Marxist state theory and state autonomy theory: the case of ‘race’ education in initial teacher education

Abstract

In recent times, there have been a number of critiques of Marxist and neo‐Marxist analyses of the state and education policy. These have drawn on postmodernist, ‘quasi‐postmodernist’ and state autonomy perspectives. While the postmodernist and ‘quasi‐postmodernist’ approaches have attracted critical response, to date, the state autonomy perspective has, to our knowledge, gone unchallenged. To address this theoretical lacuna, this paper analyses one writer's attempt, via an historical case study, to uphold state autonomy theory by detailing the ongoing relationship between one quasi‐state agency and the practice of ‘race’ education in initial teacher education. We argue that there are serious conceptual weaknesses in this latest attempt to apply state autonomy theory to educational policy analysis. The arguments in the case study under consideration are seriously compromised by a basically flawed hypothesis, a misrepresentation of contemporary (neo‐) Marxist education policy analysis and by a failure to look at ‘the big picture’.     

Education for autonomy and open-mindedness in diverse societies

In recent years, democracies across the globe have seen an increase in the popularity and power of authoritarian, nationalist politicians, groups, and policies. In this climate, the proper role of education in liberal democratic society, and in particular its role in promoting characteristics like autonomy and open-mindedness, is contested. This paper engages this debate by exploring the concept of autonomy and the obligations of liberal democratic societies to promote it. Presenting the conditions for the exercise and development of autonomy, I argue that the intellectual virtue of open-mindedness is necessary (though not sufficient) for possession of the capacity for autonomy and the motivation to exercise this capacity. In considering the importance of autonomy in liberal democratic societies, I argue that education for autonomy and open-mindedness can be justified by appealing to several liberal democratic aims: ensuring fair opportunity in the pursuit of the good life and preparing students for citizenship in diverse society. My analysis of the relationship between autonomy and open-mindedness aims to contribute to the literature by identifying a conception of autonomy that explicitly acknowledges its connections to intellectual virtue, thus clarifying one aspect of its value and identifying an important component of education that supports autonomy.     

“大球理论”与教育中父母及子女的权利

“大球理论”是在“自由教育”理论的基础上提出的。“大球理论”认为,父母对子女教育的希望和理想并不意味着要为子女规定固定的成长模式。父母拥有选择子女接受何种教育的权利;但同时,子女也有接受教育的自主权。关于家长在子女教育上的权利,应该既反对压制子女,同时也要公正地对待父母对孩子的殷切希望和他们为抚养子女做出的牺牲;关于子女受教育的自主权,应重视从小培养他们的自主意识,使之懂得追求心灵的自由。     

The Prudential Value of Education for Autonomy

A popular justification of education for autonomy is that autonomy possession has intrinsic prudential value. Communitarians have argued, however, that although autonomy may be a core element of a well‐lived life in liberal societies, it cannot claim such a prudential pedigree in traditional societies in which the conception of a good life is intimately tied to the acceptance of a pre‐established worldview. In this paper I examine a recent attempt made by Ishtiyaque Haji and Stefaan Cuypers to respond to this challenge by reestablishing the intrinsic prudential value of autonomy, and I argue that although their work has merit in some respects, it suffers from a notable theoretical deficiency as well as a practical deficiency. Like Haji and Cuypers, I wish to argue that autonomy has intrinsic prudential value; but my argument is not grounded on the claim that autonomy is a necessary part of well‐being. I argue, rather, that it stands to reason—and that liberals and traditionalists alike have reason to accept—that autonomous assent to a conception of the good life is an intrinsically prudentially better state of affairs than nonautonomous assent to the same. My goal in this essay, then, is to clarify the prudential significance of (and to provide a justification for) education for autonomy in a manner that will be appealing to liberals and traditionalists alike.     

COMPULSORY AUTONOMY-PROMOTING EDUCATION

Today, many liberal philosophers of education worry that certain kinds of education may frustrate the development of personal autonomy, with negative consequences for the individuals concerned, the liberal state, or both. Autonomy liberals hold not only that we should promote the development of autonomy in children, but also that this aim should be compulsory for all schools, private or public, religious or nonreligious. In this article, Anders Schinkel provides a systematic overview, categorization, and analysis of liberal arguments for compulsory autonomy-promoting education. He finds that none of these arguments can justify compulsory autonomy-promoting education, whether because they depend on empirical evidence that is not available, because they have as their basis an overly demanding concept of autonomy, or because they are intrinsically flawed in some way or another. Schinkel concludes with some suggestions as to what this means for the direction future research should take.     

