Research policy and the changing nature of Australia's universities

Two central features of Australian universities are a strong research base and a structural organisation which reflects a close relationship between teaching and research. Current policy deliberations have produced recommendations in the national interest for the future development of Australian university research which are incompatible with these two central features. The recommendations consolidate the recent trend towards greater centralisation, co-ordination, selectivity and concentration of university research and its funding. Although certain sectors of Australian university research will benefit from the changes, the recommendations reflect neither a longer term view of the total higher education system, nor a sufficient concern with preserving the excellent and productive qualities of the current system. Their implementation will mean the adoption of research goals inimical to the fundamental purposes of universities; a less flexible and more conservative research system; a re-orientation of the research role of universities so that it is less harmonious with their teaching role; and a potentially harmful differentiation of academic staff, subject areas and institutions. In responding to the new demands of government, universities face a challenge in preserving their current strengths and core functions.     

Academic identity and autonomy in a changing policy environment

The article draws on two research projects to explore the implications of policy change in the UK for academic identities within a predominantly communitarian theoretical perspective. It focuses on biological scientists and science policies. It examines the impacts of changes upon the dynamic between individuals, disciplines and universities within which academic identities are formed and sustained and upon individual and collective values central to academic identity, namely the primacy of the discipline in academic working lives and academic autonomy. Challenges to these have been strong but they have retained much of their normative power, even if the meaning of academic autonomy has changed. Communitarian theories of academic identity may need to be modified in the contemporary environment but they do not need to be abandoned.     

Higher education markets and public policy

In the major reforms to higher education being introduced throughout the world, market and “market-like” policy instruments are assuming increasing importance. Long perceived as a unique characteristic of the U.S. system of higher education, experiments with market competition in academic labor markets, institutional finance, student support, and the allocation of research funds are now evident in the higher education policy of many different nations. Ironically, the overt rationale for these reforms is not only the traditional argument of economic efficiency—with its supposed corollary benefits of institutional adaptation and innovation—but increasingly a resort to market competition as a means of achieving equity in the form of mass higher education. The paper explores the nature of markets in higher education, the policy mechanisms related to their implementation, and some emerging questions regarding their impact.     

Bureaucratic response to policy change: implementation of adult education policy in Norway

Our main concern was to investigate the implementation of the new Education Act, giving adults the statutory right to complete upper secondary education. Referring to a ‘top‐down’ and a ‘bottom‐up’ perspective we have investigated how the representatives of the county authorities (the bureaucrats) interpret and practise the specific section of the Act in relation to their definition, moral evaluation and economic view. The interpretation of the section in the Act and the practice varied. Two counties were proactive, result‐oriented and generous, while four counties were passive, act‐oriented and restrictive in their implementation. The implementation was influenced by the bureaucrats’ attitudes, decisions and actions. They had their own agenda, moral standard, interest and so on, which influenced their interpretation and practice. Our study indicates that it is not enough just to formulate a right. How it is formulated, and how it is interpreted and perceived may affect the implementation process.     

高等教育与省级公共支出政策

在公共财政体制下 ,高等教育产品供给方式应实行政府主导的混合提供方式。以河北省为例 ,研究省级公共支出政策得出的结论是 :财政支出应继续作为高等教育投资的主渠道之一 ,但应从支配性转向引导性 ;地方高等教育公共支出主体应为省级财政 ,需坚持效率原则与发展原则的统一 ,突出强调高等教育公共支出的内部结构优化。     

Higher education policy and the world of work: changing conditions and challenges

At the end of the 20th century, the connections between higher education and the world of work are again among the key issues of debate whenever challenges for innovation in higher education are at stake. Job prospects for recent graduates are not consistently viewed as negative. Information on graduate employment and work is scarce and there are no indisputable criteria for assessing graduate employment. Signals from the employment system are more blurred and ambivalent than ever before. This notwithstanding, many experts and key actors agree on the main directions in which higher education must head in response to the changing challenges from the world of work, e.g. devote greater attention to generic competencies, social skills and personality development, prepare students for the growing globalization and internationalization, and serve students through an increasing variety of means beyond classroom teaching and learning.Most experts agree that higher education must be well-informed of expectations from the outside world in order to adopt the necessary proactive role and thus respond to the need to prepare students for indeterminate future job tasks, new employment patterns and contributions to innovation in society.     

