An overview of educational policies in the countries of Latin America during the 1990s

In this paper we want to examine the construct of the Learning Society in its economic and social context in the UK. We will argue that the policy rhetoric which makes up the current discourse of the ‘learning’ society is both powerfully normative and unhelpfully reductionist and that it displaces and masks issues of inequality. The discourse of the Learning Society has conflated the achievement of increased levels of participation for 16‐ to 19‐year‐olds with the insertion of market mechanisms and relations and the assertion of self‐interest. This has meant that issues of exclusion, polarization and social justice have been systematically neglected. The Learning Society provides, we suggest, for a redrawing and relegitimation of patterns of exclusion. In particular, in a time of social crisis, middle‐class retrenchment (masked as familial duty) has re‐asserted itself, in part, through a specific, particular engagement with the Learning Society in order to ensure advantage and distinction. As Connell (1996: 5) puts it, this ‘is the point on which the politics of education markets mainly turns’. Thus, we believe it is critical to address the question, ‘Whose Learning Society'? We shall attempt this through a preliminary examination of data collected from a cohort of 16‐year‐olds who are in the process of transition from statutory schooling into a post‐16 education and training market (ETM), and deploy their ‘emergent narratives’ to problematize the normative simplicities of the Learning Society.     

The new educational pluralism in Latin America

Conclusion Education is, however, already beginning to reflect the whole range of pluralisms that constitute the relatively complex, urbanized and semi-industrialized societies of most of Latin America.Modernity in these societies assumes the form of cultural pluralism with a centrifugal and fragmented social basis, in which deep divisions of class and social strata still exist alongside emerging tensions due to the spread of markets, privatization in civil society, the disintegration of the traditional state, the rapid internationalization of communications and expectations, and the consolidation of liberal-democratic regimes that enable all this diversity to be expressed more freely.The new pluralism of Latin American education has therefore more to do with the modernization of societies and their cultures than with the more restrictive notion of complementarity among well-structured socio-cultural elements that fight to preserve their identity and that attain a form of expression recognized by the state in the field of education. The latter type of pluralism, found in more stable and better structured societies, is replaced in Latin America by a more fluid and ambiguous educational pluralism which, in the final analysis, reflects a process of construction of modernity that began only recently but is now in full swing. Specialist in the sociology of education. Professor-researcher at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), vice-president of the Chilean Higher Council of Education, where he chaired the Presidential Study Commission on Higher Education. Member of the Executive Committee of the Latin American Social Sciences Council. His most recent books are: Educación superior en América latina: cambios y desafíos (1990), Chile: transformaciones culturales y modernidad(1989), and Recursos humanos para la investigación en América latina (1989).     

Some challenges for educational research in Latin America

Founding director of the Centro de Estudios Educativos (Centre for Educational Studies) in Mexico City and of the Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Educativos(Latin American Journal of Educational Studies). He was in charge of the National Programme of Educational Research of the National Council for Science and Technology. He now carries out research at the Regional Centre for Adult Education and Functional Literacy for Latin America. His recent publications include: La política de alfabetización de seis países latinoamericanos, Participatory Research: A New Research Paradigm?and Elementos para una propuesta orientada a elevar la calidad: La enseñanza tutorial.     

Professions and educational counseling in Mexico and Latin America

Conclusion In these circumstances, the prospect of the counselor for the professions is to play a new and different role inside the field of educational counseling. This new role will rely, in great measure, on the foreseeable behavior of society and, consequently, educational systems.It is relevant to consider the kind of society which is expected to emerge in the next twenty-five years. When this desirable scenario has been defined it becomes possible and necessary to join efforts, open new pathways and formulate new alternative solutions to present problems.Educational counseling should acquire properties that give it a new, more concrete meaning in a way that allows it to be used in a more accurate and effective way institutionally, in relation to the educational system and to career and national planning.Educational counseling should be more aware of and open to what is happening in the sectors that give a mandate to education at the economic, political, and social levels.Educational counseling and counseling for professionals must have continuity inside the educational system, and it may not be reduced to the role of filling in holes and taking responsibility for the contradictions of the national education system. Counseling must have a preventive task. In order to fulfill this, it is important that counselors have a solid background in education, politics, economics, and social areas; so they should be able to establish a connection with fields of work and their development potential.It is essential to systematize and share research on the discipline in order to delineate problems which are immediate, medium, or long-range in the different areas of counseling.     

