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Review of: Joseph Zajda and David T. Gamage "Decentralisation, School-Based Management and Quality";
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Review of: Joseph Zajda and David T. Gamage "Decentralisation, School-Based Management and Quality";
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The Knowledge and Policy (Know&Pol) international research project investigated the relationship between knowledge and policy within education and health sectors between 2006 and 2011 in 8 EU countries. This article briefly presents the results of the third phase of the research, which examined how the OECD’s PISA survey was received in six countries’ (French-speaking Belgium, France, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, and Scotland) national education policies. Here, instead of trying to put forward a comparison of the six cases, we have decided to outline each country’s “PISA profile” by highlighting specific factors that determined their reception strategy and basis for interpretation. We will also touch upon some of the major conceptual conclusions that the participating teams have drawn from their PISA research. Our objective with this article is to call attention to the rich material gained from a qualitative, sociological analysis of a supra-national instrument of public policy
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In our study we offer an insight into the brand-building processes being pursued in Finland and examine how we can trace the international reputation of Finland’s education system in today’s developing “Finland-brand”. Our study is based on the internationally accepted nation-branding theories (Simon Anholt, Peter van Ham). We will introduce discourses that connect with the results obtained by Finnish students in PISA measurements on the basis of our former studies. In this beginning stage of our examination, we concentrate on electronic documentation and press ‘appearances’ of this Finnish nation-branding. It may be stated that besides values connected to the welfare state and highlighting economic successes, the reputation of Finland’s education system, which has a prominent place on the international stage, is also an integral part of the development of the “Finland-brand”.
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Az egyetemek-főiskolák kari struktúrájának vizsgálata szinte magától értetődően kínálja fel a hallgatói bázisok összehasonlítását olyan dimenziókban, amelyek a felsőoktatás területén egyenlőtlenségeket generálnak. Szinte evidenciának számítanak azok a kijelentések és vizsgálatok, amelyek párhuzamot vonnak pl. a hallgatók különböző tőkefajtákkal való ellátottsága vagy a szülők iskolai végzettsége és a kari struktúrák között. Az egyes karok merítési bázisa, beiskolázási körzete sajátos jegyeket mutat fel, s adja meg nagyvonalakban azok presztízsének nagyságát, s kínálja a diákok számára akár az elsőgenerációs értelmiségévé válás útját, akár pedig egy igen kedvező kilépési lehetőséget a munkaerőpiac vagy a doktori tanulmányok felé. Különösen igaz ennek a kettősségnek az együttes jelenléte az integrációval létrejött „mamutintézményekre”. Jelen tanulmány tárgya szintén egy kari szintű elemzés, ugyanakkor a hallgatói különbségek feltérképezését egy sokkal kevésbé megragadható területen, az értékek világában kívánjuk modellezni. Ez a terület két okból is igen hasznos terepét nyújtja vizsgálódásunknak: egyrészt az értékkutatásokra a magyar nyelvű szakirodalomban kevés példát találni a felsőoktatás intézményi-kari bontásában. A másik ok az értékek világának összetettségében keresendő: az értékpreferenciák egyszerre okai és következményei is lehetnek a továbbtanulási döntések mögött meghúzódó jelenséghalmaznak, illeszkedhetnek vagy megcáfolhatják a kari sztereotípiákat, s összefonódhatnak az adott kar által nyújtott biográfiákkal, motivációs rendszerekkel, perspektívákkal.
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A felsőoktatásban jelenleg végbemenő változások, az államilag támogatott keretszámok csökkentése és a képzési területek szerinti keretszámok meghatározása, igen sok diákot riasztanak el a továbbtanulástól, vagy lehetetlenítik el helyzetüket az anyagi feltételek miatt. Ezért egyre nagyobb nyilvánosságot kap az a lehetőség, hogy a magyarországi fiatalok, valamelyik szomszédos ország egyetemére is jelentkezhetnek, ahol szintén van lehetőség bizonyos feltételek mellett ingyenes képzésekben részt venni. A költségtérítéses szakokon fizetendő tandíjak hasonlóak az itthoniakhoz, vagy egyes esetekben alacsonyabbak azoknál.
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This study examines the role of the ”evidence-based” approach when dealing with decision-making processes in educational policy. There are several factors that make it difficult to efficiently use data based on sociological research in the fact of policy making. Nevertheless, expectations as regards basing decisions on actual data (if not on direct evidence) in policy and in political discourse are stronger now than ever. The study reviews the nature of data use in social science in contrast with that for natural sciences - and also the nature of research data in contrast with that of statistical data. In a wider context, it additionally examines the real role played by research in policy making. Then, as a specific example of data gathering and interpretation, the study enumerates possible approaches when examining young graduates’ careers - and analyzes critical theoretical and methodolgical issues following on from this.
