Affecting Education Policy through Border Crossing between Special Education and General Education

ABSTRACT

A review of current self-study research related to teacher education policy in the United States indicates that at local, university, and state levels teacher educators are affected emotionally and professionally by policy and, in most cases, feel that policy is something done to teacher educators as opposed to something to which they can contribute and make a difference. In this article, we use our review as a base from which to consider how both special educators and general educators might use self-study to know one another better, to work collaboratively to affect policy, and to understand how policy affects them. We argue that teacher educators must work together across content areas in order to interrogate the implementation and impact of policy and to influence the development and implementation of policy.     

Looking others in the eye: rights and gender in South African education policy

In this paper we examine relations between education policy and local practice. Situating our work within the literature on the local implementation of education policy, we develop a pedagogical perspective for understanding relations between policy and local practice. We argue that policy‐makers’ attempts to enact policy can be viewed as a form of teaching and that local educators can be seen as learners from policy. This pedagogical perspective provides a theoretical frame for the papers in this volume. We trace the evolution of this pedagogical perspective in our work, and we preview the contribution the papers in this volume make to developing this frame. We also present details of our research methods.

     

Issues and challenges regarding environmental education policy implementation

Abstract

In this article, the authors have chosen to inquire into a topic that has specific relevance to the status and inclusion of environmental education in the curriculum at a stage when the translation of policy into practice stands at the crossroads: the transition of environment as phase organiser to environment as integral to all learning areas. In education praxis, the translation of policy into practice is in the hands of educators and teachers (using the terminology as suggested in this article). The issues and challenges regarding the implementation of environmental education policy as experienced by educators and teachers are identified through examining this phenomenon as portrayed in two case studies where in-service education and training (INSET) in relation to environmental education occurs. This study is one of the first to provide a researched background that identifies issues and challenges that impact on the implementation of environmental policy in formal education contexts.     

The ‘new vocationalism’: Further education and local labour markets

Current policies aimed at promoting a ‘new vocationalism’ through changes in vocational training in further education are based upon a particular functional model of labour market behaviour, which sees the relationships between technical qualifications, training and recruitment to jobs as unproblematic. In fact, however, this model bears little relationship to the realities of actual labour markets, especially given the enormous diversity which exists between economic conditions in different localities. What this implies, therefore, is that there are considerable tensions between the imperatives of a national training strategy, promoted centrally by the Training Commission (and previously by the Manpower Services Commission), and its local implementation mainly by the local education authorities and their colleges of further education. In many local labour markets, far from promoting closer responsiveness to the needs of employers, current policy initiatives may actually be making it more difficult for the colleges to react to employers' demands. These general arguments are illustrated here by reference to a large‐scale empirical study which was specifically designed to investigate the inter‐relationships between the labour market behaviour of employers and the implementation of the ‘new vocationalism’ in further education.     

‘Educare’ in Australia: analysing policy mobility and transformation

Abstract

Background: Early childhood education and care has been an area of significant policy attention, public investment and private market activity in Australia over the past three decades. Australian educationists and policy-makers have looked to international examples for evidence, policy design and institutional models. However, this area is under-researched in Australia, with regard to how these knowledge flows are theorised, and how policy is implemented on the ground.

Purpose: The paper’s purpose was to contribute new Australian-focussed conceptual and empirical insights on the trajectories, development and implementation of evidence-based policy in the field of early childhood education and care.

Sources of evidence: The paper is based on three main sources of evidence: ? the critical literature on policy transfer and policy mobility

? policy statements, reports and planning documents produced by national- and state-level governments

? data from fieldwork analysis of new capital works and programmes in the early childhood field.

