The Role of Education in Restructuring Socialism: the Tanzanian case

Summary Tanzanian educators recognize the need to ally education more clearly to economic development, for they see in a revitalized economy the impetus for the growth of social services. The shortcomings in the educational system which must help accomplish this are clear. They realize that the ‘education for self‐reliance'policies have only slightly altered the nation's economy and have done little to create the ‘new’ socialist person. Teachers, their students, and parents do not yet possess the attitudes necessary to promote cooperation and service; and the majority of students do not attain the knowledge and skills necessary for an economy to prosper.

The nation's educational bureaucracy must also be committed to dramatic change. To date, only cosmetic changes have occurred in the way schools are administered. While leadership at the top has been sincere, regional and local educational leaders often only pay lip service.

Revolutionary change in Tanzanian education could come quickly through coercion and force. However, that is not the Tanzanian way and the chosen path. Instead, change is to be accomplished through the democratic process of enlightenment and dedication. This takes time. The major question is whether Tanzania still has the time.     

Global Trends,National Policies and Institutional Responses: Restructuring Higher Education in Malaysia

A significant global trend during the 1990s is the restructuring of higher education systems. The essence of this restructuring process is a redefinition of the relationship between institutions of higher learning, the state, and the market, and a drastic reduction of institutional autonomy. This article is an analysis of the restructuring process in the forms of privatisation of higher education and corporatisation of public universities in Malaysia. This analysis highlights the context of higher education reforms in the era of globalization, major trends in higher education reforms and Malaysias responses to these global trends. By focusing on the institutional level, this article examines the expansion and diversification of private higher education as well as the change in the governance and culture of public universities brought about by privatisation and corporatisation.     

The Restructuring of Higher Education in Economics

The changing structure of higher education in economics is discussed in the context of the dual elements of control exerted through the Universities Funding Council (UFC) research assessment exercises and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) recognition exercises. The evidence points to a major restructuring taking place within the old university sector with the majority of economics departments making up a second 'mixed' tier while the new universities are primarily but not exclusively 'teaching' institutions. On the whole 'research' tier departments have achieved overall excellence but there are a few cases where a departments position is based on a specialist niche in the subject. While departmental size is linked to research output there is evidence of research excellence throughout the Higher Education (HE) sector and the paper argues against a severe rationalization of research funds. The significance of the changes for course delivery are briefly discussed.     

Education sector reform: The Ugandan experience

In 1998 the Government of Uganda (GoU) began implementing an ambitious reform programme called the Education Strategic Investment Plan (ESIP) in order to effect Universal Primary Education (UPE). This paper offers a perspective on how the GoU has met the challenge of financing education reform, addressed the need to improve the quality of basic education and increased access and equity while improving efficiency at primary and post-primary levels of education. The development model described in this paper privileges good governance and donor co-operation within a Sector Wide Approach. Important lessons have been learned in Uganda including the need for political commitment to universal primary education within a clear conception of whole sector reform. However, the discourse of SWAPs tends to function primarily in the formal sphere and not at the level of the experience of most teachers, pupils and their families, yet it is at this level that national education policies have to be mediated in practice. More attention needs to be given in education sector reform to the processes as well as the context of change.     

Restructuring the System of Higher Education

We investigate the main question of whether higher education institutions are able to increase their performance due to mergers, takeovers, or organizational restructuring. The problem of measuring performance when there are several “output” and “input” indicators can currently be solved by recourse to a proven data analysis method (data envelopment analysis, DEA). Two models are presented to assess the educational and research performance of universities. The DEA model, which is input orientated and has constant returns to scale, was used to perform calculations. To conduct a comparative analysis of groups of universities that are at various stages of the restructuring process, the study authors proposed several classifications of universities:

• by number of consolidated and/or eliminated organizational units,

• by period when restructuring was completed,

• by type of restructuring mechanism, and

• on the basis of whether technical colleges have been joined to the university in question.

We used nonparametric statistical methods for comparing averages to test the proposed hypotheses. Our study sample consisted of 132 universities whose parent agency is the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. The authors did not discover that the performance of the universities deteriorated as a result of the restructuring process. It turned out that universities that actively participate in restructuring processes in fact increased their performance level relative to other universities.

The study did not reveal that institutions that are currently in the process of being merged with or taken over by other institutions experience a temporary decline and subsequent restoration of their performance level. The performed analysis did not confirm the hypothesis that universities that absorbed technical colleges experienced a drop in their performance level. The results of the study unanimously show that by 2015 universities made progress in bridging the gap with the performance level of their leading competitors compared to 2010. The authors are aware that the verification of the accuracy of the proposed arguments requires a more detailed study of the universities. Because many countries have already accumulated a large amount of experience in how to restructure institutions of higher education, the results of the present study of the restructuring of Russian universities make it possible to draw comparisons as well as to use the developed theoretical concepts to explain and predict the possible consequences of using various restructuring mechanisms. The study is based on the widely accepted method of data envelopment analysis. This article represents the first time that this method has been used to benchmark university performance over time.     

The Management of Dilemmas in School Restructuring: A case analysis

While there is growing interest in studying principals' perceptions of their work lives in terms of dilemmas, relatively few studies have gone beyond this to investigate how leaders manage and cope with such 'intractable' situations and the consequential effects and outcomes. Accordingly, this article provides an in-depth qualitative case study of the dilemmas faced by a principal who is involved in the restructuring of his school. It then analyses the ways in which he manages and copes with these intractable situations, and the effects and outcomes that result. The article begins by outlining a framework used in the analysis. It addresses some considerations of method, before describing relevant school and system contexts. Finally, the in-depth case study is presented using the structure associated with the framework described earlier. Among the key findings are that dilemmas present opportunities as well as challenges for visionary, proactive and creative school leaders.     

