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1 – 10 of over 18000Attempts to reform educational policies and practices have beenincreasing in recent decades. Since the early 1980s, both the UnitedStates and the Soviet Union have engaged in…
Abstract
Attempts to reform educational policies and practices have been increasing in recent decades. Since the early 1980s, both the United States and the Soviet Union have engaged in significant efforts to improve and/or restructure their educational systems. Analyses and contrasts these efforts in terms of the reform goals, philosophies, procedures, outcome criteria and personnel practices for each country. An assessment of the success of the reform effort is provided.
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More than five years have passed since A Nation at Risk was published in 1983 by then‐Secretary of Education Terrance Bell's National Commission on Excellence in Education. Those…
Abstract
More than five years have passed since A Nation at Risk was published in 1983 by then‐Secretary of Education Terrance Bell's National Commission on Excellence in Education. Those years have seen the publication of an enormous body of both primary material, composed of research reports, essays, and federal and state reform proposals and reports; and secondary material, composed of summaries and reviews of the original reform reports and reports about effective programs that are based on reform recommendations. This annotated bibliography seeks to identify, briefly describe, and organize in a useful manner those publications dealing with K‐12 education reform and improvement. The overall purposes of this article are to bring organization to that list, and also to trace relationships and influences from the federal initiatives to the states and professional associations, and from there to the school districts and individual schools.
Gerald W. Fry and Hui Bi
The purpose of this paper is to analyze critically the evolution of educational reform in Thailand. Three major phases are identified. The special focus of the paper is an…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze critically the evolution of educational reform in Thailand. Three major phases are identified. The special focus of the paper is an assessment of the third reform which began with the passage of the Office of the National Education Commission (ONEC) (2002).
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology for the study is mixed methods including document analysis, direct participant observation, and compilation of major statistical performance indicators from diverse sources.
Findings
The success of the most recent reform has been clearly mixed. Major structural and legal changes have occurred but overall system performance remains disappointingly low, despite large Thai educational expenditures as a percent of national budget and the presence of much impressive educational leadership talent. The paper identifies what is called the “Thai educational paradox”. The essence of the paradox is Thailand’s failure to achieve its educational potential. The paper identifies key factors explaining the paradox.
Originality/value
The paper has significant theoretical, policy, and practical implications. From a theoretical perspective, the study confirms the persistence of strong regional disparities and a lack of fiscal neutrality associated with a neoliberal model of capitalistic development. From a practical policy perspective, it is imperative for Thailand to improve the overall quality of its educational system and to reduce regional disparities. There have been numerous studies of each of Thailand’s three phases of reform, but this paper’s original contribution is its presentation of a historical, interdisciplinary, and integrated perspective on the evolution of educational reform and the many obstacles associated with its implementation.
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This paper aims to analyse the reform syndrome, bottle‐neck effects and their impacts on teachers and school education in the last ten years and highlight the direction of new…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyse the reform syndrome, bottle‐neck effects and their impacts on teachers and school education in the last ten years and highlight the direction of new developments.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper examines educational reforms in Hong Kong in the last decade.
Findings
Echoing the international trends of educational reforms, Hong Kong, as an international city, has initiated a series of educational reforms in the past decades. The experiences of educational reforms in Hong Kong may provide a good case for understanding the dynamics of educational reforms and drawing theoretical and practical implications for research, policy formulation and implementation not only in Hong Kong but also in other international communities.
Originality/value
From the analysis of the reform syndrome, particularly the bottle‐neck effect, there should be seven key aspects for policy‐makers, educators and stakeholders in Hong Kong to address the emergent key issues in educational reforms and work for the further development of their education system in the coming few years.
