The (absent) politics of neo-liberal education policy

Despite its ideological saturation, recent neo-liberal education policy has been deeply depoliticising in the sense of reducing properly political concerns to matters of technical efficiency. This depoliticisation is reflected in the hegemony of a managerial discourse and the decontestation of terms like ‘quality’ and ‘effectiveness’, as well as in the apparent consensus around the necessity of particular practices, such as the adoption of ‘standards’ and the implementation of high-stakes testing regimes. The reduction of the political to the technical is not only anti-political but also anti-democratic, with violence often unrecognised behind appeals to consensus, commonsense and ‘rationality’. This study draws on the work of political theorists like Mouffe and Rancière to critique the depoliticisation reflected in recent Australian federal government recent education policy, particularly its notion of an ‘education revolution’ that pre-empts politics through a utopian harmonisation of difference and a reduction of the political to the merely technical and instrumental. This article concludes with some potential starting points for crossing, or traversing, fantasies in education which, along with a recognition of the inescapability of social and political antagonisms, could serve as a basis for a renewed emphasis on the importance of the political in education policy.     

The neo-liberal education policies of epimeleia heautou: caring for the self in school markets

The paper argues that neo-liberal education policy has capitalized on a historical concern to care for the self, or the Greek epimeleia heautou. We discuss epimeleia heautou in relation to education policies that emphasize greater choice in curriculum offerings, and in relation to school choice policies more generally. Thus, a premise of our argument is that school choice policies accommodate a much greater range of selves to be cared for. The analysis examines the neo-liberal subject, homo ?conomicus, in relation to education policy that produces choices of the self and choices for its care. We conclude by discussing conceptions of the self in relation to two aporias of neo-liberal educational equality produced through ethnic-specific schools.     

Making art invisible: visual education and the cultural stagnation of neo-liberal rationality

The popularity of visual literacy may have resulted, in part, from some school authorities rushing the process of determining school curriculum. This article argues that the haste is reflective of pressure placed on educational discourse to conform to neo-liberal reforms of the sector, and is not the result of a careful and complex debate within the education community. In Australia, such reform has contributed to the erosion of visual art as a discrete subject in the general curriculum. The article accounts for the fact that the lack of careful debate may be due to art educators rehearsing tired arguments for retaining the place occupied by visual art, which smack of sentimentality. The author examines the conceptualisation of visual art at a cultural and theoretical level, and argues that by considering the function art has traditionally played in relation to conceptions of human subjectivity, we may disclose the marginalisation of visual art as a signal of much larger threats to political and economic structures in democratic society. The article considers whether the absorption of ‘art’ within a broader preference for visual communication, graphic design, or design and technology, is symptomatic of a long-term cultural stagnation.     

Touching the void: arts education research in Australia

This article is an overview of arts education research in Australia. The authors argue that there is an urgent need for key arts organisations to form strategic partnerships with arts educators to provide stronger research in the area of arts education. This research base would enhance the ability of policymakers, arts administrators and arts educators to argue for a stronger presence for arts education in schools. Many arts educators and researchers believe that engagement with the arts has value beyond the specific arts subjects themselves. International studies have indicated that important cognitive and social processes and capabilities are developed in arts-enriched experiences, which can be particularly significant for students who are at risk, disengaged and/or underachieving. While this realisation has stimulated action in other countries such as China, Singapore and Japan, arts education researchers in Australia currently make do with small-scale and often ad hoc research in an attempt to argue their case. The conclusions and recommendations of this article call for a series of strategic partnerships to touch or even fill the current void in arts education research in Australia.     

