Education & Pedagogy

This study considers the policymaking process of forming a new tertiary vocational education and training (VET) policy in Sweden during the 1990s, and the influence that external stakeholders played in that process. Since the late 1960s onwards, the VET system in Sweden has been mainly integrated with general and school-based education. Due to the changes in working life VET has recently undergone a transformation process moving towards a more demand-led mode of functioning. Following perhaps the most significant education policymaking process on the reform of advanced vocational education, the study by analysing requirements and policy recommendations made by the six largest employer, employee and public education bodies from 1995 to 2000, suggests that private industry and commerce managed to establish their requirements, while the employee stakeholders made the largest concessions from an ideological standpoint.

An adequate research base for mathematics learning and teaching in rural areas does not exist. According to Silver (2001), mathematics education research has virtually ignored rural context, even though approximately one third of the nation's population lives in rural areas. Mathematics education and rural education researchers seem to have little understanding of each other's work. In response to this disconnect, I describe ethnomathematics in mathematics education and place-based pedagogy in rural education and, in turn, discuss how research in place-based pedagogy can benefit from research methodologies in ethnomathematics. Specifically, I offer (a) an overview and analysis of current issues regarding mathematics in rural contexts; (b) a broader view of the role of mathematics in rural contexts and in place-based pedagogy; and (c) recommendations for much needed collaboration in research and practice in mathematics education in rural contexts.

Follow-up data from a group of final-grade students of the 65 schools that participated in the Flemish Longitudinal Research in Secondary Education project (Van Damme, De Fraine, Van Landeghem, Opdenakker, & Onghena, 2002) were collected to study the long-term effects of the secondary school on the educational choice when leaving secondary education and on subsequent outcomes in higher education. Multilevel logistic regression models showed significant long-term effects of secondary schools on both outcome variables. Indications are found that the effects are mediated by the achievement level of the students at the end of secondary education. An important additional finding was that grade repetition has negative long-term consequences after leaving secondary education, which raises questions about a justified policy regarding students that are at risk of academic failure.

The development of skills for employment is an important international policy area, but one that has been relatively ignored in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper reports on findings from a research project in Malawi, supported by the Department for International Development (DFID), that explored the links that exist between employers and the higher education and vocational education and training sectors. These findings are placed within the context of international trends in higher education/employer links and the need in sub-Saharan Africa to relate policy implications to the imperative of contributing to the elimination of poverty and achieving international development targets. The paper discusses implications of the findings, particularly for the Malawi government, leading higher education institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and examines the implications for higher education in creating a dialogue and strengthening links between stakeholders.

This article explores discourses of research in the "academisation" of Swedish teacher education. It takes as its theoretical framework Foucauldian concepts of power and knowledge to analyse the moves to incorporate teacher education in the university. The study draws on a case study of teacher education in Sweden which used documentary and interview analyses to explore institutional history, and structures and shifts in teacher education and research from the 1950s onwards. The study shows how struggles over power and knowledge were constitutive of the development of a research-oriented teacher education that emerged in a multilayered process involving a variety of actors at different levels. It also shows the tensions in the emergence and construction of a new research discipline. The article should be understood in the context of current international discourses where there is a need for a research base for teacher education.

In the past decade employers, market and private sector influences have had a marked impact on vocational education and training (VET) policy. This article critically examines the effect of such impact on the relationship between employers, state and education in England. It is argued that largely unfettered de-regulation practices have gifted employers a 'voice without accountability' that has shifted regulation and responsibility for VET onto the State and education and away from the workplace. The article considers the consequences of this for future VET reform in terms of 14-19, further and higher education, and social inclusion policies, alongside wider changes in economy and society. Looking beyond critique, the article argues for clearer rules of engagement for employer, state and education partnerships, where power and accountability is a shared rather than a privileged option.

The locus of control in teacher education has been outside the hands of those who educate our nation's teachers for more than a century. Essentialists have long controlled the agenda for public schooling in America, and it is evident as well that their influence has prevailed in both the form and function of teacher education. The authors suggest that the contest between progressives and essentialists regarding teacher education has been repeatedly decided in favor of the essentialists. The current attempt to recast teacher education to focus singularly on effectiveness of classroom teachers in raising the test scores of their students is a not-unanticipated result of this enduring contest.

Post-school education and training in Australia is based upon a binary system of universities and technical and further education (TAFE) institutes. The binary system has been fashioned through decisions that established different curriculum currencies and qualifications, sector orientations and governance, and student profiles for the two sub-sectors. These arrangements assume the need for minimal articulation between the sub-sectors. However, the relatively high levels of student traffic and credit transfer between TAFE and the universities suggest some tensions within the binary model. With the university sector in Australia facing some imminent and major structural changes there are opportunities for new forms of post-school education provision that are more compatible with Australia's generalist secondary school model, and that incorporate stronger internal articulation. (Contains 3 notes.)

