Search results

This chapter unpacks the ontological conjectures underlying economy-oriented standardisation of educational institutions, practices and processes and reflects on alternative – and arguably more desirable – rationales for standardisation in education. Drawing from the works of Maxine Greene and John Dewey, as well as Critical Theory, this chapter contrasts the future-oriented educational concepts at the foundation of economy-directed standardisation – which are oriented on the attainment of certain future ‘outcomes’ – with standardisation rationales based on present-oriented educational theories that derive the purpose of education from educational experience and interaction.

Team creativity presents an interesting dilemma. On one hand, organizational teams are increasingly being asked to produce creative outcomes rapidly and within tight timelines. On the other hand, teams need sufficient time to explore different perspectives, play with ideas, and overcome the process losses that occur from working in interdependent groups. In this chapter, we address this dilemma by developing a model for understanding how teams can maximize the speed of the team creative process. We propose that teams' potential for rapid creativity is a function of aligning the team structure and standardization of the creative process with the team development cycle. When these three elements are aligned, teams are more likely to generate creative outcomes in a rapid manner.

Standardisation in education is an ambiguous process. Standards of time, measurement, technology and other aspects have evolved historically as basic preconditions for social life and communication, in education as well as in society at large. But excessive standardisation, especially in domains of culture and knowledge, often works as cultural and symbolic violence, undermining the qualities of education and learning situations. This chapter investigates these ambiguities, presenting concepts of standards and standardisation and developing their implications for education through selected theoretical contributions and empirical cases. The theoretical contributions include Berger and Luckmann's constructivist sociology of knowledge, Bourdieu's theory of symbolic capital and Habermas' theory of communicative action. The empirical cases include the processes of centralisation and standardisation of education in the United States and the process of standardisation in European higher education.

This introductory chapter introduces standards and standardisation as concepts of outmost relevance to current educational practice and policy across the world, and frames them historically, empirically, as well as theoretically. Furthermore, it gives an overview of how the book is structured and how it can be seen to contribute to the wider field of research in education. The chapter starts by introducing the concepts before it provides the reader with a background description of the broad discursive landscape of policy developments, as painted by educational policy research. Subsequently it describes how standards and standardisation have been theorised within educational research, and concludes with a presentation of the different contributions.

Standards are normative specifications for the steering of education policy and practice. They aim to clarify educational objectives, means and practice, by giving a shape to the worlds of education. They raise criticisms of oversimplification often splitting the discussion in unnecessary oppositions between pro and con standardisation. To escape from a fruitless antagonism, this chapter proposes the concept of waves of standardisation. Standards are essential characteristics of any organisation, including schools. Historically, standardisation of education increases with the emergence of modernity, and in particular with the unfolding and consolidation of mass schooling. Since then, however, waves of standardisation develop into diverse political scenarios and are oriented by different rationales. More than a standard world of education, a world of standards sustained by several circuits of expertise where competing logics of justifications are embedded in various political rationalities is illustrated.

How is medical knowledge produced and what are the implications of that knowledge production for medical practice? Using theoretical ideas on evidence-based medicine, standardization in medical research and practice, and biopower, I examine the relationship between medical knowledge and medical practice through the case of pelvic pain care in the US.

Data from ethnographic observations at two medical conferences as well as interviews with healthcare providers inform a critical analysis of the medical discourse.

The analysis reveals how evidence-based medicine is practiced in the context of medical conditions that lack objective evidence, as well as the unintended consequences of such practices. I provide an alternative approach to medical practice for conditions lacking traditional evidence through presenting outlier cases in the data.

In doing so, I make the broad theoretical argument that biomedical paradigms must emerge through the critical process of negative dialectics in order to reach past the limits of standardized medical care.

In sociologically analyzing the case of pelvic pain care, I reveal dire limits in the evidence-based approach to medical care for conditions and symptoms that may be deemed medical anomalies, demanding an alternative approach to care for such conditions.

The aim of the present study is to look into the potential of standardization of special purpose buildings, with the example of the Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property Management (Statsbygg).

The present study uses results from a group workshop on the topic of standardization, suggesting building types suitable for standardization or modular construction. In addition, data from Statsbygg’s project database is used.

There is a broad specter of special purpose buildings with potential for standardization, such as customs facilities, courthouses, university buildings and buildings with a high share of office functions. Even buildings with an individualized character, such as museums or government buildings, have a certain potential for standardization of functional or constructional elements. Modular construction can be used where and when appropriate.

Being on a brainstorming level and limited to Statsbygg, the study provides a starting point for further research looking at other building commissioners working with special purpose buildings, or quantifying the potential for cost reduction.

On the basis of the findings from this study, Statsbygg considers further standardization of their special purpose buildings, not only within building types but also across the portfolio or within a project, for example rooms or functional elements.

Research on standardization of special purpose buildings is limited. The article presents the results of a workshop with project managers, contributing to the topic based on their experience from the construction of special purpose buildings. Although on a brainstorming level, the research is a starting point for further research into this topic.

My days in the Michigan State University (MSU) doctoral program were days filled with intellectual stimulation and long hours of work on various research projects. Starting from my first day on Campus, I was part of the Center for International Business Education & Research (CIBER), which consisted only of Prof. Tamer Cavusgil and his assistant Kay Fitzgerald. Dr. Cavusgil's days were filled with writing research proposals to secure funding for the center. He was so good at this that the center grew rapidly. In my second year in the program, I was involved in the Marketing Expert Systems project. As part of this project, I worked with a team of doctoral students. The artificial intelligence brain of the project was Mike Mitri, a doctoral student at the Computer Engineering Department. Each doctoral student was assigned an application area in international marketing: I was assigned the Evaluation and Selection of an International Logistics Company.