David Bridges - Böcker

Across the globe educators are being required to respond to a changing political environment. New nations emerge out of the collapse of old empires; new democracies struggle out of old structures of oppression. Driven on by the fierce competitiveness of the ‘tiger economies’ of the east, old social welfare[1]based democracies are transformed into new market led enterprise societies. The essays in this international collection are a response from twenty-two educators to these changes and to the reassessment that they provoke of some of the fundamental principles which shape educational thought and practice. They focus in particular on four key clusters of issues to do with the role of education in cultivating: • national identity Authors from political settings as culturally distant as Lithuania and Taiwan consider what role, if any, nationalistic education might play in the context of a democratic liberal education. • market principles Contributors offer different perspectives on the internationally pervasive application of the principles of the market economy to education and the consequent ‘commodification’ of learning. • personal autonomy Different dimensions of the contested notion of autonomy are examined along with the related discourses of ‘edification’ and ‘empowerment’. • democratic citizenship From post-Soviet Russia to the new South Africa, in schools and in the context of professional training, educators examine what education for democratic citizenship might mean in practice and tease out some of the conflicts of principle which are raised in its implementation. The contributors are distinguished scholars drawn from every continent. They write consciously for an international readership and there is constant cross reference to developments in different parts of the world. All are practitioners in education sharing an interest in the philosophical issues underlying social change. The philosophical discussion is clearly rooted in and referred back to the world of educational practice and its political context.

Universities and societies around the world are involved in significant transition. Universities are now invited to expand their central aims and purposes in order to embrace a role in relation to the development of the societies in which they are located. This change of focus has major implications for curricula, modes of teaching and the student body.International contributors to this wideranging text discuss different aspects of the phenomenon of globalisation in relation to higher education, but also in relation to moves by nation states to devolve government to regional and subregional bodies and the implications this has for educational systems.

Universities and societies around the world are involved in significant transition. Universities are now invited to expand their central aims and purposes in order to embrace a role in relation to the development of the societies in which they are located. This change of focus has major implications for curricula, modes of teaching and the student body.International contributors to this wideranging text discuss different aspects of the phenomenon of globalisation in relation to higher education, but also in relation to moves by nation states to devolve government to regional and subregional bodies and the implications this has for educational systems.

This collection of essays debates the application of market principles to and within the context of education. The contributors are all leading figures in their field, presenting their ideas in an accessible style to the lay reader. Throughout, the educational and public policy issues raised by the application of market principles to education are closely examined.

This text offers descriptions and analyses of some of the different ways in which schools and other educational institutions have started to establish new collaborative relationships in today's competitive educational marketplace. Using case studies, the book describes examples of such collaborative structures.; Educational consortia have been established as a vehicle for professional and curriculum development, as a source of mutual support and as a condition of mutual survival. As the "LEA monopolies" have been forced to shed many of their traditional functions or schools have opted out, schools have found it necessary to re-create parts of their collaborative structures out of sheer self- Interest.; For Some Educators Who Continue To Be Attached To Notions Of "an educational service" and professional collegiality in the provision of such a service, inter-institutional collaboration becomes seen as something to be valued independently of the instrumental benefits which it provides. For this variety of reasons, consortium working and collaborative structures seem set to develop in spite of, or as a necessary antodote to, educational markets. Understanding the role and operation of such structures is a necessity for educational managers in all parts of the educational service.

This text offers descriptions and analyses of some of the different ways in which schools and other educational institutions have started to establish new collaborative relationships in today's competitive educational marketplace. Using case studies, the book describes examples of such collaborative structures.; Educational consortia have been established as a vehicle for professional and curriculum development, as a source of mutual support and as a condition of mutual survival. As the "LEA monopolies" have been forced to shed many of their traditional functions or schools have opted out, schools have found it necessary to re-create parts of their collaborative structures out of sheer self- Interest.; For Some Educators Who Continue To Be Attached To Notions Of "an educational service" and professional collegiality in the provision of such a service, inter-institutional collaboration becomes seen as something to be valued independently of the instrumental benefits which it provides. For this variety of reasons, consortium working and collaborative structures seem set to develop in spite of, or as a necessary antodote to, educational markets. Understanding the role and operation of such structures is a necessity for educational managers in all parts of the educational service.

This book addresses central themes from the international educational agenda through the case of a key emerging economy of Central Asia, Kazakhstan. The central themes include: the post-Soviet and Kazakh legacies in educational institutions, thought and practice, the internationalisation of educational policy and practice and 'policy borrowing', change processes in national educational systems and obstacles to such change, the leadership of change at school level, professional culture and its development. The chapters are by leading figures from inside and outside Kazakhstan who are involved in the reform process as well as researchers currently engaged in investigating these processes.

The book, first published in 1983, explores the argument that justifies mixed ability groupings in schools and the consequences of practicing the different justificatory arguments. The issues to be dealt with by staff making decisions about grouping arrangements in their schools are clearly worked out from basic principles rooted in social philosophy. The ideas of social justice and fraternity, implicit and unexamined in much discussions about mixed-ability grouping are here explained and their limitations and implications described. The issues discussed in this book are not only important for teachers and for those studying to become teachers, but also for school governors, administrators and parents who can gain a better understanding of the school system through this study.

