New directions in education? A critique of contemporary policy reforms

This paper draws on facets of Foucault's theoretical resources to critique current education policy reform from within the Australian State of Victoria, namely the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development's (DEECD) discussion paper New directions for school leadership and the teaching profession. Implicit in the reform effort is decentralization, including penalties for “underperforming” classroom teachers and “ineffective” teacher education courses. Principals will hold a pre-eminent rank in the reforms proposed as they are charged with their oversight and implementation, including intervening in the education and preparation of pre-service teachers.     

The changing pattern of higher education in England and Wales — The end of an era?

During the past twenty years great changes have taken place in British higher education. During the 1980s these changes have been even more noticeable, so that by the middle of the 1990s the pattern and the ethos of British higher education will be very different from that prevailing in the 1970s. Not only have there been structural changes but there have also been concerns about autonomy and freedom, accountability and appraisal in the face of government demands for improved management efficiency, restrictions on tenure and alternative forms of finance. This paper analyses these changes in universities, polytechnics and teacher education colleges and traces the growing intervention on the part of government. It also seeks to draw out implications for other education systems facing the same pressures. A glossary of abbreviations and acronyms appears on p. 301.

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Zusammenfassung Während der vergangenen zwanzig Jahre gab es in der britischen Hochschulbildung große Veränderungen. Im Laufe der 80er Jahre sind diese Veränderungen besonders deutlich geworden, und bis zur Mitte der 90er Jahre werden sich die Struktur und das Ethos der britischen Hochschulbildung von den in den 70er Jahren vorherrschenden stark unterscheiden. Es hat nicht nur strukturelle Veränderungen gegeben, sondern auch besorgte Überlegungen zu Fragen der Autonomie und Freiheit, Verantwortlichkeit und Beurteilung angesichts der Forderungen seitens der Regierung nach verbesserter Wirtschaftlichkeit der Verwaltung, Begrenzung der Amtszeiten und alternativen Finanzierungsformen. Im vorliegenden Artikel werden diese Veränderungen an Universitäten, Technischen Hochschulen und Pädagogischen Hochschulen analysiert, und es wird den zunehmenden Eingriffen durch die Regierung nachgegangen. Darüberhinaus wird versucht, Auswirkungen auf andere Bildungssysteme aufzuzeigen, die mit denselben Zwängen konfrontiert sind. Ein Glossar der Abkürzungen und Akronyme erscheint auf S. 301.

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Résumé Au cours des vingt dernières années, de grands changements sont intervenus dans l'enseignement supérieur en Grande Bretagne. Ces changements sont devenus encore plus sensibles durant les années 1980, si bien que, vers le milieu des années 1990, la structure et l'éthos de l'enseignement supérieur britannique seront très différents de ceux qui prévalaient dans les années 1970. Non seulement il y a eu des changements structuraux, mais on s'est également préoccupé d'autonomie et de liberté, de responsabilité et d'appréciation en dépit des exigences gouvernementales à l'égard d'une gestion plus efficace, d'une réduction de la période d'exercice des fonctions, et de nouvelles formes de financement. Le présent article analyse ces changements dans les universités, les collèges polytechniques et les écoles normales et décrit le rôle grandissant de l'Etat. Il s'efforce également d'en dégager les leçons pour d'autres systèmes éducatifs qui font face aux même pressions. Un glossaire d'abbréviations et d'acronymes apparaît à la page 301.

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Abbreviations and Acronyms CATE Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education - CHEs Colleges of Higher Education - CNAA Council for National Academic Awards - CVCP Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals - DES Department of Education and Science (equivalent to a Ministry of Education) - HMI Her Majesty's Inspectorate - HMSO Her Majesty's Stationery Office - INSET Inservice Education for Teachers - LEA Local Education Authority - NAB National Advisory Board for Public Sector Higher Education - PCFC Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council - PDEs Polytechnic Departments of Education - PGCE Postgraduate Certificate in Education - PICKUP Professional, Industrial and Commercial Updating Programme - PSHE Public Sector Higher Education (i.e., all higher education not under university control) - UCET Universities Council for the Education of Teachers - UDEs University Departments of Education - UFC Universities Funding Council - UGC University Grants Committee - WAB Welsh Advisory Board for Public Sector Higher Education - binary divide the separation between universities and polytechnics, etc. - White Paper a government document setting out official proposals prior to introducing legislation in parliament     

The end result of Education Reformation—education evaluation system

A Chinese famous thinker, scientist Qian Xuesen,proposed a thought-provoking question: why couldn't our schoolalways cultivate outstanding talents? This problem points out themisunderstanding of China's education, and the educators carryout plans and reformations again to solve the problem. However,no matter how education reform, we should go back to, that is,the evaluation system of education. Only a reasonable evaluationsystem can make education reformation play its real role.     

