Globalization and educational reforms in Anglo-American democracies

Comparative Education Review

Volumn 41, Issue 4, 1997, Pages 435-456

  Davies, Scott ^a   Guppy, Neil ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0031511157     PISSN: 00104086     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1086/447464     Document Type: Review

References (81)

1. As opposed to minor refinements, we consider a "reform" to be a thorough-going reorganization of some process or procedure for accomplishing particular ends or changes in the ends themselves. We remain agnostic on whether the changes we identify are beneficial to any or all groups. See Mark B. Ginsburg, Susan Cooper, Rajeshwari Raghu, and Hugo Zegarra, "National and World-System Explanations of Educational Reform," Comparative Education Review 34, no. 4 (1990): 474-99.
2. We chose these reforms because they are common across these nations, each is justified by their proponents with "internationalist" rhetoric of emerging worldwide economies and cultures, and all are considered important by various commentators. For general discussions of these reforms, see H. Beare and W. Lowe Boyd, Restructuring Schools: An International Perspective on the Movement to Transform the Control and Performance of Schools (Washington, D.C.: Falmer, 1993) and International Handbook of Educational Reform, ed. Peter Cookson, Alan Sadovnik, and Susan Semel (New York: Greenwood, 1992).
3. We chose these reforms because they are common across these nations, each is justified by their proponents with "internationalist" rhetoric of emerging worldwide economies and cultures, and all are considered important by various commentators. For general discussions of these reforms, see H. Beare and W. Lowe Boyd, Restructuring Schools: An International Perspective on the Movement to Transform the Control and Performance of Schools (Washington, D.C.: Falmer, 1993) and International Handbook of Educational Reform, ed. Peter Cookson, Alan Sadovnik, and Susan Semel (New York: Greenwood, 1992).
4. See, e.g., the infamous A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform: An Open Letter to the American People, National Commission on Excellence in Education (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1983).
5. We interviewed 70 individuals by phone or in person in three provinces (Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia). These interviews focused on key areas of reform, the motivating forces and driving pressures behind reforms, the individuals or groups resisting reforms, the pace of change, the gap between rhetoric and implementation, coalition formations, and processes of public consultation.
6. For a description of more quantitative approaches, see Francisco Ramirez, "The Nation-State, Citizenship, and Educational Change: Institutionalization and Globalization," in Handbook of Development and Education Past and Future, ed. William Cummings and Noel McGinn (New York: Garland, in press).
7. See Francisco O. Ramirez and John Boli, "The Political Construction of Mass Schooling: European Origins and Worldwide Institutionalization," Sociology of Education 60, no. 1 (1987): 2-17.
8. Peter Drucker, Post-Capitalist Society (New York: Harper, 1993), p. 186.
9. See Krishnan Kumar, "New Theories of Industrial Society," in Education for Economic Survival: From Fordism to Post-Fordism, ed. P. Brown and H. Lauder (London: Routledge, 1992), pp. 45-75; Michael Piore and Charles Sabel, The Great Industrial Divide (New York: Basic, 1986); Michael Porter, The Competitive Advantage of Nations (New York: Free Press, 1990); Robert Reich, The Work of Nations (New York: Vintage, 1992).
10. See Krishnan Kumar, "New Theories of Industrial Society," in Education for Economic Survival: From Fordism to Post-Fordism, ed. P. Brown and H. Lauder (London: Routledge, 1992), pp. 45-75; Michael Piore and Charles Sabel, The Great Industrial Divide (New York: Basic, 1986); Michael Porter, The Competitive Advantage of Nations (New York: Free Press, 1990); Robert Reich, The Work of Nations (New York: Vintage, 1992).
11. See Krishnan Kumar, "New Theories of Industrial Society," in Education for Economic Survival: From Fordism to Post-Fordism, ed. P. Brown and H. Lauder (London: Routledge, 1992), pp. 45-75; Michael Piore and Charles Sabel, The Great Industrial Divide (New York: Basic, 1986); Michael Porter, The Competitive Advantage of Nations (New York: Free Press, 1990); Robert Reich, The Work of Nations (New York: Vintage, 1992).
