Educational research and reform: Some implications for the professional identity of early years teachers

Abstract

This paper examines the way in which recent criticisms of the work of primary school teachers in Britain, most notably those entailed in and following the publication of the so‐called ‘Three Wise Men's Report’, have attempted to redefine the professional identity of early years teachers. The paper objects to the manner in which their critiques have been formulated and calls upon educational researchers to adopt a less reverential attitude to government proposals for the reform of primary education in general and early years schooling in particular.     

Social and Developmental Aspects of Icelandic Pupils’ Interest and Experience of Icelandic Culture

The theme of this article is education as nation building in the Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Starting with an overview of their Social Democrat parties' ascension of to near hegemony immediately following the Second World War, and these parties' impact on education, we go on to sketch the interplay between general political trends and educational policies up to the present day. We examine the goals of educational policies, the governance of the primary school system and the instruments of governance. Five levels of governance are taken into account: central government, regional and local government, schools and, finally, what happens in the classroom. Attention is given to trends that the Scandinavian countries shared in particular periods and to the divergence between them. We conclude that the main trend up to now is towards deregulation, decentralisation and individualisation.     

Centrifugal schooling: third sector policy networks and the reassembling of curriculum policy in England

This article examines changes in curriculum policy in secondary education in England. It is concerned with recent curriculum policy and reform, and the proliferation of non-government actors in curriculum policy creation. It examines the emergence of a loose alliance of third sector organisations and their involvement in a series of alternative ‘curriculum experiments’. The third sector curriculum policy network revolves around a policy vision of decentralisation constituted by public–private partnership, media-friendliness, social enterprise and an ‘open source’ or network-based organisational logic. It assembles a policy ideal of ‘centrifugal schooling’ which links together ideas about ‘networked governance’ with ‘flexible’ learning and ‘entrepreneurial’ curricula. The article traces and discusses some of the inter-organisational relations, materials and discourses of the third sector network of alternative curriculum policy developments, and provides a case study of a prototypical third sector curriculum programme. It examines the organisational relations and practices by which the project was produced and the conditions leading to its failure.     

Teacher management in a decentralised school context in Nepal: Fuelling tension and dissent?

This article explores the issues and concerns of Nepalese teachers in relation to Gaynor’s (1998) three models of teacher management (administrative, grassroots and alternative), constructed in the context of decentralisation reform around the world. The article suggests that the existing teacher management policies in Nepal are problematic and controversial, embracing both the administrative and grassroots models of teacher management and maintaining both the centralised and decentralised policies of teacher selection, promotion and financing. With problems similar to those of many developing nations in Africa, decentralisation of teacher management results in growing division and hierarchy among teaching staff, and favouritism, cronyism and corruption at the local level. The lack of equitable distribution of qualified teachers across regions and schools is another concern. The article concludes that the decentralisation of teacher management is problematic particularly in the countries where a dual approach to teacher management has been adopted and where the political, economic, institutional, technical and educational systems need to respond to the specific characteristics and needs of schools and communities as a whole.     

A critical trilogy of place: dwelling in/on an irritated place

The aim of this paper is to explore the meaning of dwelling in place in terms of the critical trilogy of place. The critical trilogy is a constructively interpretive framework incorporating Greenwood’s critical pedagogy of place and Heidegger’s philosophical insights of dwelling. The critical trilogy of place, comprising decentralisation, reinhabitation, and regermination, demonstrates the profound meaning of the relationship between human beings and place when applied to a case of land ab/use in Dapu in Taiwan. By exploring the campaign for keeping the place from irritation, the profound meaning of the place is manifested.     

Participatory cultures,trust technologies and decentralisation: innovation opportunities for recordkeeping

Recordkeeping professionals build and manage systems that support the creation and maintenance of trustworthy records, however our approach to the design and implementation of such systems has suffered from a lack of innovation and a failure to collaborate effectively with allied disciplines. Contemporary society, politics and Internet culture are producing new models, tools and techniques which open up exciting possibilities for how recordkeeping systems might work, presenting both opportunities and challenges for recordkeeping professionals. In this article, some elements deemed necessary for trustworthy recordkeeping are identified and critically examined in light of the possibilities of participatory cultures, peer-to-peer business and trust through computation, in particular, blockchain technologies. Conclusions are drawn regarding what might be needed in order to adapt current models and practices to build new forms of recordkeeping systems that could enhance the agency of the individual in a networked society.     

Participatory agricultural research and decentralisation in Vietnam

Abstract

Based on a conceptual framework, that describes the relationship between the effectiveness of up-scaling participation and implementing decentralisation, the objective of this paper is to analyse the effectiveness of decentralisation measures in the Agricultural Technology System (ATS) of Vietnam. It discusses whether the decentralisation efforts so far have enabled the rural population to express their options and take joint decisions in the sense of participation. The paper uses primary and secondary data, collected between November 2000 and June 2001. The paper first discusses the theoretical literature on up-scaling participation and decentralisation. Emphasis is given to highlight the links between the concepts of good governance in decentralisation and its effects on people's participation in the decision making process. Thereafter, the Vietnamese decentralisation measures are reviewed and it is assessed to which extent the agricultural sector and its relevant state agencies have benefited from these efforts. The experiences from the decentralisation activities is summarised. Whether decentralisation opened space for the rural people to express their opinions and to ensure that their preferences are incorporated in the ATS is specially considered. The paper closes with recommendations.     

French Decentralisation of the Performing Arts and Regional Economic Disparities

The standard deviation, the Gini coefficient, entropy measures and Atkinson's indexes are used to study French regional inequalities for per capita subsidies to the performing arts, as compared to GDP per worker, from 1992 to 2002. The two former indexes are more sensitive to transfers around the average, while the others are more sensitive to transfers at the lower end of the distribution scale. Whereas regional disparities remained stable for GDP per worker, they decreased for per capita subsidies to institutions and companies but increased for festivals. State subsidies are less unequal than local grants, so that a balanced decentralisation seems to rely upon some state control.     

Impacts of Globalisation on Higher Education Reform in China: A Trend of Decentralisation and Autonomy

By tracing back the historical context of educational changes, this article explores in detail the impacts of globalisation on China’s higher education reform. A trend of decentralisation in both rights and responsibilities is revealed in terms of structural adjustment, human resource exploitation and retention, curriculum development, and education provision. Also some remaining problems and new challenges from the progress of globalisation are discussed to draw a conclusion that there is a need of combining both centralisation decentralisation approaches in China’s both present and future reforms.     

World Bank in Nepal’s education: three decades of neoliberal reform

This paper critically analyses key educational policy documents produced by the World Bank mainly from the mid-1980s to 2010 with regard to implementing major educational projects in Nepal. Using critical policy sociology as a methodological tool, the paper explores how a small Himalayan nation with per capita income of about US$730 (2014) plunged into neoliberal world order during the early 1980s. The paper argues that Bank’s educational policy recommendations are guided by some underlying assumptions of neoliberalism mainly marketisation, privatisation, and decentralisation. The paper concludes that neoliberal orientation in education has almost no potential in addressing Nepal’s development challenges.