The chronological development of parent empowerment in children’s education in Hong Kong

The decentralization of the power of school governance is one of the recent trends of educational development in a global society in which the notion of parents as stakeholders and partners of state education is being gradually recognized, albeit at different paces, in several Asian countries. This paper attempts to analyze the chronological development of parent empowerment in Hong Kong. By examining the education policy documents of Hong Kong in the last three decades and looking into related debates in education reforms, the author conceptualizes five phases of development of parent empowerment which include (1) the period of absolute quiescence and acquiescence; (2) the period of wakefulness of parents’ rights and responsibilities, (3) the period of enhancing communication; (4) the period of accountability; and (5) the period of parents as partners.     

New guiding principles in educational policy: the case of Germany

Pluralism, decentralization, deregulation, school autonomy, greater diversity and parent empowerment in education are among the new guiding principles in educational policy in numerous industrial countries. Whereas this paradigm shift reflects the advance of the market ideology into the education sector in other (particularly English‐speaking) countries, the driving force behind this movement in Germany is rather the political system's loss of legitimation and the conflict‐ridden state of educational policy. The first part of the article takes a retrospective view which links up to the analyses of Weiler. It shows that the former strategies for securing legitimation and regulating conflicts ‐ involving science in the educational reform process, legalization and judicialization ‐ have only been effective temporarily. Using the new Education Act of Hesse as example, the hypothesis is developed that the strategy of increasing parent empowerment and partially transferring regulatory powers and decision‐making competence to individual schools will also not bring about the expected effects since this will not solve the structural problems of the German school system. In the second part of the article this thesis is elaborated within the framework of a differentiated analysis of the consequences of the structural problems as manifested in individual school types on local educational markets.     

Do communities know best?: Testing a premise of educational decentralization: community members' perceptions of their local schools in Ghana

A central premise of the argument for greater decentralization of education in the developing world is that those closest to the school, e.g., community members, have a better understanding of local conditions and are in the best position to make decisions about the educational processes that best serve local needs. This study tested that premise by examining the extent that community members in rural Ghana demonstrated a clear understanding of (a) what school practices were indicative of an effective school and (b) what community members could do to most effectively support their local schools. Results were interpreted with respect to attitude theory, decentralization, and program evaluation. Implications of the findings for the decentralization movement, the professional development of headmasters, and the work of international development organizations are discussed.     

Spending Wisely: The Role of Cost and Value Research in the Pursuit of Advancing Anatomical Sciences Education

Studies of “cost and value” in anatomical sciences education examine not only what works, but at what cost, thus evaluating the inputs and outputs of education. This research provides insights into how to use available resources (e.g., academic time, budgets, infrastructure) as a mechanism to obtaining the maximum outcomes available. The purpose of this viewpoint article is to expand on the application of cost and value concepts to anatomical sciences education, contextualizing these concepts through a deeper dive into the more costly educational approaches of human donor dissection. In doing so, both questions and opportunities are raised for the discipline of anatomical sciences going forward. Educational decisions, inclusive of cost and value appraisals, consider the range of outcomes for which the activity is designed to achieve, and the activity's integration with the philosophy of the educational program it is contributing to; these decisions, thus, evaluate more than just cost alone. Healthcare students' engagement with human donor dissection pedagogy offers an array of reported non-economic benefits, including non-traditional discipline-independent skill (NDIS) development (e.g., professionalism, teamwork skills). These skills are often harder to measure, but are no less important to the final pedagogical decision-making process. The goal of cost and value research is to create an evidence-base toward education that delivers maximum value for a given spend. Anatomy educators, researchers, and decision makers who embrace cost and value dialogue, and interpret and apply findings from studies of educational costs, are best positioned to improve the educational value for their learners and provide effective outputs for all stakeholders.     

Teacher Empowerment: A Key to Restructuring

Despite a wealth of research pointing to the benefits of empowerment, teachers still remain encapsulated in their classrooms (Rice 1987). They have been unable to take their place as first-class citizens within the education profession. It is encouraging to note the various programs and plans that are being tried across the country. It is also encouraging to read so much in the literature about teacher empowerment, school-centered decision making, and the restructuring of schools. Empowerment, it is to be hoped, will not be looked on as merely “another fad.”

It is crucial that programs supporting teacher empowerment expand and that the “reform states” reduce the restrictions placed on teacher autonomy. If legislators continue to insist on making the crucial educational decisions, then they ought to accept the fact that schools are unlikely to improve.     

Decentralization of First Nations Education in Canada: Perspectives on Ideals and Realities of Indian Control of Indian Education

Fuelled by the concept of self-determination, efforts to improve schooling under the banner of decentralization are taking hold in First Nations communities throughout Canada. Proponents of decentralization hold the perception that decentralized systems are more likely to improve education than centralized systems. But is there a chance that local control can improve First Nations education? From the point of view of the realization of the decentralization values, the outcome is uncertain at best and gloomy at worst. To the extent that First Nations are alert to the emerging educational needs and problems and strong enough to mobilize First Nations resources on their behalf, we may entertain a cautious optimism on the resolution of some of the manifold contradictions of decentralization. I contend that unless there is a genuine devolution that entails the empowerment of First Nations communities to provide an education that is specifically suited to each community, schools for Aboriginal children will remain mediocre in quality. If decentralization is to sustain its momentum and advance productively in coming years, at least it should meet three conditions. First, certain constraints or contradictions internal to decentralization will have to be resolved. Second, Aboriginal scholars and First Nations school authorities need to employ appropriate change strategies by providing a framework for local control, and finally, First Nations communities and federal authorities need to find the key symbolic and structural characteristics of decentralizing First Nations schools.     