12. See Krishnan Kumar, "New Theories of Industrial Society," in Education for Economic Survival: From Fordism to Post-Fordism, ed. P. Brown and H. Lauder (London: Routledge, 1992), pp. 45-75; Michael Piore and Charles Sabel, The Great Industrial Divide (New York: Basic, 1986); Michael Porter, The Competitive Advantage of Nations (New York: Free Press, 1990); Robert Reich, The Work of Nations (New York: Vintage, 1992).
13. For instance, Ontario Premier's Council, Competing in the New Global Economy (Toronto: Government of Ontario, 1988); Liberal Party of Canada. Creating Opportunity: The Liberal Plan for Canada [The Red Book] (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1993); National Advisory Board on Science and Technology, Learning to Win: Education, Training and National Prosperity (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1991); Steering Group on Prosperity, Inventing Our Future: An Action Plan for Canada's Prosperity (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1992).
14. For instance, Ontario Premier's Council, Competing in the New Global Economy (Toronto: Government of Ontario, 1988); Liberal Party of Canada. Creating Opportunity: The Liberal Plan for Canada [The Red Book] (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1993); National Advisory Board on Science and Technology, Learning to Win: Education, Training and National Prosperity (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1991); Steering Group on Prosperity, Inventing Our Future: An Action Plan for Canada's Prosperity (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1992).
15. For instance, Ontario Premier's Council, Competing in the New Global Economy (Toronto: Government of Ontario, 1988); Liberal Party of Canada. Creating Opportunity: The Liberal Plan for Canada [The Red Book] (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1993); National Advisory Board on Science and Technology, Learning to Win: Education, Training and National Prosperity (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1991); Steering Group on Prosperity, Inventing Our Future: An Action Plan for Canada's Prosperity (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1992).
16. For instance, Ontario Premier's Council, Competing in the New Global Economy (Toronto: Government of Ontario, 1988); Liberal Party of Canada. Creating Opportunity: The Liberal Plan for Canada [The Red Book] (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1993); National Advisory Board on Science and Technology, Learning to Win: Education, Training and National Prosperity (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1991); Steering Group on Prosperity, Inventing Our Future: An Action Plan for Canada's Prosperity (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1992).
17. See Maude Barlow and Heather Jane Robertson, Class Warfare: The Assault on Canada's Schools (Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1994); Michael Apple, "What Reform Talk Does: Creating New Inequalities," in Education Reform: Making Sense of It All, ed. Samuel Bacharach (Needham Heights, Mass.: Allyn & Bacon, 1990), pp. 155-64.
18. See Maude Barlow and Heather Jane Robertson, Class Warfare: The Assault on Canada's Schools (Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1994); Michael Apple, "What Reform Talk Does: Creating New Inequalities," in Education Reform: Making Sense of It All, ed. Samuel Bacharach (Needham Heights, Mass.: Allyn & Bacon, 1990), pp. 155-64.
19. John Meyer, "The World Polity and the Authority of the Nation-State," in Studies of the Modern World-System, ed. Albert Bergesen (New York: Academic Press, 1980), p. 111; George Thomas, John Meyer, Francisco Ramirez, and John Boli, Institutional Structure: Constituting State, Society and the Individual (Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage, 1987); Bruce Fuller and Richard Rubinson, eds., The Political Construction of Education: The State, School Expansion, and Economic Change (New York: Praeger, 1992).
20. John Meyer, "The World Polity and the Authority of the Nation-State," in Studies of the Modern World-System, ed. Albert Bergesen (New York: Academic Press, 1980), p. 111; George Thomas, John Meyer, Francisco Ramirez, and John Boli, Institutional Structure: Constituting State, Society and the Individual (Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage, 1987); Bruce Fuller and Richard Rubinson, eds., The Political Construction of Education: The State, School Expansion, and Economic Change (New York: Praeger, 1992).
