The ghosts of higher education reform: on the organisational processes surrounding policy borrowing

The Bologna Process is one of the most extensive examples of policy borrowing processes. Based on qualitative data, this article argues in favour of studying part of this process as ‘global smallness’, centring on the organisational effects of the implementation of a globalised curriculum. Through Derrida's notion on hauntology, Fenwick and Edward's analysis of multiple reals, and Barad's understanding of entanglement and time, this article explores how the implementation processes evoke simultaneously existing worlds of practices propelled by the agency of the past troubling present higher education reform. Finally, this article addresses how ongoing reforms tend to increase the stretch between ‘what is performed on the outside’ and ‘what is practiced on the inside’.     

Analysing the differential impact of the Bologna Process: Theoretical considerations on national conditions for international policy convergence

Although there is a growing interest of policy makers in higher education issues (especially on an international scale), there is still a lack of theoretically well-grounded comparative analyses of higher education policy. Even broadly discussed topics in higher education research like the potential convergence of European higher education systems in the course of the Bologna Process suffer from a thin empirical and comparative basis. This paper aims to deal with these problems by addressing theoretical questions concerning the domestic impact of the Bologna Process and the role national factors play in determining its effects on cross-national policy convergence. It develops a distinct theoretical approach for the systematic and comparative analysis of cross-national policy convergence. In doing so, it relies upon insights from related research areas—namely literature on Europeanization as well as studies dealing with cross-national policy convergence.

Policy communities,issue networks and the formulation of Australian higher education policy

Governments in most western countries consult extensively with clientele groups in the process of formulating higher education policy. The nature of these consultative mechanisms, in turn, influences the manner in which decisions are made, and the substance of policy outcomes. This article explores the changing style of government-interest group interaction in Australia over the decade 1985–94 and how these changes have effected the way policy is determined. It is argued that Australia has gone through three phases over that time. Until 1987 policy was formulated by a stable policy community. From 1988–90, when a number of major reforms were introduced, this framework was replaced by a brief period of state direction. During the early 1990s a new environment characterised by unstable issue networks emerged.     

An anatomy of authority: the Bologna and ASEM education secretariats as policy actors and region builders

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the sources of authority behind the Bologna and ASEM secretariats’ technocratic appearance and administrative routines, and argues that they are transnational policy actors in their own right. By drawing on principal-agent theory and the concept of ‘authority’, it offers an alternative framework for understanding the various forms of authority. The case studies generate three important insights. First, it shows how the secretariats derive their authority from the tasks delegated by states, the moral values and social purpose they uphold, and the expertise they possess. Second, it compares how the different governance structures of the Bologna and ASEM education processes impact on the secretariats’ authority. Third, it highlights how the secretariats exercise their respective authorities and exert their discernible influence at different stages of higher education policy-making and region-building processes.     

A complex web of education policy borrowing and transfer: Education for All and the Plan for the Development of Education in Brazil

This article analyses how Education for All policies were transferred to Brazil and Latin America by means of ambitious educational strategic plans such as the Plan for the Development of Education and the National Education Plans – promoted by the Federal Government of Brazil, and the Latin American Educational Goals – promoted by the Organisation of Ibero American States (i.e. the international commonwealth of countries which belonged to the old Hispanic and Portuguese empires). The analysis highlights how a complex web of educational policy transfer and borrowing was fashioned by means of concatenate environmental, cognitive and relational mechanisms.     

Assessment for learning in the Hong Kong assessment reform: A case of policy borrowing

This paper describes Hong Kong’s borrowing, primarily from the UK, of the assessment for learning policy, in the context of prolonged use of formal summative public examinations. The narrative review and analysis are guided by a social positivist critique of the assessment for learning policy in the Hong Kong context. This paper concludes that Hong Kong’s attempts to implement assessment for learning are ambitious but somewhat futile because of persistent use of public examinations for important decision-making. Change in Hong Kong may only happen through a gradual implementation of assessment for learning practices that takes into account cultural, societal, and historic norms. Critical issues are identified and recommendations are proposed for further implementation of assessment for learning in Hong Kong.     

