Maltese Primary School Teachers’ Experience of Centralised Policies

Maltese State primary school teachers labour under the control of centralised policy‐making. Their experiences of constraint and the coping and pedagogical strategies they subsequently develop, show that these teachers can often subvert even the most rigorous central directives. Moreover, their counter strategies raise many valid objections to the rationality of implementing some of the centralised policies. Whilst not forming an organised pressure group, in their classroom strategies primary school teachers share a commonality of perspective and purpose that can pose a serious threat to the declared objectives of the policy makers. The Maltese case should serve as a caution to those national systems that are now moving from decentralised to centralised forms of educational policy‐making. Since teachers find their own solutions’ to practical curricular and pedagogical constraints in the classroom more effective than those suggested by segments higher up in the implementation staircase, it is posited that policy‐making would be more effective if teachers had a larger part in the process than is possible in a centralised system.     

Neoliberal Education Reform in The Netherlands

Until recently the Dutch education system was determined by the historic compromise of 1917, after which private schools were supported by the state on an equal financial footing to state schools. The consequence of this compromise was a mainly privatised and centralised system with a corporatist policy structure. In the mid-1980s The Netherlands, like other countries, came under the spell of the 'neoliberal revolution'. This article explores the extent to which the management reform carried out under a neoliberal flag has brought about radical changes to the Dutch education system. It especially looks at four key issues set out in that reform: increased autonomy, freedom of choice, privatization and quality control.     

Governance of Higher Education in Britain: The Significance of the Research Assessment Exercises for the Funding Council Model

This article uses the political struggles that have enveloped the research assessment exercises (RAEs) to interpret the UK's current funding council model of governance. Ironically, the apparently widespread improvement in the research performance of British universities, as demonstrated by RAE 2001, has made it more difficult to distribute research income selectively, which was supposedly the central objective of the whole evaluative process. Whilst enhanced research ratings may be seen as a cause for celebration in the universities, the failure to anticipate this outcome and, more significantly, to plan for its financial implications is seen in political circles as a failure of higher education management. The article explores the alternative models of governance that are likely to emerge as a consequence of this crisis and, in particular, whether the funding councils can have much freedom of action, given the tighter political control of policy goals and their critical dependence upon the academic profession for the conduct of the evaluative process.     

Widening participation in higher education with a view to implementing institutional change

In this research informed perspective, I discuss some of the barriers students face during progression to higher education. A crucial role can be played by higher education institutions (HEIs) and other public bodies. I discuss some of the measures taken and critically evaluate these to show how these can be improved. In the absence of a centralised admission system and autonomy exercised by HEIs, it is not clear yet how these targets will be achieved. HEFCE and OFFA play a vital role, but there is further scope towards addressing equality and diversity. This paper discusses some of the ways forward.     

稷下学宫的学术自由精神对当前高等教育的启示

稷下学宫是我国最早的由政府创办的高等学府,其学术自由、鼓励争鸣的办学方针对中国教育发展产生了深远影响。学术自由是现代高等教育发展的必要条件和基本精神,研究稷下学宫学术自由精神的内涵及发展,对目前高等教育学术自由的发展有借鉴意义。     

The freedom of religion and the freedom of education in twenty-first-century Belgium: a critical approach

In spite of recent tendencies of secularisation and religious pluralism, most Belgian schools are Catholic schools, where Roman Catholic religious education is a compulsory subject. As we will argue, this can lead to a de facto undermining of the freedom of religion and education and a shift in the system is therefore required. In the long term, the number of Catholic schools should be in proportion with the number of students/parents choosing these schools. In the short term, however, this strategy is not recommended and for pragmatic reasons, we propose a system in which religious education in substantially subsidised faith-based schools is no longer compulsory. We will argue that such a system does not lead to an infringement of the (internal) freedom of religion of faith-based institutions and that it will guarantee more educational and religious freedom than the current system does.     

