Think Tanks, ‘policy experts’ and ‘ideas for’ education policy making in Australia

This paper provides a case study of the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) in Australia with a focus on its education policy work, specifically the report, School funding on a budget (SFoB). CIS is a conservative right wing advocacy think tank, established in 1976 in the aftermath of the Whitlam government’s policy activism, framed by classical liberalism or neoliberalism with a provenance in the political economy of Hayek and Friedman. As such, it is committed to smaller government, individual responsibility and more market driven solutions to social problems. CIS gives more emphasis to academic research than other think tanks of its kind. This paper theorises think tanks as hybrid, boundary spanning organisations that work across academic, media, political and economic fields. An argument is proffered that it is the restructured state, with its loss of research capacity and fast policy making, which has strengthened opportunities for think tank influence across the policy cycle in education. With SFoB, CIS used a political moment, the first Abbott federal government budget focused on ‘budget repair’, to argue a case for reducing government educational expenditure as a percentage of GDP in the long term. That policy moment was used for recommending the abolition of the federal department of education and further dismantling of public schooling. SFoB is shown to be exemplary of the conservative advocacy think tank report genre in its usage of ‘mediatized’ language, surface accoutrements of academic research, and user focus. SFoB is a manifestation of what can be seen as the ideas for policy work of CIS, dressed up as research.     

Orchestrating policy ideas: philanthropies and think tanks in US education policy advocacy networks

While think tanks are a global phenomenon, their role in shaping US policy offers an instructive example of think tank influence on policymaking due to the immensity of resources directed towards those ends, with education policy serving as a prime example. Focusing on a distinct set of “incentivist” education policies, this analysis describes the think tank-philanthropy linkage in US education policymaking. We offer examples of how philanthropists provide financial, empirical and political resources to advance think tanks’ policy ideas through advocacy networks; describe the multiple functions performed through advocacy networks of intermediary organisations, noting the diffusion of form and function around tasks such as knowledge production, political and media support; and we highlight the ways in which US venture philanthropists and think tanks connect around “idea orchestration” in order to advance ideas in policy processes. We suggest that, especially in the realm of incentivist policies, think tanks do not appear to produce or incubate but rather promote ideas, and actually often only a single idea. The concluding discussion considers advantages evident in idea orchestration and the implications of private control of public policymaking.     

智库对美国外交决策的影响方式及原因探究

20世纪末,在美国国内国际事务日益复杂的大背景下,智库蓬勃发展并且在美国外交决策中担任重要角色。这些智库在具有传统智库特征的同时,也有着自身明显的特色,按职能标准将美国智库分为学术智库、游说智库和合同智库三种。由于美国政府决策的各阶段、各层次决策主体特点的不同,智库有针对性地采取诸如组建专业总统竞选团队、"旋转门"效应、利用大众传媒引导和教育公众、利用人脉和专有渠道举行学术会议、发布会以及午餐会、出版刊物、发布报告提供外交思想和政策建议等方式施加影响。智库对美国外交决策施加多种影响是由美国政治制度、政治传统及智库本身特点决定的。美国智库近年来出现了在数量上不断增加、研究议题多样化、工作网络日益国际化及与政府政策联系日益紧密的趋势,这些趋势使得智库研究外交政策的范围更加广泛。可以预见,美国智库在外交决策研究中的重要性和影响力将在今后进一步增强。     

新闻事实的选择不可忽视道德评价

传播主体对新闻事实的选择,是最终形成报道的关键。新闻传播行为在道德意义上的本质表现如何,突出体现在所选择的新闻事实是否符合社会道德规范和要求;社会对新闻传播活动如何进行道德掌握,这又必然要重视对新闻事实选择行为及其对象作出道德评价。社会、他人和传播主体的这种道德评价,决定着新闻媒体广布于社会公众的新闻事实信息的道德价值的有无和大小。     

