Week 3: Neo-liberal paradigm vs Neo-structural paradigm

Question 1

Neoliberalism (Overton)

Answer 1

Education & youth care as a commodity

Question 2

Neostructuralism (Overton)

Answer 2

Education & youth care as a public good

Question 3

Neoliberalist assumptions (Overton)

Answer 3

• Individual are’ consumers’ of education (and youth services)
• Decisions are made on basis of costs and returns on investment: i.e. students incur debt because the expected return on investment is higher than the made costs
• Private education (and service providers) read market signals: ‘supply’ trainings and programs that are ‘demanded’ by the individuals and by the industry
• The aim of education should be aligned with the needs of the market & industry: economic growth
• The government should not provide services if it is more cost-efficient to leave the provision to private companies

Question 4

The outcome of neoliberalist policies in education: (Sahlberg)

Answer 4

Global Education Reform Movement (GERM)

A nation at Risk (1983) report in USA

The Education Reform Act (ERA) (1988) in England

Inspired by:

Paradigm shift from teacher-centered to student-centered learning

Demand for effective learning for all students (common learning standards)

Demand for decentralization of education (higher school autonomy)

Question 5

Five common features of GERM: (Sahlberg)

Answer 5

• Competitions and choice
  Schools compete with each other to get more students in
  Students compete with each other to get into certain school
• Standardization of teaching and learning
• Focus on ‘core subjects’: reading, mathematics and science
  The negative part of this is that other subject are less in high school, for example art
• Corporate models of change
  They regulate by cost-efficiency

Test-based accountability

Question 6

What is wrong with test-based accountability?

Answer 6

It forces rote learning -> students memorize literacy questions and their answers. They are only ‘aan het stampen’. Because of this there is less room for creativity.

The sharing of test results and the high stakes testing creates a lot of stress for students

Test-based accountability results to higher inequality between poor and rich students, as only wealthy parents can afford extra tutoring.

Question 7

The rise of shadow education:

Answer 7

In the Netherlands there is a an increasing amount of students that take extra (paid) classes and tutoring. They follow this outside of school and parents pay for this. This results into higher inequality between students within education, as only people who can afford it pay for this.

Question 8

Education and youth services as a public good

Answer 8

education and youth services being provided for free: non-profit equal access for all; no commercial interest involved

Question 9

Socialization for the common good (de Winter)

Answer 9

about the outcome of education and upbringing: benefitting not only the individuals but also the community

Question 10

Neo structuralism (Overton)

Answer 10

After 2000: ‘neoliberalism with a human face’

Still education for economic growth and development but with concern for human rights, equity and sustainability

New relationship between state, the market and the individual: the state interferes minimally in private providers but strives for universal access and inclusive education for all

Governments responsible for monitoring and funding national curricula and educational (and care) infrastructure

Question 11

Place-based paradigm (Overton)

Answer 11

post-colonial paradigm: education defined by local need, values & epistemologies

Question 12

Radical paradigm (Overton)

Answer 12

value-based paradigm: education for social transformation & equality (Freire)

Question 13

To what extent are privatization and marketization of ECEC compatible with
guaranteeing equal opportunities for all children in a diverse society? (Van der Werf)

Answer 13

• ECEC: Early childhood education and care, provided to under-school age children
• The Dutch ECEC system is increasingly privatized since 2005, now hybrid: both for-profit and not-for-profit providers.
• System hybridity: the result of marketization combined with public tasks (i.e. equity policy)

Question 14

Based on data from 127 ECEC organizations the study finds out that: (van der Werf)

Answer 14

• No significant differences between for-profit and non-for-profit centers regarding structural quality as its determinants are highly regulated by the government.
• Higher process quality at (almost) all non-for-profit centers compared to for-profit centers (better feedback, language modeling, facilitation of learning)
• “Without a social-emancipatory mission, or with a predominantly commercial mission, system hybridity does not lead to better quality ECEC, nor to increased access to high quality for children in disadvantaged situations, such as children with a non-Western immigration background.” (p.148)

Question 15

‘good enough democratic citizenship’ (de Winter)

Answer 15

dat wil zeggen dat ze de democratie ondersteunen, goed geïnformeerd zijn over de politiek, een politieke voorkeur hebben en dat ze bereid zijn om te gaan stemmen.

