Full Description
Have you ever wondered why education is always being reformed? This book provides ten case studies from all corners of the globe that illustrate how politics and data clash as education policies are developed, enacted, and assessed. A follow-up to the authors' previous book, Implementing Educational Reform, it highlights trends such as politicisation, showing where successful policies have been dropped, and where failed policies persist for ideological ends. Drawing on examples from South Africa, Ghana, Rwanda, Peru, Portugal, post-Soviet states and the UK, it shows how education policy can be disruptive and abrupt, or consensual and gradual. It challenges the managerial model of education reform that has dominated the last thirty years of education reform thinking, ultimately deepening our understanding of the importance of practical knowledge in designing and implementing policies. It is essential reading for practitioners, policy makers, and researchers of education research, education policy, and international education reform.
Contents
1. Introduction: until the miracle arrives, we can learn from others Alan Ruby and Colleen McLaughlin; 2. Radical curriculum change and the politics of 'implementation': a South African case study Jonathan D. Jansen; 3. Towards a play-based pedagogy in Ghanaian kindergarten education: challenges and opportunities for implementation Esinam Ami Avornyo; 4. Implementing fee-free education in Rwanda: opportunities and challenges Timothy P. Williams; 5. Policy implementation in a Sisyphean State: improving Pedagogical practice in Perú through the soporte Pedagógico programme Maria Balarin; 6. Reforming the school system: lessons from England Peter Dudley and Robert Robson; 7. Educational reform in Scotland: policy, governance and professional culture Mark Priestley and Walter Humes; 8. The role of textbooks in improving education in Portugal Nuno Crato; 9. Turning social capital into a working wage: how teachers in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan earn their pay and their keep Raisa Belyavina Schwanbeck; 10. High-performance and equity: closing the gap contributes to success Peeter Mehisto and Maie Kitsing; 11. Missing opportunity? Transformation of the teachers' remuneration system in Kazakhstan in the context of increasing wages Isak Frumin; 12. Conclusion - global and national shifts in implementing educational reform Colleen McLaughlin and Alan Ruby.
