Will skills save us? Rethinking the relationships between vocational education,skills development policies,and social policy in South Africa

This paper examines experiences with ‘skills development’ in South Africa to contribute to broader debates about ‘skills’ and the relationships between vocational education and development. Numerous policy interventions and the creation of new institutions and systems for skills development in South Africa are widely seen as having failed to lead to an increase in numbers of skilled workers. I analyze some of the underlying reasons for this by considering South African policies and systems in the light of research in developed countries. The dominant view in South African media and policy circles is that a skills shortage, coupled with an inflexible labour market, are the leading causes of unemployment. This has led to a policy preoccupation with skills as part of a ‘self-help’ agenda, alongside policies such as wage subsidies and a reduction of protective legislation for young workers, instead of collective responsibility for social welfare. Skills policies have also been part of a policy paradigm which emphasized state regulation through qualification and quality assurance reform, with very little emphasis on building provision systems and on curriculum development. The South African experience exemplifies how difficult it is to develop robust and coherent skills development in the context of inadequate social security, high levels of job insecurity, and high levels of inequalities. It also demonstrates some of the weaknesses of so-called ‘market-led’ vocational education.     

Losing the whole child? A national survey of primary education training provision for spiritual,moral, social and cultural development

International concerns about the performativity agenda in schools gives rise to concerns about the neglect of a holistic approach to teaching and learning. Whilst schools in England and Wales are legally obliged to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development of children, little is known about how initial teacher training providers prepare trainees to do so. This project aims to address this gap in the literature. This paper details the findings of phase one of a National Survey which investigates trainers’ approaches to delivery and their views on the place of SMSC in primary schools. Findings suggest that trainers value SMSC, but time devoted to it is relatively low and policy changes are perceived to threaten SMSC’s security. The paper argues that it is vital that trainers empower trainees to understand the importance of holistic themes of their respective curricula, informed by critical engagement with theory, in order to avoid them being overshadowed by the performativity discourse.     

Think Tanks, ‘policy experts’ and ‘ideas for’ education policy making in Australia

This paper provides a case study of the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) in Australia with a focus on its education policy work, specifically the report, School funding on a budget (SFoB). CIS is a conservative right wing advocacy think tank, established in 1976 in the aftermath of the Whitlam government’s policy activism, framed by classical liberalism or neoliberalism with a provenance in the political economy of Hayek and Friedman. As such, it is committed to smaller government, individual responsibility and more market driven solutions to social problems. CIS gives more emphasis to academic research than other think tanks of its kind. This paper theorises think tanks as hybrid, boundary spanning organisations that work across academic, media, political and economic fields. An argument is proffered that it is the restructured state, with its loss of research capacity and fast policy making, which has strengthened opportunities for think tank influence across the policy cycle in education. With SFoB, CIS used a political moment, the first Abbott federal government budget focused on ‘budget repair’, to argue a case for reducing government educational expenditure as a percentage of GDP in the long term. That policy moment was used for recommending the abolition of the federal department of education and further dismantling of public schooling. SFoB is shown to be exemplary of the conservative advocacy think tank report genre in its usage of ‘mediatized’ language, surface accoutrements of academic research, and user focus. SFoB is a manifestation of what can be seen as the ideas for policy work of CIS, dressed up as research.     

Common pressures,same results? Recent reforms in professional standards and competences in teacher education for secondary teachers in England,France and Germany

Over the last decade, the introduction of professional standards and competences in initial teacher education for secondary teachers in England, France and Germany has provided the cornerstone of education reform in all three countries. The precise number and specific content of a measurable set of skills for teachers have offered challenges for policy makers, teacher educators, student teachers and teachers alike. The concept of standardised teacher education feeds into the idea that there is some convergence towards a uniform teacher ideal. However, an examination of the skills required of teachers in each of the three countries in this study reveals distinct education systems where path divergence is more evident.     

Trans-nationalization of educational policy making: from European innovation projects in adult education to an emerging European space for lifelong learning: what model for the European vocational education and training policy?

This article is drawn from broader qualitative research on innovation in the field of professional adult training within the framework of European pilot projects such as the LEONARDO projects. This research aims at contributing to a general understanding of the phenomenon of innovation, in the context of European calls for projects, as an instrument of the European Vocational Education and Training (VET) Policy, which is supposed to transform the national training systems of EU member states according to the Lisbon Strategy. For this article, the author has chosen to present some of the results of the analysis of the European VET Policy and its transition to a lifelong learning policy. The first part of this article describes the conceptual framework and more especially three of the main concepts examined: public policy, social innovation and European space. The second part distinguishes three periods in the European VET policy’s history, identified through a genealogical examination from its first step within the European Coal and Steel Community to the present lifelong learning policy. The third part highlights the specificity of this supranational public policy model and the links between the European VET policy, the LEONARDO programme and the pilot projects. In conclusion, this article supports the idea of antagonistic logics in the evolution of this policy, on at least three levels: decision-making powers, conception of VET systems and conception of learning.     