The use and abuse of research in the public domain

In Australia, education think tanks have become increasingly influential in policy circles through ‘reports’ to government, and in public debate through the mainstream media. Invariably think-tanks draw on educational research to lend authority and legitimacy to their work. This is desirable if the research deepens understandings about important educational issues. However, it can be dangerous if it is enlisted to serve a specific ideology. This paper takes a case study of an avowedly conservative think-tank in Australia—the Education Standards Institute (ESI)—to explore the ways in which research is (mis)used in the service of a particular ideology in the public sphere. To sharpen the case study, the paper focuses on a contemporary policy issue in Australia—Independent Public Schools. It is argued that over a prolonged period of time the ESI Director has argued for an extreme version of school autonomy which goes far beyond anything which has yet been proposed by policy-makers in Australia. In so doing he uses the imprimatur of research evidence to substantiate his claims. The paper explores the many flaws in the ways in which educational research is employed to bolster the case. Education research should play a central role in informing public discussions and debates about education policy. It should not be used as a front for sloganeering for particular ideologies, and educational researchers have an important role to play in pointing this out.     

Amplifying organisational discourses to the public: Media narratives of Teach For Australia, 2008–2020

Alternative teacher education programmes have emerged in many countries as a new approach to recruiting, educating and placing teachers in underperforming schools. The media plays an important role in framing perceptions of these programmes and their teachers, including in Australia, but this has not been the subject of significant research to date. This study examines how one alternative teacher education programme—Teach For Australia (TFAus)—has been positioned and framed within the news media since its inception. It critically analyses the portrayal of TFAus and concomitant educational discourses to explore their connection to larger issues surrounding teacher education and teaching quality. Drawing on an analysis of 122 print/online media articles, we identify narratives related to prestige, benevolence and the ‘alternative’ nature of the programme, alongside a narrative critical of TFAus. Despite this critical narrative, in investigating and opening up a dialogue on the perceptions and depictions of TFAus, we posit that the programme—although controversial in nature—has generally benefited from print media coverage, advancing its reputation as a major contributor to education reform and champion of educational equity.     

德国高等教育国际化智库:职能、特点与启示

近年来,德国高等教育国际化的稳步、快速发展与德国高等教育国际化智库的贡献密不可分。德国高等教育国际化智库主要有两大类:一类是高校的高等教育研究机构;另一类是社会基金会成立的高等教育研究机构。德国高等教育国际化智库独立运作,依托高校,又与国家保持紧密联系,对高等教育国际化理论、应用和管理开展深入研究,打造跨学科、国际化合作平台,并建立数据库,以信息化方式辐射社会。     

#ThisisanEducationElection: The Changing Role of Media in Education Organizing

In November 2011, a coalition of New York City (NYC) education organizers and advocacy groups launched the PS2013 campaign to place public education at the center of the 2013 mayoral race. Activists developed a complex and situated communications strategy to influence a new space of political engagement, namely mayoral elections. This article is empirically grounded in a qualitative case study of the media strategies of the two-year PS2013 campaign to transform dominant discourse market-based school reform. I document and critically examine a fluid and strategic repertoire of media technologies and tactics deployed by education activists used to communicate with corporate news media, mayoral candidates, as well as their own constituencies and allies. In this way, the paper contributes to the critical scholarship on the role of media in contemporary education organizing against neoliberal education reform.     

Media relations and universities: an assessment of digital newsrooms

Reviews of editorial practices and academic studies have shown that journalists often rely on organization websites—and online newsrooms in particular—to inform news stories. Yet, at a time when many academics are called upon as experts by the media, university newsrooms have been ignored. To fill this gap, this study assesses newsrooms of universities to determine whether they are providing adequate resources to cover the institution or identify experts. Previous research demonstrated higher ranked Fortune 500 companies have more comprehensive newsrooms, potentially putting them at an advantage when it comes to news coverage. To better understand whether disparities exist among the top US institutions, this study features a content analysis of the newsrooms of the top 202 universities ranked by U.S. News & World Report. Findings show that although higher ranked universities typically feature more comprehensive newsrooms, universities at all levels are missing opportunities to provide journalists with information necessary to cover the university, thus limiting visibility to outside stakeholders. The most common features were internally written news stories and links to social media. Resources specifically for journalists were less common. Assessing newsrooms is valuable because they influence media coverage, which can improve credibility and perceived external prestige.     

