Policy Futures in Education

Outlook on Research in Education for Sustainable Development

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:11:51 GMT

Title: Outlook on Research in Education for Sustainable Development
Author: CORNELIA GRÄSEL; INKA BORMANN; KERSTIN SCHÜTTE; KATI TREMPLER; ROBERT FISCHBACH
Journal: Policy Futures in Education
Year: 2013 Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Pages: 115-127
ABSTRACT This article provides an overview of current research on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). It shows a lack of correspondence between ESD research and recent debates in educational research. Research on ESD has established as a field of research with insufficient relations to other fields in educational research. Based on the overview the article suggests an outlook on prospective topics and methods in ESD research.

Racism, the Left and Twenty-first-century Socialism: some observations on the Gur-Ze'ev/McLaren interchange

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:11:51 GMT

Title: Racism, the Left and Twenty-first-century Socialism: some observations on the Gur-Ze'ev/McLaren interchange
Author: MIKE COLE
Journal: Policy Futures in Education
Year: 2013 Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Pages: 128-136
ABSTRACT The Gur-Ze'ev/McLaren interchange covered a wide range of issues that are important for twenty-first century socialists. In this article, the author concentrates on two of them: first, Gur-Ze'ev's charge that critical pedagogy is part of the 'new anti-Semitism'; second, his critique of McLaren's support for Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian model of twenty-first century socialism.

Roles for Educators in Helping the USA Form a Real Global Society

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:11:51 GMT

Title: Roles for Educators in Helping the USA Form a Real Global Society
Author: RUBEN GENTRY
Journal: Policy Futures in Education
Year: 2013 Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Pages: 137-144
ABSTRACT By not properly addressing economic issues, health care, and educational needs, the United States of America was on the verge of financial collapse and people had to choose between having food or medicine. President Barack Obama emerged with a broad-based plan of change for the country which impacts every major sector of society. He wants peace to replace war, an economy that provides jobs, health care that brings relief to all Americans and education that is effective from preschool to college. This article moves from Obama's general vision for the country to his detailed plan for education. First, a review of literature is conducted to validate the merit of his plan. With a refined agenda, educators are challenged to embrace it and make ready for its implementation. The final charge is to focus attention on strategies for imparting quality education to students around the world.

Can Market Capitalism Be Greened? Environmental Education Revisited

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:11:51 GMT

Title: Can Market Capitalism Be Greened? Environmental Education Revisited
Author: DEB J. HILL; LYNLEY TULLOCH
Journal: Policy Futures in Education
Year: 2013 Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Pages: 145-153
ABSTRACT Widespread recognition of the detrimental effects that human activities have had on nature and its ecosystems can now be found in every domain of public policy. Since the inception of international accords in the 1970s provoked greater engagement by nations in environmental amelioration measures, 'education' has been lauded as an important panacea to promote a generational shift in attitudes and actions towards the conservation and protection of the environment. Using 'environmental education' as a backdrop for our discussion, our intention in this article is to apply the important insights of the Italian Marxist thinker, Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) to an analysis of educational concerns. Although much existing radical environment theory involves acknowledgement of the complex and dynamic way in which civil society and the political economy are interconnected, Gramsci's historical, dialectical, and materialist worldview brings to light the extent of the hold that the prevailing forces of capitalism exert on those subjected to its valuations. The dynamics of attitudinal change are complex. Gramsci's work provides us with a richer understanding of the depth of the workings of power generated through the nexus of the cultural bulwarks of capitalist 'production'. This is an interrogation of curriculum theory of a deeper kind.

Neoliberalism, Policy Reforms and Higher Education in Bangladesh

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:11:51 GMT

Title: Neoliberalism, Policy Reforms and Higher Education in Bangladesh
Author: ARIFUL HAQ KABIR
Journal: Policy Futures in Education
Year: 2013 Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Pages: 154-166
ABSTRACT Bangladesh has introduced neoliberal policies since the 1970s. Military regimes, since the dramatic political changes in 1975, accelerated the process. A succession of military rulers made rigorous changes in policy-making in various sectors. This article uses a critical approach to document analysis and examines the perceptions of key stakeholders to explore how the International Financial Institutions (IFIs), and the economic and political interests of the ruling civil-military elites, worked together to consolidate power and adopt neoliberal policy in various sectors. Moreover, the democratic regimes, since the 1990s, have continued to implement neoliberal policies with support from the IFIs. As part of neoliberalism, the democratic regimes initiated a market-driven economic policy in the higher education sector in the 1990s. The neoliberal transformation of policies has brought major changes in the higher education sector in recent times. This article aims to examine and report on these changes.