The challenges of facilitating arts learning in home education

Home education, or home schooling, is a rapidly growing global educational phenomenon. Given the emphasis that educators, policy makers and researchers have placed upon the arts as an important element in a holistic education, the ways in which the growing home education community are facilitating arts learning warrants consideration. Facilitating quality arts learning has been found to be extremely challenging, especially for generalist classroom teachers who may not possess background learning across the range of arts subjects represented in most arts curricula. Revelations from this study on Australian home educating parents identifies a similar dilemma with the facilitation of arts learning in home contexts, and a significant proportion of the home educating participants acknowledged little to no educational or artistic training. In this project, an online survey was conducted to develop insights into the ways Australian home educators (n = 193) approach arts education, the challenges associated with facilitating arts learning and the strategies they employ in light of these challenges. The research highlights that, while home education is pedagogically unique and distinct from traditional classroom education, the challenges participants expressed regarding teaching in the arts aligned closely with those expressed by classroom teachers in wider research; however, the uniqueness of home education contexts means that support structures for classroom teachers are less helpful for home educators. Implications arising from the research are thus beneficial in understanding the nature of support that might be tailored for arts learning in home education.     

Widening participation creatively: creative arts education for social inclusion

University participation among students from low socio-economic backgrounds in Australia is low and nationwide strategies are in place to help bridge the gap. This article presents a preliminary evaluation of a creative arts-based outreach program to raise awareness and aspiration for university study among students from low-income backgrounds. The program is part of a national Australian federally funded initiative, the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program. It reviews an outreach advertising program facilitated by a Brisbane university. We argue that arts education has a particular role in provoking attitudinal change, due to the self-reflective, meaning-making and expressive characteristics of arts-based disciplines. In evaluating the advertising program, the value of creativity and trust as techniques of student engagement is considered. Evaluation occurred in two outer suburban high schools in Brisbane (a State capital city), using surveys and ethnographic fieldwork. The findings support an engagement model that employs creativity and uses student facilitators (undergraduate and postgraduate) to deliver the program, to meet the program's aims.     

Artful Dodgers: an arts education research project in early education settings

Artful Dodgers is an arts education project developed by two artists and delivered in two early years settings located in two areas of urban disadvantage. It is a music and visual arts programme designed and implemented with early years teachers of children aged 3–5 years. It explored whether the provision of high-quality arts experiences could enhance children’s emerging literacy and numeracy. A novel ‘artist in(formed) residency’ model was developed within a unique arts education research design. Piloting a tripartite relationship between researchers, artists and early years teachers, this study was situated within a qualitative action research paradigm, with both artists located in both services weekly over a 12-week period. The evaluation of the programme indicates changes in pedagogical planning and style in the early years teachers over the period of the artists’ residency. Their language became more reflective and their practice incorporated a wider and richer range of materials; there was greater evidence of more child-led activities and unstructured play opportunities over the duration of the study. The data suggest that children’s social, cooperative and communication skills were enhanced. Recommendations have implications for the professional development of artists and teachers working in early years settings.     

Fostering uncertainty tolerance in anatomy education: Lessons learned from how humanities,arts and social science (HASS) educators develop learners' uncertainty tolerance

Uncertainty tolerance, individuals' perceptions/responses to uncertain stimuli, is increasingly recognized as critical to effective healthcare practice. While the Covid-19 pandemic generated collective uncertainty, healthcare-related uncertainty is omnipresent. Correspondingly, there is increasing focus on uncertainty tolerance as a health professional graduate “competency,” and a concomitant interest in identifying pedagogy fostering learners' uncertainty tolerance. Despite these calls, practical guidelines for educators are lacking. There is some initial evidence that anatomy education can foster medical students' uncertainty tolerance (e.g., anatomical variation and dissection novelty), however, there remains a knowledge gap regarding robust curriculum-wide uncertainty tolerance teaching strategies. Drawing upon humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS) educators' established uncertainty tolerance pedagogies, this study sought to learn from HASS academics' experiences with, and teaching practices related to, uncertainty pedagogy using a qualitative, exploratory study design. Framework analysis was undertaken using an abductive approach, wherein researchers oscillate between inductive and deductive coding (comparing to the uncertainty tolerance conceptual model). During this analysis, the authors analyzed ~386 min of data from purposively sampled HASS academics' (n = 14) discussions to address the following research questions: (1) What teaching practices do HASS academics' perceive as impacting learners' uncertainty tolerance, and (2) How do HASS academics execute these teaching practices? The results extend current understanding of the moderating effects of education on uncertainty tolerance and supports prior findings that the anatomy learning environment is ripe for supporting learner uncertainty tolerance development. This study adds to growing literature on the powerful moderating effect education has on uncertainty tolerance and proposes translation of HASS uncertainty tolerance teaching practices to enhance anatomy education.     