推进省级教育研究机构向教育智库转型的若干思考

当前,我国迫切需要加快建设一批高水平的教育智库,而推进省级教育研究机构向教育智库转型,是落实中央重大战略部署、推进省域教育科学发展以及提升其自身生存发展能力的现实需要和必然选择。省级教育研究机构向教育智库转型,既具有得天独厚的优势,也存在亟待解决的问题,需要着力推进以下六个方面的工作:一是重建研究范式,实现"四个转变";二是凝练方向,打造高水平特色研究团队;三是加强协同创新,推出一批有重要影响的成果;四是凝聚力量,建立完善的智库工作体系;五是加强信息化平台建设,增强大数据时代研究能力;六是优化内外部体制机制,构建有利于教育智库发展的制度环境。     

美国教育政策循证研究的理论与实践:对中国的启示

文章对2002-2017年间美国教育和政策研究领域中12种有代表性的学术期刊的研究论文类型和发表要求进行了可视化分析,基于美国教育政策领域中循证研究兴起的背景、证据类型和证据链检验标准,提出我国教育政策制定和研究过程中应重视循证研究理念,提高教育决策质量;加强教育政策智库建设,保证高质量的政策证据;政策类学术期刊重视循证研究,提升教育研究的科学性和权威性。     

Introduction

This paper conceptualises think tanks and edu-businesses in relation to education policy work in the Australian polity. It situates the enhanced influence of both in relation to the restructured state, which has lost some key capacities in relation to the generation of research and ideas for policy. This restructuring has been strongly influenced by the techniques of new public management, the auditing of education through national and international testing and new forms of network governance, which have opened up spaces for the increased influence of think tanks and edu-businesses across the policy cycle in education. We see here the workings of a ‘polycentric state’. The paper also considers changing concepts of ‘evidence’, ‘expertise’ and ‘influence’ in respect of the involvement of think tanks and edu-businesses in circulating policy ideas and affecting policy development in Australian education. This introduction to this special issue of The Australian Educational Researcher serves as a provocation to further research on this new policy scenario.     

A study of education policy research at the Brookings Institution

This paper reports a study of the education policy research efforts at the Brookings Institution, a leading non-profit public policy research organization (think tank) in the United States. The data for this study was derived from on-site interviews, the Brookings Institution library as well as archival materials. The on-site interviews took place during the summer of 1996, and focused on contextual factors, including a review of research efforts in education policy at Brookings. The data from the interviews and those from the library and archival collections were analyzed in conjunction with each other. The findings of this study show that the Brookings Institution has a long history of involvement in education policy research in the United States. The findings also reveal that a number of factors work together in policy research efforts at Brookings, including a progressive trend of involvement in education policy over time, availability of a critical concentration of scholars with some degree of interest in education reform, and an organizational climate conducive to research on innovative education policies. The latter includes a sense of cohesiveness, and mutual understanding and respect between the scholars and administrators. Strong administrative support, as well as technical support for research and dissemination of research findings, are key factors. These findings should help educational researchers, policy makers and administrators gain a clear picture of the role of a leading public policy research organization in education reform, and provide a basis for researching the role of think tanks in education policy.     

简论隐性采访

当今，在新闻媒体上使用偷拍偷录等隐性手段进行采访比较普遍，已经引起了公众和学界的广泛关注。有的人认为这种采访方式满足了受众的知情权，增强了舆论监督的力度。但有人认为这是一种不合理的采访方法，侵害了某些人或团体的利益与隐私，甚至有诱导犯罪的嫌疑，应当禁止。     

新闻束报集束式多元事实的新闻叙事

新闻束报其实是主题性报道的一种叙事方式.是编辑将来自各方面彼此独立的新闻,根据新闻主题需要和以构成完整社会画面、彰显一种宏大社会氛围的目的出发,撷取众多新闻中最具新闻价值和传播价值的事实所进行的综合性的新闻叙事.目前,理论界对其研究较少,媒体实践又大多处于随意的状态,深入研究并进行理论梳理,寻求新闻传播规律,用于指导新闻实践,对于改造主流媒体的新闻面相,提高主流媒体的传播力和影响力具有重要价值.     

