Responding to diversity: the challenge of expanding basic education for young people in the south

This article explores the extent to which and how non-formal education (NFE) contributes to the development of a more diversified basic education system and thus to the achievement of EFA. It outlines the current nature of NFE, the frameworks provided by the EFA movement, and the evolution of reflection, policies and practices in NFE in relation to basic education as a whole. Based on significant developments in various countries across the South, the article also discusses some key challenges that ministries of education and their partners need to face in moving towards relevant and equitable diversity in education. The article posits that, despite the many problems faced by NFE, there is justification for building on its experiences and integrating these within a larger policy and systems framework that responds more effectively to needs and circumstances of children and young people.

Quality management in Hungarian higher education: organisational responses to governmental policy

This article focuses on responses of higher education institutions to governmental policy. We investigate the influence of organisational characteristics on the implementation of quality management in Hungarian higher education institutions. Our theoretical framework is based on organisational theories (resource dependency and neo-institutionalism), Allison’s models on organisational decision-making processes, and also addresses some of the more specific characteristics of higher education institutions. Our empirical investigation shows that organisational characteristics matter in policy implementation of quality management in Hungarian higher education. Certain organisational variables, viz. leaders’ commitment to the implementation process, the involvement of external consultants, institutional reputation, and bureaucratic and political decision-making processes have strong effects on the implementation of quality management. Characteristics particular to higher education institutions were much less influential.

The steering of higher education systems: a public management perspective

This article focuses on the steering of higher education systems in the light of political science and public management approaches. It first recalls that an important part of the existing literature on higher education is focused on public policies in terms of reforms and decision-making, while the other part is dedicated to discovering and understanding the policy network or the policy regimes producing these policies. Both perspectives tend to look at higher education as a specific field. By contrast, the authors state that the transformations experienced in higher education are similar to those experienced by other key public services, an can be understood as a redefinition of the role of the nation state in the public generally. They therefore suggest to look at the steering patterns in higher education by investigating the underlying ‘narratives’ of public management reform and their variation or combination from one European nation state to another. Three main narratives of public services reform are discussed: the New Public Management (NPM), the Network governance and the Neo-Weberian narrative. For each narrative, the authors try to predict some ‘signs and symptoms’ that should be observed in higher education. Drawing on this reflection, the authors finally suggest further research perspectives which could be developed.

Political economy of investment in education in South Asia: A reply

This is a reply to the commentary made by James Urwick on my paper ‘The political economy of investment in education in South Asia’ (International Journal of Educational Development 4, 155–166). The original paper discussed the rationality of allocation of resources to and within education in South Asian countries. In this paper I attempt to reply to some of the important issues raised by Urwick regarding my analysis, including choice of indicators and method of analysis. While some of the points raised by Urwick are obvious and some constitute genuine criticism, a large part of the criticism is misleading.     

No shared vision for achieving Education for All: Turkey at risk

Turkey is still far from realizing any of the six EFA goals. Since the Dakar Conference there have been many policy initiatives aiming at improving the quality of Turkish education. The impact and effectiveness of those policy initiatives are yet to be evaluated. The deficit of high quality analytical and empirical research constitutes a major weakness. So does the level of attention on monitoring and evaluation from policymakers. The recent introduction of strategic planning and performance-based budgeting could promote more emphasis on evaluation and monitoring in the coming years. In addition, a transparent, overarching education policy could foster policy dialogue among stakeholders. Overall, this article draws attention to the following critical factors for the EFA success in Turkey: political and economic support for education reform; the need to adopt strategy-oriented sector policies; increased capacity and emphasis on evaluation and accountability of educational policy-making; the need for a new national impetus to improve quality in education.

