Rising against a gathering storm: a biopolitical analysis of citizenship in STEM policy

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is a form of education seen by many governments and educators as a preparation of the types of students needed for the future. STEM education is being developed in many countries without the support of official policy, such as is the case in Canada. In the United States, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and a private non-profit organisation, Achieve Inc.?, have been enlisted to develop policy to guide the development on STEM nationally. Due to its influence in global politics and economy, many countries, including Canada, are interested in how the United States is preparing its citizens for the future through STEM education. In this paper we present a critical discourse analysis on STEM policy from the United States as a basis to discuss: biopolitics in science education; notions of citizenship in contemporary school education and science education; and citizenship and STEM education.     

Disruptive innovation,labor markets,and Big Valley STEM School: network analysis in STEM education

A defining characteristic of contemporary trends in global education policy is the promotion of STEM learning in the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors of education as a means to generate innovation and prosperity in the economy. Intertwined with common sensical assumptions about future labor markets and the transformative potential of technology in education, STEM has become a hegemonic discourse informing policy formation and educational practice. In Gramscian terms, the struggle over STEM as a discursive practice, between proponents of instrumental learning of marketable economic skills and those of education towards humanistic goals, reveals insights about the ideological characteristics of the push for STEM learning. This article explores the power dynamics behind the push for STEM learning as an ideological discourse propagated by global networks of elite policy actors and enacted by non-elite policy actors at the school level. The findings point toward a disjuncture between the discourse of elite policy actors in the US, the realities of STEM labor markets, and the actualization of this policy discourse into classroom practice. The implications of this study indicate that analyses of vertical power relations in network governance in STEM education should attend to the semiotics, materiality, and mutability of networked spaces.     

培养负责任的数字公民——国际数字公民教育政策文本的多维比较

数字公民教育受到国际组织和各国的关注。国际数字公民教育政策文本的比较分析对于公民教育政策制定具有重要意义。通过体系架构、总体目标、发布机构与起草人员、内容比较四个维度,分析国际上七个具有代表性和影响力的数字公民教育政策文本,结果发现,当前国际数字公民教育政策文本呈现出教育主体多元、教育内容动态更新、教育目标鲜明、政策制定多方协同的特征。     

Educational policy for citizenship in the early years in Australia

Understandings of young children as active and capable citizens, while evident in discourses of early childhood education and research, are not widely reflected in the policy for the early years of schooling in Australia. This paper makes an analysis of the gaps and tensions between discourses of young children as active citizens and policy for citizenship education at the national level in Australia and at the Queensland State level. There is a widespread discourse within early childhood that regards young children as citizens and democratic participants in their own lives, as a reflection of the oft-cited Article 12 in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, educational policy and curriculum for citizenship in Australia, by and large, adheres to age and stage understandings of children that deem young children unable to conceptualise and/or articulate ideas of what it means to ‘be a good citizen’. We ask which discourses are being harnessed in educational policy for citizenship in Australia, what discourses are silenced or ignored and what this tells us about how young children are thought about in Australian politics and education.     

STEM in England: meanings and motivations in the policy arena

STEM, an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, is widely used in science education. There is confusion, however, as to its provenance and meaning which is potentially problematic. This study examines the purpose of STEM practice in education in England and asks if there are differences in perceptions of STEM between science and mathematics educator stakeholders. The study’s contribution to the literature is its unusual focus on those who were responsible for making and enacting national STEM policy. A two-phase qualitative approach was followed comprising an analysis of government documentation together with semi-structured interviews with key contributors to the science and mathematics education discourse. Findings suggest that there is a disconnect between the interpretations of the science and mathematics educators with a danger-advantage dichotomy to participation in STEM being perceived by the mathematics educators. Early aims of the STEM agenda, including increasing diversity, gave way to a focus on numbers of post-16 physics and mathematics students. We conclude that if the term STEM is to continue to be used then there is a need for greater clarity about what it represents in educational terms and a wider debate about its compatibility with the aims of science education for all.     

