State And Market In Higher Education Reforms

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 volume explores the interrelationship between ideology, the state and higher education reforms, setting it in a global context. It examines some of the major higher education reforms and policy issues in a global culture, particularly in the light of recent shifts in quality and standards-driven education and policy research. In doing so, the book provides a comprehensive picture of the intersecting and diverse discourses of globalisation and policy-driven reforms in higher education. Representing scholarly research on major discourses in the field of higher education reforms, the book draws upon recent studies in the areas of globalisation, equality, and the role of the state in higher education reforms. It critiques the neo-liberal ideological imperatives of current higher education and policy reforms, and illustrates the way that shifts in the relationship between the state and higher education policy affect current trends in higher education reforms. Individual chapters critically assess the dominant discourses and debates on higher education and policy reforms. Using diverse comparative education paradigms from critical theory to historical-comparative research, the chapters focus on globalisation, ideology and higher education reforms and examine both the reasons and outcomes of higher education reforms and policy change. “Anyone who has been involved in higher education over the past few decades cannot fail to be affected by the impact of globalisation and neo-liberal policies on universities and society at large. In 'Globalisation and Higher Education Reforms', the 15th volume of the series 'Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research', Joseph Zajda and Val Rust present chapters on education reform in the USA and in international contexts that highlight the inroads that neo-liberalism has made into policy making at higher education institutions. The chapters also illustrate the way universities have been reinventing themselves to meet the demands of a knowledge society in which corporate values of efficiency, performance and managerialism drive the agenda. What are the effects of internationalisation on higher education in the universities of today? With chapters from internationally respected scholars from around the globe, this book seeks to address the many issues of the new reality in higher education. This is a welcome, accessible volume for all those concerned with research, policy-making and curriculum development.”Professor Suzanne Majhanovich, Western University

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This open access book is a result of the first ever study of the transformations of the higher education institutional landscape in fifteen former USSR countries after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It explores how the single Soviet model that developed across the vast and diverse territory of the Soviet Union over several decades has evolved into fifteen unique national systems, systems that have responded to national and global developments while still bearing some traces of the past. The book is distinctive as it presents a comprehensive analysis of the reforms and transformations in the region in the last 25 years; and it focuses on institutional landscape through the evolution of the institutional types established and developed in Pre-Soviet, Soviet and Post-Soviet time. It also embraces all fifteen countries of the former USSR, and provides a comparative analysis of transformations of institutional landscape across Post-Soviet systems. It will be highly relevant for students and researchers in the fields of higher education and and sociology, particularly those with an interest in historical and comparative studies.

Over the past twenty years, educational policy has been characterized by top?down, market?focused policies combined with a push toward privatization and school choice. The new Every Student Succeeds Act continues along this path, though with decision?making authority now shifted toward the states. These market?based reforms have often been touted as the most promising response to the challenges of poverty and educational disenfranchisement. But has this approach been successful? Has learning improved? Have historically low?scoring schools “turned around” or have the reforms had little effect? Have these narrow conceptions of schooling harmed the civic and social purposes of education in a democracy? This book presents the evidence. Drawing on the work of the nation’s most prominent researchers, the book explores the major elements of these reforms, as well as the social, political, and educational contexts in which they take place. It examines the evidence supporting the most common school improvement strategies: school choice; reconstitutions, or massive personnel changes; and school closures. From there, it presents the research findings cutting across these strategies by addressing the evidence on test score trends, teacher evaluation, “miracle” schools, the Common Core State Standards, school choice, the newly emerging school improvement industry, and re?segregation, among others. The weight of the evidence indisputably shows little success and no promise for these reforms. Thus, the authors counsel strongly against continuing these failed policies. The book concludes with a review of more promising avenues for educational reform, including the necessity of broader societal investments for combatting poverty and adverse social conditions. While schools cannot single?handedly overcome societal inequalities, important work can take place within the public school system, with evidence?based interventions such as early childhood education, detracking, adequate funding and full?service community schools—all intended to renew our nation’s commitment to democracy and equal educational opportunity.

Higher Education System Reform provides a comparative analysis of the position of 12 Higher Education Systems since the Bologna Declaration of 1999. It discusses and reflects on the original Bologna goals, the adopted paths of reform and the achieved results.

The Politics of Education Reforms, which is the ninth volume in the 12-volume book series Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research, presents scholarly research on major discourses concerning the politics of education reforms globally. It provides an easily accessible, practical yet scholarly source of information about recent developments in globalisation, comparative edu- tion and education reforms. Above all, the book offers the latest findings to the critical issues concerning major discourses surrounding 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 research in comparative education of education reforms. It provides directions in education, and policy research, relevant to p- gressive 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 (Carnoy 1999; Zajda 2008a, b). It explores c- ceptual frameworks and methodological approaches applicable in the research covering the State, globalisation, and quality-driven education reforms. It dem- strates the neo-liberal ideological imperatives of education and policy reform, affecting schooling globally (see also Zajda 2005). Various book chapters critique the dominant discourses and debates pertaining to comparative education d- courses on reforms and neo-liberal ideology in education.

With contributions from Linda Darling-Hammond, Michael Fullan, Pasi Sahlberg, and Martin Carnoy, Global Education Reform is an eye-opening analysis of national educational reforms and the types of high-achieving systems needed to serve all students equitably. The collection documents the ideologically and educationally distinctive approaches countries around the world have taken to structuring their education systems. Focusing on three pairs of case studies written by internationally acclaimed experts, the book provides a powerful analysis of the different ends of an ideological spectrum----from strong state investments in public education to market-based approaches. An introductory chapter offers an overview of the theories guiding both neoliberal reforms such as those implemented in Chile, Sweden and the United States with efforts to build strong and equitable public education systems as exemplified by Cuba, Finland and Canada. The pairs of case studies that follow examine the historical evolution of education within an individual country and compare and contrast national educational outcomes. A concluding chapter dissects the educational outcomes of the differing economic and governance approaches, as well as the policy implications.

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.