Policy Futures in Education

ISSN 1478-2103

Volume 5 Number 4 2007

CONTENTS [click on author's name for abstract and full text]

Joseph Agassi & Ronald Swartz. Educating Elites in Democratic Societies: a dialogue, pages 424‑430
Richard Kahn & Douglas Kellner. Paulo Freire and Ivan Illich: technology, politics and the reconstruction of education, pages 431‑448
Andrea Liesner. Governmentality, European Politics and the Neo-liberal Reconstruction of German Universities, pages 449‑459
Costas Aggelakos. The Cross-thematic Approach and the ‘New’ Curricula of Greek Compulsory Education: review of an incompatible relationship, pages 460‑467
Ingrid Henning Loeb. Development and Change in Swedish Municipal Adult Education: occupational life history studies and four genealogies of context, pages 468‑477
Tomas Hellström. The Varieties of University Entrepreneurialism: thematic patterns and ambiguities in Swedish university strategies, pages 478‑490
Timothy Murphy. Jack Mezirow and Perspective Transformation: toward an understanding of Irish educational policy within a European framework, pages 491‑496
Paul Theobald & Jim Knotwell. A Communitarian Critique of the Warfare State: implications for the twenty-first-century university, pages 497‑506
Graham E. Higgs & John Budd. Toward an Authentic Ethos for Online Higher Education, pages 507‑515
Aybek Gorey. Inequity in the Australian Education System, pages 516‑518
Ana Canen. Multiculturalism and a Research Perspective in Initial Teacher Education: possible dialogues, pages 519‑534
Linda J. Graham. Towards Equity in the Futures Market: curriculum as a condition of access, pages 535‑555
Anthony Green. Neoconservatism English-style: back to the future with remoralizing voices for education?, pages 556‑566
Kent den Heyer & Andrew Pifel. Extending the Responsibilities for Schools beyond the School Door, pages 567‑580

BOOK REVIEWS VIEW FULL TEXT
Declining by Degrees: higher education at risk (Richard H. Hersh & John Merrow, Eds), reviewed by Casey E. George-Jackson, pages 581‑584
Inventing the Modern Self and John Dewey: modernities and the traveling of pragmatism in education (Thomas S. Popkewitz, Ed.), reviewed by Seamus Mulryan, pages 584‑586 doi: 10.2304/pfie.2007.5.4.581

Educating Elites in Democratic Societies: a dialogue

JOSEPH AGASSI Tel Aviv University, Israel, and York University, Toronto, Canada
RONALD SWARTZ Oakland University, Rochester, USA

doi: 10.2304/pfie.2007.5.4.424

This dialogue centers on the following questions: (1) How can schools help a society select or identify new elites who are hopefully as good as and perhaps even better than those individuals who belong to the existing elite system?, and (2) How can we create learning situations that provide the most general learner with a broad basic education? The first question is rejected as highly inadequate and unsatisfactory partly because it makes a number of mistaken assumptions about how schools can best meet the educational needs in modern countries (such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada). The second question is deemed extremely worthwhile; it should be at the heart of educational dialogues in liberal democratic societies. The discussion is mainly about the desirability of replacing the first problem (of selecting new elites) with the second problem (of a broad basic education) by the way of commentary on the development of Western educational thought from Plato to Popper and beyond. A major aim of this dialogue is to upgrade the way elites in liberal democratic societies attempt to reform and improve our educational institutions.

Paulo Freire and Ivan Illich: technology, politics and the reconstruction of education

RICHARD KAHN & DOUGLAS KELLNER University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, USA, and University of California, Los Angeles, USA

doi: 10.2304/pfie.2007.5.4.431

This article examines the theories of education and technology held by two of the most important philosophers of education during the last few decades, Paulo Freire and Ivan Illich. These two related thinkers each charted a unique approach to the questions surrounding modern education and technology, and despite their widely acknowledged brilliance, and in Freire’s case the establishment of an entire field of critical pedagogy throughout North America, almost no attention has been paid to examining their views on educational technology. This article fills that important gap and attempts to dialectically mediate their two positions towards a broader critique of media culture and the role of educational technology generally. By utilizing both Freire and Illich, it is argued, a critical pedagogy of technology can be reconstructed that is capable of speaking to today’s needs, and this critical pedagogy itself can be reconstructive of the current terrain in education as it works to overcome inequalities through the appropriate use of technology and the establishment of critical consciousness on the issues surrounding technology and society.