From teaching citizenship to learning democracy: overcoming individualism in research,policy and practice

In this article we argue for a shift in educational research, policy and practice away from teaching citizenship to an understanding of the ways young people learn democracy. In the first part of the article we identify the ways in which the discussion about citizenship in Britain has developed since the Second World War and show how a comprehensive understanding of citizenship, which has underpinned much recent thinking about citizenship education, has been replaced by a more overtly individualistic approach. In the second part of the article we delineate the key problems of this individualistic approach and make a case for an approach to citizenship education that takes as its point of departure the actual learning that occurs in the real lives of young people. In the concluding section, we outline the implications of our view for research, policy and practice.     

Compassion, Citizenship and Education in South Africa: An Opportunity for Transformation?

This study explores how citizenship education in South Africa is guided by liberal and communitarian concepts of citizenship. Its contention is that citizenship education, as it has evolved through policy discourses on Values, Education and Democracy, is heavily influenced by liberal and communitarian concepts of citizenship. Nonetheless, the liberal-communitarian concept of citizenship education is not sufficient on its own to bring about educational transformation in institutions. Instead, citizenship education initiatives in South Africa need to promote a sense of compassion, motivating learners to take seriously the suffering of others. It is argued that such compassion represents a precondition of genuine educational transformation.     

Compassion,Citizenship and Education in South Africa: An Opportunity for Transformation?

This study explores how citizenship education in South Africa is guided by liberal and communitarian concepts of citizenship. Its contention is that citizenship education, as it has evolved through policy discourses on Values, Education and Democracy, is heavily influenced by liberal and communitarian concepts of citizenship. Nonetheless, the liberal-communitarian concept of citizenship education is not sufficient on its own to bring about educational transformation in institutions. Instead, citizenship education initiatives in South Africa need to promote a sense of compassion, motivating learners to take seriously the suffering of others. It is argued that such compassion represents a precondition of genuine educational transformation.     

CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION,POLICY, AND THE EDUCATIONALIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Abstract In this essay, Naomi Hodgson reconsiders the value of Michel Foucault’s normalization thesis to the study of educationalization in relation to contemporary educational policy and research. Hodgson begins by analyzing educational researchers’ response to the recent introduction of citizenship education in England, focusing specifically on a review of research, policy, and practice in this area commissioned by the British Educational Research Association (BERA). She argues that the BERA review exemplifies the field of education policy sociology in that it is conducted according to the concepts of its parent discipline of sociology but lacks critical theoretical engagement with them. Instead, such work operationalizes sociological concepts in service of educational policy solutions. Hodgson identifies three dominant discourses of citizenship education within the BERA review— the academic discourse of education policy sociology, contemporary political discourse, and the discourse of inclusive education — and draws attention to the relation of citizenship education to policy initiatives, and thus to educationalization. She then discusses Foucault’s concept of normalization in terms of the demand on the contemporary subject to orient the self in a certain relation toward learning informed by the need for competitiveness in the European and global context. Ultimately, Hodgson concludes that the language and rhetoric of education policy sociology implicate such research in the process of educationalization itself.     

Creating critical‐democratic citizenship education: empowering humanity and democracy in Dutch education

Dutch society and educational policy see citizenship education as being an important task of education. The first section of this paper discusses the concept of citizenship and citizenship education, and analyses educational developments in the Netherlands. Following on from this introduction the second part of the paper puts forward a critical democratic pedagogy of citizenship education. With this proposed democratic pedagogy in mind, the third and final part of the paper goes on to analyse the discourses and developing practices of citizenship education in the Netherlands, and proposes a number of new possibilities.     

