligned curriculum and assessment system and two US states with performance-based assessment systems promoting more thoughtful instruction. Maryland's tests had higher stakes attached to them than Maine's. Our observations suggest that testing policies can influence the content taught and promote certain kinds of teaching to the test but that basic instructional practices, like the kind of explanation teachers offer to students and the intellectual challenge of the work, are more difficult to influence. We suggest three hypotheses for the apparent stability in underlying teaching practice. First, some testing policies do not challenge those practices. Second, assessments that do challenge current practice may not be accompanied by adequate professional development to help teachers change practice. Finally, teachers' knowledge and beliefs about teaching mathematics are so deeply embedded that they are difficult to influence.     

Scientists,Engineers and the Society of Free Choice: Enrollment as Policy and Practice in Swedish Science and Technology Education 1960–1990

This article portrays the formation of a new problem area within Swedish educational policy in the 1960s, namely the need of scientific manpower and the demands to entice more individuals into studies in science and technology. As a consequence school science was given the mission to be interesting, fun and to change young people’s attitudes towards these subjects. In the 1970s and 1980s many initiatives were taken to increase the numbers of applicants at high school and university levels, both within curricular frames and out-of-school activities such as science clubs. Through an approach inspired by governmentality studies, I describe the strategies deployed to remedy the problem as rationalities of liberal governmentality. The actions taken were executed in a way to make school children choose science or technology out of their free will. It was an exercise of power that was not meant to restrain but instead to enable action.     

Online or face-to-face? Students' experiences and preferences in e-learning

Which aspects of e-learning courses do students experience as being favorable for learning? When do students prefer online or face-to-face learning components? These questions were the subject of a research study in a sample of 2196 students from 29 Austrian universities. The students completed a questionnaire on their experiences attending an e-learning course, on their perceived achievements, and on their preferences for online or face-to-face learning components. Students appreciated online learning for its potential in providing a clear and coherent structure of the learning material, in supporting self-regulated learning, and in distributing information. They preferred face-to-face learning for communication purposes in which a shared understanding has to be derived or in which interpersonal relations are to be established. An especially important result concerns students' perceptions of their learning achievements: When conceptual knowledge in the subject matter or skills in the application of one's knowledge are to be acquired, students prefer face-to-face learning. However, when skills in self-regulated learning are to be acquired, students advocate online learning.     

Native American Mascots in Contemporary Higher Education: Part 1: Politically Acceptable or Ethnically Objectionable?

The battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876 was one of the last great wars fought by Native Americans on a grassy battlefield. The battle was fought over territory and the right to live in the Dakota and Montana territories. The Native Americans won the battle of Little Big Horn but eventually lost the war and were forced to live on a reservation away from their homeland. Today another great battle involving Native Americans is taking place, not on a grassy plain somewhere out West, but in courtrooms, classrooms, and tribal meetings across the country. The battle is over the use of historical Native American images and traditions as mascots and nicknames of higher education institutions. The research reported in this paper identified seven institutions of higher learning (not a complete list) which have abolished the use of Native American mascots on their campuses. Although these seven schools do not include a community college, much food for thought is presented for the benefit of community college educators who respect the thoughts and feelings of Native American Indians. The need is for this study to be replicated among community colleges with Native American mascots.     

Pedagogy or politics?: cyclical trends in literacy and numeracy in Ireland and beyond

In 1999, the primary curriculum was published in Ireland, with emphases on ‘breadth and balance’, recognition of the role of language and the arts and commitment to each child's potential and holistic development. In 2011, the Irish government published a strategy aimed to improve standards of literacy and numeracy among children and young people in Ireland, ‘Literacy and Numeracy for Learning and Life: The National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among Children and Young People 2011–2020’. The approaches to address concerns over literacy and numeracy in Irish schools, taken by the Strategy, require deconstruction, and in this paper, we argue that the focus on literacy and numeracy to the exclusion of other educational objectives in Ireland at present threatens the holistic ethos of the curriculum. We challenge those involved in education in Ireland to ensure that pedagogical rather than political concerns motivate our strategies and policies.     

Discursive “Policy Logics” of Mergers in US Higher Education: Strategy or tragedy?

Tertiary Education and Management - Mergers are part of the historical fabric of US higher education. However, the current economic recession and other policy issues have experts and academicians...     

Does Institutional Aid Compensate for or Comply with State Policy?

To what extent does state policy for student financial aid affect the distribution of institutional aid awarded to students at public institutions? Using data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey we employ a Tobit model to investigate the relationship between student characteristics, including family income and academic qualifications, and the amount of student financial aid awarded from institutional sources at public masters’ and bachelors’ degree granting institutions. We then ask if the institutional aid is awarded in a manner that complements or compensates for the student financial aid policy in the state. The results support our hypothesis that state policy for student financial aid affects the distribution of institutional aid, but instead of institutional compensation for state policy, we observe what appears to be compliance.