The Transition State and the Dialectics of Educational Transformation in the Third World: the case of Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the role of the Zimbabwean State in providing education since 1980. The nature of the Zimbabwean revolution, the colonial inheritance in education, the economy and civil society will be used to explicate the failure of the emergent transition state in redressing residual and emergent imbalances within the educational system. A critical theory of the post‐colonial transition state will be used to probe the relationship between the socialist rhetoric of the government and the demands of civil society on the one hand, and on the other, the requirements of local and international capital. It is the interplay and contradictions among these four major actors that is used to show how educational reform is becoming an elusive goal in Sub‐Saharan Africa.     

Professionalization of progress and expertise among teacher educators in Iceland: A Bourdieuean interpretation

This paper considers the use of the conceptual framework of Pierre Bourdieu to study curriculum reform and the professionalization of teacher educators in Iceland. It argues that it is theoretically productive to interpret professionalism as the production of expert knowledge and learned discourse. The learned discourse of the Icelandic teacher educators and other education reformers, based on child-centered perspectives, developmental psychology, and child-centered curriculum theory, has become their symbolic capital in the field of educational reform. The paper considers to what extent the discourse on teacher professionalism in Iceland in the 1980s has merely occupied the space (social field) wherein education reformers work. It argues that those who have become “professionalized” are first and foremost teacher educators, curriculum development “professionals,” and teacher leaders, and points out that this was possible in an intermediate social space with much room for a creative redefinition of what can count as capital.     

Tensions and challenges in China’s education policy borrowing

Abstract

Background: This article critically discusses the key tensions and challenges arising from the educational policy borrowing in China, through its current education reform. Focussing on the new curriculum reform (NCR), the paper highlights the interactions and conflicts between foreign and local ideologies and practices.

Sources of evidence: The main sources of evidence that form the basis of the analysis for this article were research data from an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews conducted with 166 school principals, vice-principals and teachers from China between 2013 and 2015.

Main argument: It is argued that the NCR has borrowed selective ideas and practices from elsewhere, such as a school-based curriculum, student-centred pedagogy and formative assessment. It is further suggested that the borrowed policies are mediated and moderated by the ideological attitude of the Chinese educational stakeholders, stemming from the notion of ‘theory-ladenness’ within an exam-oriented paradigm.

Conclusions: The example of China illustrates the effects of an ideological attitude on educational policy borrowing that challenges the notion of universally appropriate ways of teaching, learning and reforming an educational system.     

Some effects of information and communications technology on teaching and learning in Iceland

Abstract

In this article the author describes the changing of traditional teaching patterns, how difficult and time-consuming such changing can be and how use of information and communications technology (ICT) may affect that change process. She gives an overview of some effects ICT appears to be having on teaching and learning in the Icelandic educational system. Teaching practices at the compulsory level of schooling in Iceland are described and indications presented on how little they appear to be changing. Effects on teaching practices in teacher education at Iceland University of Education are also discussed, with the trend towards distance education and net-based teaching and learning being by far the most noticeable     

Much Ado: ‘manpower shortages’ and educational policy reform in South Africa

This paper reviews the historical context behind the ‘manpower shortages’ argument underpinning proposed educational reform in South Africa circa 1980. It seeks to explain how such an argument became a dominant theme and ideological rationale for reform, by examining its passage through liberal reformist discourse into official state‐appointed commission reports. The paper then considers why the ‘manpower shortages’ argument was taken up at that particular time, and argues that it was part of an overall “Total Strategy’ for commodifying black labour through education in the face of the manifest failure of Bantu Education to achieve this end. The paper concludes by discussing briefly the failure of this strategy, and the disappearance of the ‘manpower shortages’ theme from arguments for educational reform.     

Virtual professionalism and the challenge for Irish educators

Abstract

This paper attempts to assess policy making for special educational needs in Northern Ireland (NI) from the reform in 1996 of procedures for the identification of pupils with disabilities to current proposals for the reform of procedures for the selection of pupils for secondary education. The reports of Dyson (DENI, 1998b) and Bums (DENI, 2001a), focussing respectively and exclusively upon provisions for disabilities and abilities, are proposed as defining events in a period during which significant advances towards a more inclusive education provision coincided with disparate and fragmented policies for special educational needs. Drawing upon policy documents, regional reports and statistical evidence, the paper attempts to assess progress towards the inclusion for pupils with special educational needs in NI and to gauge government intentions to encourage greater inclusion for such pupils.     