RETHINKING EDUCATION FOR AUTONOMY IN PLURALISTIC SOCIETIES

If we are to posit, as do many liberal theorists, that autonomy is an educational goal that the state should endorse across cultural difference, key questions remain: What type of autonomy should we strive for, exactly, and how should this goal be achieved? Many liberal philosophers of education have argued that autonomy should enable cultural choice and that the development of autonomy requires students to be exposed to different beliefs and traditions. Shelley Burtt has challenged this dominant position, however, insisting that autonomy (properly understood) can be developed within a “comprehensive education” that does not seek to sympathetically expose students to cultural difference. In this essay, Bryan Warnick responds that Burtt's arguments are inconsistent and lack cultural imagination, and that her underlying concept of autonomy is inadequate, primarily because it lacks a compelling picture of cultural self‐criticism. There is a lack of appreciation, he argues, for how frameworks of cultural comparison are necessary in the development of this self‐criticism. At the same time, Warnick argues that there is much to be learned from Burtt's analysis about the tough choices that need to be made as liberals seek to champion autonomy as an educational end across cultural difference.     

Higher Education (Including Nonformal Higher Education)

The following section is devoted to financial reform in higher education. As mentioned earlier, the reform in higher education in the 1985 decision was mainly one of decentralization, granting universities more autonomy in their administration and finance. The two aspects, which should have gone hand in hand, did not see parallel developments. The general shortage of funding (apart from the very necessary recurrent expenditures such as salaries) made administrative autonomy almost a burden. The autonomy was further hampered by the political incident in 1989 when the experiment of the "President Accountability System," as symbolic of party-administration separation, practically came to a halt. The autonomy notion, however, did give rise to numerous innovations in resource mobilization that are similar to those in technical/vocational education, but on a much larger scale. By the mid-1980s, most higher education institutions in China virtually relied on all kinds of joint ventures and external services to cover their nonrecurrent costs and staff benefits. As readers will see, the documents in this section are mainly on the financial implications of all kinds of unprecedented funding mechanisms.     

The Reflective Practitioner and Teacher Education: an answer to critics

Abstract

This article is an attempt to answer some of the criticisms of the notion of reflective practice in teacher education. It is argued that in a democratic society personal autonomy is an important ideal of education, including teacher education, and that therefore the notion of reflective practice should have a central place. The relationship between autonomy and the reflective self is clarified with reference to different models of the self. In the light of this, the purpose of teacher education for autonomy is defined in terms of the nature of the committed as well as the reflective aspects of the self. The argument is further illustrated and elaborated by examining Schb'n's attempt to reintellec‐tualize professional practice through an analysis of the reflective practitioner as artist. In addition to facilitating self‐analysis and reflection, teacher education should raise awareness of the need to produce and reproduce the milieu of democratic reform. In conclusion, the role of the disciplines is reviewed as a resource for pursuing the goal of autonomy in teacher education.     

Exploring the relationship between institutional and professional autonomy: a comparative study between Portugal and Finland

By comparing two distinct settings–Portugal and Finland–and based on previous studies revealing similar trends in both countries, this article analyses the relationship between institutional and academic autonomy in the higher education sector. Based on crosschecking of the literature review and 47 interviews with key actors in both the Portuguese and Finnish higher education systems, the authors analyse the extent to which the political attempts to increase institutional autonomy are perceived by academics in these countries as leading to an increase in their professional autonomy. Data reveals that there is a lack of complete correspondence between the way different institutional dimensions have been changing at the organisational level and the way academics perceive the effects at the professional level. While there is a correspondence in the perceptions over organisational and interventional autonomy, no correspondence is found concerning policy autonomy in both countries. Furthermore, there are no homogeneous perceptions within academics group in each country concerning professional autonomy.     

INDOCTRINATION AND THE SPACE OF REASONS

Abstract The “paradox of indoctrination” has proven to be a persistent problem in discussions of the cultivation of autonomy through education. In short, if indoctrination means instilling beliefs without reasons, and if children lack the rational capacity to evaluate reasons, how can that capacity be cultivated without indoctrination? Some educational theorists have relied on a transcendental justification of rational autonomy that avoids indoctrination, while others have accepted that some indoctrination is inevitable, focusing instead on defending acceptable forms of indoctrination. In this essay, Chris Hanks draws on a conception of rationality, mind, and nature developed by John McDowell to suggest an alternative understanding of the relation between indoctrination and autonomy. He argues that McDowell’s notion of the “space of reasons” defuses standard debates about indoctrination. Here, rationality is understood in both a naturalistic sense, whereby the development of autonomy is the process of being awakened to the space of reasons, and in a sui generis sense, whereby reason cannot be reduced to mechanistic principles or relations. The implications of this view for education point us to the notion of Bildung as the process that cultivates rational autonomy.     

Education and the Free Will Problem: A Spinozist Contribution

In this Spinozist defence of the educational promotion of students’ autonomy I argue for a deterministic position where freedom of will is deemed unrealistic in the metaphysical sense, but important in the sense that it is an undeniable psychological fact. The paper is structured in three parts. The first part investigates the concept of autonomy from different philosophical points of view, looking especially at how education and autonomy intersect. The second part focuses on explicating the philosophical position of causal determinism and it seeks to open up a way to conceive of education for autonomy without relying on the notion of free will in a metaphysical sense. The concluding part attempts to outline a Spinozistic understanding of education for autonomy where autonomy is grounded in the student's acceptance and understanding of the necessary constraints of natural causation rather than processes of self‐causation.     