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The paper is about managerialism in public education, appearing as a concrete example of the headway that has been made in competence-based education. The new public management approach, which can be one way of administering different public bodies, is not yet widespread in Hungary; though several studies can be found in international literature dealing with the new form of public management as being evidential in the public education sphere. A wish to implement competence-based education, have local and international evaluation/assessment of students and see how pedagogical processes qualify exist within the context of new public management. The appearance of such desires at this time period are more coincidental, rather than being part of the concept for long-term strategy. However, efficiency and budget-centred elements within the school system should be considered permanent factors, ones worth analysing for such a system to operate.
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A felsőoktatásban kétségtelenül hektikus és kaotikus állapotok uralkodnak, amit a közelről érintettek is hajlamosak az előző kormányzat nyolc évének tulajdonítani, elfeledkezve arról, hogy ez az igazgatási terület több mint húsz éve permanens válságban van. Már a rendszerváltás idejére nyilvánvalóvá vált, hogy a képzés a társadalom túlságosan szűk rétege számára biztosít diplomát, de ahogyan a kormányzás más területein, az oktatáspolitikában sem voltak kész receptek, végiggondolt megoldások a problémák orvoslására. Az elkerülhetetlen döntések előre nem látott következményekkel jártak, s a folytonos korrekciós kísérletek a káosz érzetét keltik. Senki nem tudhatja, mi lesz a minisztérium következő lépése, s az egzisztenciális bizonytalanság áthatja a felsőoktatás egészét.
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Research work forming the basis of the article was undertaken between 2007 and 2010. The vocational training system was being radically redesigned in the the time period from when the article was written up until it was published; the number of students forced to go to vocational schools will swell by 2 or 3 times more, while “teaching” time, becoming principally study – alongside work, will be reduced to 3 years. In this article we argue that by the use of sensitive and modern pedagogical tools the vocational training school student could become integrated into labor market and thus saved from being shut out of society. Now, in this new and not yet researchable situation, we can only advise persons planning the new vocational system to show some selfrestraint and take the arguments outlined in this article into consideration.
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Blue-collar workers are missing everywhere in developed economies. Unlike other countries, in Hungary ‘shortage-job’ became a technical term used by laws in the past few years. Decisions relating to 10 ‘shortage jobs’ in each of the 7 regions are taken every year by regional development and training committees. The policy objective is that more students are trained for shortage-jobs by guaranteed apprentices in shortage-jobs, where there is a higher salary. The main questions the study explores are as follows: Is there really a shortage with shortage jobs? What are these like - and what are students being trained for shortage-jobs like? What might be reasons for a labour market shortage? What consequences might there be as regards regulations dealing with shortages in the labour market both in the short run and in the long run?
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This article presents the role of civil professional organizations and social partners within the VET system. It describes the operations of advisory and decision-making bodies. The study reviews the relations of these organizations and sees how they are embedded in the network of other organizations; and it gives the education sector’s view of the consultation system. This paper notes a number of dysfunctions in how these bodies operate. The general opinion is that consultative bodies play only a formal role in decision-making. However, the surveyed organizations consider the current system of social dialogue important In modern democracies, the state generally aims at the institutionalization of public policy, which excludes constraints, ensures consensus and enforces agreements.
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In the introduction to her article Specialised schools for migrant children, Ágnes Vámos establishes that, as a result of transnational migration, a separate group of students has formed – those who study not in local authority schools, but in schools run by the state, international organisations or the private sector. The mainly 12-year secondary schools do not attract their students exclusively through the use of foreign language or dual Hungarian foreign language teaching – but, rather, via their network of international relations, their mobility and their intercultural openness, and not least through the high level of services they give their student–parent client group. The polarisation of Hungarian society has lead to the emergence of a demand for this kind of fee-paying education, which (1) is a factor from the social group to which the student belongs and not his/her citizenship, (2) provides a constant environment for international education for a specific social grouping, and (3) means that Hungarian citizens do not necessarily need to travel abroad to get this kind of education. It is in the interests of the Hungarian state to create and maintain this kind of international institute and to require that the institutes that offer education to foreigners abide by international rules (as in the case of the NATO air base staff at Papa). The study introduces the international schools currently operating in Hungary, and examines how the Tarczy Lajos Primary School is trying, as a local government-funded institution, to satisfy the demands of families moving internationally, while abiding by the requirements of an international contract and yet operating within the framework of Hungarian public education.