Governmentality, European Politics and the Neo-liberal Reconstruction of German Universities

ANDREA LIESNER University of Hamburg, Germany

doi: 10.2304/pfie.2007.5.4.449

This article deals with the governmental strategies basic to the construction of the European Higher Education Area within the Bologna Process. With regard to the actual reconstruction of German universities, these strategies are verified on a structural level, in individual and collective subject relations and also in the subject matter which is to be taught and learned. The introduction of standardized quality assurance procedures, the promotion of entrepreneurial forms of subjectivation and the dividing of knowledge into functional modules are powerful instruments which combine to form a reduced understanding of what is supposed to be economic with a universal claim. Now, after the first half of the Bologna Process, some possible effects of these strategies are visible. From an educational perspective, there are two corresponding tendencies in particular which are noteworthy: while the knowledge of educational experts outside the university is devalued by a common prudentialism, educational sciences within the German universities are trivialized by structures and curricula which tend to obstruct the production of new dimensions of knowledge and to curtail the possibilities of scientific scepticism and critique.

The Cross-thematic Approach and the ‘New’ Curricula of Greek Compulsory Education: review of an incompatible relationship

COSTAS AGGELAKOS Ionian University, Corfu, Greece

doi: 10.2304/pfie.2007.5.4.460

Compulsory Greek education has long shown its need for revision. The Greek Pedagogical Institute (GPI) has presented the cross-thematic approach as a panacea, yet further changes are necessary in terms of experiential learning, school subject demarcation, teaching time management, teaching material, and the student/educator role. This article examines whether these changes are incorporated in the recent educational system revision, which resulted in widespread confusion, a national debate, and the publication of A Cross-thematic Curriculum Framework for Compulsory Education (DEPPS). A speech analysis of GPI leadership indicates the exaggerated, fictionalised, and ideological use of the term ‘cross-thematic’. Futhermore, detailed analysis demonstrates that the new ‘cross-thematic’ curricula reproduce the 1999 curricula, making no major changes to traditional school subject demarcation, or teaching time management. New curriculum elements are also problematic; the fundamental cross-thematic concepts are vague and haphazard, while the recommended cross-thematic activities (projects) are undermined by poor examples or inadequate allotted teaching time. Moreover, the ‘new’ curricula follow the goal-setting model, which leads to a multiplicity of teaching objectives and to increased content quantity, thus impeding schoolbook writing. Most importantly, the suggested integration of the cross-thematic approach in Greek schools is not ideologically neutral.

Development and Change in Swedish Municipal Adult Education: occupational life history studies and four genealogies of context

INGRID HENNING LOEB Faculty of Education, Göteborg University, Sweden

doi: 10.2304/pfie.2007.5.4.468

This article is based on the author’s dissertation work on development and change in Swedish municipal adult education (MAE), investigated through occupational life history studies of four teachers in different municipalities who have worked in MAE since the mid 1970s. Three periods of development – three ‘eras’ – in MAE have been identified in terms of its relationship to the state, comprising two restructuring shifts: (1) from centralization to decentralization in the early 1990s, and (2) the establishment of quasi-marketization of adult education in the late 1990s, with a variety of adult education providers, municipal boards and procurement processes. Comprehensive analysis of the four teacher trajectories and their genealogies of context has been carried out relating to the three eras, and concepts on mechanisms for institutional isomorphism have been used for analysis on why and how the different MAE organizations that the four teachers work in have developed in similar or homogenous ways. In the article, tensions and contestation in development and change in the local context are made explicit, and are analysed and provide the basis for problematizing late national reformation and restructuring efforts.