Question 16

Meest democratische opvoedstijl: (de Winter)

Answer 16

Autoritatief

Question 17

Opvoedingsstrategieën om moraliteit bij kinderen te bevorderen: (de Winter)

Answer 17

• Inductie
• Zorgzaamheid en ondersteuning
• Eisen stellen en grenzen stellen
• Sociaal-moreel gedrag voorleven
• Open democratische gezinsdiscussies en conflictoplossing

Question 18

Socialization gap (de Winter)

Answer 18

Wegvallen van continuïteit tussen verschillende opvoedingscontexten: familie, buurt, school, kerk en verenigingsleven. Kloof tussen jongeren en de samenleving: straatleven en geweld.

Question 19

Development assets benadering (de Winter)

Answer 19

gezinnen, buurten en scholen moeten voldoende zorg, ondersteuning, betrokkenheid en duidelijke grenzen bieden. Jongeren eerder aanspreken op bijdragen die zij kunnen leveren ipv ze zien als potentieel probleemgeval.

Question 20

Implosie van de democratie (de Winter)

Answer 20

door een toenemende fixatie op eigenbelang en een daarmee gepaard gaande desinteresse voor de publieke zaak

Question 21

explosie van de democratie

Answer 21

door een groei van antidemocratische sentimenten, mogelijk vergezeld gaand van intentionele ondergraving van de rechtsstaat.
Verdedigingslinie: een goed stelsel van wet- en regelgeving

Question 22

Overton: five paradigms of education for development

Answer 22

1. Neoliberalism: education as a critical component of economic growth
   Kritiek: inequality
2. Retroliberalism: maintains that education is a critical component for economic growth, but in opposition to neoliberalism, retroliberalism suggests a more active role of the state in education
   Kritiek: aid donors voor eigen belang
3. Neo structuralism: education with concern for poverty and inequality on a global scale, with state intervention
   Universal primary education
   Kritiek: geen rekening houden met lokaal levensonderhoud
4. Place based: education grounded in regional contexts rather than national state-imposed curricula
   Kritiek: houd sociale normen en machtsrelaties in stand. NGO’s kunnen nog steeds hun eigen visie imposeren.
5. Radical: an educational model that sees education as a political praxis for radically transformative social change
   Confront conditions of opression (social justice)
   Kritiek: radicaliseert de armen, maar support ze niet productief. Own agenda of teacher. Feministische kijk: hierarchiën en postcoloniale kijk: eurocentric terms

Question 23

Education Reform Act (ERA), four operational principles: (van der Werf)

Answer 23

• Competition among schools would lead to better outcomes for students
• Autonomy for schools is necessary in order for schools to properly compete
• Freedom for parents to choose schools for their children
• Information for the public based on comparable measures of student achievement and on a single national curriculum

Question 24

Consequences of GERM (van der Werf)

Answer 24

• Brings more autonomy to schools to craft some of the structures like allocating time, utilising spaces and managing staff as is best for the schools
• But also, increasing external control through tighter standards, frequent testing and stronger accountability

Question 25

3 core assumptions of GERM: (van der Werf)

Answer 25

1. GERM assumes that school choice combined with external performance standards measured by standardized tests, leads to better learning for all
2. GERM assumes that the most effective way to improve educational systems is to bring well-developed innovations to schools and classrooms from outside, often the bussiness world
3. GERM relies on an assumption that competition between schools, teachers and students is the most productive way to raise the quality of education.

Question 26

PISA Test for schools

Answer 26

Contradiction 1: educational systems that give schools autonomy over curricula and student assessment often perform better, whereas GERM argues that standardized testing are preconditions for succes
Contradiction 2: high average learning outcomes and system-wide equity are often interrelated. Equity in education means that students’ socioeconomic status has little impact on how well they learn in school. Fairness of resource allocation, and giving priority to special education services in areas other than maths, linquistics etc.
Contradiction 3: school choice and competition do not improve the performance of educational systems. It rather leads to greater segregation in the education system, and has detrimental effects on equity
Contradiction 4: teachers will perform better when they are being paid better.
Contradiction 5: countries that do not use GERM are consistently performing higher than other countries.