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Some studies have claimed that Chinese thinker Hu Shi (or Hu Shih) received and responded to John Dewey's educational ideas only at a theoretical level and did little for…
Abstract
Purpose
Some studies have claimed that Chinese thinker Hu Shi (or Hu Shih) received and responded to John Dewey's educational ideas only at a theoretical level and did little for education at a practical level. This paper reexamines Hu's reception of Dewey's ideas with a focus on how he used those ideas to solve China's educational and social problems during the late 1910s and 1920s.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws upon what Schriewer (2012) has called “theories of reception.” Rather than focusing on the international dissemination of ideas and knowledge, this approach emphasizes the reception of foreign ideas from the perspective and needs of the receiver, interpreter and/or reader who apprehends such ideas within a particular socio–cultural context.
Findings
This paper finds that Hu not only received — and examined — Dewey's educational ideas in a systematic way, but also used them pragmatically to reform China's systems of education as part of the New Culture Movement after 1919.
Originality/value
This research offers a new understanding of Hu's reception of Dewey's educational ideas. It shows that Hu was not merely a “thinker” in the field of education but also a “doer” who sought to apply Dewey's ideas in practice. This new view allows us to reevaluate Hu's role in the modernization of Chinese education.
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Meril Ümarik, Krista Loogma and Külliki Tafel-Viia
The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the implementation of educational reform processes by applying the concept of social innovation. The paper proposes a model of social…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the implementation of educational reform processes by applying the concept of social innovation. The paper proposes a model of social innovation and test its applicability in the context of Estonian vocational education reform using two case studies of the school re-organization as an example.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study approach has been applied in the empirical study. Different data collection methods have been used including semi-structured interviews with the various change actors, observations and analysis of written documents.
Findings
The integrated model of social innovation proved to be a fruitful analytical tool. By focusing on five central aspects – the trigger of change, central change agents, social mechanisms facilitating the adoption of change, implications and social gains – it was possible to explain two school re-organization processes and the reasons behind their success or complications.
Practical implications
The analysis of the cases outlined some lessons that can be learned for the future planning and implementation of school reforms. School changes are more easily adopted if actors experience it as useful and rational, school staff are involved in the process as early as possible and the adoption is facilitated by building certain social mechanisms and network structures into the policy implementation process.
Originality/value
The paper makes a contribution to the literature on educational reform by applying the concept of social innovation. Up until now, the concept of social innovation has remained rather underused to explain the process of implementing and adopting reforms, and in particular, it is rarely used in the context of analyzing educational reforms.
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Kirsi Pyhältö, Tiina Soini and Janne Pietarinen
This study aims to gain better understanding of the perceptions comprehensive school principals and chief education officers have about the implementation of school reform and the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to gain better understanding of the perceptions comprehensive school principals and chief education officers have about the implementation of school reform and the means they use to facilitate the development of such.
Design/methodology/approach
This research project was carried out using a systemic design research approach. Open‐ended questionnaires provided the data for the study and these were completed by educational leaders operating in local school districts.
Findings
The results demonstrated that pedagogy was emphasized most often as the core of school reform by principals but chief education officers considered technical and financial factors more often as the critical core of educational reform. Nevertheless, both groups had quite similar ideas on how to promote school development.
Research limitations/implications
The findings reflect the Finnish educational system and capture only two levels of leadership within the system. Future research ought to focus on studying school reforms within different school systems as a complex of correlated events, processes, strategies, interactions and qualities.
Practical implications
To be able to achieve a successful and sustainable school reform more attention must be devoted to creating and activating collaborative learning environments, not only for pupils and teachers, but also for educational leaders at all levels of school administration.
Originality/value
The study adds to an understanding of the often‐mentioned gap or conflict in perceptions and beliefs between different actors in an educational system.
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Orit Avidov-Ungar and Rinat Arviv-Elyashiv
The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of teachers toward national reform in education according to the reform stage (Initiation, Implementation or…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of teachers toward national reform in education according to the reform stage (Initiation, Implementation or Institutionalization) attained in their school. The study aim to examined: How do teachers perceive the current reform?; Is there a correlation between teachers' perceptions and reform stage?; To what extent are teachers' perceptions affected by school's mechanisms and school's readiness?
