In order to be able to understand
comparative education, it is first necessary to be able to define several
recurring terms which will be used throughout this essay. A historical context reveals the motives of
education especially when considerate of political ideology. This essay will explore education received in
Australia, Britain and the United States.
It will brief on the Latin American experience and conclude with European
education and its transformation.
Through this comparative analysis, one will ascertain an informed
discourse about how education is provided in multiple contexts.
To be able to look at the
education of a specific nature, it is important to understand the concept of
functional centralization or decenteralization.
This refers to the distribution of powers of an authority. Education in some countries is managed by a
Ministry of Education. A centralized
education system means that a single authority is responsible for all aspects
of education. In a centralized system
the single authority makes the policy pertaining to education. A move to separate this power would be
referred to decentralization (Arnove
R., et al, 2012). Moreover if
there is a transfer of power from higher to lower levels, it would be
territorial decentralization. Within
territorial decentralization are three main subcategories which are as follows,
deconcentration, delegation and devolution.
It is important to understand these terms as they relate to the power
structures that administer education to a certain population. Deconcentration is when a major authority
creates branches. Delegation is when an
authority permits tasks to be completed by another authority lower in the power
structure. Devolution is when powers are
held at subnational levels. It is very
important to understand the concepts of centralization and decentralization
because it allows for a better understanding of the educational systems in
place. The reasons in which governments
move to centralize or decentralize is because of political or administrative
reasons. For political reasons a
government can choose to centralize to strengthen the power of the dominant
group, they can on the other hand decentralize to spread or share the power. For administrative purposes governments opt
to facilitate bureaucratic efficiency.
There are also costs concerns and diversity considerations that
governments may opt to perform de/ centralization. In all, governments seek to nation build
through education. Governments vest
their authorities with autonomy in decision making. Through school- leaving qualifications,
school textbooks and the operation of universities authorities can control the
way education is provided. Control of
school leaving qualifications boards operated by the government may set entrance
exams and the such so that they may control the quality of the students. Through textbooks governments can control the
ideology spread to the population via education. For example, previously in China, they opted
to use education to spread the ideology of communism to their students. China has an official list of textbooks which
are permitted to be used in schools.
These textbooks disseminate the ideas of communism and related subject
matters. Lastly, through the control of
universities governments can influence the politics and reduce political
threats. Educated people serve as the
fuel for activist movements and they are able to rationalize or normalize
societal capitalism.
Through colonization, education
spread to many countries. Globalization has caused knowledge to be
shared and disseminated from one country to another. Through multiple voices, communities became
diverse however, this diversity could be considered as a lack of agreements on
values and ethics. These disagreements
can cause violence or even hatred.
Atrocities in the name of specific groups could be done, such is the
case with Germany in WW2. Dominant
groups have and are marginalizing others (Arnove R., et al, 2012).
Although there is the risk of marginalization, education serves as a
method to transform individuals.
Education can redefine who people are. Identity is fluid and can be molded. Through education identities can be
formed. In a multilayered construction
of lives and cultures, governments can achieve identity creation. This is then nation building.
Australia, Canada and USA have
federal systems in which substantial powers are given to the provincial
governments. Australia has pushed for
centralized government control of the education system. Education is provided under the human capital
theory which viability of a nation is based on the foundation at which people
are educated or skilled to work. In
Australia, the delivery of education occurs through grammar and largely private
secondary education, a tertiary sector dominated by a university sector and a
vocational and technical education to train people. Schools in Australia all compete for
students. Therefore, the impact of
neoliberalism in the Australian educational system is very evident as they move
towards intensified market orientation.
For example in 2006 – 2007 Australia’s third largest export was
education and in 2009 – 2010 educational services accounted for 36% of all
exports. Through the, “enterprise
university,” a market becomes available in which universities can compete for
students and funding from the government and private interests (Arnove R., et al, 2012).
With pertinence to Britain after WW2 the welfare state
reduced opportunity gaps between poor and rich.
Education became a pillar by which to reform the country. Under Margret Thatcher however, the promotion
of productivity and efficiency was paramount.