家长干预学校教育行为的现象分析——一种嵌入的视角

从理论上看,教师是受过专业训练的教育工作者,拥有教育的权威。然而,近年来家长直接或间接干预学校教育行为的现象愈加普遍,家长干预甚至成为学校教育改革推进过程中一个重要的阻力源。从新经济社会学的嵌入性理论看来,家长的诉求和干预是社会关系、社会结构等嵌入其中后的必然体现。学校教育者的行为,必须顾及作为学校利益相关者家长的诉求,其教育决策其实便是一个诸多利益平衡和理性选择的过程。     

Empowerment or impediment? School governance in the school-based management era in Hong Kong

Following the international trend in education towards democracy and decentralization, the Hong Kong government introduced a school-based management (SBM) system about two decades ago. It is widely recognized in the literature that decentralization, empowering school level management and marginalizing the influence of the intermediate level of governance, can result in better deployment of school resources and better meet the demands of various stakeholders. However, in the unique historical and cultural context of Hong Kong, the advantages of decentralization claimed in the literature have yet to be fully realized. This paper discusses the contextual factors affecting the implementation of SBM in Hong Kong, and examines their impact on four major stakeholders, namely the government, the principals, the teachers, and the parents in the wake of reform.     

Educational expansion in Ghana: Economic assumptions and expectations

The neo-classical ‘human capital theory’ continues to be invoked as part of the rationale for educational expansion in the developing world. While the theory provides a route from educational inputs to economic outputs in terms of increased incomes and standards of living, the route is contingent and relies upon a number of key assumptions. This study examines these assumptions alongside student expectations of their educations in the context of Ghana using data collected from a survey conducted at higher education institution and from the Ghana Statistical Service's ongoing living standards surveys. Data indicate that students have high economic expectations but that trends in wages and employment are leading to ‘wage compression’ which may ultimately make expectations difficult to fulfill. The relatively low private costs of education, particularly higher education, may mean, however, that educational investment remains very much a ‘rational’ choice in economic terms. However, the study finds that key assumptions of successful human capital investment went largely unsatisfied in Ghana.     

School to work transitions in Europe: choice and constraints

Starting from the assumption that school to work transitions constitute not only the end goal but also an integral part of educational trajectories, this article reconstructs the narratives of the decision-making processes of young people at the end of lower secondary education, namely the ways in which decision-making is referred to, the temporal horizons in which transitional decisions are embedded, the criteria of decision-making, the actors they mentioned and obviously also the relationship between structural constraints and individual choice, both in explicit references and emerging from interpretative analysis. A special analysis considers the decision-making of disadvantaged youth and the way in which it evolves differently in five European countries, focussing on the questions of whether and to what extent school succeeds in combating social inequality.     

教育管理决策的适应思维范式

科学认识和价值认识发展轨迹的融合产生了当代教育管理决策的适应思维范式。在这种思维范式下 ,我们应该主动把握教育决策事件发展的统计因果关系 ;充分考虑到教育决策事件的经济价值、社会政治价值、科学价值、审美价值。在决策主体、决策方法和决策对象上应把握适度分权、非线性和自主性等全新特征。惟有如此 ,才能适应当前教育环境和教育教学改革需要     

An empirical study of the effects of decentralization in Indonesian junior secondary education

Decentralization in the education system has become a trend in many developing countries. However, it is not a solution to the many problems in education faced by these countries. One of the adverse effects of decentralization is disparity between regions or schools in terms of educational achievement. This paper offers a justification for such a view by studying the case of the Indonesian education system. Data was collected from about 5,000 Sekolah Lanjutan Tingkat Pertama (SLTP) schools (junior secondary schools). The method of covariance structure analysis was used to identify the influences and effects of factors related to educational environment upon educational outcome, and to make a comparison between before and after the introduction of decentralization in Indonesia. The main finding of this research is that increase in the school budget improves the quality of the educational environment and leads to higher test scores and lower dropout rates. Such positive results, however, turned out to be less significant, and the relationship between factors became weaker, during the period after decentralization had started. This was particularly the case for the group of schools whose budget level was relatively small. Therefore, there is a need to consider measures aimed at correcting the disparity between schools as well as regions.     

