比较教育研究前沿
比较教育研究前沿
1.State Theory, Grassroots Agency, and Global Policy Transfer: The Life and Death of Colombia’s Escuela Nueva in Brazil (1997–2012)
Author: Rebecca Tarlau
Source: Comparative Education Review (Oct 06, 2017): 675–700
Abstract:
This article analyzes the transfer and 15-year policy trajectory of Colombia’s “global best practice” Escuela Nueva in Brazil. This program, initially transferred to Brazil in 1997 with the help of the World Bank, was largely unknown for the first decade of its life span. Then, between 2008 and 2011, after the World Bank stopped funding the program, Escuela Nueva / Escola Ativa suddenly became one of the most well funded and controversial programs in the Brazilian Ministry of Education. Continual protest and unrest concerning the program led to its termination in 2012. This article argues that it is only possible to understand these developments through an explicit theory of the “contested” state, wherein the state’s purpose is understood as both social reproduction and mediating class conflicts. Drawing on the global policy transfer literature, this framework emphasizes the role of elite actors, transnational agencies, and grassroots mobilization in determining educational policy trajectories.
2.Studying “the Political” in International Aid to Education: Methodological Considerations
Author: Beniamin Knutsson, Jonas Lindberg
Source: Comparative Education Review (Oct 10, 2017): 701–725
Abstract:
The point of departure of this article is an apparent antinomy. On the one hand, there is the powerful argument in political theory on the emergence and consolidation of a post-political condition. On the other hand, research in international and comparative education demonstrates how conflicts and power asymmetries continue to characterize education aid. Attempting to move beyond this antinomy we engage in a methodological discussion on how to study “the political” in education aid landscapes with strong post-political features. By reviewing the two sets of literature, and bringing them into conversation, we extract five methodological tenets: (i) taking “the political” seriously, (ii) looking beyond face value when scrutinizing policy arrangements, (iii) exploring everyday wars of position, (iv) focusing on subjects and situated practices, and (v) moving beyond scales by analyzing connections across territorial entities. The article primarily makes a methodological contribution but ultimately the findings can also be relevant to the world of policy making.
3.Intranational Comparative Education: What State Differences in Student Achievement Can Teach Us about Improving Education—the Case of Brazil
Author: Martin Carnoy, Luana Marotta, Paula Louzano, Tatiana Khavenson, Filipe Recch Franca Guimarães, Fernando Carnauba
Source: Comparative Education Review (Sept 27, 2017): 726–759
Abstract:
Implicit in much of comparative and international education research is that education is a creature of the nation-state, shaped largely by economic, political, and social forces defined by national boundaries. However, in federal nation-states, primary and secondary schooling is the juridical responsibility of the constituent states, not the national government. We make the case in this article that in comparative education analysis, there is persuasive support in political theory to consider subnational state comparisons in federalist nations and that such comparisons can yield valuable insights for improving education in the federal nation-state as a whole. We focus on one federal country, Brazil, and on the possible differences in the “effectiveness” of state education administrations in delivering education. We measure state effectiveness by students’ mathematics achievement gains on a national test in 1999–2013. We also examine the possible reasons why gains differ greatly in states with similar demographic characteristics.
4.Knowledge Production with Asia-Centric Research Methodology
Author: Jae Park
Source: Comparative Education Review (Sept 20, 2017): 760–779
Abstract:
Taiwanese cultural critic Kuan-Hsing Chen has elaborated and promoted an “Asia and the rest” worldview for over a decade. His opus magnum Asia as Method argues for a paradigm shift to observe Asian reality with a de-imperialized, de-colonized, and de–Cold War mentality. The work has produced academic discussions among advocates and antagonists in social science and humanities. This article critically examines its main tenets and education scholars’ reaction to them: whether Chen’s deconstruction of “the West and the rest” offers a substantive and distinctive Asia-centric research methodology to the field of education in its content, pedagogy, and knowledge production.
5. Access and Equity and South African Higher Education: A Review of Policies after 20 Years of Democracy
Author: Reitumetse Obakeng Mabokela, Yeukai Angela Mlambo
Source: Comparative Education Review (July 10, 2017): 780–803
Abstract:
The demise of apartheid in 1994 introduced many changes to the social, political, and economic sectors of South Africa with similar changes in the higher education sector. This article offers an integrative review and analysis of higher education policies implemented and legislation passed that significantly impacted the nature of the South African system of higher education. While the primary interest is on policies implemented since South Africa’s transition to democracy in 1994, the analysis begins with an evaluation of the Extension of University Education Act (No. 45) of 1959, the seminal legislation that created the hyper-segregated system of higher education, the detrimental effects of which most of the policies implemented post-1994 sought to address. We employ content analysis as a research approach and critical policy analysis as a theoretical framework to examine the aforementioned legislation and two post-1994 policy papers, the “Education White Paper 3” and the “National Plan for Higher Education,” which provided a framework for creating a new, equitable system of higher education. While there has been modest success emanating from the implementation of these policies, there are deep-seated challenges in the higher education sector that persist 20 years into the new democracy.
6. Increasing Access by Waiving Tuition: Evidence from Haiti
Author: Melissa Adelman, Peter Holland, Tillmann Heidelk
Source: Comparative Education Review (Sept 20, 2017): 804–831
Abstract:
Despite recent gains in increasing access, an estimated 58 million children worldwide are still out of school. Abolishing school fees has increased enrollment rates in several countries where enrollments were low and fees were high. However, such policies may be less effective, or even have negative consequences, when supply-side responses are weak. This article evaluates the impacts of a tuition waiver program in Haiti, which provided public financing to nonpublic schools conditional on not charging tuition. We conclude that a school’s participation in the program results in more students enrolled, more staff, and slightly higher student-teacher ratios. The program also reduces grade repetition and the share of overage students. While the increase in students does not directly equate to a reduction in the number of children out of school, it does demonstrate strong demand from families for the program and a correspondingly strong supply response from the nonpublic sector.