The amoeboid neo-liberalism and the rising state commercialism in education

Recently, the pros and cons scholars of educational marketization all refer to the enormous influences affected by neo-liberalism. Without doubt, it occurs to the related researches that the function and characters of market will create a decisive impact on education development. Nevertheless, according to this authors＇ study, neo-liberalism is not the way as it was, it is because the role of the state has been shifted from shrinking back to swelling out in terms of the ways of manipulating policies. The state is no longer the rolled back actor as a small government following the original neo-liberalism context, but becomes an invisible hand behind serial discourses and standards making. This study has taken England for an example to review the spread of marketization in education, especially under New Labor＇s authority. Context and developed discourses on neo-liberalism are analyzed before examining the related policies in England. The result of the research argues that, though neo-liberalism still firmly wins its high value in running education, it has been through an ingenious change in terms of spreading processes. Under New Labor＇s authority, serial legitimate discourses from public sector were released and formed another new ideology. The boundary of public and private sector of running education, especially in secondary education, has been redefined. This change has turned England into a new type of ＂neo-liberalism＂ territory. Based on the involvement of public sector in manipulating serial privatizations, it reveals the phenomenon of ＂state commercialism＂.     

文理分科模式下的综合教育

是否取消文理分科与对学生进行综合教育,全面提高学生综合素质并无绝对关联,结合知识和教学的特性以及我国教学现实,在文理分科的模式下进行综合教育是最好的过渡性选择。它需要从创生教学内容、优化教学方法、建立综合评价体系等方面入手,从源头、过程和结果上保证分科模式下综合教育的顺利进行,这需要高素质的综合型教师的有效参与。     

Reproducing vulnerability: a Bourdieuian analysis of readers who struggle in neoliberal times

The neoliberal agenda promotes education as a route toward success in university and career. However, a neoliberal economy requires large numbers of workers willing to accept low-paying, dead-end jobs. The students most likely to take these jobs are those who have struggled with literacy and so schools must, in Bourdieu’s terms, re/produce, vulnerable readers. This paper tracks the ways in which the neoliberal economy depends on these readers and how schools participate in this process of re/production: from educational policy, to instructional context, to reader identity. In contrast, from a radical democratic viewpoint, the primary goal of schooling is civic engagement and such engagement is bolstered by universal literacy. The paper concludes with alternatives in the realms of policy and classroom practice that are more likely to support teachers and students and foster radical democratic views.     

The roots and routes of environmental and sustainability education policy research

Environmental Education Research has developed a Virtual Special Issue (VSI) (http://explore.tandfonline.com/content/ed/ceer-vsi) focusing on studies of environmental and sustainability education (ESE) policy. The VSI draws on key examples of research on this topic published in the Journal from the past two decades, for three reasons. First, to provide readers with a series of snapshots into the genealogy of ESE policy research in this field. Second, to encourage renewed attention to previously published work. And third, to offer commentary on the evolution of research trends, approaches and findings.     