教育控制:集权与分权问题及其张力

教育系统的不同成分可以通过不同方式进行管理和控制,难以简单化地将教育系统称为集权型或分权型。大多数教育系统是动态的,在集权与分权之间不断寻求平衡。探讨不同背景下教育集权与分权的含义、动力、模式和度量,并就关涉效率与社会公平的实例特别是中等教育毕业考试、中小学教材管理和大学管理问题进行分析表明,尽管教育集权与分权通常用技术标准加以证明,但政治因素常常是最重要的。不同的教育管理模式各有其优点和缺点,要找到一个适合所有国家的模式是不可能的。     

When artificial intelligence meets educational leaders’ data-informed decision-making: A cautionary tale

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to a type of algorithms or computerized systems that resemble human mental processes of decision making. Drawing upon multidisciplinary literature that intersects AI, decision making, educational leadership, and policymaking, this position paper aims to examine promising applications and potential perils of AI in educational leaders’ data-informed decision making (DIDM). Endowed with ever-growing computational power and real-time data, highly scalable AI can increase efficiency and accuracy in leaders’ DIDM. However, misusing AI can have perilous effects on education stakeholders. Many lurking biases in current AI could be amplified. Of more concern, the moral values (e.g., fairness, equity, honesty, and doing no harm) we uphold might clash with using AI to make data-informed decisions. Further, missteps on the issues about data security and privacy could have a life-long impact on stakeholders. The article concludes with recommendations for educational leaders to leverage AI potential and minimize its negative consequences.     

Policy and Practice of the Decentralization of Basic Education in China: The Shanghai Case

This paper is aimed at exploring distinctive features of the decentralization of basic education in Shanghai by drawing on data from Shanghai Program for International Students Assessment (PISA) 2012. While doing the research for this paper, the author found that from a policy perspective, Shanghai had launched a reform policy aimed at transforming the highly centralized education system. This included a devolution of the decision-making authority to local departments of education and a reduction of control over schools. Private school policies were also initiated with the understanding that private schools ought to enjoy autonomy in almost every aspect of decision-making. From the perspective of practice, decentralization of basic education could be categorized as county-based school decentralization. In such a situation, the county bureaus of education wielded decision-making authority over a number of areas in the public school sector, while gradually devolving some decision-making authority to the public schools themselves; and the private schools enjoyed autonomy within their major decision-making areas. Given both the policy and practice of the decentralization of basic education in Shanghai, some suggestions are provided regarding: (1) how to promote school decentralization, and (2) how to balance it with accountability.     

教育质量保障视域中的问责网络建构：理据、实践与优化进路

作为教育质量保障体系中的核心概念,问责正影响着各国的教育改革议程。在中国的教育发展实践中,也构建了过程与结果兼顾、直接问责与间接问责相互补充的问责网络,它发挥着对学校及教师工作的监督与导向作用。建构基于自觉承担责任的问责形式,发挥不同利益相关者的能动作用,是完善基于问责的教育质量保障体系的可能进路。     

Educational Collaboration in the Restructuring of Schools

The need for improved collaboration among educators in the schools has been repeatedly documented in both first wave (legislated learning) and second wave (empowerment/school restructuring) education reform movements. This article describes the role of educational collaboration as one important key to professional sharing of best practices in the restructuring of schools. Critical issues and practical strategies for developing and implementing this shared planning, decision-making, and problem-solving process are discussed. The importance of operationally defining educational collaboration as it is to be implemented in each individual school is emphasized. issues and strategies for developing school norms that support educational collaboration, including redefining and clarifying professional roles, systematic staff training and support, developing organizational structures for collaboration, and providing professionals with adequate time for collaboration, are reviewed and critiqued.     

财政分权与中等职业教育发展

财政分权理论认为,财政分权有利于提高地方公共产品的供给效率,有助于当地居民参与公共产品供给的决策,但这是以许多前提假设为条件的。通过考察我国的财政分权改革历程和中等职业教育发展状况,发现我国的社会经济发展状况和政治制度使得我国并不存在满足蒂波特模型的条件,财政分权并没有提高地方政府发展中等职业教育的效率,也没有促使当地居民参与到发展中等职业教育的决策制定中去。中等职业教育的发展还面临着许多困难,尤其是资金上的困难。因此,需要发挥中央政府在联邦制下无法发挥的协调作用,调节不同地方政府发展中等职业教育带来的成本和收益,促进地区间中等职业教育的均衡发展,满足不同地区对中等职业教育的需求。     

How Central Office Leaders Influence School Leaders’ Decision-Making: Unpacking Power Dynamics in Two School-Based Decision-Making Systems

ABSTRACT

While past studies on school district decentralization found that central office leaders can limit school leaders’ decision-making power, the studies did not examine how they do so. We investigated this in eight elementary schools in two large urban school systems with official policies of school site-based decision-making. We found that even though school leaders had legal authority over most instructional decisions, they overwhelmingly made decisions consistent with central office preferences. The question is why. By examining the micro process of interaction between central office and school leaders, we found that central office leaders in both districts used a range of persuasive strategies to influence school-level decisions. Specifically, they linked their suggestions to institutionalized norms, rules, and shared understandings in the district and profession. By doing so, central office leaders pushed against their decentralization policies. Differences in the combination of strategies that central office leaders used and the amount of interaction they had with school leaders led to (a) greater variability in the degree to which school leaders in one district made decisions aligned with central office preferences; and (b) greater feelings of coercion among school leaders in the second. These findings unpack the dynamics among local education leaders as they implement and sometimes alter the rules within policies through their daily practice.