She promoted entrepreneurialism, consumer choice and reduced fiscal
dependency. They modeled the education
system in Britain under the U.S. principles of monetarisim. By the mid 1970’s it became clear that mass
secondary schooling was reproducing patterns of inequality. By 1984 Britain moved to centralize the
curriculum through the School Examination Council and the School Curriculum
Development Council. This evidently
dissolved the independent Schools Council.
Britain then decided to privatize through the Office for Standards
Education. They were responsible for
standards in early learning, primary, secondary and post compulsory further
education institutions and teacher education.
By 1994 Britain created a national curriculum for teacher
education. In 1996 the Education Act
allowed students to borrow money from banks on the same terms as Student Loans
Company. This system was a U.S. style
loan program which left students with debt payable after graduation (Arnove R.,
et al, 2012).
The education system in the USA is based of neoliberalism. Through this they focus on economic
imperatives and choice agenda. The role
of the state, federal governments and corporations are factored in. America is very competitive in a globalized
world. They address such problems as
democracy, social cohesion and inequality.
The USA uses a corporatist model of schooling. They believed that what has been effective in
business can also be effective for fixing the education in USA public
schools. The dramatic expansion in
global trade caused the USA to implement concepts of neoliberalism into their
structures. Governments opened markets,
promoted free trade, reduced the public sector, reduced state intervention in
the economy, and deregulated the markets.
The USA sought to privatize much of its government services as
governments became bloated and inefficient.
The USA under Clinton established that in order to be successful in the
globe, the USA needed an increase in highly skilled educated workers. They based their educational policy under the
concept of human capital (Arnove R., et al, 2012).
Education in Latin America is riddled with the inability to
mobilize enough resources or inability to provide sufficient wages. Income inequality in Latin America is caused
by its educational system. Moreover,
inadequate facilities, child labour and the distance of schools from
communities are factors which affect school completion rates. Large numbers of people from the least
privileged sectors of society have not been enrolling to school. Further, the average amount of education
received by adults is less than six years.
The reduction of demand of oil has severely impacted Latin America’s
prospects of improving the economy. The
rise of left centered socialist regimes has also made implications for
policy. The emergence of the Bolivarian
Alliance for the Peoples of Our America or ALBA was a response to the
increasing influence of USA in the region.
Latin America has made attempts to expand the role of the state in
redirecting resources. Through these
mutual agreements of member countries the cooperation of education is able to
be accomplished. Regardless, reduced
government spending, outdated curricula and restricted access have ‘evidently
reduced the quality of educations Latin Americans receive. In Latin America public universities have
started to charge for tuition, these fees could be the same as those charged in
private institutions. This is a result
of insufficient state funding. The
decision to decentralize in Latin America has been very controversial. Countries in Latin America that have
decentralized include Columbia, Argentina, Mexico and Chile. These countries that have decentralized face
the issue of not having enough resources to make up educational costs which
poses a problem for Latin America as a whole (Arnove R., et al, 2012).
The Last region this essay is going to explore is
Europe. With the falling of socialisim
in 1989, social and political change was imminent. The objective to reform education to mirror
the West was thus conceived. Europe
wanted to transform its socialist states to capitalist considerate economies in
a globalized world. There are three
empires which are of significance in this region, the Hapsburg empire, Ottoman
empire, and the Russian empire. The
Hapsburg empire was involved in educating all citizens so they can create a
cohesive society. The Ottoman empire
were uninterested educating non-Muslims.
Therefore, each religion recognized by Islam ruled over their members
with minimal interference. Lastly, the
Russian empire made a strong effort to make education a priority by
establishing universities. In the Post
World War I era, curriculum development became the ideal tool to create a
homogenized identity. Policy makers
favored highly centralized models.
European policy makers prioritized education and they encouraged the
growth of higher education institutes.
By the early 1990’s Europeans began the discussion of
decentralization. They did this because
they wanted to promote democracy, freedom, participation, and responsibility in
education (Arnove R., et al, 2012).
As it becomes evident through this comparative analysis of
education reform and policy, each region has their pros and cons. They have evidently overcomed hardships and
made due with what they had. These
changes don’t happen instantaneously.
Change occurs with a point of contention and through supportive voices
countries can begin the transformation of policy and in this case education
policy.
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