Democratic citizenship education in the information age: a comparative study of south korea and australia

Democratic citizenship education in the information age must concern itself with the goal of nurturing future generations with the capacity to make appropriate use of the changes driven by the advances of ICTs so as to activate political and social democracy. Using Australia and South Korea as case studies, this paper discusses the role that citizenship education can and/or should play in producing democratic citizens in the information age. This paper analyses and compares the recent curricula and educational policy developments in citizenship education in Australian and South Korea. More specifically, the paper attempts to identify what implications the advances of ICTs have and what future tasks they impose for the field of democratic citizenship education. Key Words: democratic citizenship education, information age, ICTs, South Korea, Australia, school curriculum, educational policy     

What kind of citizenship for whom? The ‘refugee crisis’ and the European Union’s conceptions of citizenship

The European Union (EU) plays a dominant role in coordinating the responses to the massive inflow of refugee-migrants into Europe; consequently, the conceptions of citizenship and future integration which are embedded in its policies are significant. We explore and analyse the key EU education policy documents that refer to immigrants to identify the forms of citizenship attributed to various types of incomers by the EU. Our analysis demonstrates that the EU’s conception of refugee-migrants is more closely affiliated with the notion of ‘Global citizens’ rather than with that of ‘European citizens’. Furthermore, we suggest that the EU distinguishes and navigates between various migratory flows, namely internal-European, desired external-European and undesired external-European (refugee-migrants), each associated with a distinctive conception of citizenship as well as with related policy discourses. In the light of the migratory flows into Europe, the particularistic conceptions of citizenship shaping the EU’s educational policy carry considerable implications for the future integration of refugee-migrants in Europe.     

Protection by,or from,the Government: Debating citizenship education policy in Hong Kong's Legislative Council

This article discusses citizenship education, education policy and discourse to explore their relations with the exercise of power in society. Taking the case of 1990 and 1997 legislative debates on citizenship education policy in Hong Kong, it briefly surveys the substantive arguments favouring or opposing the retention of government controls over politics in schools. It then examines in more detail the discourses used by legislators which constitute students, teachers and the government. This discussion shows that not only does citizenship education represent a power relation between the state and citizens, with policy representative of the power of the state over educational workers, but also that the targets of policy are empowered and disempowered through the strategic use of discourse.     

Issues of power and control in STEM education: a reading through the postmodern condition

STEM, or the integration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, has rapidly become a dominant discourse in political, economic and educational spheres. In the U.S., the STEM movement has been boosted by global economic-based competition and associated fears, in terms of STEM graduates, when compared with other nations. However, many critiques question the nature and goals of this competition, as well as, the possibilities to improve STEM talents through the current dominant conceptualizations and practices of STEM education. In addition, the apparent lack of significant and coherent embracement of (and sometimes silence about) socioscientific and socio-political issues and perspectives renders STEM education incapable of preparing learners for active citizenships. Building on these critiques, I argue that these problems are possible consequences of STEM as a construct of power. My arguments are based on Lyotard’s conceptions of knowledge in postmodern society (as reported in The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge, University Press, Manchester, 1984), which I use to analyze some aspects of the STEM educational movement. Throughout the paper, I explore the construction of STEM education within competitive frames that place prime value on high performativity. There seem to be two characteristics of current STEM education that support performativity; these are an increased focus on technological and engineering designs, and a tendency for interdisciplinary education. At the same time, the eagerness for performativity and competition seems to drag STEM education into selectiveness, thereby jeopardizing its possible benefits. Recommendations are also discussed.     

Effects of school quality,school citizenship policy,and student body composition on the acquisition of citizenship competences in the final year of primary education

This study examines the effects of general educational quality of schools, school citizenship policy, and ethnic homogeneity of the student body on the acquisition of citizenship competences in the final year of primary education. The theoretical framework is based on developmental, psychological, and sociological studies into effects of social context on educational outcomes and research into effective schools. The effects of school quality, school policy, and student population were analysed using 2-level (students, school) multilevel models. The results show that differences in citizenship competences between students and schools are mainly explained by factors at student level. Although the school also appeared to play a role, the school variables used in the analysis did not offer sufficient explanation for these differences. In order to further investigate the relationship between school factors and students’ citizenship, more insight is needed into characteristics of citizenship practices of schools.     

