Trends in Tertiary Education.‐ Some Australian & Canadian Comparisons

The experience of public sector reform in Victoria demonstrates that the traditional organisational culture in public service agencies did not fit easily with changing demands made by public administration. A new approach to personnel management was essential to the success of the reform programme implemented in Victoria.

This is an important idea for it involved keeping many different types of organisations viable and effective in the 1980s.

This paper examines important general trends as they might impact on personnel management in the knowledge industry. It suggests that some of the traditional approaches to personnel management need to be re‐examined and re‐appraised.     

Creating Our Future in an Age of Transformation Originally published in 1994, PIQ 7.3

There is a growing realization that many of our social systems and organizations are out-of-sync with the new realities of the recently emerged post-industrial, information/knowledge age. These new realities are touching the lives of every individual, every family and community, the host of organizations of our public and private sectors, and our overall society. They affect the future of humanity as a whole. Questions arise. What are these new realities? What are the meanings of societal transformations? What is our role in facing the massive changes that confront us today? Are we only spectators of these changes? Are we their victims? Are we at the mercy of others who control these changes and the experts who design systems for us? Or is it up to us to shape our future and create and recreate the systems to which we belong? What kind of capacities and capabilities should we develop that will allow us to design our own lives, shape our systems, and give direction to the evolution of our communities, our organizations, and our society? I have struggled and worked with these questions over the last three decades. They have been the focus of my research and teaching. I explore these questions in this paper in order to define an approach—the systems design approach—by which we can individually and collectively create a better future for ourselves, our families, our communities and our society while enhancing human performance, adding value to our organizations, and most importantly, creating just and ethical systems for future generations.     

University entrepreneurial performance: A Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

As key players in innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems, Higher Education Institutions (HEI) assume a position as catalysts in creating and disseminating knowledge with repercussions in the societal, economic, political and innovation environments. In this scenario, HEI are facing the need to balance the performance of their traditional missions—teaching and research—with the pursuit of entrepreneurial performance. This brings awareness of the need to pay particular attention to HEI entrepreneurial performance (HEIEP) and how to measure it. Based on HEInnovate, a self-assessment tool resulting from a joint effort of the European Community and the OECD, this study aims to explore the benefits of university entrepreneurial metrics, analysing HEIEP as a discriminant function of the HEInnovate dimensions complemented with a qualitative approach using Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). The analysis provides valuable details, presenting recipes based on the HEInnovate dimensions or combinations of dimensions to achieve a mission legitimation. This research brings awareness to the use of the HEInnovate scale, where it is possible to highlight the importance of the digital transformation and capability dimension to entrepreneurial performance (EP) and university mission legitimation.     

The Measurement of Progress and the Role of Education

Some talk of well-being, others of sustainable development, and some of progress. They may differ in their terminology, but those who preach these ideas are part of a growing global consensus — a consensus that believes societies need to look beyond Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to develop a more holistic view of the directions in which they are heading. The strength of the consensus is evidenced by the thousands of initiatives worldwide that seek to measure societal progress. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is advocating and supporting this work through its Global Project on Measuring the Progress of Societies. The article focuses on two areas.

• • Global views on measuring progress and well-being. Why do increasingly many people consider that measuring progress and well-being is important? What are they trying to achieve and is any agreement emerging around what ‘well-being’ is and how it can be measured?
• • Education and well-being. Do, and should, measures of ‘education’ play a role in any set of key indicators that seek to assess societal well-being? And what are the links between how educated a society is and how, indeed whether, it is progressing against other key economic, social and environmental concerns?

     

澳大利亚高校本科教学绩效评估之管窥

澳大利亚联邦教育、科学与培训部及相关教育机构对本科教学质量进行评估的重要方式之一是针对全体毕业生进行绩效评估。本文介绍了澳大利亚全国性的绩效评估工具,着重描述了联邦教育、科学与培训部结果绩效指标的数据来源、处理和应用,并就这种评估所存在的问题进行了阐述。     

Talkin’ bout a revolution: the call for transformation and reform in Indigenous education

The areas of concern (‘goals’, ‘domains’ and ‘priority areas’—whatever policymakers wish to call them) relating to Indigenous education have not changed since the first National Indigenous education policy in 1989. Deficit discourses, discursive trickery and the inability to report progress continues to demoralise and ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students remain at the lower rungs of educational outcome indicators maintaining societal and institutional constructs. In this paper, I argue that there is a need to dramatically reform the approach to Indigenous education transforming the hegemonic positioning assumed by the coloniser. Essentially, this would take a revolution: a revolutionary transformation of institutional and societal constructs; a cognitive awareness of how language and discourses are used to maintain power and a need to privilege Indigenous voices and knowledges to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights in education are achieved.     