The book, first published in 1983, explores the argument that justifies mixed ability groupings in schools and the consequences of practicing the different justificatory arguments. The issues to be dealt with by staff making decisions about grouping arrangements in their schools are clearly worked out from basic principles rooted in social philosophy. The ideas of social justice and fraternity, implicit and unexamined in much discussions about mixed-ability grouping are here explained and their limitations and implications described. The issues discussed in this book are not only important for teachers and for those studying to become teachers, but also for school governors, administrators and parents who can gain a better understanding of the school system through this study.

Across the globe educators are being required to respond to a changing political environment. New nations emerge out of the collapse of old empires; new democracies struggle out of old structures of oppression. Driven on by the fierce competitiveness of the ‘tiger economies’ of the east, old social welfare[1]based democracies are transformed into new market led enterprise societies. The essays in this international collection are a response from twenty-two educators to these changes and to the reassessment that they provoke of some of the fundamental principles which shape educational thought and practice. They focus in particular on four key clusters of issues to do with the role of education in cultivating: • national identity Authors from political settings as culturally distant as Lithuania and Taiwan consider what role, if any, nationalistic education might play in the context of a democratic liberal education. • market principles Contributors offer different perspectives on the internationally pervasive application of the principles of the market economy to education and the consequent ‘commodification’ of learning. • personal autonomy Different dimensions of the contested notion of autonomy are examined along with the related discourses of ‘edification’ and ‘empowerment’. • democratic citizenship From post-Soviet Russia to the new South Africa, in schools and in the context of professional training, educators examine what education for democratic citizenship might mean in practice and tease out some of the conflicts of principle which are raised in its implementation. The contributors are distinguished scholars drawn from every continent. They write consciously for an international readership and there is constant cross reference to developments in different parts of the world. All are practitioners in education sharing an interest in the philosophical issues underlying social change. The philosophical discussion is clearly rooted in and referred back to the world of educational practice and its political context.

These essays bring a familiarity with the educational research community to contemporary debates about educational research, as well as a grasp of the ways in which philosophical sources and analysis can inform them. They are both measured and passionate - sparked by a personal curiosity, which takes the author into unexpected resources and territory (such as the insights of museology into debates on educational research as narrative fiction) as well as more familiar material relating to, for example, issues about the assessment of quality of educational research and the concern for its relevance. The book makes a case, by its own example as well as in its argument, for the continuing contribution of philosophical thinking to the development and critique of educational research.

The essays bring to contemporary debates about educational research both a first hand familiarity with the practices and arguments of the educational research community and a clear grasp of the ways in which philosophical sources and analysis can inform them.

This book provides critical and reflective discussions of a wide range of issues arising in education at the interface between philosophy, research, policy and practice. It addresses epistemological questions about the intellectual resources that underpin educational research, explores the relationship between philosophy and educational research, and examines debates about truth and truthfulness in educational research. Furthermore, it looks at issues to do with the relationship between research, practice and policy, and discusses questions about ethics and educational research. Finally, the book delves into the deeply contested area of research quality assessment. The book is based on extensive engagement in empirically based educational research projects and in the institutional and professional management of research, as well as in philosophical work. It clarifies what is at stake in international debates around educational research and teases out the nature of the arguments, and, where argument permits, the conclusions to which these point.The book discusses these familiar themes using less predictable sources and points of reference, such as: codes of social obligation in contemporary Egypt and New Zealand; the ‘Soviet’, and the inspiration of the nineteenth-century philosopher, Abai in contemporary Kazakhstan; seventeenth-century France, Pascal, and the disputes between Jesuits and Jansenites; eighteenth-century Italy, Giambattista Vico, and la scienzia nuova; ‘educational magic’ in traditional Ethiopia; and ends at a banquet with Socrates and dinner with wine and a conversation-loving Montaigne.

It addresses epistemological questions about the intellectual resources that underpin educational research, explores the relationship between philosophy and educational research, and examines debates about truth and truthfulness in educational research.

This handbook focuses on the often neglected dimension of interpretation in educational research. It argues that all educational research is in some sense ‘interpretive’, and that understanding this issue belies some usual dualisms of thought and practice, such as the sharp dichotomy between ‘qualitative’ and ‘quantitative’ research. Interpretation extends from the very framing of the research task, through the sources which constitute the data, the process of their recording, representation and analysis, to the way in which the research is finally or provisionally presented. The thesis of the handbook is that interpretation cuts across the fields (both philosophically, organizationally and methodologically).By covering a comprehensive range of research approaches and methodologies, the handbook gives (early career) researchers what they need to know in order to decide what particular methods can offer for various educational research contexts/fields. An extensive overview includes concrete examples of different kinds of research (not limited for example to ‘teaching’ and ‘learning’ examples as present in the Anglo-Saxon tradition, but including as well what in the German Continental tradition is labelled ‘pädagogisch’, examples from child rearing and other contexts of non-formal education) with full description and explanation of why these were chosen in particular circumstances and reflection on the wisdom or otherwise of the choice – combined in each case with consideration of the role of interpretation in the process. The handbook includes examples of a large number of methods traditionally classified as qualitative, interpretive and quantitative used across the area of the study of education. Examples are drawn from across the globe, thus exemplifying the different ‘opportunities and constraints’ that educational research has to confront in different societies.