Main argument: International research and evidence on the benefits of investment in early learning has had a significant impact on the framing of Australian policy. So too has a move in several countries to align early childhood institutions with schools. However, a dominant paradigm of policy transfer, reliant on pluralist and rationalist frameworks of policy-making, fails to account for the dynamics of policy development and implementation across and within jurisdictions and geographical space. Conceptualising a new alignment in Australia between children’s centres and schools as ‘educare’, this article employs the theoretical lens of policy mobility to account for the circulation and transformation of educare policy in Australian settings. Through an empirical analysis of a new educare centre in the growth corridor of western Melbourne, the article demonstrates the extent to which neoliberal policy settings outside the educational sphere, around public finance, partnership, place and infrastructure provision, influence the implementation of ‘educare’ policy.

Conclusions: The educare discourse in Australia addresses a complex and multiscalar set of policy problems that associate child development with concerns around human capital formation, economic efficiency and productivity, place making and community building, and the role of the public sector in neoliberal democracies. International circuits of knowledge, policy design and institutional models in the educare field have been significant in shaping recent Australian policy, despite well-publicised views expressed in Australia on the disconnection between academic research and policy. The strength of policy mobility as a theoretical lens to assist our understanding of these influences lies in its critique of formalism in policy-making and in its attention to fluidity and transformation. The mobility lens encourages new empirical research that focuses on spatial and institutional dynamics, assisting our reading of on-the-ground developments in Australia’s fastest growing city.     

Exploring the views and beliefs of parents of typically developing children about inclusion and inclusive education

Background: The inclusion of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SENDs) in regular classrooms has been identified as a high priority in many policy documents published by both European and international organisations. Its implementation, however, is influenced by a number of factors, some of which are directly related to the participation and attitudes of different stakeholders, including parents of typically developing children. Parents, as a social group, can act in favour of inclusion or they can support more segregated educational environments.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore, in a Greek context, the views and beliefs of parents of typically developing children about different aspects of the education of children with disabilities, with a particular focus on inclusion and inclusive education.

Method: Interviews were held with 40 Greek parents representing 40 typically developing school-aged children who were educated in six different primary education schools, from the broader area of central Greece. All of the children, at the time of the study, were educated in mainstream classes, in which an in-classroom support system was applied. Open-ended interview questions focused on parents’ views and beliefs about the implementation of inclusive educational programmes. Data were analysed according to the principles of an inductive data-driven approach.

Findings: The research findings indicate that most of the participant parents did not feel informed about specific school policy practices relevant to inclusive education; they were not aware of the notion of ‘inclusion’ or approached inclusion from an integrationist point of view. Within this context, they hold positive to neutral attitudes towards inclusion, on the basis that a child with SENDs can cope with the school requirements.

Conclusions: This small-scale, exploratory research study suggests the importance of informing and involving parents of typically developing children in efforts to promote more inclusive practices.     

Implementing policy for homeless kids in schools: reassessing the micro and macro levels in the policy debate in Australia

This study suggests that the debate over the nature of policy is far from resolved. The extent to which the extremes of the debate about the role of the state in policy, about interpretations about power in policy process and about the differential nature of fine‐grained examinations of policy at the local level versus larger scale theorizing, affect interpretation are questioned. Based on a case study of the implementation of a policy dealing with homeless student in four Victorian, Australia, High schools, this paper suggests that the conceptualizations of the state and understanding the nature of power relations in policy process are more complex than any other authors have suggested. The analysis of the policy implementation process showed that whilst at certain times the power of the state appeared to be crucial and central, at other times the power of the state was decentred and significantly reduced, with power and control of policy being refocused at the school level.     

Local adaptation of central policies: the policymaking and implementation of compulsory education for migrant children in China

This article looks at the central and local governments’ policymaking and implementation of compulsory education for migrant children in China. Three distinct models of policy implementation were identified through a case study approach. They indicated a selective adaptation of central policy objective and principles by the local governments and revealed diverse conditions of compulsory education for migrant children across the nation. In spite of substantial improvement over the years, migrant children still could not receive equitable compulsory education as urban children, due to three system barriers in general and local policy differences in particular.