The British response of higher education to changing educational perspectives

The primary purpose of this paper is to examine the objectives of higher education provision in Britain. The perspective of ‘educationists’ are compared with those of ‘economists’. In particular, the paper argues that the Department of Education and Science (DES) has moved substantially in the direction of the economists' approach to educational resource allocation. The paper also argues that the partticular characteristics of higher education (HE), where it is state-provided and free at the point of consumption, imbue it with the properties of a Niskanen-type bureau. This paper suggests that the current DES policy with its considerable implications for HE resource allocation can be rationalised in terms of the human capital approach and the problems of managing a bureau.“A professor was supposed to be a venerable kind of person, with snow-white whiskers reaching to his stomach. He was expected to moon around the campus oblivious of the world around him. If you nodded to him he failed to see you. Of money he knew nothing; of business far less. He was, as his trustees were proud to say of him, ‘a child’.On the other hand, he contained within him a reservoir of learning of such depth as to be practically bottomless. None of this learning was supposed to be of any material or commercial benefit to anybody. Its use was in saving the soul and enlarging the mind” (Leacock, 1922).     

The Networked University: The structure,culture, and policy of universities in a changing environment

Tertiary Education and Management - The universities in Europe are finding themselves in a turbulent environment. They are exposed to global and European developments. This article links changes in...     

Democratic environment in higher education: The case of a Turkish public university

This study describes the expectations of undergraduate students regarding the characteristics of a democratic university environment. It then goes on to explore whether there are any significant differences among the dimensions of democratic university environment, namely respect for ideas, participation in decision-making, and promotion of tolerance. Last, it examines the effects of certain variables (gender, student club attendance, newspaper reading, and home residence) on student perceptions of their university environment. The results showed that there was a significant difference among three dimensions of democratic university environment. In addition, gender, student club attendance, and home residence had significant effects on differing dependent variables.     

从公共政策分析的角度看流动儿童教育政策

随着我国的城市化规模扩大,大量的流动儿童随迁进入城市生活,这就带来了一个新的问题——流动儿童教育问题。为了解决这一问题,国家制定了相应的政策,采用三种途径解决这一问题。然而,这些政策在实际当中却遇到了困难,无法从根本上解决问题。本文试图从公共政策分析的角度对流动儿童教育政策的进行分析,为政策制定者提供参考。     

对我国基础教育中环境教育政策的回顾和前瞻

本文对我国基础教育中环境教育政策的演化轨迹进行了回顾 ,并根据环境教育政策的目标选择、内容、性质和表现方式变化呈阶段性的特点 ,将我国基础教育中的环境教育政策划分为起步阶段、发展阶段、重新定向阶段、深化扩展等四个阶段。通过对各阶段环境教育政策的分析 ,揭示了我国基础教育中环境教育政策在进一步发展中亟待解决的一些问题     

Formation of community adult education policy in a. changing society in Taiwan

Community adult education (CAE) has just started to develop in Taiwan. From policy formation which directly affects the administration of CAE, the author discusses how CAE is promoted in a changing society. The major approach applied is documental analysis based on a review of policy context. Through analysing two main policy packages for adult education, the author points out the drawbacks of developing CAE in Taiwan and then raises recommendations for improving its policy formation. Taiwan's experience in policy formation of CAE may be helpful for deciding how to improve the provision in a changing society and for countries with similar situations.     

完善公共教育政策,促进教育机会均等

教育政策作为一项公共政策，其促进“教育机会均等”，是国际教育发展的一般趋势和共同追求，本通过回顾“教育机会均等”的理论历史，结合我国教育实践和有关政策，指出现行教育政策中存在着不平等成份，探讨改善义务教育发展中的不平等现象，我们的教育政策改革应力求最大可能的平等。