Getting Past the Gatekeeper: safeguarding and access issues in researching HIV+ children in Jamaica

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:11:51 GMT

Title: Getting Past the Gatekeeper: safeguarding and access issues in researching HIV+ children in Jamaica
Author: PAUL MILLER; KEMESHA KELLY; NICOLA SPAWLS
Journal: Policy Futures in Education
Year: 2013 Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Pages: 167-174
ABSTRACT This article is derived from a recently completed research study on the 'Schooling Experiences of HIV+ Children in Jamaica'. It is written against the background of researching children generally, and also in the context of researching vulnerable children, specifically those who are HIV+. Research carries with it various notions of power and ethics, often manifested in terms of researchers gaining access to participants, researchers' positionality (i.e. whether they are an insider or outsider) and the intended use of the research findings. As regards the field experiences being reported in this article, researcher positionality was of only limited consequence. However, the intended use of the output of the research was central to gaining access to the key participants (namely children who are HIV+), since overriding issues for 'gatekeepers' (namely state officials and partners) included safeguarding children and the protection of their right to privacy and confidentiality.

On the Need to Ask Educational Questions about Education: an interview with Gert Biesta

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:11:51 GMT

Title: On the Need to Ask Educational Questions about Education: an interview with Gert Biesta
Author: HERNER SAEVEROT
Journal: Policy Futures in Education
Year: 2013 Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Pages: 175-184
ABSTRACT This interview attempts to articulate what it might mean to speak for 'Pädagogik' in an era where new trends in education run the risk of marginalizing 'Pädagogik' as an independent academic discipline. This trend can be found in several European countries and is judged by Herner Saeverot and Gert Biesta to be a development that is cause for concern.

Local Knowledge Brokerage for Data-Driven Policy and Practice in Education

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:11:51 GMT

Title: Local Knowledge Brokerage for Data-Driven Policy and Practice in Education
Author: JAN VANHOOF; PAUL MAHIEU
Journal: Policy Futures in Education
Year: 2013 Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Pages: 185-199
ABSTRACT The concept of 'knowledge brokerage' focuses on promoting the integration of the best available evidence into policy and practice-related decisions. In this study, emphasis is put on the knowledge brokerage role of cities. The study aims at finding similarities and differences in existing educational knowledge brokerage initiatives, at exploring the effectiveness of knowledge brokerage initiatives, and at explaining differences in the effectiveness of educational knowledge brokerage initiatives. Four medium-sized cities were investigated using a case study methodology. During the case studies a qualitative approach using document analysis and in-depth interviews was adopted. The article firstly describes the existing knowledge brokerage initiatives. The descriptive part also looks at the effectiveness of the studied knowledge brokerage initiatives by describing their (un)intended results. Afterwards three clusters of factors are introduced that can explain differences in the success of brokerage initiatives of cities: the policy context, the users and their organisation, and the knowledge brokerage system. The article stresses the importance of a context of trust, and a context that stimulates data use, and elaborates on findings regarding the impact of data literacy, data culture, the organisations' policy-making capacities, and a sense of urgency.

Existential Thoughts in Fanon's Post-colonialism Discourse

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:11:51 GMT

Title: Existential Thoughts in Fanon's Post-colonialism Discourse
Author: CHUAN-RONG YEH
Journal: Policy Futures in Education
Year: 2013 Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Pages: 200-215
ABSTRACT Frantz Fanon, a pioneer of post-colonial theory, attempted to seek some unbeknown possibilities through a Sartrean existentialism thought toward ethnic liberation and the fighting against imperialism. This article tries to enter Fanon's short life that was full of humanism and existentialist thought and to explore the hidden theoretical context when he was speculating the ethnic liberation movement and overturning imperialism. The article also tries to find a whole new vision and direction of thought about Fanon and his anti-colonial theory.

European Higher Education and Corporate Designs of Utopia

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:11:51 GMT

Title: European Higher Education and Corporate Designs of Utopia
Author: Ricardo D. Rosa
Journal: Policy Futures in Education
Year: 2013 Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Pages: 216-222
ABSTRACT Not available