21. John Meyer, "The World Polity and the Authority of the Nation-State," in Studies of the Modern World-System, ed. Albert Bergesen (New York: Academic Press, 1980), p. 111; George Thomas, John Meyer, Francisco Ramirez, and John Boli, Institutional Structure: Constituting State, Society and the Individual (Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage, 1987); Bruce Fuller and Richard Rubinson, eds., The Political Construction of Education: The State, School Expansion, and Economic Change (New York: Praeger, 1992).
22. Paul DiMaggio and Walter Powell, "The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organization Fields," in The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, ed. W. Powell and P. DiMaggio (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991), pp. 63-82; John Boli-Bennett, "The Ideology of Expanding State Authority in National Constitutions, 1870-1970," in National Development and the World System, ed. J. Meyer and M. Hannan (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979), pp. 222-37.
23. Paul DiMaggio and Walter Powell, "The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organization Fields," in The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, ed. W. Powell and P. DiMaggio (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991), pp. 63-82; John Boli-Bennett, "The Ideology of Expanding State Authority in National Constitutions, 1870-1970," in National Development and the World System, ed. J. Meyer and M. Hannan (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979), pp. 222-37.
24. Meyer, pp. 117, 120.
25. Ernest Gellner, Nations and Nationalism (Oxford: Blackwell, 1983), p. 28.
26. Aaron Benavot, Yun-Kyung Cha, David Kamens, John W. Meyer, and Suk-Ying Wong, "Knowledge for the Masses: World Models and National Curricula, 1920-1986," American Sociological Review 56, no. 1 (1991): 85-100.
27. Chad Gaffield, "Children's Lives and Academic Achievement in Canada and the United States," Comparative Education Review 38, no. 1 (February 1994): 36-64.
28. Stephen Lawton, "A Decade of Educational Reform in Canada: Encounters with the Octopus, the Elephant, and the Five Dragons," in Restructuring Schools: An International Perspective on the Movement to Transform the Control and Performance of Schools, ed. H. Beare and W. Lowe Boyd (Washington, D.C.: Falmer, 1993), p. 87; Marcel Danesi, Keith McLeod, and Sonia Morris, Heritage Languages and Education: The Canadian Experience (Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press, 1993); Ken Osborne, "Teaching for Democratic Citizenship," in Sociology of Education in Canada, ed. L. Erwin and D. MacLennan (Toronto: Copp-Clark, 1994), pp. 417-42.
29. Stephen Lawton, "A Decade of Educational Reform in Canada: Encounters with the Octopus, the Elephant, and the Five Dragons," in Restructuring Schools: An International Perspective on the Movement to Transform the Control and Performance of Schools, ed. H. Beare and W. Lowe Boyd (Washington, D.C.: Falmer, 1993), p. 87; Marcel Danesi, Keith McLeod, and Sonia Morris, Heritage Languages and Education: The Canadian Experience (Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press, 1993); Ken Osborne, "Teaching for Democratic Citizenship," in Sociology of Education in Canada, ed. L. Erwin and D. MacLennan (Toronto: Copp-Clark, 1994), pp. 417-42.
30. Stephen Lawton, "A Decade of Educational Reform in Canada: Encounters with the Octopus, the Elephant, and the Five Dragons," in Restructuring Schools: An International Perspective on the Movement to Transform the Control and Performance of Schools, ed. H. Beare and W. Lowe Boyd (Washington, D.C.: Falmer, 1993), p. 87; Marcel Danesi, Keith McLeod, and Sonia Morris, Heritage Languages and Education: The Canadian Experience (Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press, 1993); Ken Osborne, "Teaching for Democratic Citizenship," in Sociology of Education in Canada, ed. L. Erwin and D. MacLennan (Toronto: Copp-Clark, 1994), pp. 417-42.
