Philosophy and educational policy: possibilities,tensions and tasks

In this study, we investigate two principals’ learning in a progressive district in the southern United States. Both principals talked about ‘ownership’ and ‘continuous progress'as key to education reform, yet their words carried different meanings for learning. Principals’ use of reform terminology was embedded within two distinctly different communities of principal's practice ‐‐ Total Quality Management and ‘whole language’. We conclude by discussing ways to bridge such gaps in understanding among principals and communities by creating opportunities for learning and discourse. Educational administrators might thereby talk about and explore the different nuances of meaning they bring to their practice.

     

A reconstruction of the gender agenda: the contradictory gender dimensions in New Labour's educational and economic policy

This article reviews current interpretations of Labour's education policy in relation to gender. Such interpretations see the marginalisation of gender equality in mainstream educational policy as a result of the discursive shift from egalitarianism to that of performativity. Performativity in the school context is shown to have contradictory elements ranging from an increased feminisation of teaching and the (re)masculinisation of schooling. Also, whilst underachievement is defined as ‘the problem of boys’, the production of hierarchical masculinities and ‘laddishness’ by marketised schools is ignored. The policy shift towards performativity also masks girls' exclusion and the disadvantages working‐class girls face within the education system. The rhetoric of gender equality, although stronger in the field of post‐16 training and employment, is no less contradictory. The effects of New Labour are found in the aggravation of social class divisions within gender categories and the spiralling differences between male and female paths. Gender equality ideals in education are therefore shown to have a far more complex relationship to New Labour politics than previously thought.     

Gender balance in teaching debate: tensions between gender theory and equality policy

This paper draws on findings from a research project funded by the Scottish Executive which analysed the gender balance in teaching and explored the underlying reasons for the decline in the number and proportion of men, particularly in secondary schools. As in other developed countries, such as Australia, the USA and Canada, the proportion of men entering teaching has declined fairly rapidly over a ten‐year period. At a time when women are participating in paid work in greater numbers than ever before, their concentration in certain areas of work, particularly in the service sector and the ‘caring’ professions, is increasingly apparent. Despite the clarity of this trend, it is evident that responses from academics and policy‐makers have been very different, with some policy‐makers linking the declining proportion of men in teaching with the problem of boys’ underachievement and a perceived ‘crisis in masculinity’, whilst some feminist writers have questioned these views, drawing on recent gender theory which questions the utility of the binary categories of ‘man’ and ‘woman’, instead suggesting that gender is performed and may have little to do with the body of the person who is involved in the particular performance. Sex and gender thus become decoupled, with the focus on individual actors freely choosing the version of gender they wish to practice. This line of argument suggests that the sex of the teacher is irrelevant; what really matters is the way in which they perform gender in the classroom. Work on the gender balance in teaching therefore provides an opportunity to reflect on underlying tensions in gender theorising and policy‐making. The paper begins by considering tensions between modernist and post‐structuralist accounts of sex and gender. Having outlined the underlying theoretical tensions, it then goes on to consider the accounts given by teachers and students of the reasons for their own choice of teaching as a career, their experiences in teaching and their views of the reasons underlying the declining proportion of men in teaching. The aim is to consider whether students and teachers believe that sex is an important variable structuring their lives, including their decision to become a teacher and their experiences of working as a teacher, or whether they regard gender as something which is chosen from a wide repertoire of options and is relatively free from the constraints of embodiment. In relation to research on the gender balance in teaching, the paper concludes by suggesting that there is a need to make use of the idea of gender as performance, whilst at the same time holding on to the foundational concepts of ‘woman’ and ‘man’. This is necessary to monitor and understand the career paths and underlying power relations of women and men in teaching and to transform these over time.     

Illusionary inclusion – what went wrong with New Labour's landmark educational policy?

This article examines the emergence and evolution of New Labour's landmark educational policy; namely that of inclusion. The author, Alan Hodkinson, associate professor at the Centre for Cultural and Disability Studies at Liverpool Hope University, illuminates his conceptual difficulties in attempting to define what inclusion was and what inclusive education became during the latter part of the twentieth century and first decade of the twenty‐first century. Throughout this article he endeavours to observe and define inclusive education in England through the employment of critical analysis of teacher discourse and examination of the vocabulary of inclusion. The article's contextual precept is that, rather than creating a brave new world for equality and social justice, inclusive education here was rendered illusionary by the actors who colonised and striated inclusion's space upon a stage of competing policy initiatives and practicalities of educational settings.     