Globalisation in early childhood teacher education is examined in light of a study of the life histories and course experience of students in early childhood teacher education in Queensland, Australia. Contemporary teacher education is embedded in global economies, new technologies and marketisation, which, in turn, may contribute to students feeling unrecognized and alienated. This study highlights the need for communities of learners that recognize the life histories, experiences and aspirations of its students to work as teachers with young children and families. The paucity of research in early childhood teacher education and the pervasiveness of these issues for students, for universities and for the field of early childhood are causing teacher educators to examine the impact of globalisation on students in their early childhood teacher education programs.

In a changing world where 30 percent of the graduates may eventually work at jobs that do not yet exist, training for a specific career is insufficient as preparation for lifetime employment. Professional advancement is predicated on the capacity to change in response to new situations and challenges, to re-create oneself over time. This realization has engendered renewed appreciation for liberal education, where studies were intended to form lifelong learners. However, rather than understanding liberal education as simply designating traditional subject matter areas such as the humanities and the sciences, "liberal education" is used to refer to certain learning outcomes. This article shows that liberal learning is no longer relegated to general education: It denominates any study that inculcates the abilities to communicate effectively; think knowledgeably, insightfully, and critically; work cooperatively; and behave ethically and responsibly. The operative concern is how any subject, any major or professional program, can be taught liberally.

The economic and sociopolitical context for implementing education for all (EFA) policy in Kenya is examined. The policy absolving households from the responsibility of paying user fees for primary education leads to a focus on the capacity of the government to fully fund universal primary education. Funding constraints are identified as the primary limitation to the realization of universal access. A proposal on projection for funding level required for the realization of universal access based on current enrollment and existing infrastructure is offered. International comparison in funding levels provide context for assumptions made regarding differentials in educational access and quality. It is apparent that even without improvement in quality of educational infrastructure, realization of universal access will remain an illusion unless the Kenyan economy is able to support her education system.

The movement toward inclusion has made educating and caring for children with disabilities an increasingly critical part of the early education teacher?s role. The goal of this paper is to describe the extent to which early childhood teacher preparation programs are including early childhood special education/early intervention content and experiences as part of their core course and practicum requirements. A nationally representative survey of 438 chairs and directors of early childhood teacher preparation programs revealed that while a large proportion of programs consider early childhood special education/early intervention to be a part of the mission of their program, the amount of coursework and practicum experience vary considerably by content area and level of degree offered by the program. Implications are offered for policy and future research.

Advocacy for music education is a constant. Even though polls and other data continue to reveal the expressed value and importance of music education to the American public, we still must fight for our place in education. Recent state and federal laws, school district policies, learning theories, and methodologies all place arts education at the core of a quality education. Yet we always seem to find ourselves on the defensive. And when asked, most music educators list the need for help and assistance with advocacy-related issues as a major desire. This article discusses the process of electing music advocates and contains the following sections: (1) The Local Issue; (2) Questions for Candidates; (3) Background in the Arts; (4) Knowledge of the District's Programs; (5) Decision Making; and (6) Knowledge of Research Supporting Music Education. A list of advocacy Web sites; and a list of MENC resources are included. (Contains 9 notes.)

Job values are a central topic in research on occupational attainment. However, studies show conflicting results as to when values emerge. It has been argued that values are deep-rooted in a person and acquired in early youth. Other findings indicate that values change during education. Finally, the importance of adult experiences in and out of the labour market has been emphasised in explaining preferences for work. This paper examines the influence of higher education on change in job values. The results show that job values do change during education, but these changes are small and seem to be unrelated to sex and type of education. Differences in job values between men and women, and mainly between students on different programmes, are maintained during education, indicating that choice of education is the first step in realising one's preferences for work.

In an increasingly complex financial world, personal finance education is more important today than ever. Nevertheless, the number of states incorporating personal finance concepts into their academic standards is not rising significantly, and students are demonstrating few gains, if any, in their knowledge of those concepts. One reason for this paradox is that personal finance education does not have a home in the American school curriculum. The natural home for personal finance education is in the economics curriculum, which is one of the core subjects in the No Child Left Behind law. Economics provides the organizing principles and logic that could be the structure for personal finance education, helping to strengthen it so that K-12 students will learn the concepts and skills of personal finance they need to make informed choices throughout their lives. This article discusses what is being done to improve personal finance education. (Contains 12 notes.)