Education Change Issues - Research Paper Example

Education Change Name Institution Date Education change The change that has been witnessed in the various sectors such as Information Technology, Industrialization, economy, research in medicine and production, has not left the education sector behind. There are so many changes that are happening in the education realm in the entire world particularly concerning higher education. Despite the numerous education systems, the change in education has been consistent in all of them regardless of it happening independently or concurrently. According to Osera et al. (2008), there is uniqueness of the education systems but some of the changes have been common in the entire world albeit at independent times and circumstances. Workers and researchers in the field have used a canvass of potentially competing and intersecting challenges impacting on the academic administrators and academic staff. A variety of the challenges concerns the engagement of different kinds. For instance some observers point out differentiated and changed ways in which students engage with the university. Some consider the effects of change in relation to administration and general staff experiences in the various universities (Santizo, 2009). Providing a quality higher education experience fit for the needs of both the society and the individual student is widely accepted as the concerted goal of educators in university. Nevertheless, reality may observe academic leaders charting a course between a variety, even opposing, paradigms for instance, ‘student as scholar’ looking at fostering enquiry. Scholarship and life-long, and as ‘student as consumer’ where by students look for a relatively efficient, expedient, vocational oriented educational experience. Educational change has been observed in the world over at all levels of the education systems. Some of the changes have been for the good of the individual countries (Watson, 2010). Higher education in the United States of America operates as an enterprise that is autonomous, governed by with minimal interference from the government at throughout all levels. The federal government maintains a role that is limited, deferring to local and state governments. White (2008) argues that as a government having limited powers, the federal government is in possession of only the powers explicitly listed in, or that which can be implied reasonably from that are listed in the Constitution. The approach to education that is decentralized has occasioned tremendous variety in American higher education; this variety has benefitted society and individuals. Nevertheless, the approach that is decentralized can be some how challenging when there is a mandate for change on a national level. The percentage increment of the Americans with high-quality credentials and degrees has become a priority nationally. President Barrack Obama highlighted the need for USA regaining its position as the adult degree attainment (Zhentian, 2009). . Despite decentralized approach to education the central government can be involved in higher education by establishing national spending priorities and providing funds through the powers granted under the federal statutes. The federal government can utilize the commerce clause authority to obtain support for involvement in the sector. By the mid of twentieth century higher education occasioned by changing social and political situations that included huge institutional growth, advances in technology, and the surging number of students in higher education due in part to civil rights movement. The main purpose of the involvement of the federal government in higher education was the establishment of national spending priorities and give funds appropriately through federal statutes. Congressional spending power permits the federal government to put in place restrictions on the utilization of federal funds. There has been a variety of policy justification in support of the utilization of uniform law to the attainment of uniformity nationally over federal legislation. Higher education in America has developed tremendously with little intervention from the federal government. In the maintenance of the prevailing decentralized system, the practical approach to attainment of change is development to be voluntary. Other implementation avenues exist should the voluntary approach prove to be futile (Mayer & Ziegele, 2009). Germany has witnessed fundamental process of reform in its higher education system. The past 15 years have been doted with significant in almost all aspects of the system. The reform of funding and governance system in higher education has been adequately influential. Regardless of significant changes in the framework conditions for higher education in Germany, by 1990s there were only small changes in the model of governance which characterized the system. The European Union emphasized increasingly the need to have highly competitive institutions of higher education, and the data and evaluation provided by the OECD contributed to an emerging agreement that action was needed. The persistent weak performance of top universities in studies compared academic institutions internationally was crucial in this respect. Nationally a number of public interest organizations resulted in the growth of sense of a need for change. The ranking of study programs in German institutions of higher education was another effort towards a competitive position in higher education. Ranking of study programs publication commenced in 1998, and more attempts to rank the output of academic institutions subsequently followed. The perspective that study programs could be compared was debated hotly. Private higher education institutions emergence in Germany added to the increased recognition of competition of benefit. Policy makers, the public and the media watched the work of private providers of the higher education with considerable interest and an upsurge of appreciation especially at the initial stages. With public opinion and political actors by and by shifting towards competition, the ground was prepared for legal reforms, targeting competition and its corollary: increased autonomy in institutions. Whereas education traditionally falls under the states in Germany control, the federal government on the other hand had been accepted as possessing a role of the definition of the overall framework for higher education (Mayer & Ziegele, 2009). In Mexico, institutional changes have been put in place, for instance, the enactment of the General Education Law of 1993 that occasioned the co-responsibility of all education stakeholders one of the main cornerstones opening opportunities to civil society to organize itself. As a result prevailing changes in the management of education in the country emanates from a variety of quarters in the society as well as from the initiative of the public together with independent and private sector. The very recent non-governmental experiences in Mexico could be important to the review what contributions to the NPM and the Governance approach emphasized in this case, as society working closely with the government, could initiate in guiding the transformation of education sector in Mexico. The NPM approach has witnessed a lot of criticism from diverse perspectives, especially in relation to its emphasis on performance-based managerialism (McKiernan, 2008). The criticism is more cogent when it comes to dealing with public education and its objectives of quality, equity and education for all. Moreover, the education system could be based on the principle of co-responsibility between the society and authorities. The decentralization of education in Mexico was attained through an agreement between the teacher’s union and the authorities in 1992 to 1993. Zhentian (2009) notes that this decentralization was limited in such that normative functions remained under central control and responsibilities were only devolved to state level. In a move towards involving the local participation, the 1993 Mexican General Education Law comprised of crucial