School Policy Reform In Europe

This book discusses national school policy reforms in a number of key European countries and shows how these are framed in transnational collaborations that meet with national particularities and contestations. It gives an overview of school policy developments that represents the diversity of Europe within a comparative framework. It takes point of departure in the fact that European countries in their school and education policies have been increasingly aligning with each other, mostly via transnational collaborations, the OECD, EU, and the Bologna Process. Even the IEA has been instrumental to motivate alignments by means of influential surveys, knowledge production and methodological development. This alignment in terms of common standards, social technologies, qualification frameworks and so forth have aimed at facilitating mobility of students, workers, business and so forth as well as fostering a European identity among citizens from Europe’s patchwork of small and medium-size countries, representing a patchwork of different languages, cultures and societal contexts. In national recontextualizations, however, alignments have been continuously contested according to the particularities of what has been possible educationally and politically in the different national contexts. Furthermore, the return of national(isms) as well as the rise of edubusiness and digitalization have been increasingly influential. This book thus concludes that increasing transnational alignments have to be observed with meticulous attention to different national contexts that matter greatly.

Education is a contested terrain. The symmetry of education reform among the seven countries examined in this volume is remarkable. There is much commonality in the issues they raise, in the competing groups battling over education policy, their policy choices, and the implementation of such policies. Also, all seven countries address the same issues: equity, global competition, the performance of their students. There are at least six important traits characterizing these battles: the context, the combatants, the issues, the process, and the policies. To begin with, history, culture, and governance regime set the context for education policy and reform. Second, there is the process of how these battles are waged--is compromise an outcome or is it a zero sum contest? Third, there appear to be four groups of combatants each with its own ideology representing a particular social class in society and their views about education and its uses: Conservatives, Socialists, Neo-Liberals, and Elites. Education is an important and valued resource that each status group tries to control and shape to its own views. Fourth, there are key issues that drive education reform: how education can best flatten a social system, how education train students for work, and how education socializes students to be functioning citizens. In recent years, fifth issue has emerged: student performance on international standardized tests. Not only is a society’s international reputation based on their students’ performance, but nations see such performance as an indicator of the quality of their educational system and if it is good enough to secure its economic future. Finally, there are the policies themselves--do they reduce or increase inequality, who benefits and how? The chapters in this volume clearly point out that education reform is not a homogeneous process as some scholars have conjectured. Rather, education reform involves heated battles over the control of the educational system because education is seen as a key factor in maintaining a society’s vision and social structure.

New Public Management and the Reform of Education addresses complex and dynamic changes to public services by focusing on new public management as a major shaper and influencer of educational reforms within, between and across European nation states and policy actors. The contributions to the book are diverse and illustrate the impact of NPM locally but also the interplay between local and European policy spheres. The book offers: A critical overview of NPM through an analysis of debates, projects and policy actors A detailed examination of NPM within 10 nation states in Europe A robust engagement with the national and European features of NPM as a policy strategy The book actively contributes to debates and analysis within critical policy studies about the impact and resilience of NPM, and how through a study of educational reforms in a range of political systems with different traditions and purposes a more nuanced and complex picture of NPM can be built. As such the book not only speaks to educational researchers and professionals within Europe but also to policymakers, and can inform wider education and policy communities internationally.

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This open access book examines the modern role of the European School system within the European Union, at a time when the global economy demands a new vision for contemporary education. The European schools are currently in a state of crisis: their 60-year-old tradition of bilingual and multilingual education is being strained by rapid EU expansion and the removal of English speaking teachers as a result of Brexit. Their tried and tested model of mathematics and science education has rapidly been overtaken by new developments in pedagogy and assessment research, while recruitment and retention of students and teachers has become increasingly fraught as European member states review what they are, and what they are not, prepared to fund. The authors draw on original and empirical research to assess the European Schools’ place in a new Europe where the entire post-war European Project is potentially at risk. This well-researched volume will be of interest to practitioners working in European schools as well as students and scholars of EU politics and international education.

This report discusses the emergence of a new geopolitical reality, that of countries in transition. Although the expression usually refers to former Communist countries, a closer analysis shows that transition is, in fact, a universal historical phenomenon. As used here, countries in transition must evidence the following factors: (1) the starting-point or initial state of transition; (2) the destination or the objectives pursued; and (3) the actual content of transition, i.e. the derived transformations. In-depth analyses are presented to provide greater understanding of the education policies of the countries in transition. The social, political, and psychological contexts of the education reforms are established to facilitate that understanding. The report is divided into two parts. Part 1, "Reforms, crises and transitions in Central and Eastern Europe," covers the following topics: (1) "Towards a general theory of transition" (including transition as a transformation of the social and political system, as a state of anomie, as an historical trend, and as a process of societal learning); (2) "The transition from dictatorship to democracy: models, myths and realities"; and (3) "The reforms in Central and Eastern Europe: unity in diversity." Part 2, "Transition as an educational project," speaks to the following issues: (1) "Ideological changes and educational consequences"; (2) "Strategies and priorities: four case studies" (including Hungary, Poland, the Czech and Slovak Republics, and Romania); and (3) "The education legislation of transition" (including rectification measures, modernization measures, and restructuring measures). An extensive bibliography concludes the report. (EH)

G20 members bring together the world’s major advanced and emerging economies, as well as the European Union. Together they represent some 90% of global GDP, 80% of global trade and two-thirds of the world’s population. In recognition of educational development as a key driver of economic development, the G20 members have put education reform high on their policy agenda in order to meet the challenges and embrace the opportunities ahead. Their experiences and lessons in education reform will not only showcase the global trend of education development, but also will provide valuable reference and inspiration for undertaking education reform to advance national development in China as well as other countries. This book documents recent policy reform in G20 members’ systems, showcases the global trends in education policy, serves as a valuable reference tool and also provide inspiration for undertaking education reform to advance development in related countries.​

This open access book examines the modern role of the European School system within the European Union, at a time when the global economy demands a new vision for contemporary education. The European schools are currently in a state of crisis: their 60-year-old tradition of bilingual and multilingual education is being strained by rapid EU expansion and the removal of English speaking teachers as a result of Brexit. Their tried and tested model of mathematics and science education has rapidly been overtaken by new developments in pedagogy and assessment research, while recruitment and retention of students and teachers has become increasingly fraught as European member states review what they are, and what they are not, prepared to fund. The authors draw on original and empirical research to assess the European Schools' place in a new Europe where the entire post-war European Project is potentially at risk. This well-researched volume will be of interest to practitioners working in European schools as well as students and scholars of EU politics and international education. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.

Papers from the March 1994 German Association for Educational Research annual congress explore issues in education and training in post- Maastricht Europe. Subjects include Hungarian adolescents of the 1990s; attitudes and values among young people in Europe; school reform in the early years in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany; challenges to the Spanish education system since 1970; and the state of research into economic education from a French perspective. No index. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR