Transnational accreditation for public schools: IB,PISA and other public–private partnerships

ABSTRACT

This article examines a particular type of public–private partnership (PPP) that is rarely studied in comparative educational policy studies: one in which a government funds privately run international schools. The aim of this PPP is to enrich and thereby improve the regular curriculum or to the quality of education in public schools. As the exponential growth of International Baccalaureate (IB) illustrates, such forms of PPP have increased significantly over the past few years. The authors show that transnational accreditation holds a special appeal for the middle class that is committed to cosmopolitanism, international mobility, and global citizenship. However, international standards schools such as IB are not alone with advancing a transnational accreditation of their educational programmes. Symbolically, Programme in International Student Assessment also provides a transnational accreditation, albeit not on individual education programmes but rather on entire educational systems. The article examines the reasons for the popularity of this type of PPP, analyses the interaction between the private and public education sectors, and investigates how governments explain, and what they expect from, the close cooperation with private education providers.     

School Management Teams’ Instructional Leadership Role in Closing the Achievement Gap in Impoverished Schools

Abstract

Although the South African government has made numerous strides in addressing equity and social justice in education, significant inequalities still exist in learner performance, especially in many impoverished schools. One of the reasons cited for poor learner achievement is the ineffective leadership role of school management teams (SMTs). This article reports on a study that explored the instructional leadership role of SMTs of public schools with the view to closing the achievement gap in poor performing schools. To gain better insights into the SMTs’ realities and experiences of their work as curriculum leaders, qualitative research located within the interpretivist paradigm was undertaken. The findings revealed that SMTs of impoverished schools exhibit consistently low to moderate instructional leadership competencies which ultimately affect student learning. In order to close the achievement gap in poor performing schools, SMTs should play a more pronounced instructional leadership role by leading and managing core curriculum matters and educational resources effectively and efficiently.     

Some sources for the history of teacher‐training in England and Wales

Abstract:

Though his best‐selling novel of school life Eric, or, Little by Little: A Tale of Roslyn School has over the years been the subject of much attention, the wider educational thought and practice of Frederic William Farrar, teacher, novelist, scientist, classicist, theologian, and Dean of Canterbury, has for the most part been neglected by scholars. This paper discusses certain aspects of Farrar the educationist, including his distinctive evangelical attitude toward children; his fervent criticism of the prevailing Classical public school curriculum; his advocacy that much more science be taught; his strong antipathy to corporal and other punishment; his distaste for the increasing athleticism in the public schools; his view of the main purpose of education, namely the inculcation of morality, religious conviction, and intellectual rigor.     

Curriculum policy reform in an era of technical accountability: ‘fixing’ curriculum,teachers and students in English schools

Abstract

Drawing on a Levinasian ethical perspective, the argument driving this paper is that the technical accountability movement currently dominating the educational system in England is less than adequate because it overlooks educators’ responsibility for ethical relations in responding to difference in respect of the other. Curriculum policy makes a significant contribution to the technical accountability culture through complicity in performativity, high-stakes testing and datafication, at the same time as constituting student and teacher subjectivities. I present two different conceptualizations of subjectivity and education, before engaging these in the analysis of data arising from an empirical study which investigated teachers’ and stakeholders’ experiences of curriculum policy reform in ‘disadvantaged’ English schools. The study’s findings demonstrate how a prescribed programme of technical curriculum regulation attempts to ‘fix’ or mend educational problems by ‘fixing’ or prescribing educational solutions. This not only denies ethical professional relations between students, teachers and parents, but also deflects responsibility for educational success from government to teachers and hastens the move from public to private educational provision. Complying with prescribed curriculum policy requirements shifts attention from broad philosophical and ethical questions about educational purpose as well as conferring a violence by assuming control over student and teacher subjectivities.     

Dynamic and shared sense-making in large-scale curriculum reform in school districts

ABSTRACT

Shared sense-making is suggested to be key for curriculum reform. Shared sense-making entails constructing a collective understanding of the meaning for reform, its significance and its implications for schools, through dialogue and negotiation across the levels of the educational system. This study explored changes in hands-on strategies of shared sense-making, and ways of orchestrating curriculum reform work in the districts in Finland, following the introduction of new national curriculum policy. Longitudinal focus group interview data collected from curriculum coordinating groups during the reform work was utilised. The data were qualitatively content analysed. The two sets of shared sense-making strategies were identified in this study, including those strategies utilised by the groups in building their understanding of what the reform is all about, and those concerning the reform orchestration. The strategies employed evolved from simple to more complex, during the progression of curriculum work. Results also showed that the coordinating groups were well aware of their high autonomy and resulting responsibility in orchestrating the district-level curriculum work. However, the advance in shared sense-making strategies employed by the groups indicated that they were highly committed to constructing collective understanding about the reform, its significance and implications for schools through dialogue and negotiation with practitioners.     

Challenging the Dichotomy Between “Urban” and “Suburban” in Educational Discourse and Policy

Abstract

This article builds a case for nuanced conceptualizations of “urban” and “-suburban” educational contexts and issues. The author analyzes data across two studies—one of upper-middle-class White parents with children in Chicago public schools, and the other of Black low-income and working-class parents who moved from Chicago to a Wisconsin suburb. The findings suggest that monolithic framings of urban and suburban educational issues and populations can mask patterns of inequality within and across particular locales.     

The urban and the natural in education reform: the development of Hamburg Schullandheime (rural school hostels) in the 1920s

ABSTRACT

The desire to be close to nature and live in tune with it grew as industrialisation, urbanisation and the impact of technology became increasingly ubiquitous at the turn of the twentieth century. Throughout Europe, model schools were established in rural environments. These private reform schools could not solve the problems of public urban schools. Founded on the initiative of teachers and parents, the Schullandheim (rural school hostel) emerged as a new form bringing urban education and schooling close to nature after the First World War in Germany. Even if related pedagogic activities developed at that time in other countries there is no evidence for comparable institutions. Besides tracing the development of Schullandheime, the article shows how the school hostel idea was embedded in the contemporary educational discussion about the influence large cities had on youth and explores the educational and cultural differences within the school hostel movement through the use of visual material.     

Does Russia need sex education? The views of stakeholders in three Russian regions

Objective To investigate the attitudes of the main stakeholders towards the introduction of sex education in schools in Russia.

Design Qualitative semi-structured interview study.

Setting Altai Krai, Volgograd Oblast, Moscow, Russian Federation.

Participants One hundred and fifty-three interviews with Intersectoral HIV/AIDS Committee members, government officials responsible for HIV policies and interventions, non-governmental organisation and private-sector representatives.

Main outcome measures Perception of and attitudes towards the introduction of sex education in schools.

Results Ninety-one per cent of stakeholders welcomed the introduction of sex education in schools and emphasised its importance for a child's personal development, public health, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS control, and pregnancy planning. The majority of respondents suggested providing different information for each age and grade. Despite the claimed support of interviewed policy-makers and main HIV stakeholders, there has been no action to introduce sex education. The majority of respondents were of the view that wider positive support through propaganda about health, sex and healthy lifestyle should be gained prior to introducing sex education in schools by addressing the stigma surrounding sexual issues.

Conclusions There was little opposition to the introduction of sex education in Russian schools expressed in our survey, but there are uncertainties regarding curriculum quality, teaching methods and the starting grade of teaching about sex, and there is a need to cover local sensitivities in the territories. These concerns could and should be addressed during curriculum design, development and programme implementation by the federal and local authorities. Wider involvement of educational specialists, peer-adults, health workers, celebrities and religious representatives in discussion of the curriculum could help prevent opposition to its implementation.

Contribution to knowledge Discussion of sex-related topics has been taboo in Russia and there has been little research into opinions on issues related to sex education. The contribution of this research is in gaining theoretical in-depth understanding of the attitudes of the interviewed stakeholders in Russia about the introduction of sex education in schools.     

Understanding integrated curriculum

Abstract

Integrated curriculum is currently being advocated in the United States to ‘solve’ many of the curriculum problems confronting education. Models of curriculum integration permeate the professional literature, yet there is little consensus as to exactly what is meant by integrated curriculum and how to establish such curricula in the publicly funded schools. The language of curriculum integration is confusing and leads to uncertainty and concern about the potential of integrated curriculum to impact positively on schools. Placing the models on a curriculum continuum will reveal that they range from traditional discipline‐based, objective‐driven, teacher‐controlled models to interest‐based, student exploration. Although historically research supports integrative curriculum, there is a paucity of current research which would support arguments for restructuring the American curriculum in this fashion. Additionally, there is a great deal of resistance to change both from within and outside the educational community to massive curriculum restructuring.     

Work‐experience and schools: factors influencing the participation of industry

The growth of work‐experience as part of the school curriculum in such schemes as TVEI, has led to a growing body of literature concerned with the educational, social and political consequences of this trend. However, one aspect of analysis has been neglected by those working in this area. There has been a marked lack of investigation into factors which affect the supply of work placements to schools. Behind this lies an assumption that the participation of industry with schools is a straightforward and easy to accomplish process.

By focusing on some of the approaches exhibited by firms towards the provison of work‐experience, this paper seeks to make problematic the supply of work placements by industry in a market economy. I shall suggest that eductionalists and policy makers may have cause to be concerned not only with the quantity of placements which might be available to them in the future, but with the educational quality of these placements.     

A history of the right: The battle for control of national curriculum history 1989–1994

Abstract

This paper explores the manner in which educational and political conservatives attempted to control the content and purposes of the history curriculum in English schools during the period 1987–1994. It focuses upon this particular coalition because, since the late 1970s, it has set the agenda for the debate and dominated the race to produce a history curriculum designed to help produce a particular kind of society. The paper argues that the New Right's claim to be engaging in an educational debate is spurious. Rather, its concern is primarily ideological and only educational in terms of its use of history education as a vehicle through which to disseminate a specific set of values and beliefs.     

The Flunk Heard Round the World

In April 1998, the state of Massachusetts implemented its first-ever high-stakes teacher test, requiring a pass of all those who sought a teaching license. Fifty-nine percent of teacher candidates failed, and their flunk was heard in newspaper and television stories around the world. This article presents brief highlights from a study of the impact of the Massachusetts test on teacher education at five higher education sites in the state. Contrary to expectations based on research about the impact of high stakes tests in K-12 schools, the study indicated that the teacher test had little impact on teacher education curriculum or program structures. Drawing on a market-policy lens, the article suggests that, instead, one of the major impacts of the test was its contribution to the grand narrative about teaching and teacher education as culprits in what is wrong with public schools and public education, which in turn supports a larger political agenda for privatization and a market approach to educational reform.     

Changes in the Field of Education — Challenges for Public Service Broadcasters

Abstract

The article describes the commercial pressures faced by public service educational television and the results of poor public sector funding for core educational establishments. New commercial partnerships between the Private and Public sectors may well be developing and encouraging the use of new technologies in schools, but will the final cost be the end of ‘free educational television’ and the eventual end of public service television as we now know it?     

The impact of the National Curriculum on twelve special schools in England

Abstract

The National Curriculum represents one of the most significant UK educational reforms of this century. However, it was planned and introduced with little reference to pupils with special needs, particularly those attending special schools or units. Alongside pragmatic responses to the implementation of the National Curriculum in special education, there has been a lively and continuing debate about its appropriateness, in principle, for pupils in special schools. This paper reports data derived from interviews with headteachers of twelve special schools (encompassing three distinct special needs groups). Continuities of view, notably an acceptance of the principle of a national curriculum for all pupils, are discussed. Divergent Views reflected an adherence to equality or individuality as underlying educational principles. The findings are placed in two contexts: first, the process of curriculum change, and second, the links between integration and curricular conformity as reflected in some European special education literature.     

HELIOS Education Gold Award Winner

ABSTRACT

This paper describes a collaborative project between the staff of twelve mainstream schools and Suffolk Local Education Authority staff which has aimed to develop differentiated teaching strategies. The project has developed teaching and assessment techniques for pupils with literacy difficulties and approaches to delivering aspects of the whole curriculum to pupils with special educational needs. The project recognizes the central importance of mainstream teachers if integration for pupils with special educational needs is to be a truly meaningful educational experience.     

The relation of National Certificate Courses to city and guilds courses in building subjects

Abstract

This article sets out to evaluate the quality of educational provision offered in vocational secondary schools in Malta. The economic and political context which saw the setting up of trade schools in the early 1970s is described, and an account of the educational goals for these new schools, intended to rekindle the motivation for learning in low and non‐achieving students, is offered. The article then explores the extent to which these goals were achieved, particularly through the examination of three related areas, namely the form (the status of trade schools as separate educational institutions), the content (the curriculum) and the process (classroom processes and instructional methods) evinced in these schools. The article concludes by arguing that the failure of trade schools to provide a worthwhile educational experience has to be located in the relationship between mental and manual work in the wider social order, and that the problems identified in this article could be endemic to vocational schooling at the secondary school level and are therefore not necessarily context‐bound.     

Collaboration for Inclusion: Practitioner Perspectives

Collaboration as a cornerstone of effective school inclusion is an idea that has high theoretical currency among many scholars in the areas of special education and educational leadership. The challenge for educational practitioners is to find ways to implement high-quality special education programs collaboratively amid the public call for school efficiency and accountability. Accordingly, the primary purpose of the qualitative research project reported in this article was to examine inherent challenges in the implementation of school inclusion programs in ten public schools in North Louisiana over a three-year period. Data collection methods included participatory observation, semi-structured interviews with nine teachers and three principals in four schools, two focus groups, and a document search. The findings revealed the critical and challenging role of the principal for establishing collaborative cultures for successful school inclusion. Additionally, special education teachers and general education teachers experienced intrapersonal and interpersonal value conflicts in the pursuit of educational equity amidst a climate of school accountability.     

RESPONSE: “SLEEPER TRANSITIONS” AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Abstract

In this article the authors present the results of their research of cooperation schools in the Netherlands. These schools are an exception in the dual educational system because they originate from a merger of a religiously neutral public school and a religious school. The data, provided by school principals, show key values of the cooperation schools. These values are compared to characteristics of public education. The authors also focus on the organization of religious education. This study is a first step in a broader research of Dutch experiments concerning the merging of different religious school identities.     

Conservative and liberal challenges to progressivist curricula in Scandinavia

ABSTRACT

The post‐war period in the Scandinavian countries has been characterized by successive school reforms administered by social democratic governments following a moderate form of progressivism. A central idea is of equality and of an equal right to quality education. The public schools dominate and the management is top‐down. For a long period of time there have been central national curricula. In recent years the System of public schools has been questioned, as has the ideological basis of the curriculum. Proponents of a new liberal ideology demand more private schools, decentralization and efficiency. New conservative ideas at the same time argue for the restoration of basic forms of knowledge, competition and moral qualities to be mirrored in the new national curricula.