Nonformal Education,Distance Education and the Restructuring of Schooling: Challenges for a New Basic Education Policy

This article argues that the present crisis of basic education for young people in Africa reveals problems that are more fundamental than enrollments, inputs and costs. They are related to the very structure and substance of educational provision. Of particular concern is the fact that schools find it difficult to respond to the different needs and circumstances of their pupils and to organize learning experiences that are sensitive to the social, cultural and economic environment. The author maintains that non-conventional approaches to learning, associated with nonformal education and distance education, have important but distinct contributions to make to the reform of mainstream schooling and could help to open up the formal system from within.     

The Restructuring of China's Higher Education: an experience for market economy and knowledge economy

Although we all learn differently, we all need to be able to engage certain fundamental reasoning skills if we are to manoeuvre successfully through life—however we define success. Peirce's philosophy provides us with a framework for helping students (and ourselves) develop and hone the ability for making deliberate and well‐considered choices. For, embedded within Peirce's complete body of work is a design for thinking that provides a sturdy foundation for the development of three important learning capabilities. These capabilities are 1) the ability to identify, compare, and contrast qualities, 2) the ability to perform analyses, and 3) the ability to interpret the meaning of signs. Although these capabilities may seem like the sort of skills that only older and academically inclined students can master, even young children and the intellectually challenged can learn to use them as well. Once teachers learn to develop their own intellectual potential by expanding these capabilities within themselves, they will be able to begin bringing about the development of these capabilities in their students. Once identified, developed, and applied to the mastery of educational skills and subject matter, these three fundamental learning capabilities (qualification, analysis, and interpretation), can form the foundation of a common‐sense approach to educational reform. Peirce asserts that good reasoning must be informed by ethical considerations, which in turn has been informed by the highest of aesthetic impulses. From this, we can extrapolate the importance that an educational model based upon Peirce's philosophy must place upon aesthetic and ethical considerations, as well as logical ones. Once fully understood, the philosophy of education embedded within Peirce's epistemology can revolutionize educational practices at all levels of learning.     

全民优质基础教育的要素

关于联合国教科文组织如何看优质教育,此间近来已有一些评介。发表在《世界教育信息》2004年第9期的一篇介绍,便是一例。这里译出皮戈齐(Pigozzi,M.J.)的文章,则集中阐述了该组织继达喀尔"世界教育论坛"(2000年)之后所关心的优质教育的六个关键性维度。作为联合国教科文组织提升教育质量处处长,作者强调,在这六个维度中,学习内容与学习方法显得尤为重要。与此同时,作者认为入学始终应该优先于教育质量的看法并非最为恰当。此文原题为《学习内容与学习方法是全民教育的要素》。     

Administrative reform in the Venezuelan Ministry of Education: A case analysis of the 1970's

Democracy arrived in Venezuela in 1958, and reforming the rigid, centralized and unrepresentative institutions of government subsequently assumed a high priority. This article, based on data gathered in Venezuela several times over a twelve-year period by means of a standard field research methodology, represents a longitudinal case study of efforts through the 70's to generate administrative reform in the Ministry of Education. Specifically, the reform proposed to decentralize and regionalize the organization and management of education in order to promote regional socio-economic development. The study describes and discusses political and organizational factors which disrupted and frustrated the reform process, including: (1) lack of political continuity and maturity; (2) lack of appropriate structures within the system and of real desire on the part of ministry officials to initiate an effective delegation of powers and responsibilities; (3) lack of adequate mechanisms for gathering, processing and distributing information; and (4) lack of sufficient personnel within the ministry with the training and sustained experience to manage complex programs. As in many other countries, the ideals of the reform in Venezuela outstripped the political and human realities of the situation there. Comparative research is now needed to enable other nations to learn from this experience.     

National Policies on Pregnancy in Education Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Botswana

The article critiques pregnancy policies in the education systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Policies discussed are divided into expulsion, re-entry and continuation policies. Arguing from the standpoint of theories of oppression, it is postulated that expulsion policies symbolise direct violence against girls who become pregnant and are more common in those countries with poor human rights records. Continuation and re-entry policies are prevalent in countries that have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of Children. It is argued that re-entry policies also violate girl mothers' right to education through a retreat ideology that requires temporary withdrawal of the pregnant girl from school. Moreover, gender inequalities are built into the policies and supported by traditional and institutional ideologies that make re-entry of the girl mother into the school difficult. The Botswana re-entry policy is reviewed to illustrate difficulties in the readmission of girl mothers to school.     

创生视角下成人教育课程资源：重组与开发

在知识经济和学习化社会的双重冲击下,成人学习者参与继续学习的热情不断高涨,学习需求不断提高。然而当下成人教育"学非所用"、"学用脱节"等矛盾却依旧十分突出。成人教育课程资源依然存在课程目标设置偏离学生实际需要,课程内容选择难以激发学习兴趣,课程实施过程呆板,课程评价机制守旧等问题。基于创生的新视角,课程资源需要从致力于着眼学生发展,帮助学生成长,关注学生实际,注重学生变化等方面加以重组和开发。     

大学英语教学改革

我国目前高校的英语教学,与新形势的要求还存在着相当大的差距。近年来,社会的进步对人才培养提出了更高的要求。我国大学英语教学普遍存在"费时较多,收效较低",所花时间和代价与教学效果不相适应的问题,毕业后的学生无法正确用英语进行交流。社会以及外语学术界对大学英语教学改革的呼声越来越高,改革英语教学已成为众多教育家和学子的共识。因此,我国大学英语教育的改革势在必行。