31. Verna Kirkness and Sheena Bowman, First Nations and Schools: Triumphs and Struggles (Toronto: Canadian Education Association, 1992).
32. A. Baracan, "Dawkins and the Schools: The Debate Opens," Australian Quarterly 61, no. 2 (1989): 251-61; Sue Middleton. "Equity, Equality, and Biculturalism in the Restructuring of New Zealand Schools: A Life-History Approach," Harvard Educational Review 62, no. 3 (1992): 301-22; David Thorns, Fragmenting Societies: A Comparative Analysis of Regional and Urban Development (London: Routledge, 1992).
33. A. Baracan, "Dawkins and the Schools: The Debate Opens," Australian Quarterly 61, no. 2 (1989): 251-61; Sue Middleton. "Equity, Equality, and Biculturalism in the Restructuring of New Zealand Schools: A Life-History Approach," Harvard Educational Review 62, no. 3 (1992): 301-22; David Thorns, Fragmenting Societies: A Comparative Analysis of Regional and Urban Development (London: Routledge, 1992).
34. A. Baracan, "Dawkins and the Schools: The Debate Opens," Australian Quarterly 61, no. 2 (1989): 251-61; Sue Middleton. "Equity, Equality, and Biculturalism in the Restructuring of New Zealand Schools: A Life-History Approach," Harvard Educational Review 62, no. 3 (1992): 301-22; David Thorns, Fragmenting Societies: A Comparative Analysis of Regional and Urban Development (London: Routledge, 1992).
35. Michael Olneck, "Terms of Inclusion: Has Multiculturalism Redefined Equality in American Education?" American Journal of Education 101, no. 3 (1993): 234-60.
36. John Boli, Francisco O. Ramirez, and John Meyer, "Explaining the Origins and Expansion of Mass Education," Comparative Education Review 29, no. 2 (May 1985): 145-70.
37. We use "progressive education" as an umbrella term for the pedagogical ideals that emphasize child-centered learning, critical citizenship, missions of social justice, and equality and downplay student competition and quantitative evaluation.
38. Osborne, p. 419.
39. Gareth Rees and Teresa Rees, "Educating for the 'Enterprise Economy': A Critical Review," in Brown and Lauder, eds. (n. 8 above), pp. 117-42;
40. D. Finegold and D. Soskice, "The Failure of Training in Britain: Analysis and Prescription," Oxford Review of Economic Policy 4, no. 3 (1988): 21-53.
41. Jarl Bengtsson, "Labour Markets of the Future: The Challenge to Educational Policy Makers," European Journal of Education 28, no. 2 (1993): 135-57; Donald Fisher and Kjell Rubenson, "Polarization and Bifurcation in Work and Adult Education: Participation in Adult Education in British Columbia," Policy Explorations 6 (1992): 3-19.
42. Jarl Bengtsson, "Labour Markets of the Future: The Challenge to Educational Policy Makers," European Journal of Education 28, no. 2 (1993): 135-57; Donald Fisher and Kjell Rubenson, "Polarization and Bifurcation in Work and Adult Education: Participation in Adult Education in British Columbia," Policy Explorations 6 (1992): 3-19.
43. See, e.g., Corporate-Higher Education Forum, Learning Goals for K-12 Education (Montreal: Corporate-Higher Education Forum, 1992), p. 3.
44. Conference Board of Canada, "Employability Skills Profile" (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1992); Economic Council of Canada (ECC), A Lot to Learn: Education and Training in Canada (Ottawa: ECC, 1992); T. Sullivan, Royal Commission on Education (Victoria: Ministry of Education, 1988).
45. Conference Board of Canada, "Employability Skills Profile" (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1992); Economic Council of Canada (ECC), A Lot to Learn: Education and Training in Canada (Ottawa: ECC, 1992); T. Sullivan, Royal Commission on Education (Victoria: Ministry of Education, 1988).