现代交互艺术的鉴赏

通过对交互艺术概念解释、分类比较、具体实践中数码交互艺术的案例介绍,从创作者角度,受众角度和社会价值探讨等方面阐述这门艺术的当前态势,并借此呼吁对于这种新兴的依托于数码的交互艺术类型的关注。     

Inclusive arts education in two Scandinavian primary schools: a phenomenological case study

Previous studies indicate that ideas related to special education could influence the way arts education is performed and motivated in schools. Further investigation is therefore required in order to raise awareness of how perspectives on inclusion can serve as a starting point for arts education, and vice versa. This article takes it starting point in an ethnographic double case study of arts education practices. Data were collected during the school year 2013/2014 in two Scandinavian schools (for pupils aged 6–13) with an articulated commitment to the arts. The methods used for data collection were observation and interviews. The material was analysed from a phenomenological point of view, and the analysis showed a predominantly holistic view of inclusion in the two schools. Five dimensions of inclusion were identified through the analysis: providing arts education for all, being connected to something larger, allowing access to different forms of expression and communication, establishing preconditions for holistic inclusion, and developing special arts education. The results indicate that these schools have made considerable progress in developing an inclusive arts learning environment. Results also suggest that a holistic inclusive view of education encourages a functional and vivid arts education for ‘all’, both inside and outside the classroom.     

The accountability era in US teacher education: looking back,looking forward

Abstract

In keeping with the theme of the 40th anniversary issue of EJTE, this article looks back and forward at US teacher education accountability. It argues that “holding teacher education accountable” has been the major approach to reforming teacher education in the US for the last two decades, assuming that enhanced teacher education quality depends on vigilant public evaluation and monitoring of outcomes related to teacher education institutions, programs, and teacher candidates. This article looks back at the “era of accountability” by examining five policy, political, and professional developments that contributed to its emergence and strong hold on US teacher education. Looking forward to the future of teacher education accountability in the US, the article argues that we need a new approach – democratic accountability in teacher education – which is based on intelligent professional responsibility for students’ learning including democratic knowledge and skills, strong equity, and genuine collaboration with multiple stakeholders.     

Cultivating imaginative thinking: teacher strategies used in high-performing arts education classrooms

This article reports on recent case-study research that examined teacher- and student-level processes in nine Australian arts classrooms. The selected classrooms, based on the results of a connected longitudinal study, demonstrated strong positive links between arts participation and academic motivation, engagement and achievement. The focus here is on how teachers supported their students to conceive, shape and present imaginative work. Although different approaches were apparent in the dance, drama, film, music and visual arts classrooms, patterns were detected in the processes used to transform imaginative ideas into a creative work. The research indicated that important skills were being developed as the students encountered the ambiguity of the creative process. Furthermore, insights were gained into how work drawing on the imagination can be initiated and sustained through the highs and lows of development to become both a work of art and a learning experience that will augment future creative work.     

Neoliberal versus social justice reforms in education policy and practice: discourses,politics and disability rights in education

This article uses critical discourse analysis in order to discuss the equity and social justice implications of an envisaged education reform agenda in Cyprus, as articulated by two consultation reports commissioned by the World Bank. The reports highlight, inter alia, the imperative to improve teaching and enhance accountability regimes with regard to students’ learning. Selected extracts from these documents are analyzed in order to highlight the absence of a social justice discourse in the rhetoric of educational reforms, despite the alleged centrality of a social justice discourse in official policy. The reports fail to include issues of social justice and learner diversity in discussing the necessity to strengthen the existing teacher policy framework and to mobilize structural educational reforms. This omission is indicative of the neoliberal imperatives that drive the envisaged education policy reforms as well as the low priority attributed to issues of equity and learner diversity, with particular reference to students designated as having special educational needs and/or disabilities.     

中华武术在高校体育中普及的理性思考

高校作为培养高层次人才的基地,是全民健身的重要组成部分,普及高校武术运动,充分挖掘武术运动的内在价值,对推广武术及全民健身计划的实施有着非常重要的意义.通过文献资料,逻辑分析等研究方法,对武术运动在高校学生中普及的重要性与必要性特征进行了分析论证.     

论美术教育在人的素质全面发展中的地位和作用

美术教育是实施素质教育的重要途径之一, 它与人的素质全面提高之间具有非常密切的关系。美术教育在培养人的道德修养、审美情趣和创新精神等现代社会生存必备的人才素质方面有着十分重要的地位和作用。