The educational trajectory of Newly Arrived Migrant Students: Insights from a structural analysis of cultural capital

ABSTRACT

Background: The recent influx of Newly Arrived Migrant Students (NAMS) in Western-European societies poses important educational questions about how best to support migrant students within the education system.

Purpose: We sought to study how elements that are associated with cultural capital – namely a sense of entitlement and strategic knowledge – have relevance to NAMS’ educational trajectories. In studying the process of how cultural capital relates to educational careers, this study argues for a general shift from a resource-focused approach towards a strategy-focused approach to cultural capital.

Sample: We collected data from 33 NAMS from six secondary schools in a city in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium). A maximum difference approach was used: this allowed comparison of NAMS who followed the most academic track (general track) and the least academic track (vocational track) in secondary education in Flanders.

Design and methods: We undertook 33 in-depth biographical interviews during which the NAMS reconstructed their educational trajectories. Data were analysed qualitatively. We used structural approach analysis to identify each narrative’s core structure. These structured fragments were then thematically coded.

Results: Within the categories ‘a sense of entitlement’ and ‘strategic knowledge of the education system’, the analysis detected differences in strategies of action between pupils in the general track and in the vocational track.

Conclusion: The findings offer insights that could support the development of better strategies to guide and support NAMS in education. As NAMS’ integration in the educational system appears to be a stretched and slow process of orientation, studying their trajectory has the potential to deepen our understanding of known mechanisms of the reproduction of inequalities in education.     

Teachers and teaching in China: a critical reflection

ABSTRACT

This article offers a critical review of the impact of policy-induced changes on school teachers in the Chinese Mainland where educational reform has been an ongoing project for four decades. It addresses three aspects of the current state of teaching and the teaching profession: the contextual factors that have influenced their development; the state policies that effected the teachers; and the lessons that can be drawn from the reform experiences of the teachers. By examining the changes that have occurred in curriculum and teaching, teacher preparation and training, and teacher professionalism and leadership, this paper argues for a more inclusive approach to policy formulation and implementation that can accommodate the needs of frontline teachers serving in the diverse educational settings of Chinese schooling.     

The lessons of international education reform

This paper examines the nature of education reform in English‐speaking countries in an attempt to draw out its implications for other countries. The focus is on three main areas of reform: decentralization and local management of schools, markets and choice programs, and increased use of large‐scale student assessment. Other countries should be very cautious in borrowing these ideas about education reform for at least three reasons: these reforms embody problems of contradictory purposes; reforms with similar names actually end up looking quite different because of contextual differences; and such reforms are weakly connected to teaching and learning and hence to outcomes. A program of reform in any setting should be grounded in a clear sense of educational purpose that fits the particular social context.     

Evidence of confusion about evidence of causes: comments on the debate about EBP in education

ABSTRACT

EBP – evidence-based policy and practice – has generated intense controversy. A rough continuum of positions can be discerned: At one pole are “tough-minded” commentators distinguished by their support of EBP; however, there are serious internal differences in this camp, for some regard randomised field trials (RFTs) as the gold standard methodology that should generate the evidence required in EBP; while other “softer” commentators have a more nuanced position wherein the RFT is an INUS factor – part of a “causal cake” which requires many other support factors to be present before any generalisation can be made about a policy. The evolution of this softer branch of the tough-minded pole is traced, from Campbell and Stanley, to Cronbach and Associates, to Cartwright and Hardie. At the other pole are the tender-minded, many of whom are members of the philosophy of education community; they are sceptical about EBP, perhaps the most serious of their criticisms being that educational processes are not apt for causal investigation at all. The arguments that are offered in support of this position are judged to be deficient.     

