World Bank and education
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This paper explores how philosophical inquiry and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) can mutually benefit from each other to produce new methodological and reflexive directions in neo-liberal policy research to examine the phenomenon of... more
This paper explores how philosophical inquiry and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) can mutually benefit from each other to produce new methodological and reflexive directions in neo-liberal policy research to examine the phenomenon of ‘What is (going on here)’. Through this we argue that augmenting linguistic analysis with philosophical perspectives develops and supports CDA scholarship more broadly by accommodating the shifting complexity of social problems of ideologically driven inequality that are inbuilt through, in our case, social policy texts. In discussing philosophical-methodological issues, the paper argues for the need to continually adapt CDA to the particular data so as to remain sensitive to and avoid hegemonic tendencies in analysis. Through adopting the principles of a working methodology, we discuss a micro-meso-macro CDA framework that draws on the analytical concepts of movement, metaphorical superfluidity, thematic condensation, and surrealism to conceive of a research approach capable of examining and comprehending evolving discourses of political economies. The most immediate benefit of this framework is its capacity to illustrate how forms of valuations perpetuated by and through policy discourse are the motivational locus of meaning making insofar as they strongly inform the moral underpinning the ideology of economic growth.
- by Nadira Talib and +1
- •
- Critical Theory, Business, Business Ethics, Discourse Analysis
This thesis was based on the analysis of the "international cooperation" and diplomatic-economic relations established between the Brazilian and Mozambican governments during 2004-2015. The specific aim was to understand how the Brazilian... more
This thesis was based on the analysis of the "international cooperation" and diplomatic-economic relations established between the Brazilian and Mozambican governments during 2004-2015. The specific aim was to understand how the Brazilian cooperation in Mozambique relates to the World Bank's (which is considered as a collective intellectual in the Gramscian sense) reform agenda, especially on the trainment of Mozambican State staff and the national workforce. The research was based on the method of historical-dialectical materialism.
Documents from the World Bank, IMF, OECD, UN, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNESCO and UNFPA were analyzed in order to systematize the theoretical formulations and the recommendations on educational policies for Mozambique. We also analyzed the
agreements signed by the governments of Brazil and Mozambique during 2004-2015. We identified agreements related to private interests, agreements related to "poverty alleviation" and agreements promoting the restructuring of the Mozambican State. High number of agreements establishes "professional qualification" of State staff, following
the "pedagogy of competences". By combining the analysis of the expropriations provoked by the Brazilian companies in Mozambique to the analysis of the "cooperation agreements", we point out the materiality of the "pedagogical" character of the Brazilian activity in Mozambique: the combination of expropriation and repression assumes a "negative" educational character (teaches how you should not act), while actions for
"poverty alleviation" and education fulfill the "positive" educational function (teaches how to act, diffuses habits and mental dispositions). Finally, we present a thought about education in capital-imperialism times. In our perspective, the unequal integration of the productive forces demands that the peripheric nations’ education policies assume a highly pragmatic character, since in the globalized market, the labor force is incorporated in the list of the country's "comparative advantages" , which can attract
or repel investors. National education systems are restructured according to different demands, concerning the model of development, the type of capital prevailing in the region, the potential for exploitation of natural resources and labor power, and the context of class struggle. In peripheral nations, the conjugation of the positive and negative functions of the educating state becomes increasingly latent. Thus, schools assume the role of providing the minimum education necessary to adapt workers to
unstable market conditions. There are no limits to the precariousness of education, since even the most precarious schools fulfill the function of granting certificates and "disciplining" the working class.
Documents from the World Bank, IMF, OECD, UN, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNESCO and UNFPA were analyzed in order to systematize the theoretical formulations and the recommendations on educational policies for Mozambique. We also analyzed the
agreements signed by the governments of Brazil and Mozambique during 2004-2015. We identified agreements related to private interests, agreements related to "poverty alleviation" and agreements promoting the restructuring of the Mozambican State. High number of agreements establishes "professional qualification" of State staff, following
the "pedagogy of competences". By combining the analysis of the expropriations provoked by the Brazilian companies in Mozambique to the analysis of the "cooperation agreements", we point out the materiality of the "pedagogical" character of the Brazilian activity in Mozambique: the combination of expropriation and repression assumes a "negative" educational character (teaches how you should not act), while actions for
"poverty alleviation" and education fulfill the "positive" educational function (teaches how to act, diffuses habits and mental dispositions). Finally, we present a thought about education in capital-imperialism times. In our perspective, the unequal integration of the productive forces demands that the peripheric nations’ education policies assume a highly pragmatic character, since in the globalized market, the labor force is incorporated in the list of the country's "comparative advantages" , which can attract
or repel investors. National education systems are restructured according to different demands, concerning the model of development, the type of capital prevailing in the region, the potential for exploitation of natural resources and labor power, and the context of class struggle. In peripheral nations, the conjugation of the positive and negative functions of the educating state becomes increasingly latent. Thus, schools assume the role of providing the minimum education necessary to adapt workers to
unstable market conditions. There are no limits to the precariousness of education, since even the most precarious schools fulfill the function of granting certificates and "disciplining" the working class.