Different habitus: different strategies in teaching physics? Relationships between teachers’ social,economic and cultural capital and strategies in teaching physics in upper secondary school

With environmental awareness in the societies of today, political steering documents emphasize that all education should include sustainable development. But it seems to be others competing ideals for teaching physics, or why do the physics teachers teach as they do? Physics teachers in secondary school in Sweden have generally, been focused on facts and a strong link with scientific theories and concepts. In general, the curriculum sway the teaching, a standard text book in physics is used, the teaching is organized according to the book and the teacher deals with and demonstrates typical tasks on the whiteboard and group work is common for special issues related to tasks from the textbook or elaborating. The aim with this study is to analyze why physics teachers in upper secondary school choose to teach energy as they do. Data emerging from a questionnaire focused on indicators of the teachers’ cultural and economic assets, or capital, according to the work of Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology. Especially his concept on life styles and habitus provide a tool for analysis. We focus on physics teachers’ positions in the social space, dispositions and standpoints towards the ideal way to teach physics in upper secondary school (n = 268). Our response rate is 29 % and due to the low response rate a non response bias analysis was made. In our analysis we primarily sought for groups, with a cluster analysis based on the teaching practice, revealed common features for both what and how they teach and three different teaching types emerged. Then we reconstructed the group habitus of the teachers by analyzing dispositions and standpoints and related those to the specific polarization of sacred values, that is struggles about the natural order (doxa) in the social space of science education, which is a part of and has boundaries to dominating fields like the natural sciences and the political fields (curriculum etc.). Three teacher-groups’ habituses are described and analyzed; (1) The Manager of the Traditional, (2) The Challenger for Technology and (3) The Challenger for Citizenship. By constructing the habitus of the teachers in the different groups we can explain why teachers teach as they do and thereby make a contribution to both science education research and to teaching training, whereas reflective approach which also includes the individual dispositions and representations are paramount. In our paper we elaborate the grounds and implications of these findings further.     

Parents,quality, and school choice: why parents in Nairobi choose low-cost private schools over public schools in Kenya’s free primary education era

Low-cost private schools (LCPS) are widespread in Kenya, particularly in urban areas. This study examines the reasons that parents send children to fee-charging schools in a context of free public primary education. Drawing on parent survey and interview data, as well as interviews with national policy makers, we found that parents who chose LCPS for their children were more driven by quality concerns than were public school parents. We also present data on the costs of the school types, compared to household income. Despite being termed ‘low cost’, the fees charged by schools primarily serving the poor were often a heavy burden on families. We conclude with recommendations for maximising the impact of LCPS on educational access and quality.     

No “fear of flying”? Worrals of the WAAF,fiction, and girls’ informal wartime education

Abstract

This article focuses on the series of 11 books about a young female pilot, Worrals of the WAAF, by W.E. Johns, creator of Biggles. The Worrals books were published from 1941 when recruitment for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force was falling. Johns chose to ignore that the WAAF supported pilots through their work on the ground and did not themselves fly. The article discusses how historians of education can draw on fiction in order to identify aspects of informal education, especially during wartime, when so many children’s formal schooling was disrupted or non-existent. Drawing on Erica Jong’s 1970s metaphor of “flying” as representative of female freedom, it is possible to read Worrals’ character as a role model for teenage girls. The conundrum of why Johns chose to put Worrals in the WAAF, rather than in Air Transport with the likes of Amy Johnson, is further explored in the light of evidence that a number of WAAF were seconded to the SOE. It concludes that fiction read alongside a range of other evidence offers a rich source for the historian engaged in a search for the gendered nature of education beyond the classroom.     

Parental level of education: associations with psychological well‐being,academic achievement and reasons for pursuing higher education in adolescence

The purpose of the current study is to determine the interconnection between parental level of education, psychological well‐being, academic achievement and reasons for pursuing higher education in adolescents. Participants included 439 college freshmen from a mid‐size state university in the northeastern USA. A survey, including indices of parental level of education, life‐satisfaction, academic achievement and reasons for pursuing higher education, was administered in class. Overall results indicated a positive correlation between parental level of education and adolescents’ reasons for pursuing higher education for societal expectations. Furthermore, paternal education independently predicted societal expectations as a reason for college attendance.     