Classroom teacher effectiveness research and inquiry,and its relevance to the development of public education policy: an Australian context

This paper has as its focus an analysis of the question and problem of classroom teacher effectiveness research and inquiry. It presents an examination of what counts as valid and worthwhile research in classroom teacher effectiveness studies for the development of education policy within an Australian context, the State of Victoria. The Government’s Blueprint, the major education policy document of the Victorian State Labour Government, outlines its educational approach. Important and core features of government direction for education policy include a focus on social and economic disadvantage. A priority for the Victorian State Labour Government is tangible and measurable improvement in the performance of the public education system. A particular concern is the problem of academic underperformance within public schools, particularly those designated as low-performing and situated in socially and economically disadvantaged communities. Building the capacity of the State’s teacher workforce forms a key component of the Blueprint, and State Government direction in public education. The paper utilises a qualitative theoretical framework. Eight education policy actor/participants were interviewed and their responses analysed using a critical discourse approach. The main findings indicate that education policy actors advocate a strong belief in particular forms of evidence-based research for the development of education policy in the area of classroom teacher effectiveness.     

构建公共教育支出绩效评价指标体系的研究

教育支出绩效评价是现代公共教育管理的核心制度,其推行的难点在于如何建立一套指标科学度量教育支出的绩效。本文从绩效评价的内涵出发,根据教育本身的特殊性,构建了一套能全面有效度量教育支出绩效的指标体系。     

Development of an instrument to measure technology studies teachers' attitudes to environmental and social issues

An important issue in the development and implementation of technology education curricula in Victoria is the extent to which environmental and societal issues related to technology are being addressed in the teaching of technology studies. This paper reports on the preliminary phases of a study which is intended to evaluate these aspects of technology education and describes the development of an instrument for use with practising year 11 and 12 technology studies teachers. The instrument sets out to measure teachers' attitudes towards (1) environmental and societal issues and (2) whether such issues should be taught within technology studies, as well as to investigate the extent to which such issues are actually taught in practice. In order to develop the initial version of the instrument, twenty practising technology studies teachers in Victoria were interviewed in order to ascertain their ideas about environmental and societal issues as well as to gather some initial data on the major questions.     

Developing and testing a method to measure academic societal impact

This paper aims to extend understanding of the business and societal impact of academic research. From a business school perspective, it has taken stock of the role of academic research and relevance in business and society. The proposed conceptual framework highlights the forces influencing the pursuit of academic rigour and relevance in scholarly outputs. A theoretical model for measuring the societal impact of academic journal articles—the Academic Rigour and Relevance Index (AR2I)—was developed. This index comprises six key parameters, which are assessed by three stakeholder groups connected with academic research into business issues, these groups being: business practitioners, society and academics. The behaviour of the AR2I model was evaluated using the Monte Carlo simulation model. Taking into account the relationships between the standard deviations and the differences of classification between articles with different levels of rigour and relevance, it is demonstrated that the AR2I model is an effective tool.     

“双一流”建设背景下高等教育高质量发展指标研究

创新驱动高质量发展是高等教育发展的未来,也是“双一流”建设质量发展指标研究的关键。在筛选和找出“双一流”建设质量的关键绩效指标(KPI)的基础上,提出了三个步骤的技术路线:一是分析影响因素,且按其重要性进行排列;二是按重要程度不同而精选出关键影响要素和绩效指标;三是更加重视整体研究和相关性研究,促进“以评促建”功能的实现。最后,对其中几个关键绩效指标(KPI)进行较为详细的诠释,包括高等教育毛入学率、生师比、学术声誉调查等。     

地方政府政策执行偏差及控制：基于政府自利性的视角

公共政策制定是公共政策执行的前提。政策执行作为政策运行过程的中间环节,是将政策从理念转化为现实的过程,是政策成败的关键。现阶段我国地方政府还存在不同程度的政策执行偏差问题。究其根源,主要在于地方政府部门、政府官员本身也是具有特殊利益取向的自利性主体。因此,从政府自利的角度出发,深入探讨地方政府政策执行偏差的原因,对于规范地方政府的行为、保障公共政策的有效执行乃至提高政府的公信力和执行力,都具有理论意义和现实意义。     

Narrative-based evaluation demonstrates the value of a higher education professional learning network

Assessing and demonstrating value for money to agencies funding professional learning networks is a universal challenge. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a narrative-based approach to evaluation called story-building that can be employed to complement other more traditional approaches to evaluation. Story-building goes beyond the anecdotal by constructing individual reflective stories, a collective story and a value creation story that are authentic and resonate with stakeholders because they tap into the specific and particular knowledge of practitioners. A key characteristic which sets story-building apart from other approaches is that it collects and collates both individual and collective evidence of a network’s impact from different sources. Members of the New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory Promoting Excellence Network created and implemented this rigorous approach to evaluation and found story-building to be an effective practice to demonstrate the value and impact of a network.     

