Welfare Reform on the Web (January 2003): Education - Overseas
AUTONOMY, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND ORGANISATIONAL COMPLEXITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: THE GOETTINGEN MODEL OF UNIVERSITY REFORM
M Kreysing
Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 40, 2002, p.552-560
Although universities in Germany have been traditionally state controlled, policies designed to increase institutional autonomy and flexibility have been initiated drawing on ideas from the new public management, new managerialism and organisation theory. Paper considers reform efforts at Goettingen University.
A BREAK FROM THE PAST: IMPACTS AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE CANADA FOUNDATION FOR INNOVATION AND CANADA RESEARCH CHAIRS INITIATIVES
C. Polster
Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, vol. 39, 2002, p.275-299
The Canada Foundation for Innovation was established in 1997 to provide funds to help universities modernise their research infrastructure. The Canada Research Chairs programme, announced in 1999, will provide funding over five years to establish 2000 research chairs in universities. Article looks at the impact of these initiatives on relations within and between universities. Goes on to examine their effect on relations between universities and the government, the private sector, and the general public.
GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
M. Long
Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, vol. 24, 2002, p.127-143
Discusses two major forms of federal government financial assistance to university students: loans to enable them to defer payment of tuition fees and various means-tested income support schemes.
IMPROVING STUDENT BEHAVIOR AND SCHOOL DISCIPLINE WITH FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
S. B. Sheldon and J.L. Epstein
Education and Urban Society, vol. 35, Nov. 2002, p.4-26
Study reports the results of efforts by school officials to implement family and community involvement activities to improve discipline. Using longitudinal data from primary and secondary schools, analyses indicate that regardless of schools' prior disciplinary record, the more family and community involvement activities were implemented, the fewer students were disciplined by being sent to head teachers' offices or given detention or in-school suspension. Promotion of supportive parenting and use of parents as volunteers were most predictive of reducing percentages of students who were subject to discipline.
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND ACCELERATED AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SCHOOLS: A CASE-BASED STUDY OF TWO SCHOOL REFORM EFFORTS IN THE USA
S. Peters
International Journal of Inclusive Education, vol 6, 2002, p.287-308
This case-based study of two school reform efforts in the USA examines how the process of inclusive education works for SEN (Special Education Needs) students and the extent to which these students feel as though they are an integral part of school reform. In this study, the perception of pedagogical and political 'gaps' between school effectiveness reform agendas and inclusive education reveal a narrow, rational-technical view of reform.
KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION AND HIGHER EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION IN SOUTH AFRICA: TOWARDS REFLEXIVITY IN UNIVERSITY TEACHING, RESEARCH AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
Y. Waghid
Higher Education, vol. 43, 2002, p.457-488
Argues that in post-apartheid South Africa, academics should be guided by the idea of a reflexive praxis. This would encourage them to develop initiatives to apply research results in the solution of community problems. In this way the university would be seen as socially relevant and as at the service of the broader community.
THE NEW MANAGERIALISM IN EDUCATION MANAGEMENT: CORPORATIZATION OR ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING?
H.D. Meyer
Journal of Education Administration, vol. 40, 2002, p.534-551
During the 1990s many universities began to replace traditional forms of educational governance with practices from private corporate management. Argues that the ongoing changes in higher education management are best understood as instances of organisational learning in a turbulent environment brought about by globalisation, greater consumer choice, and the advent of the knowledge society.
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE ERA OF NEOLIBERAL GLOBALIZATION: LATIN AMERICA IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
C.A. Torres and D. Schugurensky
Higher Education, vol. 43, 2002, p.429-455
Article discusses higher education restructuring in Latin America in the context of globalisation and marketisation. Public universities in Latin America are experiencing government financial cutbacks, which lead to pressure to raise revenue from other sources, including private industry. At the same time funding is becoming increasingly conditional, with emphasis on accountability. Universities are also compelled to implement self-evaluation processes, supplemented by external assessments. Students are now considered as consumers, and asked to pay higher fees. Marketisation is also making institutions demand-driven, with more emphasis on vocational courses. All this adds up to a gradual loss of institutional autonomy, with the state and business having a growing influence on university policies.
PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY IN HONG KONG HIGHER EDUCATION: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS OF ASSESSING ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
J.S. Pounder
International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 15, 2002, p.458-474
Organisational self-assessment is considered to be a crucial quality assurance mechanism in higher education. This mechanism is a response to calls for publicly funded institutions to demonstrate "value for money" performance. Paper describes a Hong Kong study that attempted to enhance the existing organisational review system by developing a self-assessment instrument comprising criteria based on firm theoretical grounds.
RACE-ETHNICITY, SOCIAL CLASS, AND ZERO-TOLERANCE POLICIES: THE CULTURAL AND STRUCTURAL WARS
R.R Verdugo
Education and Urban Society, vol. 35, 2002, p.50-75
Schools in the USA have responded to challenging behaviour by students by introducing a range of zero-tolerance policies. Such policies are meant to punish and not to educate children. They disproportionately sanction ethnic/racial minorities, especially students in urban areas.
THE RULE OF IDEAS IN EDUCATION POLITICS: USING DISCOURSE ANALYSIS TO UNDERSTAND BARRIERS TO REFORM IN MULTIETHNIC CITIES
M.S. Sidney
Urban Affairs Review, vol. 38, 2002, p.253-279
In the four US cities under study, coalitions across racial minority groups did not emerge to pursue educational reform in spite of shared dissatisfaction with the schools. Findings suggest that divergent ideas about how race intersects with education problems and solutions pose barriers to collective action and meaningful education reform in multiethnic cities.
SELF-EVALUATION IN THE GLOBAL CLASSROOM
J. MacBeath and H. Sugimine
London: Routledge Falmer, 2003
By following school students involved in The Learning School project, this book shows how successful and effective education is. Using a variety of tools to evaluate the learning, motivation and self-evaluation abilities of students, this study looks at education in the UK, Sweden, Japan, Germany, the Czech Republic, South Africa and South Korea.
SHARED INTERESTS, SHARED COSTS: STUDENT CONTRIBUTIONS IN DUTCH HIGHER EDUCATION
H Vossensteyn
Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, vol 24, 2002, p.145-154
Tuition fees in the Netherlands' universities are rising while basic student maintenance grants are falling. Reliance on loans, earnings and parental financial help has increased. Receipt of financial support has also now been linked to certain performance requirements laid on the student.
STUDENT LOANS, STUDENT FINANCIAL AID AND POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION IN CANADA
R. Finnie
Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, vol 24, 2002, p.155-170
Article briefly describes the Canadian student loan system. It then reports the results of an empirical analysis which shows that borrowing remains at reasonable levels and that repayment difficulties are uncommon. Provincial grants for university students were phased out and replaced by loans in the early to mid 1990s.
TRAINING YOUNG PEOPLE THROUGH A SCHOOL/ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY
P J Smith, J Henry and G Munro
Education and Training, vol. 44, 2002, p. 281-289
Reports a longitudinal study of 58 young people who undertook an engineering traineeship concurrent with their final two years of secondary school in Australia. The student experience was planned as a partnership between a manufacturing firm, a secondary school and a post-secondary technical college. Results show that the participants benefited significantly in terms of employment and career pathways, employment outcomes, and post-traineeship employment destinations
VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS: THE RESPONSE IN EUROPE
P.K. Smith (ed)
London: Routledge Falmer, 2002
Bringing together contributions from all EU member states, this book explores the nature of school violence in each country. It examines the social policy initiatives and methods of intervention being used to address the problems and evaluates the effectiveness of the different strategies.
WHICH BARBARIANS AT THE GATES?: FROM CULTURE WARS TO MARKET ORTHODOXY IN THE NORTH AMERICAN ACADEMY
F. Kurasawa
Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, vol 39, 2002, p.323-347
Discuss the impact of marketisation and political correctness on universities in North America.