46. Conference Board of Canada, "Employability Skills Profile" (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1992); Economic Council of Canada (ECC), A Lot to Learn: Education and Training in Canada (Ottawa: ECC, 1992); T. Sullivan, Royal Commission on Education (Victoria: Ministry of Education, 1988).
47. Why has change not been dramatic in areas such as skills training? It is important to note that school systems and the structures of political jurisdiction over schooling themselves can impede change. Dale, e.g., describes an "inertia of education systems" that limits schools' responsiveness to new requirements. See Roger Dale, The State and Educational Policy (Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Press, 1989), pp. 37-38. Education innovations in Britain were introduced via the Manpower Services Commission in the form of the Youth Training Scheme (YTS). But - and this is one example of why we question the extent of real reform around skills training - the YTS program in the United Kingdom is increasingly seen as an attempt to manage problems of youth unemployment, even if it was often clothed in the language of training for the new global economy. See Mike Hickox and Robert Moore, "Education and Post-Fordism: A New Correspondence?" in Brown and Lauder, eds. (n. 8 above), pp. 95-116. North America's lagging record in terms of skills-training initiatives partly reflects the limited roles that those federal/national governments play in education, since schooling there largely comes under state and provincial jurisdiction. See George Male, "New Developments in Educational Policy in England and the United States," in The Socio-Cultural Foundations of Education and the Evolution of Education Policies in the United States, ed. J. Van Patten (Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellon Press, 1991), pp. 103-32. Canadian provinces are ever watchful of federal incursions into their educational territory, and as a result no sustained national training program has been set up. Perhaps the clearest example of this comes in the 1982-85 McDonald Commission - the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Can - I ada - where merely three pages of its 2,000-page report dealt with primary and secondary schooling. Training has been left largely to the whim of industry and the unevenly developed community college system. In the United States, despite much hand-wringing and many lofty promises, neither the Bush (the self-proclaimed "education president") nor Clinton administrations have enacted major national education reforms.
48. Why has change not been dramatic in areas such as skills training? It is important to note that school systems and the structures of political jurisdiction over schooling themselves can impede change. Dale, e.g., describes an "inertia of education systems" that limits schools' responsiveness to new requirements. See Roger Dale, The State and Educational Policy (Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Press, 1989), pp. 37-38. Education innovations in Britain were introduced via the Manpower Services Commission in the form of the Youth Training Scheme (YTS). But - and this is one example of why we question the extent of real reform around skills training - the YTS program in the United Kingdom is increasingly seen as an attempt to manage problems of youth unemployment, even if it was often clothed in the language of training for the new global economy. See Mike Hickox and Robert Moore, "Education and Post-Fordism: A New Correspondence?" in Brown and Lauder, eds. (n. 8 above), pp. 95-116. North America's lagging record in terms of skills-training initiatives partly reflects the limited roles that those federal/national governments play in education, since schooling there largely comes under state and provincial jurisdiction. See George Male, "New Developments in Educational Policy in England and the United States," in The Socio-Cultural Foundations of Education and the Evolution of Education Policies in the United States, ed. J. Van Patten (Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellon Press, 1991), pp. 103-32. Canadian provinces are ever watchful of federal incursions into their educational territory, and as a result no sustained national training program has been set up. Perhaps the clearest example of this comes in the 1982-85 McDonald Commission - the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Can - I ada - where merely three pages of its 2,000-page report dealt with primary and secondary schooling. Training has been left largely to the whim of industry and the unevenly developed community college system. In the United States, despite much hand-wringing and many lofty promises, neither the Bush (the self-proclaimed "education president") nor Clinton administrations have enacted major national education reforms.