Perceptions of educational leaders regarding contemporary reform initiatives in Egypt

ABSTRACT

Many educational reform initiatives worldwide do not result in deep and sustainable change. Limited studies have looked at reform initiatives in countries like Egypt. The purpose of this mixed methods study is to examine educational reform initiatives in Egypt throughout modern history using a transformative leadership lens, and to explore the perceptions of educational leaders regarding the more contemporary reform initiatives. The findings show that historically, large-scale reform initiatives in Egypt, which had transformative and sustainable results, were typically associated with a more comprehensive ideological inclination. More contemporary educational reform attempts were not transformative because these were perceived to be top-down reforms that were driven by foreign-aid agencies, and had no support from stakeholders.     

Communism,anti-communism and education in Greece from the Axis occupation until the early Cold War era (1944–1967)

ABSTRACT

This study aims to examine communist education in occupied Greece (1944–1945) in combination with anti-communist education in Greece in the Cold War era (1950–1967). It discusses, on the one hand, the intentions of the Popular Liberation Front/the Greek Communist Party in establishing Slavic-Macedonian schools and their features and, on the other, it defines the characteristics of the American anti-communist educational model and its impact on the Greek one, as the redefinition of the Greek nation, the constitution of the anti-communist legislative framework, the promotion of educational reform or the need for modernisation and the demand for technological and economic progress. Finally, it evaluates both communist and anti-communist education and their consequences for Greek society.     

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIOEDUCATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS FOR OLDER ADULT STUDENTS

ABSTRACT

In this paper we consider that, to a great degree, educational quality is insured through successful educational and social-relationship strategies developed among educators and their older adult students. Proposals to improve educational quality should be considered within the unique context of each university's mission and goals. Otherwise, the same measures used in different institutions may lead either to progress or to educational and social regression. Much depends on the conditions under which programs are implemented, and the way they are perceived by participants in the educational process.     

Developing Sustainable Farmer-led Extension Groups: Lessons from a Bangladeshi Case Study

Abstract

The limited effectiveness and fiscal unsustainability of professional-led public sector extension systems in developing countries have aroused considerable interest in Farmer-led Extension (FLE) approaches in the recent decades. A key challenge facing these initiatives is a lack of sustainability of the farmer groups developed through project or programme assistance. This not only makes FLE initiatives costly, but also creates dependency among farmers. Despite this, the knowledge of what can make externally-initiated FLE groups sustainable is scant and largely anecdotal. In this paper we provide an empirically-drawn and theoretically-informed framework to fill this knowledge gap.

The framework is based on a comparative case study of six non-sustained and four sustained FLE groups initiated through an innovative extension reform project in Bangladesh and a comparison of the results with the theories of collective action.

We have identified four sets of inter-related factors called ‘capitals’ affecting group sustainability: ‘financial capital’ accumulated through group-based microcredit activities, an effective governance mechanism called ‘institutional capital’ devised by the members themselves, good quality group leaders and facilitators called ‘human capital’, and past relations of exchange, reciprocity, trust and respect called ‘social capital’ among members and between members and professional facilitators. While microcredit can benefit sustainability, it suits women rather than men farmers. Good quality leaders and facilitators are not only technically competent, but also fair, innovative, tenacious, self-sacrificing, trustworthy, honest, and sincere. All forms of social capital are not useful for group sustainability and social capital can make a positive impact only when the other types of capital—human and institutional—are present within a group.

To improve group sustainability, FLE programmes should take a holistic approach and address the four kinds of capitals proposed in this paper. Key strategies may include: combining extension (information or advisory functions) with economic activities but avoiding a one-size-fits-all solution, recruiting group leaders and facilitators by going beyond technical considerations (e.g. taking into account the personality traits identified in this study), adopting a bottom-up approach in devising group rules and regulations, and taking into account both the positive and negative aspects of social capital.

The originality of our research lies in the explanatory framework that we provide in this paper. Our study also contributes to the intellectual debates on social capital by exhibiting the dual roles that social capital plays and its complex interrelationships with other forms of capital.     