Relevance in pedagogy and the problem of educational quality in Latin America

The educational reforms implemented in various Latin America countries at the end of the 60's and early 70's shared a common desire to ruralize rural primary schooling in the search for relevance. Some reforms promoted differentiated content for rural areas while others, notably the Mexican, emphasized the adaptation of standard material to the local context through the use of a progressive methodology of teaching.Questions are raised as to whether the Mexican approach is any the less dualist for adopting standard material and whether it represents a viable strategy for the improvement of the quality of education in rural schools. The progressive model of teaching proposed is seen to be based on a number of assumptions of unproven validity, especially with regards to its ability to promote social and political awareness. In practical terms it is seen to depend for its success on types of teachers and pupils that are largely unknown in rural areas, and on a type of school organization that should precede any such reform of methods.More a philosophy than a practical plan of action, the progressive methodology is unlikely to act as an adequate substitute for more expensive but more determined policies designed to tackle the basic problems of truancy, drop-out and poor pupil performance.     

The spread of targeted educational policies in Latin America: global thesis and local impacts

This article analyses the new educational mandate for Latin America, exploring its repercussions on the design and development of certain educational policies. In particular, it concentrates both on the anti‐poverty educational agenda (at a global level) and on targeted educational policies (at a regional, national and local level), analyzing, on one hand, their interaction and, on the other, their limits, opportunities and omissions. Within this framework, the article is organised as follows. First, it presents the current anti‐poverty educational agenda, analysing its thesis and foundations. Second, it discusses the repercussions of this agenda on Latin America, explaining the emergence, spread and logic of action of targeted educational policies. The third and fourth sections focus on a particular model of educational targeting, initially explaining the features of the programme (called Bolsa Escola) and then presenting an assessment of its impacts from an educational standpoint. Finally, to conclude, it analyses the shortcomings and omissions of both targeted educational policies and the global anti‐poverty agenda.     

中国与东盟国家教育输出概述

在经济全球化和区域一体化的背景下,国际教育服务越来越成为国际服务贸易的重要增长点.招收国际学生是当前各国教育服务输出的主要途径.本文着重对"十五"期间中国教育输出的基本情况,特别是中国与东盟国家教育输出概况作简要的叙述.     

高等教育国际化进程中的美国"富布赖特计划"评说

“富布赖特计划”对世界不同民族之间相互理解和融洽起着无与伦比的作用,虽然它成立的初衷在于增进世界民族相互理解,但其派出学者的学科领域却重在输出西方文化价值观念,而且在其交流过程中存在不平等现象,尤其表现在外族文化对本族文化的渗透等方面。     

教育改革研究的历史、视野与趋势

随着教育改革实践的深入开展,关于教育改革问题的理论研究,也得到了深层次的推进。教育改革研究的历史,经历了从宏观到微观、从决策到政策的研究历程;就其视野而言,主要存在宏观视角的政治学和经济学的分析,以及微观视角下的微观政治学分析和人种志研究,以及文化学、哲学、管理学等视野;就这一研究领域的未来发展趋势而言,主要是由系统的理论研究向专题式的问题研究转变,理论研究成果向教育改革的转换过程日益缩短,教育政策研究越来越受到青睐,宏观研究与微观研究更加紧密结合。     

斯普朗格职业教育思想述评

爱德华·斯普朗格建构的人文主义教育学的陶冶理论与职业教育一体化的理论有其独特的历史地位,他重视职业的文化传承和创造作用.强调基础教育、职业教育和普通教育协调发展的职业教育思想对我国职业教育的改革与发展具有启示作用.     

综论教育交流与中华文化

教育,使人类社会走向文明且日益进步;交流,使教育事业得以创新而不断发展。作为人类一种古老而又弥新的文明,中华文化正是通过教育交流而得以形成、发展、更新和播衍。纵观中华民族自古以来的教育交流,既有将自身现有的最先进文化推向世界的活动,亦有从其他先进的国家或民族摄取自身亟需的文明因子的行为。在这种传输与求取、播衍与认同人类新知的过程中,中华民族通过种种途径一直未曾停歇教育交流活动,并且借助这种活动来逐步推进人类文明。     

综论孔子学院及其在中外教育交流史上的影响

孔子学院是以传授汉语和传播中国文化为宗旨的非营利性教育机构。它在国家对外汉语教学领导小组办公室的指导下,目前主要采取中外合作的方式,开展汉语教学和中外教育、文化等方面的交流。创办孔子学院是我国在新的历史条件下应对教育国际交流的举措,是中国教育走向世界的足音,使中外教育交流呈现出许多前所未有的新特点。     

杜波伊斯的教育理论和理念评述

W.E.B.杜波伊斯有独树一帜的教育观.其教育思想对非裔美国人的教育影响巨大且深远,对今天中国的教育改革也不无参考价值.他对教育之本质与目的的理解、对教育之社会功能的认识以及对黑人教育结构的设想等都体现了他的教育理论与理念.     

虹膜识别技术综述

虹膜识别技术作为一种身份识别手段具有独特的优势,是近年来国际上的研究热点．对虹膜识别系统的相关原理及算法进行了介绍,分析了目前研究中有待解决的问题,并提出了虹膜技术的研究方向及重点．