Science education: a (pending) chapter in the curriculum transformation in Argentina

The article documents the complex process of changing Argentina’s science curriculum and implementing those changes over the last 15 years. It recounts how reformers tackled the challenges of balancing national (federal) unity in education with local (provincial) autonomy from the political, social and pedagogical points of view. It also analyzes various attempts to improve science education in Argentina from the viewpoint of their relevance to current developments in various areas of scientific knowledge and human action. In Argentina the effort to ensure equal opportunities for learners at the federal level led to a strong emphasis on developing Common Basic Contents (CBC) for both primary and secondary education. These contents were seen as fundamental components of the competencies that students need in a world increasingly driven by science and technology. Meanwhile, however, Argentina lacked adequate and sustainable policies and strategies for teacher education and training, which led to an unexpected complication: while the curriculum development process led to diverse and sometimes quite sophisticated curriculum documents, the actual quality of science teaching in the classroom did not improve significantly, and teachers still felt the need for more support before they could effectively implement the new science curriculum. The article ends by suggesting ways in which various stakeholders can work together intensively to improve science education in Argentina, in a new process that will respond to the current situation.

Joe L. Kincheloe: Embracing criticality in science education

This article reviews significant contributions made by Joe L. Kincheloe to critical research in science education, especially through a multimethodological, multitheoretical, and multidisciplinary informed lens that incorporates social, cultural, political, economic, and cognitive dynamics—the bricolage. Kincheloe’s ideas provide for a compelling understanding of, and insights into, the forces that shape the intricacies of teaching and learning science and science education. They have implications in improving science education policies, in developing actions that challenge and cultivate the intellect while operating in ways that are more understanding of difference and are socially just.

Liberalism,Pluralism, and Political Education: Paradox or paradigm?

Inspired by concern about promoting civic participation and preserving the liberal democratic state, political theorists have recently reignited a debate about the nature of political education in a liberal society. These theorists' arguments in favor of teaching toleration are significant for the progress of education reforms currently being debated and implemented in current liberal democracies and some emerging nations. Despite the increasing attention paid to the value of liberal civic education, however, its specific content is typically left virtually blank. This article aims to redress this gap in the literature by developing a coherent and comprehensive (albeit still very general) curriculum for liberal political education. To this end, Section I analyses the nature of the ideal liberal democratic state and develops a general curriculum for liberal political education based on the type of citizens needed to preserve and take advantage of such a state. It concludes by introducing two potentially illiberal outcomes of this curriculum: children's forced development of the capacity for autonomy, and the reduction of diversity in the state. Section II argues that the development of autonomy is actually central to liberal theory and liberal education more broadly conceived, while Section III suggests that civic and social diversity will persist, but rightly play a secondary role to the goals of liberal political education. The article concludes, therefore, with a reassertion of the content and importance of liberal political education.     

Racializing educational change: Melting pot and mosaic influences on educational policy and practice

This article racializes educational change by examining literature on the history of educational approaches to diversity in the United States and Ontario, Canada to demonstrate how their respective national myths for engaging with diversity—the melting pot and mosaic—have impacted their educational policies and practices over three definable eras of educational change. The educational policies and practices of the two countries are evaluated in relation to four significant and—within the existing literature—widely used political and educational strategies for responding to racial and ethnocultural diversity in schools. The paper cautions that the current era of curriculum standardization and high stakes assessments that reflects a melting pot approach to education reinstitutes and reinforces an inequitable vertical mosaic structure of schooling experiences and outcomes for diverse student populations. It urges policy makers to consider how the current movement toward post-standardization, which reflects a mosaic approach, is presently influencing educational policy and practice in international contexts and achieving more just and effective learning outcomes for diverse student groups.

Mentoring College Students: A Critical Review of the Literature Between 1990 and 2007

In response to the mounting national support provided to mentoring programs and initiatives in higher education, the present article updates a review article written by Jacobi (Rev Educ Res 61(4):505–532, 1991). The article revisits the mentoring literature in an attempt to re-frame and update the definition and characteristics of mentoring provided by Jacobi. It also synthesizes and critically analyzes empirical literature specific to mentoring college students published between 1990 and 2007. Finally, the article presents broad theoretical perspectives of mentoring from the business, psychology and education literature in preface to a proposed theoretical framework specific to mentoring college students. The article concludes with specific recommendations to advance the mentoring literature.