     

Process implementation perspective on neoliberal regulation: a comparative analysis of national curricula and standards-based reforms in the USA and Australia

ABSTRACT

This comparative case study adopts a process implementation perspective on neoliberal regulation to explore developments in national curricula and standard-based reforms in the USA and Australia. Date sources include research reports, books, OECD data, and local survey data. The comparison of the dynamic of two countries reveals that whereas policymakers in the USA adopted a transforming regulatory strategy (targeting the ambiguity and conflict levels in local policy) to implement, Australian policymakers adopted a congruence regulatory strategy (ratifying ambiguity and conflict levels). As a result of this dynamic, the education system in the USA displays a relatively tighter structure, which is related to the tighter professional teaching culture. The analysis suggests that the effect of global ideas and policies adopted locally depends on policymakers’ regulatory strategy, and that local system change drastically only when policymakers adopt the neoliberal default preference for active transformative implementation. Hence, a specific implementation dynamic is a key factor in the global neoliberal agenda, and its presence or absence indicates convergence or divergence between countries adopting similar policies.     

Taking stock of environmental education policy in England – the what,the where and the why

Abstract

Taking England as our case study, this paper reviews secondary school environmental education from a policy perspective. By drawing on Stevenson’s typologies for environmental improvement and Lucas’ categorisation of environmental education, we analyse national policy documents, local authority and Multi-Academy Trust policies; and individual school planning documents. Our findings suggest in these areas a general absence of environment education policy, and where identified a rhetoric towards conservative reform framed as technology solutions, where learning is about the environment, rather than for the environment. We explain how the (lack of) environmental education rhetoric is a result of global economic changes and national austerity policies, and offer insights and signposting for policy makers.     

The challenges of geographical inclusive education in rural Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the challenges of promoting inclusive education in geographically isolated rural communities in Bangladesh. Inclusion is explored from both government and non-government (NGO) providers, and identifies challenges and opportunities for implementing inclusive practices. Challenges for implementing inclusion are linked to poverty, gender inequality, ethnicity, remoteness, language barriers, issues for children with disabilities, and the negative impact of climate (e.g. monsoonal flooding, landslides, and other natural calamities that beset Bangladesh on a regular basis) as well as the current humanitarian crisis with the Rohingya children now in Bangladesh. While there is sometimes a mismatch between government policy and the literature on inclusion in relation to practical implementation at the local level, opportunities for inclusion come with the dedication and passion of educators who provide teacher training about inclusive education, assistive technologies (Braille materials, hearing aids, etc.), multi-lingual education (MLE) materials, and advocacy by reaching out to parents and community members. Findings indicate that characteristics such as culture, the development of local resources, and the climate of the local context need to be considered in developing relevant inclusive policy to enact effective geographical inclusive practices in rural Bangladeshi communities.     

Referencing and borrowing from other systems: the Hong Kong education reforms

Abstract

Background: This paper analyses the role of, and approach to, policy referencing and borrowing in Hong Kong’s recent reforms that culminated in the creation of its New Academic Structure and the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education.

Main argument: It argues that Hong Kong has gone further than most jurisdictions not just in responding to global influences on education reform, but in taking explicit steps to internationally benchmark its curriculum and assessment, and in involving the global community at multiple levels in the process of education policy planning and implementation.

Sources of evidence and method: The paper is based on the documentary analysis of policy documents in Hong Kong, and 23 interviews with key stakeholders in the policy network, including policy-makers, practitioners and community leaders.

Discussion and conclusions: While policy referencing and borrowing in the Hong Kong context can, in part, be traced to a colonial legacy, the Special Administrative Region of China demonstrates a collaborative approach to education reform involving local and international engagement that may be relevant to other systems. Its approach was informed by a measured use of policy referencing that involved ‘horizon scanning’ of other systems’ policies and practices; international benchmarking; and engaging international expertise to facilitate implementation.     

