The impact of aid on education policy in India

In the early 1990s, large numbers of children in India remained out of school. International commitments to achieve education for all (EFA) globally meant that India was an important case for donors. India was pressed to accept aid for primary education, and agreed with some reluctance. Although subsequent donor involvement was substantial and influenced aspects of both policy implementation and management, it is shown that Indian education policy priorities remained self-determined. The Government of India – though falling short of securing universal education for its children – succeeded in using external resources and expertise in ways which suited its own purposes, whilst minimising external impact on policy development. The politics and economics of this process are discussed.     

The politics of education policy in England

In this appreciative discussion paper I provide an overview of the reforms made to education in England, and engage with the politics of education through examining the simultaneous and inter-related processes of politicisation, depoliticisation and repoliticisation of educational matters. I engage in a discussion of the papers in this special issue through this framework.     

对我国流浪儿童社会福利和救助政策现状的探究

流浪儿童问题关系重大,目前我国仍有数百万的儿童处在流浪境地,他们的权益得不到保障而且会影响到整个社会的和谐发展。本文通过对流浪儿童福利和救助政策现状的探究,力图找到当前流浪儿童福利政策中存在的问题,探求有效的解决流浪儿童问题的途径。     

Saving the world through neoliberalism: philanthropic policy networks in the context of Spanish education

This article analyses the processes of ‘neoliberalisation’ in education as directed by Teach For All. Specifically, we explore the case of Empieza por Educar, the Spanish policy network included in Teach For All. The first section seeks to clarify what we understand by the term neoliberalism, using a theoretical dimension through different perspectives. The second section explores the meaning of the new philanthropy. Methodologically, in the third section, the piece of research is categorised under what is defined as ‘Network Ethnography’, an approach which unifies social network analysis with some traditional ethnographic methods. The fourth section explores the meaning Teach For All and its foundation in Spain (Empieza por Educar) as a philanthropic foundation which is changing the political arena. The fifth section explores how Neoliberalism (with big ‘N’) is constructed by means of a complex interconnection of actors and policies that establish the policy network within the Spanish context. The sixth section analyses how neoliberalism (with small ‘n’) is implemented in the curriculum through three aspects: hegemonic truths; the conduct of the conduct (performativity culture); and the modes of formation of the subject with practices of oneself (entrepreneur of oneself).     

Towards a change in the role of the support teacher in the Spanish education system

This paper presents a research study carried out in Murcia, Spain. The research explores the way support teachers understand their role and how they carry it out. We have analysed certain aspects of the schools studied, the students with special educational needs who attend these schools and the support teachers' training. This information allows us to assess their role and to determine the changes necessary to understand it from the curricular model characteristic of an inclusive school.     

从宏观政策层面看我国高等教育经费的筹措与配置

我国高等教育面临办学经费紧张的同时又存在办学资源严重浪费的现象。从宏观政策层面看,政府除加大对高等教育投入外,还应当建立科学的高等教育成本补偿机制,由受教育者合理分担高等教育成本;通过立法鼓励社会公民和企业组织捐资办学,拓宽办学经费筹措渠道,并采取切实有效的措施确保“渠开水满”。     

A critical policy analysis of local religious education in England

ABSTRACT

This critical policy analysis investigates the opinions and activities of Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education (SACREs) in England. It uses a critical approach to educational policy to examine the diffuse power structure of SACREs and give voice to those local councils. Using data gathered in an online survey of SACREs, conducted between January and May 2017, it critiques the activities of SACREs and, in identifying what they see as their future role, questions whether the complex, producer-based governance structure of religious education is preferable to a simple, neo-liberal centralised legal settlement. It suggests that those individuals and groups which are successful in surviving in the increasingly competitive, marketised, local RE policy landscape become intrinsic parts of the national neo-liberal solution.     

The duration of compulsory education and the transition to secondary education: Panel data evidence from low-income countries

A straightforward way of keeping children in school is increasing the duration of compulsory education. Evidence of the impact of this type of policy in Western countries is abundant. However, its effectiveness has been rarely tested in low-income countries. Using panel data of low-income and lower-middle-income countries covering the period 1996–2017, this paper analyzes the impact of lengthening the duration of compulsory education on the progression of children from primary to secondary education. The empirical results show that in those countries where this policy is implemented, there is a significant increase in the share of children progressing from primary to secondary education but only in those countries where after the reform the duration of compulsory education becomes longer than the duration of primary education.     