试论民族自治地方教育财政自治的基本内涵及教育财政投入体制的理论依据

财政自治与教育财政自治同属于我国民族自治地方依法享有的民族自治权利.由于我国多年来教育财政投入不足,致使民族自治地方的教育自治权难以得到根本保障.本文主要对财政自治与民族教育财政自治的基本内涵进行阐释,并对我国目前教育财政投入体制对民族教育和民族教育财政自治的影响做出分析.     

当前电大远程开放教育自主化学习程度的界定

现代远程教育是建立在自主化学习基础上的一种教育和学习形式。但结合电大的实际,其自主化程度值得商榷。是自主与面授结合制,还是主辅结合制,或是完全自主制,由结合制到主辅制到完全制的基本条件是什么,这是电大远程教育过程中必须认识的实际问题。明确这一认识对电大现代远程教育的发展具有一定的现实意义。     

陶行知提倡“学生自治“的当代价值

陶行知德育理论实质上是生活德育论 ,在管理上最突出的是提倡“学生自治”。本文以原始文本为依据 ,结合当代学校德育管理的实际 ,就什么是学生自治、为什么要提倡学生自治、怎样施行学生自治等问题进行分析论述 ,认为在当今继承陶行知这一思想遗产 ,实行学生自治不仅是必要的 ,而且是切实可行的 ,是富有成效的德育教化的重要途径。最后指出学校领导要将学生自治当作“学校里一件重要的事情”来抓 ,学校的德育工作必将出现新局面、上新台阶。     

高校自主办学与政府依法行政

本文从政府依法行政框架下高校法律地位的界定、高校自主办学的基本内涵、高校自主办学背景下政府依法行政的本质要求等三个维度对高校自主办学与政府依法行政进行了理论分析,提出理顺高校自主办学与政府依法行政关系的对策与建议.     

关于我国高校办学自主权问题的研究

高校办学自主权一直是高等教育学术界关注的重要问题之一.改革开放以来,虽然高校办学自主权不断扩大,但落实情况不佳.本文阐述了高校办学自主权的内涵和必要性,并对高校办学自主权落实的主要障碍进行了分析,同时提出了相应的对策建议,以期使高校办学自主权更好的落实,从而提升我国高校的综合水平.     

How do Higher Education Institutions Enhance their Financial Autonomy? Examples from Finnish Polytechnics

Numerous studies have addressed how state authorities and public funding bodies control, regulate, steer, supervise or oversee higher education institutions. There are fewer studies on how higher education institutions respond to the actions of the mentioned authorities. States have aimed at increasing the autonomy of higher education institutions. At the same time institutions are expected to generate social benefits and economic growth. There is an endless tension between a policy that will strengthen the autonomy and simultaneously retain a space for state steering. The Finnish polytechnic and university sectors have very different origins from which their financial autonomy takes its shape. This article sheds light on how six Finnish polytechnics aspire to enhance their financial autonomy. The polytechnics operate under two separate steering systems, the state and local owners, and both of these actors exercise their own steering. This article shows that polytechnics are willing and able to enhance their financial autonomy. They calculate their advantages and habitually engage with the Ministry of Education or their owners depending on the case in question. The financial autonomy of polytechnics does not culminate in a form of diversified funding sources, but as balancing between the two masters on whose resources they are heavily dependent.     

互联网技术的发展对成人教育的影响

互联网技术的发展为成人教育带来了巨大的变革。针对成人教育学习主体的特征,阐述了基于互联网技术的网络教学对成人教育学习主体在学习空间与时间、学习深度与广度以及学习的灵活性与自主性等方面的深刻影响。     

高校办学自主权变迁的实证再研究（一） ——高校办学自主权的内涵辨析及外部学术治理改革现状

已有研究文献表明,现有高校办学自主权的内核制度是院系自治。在当前全球化和国际化影响下,借鉴治理思维,我国高校正在破除“行政化”的本土情境,建立“管办评”分离机制,形成各利益主体可以相对平等地对话与协商的现代大学制度,这是构建我国高校治理结构、推动高校办学自主权落地的基本策略。通过文献分析和对高校办学自主权的内涵辨析后发现,我国现在的高校治理策略缺乏市场维和院系自治维,应该将其纳入新的高校治理结构;法律一维相对弱,也应作为独立的维度进行建构,即我国现代大学治理结构应该包括法律、国家规制与政府行政、社会中介评价、市场、校级管理和院系治理等六维度。从自主权内容上,高校办学自主权实质是高校应该拥有的一系列与学术活动相关的决策权,在结构上可以进一步分解为“提供什么”的战略决策自主权和“如何提供”的生产决策自主权。进一步的实证研究表明,我国呈现由政府全面控制着这些自主权逐步转向持续放权的改革趋势。目前,相对“提供什么”的战略决策,高校在“如何提供”的生产决策方面拥有较多的自主权,高校对学术事务的权力多于资源配置的权力,部属高校较地方高校拥有更多的自主权。