Autobiographies and interviews as means of ‘access’ to elite policy making in education 1

Abstract:

This paper explores questions of access to perceptions of educational policy by members of policy elites. In particular, it reviews some possibilities of broadening how national education policy is contructed by examining the utility of published autobiographical tests.     

The Great Education Reform Bill 1988 ‐ some issues and implications

The article explores some of the wider policy issues and concerns raised by the 1988 Education Bill, in particular the implications of the Bill for control over schooling. There is a brief discussion about the main aspects of the Bill's proposals as they affect schools. The paper then moves on to consider the extent to which the Bill gives power both to the Secretary of State for Education and to parents and school governors, whilst removing power from Local Education Authorities and teachers themselves. It is pointed out that the proposals will make long term educational planning and policy implementation across a range of schools very difficult. The paper concludes by questioning whether all the intentions of the Bill will be realized but notes that opposition to the Bill has not really fully taken on board alternative strategies for improving the quality of education.     

Special educational needs and art and design education: plural perspectives on exclusion

Abstract

Education policy proposals by the UK Coalition government appeared to be based on a process of consultation, participation and representation. However, policy formation seems to prioritise and confirm particular ways of knowing and being in the world. This article recognises the ontological and epistemological invalidation at work in education policy by examining the shared context for policy formation in special educational needs (SEN/D) and art and design education. There is value in recognising plurality, acknowledging the ways in which apparently singular policies relating to special education are understood through subject or disciplinary perspectives. The neoliberal aim to foster an economically productive ‘subject’ is evident in policy formation relating to art and design education as well as SEN/D. Both subjects, the disabled child and art and design education, are defined as excessive and are excluded where they do not conform to particular notions of productivity. The article explores theoretical frameworks that are essential for recognising meaning in education when subjects cannot be put to work.     

Commitment‐‐building approaches to school restructuring: lessons from a longitudinal study

Government‐initiated school restructuring began in the Canadian province of British Columbia in 1989. It was accompanied by significant commitments of new funding for schools and high levels of awareness on the part of central officials about the requirements for effective policy implementation. The content of this restructing mirrored efforts in many other jurisdictions but was exceptionally comprehensive. Results of a four‐year study which examined the processes and consequences of restructuring in local schools are summarized in this paper. The paper identifies six key lessons about productive restructuring processes and outlines a promising image of schools capable of such restructuring. Also proposed is an ‘educative’ approach by governments toward educational reform policy and its implementation.     

Research Abstracts and Bibliographies

ABSTRACT

In the last 15 years, social and community cohesion have become key concepts in European social, migration, and education policy. Although their definitions often remain ambiguous, social and community cohesion typically refer to harmonious coexistence of individuals of all cultural backgrounds within a community. Frequently connected with education at the elementary and secondary level, they are regarded a desirable outcome of compulsory schooling. Drawing on longitudinal data from 2 schools in England, the authors analyze the interplay between national policies of community cohesion and local level practices. In a discussion of the findings, the authors show that, despite the gaps between national policy and local practice, parental and community members’ involvement in school and family education are efficient tools to enhance community cohesion at the local level.     

The teacher ‘problem’: an analysis of the NSW education policy Great Teaching,Inspired Learning

This paper seeks to understand the construction of teachers within one New South Wales education policy, querying this construction in relation to both local and international processes and factors. As such, it also looks to contribute to a growing body of international literature which grapples with the role and nature of neoliberal policy development in education more broadly. To accomplish this, the paper analyses Great Teaching, Inspired Learning (GTIL), a policy with wide-ranging and potentially significant ramifications for teachers. Ultimately it is argued that although aspects of neoliberal thinking are evident in the policy, particularities of context have mediated this push. It is suggested that this has led to a particular neoliberalisation of policy that variously targets and supports individual teachers and the systems and structures surrounding them, while the place of GT IL within both local state politics and the global imaginary is questioned.