The ambiguous politics of teachers in the reconstruction of Iraq

The opportunity to rebuild community after conflict requires rapid responses to reinstall key institutions. This paper examines the role of educators in the reconstruction of educational systems and in the rebuilding of community through a case study of Iraq. While ongoing conflict continues in Iraq, reconstruction efforts persist through large scale infrastructure and institutional rebuilding that aims to bring stability to political, legal and financial systems. The interim Iraqi government, given sovereignty on June 28, 2004, continues to support the road map underpinning rebuilding efforts in Post-Saddam Iraq.1 The restructuring of education systems is a cornerstone of rebuilding efforts since an intact and functioning education system complements other social and economic transformations, rebuilds social relations and instigates a routine normalcy to post conflict communities . The paper problematises rebuilding efforts through critical policy analysis that questions the nature of policy, how assistance is constructed and the ambiguous political role of educators in educational rebuilding.

The simplicity of educational reforms : defining globalization and reframing educational policies during the 1990s

Reviewing the trends in educational reforms from the last decade provides opportunity for policy makers to understand the issues from the past with a view to improving the educational planning in the future. In the 90s globalization emerged as a great impetus for educational reforms, however a central problem concerning globalization was its full meaning and implications were still emergent therefore educational planning and policy making reflected a great deal of uncertainty. This paper reviews and analyses how educational policies from the 90s constructed globalization and uncertainty and whether the lessons from the 90s have implications for current policy making. Using computer assisted text analysis, this paper explores how educational policies from OECD, UNESCO and the World Bank coalesced with certain notions of globalisation that strategically guided educational reforms. By focusing on textual evidence, in a range of education policy from the 90s, the paper discusses how policy consolidated particular ideas about globalization and presented ‘simple’ recipes for educational change. When reviewing the 90s, the relationship between education and global change the macro policy research shows a trend towards narrowing focus on managerial and financial issues, specifically the paper discusses how OECD policy emphasized education a social and individual payoff, World Bank policy focused on education enabling the free flow of capital and UNESCO policy problematised globalization but focused on the importance of teachers as a way to create stability in education during the paradoxical times.

Understanding quality and equity of schooling in Scotland : locating educational traditions globally

This paper provides a descriptive analysis of the OECD’s (2007) national report on Scottish education, Quality and equity of schooling in Scotland, while also briefly considering the Scottish government’s Diagnostic Report, prepared for the review. The national report is situated against Scottish traditions of schooling, particularly the view that access to academic curricula for all is a democratic and egalitarian approach, and also set against the changing role of the OECD. On the latter, the paper argues that the OECD, in the context of globalisation, has become more of a policy actor in its own right, in addition to its more traditional think-tank function. The OECD is a now significant transnational policy actor in education, contributing to the emergent global education policy field. The overarching argument proffered is that debates provoked by the OECD’s report, for example the David Raffe/Richard Teese exchange in the Scottish Educational Review, 40(1), 2008, stem from tensions between the new supranational expression of political and policy authority as articulated in the OECD’s report and that located more traditionally within the nation. The academic curricula for all, the Scottish tradition, is challenged by the OECD report, which supports more diverse curricula provision, including more vocational education in schools, particularly at the post-compulsory phase. We note, drawing on theoretical and empirical insights of Bourdieu, that the success of the former demands pedagogies which scaffold for those students not possessing the requisite cultural capitals for success with academic curricula, while the latter demands a strategic effort to ensure parity of esteem between different curricular provisions.

Challenging the dominant discourses of the state aid debate

The state aid debate is one of the longest running and most intractable issues in the public policy sphere in Australia. Recent decisions by the Commonwealth government to increase funding to private schools has reignited the debate. But the traditional defences of public education have proved inadequate to the task of hanging the course of current neo-liberal education policy trajectories. As the percentage of students attending private schools continues to grow, and as the spectre of a residualised public education system looms larger, so the need to rethink Australian public education becomes a more urgent project. In this paper we analyse what is happening and why; identify a range of concerns from the standpoint of a social democratic educational agenda; and theorise some possible strategies which might be pursued by those committed to a vibrant public schooling
system in Australia.

Educational reform in North Cyprus : towards the making of a nation/state?

The Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) aspires to take its place in Europe and the global ‘knowledge economy’. In order to do so, it needs not only to be politically recognised as legitimate and to develop the kinds of economic and governance structures that signify a functional state, but also to produce a cultural imaginary of itself as a nation. In this paper, we mobilise Appadurai’s theorisation of deterritorialisation, flows and context generation in order to examine the ways in which the implementation of educational reforms inTRNC might contribute to this ambition.We show that the ethnoscape and financescape combine to make education reform difficult, with specific challenges arising from the mixed commitment of the workforce, the capacity of the education bureaucracy to align support with policy mandates, and the ‘fit’ between the policy and local needs. We conclude by suggesting that TRNC faces the dilemma of working with cultural heterogeneity: Appadurai identifies this as a key ideoscape challenge for all nation/states.

Piecing together the puzzle of graduate employment : factors that shape the graduate work expectations of human resource management students

Providing graduates with a set of skills and attributes relevant to their future employment remains a key topic in both higher education policy and research. This paper reports findings from a pilot study of human resource management (HRM) students' perceptions of the graduate work experience. Specifically, it focuses on how these perceptions are shaped, driven by a concern for the uncertainty - and even fear - expressed by the study's participants in relation to their future workplace experiences. The influences of three key factors in shaping participants' expectations are discussed: the graduate recruitment experience, previous work experiences and 'graduate work folklore' from the stories of family and friends. With these influences not always providing students with a realistic picture of their future work experience, we conclude that educators need to improve the opportunities for practical experience and industry knowledge through work placements, stronger links with industry and increased exposure to the practicalities of work within the curriculum.

