‘Make money,get money’: how two autonomous schools have commercialised their services

ABSTRACT

Using the stories of two autonomous public schools in Australia, this paper demonstrates how commercialisation can simultaneously position schools as both consumer and for-profit producer. Drawing on Foucault's articulation of discourse as that which constitutes and makes available what is possible to be said, done and imagined, the paper illustrates how the current marketised articulation of education is allowing for new possibilities of commercialisation in schools. Together these stories demonstrate that there are creative ways that these schools have embraced their autonomy, while relying on market solutions to acquire the resources they deem necessary for their students and their communities. However, it also shows how these resources and the attainment for them are inextricably constituted by the market orientation of education more broadly and how this presents potential dangers for what schools may be and become as a result.     

eHPE: a history of the future

A grand convergence looms. It seems at least plausible that health and physical education may soon be lived by students in ways that are radically different from the past and sharply at odds with the imaginings of its founders and generations of academic aficionados. Perhaps in some respects, the differences will be superficial and less important than the continuities. Nonetheless, I draw connections between some recent futurist literature, developments in social theory and trends in health education, physical education and school-based health intervention—fields that I collectively call ‘HPE’—in order to imagine their digital futures. I contend that there is much for these fields to consider as developments in digital technology, the commercialisation of education, the spread of surveillance culture and medicalisation reshape how people think about HPE and its reason for being. But rather than an apocalyptic warning, this is an invitation to others to engage with some important questions that, although already urgent, have gone largely unnoticed. For example, what kind of thing will eHPE be if/when it exists primarily to generate profits and monitor and measure the minutiae of everyday life? At the very least, my argument here is that if it is not already the case, questions of pedagogical process and effectiveness may soon struggle for relevance in HPE's digital future.     

Higher education funding reform and university–industry links in developing countries: The case of Thailand

Most investigations into the effects of funding changes on higher education systems have been carried out in developed economies. This article focuses on the Thai higher education system, applying theoretical arguments and empirical analyses to the case of a newly industrialising country. One goal of the Thai higher education funding reform is to cut public spending and to stimulate university–industry cooperation as a means to obtain additional university income. This article presents empirical data based on an investigation into the cooperation activities of five Thai universities. The results show that both individuals and organisations react to changes in university funding: university–industry relations are becoming more frequent and are promoted by university administrations. The financial benefits for the universities as well as the technological benefits for the cooperating companies are, however, both very limited.     

Antecedents of cooperative commercialisation strategies of nanotechnology firms

We examine the antecedents for cooperative behaviour in the commercialisation of nanotechnology for both small/medium and large firms. For small and medium firms (SMEs) our results confirm the influence of complementary assets and transaction costs, but surprisingly do not support any influence of intellectual property rights protection on cooperative behaviour. For large firms the results show a negative relationship for both intellectual property rights protection and ownership of complementary resources with cooperative behaviour. Overall, collaboration-based commercialisation in nanotechnology for both small/medium as well as large firms seems to follow antecedents previously identified in earlier studies. In addition, we find that in the current stage of the nanotechnology commercialisation environment, intellectual property rights protection for small/medium-sized enterprises is associated with the acquisition of other firms.     

国内石墨烯技术转化平台介入阶段和方式探析——以上海石墨烯产业技术功能型平台为例

上海石墨烯产业技术功能型平台是国内正兴起的新建石墨烯技术转化和产业培育平台风潮中的代表,选择此平台进行案例研究以期为其他技术转化平台兴建提供参考,同时为石墨烯等其他前沿领域产业化提供借鉴。上海石墨烯产业技术功能型平台在服务科研机构、高校或企业的科技成果转化过程中,从已成熟但不具备商业化的技术阶段开始介入,帮助具有商业价值的产品阶段和发挥产业化效应的下游产品应用阶段,采取这种介入阶段和方式对科技成果的商业价值产生较大的影响,而对其技术价值的影响较小;同时协调当前我国石墨烯产业化面临的主要问题之一——石墨烯制备和石墨烯应用局面失衡,拓展原有服务范围,将新材料技术成熟度等级划分阶段中的技术阶段服务后移。最后研究提出石墨烯产业技术功能型平台服务科技成果转化的介入阶段能否前移的思考,尤其是高端应用领域,以覆盖实验室阶段至产业化阶段等更多的阶段。     

Conserving contemporary artworks: perspectives of artists and curators at the National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe

In fine arts, contemporary artists seek to showcase their artistic skills and concepts. There is very little awareness by most artists on the quality of materials they use in art production and the conservation needs of contemporary artworks which pose conservation challenges as materials used and the physical quality of artworks produced are secondary to what the artists seek to express. Of prime interest to them is the expression of concepts through various genres of art creation. However, the quality of material used by most artists is largely affected by their financial situation and inadequate knowledge on the durability of such materials. Artworks created using recycled materials such as found objects and cheap materials like poor quality paint on paintings, low grade paper in artworks, or poor quality wood present conservation challenges to professionals in galleries. The end product are artworks made from composite materials, some stable and unstable. Thus professionals are faced with a dilemma to reconcile the conservation needs of these artworks and the artists’ expression of their concepts. Moreover, in the absence of remedial conservation measures, artworks are prone to deterioration. This is worsened by dwindling donor and government funding which negatively impacts on the gallery's capacity to conserve the art. Additionally, conceptual expression, artistic creativity, and commercialisation of the art are of priority over conservation. Therefore there is need to maintain a balance between the need to express concepts and commercialise the art on one hand and to conserve the contemporary artworks on the other hand.     

Australian University-Industry Research Links: Researcher Involvement,Outputs, Personal Benefits and 'Withholding' Behaviour

Using data from two surveys of science and technology academics in major Australian research universities, an assessment is made of researcher involvement in industry-research partnerships, the outputs and personal benefits that result, and the occurrence of delaying publications and withholding data and materials from colleagues. An estimated 40% of academics currently have industry research funding, with many also having other sources of funding. Some 60% of respondents with industry funding have attracted individually, or within a research group, funding of more than $250,000 over the past three years. About 35% of principal investigators with industry funding have total annual research budgets of over $101,000. While about 20% of academics have produced research results of commercial value, most of these have been less successful in increasing their personal incomes through research commercialisation and consulting, and equity in companies. Almost 40% with industry funding report having conducted research where the results are the property of a sponsor and cannot be published for a period without consent. Almost 20% of academics in 1997 and just over 20% in 2000 admitted having delayed publications for more than six months. However, safeguarding the researcher's self-interest appears to be as common a motive for delaying publication or failing to share research results or materials with scientific colleagues as protecting the property of a sponsor.     

Coping with environmental pressures: public research organisations responses to funding crises

The research system is highly dependent upon the resources provided by the political system. Rising costs of research projects and the emergence of financial problems in government have triggered a reduction in direct support to public research organisations (PROs). The aim of this paper is to analyse how a group of Spanish public research organisations affected by the reduction in direct transfers of State funds have reacted to this situation. By reviewing the PROs’ responses, an institutionalist argument is built up based on the degree and type of autonomy which the centres and researchers enjoy. Factors which explain the diversity in response of the centres in their funding strategies are: (a) the political autonomy of the PROs with respect to their tutelary ministries, and (b) the autonomy of the researchers within the organisation, the nature of the individual incentive programmes and their level of dependence on collective resources.     

Entrepreneurial transformations in the Swedish University system: the case of Chalmers University of Technology

Since the beginning of the 1990s, Sweden has been transforming its national research policy into policy for innovation. One of the bottom up responses to this top d initiative has been an attempt on the part of some Swedish universities to transform themselves into entrepreneurial institutions. This paper uses a case study of one particular Swedish University; Chalmers University of Technology’s transformation process to reflect on the new research policy. Chalmers’ journey is examined against the backdrop of the changing national climate for universities as well as local factors within the university itself.The case confirms existing knowledge in that it shows that creating an entrepreneurial university takes several years as both infrastructural and cultural changes are necessary to achieve success. The case also shows that despite the long history of public-private in Sweden, the new emphasis on commercialisation and commodification of knowledge creates some degree of role uncertainty for universities. The paper concludes that one of the elements required for Swedish innovation policy is macro (policy vision and implementation) and micro (university organisation) level flexibility and diversity.     

Fixing contradictions of education commercialisation: Pearson plc and the construction of its efficacy brand

ABSTRACT

This paper explores some of the fundamental contradictions related to the commercialisation of education and how Pearson plc – ‘the world’s leading multinational education company’ – is trying to overcome these challenges through discourse and semiotics. Pearson’s Efficacy Framework is a semiotic-calculative device created to measure the impact of educational products and services sold by the company. This paper examines the ways in which the efficacy programme and tools developed by Pearson represent a type of ‘social fix’ intended to resolve contradictions linked to education commercialisation by demonstrating the ‘measurable impact’ and ‘outcomes’ resulting from its educational products and services and communicating that to customers, shareholders, policymakers, state managers and partners. Efficacy will be analysed as it relates to a hegemonic ‘knowledge brand’ in the making in education that is being actively promoted and appropriated by Pearson. Pearson, therefore, aims to construct a corporate brand and reputation around efficacy based on legible measures of performance, which this paper argues is in response to risks and contradictions associated with the commercialisation of education.