The Varieties of University Entrepreneurialism: thematic patterns and ambiguities in Swedish university strategies

TOMAS HELLSTRÖM University of Oslo, Norway

doi: 10.2304/pfie.2007.5.4.478

The idea of the ‘entrepreneurial university’ has captured the imagination of academics and policy makers for some time now. However, most of the recent writings on the subject have tended to emphasize technology transfer in terms of spin-off creation and licensing. This article takes its point of departure in the strategy formulations of Swedish public universities to inquire into the varieties of university entrepreneurialism, that is the breadth of the spectrum from short- to medium-term capitalization from innovation, to social outreach and organizational cultural change. The study builds on a qualitative content analysis of strategy documents which explicates and discusses ongoing and planned third mission activities – including commercialization and outreach – at Swedish universities. The strategy categories derived from this study include (1) support infrastructures for commercialization, (2) internal knowledge building and cultural change, and (3) outreach and sectoral cooperative activities, as well as eight subcategories. The article contributes an explication and a discussion of these categories, and concludes with a number of issues relating to the way universities may develop these strategic dimensions given the conflicting or ambiguous goals present in the notion of the entrepreneurial university.

Jack Mezirow and Perspective Transformation: toward an understanding of Irish educational policy within a European framework

TIMOTHY MURPHY National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland

doi: 10.2304/pfie.2007.5.4.491

This article considers important junctures in the evolution of Irish educational policy. For this purpose, the author makes appropriate references to the theoretical framework of Jack Mezirow. In particular, Mezirow’s treatment of ‘meaning schemes’, ‘meaning perspectives’ and ‘paradigm shifts’ are applied toward a better understanding of recent developments in educational policy there. The principal ‘paradigms’ or ‘frames of reference’ which underpin the formulation of educational policy are considered. It is hoped that such an analysis will contribute to the on-going debate about the future role of education in society in Europe generally. Readers from outside Ireland have an opportunity to reflect on the various influences that have impacted the evolution of their educational policies, and may identify resonances with specific developments in the Irish context, as well as points of departure.

A Communitarian Critique of the Warfare State: implications for the twenty-first-century university

PAUL THEOBALD Buffalo State College, USA
JIM KNOTWELL Wayne State College, USA

doi: 10.2304/pfie.2007.5.4.497

This article contends that the relatively recent academic movement known as communitarianism can serve as a policy guide that could work catalytically on American cultural development of the sort that would loosen the tight military-industrial connection and in so doing aid the dismantling of the ‘warfare state.’ After chronicling the development of our current cultural circumstances, the authors demonstrate the possible contributions of communitarianism to a culture that raises community welfare among its list of policy priorities. They further argue that the deployment of community-oriented policy will require universities that engage students relative to the merits of communitarian theory.

Toward an Authentic Ethos for Online Higher Education

GRAHAM E. HIGGS Columbia College of Missouri, USA
JOHN BUDD University of Missouri, Columbia, USA

doi: 10.2304/pfie.2007.5.4.507

The influence of capitalism on education’s telos is a subject of critical concern. This article argues that a neo-liberal ideal that markets should determine educational efficacy and process is antithetical to the cultural good. The authors describe education as fundamentally teleological, responsible for defining, building and sustaining civilization. They further argue that an illusory ethos built upon the purely instrumental goals of the marketplace is replacing the authentic ethos for culture and identity building found in education’s traditional telos. The authors hope to open a discussion that addresses the philosophical assumptions which underlie the emerging and burgeoning industry in online higher education. A call is made for a critical examination of the instrumental ethos and it is claimed that an authentic ethos will necessarily include a discourse that questions the goals for culture found in education.

