Quality Equity Autonomy

The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government promised education reforms before getting elected in 2018, and presently grapples with the complexities of making good on those pledges while seeking to negotiate continuity and change with regard to the previous administration’s Malaysian Education Blueprint launched in 2013. This article situates the education reforms in the context of Malaysia’s highly centralized administration, embedded practices and policy initiatives of recent years. Discussion focuses on three areas—quality, equity, autonomy—where PH has more distinctly differentiated itself from its predecessor. On the quality of national schools, efforts to alleviate teachers’ bureaucratic workload and enhance the schooling experience mark a positive start. However, transforming mindsets and practices will require more systemic changes, critical self-reflection, and sustained efforts on difficult matters, particularly in basic schooling and technical and vocational programmes. On equity, the government’s consistent attention to Bottom 40 (B40) households progressively allocates opportunity, and continual need to address ethnic concerns poses steep challenges. However, policy responses tend to unfold in an ad hoc manner, and the balancing of ethnic interests lacks clarity and coherence. On autonomy, at the institutional level, legislative overhaul in higher education is in the works, while at the personal level, academic freedom clearly thrives more under PH administration. Meaningful and effective reform will hinge on devolution of power away from central government, institutionalization of autonomy, and depoliticization of the system.

In Rethinking Hegemony, edited by Thomas Clayton, a group of prominent educationists explore the complex and powerful process of hegemony, or ideological domination, as it operates in schools and other educational settings. In this collection of national and international empirical studies the authors grapple with the central process of hegemony – that of social maintenance or transformation by means of prominent social ideas which shape our understanding of what constitutes just, proper, and legitimate ways of thinking and acting. While the authors agree that these ideas are continually renewed, recreated and defended by dominant groups in society, they also consider the way other groups respond to this process in what often becomes a struggle for hegemony or ideological ascendancy. Chapters include Daniel Schugurensky’s analysis of the university restructuring in Latin America, Carmel Borg’s examination of the diffusion of Catholic values in Malta’s state schools, Joseph and Rea Zajda’s study of the rewriting of history textbooks in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union, Peter Mayo’s case study of a state-sponsored adult eduction program in the University of Malta and Richard Maclure’s examination of the role of international and African NGOs in serving the interests of African elites and transnational capital. Ethnographic studies by Barbara Burgess and Mark Ginsburg, and Peter Demerath examine the education of emotionally disturbed children in the USA, and the struggles of New Guinean youth to negotiate between the Western ideas of individualism and hierarchical power structures and the egalitarianism of their village origins. Ryohei Matsuda and Ahmed Mah’s chapters consider both the marginalisation and the attempts at recognition of indigenous agricultural knowledge in Agricultural Science faculties in Africa universities. Chapters by Victor Cordova and Mark Ginsburg, Pamela Young, Joseph Slowinski and Thomas Clayton consider campus struggles in a Mexican university, the role of Protestant missionaries in the 19th and 20th century Ottoman Empire, the influence of EU educational assistance in Eastern Europe, and the role of Vietnamese interventions in Cambodian education and culture.

Based on the results of PISA 2000, this report looks how the schools that students attend make a difference in performance; the impact of school climate, school policies and school resources on quality and equity and the relationship between the structure of systems and quality and equity.

Investment in education technology has surged worldwide over the past decade and digital education technologies are now a key resource for OECD education and training systems. If used effectively, they promise to transform teaching and learning practices, to reduce learning inequalities and to create more inclusive and efficient education systems.

Drawing on an eclectic array of research and evaluative studies culled from a mix of sources, this volume analyzes Brazilian hospital performance along several policy dimensions including resource allocation and use within hospitals, hospital payment mechanisms, organizational and governance arrangements, management practices, and regulation and quality. An agenda for hospital reform is proposed which synthesizes priorities that are integral to improving hospital performance-and which should be considered for implementation in the near and medium term.

"Our calling is to drop our egos, commit to removing barriers, and treat our learners with the unequivocal respect and dignity they deserve." --Mirko Chardin and Katie Novak When it comes to the hard work of reconstructing our schools into places where every student has the opportunity to succeed, Mirko Chardin and Katie Novak are absolutely convinced that teachers should serve as our primary architects. And by "teachers" they mean legions of teachers working in close collaboration. After all, it’s teachers who design students’ learning experiences, who build student relationships . . . who ultimately have the power to change the trajectory of our students’ lives. Equity by Design is intended to serve as a blueprint for teachers to alter the all-too-predictable outcomes for our historically under-served students. A first of its kind resource, the book makes the critical link between social justice and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) so that we can equip students (and teachers, too) with the will, skill, and collective capacity to enact positive change. Inside you’ll find: Concrete strategies for designing and delivering a culturally responsive, sustainable, and equitable framework for all students Rich examples, case studies, and implementation spotlights of educators, students (including Parkland survivors), and programs that have embraced a social justice imperative Evidence-based application of best practices for UDL to create more inclusive and equitable classrooms A flexible format to facilitate use with individual teachers, teacher teams, and as the basis for whole-school implementation "Every student," Mirko and Katie insist, "deserves the opportunity to be successful regardless of their zip code, the color of their skin, the language they speak, their sexual and/or gender identity, and whether or not they have a disability." Consider Equity by Design a critical first step forward in providing that all-important opportunity. Also From Corwin: Hammond/Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain: 9781483308012 Moore/The Guide for White Women Who Teach Black Boys: 9781506351681 France/Reclaiming Professional Learning: 9781544360669

Globalisation, Ideology and Education Policy Reforms, which is the 11th volume in the 12-volume book series Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research, presents scholarly research on major discourses concerning globalisation and the politics of education reforms. It reviews some of the ideological imperatives fueling education reforms. It examines critically education reforms within their social, political and global dimensions. It provides an easily accessible, practical yet scholarly source of information about recent developments in globalisation, ideology and trends in education reforms. Above all, the book offers the latest fi- ings to the critical issues concerning major discourses surrounding the nexus between ideology and education reforms in the global culture. It is a sourcebook of ideas for researchers, practitioners and policy makers in education, and schooling around the world. It offers a timely overview of current policy issues affecting education reforms globally. It provides directions in education, and policy research, relevant to progressive pedagogy, social change and transformational educational reforms in the twenty-first century. The book critically examines the overall interplay between the state, ideology and current discourses of education reforms in the global culture. It draws upon recent studies in the areas of globalisation, academic achievement, standards, equity and the role of the State (Apple 2004; Carnoy 1999; Zajda et al. 2008). It explores conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches applicable in the research covering the State, globalisation and quality-driven education reforms.

The effective use of school resources is a policy priority across OECD countries. The OECD Reviews of School Resources explore how resources can be governed, distributed, utilised and managed to improve the quality, equity and efficiency of school education.