This paper presents detailed methods for constructing a flexible philosophical–analytical model through which to apply the analytic principles of CDA for the interpretation of metaphors across policy texts. Drawing on a theoretical... more
This paper presents detailed methods for constructing a flexible philosophical–analytical model through which to apply the analytic principles of CDA for the interpretation of metaphors across policy texts. Drawing on a theoretical framing from Foucault and the augmentation of Nietzsche’s views on valuation, we sketch a framework for examining ways in which evaluative semantic categories can be linked to sociological theories in order to bring out their relevance for the purpose of critical discourse analysis. This multi-level research framework draws upon a relationship between language analysis, the philosophical study of valuation, and political economy as a composite formulation of values through which neo-liberalism is discursively entwined and progressed through a system of principles of e/valuation.
This paper examines the way the metaphor of diversity provides a moral basis for inequality in Singapore’s meritocratic education system. Based upon a collection of policy texts from 2002 to 2012, our analysis illustrates that the... more
This paper examines the way the metaphor of diversity provides a moral basis for inequality in Singapore’s meritocratic education system. Based upon a collection of policy texts from 2002 to 2012, our analysis illustrates that the metaphor of diversity in policy texts provides ways for systemic discrimination within the education system and that this inequality is given legitimacy as necessary through various moral discourses. The paper employs a critical discourse analysis that draws upon the relationship between language analysis, the philosophical study of valuation, and political economy as a composite formulation of values to highlight the ways in which an argument for inequality permeates policy from within a frame of meritocracy, and to analyse how changes associated with new modes of value determination serve to legitimize inequality.
1. The article questions and challenges the official meritocratic principle of ‘equal opportunities’ (Wong, 2000) in Singapore's education system. Drawing on Foucault's and Nietzsche's philosophical perspectives, there is an explicit illustration through an in-depth analysis of how inequality is inbuilt in policy report/speech.
2. Discourse builds in/tangible structures in society and greatly determines the possibilities of the now. As such, I am also arguing that it would be more difficult to 'help' any 'community' if the structural discrimination which has been deeply embedded, is not made explicit through national policies, and by this I mean an explicit illustration through an in-depth policy analysis of how inequality is inbuilt in Singapore's education policies. It may be through this that discriminatory structures could be substantially challenged.
An initial analysis of the original 1979 policy on primary school streaming which I conducted illustrates how dichotomous (arbitrary) categorization of pupils, i.e. 'slow' and 'fast' learners legitimates and sustains increasing institutional/structural access (over the years terms like 'talents' have been employed in policy discourse), of who gets privileged knowledge access. Through this, I also ask then to what ends do forms of 'categorization' or conventional designation entail? By this, given that categorization legitimizes structural access, my question is, what is 'Malay/Muslim community' and how is this categorization necessary?
3. Even though the analysis in the article was based on Singapore's education system, it provides possible ways of understanding how inequality is continuously being inbuilt through policies on the basis of the ideology that economic growth is the (only) way forward. A way to critique this ideology is to expose its underlying assumptions. I believe the findings have much resonance with the widening inequality across many developed nations, as Singapore's policies have parallels with that of the U.K., U.S., and international organizations such as the World Bank.
4. Economically considered, the transliteration of meritocratic discourse into the metaphor of diversity pinpoints how the appeal of development for all necessarily also demands the advance of inequity for the sake of the whole, i.e. advancing the 'growth with inequity' principle.
5. The analysis highlights that value judgments are continually at work in the policy discourse and that despite the strong discourse of meritocracy that the Singapore education system promotes, it is argued that it is in the interests of the Singapore people that 'talents' should get privileged access to knowledge as it is through this that more 'opportunities' for the rest of the population are created. The findings demonstrate that although the underlying assumptions of this 'logic' that has been constructed in policies are unsubstantiated, the logic is continuously legitimated through forms of e/valuations.