The Bologna Process and the Lisbon Research Agenda: the European Commission's expanding role in higher education discourse

This article examines the role of the European Union's Commission in weaving together the Bologna Process and the Lisbon research strategy with its existing educational initiatives to define and disseminate an influential vision of European higher education. The article begins by outlining the Commission's activities in relation to EU education programmes, the Lisbon research agenda and the Bologna Process. It goes on to examine, in a variety of policy texts, the discourse of European higher education that is supported by, and supporting, these large-scale policy developments. Whilst the overall coherence and cohesiveness of this emerging discourse can be queried, the article argues that the Commission is drawing effectively on both Bologna and Lisbon to firmly constitute — and reconstitute — higher education as a European policy domain. The article concludes with an analysis of how different educational stakeholders are supported and restricted by the Commission's views of higher education, as articulated through its 'hybrid' Bologna/Lisbon agenda.     

Common European framework of reference for languages (CEFR): insights into global policy borrowing in Malaysian higher education

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) has emerged as a global policy in language education which has been ‘borrowed’ by nations across the world. This paper presents a critical analysis of Malaysia’s borrowing of the CEFR as part of English language curriculum reform with particular reference to policy motivation and implementation processes as outlined in the English Language Education Roadmap for Malaysia (2015–2025). The analysis draws on Phillips and Ochs’s (2003, “Processes of Policy Borrowing in Education: Some Explanatory and Analytical Devices.” Comparative Education 39 (4): 451–461.) framework for examining educational policy borrowing to highlight challenges as well as prospects of the implementation of the global policy in higher education in Malaysia.     

绩效评价:高等教育投入机制改革的政策导向

随着我国政府公共财政的改革,属于准公共产品的高等教育,在现行的投入体制下,面临许多新问题。树立以绩效为导向的投入产出理念,建立绩效评价制度是高等教育财政投入机制改革的主题。逐步将财政拨款与高校绩效考核挂钩,对于提升高等教育发展水平,提高财政资金使用效率和效益,建立绩效拨款新机制具有十分重要的意义。     

注册入学:成人高等教育招生制度变革的思考

随着社会主义市场经济体制的逐步完善和高等教育的不断发展,我国成人高等教育应该取消全国统一的招生考试制度,实行注册入学制度。这不仅符合成人高等教育大众化的特点,也能满足目前成人高等教育生源不足的现实需要。而且,当前成人高等教育实行注册入学招生制度的条件已基本具备。在具体操作上,可采取取消全国统一成人高考,成人专科实行注册入学,成人本科可先行分省考试的办法,待时机成熟后再采取注册入学制度。     

Technology addiction,abduction and adoption in higher education: Bird's eye view of the ICT4AD policy in Ghana 20 years on

Twenty years after its inauguration, the information communication and technology for accelerated development (ICT4AD) policy intended to transform Ghana into an information and technology-driven high-income economy through digital education has been unsuccessful. In this digital era, young adults' attachment to technological tools is anticipated to expedite technological adoption in the education sector. Still, there are less promising indicators of realizing this expectation because of situational factors that curtail technology usage and adoption in higher education (HE). It is estimated that the adoption of technology in HE will aid Ghana in using ICT as its engine of growth. This paper gauges the progress of the ICT4AD policy after two decades, presents an intricate account of why technology integration in HE in Ghana is still in its infancy and proposes interventions for sustaining and advancing the objectives of the ICT4AD policy. Drawing from an extensive review of literature on three conceptualized thematic themes relating to technology (ie, addiction, abduction and adoption), policymakers in education and stakeholders in HE will be able to identify their roles in guaranteeing the success of the promulgated ICT4AD policy. Viable areas of research are also discussed in the study.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic?

• The promulgated information communication and technology for accelerated development (ICT4AD) policy of Ghana hopes to transform the country into a technology-driven economy.
• Technology integration in education and society is still in its infancy in Ghana in this information age.

What this paper adds?

• It gauges the progress of the ICT4AD policy and presents an intricate account of why technology integration in HE in Ghana is still in its infancy and proposes interventions for sustaining and advancing the objectives of the ICT4AD policy.
• It sounds the alarm that the ICT4AD policy is at its terminal stage and calls on policymakers in education to revisit and revise the policy.
• It identifies the main factors curtailing effective technology integration in Ghana.
• It suggests promising steps for Ghana to adopt technology as its engine of growth.