Reviewing literature to inform policy: some complexities and tensions

Drawing on the experience of carrying out a literature review commissioned to support the Review of Teacher Education in Scotland, this paper discusses the role of literature reviews within the movement for ‘evidence-based policy’ making. The first part of the paper discusses the purposes of such reviews and some of the misconceptions that may be associated with them. Several critical questions that shape the work of reviewing are identified. By examining the particular case in which the authors were involved, it is demonstrated how the establishment of terms of reference and definitions of scope are critical factors in determining the outcome of such a project. But so too are the relationships established between those undertaking the project and the commissioners of the work. The conclusion is that reviewing literature is much more of a deliberative process than is commonly understood.     

Creative tensions? Creativity and basic skills in recent educational policy

Recently, in response to sustained criticism about the standards driven curriculum, UK government agencies have been promoting creativity in schools. In this article we explore how creativity is being defined in current national educational policy statements; how these definitions relate to other theoretical work on creativity, and the implications for the curriculum and pedagogies.     

Balancing tensions in educational policy reforms: large-scale implementation of Assessment for Learning in Norway

This study investigates how different stakeholders in Norway experienced a government-initiated, large-scale policy implementation programme on Assessment for Learning (AfL). Data were collected through 58 interviews with stakeholders in charge of the policy; Ministers of Education and members of the Directorate of Education and Training in Norway, and the main actors such as municipality leaders, teachers, school leaders and students. Successful implementation of AfL processes was found in municipalities where there were dialogue and trust between the municipality level, school leaders, teachers and students and where the programme was adapted to the local context. Implementation was challenged when the policy was interpreted as a way of controlling the schools. Despite the successful implementation in some municipalities, the programme did not have any effect upon students’ learning outcome, as measured on national tests in reading and mathematics. The results are discussed in relation to how local assessment cultures with particular characteristics influence governing, accountability and trust.     

Teacher evaluation,curricular autonomy and professional development: trends and tensions in the Portuguese educational policy

A programme of City Academies was announced by the Secretary of State for Education for England in 2000. These schools would be independent of local government control, have voluntary and private sector sponsors, and would break the cycle of failing inner‐city schools. The first three Academies opened in 2002, and this paper considers how they have fared so far in terms of changes to their student intake and improvements in examination outcomes. Using figures from 1997 to 2003–2004 from the annual school census and from the DfES Standards site, the paper shows that there is no evidence that these schools are, in general, performing any better for equivalent students than the schools they replaced. Although the programme is at a very early stage, this finding is important because it contradicts the claims of the DfES and of the Academies themselves and the determination of the government (at time of writing) to expand the programme to 200 schools.     

Teenage Girls and Economic Recession in Australia: some cultural and educational implications

This paper examines the impact of economic recession and high unemployment on teenage girls’ subcultures in Australia. It is argued that the tensions between domestic roles and economic roles, which are experienced by young women, have been exacerbated by recent changes in the economic context. A number of general cultural responses to this context are then discussed, followed by a more specific focus on the issue of teenage ‘welfare mothers’.

It is argued that both economic and cultural factors shape young working‐class women's life experience and reinforce dependency, through marriage or welfare. Education and youth policies have failed to benefit these young women, who are still disadvantaged in the labour market. Currently there is evidence that they are more likely than ever to be leading lonely, isolated and dependent lives, and without policies which specifically meet the needs of young working‐class women there is unlikely to be much change in the future.     

新教学模式下教师角色定位及角色转换

大学英语教学的深刻变革使“教师角色定位及其转换”成为新一轮的研究热点。新的教学模式与教学方法给教学过程中教师的角色扮演带采了前所未有的挑战,专家、学者、学生分别对大学英语教师的角色进行了各自认可的定位。然而,工作在大学英语教学一线的教师自己却存在着不少的困惑。分析了我国大学英语教学新模式下教师角色定位及其转换中所出现的亟待解决的新问题,发现现实与预期还有一定差距,进而提出了解决问题的建议。     

Game theory and educational policy: Private education legislation in China

This article presents a game theory analysis of legislating private education in China, based on set of primary and secondary documents related to this issue. The article argues that shaping educational legislation is a dynamic, repeated game of negotiation, cooperation, and/or competition on multiple occasions among various interested actors, including lawmaking institutions, each with its own goals, authorities, information sources, and strategies. This article suggests that game theory complements existing models for understanding the politics of educational legislation in China, and it elucidates the implications and limitations of using this approach to understand the dynamics and complexity of educational policymaking.     