Striving for balance : Australian perspectives on the future of schooling

Interview participants comprised a purposive, theoretical sample of 10 senior education policy leaders from across Australia. Participants argued that the current bureaucratic organisation of schooling would persist in the future because of intensifying pressure for schools to satisfy diverse political priorities; current funding arrangements had established a quasi-market model by default; unresolved tensions about a national curriculum and standardised assessment/accountability for students, teachers, and schools, and a shortage of dynamic, innovative leaders to reconnect public schools with their communities.

Fair go must not be just a phrase

Equity is back on the higher education policy agenda. After nearly 20 years of federal government policy championing the cause, with embarrassingly little change in the participation rates of equity groups, particularly indigenous students, rural and regional students and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, there is a potential new era looming in equity policy and practice.

Neoliberalising learning : generating alternate futures consciousness

Both educators and education policies have long claimed a role in preparing students for ‘the future’. This has been referred to as the rhetoric of futures in education, as the notion of a future is assumed, abstract and not articulated (Bateman 2010). Recent research indicates that teachers give little attention to futures thinking in interpreting and enacting curriculum documents. Only when their ‘futures consciousness’ was increased were they able to generate explicit alternate futures scenarios and make connections with learners (Bateman 2012). In light of international education policy agendas pressing countries to adopt economic competitiveness in national curriculum policies, the ‘future’ vision looks narrow and constrained. We argue that current educational reforms in Australia provide little scope to address the concept of multiple futures, which are significant in enabling citizens to shape and contribute in personal, local and global contexts.

Accountability, quality assurance and performativity : the changing role of the academic board

This article undertakes a review of Australian and international literature and higher education policy in response to the changing nature of university academic boards (also known as academic senates or faculty senates). It shows that governance has become an issue for both the state and for universities and that within this context risk management and accountability mechanisms such as academic quality assurance are taking an increasingly prominent role. These developments have altered the form and function of academic governance and have fundamentally affected the academic board. For example, some literature reports that the role of Australian academic boards now largely revolves around academic quality assurance and it is argued that this is potentially problematic because of a focus on audit-driven accountability mechanisms. However, the article concludes by suggesting that as part of a broader quality assurance framework there is also an opportunity for academic boards to have a central role in the development of academic standards that focus on enhancing learning outcomes rather than on compliance.

Learning in both worlds : academic journalism as a research outcome

Works of journalism by journalism academics can be valuable outcomes of research without making the claim that they are scholarly works per se. In the discussion of the feature article Learning in both worlds that follows, I make a case for the importance of writing and publishing this piece of journalism as an outcome of my research on the interplay of news media and bilingual education policy in Australia’s Northern Territory 1988-2008. I also advocate the ‘experimental’ possibilities such works of journalism offer for ‘testing’ research findings, concepts and theories.

The my school website in Australia

 The My School website in Australia offers moderately nuanced comparisons between any school and sixty other socio-educationally similar schools. Detrimental effects on poor-performing schools are small because it is forbidden to use these comparisons to construct league tables. More generally, however, the website promotes practices of auditing employees. As such it undermines teachers’ sense of integrity and any sense that they are professionals who society respects enough to entrust with an important task. It is not surprising that very few teachers use it, and it would seem not many parents use it either. A left-of-centre government established the website despite opposition by the teacher unions but with the support of News Corporation. New Public Management and an accompanying great increase in auditing offer a deeper explanation for why the website was established. Public servants and political leaders of both the left and the right support the transparency about school performance so My School is likely to continue. An alliance between teacher unions, parents and community groups might see education policy switch tracks from the present market orientation to a welfare orientation.

Keeping connected: the design and overview of the research

The special issue Keeping Connected: Identity, Social Connection and Education for Young People opens with a paper that discusses the research design and overview of a three-year project by a Melbourne (Australia)-based multi-disciplinary team. Over 2007–2009, the Keeping Connected team of 10 researchers investigated the lives of adolescents with ongoing health conditions. The project centrally is developed by the young people's perspectives, their identity and wellbeing, relationships with others and engagement within changing contexts and their altered opportunities in the world. The research design includes image production underpinned by visual methods and a narrative-informed approach to interview and interpretation of images. The study, which crosses the health and education interface, set out to highlight differences of perspectives adopted by 31 young people, their families and the professional groups, such as teachers and health professionals. The special issue discusses key project findings and contributes a body of scholarship that expands our knowledge of evidence-based research across the education and health interface. The longitudinal study highlighted two themes of importance for education, and poorly catered for in current policies and guidelines: that the situation of these young people needs to be addressed by schools as a process over time (including prospectively); and that the young people's identity is strongly marked by a desire to be seen and treated as ‘normal’ combined with an awareness of being vulnerable.

Keeping connected: a review of the research relationship

In this paper, some key findings of the Keeping Connected project are discussed in light of the methodological challenges of developing an analytical approach in a large-scale study, particularly in starting with open-ended, participant-selected, digital still visual images as part of 31 longitudinal case studies. The paper works to clarify the methodological and epistemological discussions of the visual data, an issue of great interest in qualitative research and visuality for researchers intent on developing understandings of participatory research methods in the field of youth studies.