provisions for the participation of the parents in elementary education affairs by utilization of the school council for social participation. The council promotes a participation that is organized of the civil society not only in the daily management of school but, in principle, in policy of education in the way proposed by that co-responsibility (Zhentian, 2009). The zeal for social participation in education is still in its early stage of development and goes against the established practice in the centralized education system that locked out civil society from what in its perspective is a state affair. Quality School Program initiated in the year 2001 has been a significant but belated measure of putting flesh on social participation. As a requirement of joining this program, every school has to design a ‘school project’ which should supported by all the school stakeholders by means of the school council for social participation. The council comprises of the school director, parents, teachers, community members and students. Resources have only made available for one-third of all secondary and primary schools to join the program Zhentian (2009). More recent innovations in education management in Mexico, there is focus on independent initiatives in the public education framework, provided by the education program of the Ford Foundation. The education program has its primary objective of supporting and encouraging the access of marginalized populations to good quality education. Funds have been directed to projects in indigenous communities’ basic education. Intercultural indigenous education projects have been developed in Mexico only in the recent times. This kind of education provides instruction to the children whose contents take into account the concerns and knowledge of the local culture. It has an emphasis in teaching in mother tongue with Spanish as the second language. The education project know as Wixarika: that was born out of community, has a purpose of aiming to preserve its indigenous language and culture by means of elementary provision. The project has followed goals and mission for provision of intercultural education by overcoming the prevailing policy regulations and constraints. Guidelines and encouragement for collective teachers training was introduced nationally in the year 2005. Collaborative educational networks among non-governmental and government actors are a total new element in a highly centralized system like the Mexican. There is a relationship that is interactive of collaborative networks as organizations and management as a tool (Drew, 2010). In universities in the United Kingdom computer technology has been harnessed for education ever since the commencement of computer for research at ten selected sites in the year 1957. The move saw real costs falling dramatically. Processing power increased tremendously while communication and network infrastructure proliferated. Owing to the fact that institutions of higher education are always resistant to change, technology in universities has not matched the ubiquity of technology in the daily life. Practice in higher education shows wider agendas of institutions demonstrated through structure, organization, climate and culture. The factors may have an impact on the potential for higher education to manage and embrace change in its educational activities, particularly technology-enhanced learning such as e-learning and blended learning (Reddy, 2009). The momentum for computer utilization picked up immediately following their development in the mid 20th century. By the year 1970 saw the United Kingdom take a national initiative with the purpose of tasking computer-aided learning out of the laboratory. Whatever followed specifically looked at developing subject resources, conclusions and institutional approaches for efficiency and effectiveness. Zhentian (2009) says that at the beginning there was wide use of computer in technology, medical and science discipline, survey conducted later indicated that the utilization in humanities and arts had increased. With increase in technology use, the World Wide Web had subsequently been introduced whereas the unit costs of communication infrastructure and hardware had fallen; the effects observed may not as a result of Scholar project intervention. Funding sets for mini projects had been the major mechanism of launching educational change utilized by Scholar, and it was clear that a few years after funding had stopped; only a rump of activity remained in place. In a study conducted in the United Kingdom institutions come up with tactics that looked at beliefs predominant in their institutional culture (Fullan, 2001). An observation was made that as far attaining more widespread utilization of learning technologies was concerned, ‘development of staff does not work’. Computer systems, for instance, that managed or virtual learning environment was viewed as a means of solving problems such as accommodating mixed attendance patterns and reaching off-campus students. In the United Kingdom there are a clear difference teaching-intensive universities and research-intensive universities. According to Fullan (2001), the differences emanate from variation in the endowment of resources, style of management, different level of motivation of innovation in teaching, and the variations in the explicit drive to change teaching. The challenge facing main decision makers is found in the identification of the local circumstance and working with the strengths that are in existence. Educational change may have been exemplified in different forms at different levels of the particular education system but a common characteristic throughout is that there is no education system that has been static. The various forms of education systems have under gone tremendous change over time. The changes have benefited the particular countries positively as they aim to have citizens that are responsible and productive. Some changes have been as a result of innovations while others have been to adapt to emergence of changing needs. References Drew, G. (2010). Issues and Challenges in Higher Education Leadership: Engaging for Change Queensland University of Technology the Australian Educational Researcher, Volume 37, Number 3, December 2010 Osera, F. et al. (2008). The Just Community approach to moral education: system change or Individual change. University of Fribourg, Switzerland; University of Missouri–St. Louis, USA; Fordham University, New York, USA. Journal of Moral Education Vol. 37, No. 3, September 2008, pp. 395–415 Watson, S. (2010). Increasing online interaction in a distance education. MBA: Exploring students’ attitudes towards change. Chifley Business School Australasian. Journal of Educational Technology. 2010, 26(1), 63-84. Fullan, M. (2001). The new meaning of educational change. New York: Teachers College Press. Mayer P. & Ziegele F. (2009). Competition, Autonomy and New Thinking: Transformation of Higher Education in Federal Germany. Higher Education Management and Policy. Volume 21/2 Reddy, C. (2009). Integrated tales of policies, teaching and teacher education: Reflecting on an ongoing process. Department of Curriculum Studies Stellenbosch University South Africa Zhentian L. (2009). Evaluation of the Teaching Standards at Institutions of Higher Education Looks Forward to “Five Changes”. Chinese Education and Society, vol. 42, no. 2, March–April 2009, pp. 30–38. Birtwistle, T. & McKiernan H. H. (2008). The changing landscape of higher education: an analysis of how national change might be brought about in American higher education compared with the Bologna signatory states. Education and the Law Vol. 20, No. 4. White, S. (2008). Critical success factors for e-learning and institutional Change—some organisational perspectives on campus-wide e-learning British. Journal of Educational Technology Vol 38 No 5 2007 840–850 Santizo, C. et al. (2009). School-based management and citizen participation: lessons for public education from local educational projects. Journal of Education Policy. Vol. 24, No. 3, May 2009, 317–333. Read More