Heroes,villains, or something in between? How “Right to Work” policies affect teachers,students, and education policymaking

Although the Janus v. AFCSME (2018) decision fundamentally changed the institutional context for U.S. teachers’ unions by placing all public school teachers in a “Right to Work” (RTW) framework, little research exists to conceptualize the effects of such policies that hinder unionization. To fill this gap, I exploit the different timing across states in the passage of RTW policies in a differences-in-differences framework to identify how exposure to a RTW policy affects students, teachers, and education policymaking. I find that RTW policies lead to declines in teachers’ union power, but contrary to what many union critics have argued, I find that efforts to weaken unions did not result in political opportunities for education reforms nor did they improve student achievement outcomes.     

The development of Chinese education in Malaysia, 1952–1975: political collaboration between the Malaysian Chinese Association and the Chinese educationists

This paper examines the development of Chinese education in Malaysia from 1952 to 1975, focusing on the political collaboration between the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and the Chinese educationists to advance the cause of Chinese education instead of the usual macro policy analysis. This collaboration was compounded by the different stand adopted by the MCA and the Chinese educationists on issues relating to Chinese education. This different stand reflected the MCA’s political limitations to advance the cause of Chinese education. The MCA had to abide by the elite accommodation model adopted by the coalition government since it was a partner of this coalition. Such an accommodative approach could not meet the assertive demand of the Chinese educationists on issues relating to Chinese education. Meanwhile, the political collaboration between the MCA and the Chinese educationists was also constrained by internal conflict within the MCA that compromised the interests of Chinese education.     

Avoidance-oriented students’ development in motivation for maths,self-regulated learning behaviour and achievement: a person-centred study in the lowest level of secondary education

Performance-avoidance orientation has been found to undermine students’ academic motivation and achievement. Recognising groups of students with different levels and developments of performance-avoidance orientation makes it possible to try to intervene early in their school careers. In this study, 1168 12–13?year-old students attending the first and second year of the lowest level of secondary education, participated. Questionnaires on goal orientations, self-efficacy, investment in maths and well-being at school were administered four times. Report marks were collected at school. Using growth mixture modelling, four groups of students were distinguished: group 1 had an intermediate and a slightly increasing performance-avoidance orientation; group 2 a low and clearly increasing performance-avoidance orientation; group 3 an intermediate and clearly decreasing performance-avoidance orientation; and group 4 a low and slightly decreasing performance-avoidance orientation. We found that groups1 and 2 had less favourable development in their well-being at school, self-efficacy and performance-approach orientation.     

A case study of a career in education that began with “Teach for America”

In this article I share the results of a seven‐year case study of an educator who began his career without formal preservice teacher education, as a participant in Teach for America. Steven (a pseudonym) began teaching mathematics in an urban middle school, later teaching social studies to English language learners, and is currently a principal of an urban charter school. Using a narrative/biographical research method, I have documented how Steven combined his personal resources, the confidence he gained from participating in Teach for America, and, because he began taking professional coursework in his second year of teaching, his emerging understanding of the foundations of teaching and learning (i.e. what he learned at the university) to form the educator he has become. His growth in understanding the culture of his students is a particularly compelling part of his story. Implications for contemporary teacher education are discussed, including the role of multicultural education courses and why customized teacher education programs should become more commonplace.     

The contrastive study of cultural connotations of color words in English and Chinese-Take“red”and“红色”for Example

Color words, as a part of language, has different cultural connotations in different culture, which usually express strong cultural characteristics. This thesis explores the similarities and difference...     

Resource and Technology: A beacon for change in the reform of Jamaica’s secondary education system – or a “pipedream”?

Different strategies are being employed worldwide to prepare school-leavers for the world of work. Central to the Reform of Secondary Education (ROSE) in Jamaica in the 1990s was the achievement of goals of access, equity and quality through the implementation of a common curriculum in all schools. Within this reform, Resource and Technology (R&T) was an innovation designed to develop the creative potential in technology and to transform pedagogical practices from being teacher-centred to being student-centred. This paper examines how teachers and principals involved in the implementation of R&T perceive its attributes, such as need and relevance and observability. The findings reveal how the achievement of goals was frustrated and which challenges the users faced, including a lack of clarity of the means for implementing R&T.     

The “special topic,” EIΔH,in late Tudor and early Stuart public discussion

The perspective from which a less powerful social group views a “dominant” group—either as another culture or as a co‐culture —influences the structure and function of its strategies for communicating with the “dominant” group. Four recurring patterns of communication between groups with asymmetrical power relationships are analyzed using the theory of the coordinated management of meaning.