49. Why has change not been dramatic in areas such as skills training? It is important to note that school systems and the structures of political jurisdiction over schooling themselves can impede change. Dale, e.g., describes an "inertia of education systems" that limits schools' responsiveness to new requirements. See Roger Dale, The State and Educational Policy (Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Press, 1989), pp. 37-38. Education innovations in Britain were introduced via the Manpower Services Commission in the form of the Youth Training Scheme (YTS). But - and this is one example of why we question the extent of real reform around skills training - the YTS program in the United Kingdom is increasingly seen as an attempt to manage problems of youth unemployment, even if it was often clothed in the language of training for the new global economy. See Mike Hickox and Robert Moore, "Education and Post-Fordism: A New Correspondence?" in Brown and Lauder, eds. (n. 8 above), pp. 95-116. North America's lagging record in terms of skills-training initiatives partly reflects the limited roles that those federal/national governments play in education, since schooling there largely comes under state and provincial jurisdiction. See George Male, "New Developments in Educational Policy in England and the United States," in The Socio-Cultural Foundations of Education and the Evolution of Education Policies in the United States, ed. J. Van Patten (Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellon Press, 1991), pp. 103-32. Canadian provinces are ever watchful of federal incursions into their educational territory, and as a result no sustained national training program has been set up. Perhaps the clearest example of this comes in the 1982-85 McDonald Commission - the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Can - I ada - where merely three pages of its 2,000-page report dealt with primary and secondary schooling. Training has been left largely to the whim of industry and the unevenly developed community college system. In the United States, despite much hand-wringing and many lofty promises, neither the Bush (the self-proclaimed "education president") nor Clinton administrations have enacted major national education reforms.
50. Liberal Party of Canada (n. 9 above), p. 31.
51. Stanley Aronowitz and Henry A. Giroux, Education Still under Siege, 2d ed. (Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Press, 1993); Stephen J. Ball, "Markets, Choice and Social Class: The Market as a Class Strategy in the U.K. and the U.S.A.," British Journal of Sociology of Education 14, no. 1 (1993): 3-19.
52. Stanley Aronowitz and Henry A. Giroux, Education Still under Siege, 2d ed. (Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Press, 1993); Stephen J. Ball, "Markets, Choice and Social Class: The Market as a Class Strategy in the U.K. and the U.S.A.," British Journal of Sociology of Education 14, no. 1 (1993): 3-19.
53. See John Calvert with Larry Kuehn, Pandora's Box: Corporate Power, Free Trade, and Canadian Education (Toronto: Our Schools/Our Selves, 1993), p. 90. See also Joel Spring, Conflict of Interests: The Politics of Education, 2d ed. (White Plains, N.Y.: Longman, 1992); Ronald Manzur, Canadian Public Schools and Political Ideas: Educational Policy in Historical Perspective (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994).
54. See John Calvert with Larry Kuehn, Pandora's Box: Corporate Power, Free Trade, and Canadian Education (Toronto: Our Schools/Our Selves, 1993), p. 90. See also Joel Spring, Conflict of Interests: The Politics of Education, 2d ed. (White Plains, N.Y.: Longman, 1992); Ronald Manzur, Canadian Public Schools and Political Ideas: Educational Policy in Historical Perspective (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994).
55. See John Calvert with Larry Kuehn, Pandora's Box: Corporate Power, Free Trade, and Canadian Education (Toronto: Our Schools/Our Selves, 1993), p. 90. See also Joel Spring, Conflict of Interests: The Politics of Education, 2d ed. (White Plains, N.Y.: Longman, 1992); Ronald Manzur, Canadian Public Schools and Political Ideas: Educational Policy in Historical Perspective (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994).
56. A Union Carbide CEO, e.g., laments that "organized parent and community groups" have replaced business interests in shaping the goals and missions of Canadian education. See William Kissick, "Business Must Help Cure Our Educational Failure," Canadian Speeches 3 (June/July 1990): 55.
57. Steven Brint and Jerome Karabel, "Institutional Origins and Transformations: The Case of American Community Colleges," in Powell and DiMaggio, eds. (n. 12 above), pp. 337-60.