This article has been featured in websites such as: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150428105815.htm
http://www.eurasiareview.com/28042015-what-is-value-of-inequality-within-singapores-education-system/
1. The article questions and challenges the official meritocratic principle of ‘equal opportunities’ (Wong, 2000) in Singapore's education system. Drawing on Foucault's and Nietzsche's philosophical perspectives, there is an explicit illustration through an in-depth analysis of how inequality is inbuilt in policy report/speech.
2. Discourse builds in/tangible structures in society and greatly determines the possibilities of the now. As such, I am also arguing that it would be more difficult to 'help' any 'community' if the structural discrimination which has been deeply embedded, is not made explicit through national policies, and by this I mean an explicit illustration through an in-depth policy analysis of how inequality is inbuilt in Singapore's education policies. It may be through this that discriminatory structures could be substantially challenged.
An initial analysis of the original 1979 policy on primary school streaming which I conducted illustrates how dichotomous (arbitrary) categorization of pupils, i.e. 'slow' and 'fast' learners legitimates and sustains increasing institutional/structural access (over the years terms like 'talents' have been employed in policy discourse), of who gets privileged knowledge access. Through this, I also ask then to what ends do forms of 'categorization' or conventional designation entail? By this, given that categorization legitimizes structural access, my question is, what is 'Malay/Muslim community' and how is this categorization necessary?
3. Even though the analysis in the article was based on Singapore's education system, it provides possible ways of understanding how inequality is continuously being inbuilt through policies on the basis of the ideology that economic growth is the (only) way forward. A way to critique this ideology is to expose its underlying assumptions. I believe the findings have much resonance with the widening inequality across many developed nations, as Singapore's policies have parallels with that of the U.K., U.S., and international organizations such as the World Bank.
4. Economically considered, the transliteration of meritocratic discourse into the metaphor of diversity pinpoints how the appeal of development for all necessarily also demands the advance of inequity for the sake of the whole, i.e. advancing the 'growth with inequity' principle.
5. The analysis highlights that value judgments are continually at work in the policy discourse and that despite the strong discourse of meritocracy that the Singapore education system promotes, it is argued that it is in the interests of the Singapore people that 'talents' should get privileged access to knowledge as it is through this that more 'opportunities' for the rest of the population are created. The findings demonstrate that although the underlying assumptions of this 'logic' that has been constructed in policies are unsubstantiated, the logic is continuously legitimated through forms of e/valuations.
This article has been featured in websites such as: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150428105815.htm
http://www.eurasiareview.com/28042015-what-is-value-of-inequality-within-singapores-education-system/
For centuries Vietnamese higher education has had vast experience of changing under the influence of different regimes spanning a colonial society which was transformed into a socialist society and is now a regulated market economy. Since... more
For centuries Vietnamese higher education has had vast experience of changing under the influence of different regimes spanning a colonial society which was transformed into a socialist society and is now a regulated market economy. Since 1986 the Communist Party of Vietnam has introduced the profound socio-economic renovation policy (known as Doi moi), which has brought about major changes in every aspect of Vietnamese society, including higher education.
Since then the country’s higher education has undergone important reforms and significant expansion.
The non-public HEIs came into existence since the 1990s as a result of Doi moi policy, while the majority of public universities were established in the 1950s and 1960s after Vietnam became independent. Using document analysis and information from semi-structured interviews, this chapter aims at giving a brief introduction into governance of Vietnamese higher education system and the current developments.
The current governance model is the results of the three higher education reforms financed by the World Bank between 1998 and 2013. Major structural changes have occurred in three policy areas concerning governance, finance, and quality in Vietnam’s higher education.
The governance reform aims at giving greater autonomy to individual HEIs and introducing measures to create a climate of competition that is supposedly promote improvement. This new form of governance requires institutional capacity and readiness in which most Vietnamese HEIs have deficiencies. The new financing model aims at ‘enhancing transparency, sustainability and effectiveness of HE sector’ in policy language, but in practice ‘sustainability’ of the sector means increase in tuition fees for students. The Bank addresses the tuition fee cap set by the government as limiting the capacity of the system to produce high quality education and research. However, for equity and access, the tuition fee cap is considered necessary. Internal and external quality assurance processes at institutional and programme levels for over 400 HEIs prove to be an extremely costly business. Given the lack of qualified evaluators and accreditors, efforts to quickly increase number of institutional self-evaluation reports and external accreditation may not improve the quality and trust. Teacher professional development and research capacity of HEIs should be given the highest priority and resources.