Educating for citizenship—the emerging relationship between religious education and citizenship education

The introduction of citizenship education to school in England (and Wales) in 2002 has generated interest and concern among religious educationalists, some of whom welcome the opportunities this new educational territory opens up for religious education and some of whom suspect it augurs religious education's demise. This article reports findings of a school‐based study of the early implementation of citizenship education and its impact on religious education. It discusses those findings in the context of the current debate about the future relationship between the two subjects, noting a similar ambivalence toward citizenship education among religious education heads of department, as there is among religious educationalists. The discussion includes an examination of the Crick Report, noting its lack of interest in religious education, and argues that its conceptualization of citizenship leaves it open to two quite different broad interpretations of what might be meant by an education for citizenship, one of which religious education practitioners appear to endorse and associate with religious education, and one of which they reject and associate with citizenship education.     

STEM教育的困境及出路

STEM教育的宗旨是整合创新,这对STEM课程的设计、开发和实施都提出了很高的要求。然而我国STEM教育领域却存在课程体系不明、课程目标不清晰、缺乏细致的探究学习设计、专业教师储备不足、未形成健康生态等问题。STEM教育遭遇的困境实际上是经验主义的前现代教育不适应现代社会发展要求的表现。STEM教育不是教学法意义上的教育革新,而是全新的教育实践。STEM教育需要与以往不同的教育实践生态。因此只有升级为现代教育,STEM教育才能摆脱上述困境。这就需要我们努力发展新教育学,并在新教育学理论指导下组建新的专业团队,构建健康的STEM共同体和企业联盟,开发新的STEM课程并提供STEM教师专业发展服务,培养STEM专业教师以基于一致性的新方式实施课程,允许教师以教育众筹的方式参与STEM课程升级,最终实现STEM整合创新的教育旨趣。     

Beyond Traditional Measures of STEM Success: Long-Term Predictors of Social Agency and Conducting Research for Social Change

Despite the importance of preparing socially responsible graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to address the current state of poverty and inequality, very few studies in higher education have examined the development of STEM students’ outcomes critical to promoting a more equitable society, typically focusing on the impact of one program or course. To address this gap in the literature, this study used frameworks of undergraduate socialization as well as social justice perspectives in STEM education to examine the undergraduate experiences and institutional contexts that predict STEM bachelor’s degree recipients’ development of two democratic educational outcomes seven years after college entry: social agency and values toward conducting research that will have a meaningful impact on underserved communities. The study utilized multilevel modeling on a national longitudinal sample of 6341 STEM bachelor’s degree recipients across 271 institutions. Longitudinal student data from the 2004 Cooperative Institutional Research Program’s (CIRP) Freshman Survey and 2011 Post-Baccalaureate Survey were merged with institutional data from the Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data System and CIRP Faculty Surveys. Various undergraduate socialization experiences and institutional contexts were found to predict STEM bachelor’s degree recipients’ democratic educational outcomes, including academic majors, participation in student organizations and research, experiences with faculty, and peer and STEM faculty normative contexts. Implications of the findings for research, policy, and practice are discussed.     

In search of good citizenship education: A normative analysis of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS)

In the last two decades, calls to place citizenship education (CE) at the top of national and European educational policy and research agendas have been gaining in prominence. Large‐scale comparative studies, such as the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS), are often considered the main evidence base for setting these agendas and improving CE policies and practices. This article therefore considers the ICCS study as an inherent part of the process of translating general, educational aims into curricular policies and practices of CE. However, while critical voices about comparative educational studies have become paramount, a detailed analysis of their contents, of what and how they measure and what they promote as the aims of education is often lacking. This article aims to fill this gap by analysing the main research documents, design and items of the 2009 ICCS study. To find out what ICCS promotes as the goals of citizenship education, we examined its normative assumptions in terms of qualification, socialisation and/or subjectification. Our analysis shows that the qualification and socialisation functions are dominantly validated in all aspects of the study, whilst there is only marginal attention to subjectification. This implies that ICCS misses an important potential to document and/or promote pupils becoming autonomous and critical democratic citizens, whilst this is often considered a central aim of citizenship education by policymakers, practitioners and teachers.