改革开放以来我国研究生教育政策的文本分析

从政策分析的角度看,20多年来我国研究生教育的发展经历了制度建立和加快发展、调整改革、深化改革、深化改革与积极发展四个时期。在不同的发展阶段,研究生教育政策都发挥了重要作用,并体现出了不同的特点。     

Mechanisms of adopting and reformulating comprehensive sexuality education policy in Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

Over the past few years, international organisations have advanced Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) as a global policy to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and address gender-based violence in schools. This paper analyses policy adoption, transfer mechanisms, and reformulation of CSE in Ethiopia, a late adopter of the policy. To do this, we identify education policy transfer mechanisms and apply a gender analysis by focusing on conceptualisations of gender relations in the uptake and reformulation of CSE policies. Drawing on document analysis and stakeholder interviews, the paper reveals that CSE in Ethiopia is largely a donor-driven agenda, advanced through dissemination and networking strategies. CSE is particularly embraced by the Ministry of Health, international organisations and NGOs in Ethiopia, but at the same time, the Ministry of Education and other critics continue to resist adoption, emphasising cultural differences. As a result, CSE in Ethiopia is (re)formulated and reflects narrow conceptualisations of how CSE can address gender-based violence, restricting its focus to health and development outcomes.     

A case study of culturally informed disability-inclusive education policy development in the Solomon Islands

Inclusive education in general, and disability-inclusive education in particular, is a high-level priority for development work in aid-supported countries. This paper presents a bottom-up process of developing disability-inclusive education policy in one country – the Solomon Islands. It is well understood that the promotion of quality in disability-inclusive education requires a clearly stated policy; however, in many developing countries, there has been a history of policy borrowing rather than culturally informed policy development. This paper will critically discuss how policy development occurs in aid-funded development work and then offers an alternative model of Australian aid-supported policy development as an in-depth case study.     

Sustainability policy and sustainability in higher education curricula: the educational developer perspective

Various studies have investigated the views of higher education staff and students about sustainability, yet educational developer perspectives are under-represented in the research. This project gathered educational developer perspectives about sustainability in the curriculum. It sought to capture their views about a national sustainability policy; about the relationship between educational development and sustainability curriculum change; and whether sustainability should form part of their own roles. It was informed by the ‘theory of the second-best’ and involved nine interviews. Educational developers raised concerns about the policy, whilst opinions about their own involvement varied. It is argued that policy should provide clearer statements about curriculum, and educational developers should be involved in its development.     

Changing policy,legislation and its effects on inclusive and special education: a perspective from Wales

This article, by Jean Ware of Bangor University School of Education, examines policy developments in education in Wales since devolution, and their implications for inclusive and special education. This is set in the context of the demographics of Wales, which, it is argued, have a significant influence on policy and on the nature of educational provision as a whole. The discussion initially focuses on issues related to the Welsh language. The article then discusses four policy initiatives (the Foundation Phase, the Literacy and Numeracy Framework, the Masters in Educational Practice and the proposed reform of initial teacher education and training), intended to respond to Wales's poor performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment, and their potential impact, as well as the White Paper on reforming the special educational needs system in Wales. It is too soon to discuss the impact of these special educational needs‐specific reforms, but the differences from the English special educational needs reforms highlight the inherent tensions in special educational needs systems. It is argued that the Tabberer Report's critique of the teacher education system in Wales, which emphasises the need for teacher education to be strongly connected to relevant research, provides an opportunity to improve the quality of education in Wales for all children; but that considerable investment, and a willingness to address the potential tensions between the different initiatives, is necessary to achieve such an outcome.     

Changing professional discourses in teacher education policy back towards a training paradigm: a comparative study

Modern definitions of professions connect professional knowledge to scientific studies and higher education. In the present article we examine the changing nature of this relationship in initial teacher education in two European countries: Sweden and England. The article is based on policy analyses from recent decades of teacher education reforms. The findings suggest a policy convergence through a shared policy return that has moved teacher education back toward a teacher training paradigm.     