Shaping up? Three acts of education studies as textual critique

This paper presents a study of dominant educational discourses through textual critique and argues that such an approach enables education studies to preserve an important distinction from teacher training. The texts deconstructed here are specific to English education, but the discourses at work have international relevance as the rhetorics of accountability, performance and measurement (which we call cells of discourse) have global reach. Ward described a national picture in England whereby the great majority, if not all, of education studies undergraduate courses appear to be taught alongside, or within (through shared modules) teacher training programmes. But from a sociological position, these are two increasingly conflicting arenas—the study of education and the training of teachers. In response, Ward called for the subject to radicalize teacher education. The implications of this are significant if education studies is to retain a status as agent of critique. In this paper we return to the theme of education studies as a discrete practice from teacher training and suggest that any acceptance of a proximal relation to teacher education is counter‐productive. In so doing we offer three contemporary examples of the subject at deconstructive work, scrutinizing the published standards for teacher training in England, employer discourse and the Tomlinson report (commissioned by the English government to offer proposals for the reworking of vocational education) and the new curriculum for adult literacy in England. Particular attention is given to analysing the ways in which such texts speak the currently powerful discourse of standards.     

A roadblock to social justice? An analysis and critique of the South African education Roadmap

The article provides an analysis and critique of contemporary debates concerning the quality of education in South Africa from a social justice perspective. In particular the article focuses on the Education Roadmap which has gained support from a range of stakeholders in South Africa including key members of the newly elected government. The Education Roadmap is considered in relation to dominant approaches to understanding education quality within the education literature, namely the human capital and human rights based approaches. It is argued that the Roadmap shares characteristics of both approaches although it is particularly influenced by the former. The article sets out an alternative approach based on social justice principle that, whilst developing and extending aspects of dominant approaches, is considered pertinent because it articulates with historical struggles around education in South Africa. It is suggested that although the Roadmap demonstrates limited characteristics of a social justice approach, it falls short in other key aspects and it is these aspects that must form the basis for ongoing struggles for a more equitable education system.     

A critique of neo-Hahnian outdoor education theory. Part two: “The fundamental attribution error” in contemporary outdoor education discourse

Abstract

In the first of a two part series of articles I argued that “character building” in outdoor adventure education (OAE) is a flawed concept. This, the second article, examines the persistence of the idea of character building in OAE in the face of strong evidence that outdoor experiences cannot change personal traits. I examine how the “fundamental attribution error” can explain the paradox of (a) a shortage of evidence that adventure education “works” and (b) a widespread belief that it does “work”. I review the place of character building in research, and develop a critical reading of a representative adventure education text. I show how unchallenged dispositionist assumptions emerge in neo-Hahnian discourse. I explain how discarding the intuitively appealing but fallacious foundations of neo-Hahnism can clear the way for situationist approaches to outdoor education that bring much needed sensitivity to cultural, regional, historical, and social contexts.     

Teacher education futures: compliance,critique, or compromise? A UK perspective

The construct of the ‘good teacher’ has teacher knowledge as a fundamental component; but teacher knowledge is contested. Policy makers offer one version, articulated through such documents as Teachers’ Standards. However, it might be argued that this version of teacher knowledge, largely defined by national curriculum and assessment demands, does not constitute the whole of what teacher knowledge might encompass. Using a card sort research approach, this article explores what teachers say about teacher knowledge, and the implications this might have for the future of teacher education. How might the development of ‘good teachers’ be impacted in the light of these findings?     

The end of the credential society? An analysis of the relationship between education and the labour market using big data

ABSTRACT

A major focus of sociological research is on the role of the credential as a ‘currency of opportunity’, mediating the relationship between education and occupational destinations. However, the labour market has largely remained a ‘black box’ in sociological and education policy studies. This article draws on ‘big data’ from over 21,000,000 job adverts to explore how employers in the UK describe job requirements, with particular reference to the role of credentials. It challenges existing theories premised upon the notion that higher levels of formal education determine individual (dis)advantage in the competition for jobs. Although they have different views of the relationship between credentials, opportunity and efficiency, these theories assume that credentials largely determine occupational hiring. Our analysis suggests that formal academic credentials play a relatively minor differentiating role in the UK labour market, as the majority of employer’s place greater emphasis on ‘job readiness’. This raises a number of issues for sociological and policy analysis, including the future role of credentials in the (re)production of educational and labour market inequalities. Methodologically, the article highlights how the use of big data can contribute to the analysis of education, skills and the labour market.     

Transforming supervisors? A critique of post-liberal approaches to research supervision

Preparation for research supervision has assumed greater importance in academic departments of universities with the increase in the number and diversity of both research candidates and supervisors and the financial incentives for on-time completions. Over the past decade a body of literature by both academics and academic developers has emerged and more recently post-liberal theories and frameworks (feminism, postmodernism and post-colonialism) have been used to problematise the field of postgraduate supervision. Central to the feminist and post-colonial critiques is the belief that supervisors are best equipped for their roles by a process of personal self-transformation which allows them to achieve an appropriate balance between emotional and rational elements in their supervisory practice. We wish to set critical and post-modern approaches in historical perspective. We seek to show that feminist and post-colonial approaches are heir to a form of critique, which was founded upon the assumption that certain institutions and practices of modern society are dehumanising because they fragment human beings’ essential unity. We argue that engaging supervisors in a process of self-transformation reinforces the idea that successful supervision is a function of the supervisor's recovery of a fully integrated and higher self.     