Design/methodology/approach
The research methodology is quantitative. Teachers (N = 288) completed a written questionnaire. One-way ANOVA was used to investigate teachers' perceptions of the reform and its contributions to school effectiveness and to teachers' working conditions according to reform stage, while controlling for managerial position, teaching experience and school level. Multivariate modeling was used to examine the relationships between the variables.
Findings
Teachers' overall attitudes toward the changes associated with the education reform lay between moderately negative and neutral. Reform was perceived to have made a greater contribution to school effectiveness than to teacher working conditions. School readiness for reform and the presence of school mechanisms supporting reform explained much (41%) of the variance in teachers' attitudes. Teachers holding leadership roles and those whose schools were in the Institutionalization stage exhibited more positive attitudes toward the reform and perceived it as having improved their working conditions to a greater extent than those without leadership roles or whose schools were in the Initiation or Implementation stages, respectively.
Originality/value
Teachers' attitudes toward reform have not previously been examined in the context of reform stage.
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Hasyim Haddade, Askar Nur, Andi Achruh, Muhammad Nur Akbar Rasyid and Andi Ibrahim
Improving the quality of madrasah in the digital era is a must. This can be committed by strengthening aspects of madrasah governance through implementing management strategies…
Abstract
Purpose
Improving the quality of madrasah in the digital era is a must. This can be committed by strengthening aspects of madrasah governance through implementing management strategies that refer more to the integration of technology and Islamic education. This research focuses on madrasah management strategies through the Madrasah Reform program.
Design/methodology/approach
This research uses a case study research design that focuses attention on strategic aspects of developing madrasah through the Madrasah Reform program. The informants in this study were 18 people consisting of three madrasah heads from Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI), Madrasah Tsanawiyah (MTs) and Madrasah Aliyah (MA), five teachers and 10 students. Data collection in this study used in-depth and semi-structured interviews with madrasah heads and teachers regarding the implementation of the Madrasah Reform program and also regarding madrasah management strategies at three levels of education.
Findings
This study shows that the strategy of managing madrasahs through the Madrasah Reform program in three madrasahs in Indonesia has had a positive impact on improving the quality of madrasahs, although there are still aspects that require development.
Research limitations/implications
This research implies that the quality of madrasah in the digital era is determined by management strategies based on the use of educational technology.
Practical implications
This program has implications for the development of the quality of human resources in educational institutions, especially in relation to digital literacy among students and teaching staff. The use of digital technology, which is one of the main projections of the Madrasah Reform program, is continuously able to change the face of education in a more modern direction, both in terms of governance and the learning process, so that the output of this program, especially what occurs at Madrasah Madani, is significant development in the aspects of digital literacy and technology. Which is the main criterion in facing a digital-based educational context.
Social implications
For a policy aspect, the success of the Madrasah Reform program at Madrasah Madani can be used as a blueprint or model for implementing this program in Islamic educational institutions, specifically Madrasas in South Sulawesi and in general at Madrasas throughout Indonesia.
Originality/value
This proves that Madrasah Reform program is a program that can be implemented in madrasahs to improve the quality of madrasah management in the digital era while continuing to carry out simultaneous improvements and evaluations of the program.
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The purpose of this paper is to review the major systemic educational reforms that China has undertaken over the past three decades and analyze the reasons behind their different…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the major systemic educational reforms that China has undertaken over the past three decades and analyze the reasons behind their different degrees of success.
Design/methodology/approach
Two running themes are identified among various reforms on the Chinese educational system: decentralization and marketization. The authors explore the driving forces behind these reforms and discuss whether the reforms were successful or not.
Findings
In conclusion, the authors highlight four takeaway lessons of Chinese educational reforms.
Originality/value
This is an original discussion of educational reforms in China in the contexts of decentralization and marketization.
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