Accounting for the gender gaps in student performance in reading and mathematics: evidence from 31 countries

In most countries, girls perform better than boys in reading but worse in mathematics. However, there is much variation between countries. Explanations for the gender gaps include the organisation of the school system, students' expectations and macro‐societal factors. The purpose of this paper is to account for gender differences in both reading and mathematics among 15‐year‐old students using data from the OECD's 2000 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) project. In most countries, school system factors are associated with the gender gap in reading but not in mathematics. Generally, gender differences in students' occupational expectations do not account for the gender gaps, although expectations contribute to the gender gaps in reading in New Zealand and the United States. Although several macro‐societal factors—the proportion of women in the workforce, societal inequality and public sector spending—are associated with the gender gap in reading, the correlations are only moderate, unstable and, importantly, are not associated with the gender gaps in mathematics. The much stronger association between the gender gaps in reading and mathematics across countries implies that they are both influenced by policy: the extent that countries have successfully implemented policies to promote the educational outcomes of girls and young women. In such countries the gender gap in mathematics is small or non‐existent but the gender gap in reading is relatively large. Policies shift both gender gaps in tandem.     

A Very Scottish Affair: Catholic education and the State

This paper draws on key features of Scottish religious and political history as the backdrop to understanding the very particular place occupied by Catholic education in Scotland. This place, it is suggested, is quite different from that of religiously denominated schooling in other parts of the United Kingdom and is subject to a more comprehensive and sustained critique from politicians, academics and the media. Some of the criticisms levelled partake in general philosophical criticisms of publicly funded denominational schooling but are refracted through the lens of Scottish cultural history. The paper outlines three key issues worthy of reflection—divisiveness, church rights to approval of teachers and identity within the polity. It goes on to suggest that much of the opposition to the continued existence of such schools has philosophically and empirically weak foundations but that for Catholic schooling to continue to make a meaningful contribution to the polity it must remain ethically and culturally distinctive, while developing a self-critical sense and a willingness to be involved in the wider public conversation.     

AGRARIAN JUSTICE: THOMAS PAINE'S SOCIAL SECURITY PROGRAM OF 1797

The United States social security program is in trouble today not only because of scarce resources and double‐digit inflation but also because the American people are returning to an eighteenth century concept of government as the oppressor rather than the benefactor of society. Moreover, it is widely claimed—and believed—that the program is poorly managed and actuarially unsound, and that the entire system is likely to collapse long before those who are presently contributing to it will qualify as recipients of its benefits.

The thesis of this paper is that unless educational gerontologists and others who are interested in the welfare of the elderly make a special effort to inform Congress and the people of the consequences of changes in the present law, it is likely that significant changes will occur in the 1980s that will affect the Hues of millions of Americans. The authors contend that many of the same societal conditions exist today that existed when the Social Security Act of 1935 was passed. To dismantle, or even to remodel, the present structure, without a very extensive and very careful study of alternatives and consequences, would be disastrous not only to the elderly, but to the nation as well.     

Effects and side effects of inspections and accountability in education: an overview of empirical studies

This paper presents an overview of studies into effects and side effects of control mechanisms in education. We focus on effects and side effects of inspection visits and public performance indicators. A first conclusion is that the studies do not provide us with a clear answer to the question of whether inspections have positive causal effects on the quality of schools. Results of studies of publications on public performance indicators are more unambiguous. They lead us to the conclusion that although principals and teachers believe performance indicators are important, parents and pupils take very little notice of these indicators when choosing schools. A third conclusion concerns the occurrence of side effects of school inspections and other control mechanisms in education. Several of the studies discussed clearly refer to the existence of these side effects, such as ‘window dressing’ and other types of ‘gaming’.     

Practicing masterful performance technology: Classic symphony or modern jazz

Senior performance technologists often take on real societal challenges, with enormous multilevel needs and minuscule funding. Front‐end assessment is conducted under demanding time frames with small teams. Successfully isolating critical gaps and formulating realistic solutions requires a melding of science and art. This article traces the author's journey to blend early military intelligence techniques with classical HPT methods—defining a craft approach to assessment likened to performance technology jazz.     

乡村振兴战略背景下民族地区公共文化建设研究——以峨山县为例

随着我国的快速城镇化,城乡差距日趋明显,不仅体现在经济发展水平上,也体现在城乡公共文化建设水平上。党的十九大提出"乡村振兴战略",正是基于这一特殊时代背景。公共文化建设是乡村振兴战略的组成部分,是农村经济扶贫之外的另一个重要工作,其中偏远民族地区的公共文化建设相对落后,是"文化扶贫"的重点。本文针对民族地区——峨山彝族自治县的公共文化建设进行调查研究,发现该地区公共文化建设取得了一定成效,但依然存在普遍性的问题,需要从增强文化产品供给率、提高供给效率和重视绩效评估等方面进行优化。     

Foucault and Human Rights: Seeking the Renewal of Human Rights Education

This article takes up Foucault's politics of human rights and suggests that it may constitute a point of departure for the renewal of HRE, not only because it rejects the moral superiority of humanism—the grounding for the dominant liberal framework of international human rights—but also because it makes visible the complexities of human rights as illimitable and as strategic tools for new political struggles. Enriching human rights critiques has important implications for HRE, precisely because these critiques prevent the dominance of unreflexive and unproductive forms of HRE that lead toward a declarationalist, conservative and uncritical approach. It is argued that Foucault's critical affirmation of human rights—that is, an approach which is neither a full embrace nor a total rejection—provides a critique that can be disruptive to the conventional HRE approach and creates openings that might renew HRE, both politically and pedagogically.