“We Cooperate,or We Die”: Sustainable Coexistence in Terry Pratchett’s <Emphasis Type="Italic">The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents</Emphasis>

This article examines Terry Pratchett’s The Amazing Maurice as a modern example of environmentally informed social dreaming about sustainable coexistence. In our increasingly ecologically-conscious world sustainability and coexistence have become key words in the discourse about social, economic and political relations. The problem of relating to what lies beyond the human, however, remains a challenge. This article argues that this problem is central to Pratchett’s novel, making it a serious commentary on ecoliteracy and ecodesign. The Amazing Maurice, it is claimed, is a work with a transformative purpose. It suggests that cooperation and coexistence are workable beyond what we assume to be their limits.

‘Efficiency’ and ‘Vocationalism’ as Structuring Principles of Industrial Education in the USA

The aim of this paper, based on a comparative viewpoint from an European outsider perspective, is to present a brief historical reconstruction of the pedagogical and educational political discussion about education for the industrial sector in America. The discussion was triggered by the emerging idea that one of the principal tasks of education should be to prepare youth most effectively for their upcoming work life. It followed that the constitution and role of the American schools to achieve this purpose were widely debated early in the twentieth century by eminent pedagogues. Some of these pedagogues argued for an American education system that also developed vocational abilities and skills, whereas others favoured only the development of general knowledge. During the course of this dispute, across the first half of the twentieth century, other key issues were brought forward such as whether this much vaunted vocational education should be enacted in comprehensive schools or whether other kinds of schools should be established for these purposes. Furthermore, another model that resembled the German vocational system was also proposed through this period. However, ultimately and unlike in Germany, a dual model of vocational education and training characterised by an interlocking of school-based instruction and workplace training has not managed to establish itself as a discrete educational sector in America. Currently, education for industry is provided mainly in schools and tends to be oriented towards the criteria of efficiency and vocationalism.

The profitable adventure of threatened middle-class families: an ethnographic study on homeschooling in South Korea

South Korean society in the late 1990s was confronted with socio-economic setbacks and discursive turbulence concerning the quality of education being provided. It was at such a particular historical juncture of South Korean society that I conducted ethnographic research on homeschooling families. Based on field data collected from four homeschooling families, this article examines how lower middle-class families at first manifested their education fever in an unprecedented adoption of homeschooling, and then returned their children to school within the same socio-cultural context. Central to this article’s analysis is what members of these middle-class families, especially children, experienced during the homeschooling period, and how parents negotiated their rationale for homeschooling and returning their children to school within contesting discourses (e.g., deschooling and neo-liberalism). As will be shown, despite experiencing difficulties in pursuing a self-fashioned education in a school-centered society, the families benefited from homeschooling in terms of acquiring “neo-liberal” mentalities for survival without risking their established socio-cultural status. As such, this article reconfirms the ambivalent characteristics of the alternative education movement in South Korea and its inevitable connection with the middle-class habitus embedded in the South Korean socio-cultural context.

Traveling with and through your backpack: a personal reflection on the infrastructure of science education

In this paper I respond to Ajay Sharma’s Portrait of a Science Teacher as a Bricoleur: A case study from India, by speaking to two aspects of the bricoleur: the subject and the discursive in relation to pedagogic perspective. I highlight that our subjectivities are negotiated based on the desires of the similar and competing discourses we are exposed to, and the political powers they hold in society. As (science) teachers we modify our practices based upon our own internal arbitrations with discourses. I agree with Sharma that as teachers we are discursively produced, however, I suggest that what is missing in the discussion of his paper is the historically socially constructed nature of science or science education itself. I advocate that science education is not neutral, objective or unproblematic. Building on Gill and Levidow’s (Anti-racist science teaching, 1987) critique, it is precisely because we are socially constructed by the dominant hegemonic science education discourse that we rarely articulate the underlying political or economic priorities of science; science’s appropriation of other cultural ways of knowing; the way science theory has been, or is used to justify the oppression of peoples for political gain; the central role science and technology play in the defensive, economic and political agendas of nations and multinational corporations who fund science; the historical, and contemporary role science plays in rationalizing an exploitative ideological perspective towards the more-than-human world and the natural environment; and finally, the alienating effect science has on students when used as a ranking and sorting mechanism by educational systems. Therefore, we need to do what Mr. Raghuvanshi could not imagine: we need to destabilize the foundations of science education by questioning inherent structural and ideological inequities.