Eyes wide shut: the fantasies and disavowals of education policy

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the tensions between education policy’s attachment to notions such as excellence and inclusion and its investments in managerial tropes of competition, continuous quality improvement, standards and accountability that are at odds with and which undermine its attachments. In order to explore these tensions, I draw on the psychoanalytic notion of fantasy, explained through Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes wide shut. My argument is that while the individual and society are both constituted through unavoidable division, antagonism and opacity, these notions are obscured through the operations of fantasy which holds out the promise of wholeness, harmony and redemption. In particular, education serves as a key site in which these fantasmatic ideals are promoted and pursued, a claim I substantiate via an analysis of the UK government’s 2016 White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere. Specifically, I read the White Paper in terms of five fantasies of: control; knowledge and reason; inclusion; productivity; and victimhood. My argument is that while fantasy is an inescapable element that inevitably structures what we take to be ‘reality’, education policy might strive to inhabit fantasy differently, thereby finding ways of escaping its current mode of seeing education with eyes wide shut.     

Stepping out of the classroom: involving teachers in the evaluation of national special education policy

Since Richard Rose relaunched BJSE's Research Section as a forum for the discussion of practitioner research, BJSE has published a series of very successful accounts of individual teacher enquiry and action research. In this article from New Zealand, Roseanna Bourke, now working at the Ministry of Education in Wellington, and her two colleagues, Alison Kearney and Jill Bevan-Brown, both from the Department of Learning and Teaching at Massey University, present an alternative view of the involvement of teachers in research.
In 1999, the Ministry of Education asked a team of researchers from Massey University to evaluate the introduction of New Zealand's first national policy for special education, known as Special Education 2000. The 16-member research team was contracted to provide a three-year, multi-method, longitudinal evaluation incorporating both quantitative and qualitative approaches. This article looks specifically at one aspect of the approach used in the evaluation – the use of teachers as fieldworkers. Teachers across the country were trained as fieldworkers to assist in the collection of data in schools and early childhood centres. Training was given to all teachers on the research aims, methods, ethics, including cultural sensitivity, and rationale for the evaluation. By participating in large-scale research and acting as 'fieldworkers', 68 teachers had the opportunity to develop their skills as researchers, while learning about other schools' perceptions and experiences of the special education policy. The experience provided a means for teachers to become apprenticed into a research culture, and to talk with principals and other teachers about common areas of interest. It also ensured that the research had knowledgeable and credible fieldworkers to collect data in schools.     

Publishing for pre-tertiary education in Ghana: the 2002 textbook policy in retrospect

This paper assesses the performance of the “National Textbook Development and Distribution Policy for Pre-Tertiary Education” of 2002. It examines the policy in theory and in practice by exploring the extent to which the liberalisation of the textbook trade has helped to improve on textbook procurement, production and distribution, availability, quality and access to the books. The paper discusses the context leading to the transition from the state-controlled policies to the present liberalised textbook provision policies in Africa. The tensions that marked the transition period and the role of the World Bank and other development agencies in the policy shift have also been discussed. The paper identifies a number of implementation challenges stalling the full realisation of the objectives of the textbook policy including the Ministry of Education’s interference in the textbook procurement process and some publishers’ and authors’ abuse of the conflict of interest regulation in the policy. The paper makes a number of recommendations for consideration.     

韩国、马来西亚、菲律宾三国私立高等教育经费政策研究

韩国、马来西亚和菲律宾等国的私立高等院校所占比例均在85%以上,在校生数占一半以上,高者达74%。这与所在国的高等教育发展政策、经费政策和管理政策是分不开的,其政府实施的经费资助政策更是私立高等教育发展、稳定与否的"晴雨表"。三国私立高等教育发展变化显示,私立高等教育发展与政府的经费政策,尤其是多元化教育投入有着很强的联系。     

试论WTO规则与我国教育立法政策的完善

WTO教育规则对各成员国的教育立法与政策产生了重要的影响。我国加入WTO以后,面临着怎样为适应WTO的教育规则而完善教育立法与政策的问题。为解决这个问题,必须对WTO的教育规则有较为全面、深入的了解,对照我国现行教育立法与政策情况,要采取有力措施废止、修改与WTO规则不相适应的教育立法,以完善我国教育立法政策。     

New partnerships and education policy in Asia and the Pacific

Forming more effective partnerships with national governments in the Asia-Pacific region has been an important policy focus for the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) since 2006. AusAID is increasingly engaging in sector-wide approaches and working through partner government systems. This paper explores how new partnerships are impacting education policy in the vastly different contexts of Lao PDR, Vanuatu, Indonesia, and the Philippines from 2006 to 2009. Conclusions are that policy discourse and current practice indicate an active effort to develop partnerships in education with donors and partner governments. But the reality in the field is that while sector-wide approaches are outlined in policy discourse, practice indicates loosely harmonized arrangements with like-minded donors, and slow progress toward sector-wide involvement.