Critical policy sociology: key underlying assumptions and their implications for educational policy research

In recent decades, educational policy researchers have considered critical policy sociology, mostly known as ‘policy sociology’, as a useful research methodology for analysing educational policies. However, despite its increasing popularity, policy sociology has been a confusing concept hence it is often used interchangeably with other terms such as policy analysis. In the main, there is a dearth of literature outlining its key underlying assumptions and how this methodology helps policy researchers to analyse social, political and economic issues related to educational policy. By reviewing current body of literature in the field, this paper identifies policy sociology as one of the four major traditions in the policy analysis field. The paper presents six key underlying assumptions of policy sociology – value based study, political study, historical study, multidisciplinary study, assemblage study, and discourse study – and discusses how researchers have used policy sociology as a research methodology for analysing educational policies.     

Halting progress: some comments on recent British educational policy and practice

The Thatcher governments have invented very little in respect of current educational policy. Long standing struggles over central‐local control and the ‘naturalness’ of academic selection are central features around which policies advance and retreat. The economic and social policies of Thatcherism have, however, accentuated the rhetoric and reality of vocationalism as a widely acceptable counterpoint to an expansion of de facto selective provision which rewards the fractions of capital and class from which it expects support. There are few grounds for expecting an early reverse to these tendencies.     

Engaging Gypsy and Traveller pupils in secondary education in Wales: tensions and dilemmas of addressing difference

Despite decades of research and policy, we are still some way in the U.K. from ameliorating barriers for Gypsy and Traveller pupils. A complex set of factors exist which influence young people’s engagement with secondary education. This interpretive-deductive study, which draws upon ‘tensions and dilemmas of difference’, presents Gypsy/Traveller learners’ perceptions and those of their parents and teachers about the barriers encountered. Findings around ‘intra-cultural conflict’ demonstrate significant tensions between and within cultures that are profound for young people during this stage of education. Resilient, supportive mothers and strong bonds with teachers and children from the mainstream community, appeared essential in helping young people to manage criticism and resist pressure to conform to cultural norms. However, a fundamental shift in societal attitude is required and critical thought paid to inclusive education, or young learners who remain in education may end up on the periphery of both societies.     

知识社会学:大学教师角色研究的新视角

知识社会学是以知识为研究对象，研究知识与社会系统之间关系的科学。把知识社会学的理论引入大学教师角色的研究，探讨知识与大学教师角色之间的关系，是大学教师角色研究的全新视角。依据知识社会学的观点，大学教师是知识人，是学者，是“知识的传播者”、“知识的组织者”、“知识的贡献者”和“知识的创造者”的有机结合体。     

Field theory in cultural capital studies of educational attainment

This article argues that there is a double problem in international research in cultural capital and educational attainment: an empirical problem, since few new insights have been gained within recent years; and a theoretical problem, since cultural capital is seen as a simple hypothesis about certain isolated individual resources, disregarding the structural vision and important related concepts such as field in Bourdieu’s sociology. We (re-)emphasize the role of field theory in cultural capital research in education, taking into consideration current concerns in international quantitative research.     

Relationships matter: some benefits,challenges and tensions associated with forming a collaborative educational researcher group

Growing recognition of the complexity of children’s lives has led to strong advocacy in education research literature for greater collaboration between researchers from different paradigms to address the ‘wicked’ problems that face contemporary children and families. There is little literature, however, exploring how collaboration works in practice. This paper, drawing on researcher reflective narrative, and using Cultural Historical Activity Theory as a heuristic framework, describes and critiques the formative stages of an educational research collaborative group of five early and one mid-career early childhood education researchers (the authors), from two universities, and with quite different epistemological and ontological understandings. It outlines, from an insider perspective, some of the outcomes, challenges and tensions associated with participating in the research group, and concludes by providing some implications for policy and considerations for those contemplating forming a collaborative group.     

基础教育信息化进程中教师的角色和素养的新定位

教育信息化是实现教育现代化所必须的,推动中小学教育信息化进程,建立一支高素质的中小学教师队伍是基础和前提。以基础教育信息化的概念及其特征为切入口,探讨中小学教师角色和素养的新定位。     

Optional self-assessment: some tensions and dilemmas

Self-assessment is promoted as an ideal form of assessment, particularly for adult learners as they need to be able to make judgements about how well they are doing something – whether it is related to learning, work or social interactions. However, there is also opposition to summative self-assessment on the grounds that students cannot validly and reliably assess their own work. At Massey University students enrolled in adult education qualifications are offered the opportunity to self or peer assess. This small-scale project investigated 472 student responses to self-assessment in this context. Findings show that 38% self-assessed by making comments on their work, and 25% awarded themselves a grade. A statistical analysis showed there was no significant difference (p > .01) between the self-assessed and teacher-assessed grades. Data also showed that higher achieving students tended to underrate and lower achieving to overrate. However, it is suggested that this may be a function of the grading scale rather than necessarily reflecting students’ capability to self-assess. Some tensions and dilemmas around optional self-assessment are identified and discussed.