Since then the country’s higher education has undergone important reforms and significant expansion.
The non-public HEIs came into existence since the 1990s as a result of Doi moi policy, while the majority of public universities were established in the 1950s and 1960s after Vietnam became independent. Using document analysis and information from semi-structured interviews, this chapter aims at giving a brief introduction into governance of Vietnamese higher education system and the current developments.
The current governance model is the results of the three higher education reforms financed by the World Bank between 1998 and 2013. Major structural changes have occurred in three policy areas concerning governance, finance, and quality in Vietnam’s higher education.
The governance reform aims at giving greater autonomy to individual HEIs and introducing measures to create a climate of competition that is supposedly promote improvement. This new form of governance requires institutional capacity and readiness in which most Vietnamese HEIs have deficiencies. The new financing model aims at ‘enhancing transparency, sustainability and effectiveness of HE sector’ in policy language, but in practice ‘sustainability’ of the sector means increase in tuition fees for students. The Bank addresses the tuition fee cap set by the government as limiting the capacity of the system to produce high quality education and research. However, for equity and access, the tuition fee cap is considered necessary. Internal and external quality assurance processes at institutional and programme levels for over 400 HEIs prove to be an extremely costly business. Given the lack of qualified evaluators and accreditors, efforts to quickly increase number of institutional self-evaluation reports and external accreditation may not improve the quality and trust. Teacher professional development and research capacity of HEIs should be given the highest priority and resources.
This edited collection explores the phenomenon of global education policies (GEPs) and is centrally concerned with why policymakers in developing countries ‘buy into’ GEPs, such as school-based management and learner-centred education.... more
This edited collection explores the phenomenon of global education policies (GEPs) and is centrally concerned with why policymakers in developing countries ‘buy into’ GEPs, such as school-based management and learner-centred education. The editors (Chapter 1) argue that ‘it is not always clear whether GEPs work or not, or under what conditions they do so’ (p. 19), and direct attention to the processes through which policymakers come to perceive GEPs to work. While GEPs are adopted by governments around the world, low-income countries are particularly susceptible to the agendas of well-resourced international organisations such as the World Bank, donor agencies and NGOs, which influence educational priorities and strategies at the national level.
In such contexts, Verger, Novelli and Altinyelken emphasise international organisations’ capacity to promote policies through high profile launch events, briefs and reports, in which policies are framed in technical, ostensibly neutral terms within the ‘common sense’ neo-liberal discourse of cost-effectiveness and efficiency gains (p. 20). An example of this is school-based management, which for the last two decades has been advanced by the World Bank as a means to ‘improve educational outcomes and increase client satisfaction’ (Barrera-Osorio et al., 2009 …
In such contexts, Verger, Novelli and Altinyelken emphasise international organisations’ capacity to promote policies through high profile launch events, briefs and reports, in which policies are framed in technical, ostensibly neutral terms within the ‘common sense’ neo-liberal discourse of cost-effectiveness and efficiency gains (p. 20). An example of this is school-based management, which for the last two decades has been advanced by the World Bank as a means to ‘improve educational outcomes and increase client satisfaction’ (Barrera-Osorio et al., 2009 …
This paper examines the relationship between the World Bank and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) between the 1960s and the 1980s. It focuses on the Cooperative Program (CP) between the two... more
This paper examines the relationship between the World Bank and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) between the 1960s and the 1980s. It focuses on the Cooperative Program (CP) between the two organizations, which was established in 1964 and lasted officially until 1989. In the context of the Cooperative Program, the Education Financing Division (EFD) was established, a joint unit located in UNESCO, with the purpose of carrying out technical missions to assist governments in the identification and preparation of educational projects and the formulation of funding requests to the World Bank. Drawing on archival research and interviews with former UNESCO and World Bank officials, the paper traces the history of the Cooperative Program, which was characterized by intense power struggles exacerbated by Cold War tensions. During the 25 years of the duration of the Cooperative Program, the World Bank developed into the most influential policy shaper for education in developing countries, while the influence of UNESCO, created in the post-World War II order as the United Nations' designated organization for education, declined. Using Bourdieu's concept of fields and DiMaggio and Powell's concept of isomorphism as analytical lenses, the World Bank's expansion to a development agency will be explained by its greater autonomy as a field, endowed with more capital based on the rationalization of education and isomorphic processes of professionalization of the "field of power" of educational planning. To the detriment of UNESCO, the World Bank became the powerhouse of a global governance structure that was built with support from the United States government and furthered by the rise of economics.
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