Reforms In Higher Education

This book addresses the complex phenomenon in higher education of structural reforms in higher education systems. Across the globe, governments initiate comprehensive reforms of their higher education systems because they want their models to be the best and to excel at what they do. This regularly requires governments to change the higher education landscape to achieve their set objectives. Changes can include merger processes, the introduction of a new sector of higher education or a new type of higher education institution or excellence initiative. This book explores the current understanding of how successful such comprehensive reforms have been through an examination of eleven reform cases in European countries. For each reform, the different phases of the policy process – policy objectives, design, implementation, policy tools and evaluation – are systematically described and analysed to provide an overview of the factors that contribute to the success or failure of the reforms.

Located within the global changing contexts of higher education in the 21st century, this book examines the reform of the teaching and learning practices in Vietnamese universities under the Higher Education Reform Agenda and the influence of internationalization on the higher education sector. Specifically, it analyses the motives, current implementation, effectiveness, and challenges of these reforms, especially from student perspectives. Analyzing approximately 4300 survey responses and interviews with students, the book covers a range of key issues related to teaching and learning in higher education which have attracted attention in recent years, including: The learning environment Student support and first-year transition Student-centred teaching The use of credit-based curricula The use of information and communication technology At-home internationalization of higher education Assessment and feedback Work placements Informal learning via extra curricular activities Students’ perception of the values of university education.

This text addresses the reforms in the financial and administrative structure of higher education, government intervention in introducing new managerial techniques and quality audits, and the implications of these changes for both academics and administrators. It is one of a series of four volumes which look at the educational dilemmas facing governments, professional educators and practising administrators in the current climate in education. The issues are addressed from international and comparative perspectives.

Universities have never been static. Even so, it is fair to say they have experienced a most radical transformation in the past twenty years. During this period, the role and responsibility of the state generally have been broadly limited while allowing ‘market forces’--private ownership and control--more influence. But even where the state is still the main provider or funder, it relies increasingly on ‘market mechanisms’, for example contractual relations between state and institutions, competition among providers for resources, and external assessment of ‘outputs’ which means the results or impact of what universities do, in particular teaching and research. The new terminology speaks of price and competition, inputs and outputs, resources, cost and benefits, demand and supply, provider and customer, consumers and investors, quality control and accountability. Education, and post-secondary education especially are increasingly seen as matters for markets. Formal post-secondary education becomes a service, commercialized and traded across national borders. This volume on changing relationship between state and market, contains, besides an introductory analytic overview of the issues, accounts from different countries, regions, and thematic perspectives. Chapter authors describe and analyze government reforms and other developments that have directly or indirectly affected this relationship. Although the geographical focus is on North America, especially Mexico, South East Asia and Europe, the phenomenon is not limited to these regions and countries but worldwide.

This book offers a critical examination of contemporary higher education reforms in Thailand situated in the broader historical, socio-economic and political changes. Through a qualitative case study with three methods of inquiry, this book explores why different 'global education policies' such quasi-privatisation, internationalization, as quality assessment (QA) have resonated in Thailand higher education sector. Grounded in policy borrowing and lending, this book uses the politics, economics and culture of borrowing to analyse major reforms in Thailand for the past one hundred years. It is argued that historical legacy, policy contexts and belief systems of policy elites play pivotal roles in facilitating policy changes or the lack thereof. While historical analysis elucidates that the Thai state has always been an active borrower of western ideas, the perseverance of the 'Thai-ness' discourse has often been used to suggest its so-called independence and idiosyncrasy. This in-depth analysis of the Thai case aims to contribute to the critical studies in Asian education, comparative higher education, policy borrowing and lending and Thai studies. The Culture of Borrowing intensively studies the policy appropriation in the Thai education system by analysing: • Selective Borrowing and the Historical Development of Thai Higher Education • The Asian Economic Crisis as Window of Opportunity: Autonomous University • Internationalization of Teaching: Quantitative and Qualitative Challenges • The Emergence of Quality Policies and their Rationales • The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Quality Policies This book will appeal to researchers in Education, particularly to scholars studying educational policies within the context of tertiary education. It will also interest scholars specialising in Asian and South-east Asian Studies.

This book analyzes the reforms that led to a differentiated landscape of higher education systems after university practices and governance were considered poorly adapted to contemporary settings and to their new missions. This has led to a growing institutional differentiation in many higher education systems. This differentiation has certainly contributed to making the institutional landscape more diverse across and within higher education systems. This book covers this diversity. Each part corresponds to a different but complementary way of looking at reforms and highlights what can be learnt on specific cases by adopting a specific perspective. The first part analyzes the ongoing reforms and their evolution, identifies their internal contradictions, as well as the redefinitions and reorientations they experience, and reveals the ideas, representations, ideologies and theories on which they are built. The second part includes comparison between countries but also other comparative perspectives such as how one reform is developed in different regions of the same country, as well as how comparable reforms are declined to different sectors. The last part addresses the impact of the reforms. What is known about the effectiveness of such instruments on higher education systems? This part shows that reforms provoke new power games and reconfigure power relations.

Originally published in 1995, Reform and Change in Higher Education is composed of 9 essays originally presented at a symposium, "International Perspectives on the Relationship Between Governments and Universities," and a UNESCO Forum of Experts on Strengthening Capacities for Research in Higher Education. Papers explore how government policy affects universities and how universities influence government. This collection presents case studies of educational reform and change in 10 nations, focusing on the changing role of government involvement in higher education. The book deals comparatively with planned change in systems of higher education initiated by central governments and with the character and dynamics of state-university relationships, both collectively and individually.

Preparing Students for Life and Work: Policies and Reforms Affecting Higher Education’s Principal Mission raises important aspects of higher education that affect the lives and work prospects of students, discussing them in the context of different countries and over time.