Inequity in the Australian Education System

AYBEK GOREY Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

doi: 10.2304/pfie.2007.5.4.516

This article deals with the current situation of the Australian education system- particularly the public schools in disadvantaged areas. Research undertaken in the last decade show that while Australia has developed intensively in economic terms in the last ten years, inequality has spread nonetheless. Furthermore, there are legal barriers for public schools in obtaining funds unlike private schools. The article aims to assure the policymakers that pumping more funds into the system would not be as effective as investing in to create a caring community through motivated and well-resourced teachers.

Multiculturalism and a Research Perspective in Initial Teacher Education: possible dialogues

ANA CANEN Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

doi: 10.2304/pfie.2007.5.4.519

This article describes action research within a multicultural pedagogical praxis orientation in a teacher education course at a higher education institution in Brazil during the academic year 2003. The narrative draws on the ways in which the course sought to develop a research perspective that could equip student teachers with elements that allow them to interrogate the constructions of social and cultural inequalities, as well as of the process of research itself and the impact of the researcher as a multicultural identity. The meanings, potentials and challenges of the research undertaken are discussed and should be relevant comparatively, not only because they highlight tensions of multiculturalism and seek to refine the concept of multicultural research, but also because local narratives reflect imbricated global issues that go beyond national borders, particularly concerning the role of research within teacher education in highly multicultural countries.

Towards Equity in the Futures Market: curriculum as a condition of access

LINDA J. GRAHAM University of Sydney, Australia

doi: 10.2304/pfie.2007.5.4.535

This article provides a consideration of the problem of equity in education. In the first part of the discussion, the author draws on philosophical and sociological literature to consider what equity means and its implications for education. Drawing on work by Burbules, Lord and Sherman, she looks to curriculum as a condition of access and the importance of learning support structures in bringing about equitable educational outcomes, conceived in terms of Amy Gutmann’s democratic threshold. The article offers a conceptual-theoretical model for thinking about the resourcing and curricular requirements for equity in contemporary liberal democratic societies, contrasting the social and economic policy mixes employed by governments situated at different points along a liberty/equality continuum.

Neoconservatism English-style: back to the future with remoralizing voices for education?

ANTHONY GREEN Institute of Education, University of London, United Kingdom

doi: 10.2304/pfie.2007.5.4.556

This articles addresses the conservative dynamics of ‘neoconservatism’ in the field of education with particular reference to possible complementarities between the ‘voices’ of two, seemingly alternative public intellectuals. These dynamics are conceptualized as part of what is, in social realist mode, enmoralization, a term coined to specify part of the structures and processes of realizing morale, by which remoralization works in this context to ‘neo’ conservative effects. Here, the post-postmodernist rediscovery of the moral and the ethical, the remoralization agenda, works to TINA by supporting the morale of the fatalism of capitalism. In the context of Blairite New Labour education policy, this ideology critique suggests ways in which neoconservatism articulates neoliberalism where agendas are set to prioritize authority over equity and social justice and to foreshorten the search for radical alternatives for policy futures.

Extending the Responsibilities for Schools beyond the School Door

KENT DEN HEYER University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
ANDREW PIFEL Kent State University, USA

doi: 10.2304/pfie.2007.5.4.567

In this article, the authors use qualitative and quantitative research to identify the performance of social actors whose decisions impact students and teachers, elucidate a set of measurements for their performance, and offer both a theoretical and research justification for these measurements. The work challenges two faulty assumptions behind the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation that make it more likely that school curricula will continue to be unrepresentative of diverse experiences and that far too many children will continue to attend schools under unnecessarily trying conditions. The first faulty assumption is the legislation’s location of school ‘problems’ or the ‘problems with schools’ as beginning and ending at the school door. A second assumption that the authors’ development of research-based rubrics seeks to challenge is a prevalent attitude in US society regarding individual responsibility for personal success or failure, which supports the thrust of NCLB in the public imagination. Like the ill-distribution of economic possibilities despite people’s hard work, rubrics holding the various public stakeholders in education are required to appropriately expand responsibility for student success beyond schools and teachers.

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