制度架构下的道德教育研究

道德的本性是自由的,然而自由的实现是有条件的。由于道德教育不是在真空中展开的．而是在社会的制度架构下超越与提升的,故道德教育不可避免地受到制度的影响和制约,带着制度影响的深深印痕。制度为我们提供了一种稳定的生活与教育环境。制度构成了秩序,道德自由的实现需要秩序的保障。企图逃避制度规约的道德教育,追求不受任何限制和约束的绝对自由,实际上既否定了制度的外部保障作用,也有悖于道德的自由精神．甚至加剧了制度与道德的冲突,其所获自由是有限的,带来的只能是更大的不自由。倘如不能正确处理制度与道德的关系,道德教育就会陷入顾此失彼的窘境：要么是在追求公共秩序中丧失道德自由,要么在追求道德自由中毁坏公共秩序。因此,加强制度架构下制度之于道德教育的必要性、可行性和互动性的研究,于道德教育的理论建设和实践操作．均意义深远。     

The cultural understanding of inclusion and its development within a centralised system

This paper discusses inclusion in relation to centralised systems, in particular the constraints central control makes upon decisions at school level. The discussion is empowered by an evaluative case study research undertaken to understand the development of inclusion in contexts where flexible teaching and curriculum change are sometimes hard to find. In particular, based on a systems approach, this research describes and evaluates an attempt in a Greek primary school to implement inclusive practices, aiming to analyse the problems and prospects of inclusion in a highly centralised system, entirely controlled by the Ministry of Education. The inclusive practices developed in this school were based on a collaborative teacher model, offering new roles to mainstream teachers. The research data come from a diary, group interviews, classroom and meetings observations, and document analysis. The study reveals several obstacles to inclusion, besides the good practices which promote it. The main argument is that a centralised system favours the integration of students with disabilities more than their inclusion.     

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.     

在自由与常规之间——由幼儿园教育活动中的两种典型现象引发的思考

在幼儿园教育活动中,自由与常规是辩证统一的。幼儿的自由不是一种无限扩张的绝对自由,而是在一定纪律、常规之内的自由,良好的常规会给幼儿带来更多的自由,有利于幼儿自由地、富有个性地成长。幼儿园教育应该是自由教育,它具备自主选择性和心灵自由性与平等合作性,注重培养幼儿的责任感。     

Using collaborative action research to achieve school-led change within a centralised education system: perspectives from the inside

ABSTRACT

There are many examples of collaborative action research being used to promote school change. Reflecting on evidence gathered as a result of collaborative inquiry led by a teacher in a primary school in Cyprus over a 3-year period, this paper examines what is involved in using such an approach within a centralised education system. In so doing, it exposes the social and political challenges involved, whilst at the same time throwing light on possibilities for overcoming these problems in order to facilitate school-led change. In this context, frequent staff changes presented particular barriers, and recent increases in migration into the country were seen to add further challenges, whilst at the same time opening up new possibilities for stimulating innovations through collaborative action research.     

Travelling policies and contextual considerations: on threshold criteria

Educational policy borrowing has become rather common in our globalised world. However, the literature lacks contextual criteria that may be employed by researchers and policy makers to assess the correspondence of a particular policy to the local context of a borrowing system. Based on a secondary analysis of documents and research reports, this paper describes the process of policy borrowing in the Israeli and Turkish educational systems. Discrepancies were found between the basic qualities of the borrowed policies and the contextual features and processes that characterise each educational system. The lack of congruency appears to be even deeper in centralised structures where the act of policy setting is done by top-level policy makers who are isolated from local school circumstances. Threshold criteria referring to fundamental considerations during decision making are offered and their theoretical and practical implications for centralised structures are discussed.     

论学生、教师和家长自由的有限性——彼得斯分析教育哲学的伦理学视角

自由具有正当性,但自由是有限的。在学校教育中,学生、教师和家长的自由也是有限的。其伦理学依据表现为:自由原则不是人类生活的唯一原则,人类社会中的一些制度对自由起着限制的作用,自由会受到实际条件的限制,“恐惧自由”心理的作用,自由原则的应用有特定的范围。就学生而言,义务教育的强迫性表明儿童自由是有限的,学校对教学秩序的需求,控制了的教育环境,学生一些要求的“无理性”,以及教师布置的作业和组织的活动决定了学生自由的有限性;就教师自由而言,教育的目的和任务,中小学学生身心发展不同阶段的特殊性.教育考试制度和教师特殊的社会角色,决定了教师自由的有限性;就家长而言,在儿童的义务教育问题上家长没有选择的自由,在子女就学的学校选择中不少家长的自由会受到限制。因此,我们对教育领域中的学生、教师和家长的自由问题必须有清醒的认识,弄清楚在哪些地方允许自由,在哪些地方则应当对自由作适当的限制,不能将自由的概念用错地方,“在不应当给予自由的地方给予了自由,而在应当给予自由的地方又往往不给予自由”。     