58. Jim Carl, "Parental Choice as National Policy in England and the United States," Comparative Education Review 38, no. 3 (August 1994): 294-322; Brian Elliott and David MacLennan, "Education, Modernity and Neo-Conservative School Reform in Canada, Britain and the U.S.A.," British Journal of the Sociology of Education 15, no. 2 (1994): 165-84.
59. Jim Carl, "Parental Choice as National Policy in England and the United States," Comparative Education Review 38, no. 3 (August 1994): 294-322; Brian Elliott and David MacLennan, "Education, Modernity and Neo-Conservative School Reform in Canada, Britain and the U.S.A.," British Journal of the Sociology of Education 15, no. 2 (1994): 165-84.
60. Aronowitz and Giroux; Ball; Carl.
61. Claims that school-choice reforms are pushed solely by elite New Right politicians or corporations may be partially biased by their methodology and overgeneralizations. Studies that rely solely on examinations of official documents to infer origins, causes, and motivations of policies may ignore the perspectives of students, teachers, parents, and community representatives and thus depict such people as puppets of the New Right. We argue that the use of a wider variety of data sources, including interviews with key actors, uncovers a much more varied situation. Moreover, the New Right is seldom as homogeneous as is often presumed. On the differing tenets of conservatism and how this variation might affect reforms see Anthony Giddens, Beyond Left and Right: The Future of Radical Politics (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1994).
62. See Thomas Fleming, "Prospects for Schools: The 1988 British Columbia Royal Commission on Education," pts. 1, 2, Education Canada 30, no. 1 (Spring and Summer 1990): 4-15, 25.
63. Royal Commission on Learning, For the Love of Learning (Toronto: Queen's Printer, 1995).
64. See Government of New Zealand, Tomorrow's Schools: The Reform of Educational Administration in New Zealand (Wellington: Government Press, 1988); R. J. S. Macpherson, "The Reconstruction of New Zealand Education: A Case of'High-Polities' Reform?" in Beare and Boyd, eds. (n. 17 above), pp. 69-85; Middleton (n. 19 above); Thorns (n. 19 above). It should also be noted that Sweden, the exemplar of social democracy, recently has added school choice to its national education policy.
65. See Government of New Zealand, Tomorrow's Schools: The Reform of Educational Administration in New Zealand (Wellington: Government Press, 1988); R. J. S. Macpherson, "The Reconstruction of New Zealand Education: A Case of'High-Polities' Reform?" in Beare and Boyd, eds. (n. 17 above), pp. 69-85; Middleton (n. 19 above); Thorns (n. 19 above). It should also be noted that Sweden, the exemplar of social democracy, recently has added school choice to its national education policy.
66. For reviews, see Carl; and see Peter W. Cookson, Jr., School Choice: The Struggle for the Soul of American Education (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1994).
67. Cookson.
68. See, e.g., Ball; Carl.
69. On minorities and school choice, see Barbara Schneider and James S. Coleman, eds., Parents, Their Children, and Schools (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1993); for general discussions of the appeal of choice to different groups see Cookson; Carl. A diverse list of advocates of choice include John Chubb and Terry Moe, Politics, Markets, and America's Schools (Washington, B.C.: Brookings Institute, 1990); Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (New York: Seabury Press, 1970); Christopher Jencks and Judith Areen, Education Vouchers: A Report on Financing Elementary Education by Grants to Parents (Cambridge, Mass.: Center for the Study of Public Policy, 1970).
70. On minorities and school choice, see Barbara Schneider and James S. Coleman, eds., Parents, Their Children, and Schools (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1993); for general discussions of the appeal of choice to different groups see Cookson; Carl. A diverse list of advocates of choice include John Chubb and Terry Moe, Politics, Markets, and America's Schools (Washington, B.C.: Brookings Institute, 1990); Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (New York: Seabury Press, 1970); Christopher Jencks and Judith Areen, Education Vouchers: A Report on Financing Elementary Education by Grants to Parents (Cambridge, Mass.: Center for the Study of Public Policy, 1970).