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In her essay Religiosity and Pedagogical Ideologies, Gabriella Pusztai presents the new educational ideology of the reviving denominational sector following the change of regime in 1990. Based on school documents of denominational schools and school educational programs, she examines the principle-based proclamations of the new ideology – which she confronts with the views of the religious community.
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This study compares the educational policy challenges of primary and secondary education systems in South East European Countries with the actual capacity of the respective governments to respond to these challenges. The overview is based on an international comparison in terms of differences among different, larger European regions, and it also analyzes the similarities and differences between countries of the South East European region. The analysis is based on a distinction existing among three European equity patterns: compensative education systems (a high level of equity and a high or medium level of quality), selective education systems (a low level of equity and high selection result in a below-average overall student performance) and the attritive education systems of most South East European countries (an extremely high proportion of failing students both in terms of participation and learning outcomes, which indicates serious equity and quality problems). The study maps out the characteristics of the educational governance systems that seriously weaken the problem solving capacity of governments in the region.
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The article analyzes the effect of Hungary’s membership in the European Union on its educational development in the period 2006–2010. It tries to answer two parallel types of question. On the one hand, it explores how far Hungary has become an effective member of the European Union in the domain of education; and, on the other, it explores the influence of its membership in the community on the development of its national system. The focus of the analysis is directed towards four specific themes. First, the author examines how far the national education policy agenda has become similar to the agenda of the community, that is, how far the nation’s policy has become Europeanized. Second, it assesses the performance of the national system using the perspective of reference values and benchmarks set by the community. The article then explores the impact of major national development programs financed from EU funds and specific problems accompanying the implementation of such programs, in the light of relevant and available data. Finally, it looks at the role Hungary could play in shaping community policies during the period examined – with special stress being given to the prospective Hungarian EU presidency in 2011.
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Two policies of Gypsy/Roma education are differentiated in this paper. Policy A deals with the Gypsy/Roma communities as socially disadvantaged groups; while policy B recognises them as cultural minorities and aims at integrating them into the cultural minorities of Hungary. Policy A uses education as a means for socio-economic equality. Policy B uses schools and other institutions for developing Gypsy/Roma cultural identity by conveying and disseminating their cultural heritages. The two policies are partly complementary, but are partly contradictory. Their representatives have been competing from the political transition (1990) on, and can also be connected to political ideologies and party politics. 2002–2010 proved to be a period for the domination of policy B. Various socio-economic government projects have been initiated, some partly successfully (and some not). Educational institutions, however, supporting policy B (the cultural identity of the Gypsy/Roma communities) failed. A more successful and educationally-orientated government may have to find a better balance between the two policy alternatives and their representatives in the future, therefore.
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Transition in two steps – and its consequences. The case of Hungary. As in all East Central European countries, in Hungary too a highly-centralized educational system was prevalent until the 1970s. In contrast, Hungary now has the most decentralized system of education in the region, according to OECD data. Schools and local governments have a great deal of broad autonomy, with minimal central controls. This drastic change occurred during two, separate political idealogies and administrations in the 1980s. Solidarnost, the Polish anti-Socialist movement, had a major effect on the, then, Hungarian leadership, which followed them in wishes to establish Saturday as a day-off, which started a trend of self-regulation in policies. This reform initiative was warmly welcomed by society because it went against the existing Soviet-type communist system, with its so-called “democratic centralization”. It was seen as an attempt to reform socialism more or less in a Western way, and turn it into a Yugoslav Tito-type, self-regulated form of socialism. This pattern of change affected primary and secondary school levels and also universities; while teachers could vote for their principals and propose individual and collective schooling programs; most importantly, teachers accepted a rule that their school would exert its own controls and have its own rules. The program for establishing a school’s professional autonomy included, among other things, elimination of the inspectorate system (as this seemed to have violated teachers’ professional autonomy). Apart from in the case of schools, many plans and good ideas occurred in relation to a self-regulated local society, though what this all actually entailed became reality shortly after the collapse of the socialist regime; for 3,176 independent, local self-governments were formed after 1990 – and all of them tried to carefully preserve their sovereignty visa-vis central and regional governments. There are a number of unforeseen consequences arising from this direct democraticbased autonomy – for example, a lack of coordination, a widening gap in the performance of schools between urban and rural areas, the expansion of education and a permanent conflict between two autonomously-elected and politically-legitimized bodies, i.e. local assemblies and professional schools.
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