试论学生消极自由观的培养

消极自由有别于积极自由的核心在于,它具有确保个人享有不受外力侵犯而免于奴役地位的防御性功能.这对于市民社会中现代政治文明的发展和个人幸福的实现意义重大.当前学校教育中存在一定程度的学生消极自由遭遇贬损而积极自由过度张扬的现实.学校教育必须从消极自由的路向出发,使其制度建设和职能运转符合权利本位原则、普遍主义原则以及程序正义原则,通过学生消极自由观的形塑以涵养其公民品性.     

Issues in Selection for Vocational Education: some lessons from the Queensland experience

Selection for tertiary education is an increasingly problematic issue wherever supply exceeds demand. Intense competition for places in Australian tertiary institutions has led to the development of state centralised selection systems. In Queensland, selection is managed for tertiary institutions by the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC). The system is explained and the benefits and consequences of recent incorporation of technical and further education (TAFE) diplomas into the system analysed. Implications for other education systems facing similar selection pressures are discussed.     

论教育自由

自由与控制是对立统一的关系,学生的发展需要自由也需要控制,无论是自由还是控制,其合理性的标准是促进学生的发展和幸福。教育自由的实现需要具备一些条件,教育者自身要具有自由,培养学生自由能力,提高自律水平,通过建立公正的制度保障自由。     

UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY AND ACADEMIC FREEDOM IN ITALY

The gap between social reality and the Italian higher education system, which is little geared to respond to massive social demand, has had a negative impact on the quality of education. The research institutions are in a similarly difficult situation. Thus it is mandatory that the role and functions of the individual universities and research centres be redefined and properly coordinated. During the tenth Italian legislature, various measures were implemented to initiate the reform of the university and the research system. The role of the state, previously assigned to the Ministry of Public Education and to the Ministry of Coordination of Scientific and Technological Research Projects, has been redefined and reduced, and the principles of university and research autonomy were defined in bills debated in the Parliament, to be followed by a law developing and refining the regulation of this area. The autonomy of the university and of research institutions is never permanent; it must be re‐established from time to time. This need is never more obvious than in the frequent disputes over academic freedom and university autonomy.     

Gold in them there hills? Extracting and using data from existing sources

Abstract

Data residing in institutional and system‐level record systems are often under‐exploited as a resource for decision‐making. Whilst the data might neither have the characteristics, nor meet the quality demanded, of formal research projects, their relative availability offers advantages to the policy‐maker and practitioner. This article illustrates with a number of examples the potential of available data for informing policy and practice at different levels within an education system.     

Learning to teach in the national curriculum context

Learning to teach is a difficult and challenging process for beginning teachers in the national curriculum contexts due to several pressures that the centralised system presents for school and classroom contexts. This study investigated the difficulties beginning middle school mathematics teachers faced in the Turkish national curriculum context without any structured beginning teacher support through the experiences of six beginning teachers. They were interviewed after their first year teaching and after the fourth year or during the fifth year about factors in the national curriculum, school, and classroom contexts that affected their learning to teach. Findings revealed that the national curriculum context interfered with the school and classroom contexts, often by presenting many additional difficulties. The teacher education period seemed to be ineffective in preparing beginning teachers for the difficulties arising from the national curriculum context. Teacher education programmes in centralised systems should provide pre‐service teachers with knowledge of possible difficulties specific to these contexts that they might face in their first years.     

Some Old Wine and Some New Bottles: Religious and Moral Education in New Zealand

Abstract:

This article briefly describes and accounts for the present resurgence of interest in moral education in New Zealand. The tendency has been for moral education to be equated with sex education or religious instruction and the present debate stems in part from the former and spills over into the latter of these and is further complicated by a suggested merger between Church and State schools. The development of present legislation regarding religious instruction is traced and the current situation outlined. Religious and moral education in schools have, in the past, been matters of generally ineffective compromises which are likely to be perpetuated under a highly centralised situation with debate on a national, political level.