Struggling with capital: a Bourdieusian analysis of educational strategies among internationally mobile middle class families in Sweden

ABSTRACT

Drawing on empirical data regarding educational strategies among internationally mobile families in the Stockholm-Uppsala region, this study questions the notion of a global middle class. First, a quantitative analysis shows that immigrating middle class professionals and their children are few, having marginal impact on the demand for international education. Furthermore, they far from constitute a homogeneous class, instead comprising of fractions opting for different types of schools. A second, qualitative study on capital conversion among mobile families illustrates that even well-educated international movers face serious challenges converting their existing knowledge, skills and contacts into well-informed social, professional and educational strategies in their new context. This suggests the limitations of concepts such as international capital. It is argued that the GMC concept overshadows the fact that social groups within the middle classes have varying degrees of international mobility that constitutes just one dimension of what separates them from each other.     

Editorial

ABSTRACT

An enduring concern for educational policy in many affluent countries is the endemic nature of educational inequalities that are predominately located in poor urban contexts. Given the inabilities of school reform per se to deal with these inequalities, the paper focuses on issues of scarcity and spatial processes that are implicated in the formation of young people's educational identities – identities that then mediate the conversion of educational resources into educational attainments or achievements.     

Chinese parental involvement and class-based inequality in education: the role of social networking sites

ABSTRACT

Based on an ethnographic study, this article presents the class-based disparities of Chinese parents’ usage of WeChat, the dominating social networking mobile application in China, in their educational involvement. We find that middle-class parents are the privileged ones who have exploited the use of WeChat not only as a medium for communication, but more as a mode of influence. Through WeChat, their various forms of capital are channelled to catalyse changes in their children's education. In contrast, working-class parents tend to act as absent participants in using WeChat for their educational involvement. We argue that WeChat has brought forth the consequence of widening the arena for winning or losing at the educational game for parents from different social classes. We call for corrective policies and guidelines on the usage of WeChat and other SNSs technologies in home–school dynamics.     

Paulo Freire’s critical and dialogic pedagogy and its implications for the Bahraini educational context

Abstract

This paper is a conceptual analysis in methodology. The purpose it fulfils is that of analysing the critical and dialogic pedagogy of Paulo Freire, to arrive at implications of Freire’s philosophy and approach for the current educational context of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Bahraini context is currently one of major economic, social, and educational reforms. Despite several reform initiatives, however, schools in Bahrain are still not advancing as they should be and deficiencies continue to exist in students’ development of higher-order thinking skills, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and analysis. Among the implications made by this study are ones related to: teaching and learning practices within a classroom, cultivation of 21st Century skills, curriculum development and planning, and the role played by the teacher. The paper ends with a number of significant recommendations for teachers and policy-makers, which can enhance education in Bahrain and help it progress faster. These recommendations can also prove to be useful to other parallel contexts regionally and internationally.     

The Sun Sets on Old England: Contradictions in Conservative Educational Policy

ABSTRACT

The article describes the increasing discrepancy between the curriculum policies of the Conservative government and the policy directions argued for by business organisations and other advocates of a human capital perspective in education. It traces some of the origins of the current Conservative preference for cultural rather than economic goals in this area of policy, and suggests a new understanding of the relationship between neoconservative and neoliberal thinking on the educational right. It argues that a return to ideas and practices developed in the late twentieth century offers a basis for curriculum policy more productive than either human capital theory or Conservative traditionalism.     

How Father’s Education and Economic Capital Impact Academic Performance—An Analysis Based on the Mediating Effect and Moderating Effect

Abstract:

This paper uses survey data from educational tracking upon graduation from middle schools in Q County, Gansu Province, and explores the mechanism in which the level of father’s education and economic capital affect academic performance. The study finds that the academic performance of male students is significantly higher than that of female students, and household registration, family capital, and school social capital adhere together to impact academic performance. Low economic income affects academic performance, and high economic income does not necessarily facilitate academic performance. School education that pays attention to academic performance has a direct positive impact, and parent-teacher relations, objectified cultural capital, and economic capital have a direct negative impact on academic performance. The level of the father’s education mainly plays a direct role in impacting academic performance. Economic capital indirectly facilitates academic performance through the mediating effect of parents’ educational expectations, educational support, and attention to school education, and objectified cultural capital has a moderating effect on the impact of economic capital on academic performance.