Implications of this study for practice and/or policy

• It provides information to education practitioners and relevant school stakeholders on how to effectively adopt technology to develop 21st-century skills among learners.
• It explores the potential channels for policymakers in education to revisit and reinvest in the ICT4AD policy for the successful attainment of the policy objectives.
• It calls on countries with similar contexts like Ghana to adopt a multifaceted approach to drive ICT initiatives.

     

高职学前教育专业课程体系改革的方法和途径

随着幼儿园办学热潮的兴起,对高职学前教育专业师资素养提出更高的要求。本文以高职学前教育专业的课程体系改革为例,对高职院校学前教育专业的课程体系存在的问题进行分析,探索课程改革的方法和途径,为高职学前教育专业课程体系改革提供思路。     

Inclusive education reform in Queensland: implications for policy and practice

In Queensland, Australia, the school system is being reformed to be more ‘inclusive’. However, the enthusiasm for ‘inclusive education’ in Queensland seems to be waning amongst practitioners, and the ‘confusion, frustration, guilt and exhaustion’ that has emerged with teachers and support practitioners in the UK is emerging amongst support practitioners and teachers in Queensland. This paper argues that this is happening because inclusive education reforms that intend to provide an equitable education for all students regardless of cultural, physical, social/emotional and behavioural differences are being introduced, but these policies, procedures and structures continue to label, isolate and segregate students within schools in the way in which segregated special education facilities did in the past. Also, new policies and structures are being introduced without practitioners having the time and support to examine critically the underlying assumptions about disability, difference and inclusion that underpin their practices. These reforms need to be reviewed in terms of their effectiveness in achieving their ‘inclusive’ goals, i.e. in terms of the impacts that these reforms are having on the students themselves, and on the educational practitioners who support the students.     

高职院校形势与政策课教育教学改革的路径选择分析

在当前我国高等教育当中,高等职业教育作为其中不可或缺的重要组成部分,肩负着为社会培养顺应发展的生产、建设、管理与服务等的高等技术应用人才的重要使命。本文通过对高职院校"形势与政策"课程教育教学当前所面临的一些问题进行阐述分析,为其改革路径的选择进行论述,望此文为相关教育教学工作者提供帮助、借鉴。     

Teaching through assessment: reconsidering the transfer problem through a convergence of technology and assessment in early childhood teacher education

This article considers the impact of the ‘transfer problem’ from a personal perspective. Drawing on experiences in teacher educator as preservice teacher, a practicing educator and later a preservice educator the author examines how she has seen and experienced the transfer problem and the potential for teacher education to enact a separation between theory and practice. The convergence of technology and assessment is presented to argue a case for a pedagogical approach used by the author referred to as ‘teaching through assessment’. The approach is theorised drawing on concepts from cultural-historical theory including, leading activity, learning activity and reflection to describe the potential for technology to appropriate a range of forms and functions that make it suitable for reconsidering how the transfer problem might be approached in teacher education classrooms.     

高职数学文化教育与高职数学教育改革的思考

高职教育是我国高等教育的重要补充,高职教育的特点决定了高职教育的实践性和技术性,在高职教育中,高职数学教学长期以来缺乏文化教育,数学教学成为了干涩的职业性教育,这不仅无法提升高职数学教育的质量,同时也无法发挥高职数学教育的功能和价值。鉴于此,在高职数学教育中,通过融入文化教育来实现教学改革,在提升高职学生数学职业技能的同时,还能够培养学生的数学思想。     

Financing higher education in India: principles,practice, and policy issues

Financing higher education in India has been a complicated problem due to theoretical and practical problems. It has been largely a state funded activity with about three-quarters of the total expenditure being borne by government. The shares of non-governmental sources such as fees and voluntary contributions have been declining. At the same time the needs of the higher education system have been growing rapidly. It is being increasingly realized that public budgets cannot adequately fund higher education, particularly when sectors of mass education are starved of even bare needs. Hence of late several policy proposals are made, including privatization. This article critically reviews these proposals, and argues that the Indian higher education system is not yet ready for privatization. At the same time the need for experimentation with several alternatives, including student fees, students loans, graduate tax, and privatization in general is emphasized.