Hard-pressed to achieve the EFA goals by 2015 in the Philippines

The Philippines has experienced a setback in its progress towards EFA 2015 Goals. In particular, a decline in primary and secondary education performance indicators and a widening gap between boys’ and girls’ performance were noted. While the present policy environment in the country has been conducive to education reforms, a lack of political will, discontinuity in education leadership and an inability to capitalize on proven educational innovations and major programmes/projects are likely to further undermine EFA progress. The country must immediately introduce efficient and effective measures to arrest this trend. The government must also return to social marketing among all stakeholders, emphasizing the long-term benefits of basic education.

Introduction to the Open File

After briefly describing the emergence and evolution of the global movement toward Education for All (EFA), the Introduction discusses the difficulties of employing target goals to bring about significant policy change and educational transformation. The article then presents a comprehensive overview of the uneven progress towards EFA since 2000, both across regions and within countries, but also across the six goals themselves. The final section outlines the priority steps to be taken by international agencies, national governments, civil society and donors to support EFA in the years to come.

The new student loan system in Chile’s higher education

Chile’s higher education system stands out as being one of the most privatized and open to the market in the world. Recently, the Chilean Congress passed Law # 20.027 of 2005, which provides the legal framework for the creation of a student loan system guaranteed both by the State and by higher education institutions (HEIs), financed by the private capital market through the securitization of the loans. The system operated for the first time in 2006, where approximately 21,000 students were able to access financing of their higher education for the remainder of their careers. It is expected that as the system matures, more and better information will be available, which will benefit the students and the HEIs; and it is highly likely that the current number of financed students could grow significantly in the next few years. The purpose of this article is to describe the outstanding characteristics of this system, explain its conceptual basis and analyze the public policy choices available in its design.

A roadblock to social justice? An analysis and critique of the South African education Roadmap

The article provides an analysis and critique of contemporary debates concerning the quality of education in South Africa from a social justice perspective. In particular the article focuses on the Education Roadmap which has gained support from a range of stakeholders in South Africa including key members of the newly elected government. The Education Roadmap is considered in relation to dominant approaches to understanding education quality within the education literature, namely the human capital and human rights based approaches. It is argued that the Roadmap shares characteristics of both approaches although it is particularly influenced by the former. The article sets out an alternative approach based on social justice principle that, whilst developing and extending aspects of dominant approaches, is considered pertinent because it articulates with historical struggles around education in South Africa. It is suggested that although the Roadmap demonstrates limited characteristics of a social justice approach, it falls short in other key aspects and it is these aspects that must form the basis for ongoing struggles for a more equitable education system.     

Judicial Splits: The Supreme Court’s New Message for Education

When the Supreme Court pronounces on race and education it makes headlines. On 28 June 2007 the Supreme Court revealed its long-anticipated decisions on Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 and Meredith v. Jefferson County, proving that maneuvering the minefield of America’s race relations is just as difficult and divisive as it has ever been. In this carefully constructed essay, George R. La Noue examines the details of these cases and the implications of their decisions on K–12 and higher education. The future role of race in admissions, scholarships, hiring, classes, housing, recruiting, and contracting are all discussed. Facts may be stubborn things, but for some justices constitutional law seems to be infinitely malleable. Divisions in the Supreme Court place increased importance on state constitutional initiatives. Professor La Noue warns that from a political standpoint, Americans need to reaffirm our core value that individuals have the right not be discriminated on the basis of race.