The end of methodology?Reflections on the notion of progress in TESOL

We might be forgiven for wondering from time to time whether it is possible to discover either the perfect language teaching method or, more modestly, a "best method for now". In this paper, I argae that the research style of our profession is not single solution oriented and that developments in methodol-     

A basic education programme in Africa: The people's own?

This paper examines the issue of community ownership with reference to an adult literacy and basic education programme in NW Zaire. After a discussion of community ownership, stressing the need for local control and relevance to local needs, it outlines the context and development of the programme in NW Zaïre and considers the degree to which ownership is manifested in the design of technical aspects of the programme and its structures. Finally it identifies some key issues for continued progress, particularly the shape of partnerships between external agencies and strengthened local structures.     

The history of education in non‐education periodicals, 1939–1967: A bibliography

Abstract

Children with special educational needs form a substantial minority of the school population. The mechanisms and associated resources in the 1981 Education Act were oriented towards children with statements of special educational needs and neglected children with special needs but without statements. This paper examines the recent shift in policy emphasis away from the former, and towards the latter, group. The precursors to this position, notably the unmanageable rise (for LEAs) in numbers of children with statements and the broadening of the basis on which children were given statements, are examined. Both the 1994 Code of Practice concerning children with special needs and the proposed changes to the National Curriculum can be seen in part as, by redefining non statemented special needs provision, mechanisms to tackle the inexorable increase in statements. Four major repercussions of this shift are discussed. Finally some longer term implications are examined.     

Revolution or backlash? The mediatisation of education policy in Australia

Recent scholarship has identified the emergence of a new modality of policy work: the mediatisation of policy. This paper provides an Australian case study which reports on the tactics of an Australian Federal Minister of Education and a media commentator who both engaged in public pedagogical work for the purpose of spinning education policy. In particular, we argue that this example of the mediatisation of education policy has worked to stifle pedagogical innovation as advocates of middle schooling reform struggle against what appears to be a backlash to the social-democratic reforms of the post-World War II era. Such backlash politics is understood in terms of a struggle to maintain the role of teachers as curriculum designers and not be merely technicians; to sustain critically reflective learning communities of colleagues and friends; and not succumb to pedagogies of resentment that are driven by a logic of deficit views of students and their communities.     

The self‐regulated learning aspect of metacognition: A component of gifted education

As interest increases in the connection between metacognition and gifted, a shift in the definition of giftedness from person to performance variables allows an even closer link to skills of self‐regulatory metacognition such as defining, focusing, persisting, guiding, coping, correcting, reinforcing, and solving. Researchers recommend explicit instructional models that teach specific strategies for disciplined, reflective problem solving while stressing accuracy and persistent concentration. This article provides such a detailed account of a classroom‐tested early childhood pedagogy for gifted learners, especially the underachieving gifted. Teacher and peer modeling of think‐aloud, behavioral demonstration, and cueing of five steps to efficient task accomplishment are outlined with examples. Benefits of productive self‐regulated learning strategies during task periormances are reported from teachers, parents, and students.     

A critique of neo-Hahnian outdoor education theory. Part one: Challenges to the concept of “character building”

Abstract

Within the diverse and sometimes amorphous outdoor education literature, “neo-Hahnian” (NH) approaches to adventure education are exceptional for their persistence, seeming coherence, and wide acceptance. NH approaches assume that adventure experiences “build character”, or, in modern terminology, “develop persons”, “actualise selves”, or have certain therapeutic effects associated with personal traits. In social psychological terms NH thought is “dispositional”, in that it favours explanations of behaviour in terms of consistent personal traits. In this paper I critically review NH OAE in an historical context, and draw on Ross' and Nisbett's (1991) seminal review of dispositional social psychology to argue that OAE programs do not build character, but may provide situations that elicit certain behaviours. For OAE research and theory, belief in the possibility of “character building” must be seen as a source of bias, not as a foundation. The conceptual analysis I develop provides not only a basis for critique, but also offers a way forward for OAE.     

A critique of the expectancy formula approach: Beating a dead horse?

The expectancy and severe discrepancy formulas, like those originally considered by the US. Office of Education (1976), provide the oldest but least defensible method of quantifying academic discrepancy. A logical and mathematical analysis reveals that all variations of this approach have several major weaknesses. First, the expectancy formulas themselves are predicated upon the very questionable assumption that achievement follows a straight line growth pattern, which raises questions about the accuracy of the resulting severe discrepancy values. Second, when discrepancy values are obtained by multiplying the expected values by a fractional constant, the approach is necessarily biased in the direction of applying a more stringent underachievement criterion for older and brighter children. Third, the formulas employ a grade equivalent scale that results in inconsistencies, one being that fewer arithmetic problems are identified. Finally, the expectancy approach does not consider errors in measurement or regression effects, and consequently produces serious identification errors. A variation of the expectancy approach involving a discrepancy ratio between obtained and expected achievement has the previously mentioned limitations, except the bias, and it produces scores that cannot be easily interpreted.