71. On minorities and school choice, see Barbara Schneider and James S. Coleman, eds., Parents, Their Children, and Schools (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1993); for general discussions of the appeal of choice to different groups see Cookson; Carl. A diverse list of advocates of choice include John Chubb and Terry Moe, Politics, Markets, and America's Schools (Washington, B.C.: Brookings Institute, 1990); Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (New York: Seabury Press, 1970); Christopher Jencks and Judith Areen, Education Vouchers: A Report on Financing Elementary Education by Grants to Parents (Cambridge, Mass.: Center for the Study of Public Policy, 1970).
72. In Canada, progressive documents such as Ontario's Common Curriculum and British Columbia's Year 2000 routinely are mocked as Utopian visions disconnected from the real world. One of Ontario's most vocal parent reform groups, the Quality of Education Network, writes: "We agree with the ideal of creating future generations of non-sexist, non-racist, non-violent environmentalists. However, we would also like to see a generation of non-sexist, non-racist, non-violent environmentalists who can also read and write." See Martha Harron, "Submission to the Royal Commission on Learning," Quality Education Network Newsletter, no. 2 (November 1993).
73. Cookson, pp. 10-11; Alan Cairns and Cynthia Williams, Constitutionalism, Citizenship and Society in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985).
74. Cookson, pp. 10-11; Alan Cairns and Cynthia Williams, Constitutionalism, Citizenship and Society in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985).
75. See Nico Stehr and Richard Ericson, The Culture and Power of Knowledge: Inquiries into Contemporary Societies (New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1992).
76. See Giddens (n. 36 above), pp. 94-95. For instance, when successfully lobbying provincial authorities, Canada's most successful reform group made extensive use of educational research, comparisons of international test scores, warnings of the new economic world order, and Canada's flagging economic competitiveness to call for charter schools. The efforts of this group's leader, a medical doctor named Joe Freedman, provide an interesting example. His well-distributed video, Failing Grades: Canadian Schooling in a Global Economy, underscores our argument about globalization language while also illustrating our claim about lay experts. For many he is now recognized as an educational authority, while vilified by others such as Barlow and Robertson. Freedman points to parent reform groups who are expressing sophisticated concerns about reading, teaching methods, academic expectations, methods of assessment and reporting to parents, and the discipline standards in schools. The Quality of Education Network also proclaims in its newsletters that the expertise of its members can "make life difficult" for the educational establishment.
77. See Giddens (n. 36 above), pp. 94-95. For instance, when successfully lobbying provincial authorities, Canada's most successful reform group made extensive use of educational research, comparisons of international test scores, warnings of the new economic world order, and Canada's flagging economic competitiveness to call for charter schools. The efforts of this group's leader, a medical doctor named Joe Freedman, provide an interesting example. His well-distributed video, Failing Grades: Canadian Schooling in a Global Economy, underscores our argument about globalization language while also illustrating our claim about lay experts. For many he is now recognized as an educational authority, while vilified by others such as Barlow and Robertson. Freedman points to parent reform groups who are expressing sophisticated concerns about reading, teaching methods, academic expectations, methods of assessment and reporting to parents, and the discipline standards in schools. The Quality of Education Network also proclaims in its newsletters that the expertise of its members can "make life difficult" for the educational establishment.
78. Giddens; Craig Calhoun, Social Theory and the Politics of Identity (London: Oxford University Press, 1993).
79. Ramirez (n. 5 above); E. D. Hirsch, Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (New York: Vision Books, 1988). See also Carl.
80. Ramirez (n. 5 above); E. D. Hirsch, Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (New York: Vision Books, 1988). See also Carl.
81. Unesco's international guidelines for education policy adopts this "rights talk" for school choice, recognizing choice as essential to the "liberty" of parents, especially in areas where the condition of state-run schools is "desperate." See Unesco, World Education Report 1993 (Paris: Unesco, 1993), pp. 48-49, 59.