我国司法报道中的异化现象及其克服

司法报道是法制新闻报道的重要分支,一方面为受众提供司法活动的信息,对社会公众进行法制教育;另一方面又是监督司法,维护司法公正和透明的重要力量。但是司法报道中的异化现象却颠覆着司法报道的重要价值,使之成为零价值甚至负价值。本文以司法报道为切入点,将媒体审判、新闻侵权、媒体失语和司法报道娱乐化全部归纳到司法报道中的异化现象这一范畴,从新闻学、传播学和法学的多学科视野下研究我国司法报道中的异化现象,并从法制建设、传媒与司法的沟通以及媒体自律等多个层面提出了克服这些异化现象的措施。     

Liquid subjects: news media and public political pedagogy

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between news media and political education within consumer society. We argue that political education today needs to be understood as part of consumerism and media culture, in which individuals selectively expose themselves to and scrutinize various media representations not only of political issues, but also of political subjectivity and action. Individuals learn about how they might become political and act politically through their engagements with the news, in the context of the characteristics of liquid modernity, namely consumer culture, individualization, and choice. When examined through a lens of public pedagogy, political education becomes intertwined with consumer culture and the role of media in the education and socialization of political subjectivity. In this paper, we look at one example of the relationship between news and the education of political subjectivity by drawing from a larger research study, which examined the role of mainstream and alternative media in citizens’ political mobilization on climate change. We argue that news consumption is part of a public political pedagogy through which individuals negotiate becoming liquid subjects, that is, citizens who take a critical, monitorial, and individualistic consumer approach to becoming political and taking part in social change.     

当代西方教育政策研究新进展:组织的视角

当代西方教育政策研究出现了新的发展趋势,在研究的取向上,高度关注教育公平与质量的主题;在研究的视点上,关注教育领域中的权力转移;在研究的机构上,关注智库对教育政策的影响力;在研究的人才上,关注应用性与跨学科人才的联合培养。     

A situative metaphor for teacher learning: the case of university tutors learning to grade student coursework

In the continuing concern about academic standards in the higher education sector a great deal of emphasis has been placed on quality assurance procedures rather than on considering how university tutors learn to grade the quality of work produced by students. As part of a larger research project focused on how tutors grade student coursework, this paper offers a new metaphor for such tutor learning, based on a sociocultural perspective. The research project used think‐aloud protocols recorded as university tutors graded student coursework, and this was followed by semi‐structured interviews. The voluntary participants consisted of 25 lecturers in four contrasting domains—humanities, art and design, medicine and teacher education—in three universities, two teaching‐led and one research intensive. We developed a metaphorical framework that helps to understand the work and learning of the lecturers and tested it by applying it to analysis of the tutor interview data. Grading, writing feedback, second marking and moderation are important situated professional learning opportunities for tutors to debate and reach agreement on the academic standard demonstrated by student coursework. The metaphor considers professional learning as interplay between the vertical domain of public knowledge and the horizontal domain of teachers' practical wisdom. The metaphor presented in this paper is proposed for critical consideration and wider use by academics, teachers, academic developers and teacher educators as an aid to better understanding of teacher's professional learning.     

Creating Knowledge for Advocacy: The Discourse of Research at a Conservation Organization

In the field of conservation, the distinction between academic research and advocacy appears to be undergoing a shift as the number of PhD-level researchers at conservation advocacy organizations grows. Drawing on my case study of one researcher at a prominent conservation nongovernmental organization (NGO), I have shown how this shift is manifested in the communication of NGO research. My study includes a discourse analysis of this researcher's publications from the forums of both scholarship and advocacy including, as a representation of discourse in the latter forum, gray literature (reports, books, and other texts produced and distributed outside the channels of the academic and publishing industry). I have also drawn on my interviews with this researcher about her publications. My study highlights specific features typical of her rhetoric that result from her occupying a hybridized cultural and professional space where research and advocacy overlap.