Policy Borrowing

n this article, the authors examine the role of education in the maintenance of social cohesion and the formation of new identities amid the economic decline and political volatility of six new nations: Azerbaijan, in the southern Caucasus, and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in Central Asia. The authors first describe the historical legacies in education in the period before independence in 1991. Then they analyze the systemic crises in education since 1991, as well as the newly independent nations' often half-hearted attempts to embrace Islam and to find some place for religious and ethical thought and values in what had been aggressively secular educational systems. The authors pay particular attention to the ways in which the educational systems have deteriorated since 1991, examining economic deterioration, the degradation of educational infrastructure, and the decline in enrollment and retention, while considering the effects of these crises on social cohesion and political legitimacy. The authors conclude with some thoughts about the potential struggles that lie ahead as the peoples of Azerbaijan and Central Asia seek to reform their educational systems and thereby stabilize and revitalize the processes of social cohesion in their societies.

Background
International achievement studies such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have an increasing influence on education policy worldwide.  The use of such data can provide a basis for evidence-based policy making to initiate educational reform.  Finland, a high performer in PISA, is often cited as an example of both efficient and equitable education.  Finland’s teachers and teacher education have not only garnered much attention for their role in the country’s PISA successes, but have also influenced education policy change in England. 
Main argument
This article argues that the Finnish model of teacher education has been borrowed uncritically by UK policy makers.  Finnish and English philosophies of teacher preparation differ greatly, and the borrowing of the Finnish teacher education model does not fit within the teacher training viewpoint of England.  The borrowed policies, thus, were decontextualized from the wider values and underpinnings of Finnish education. This piecemeal, “pick ‘n’ mix” (Morris 2012) approach to education policy reform ignores the fact that educational policies and “practices exist in ecological relationships with one another and in whole ecosystems of interrelated practices” (Kemmis and Heikkinen 2012, 157).  Thus, these borrowed teacher preparation policies will not necessarily lead to the outcomes outlined by policy makers in the reforms.
Sources of evidence
Two teacher preparation reforms in England, the University Training Schools (outlined in the UK government’s 2010 Schools White Paper, The Importance of Teaching) and the Master’s in Teaching and Learning (MTL), are used to illustrate the problematic nature of uncritical policy borrowing.  This article juxtaposes these policies with the Finnish model of teacher education, which is a research-based programme where all candidates are required to complete a Master’s degree. The contradictions exposed from this analysis further highlight the divergent practices of teacher preparation in England and Finland, or the disparate “ecosystems.” Evidence of educational policy borrowing in other settings is also considered.
Conclusions
Both the MTL and the White Paper reforms overlook the “ecosystem” surrounding Finnish teacher education.  The school-based MTL contrasts with the research-based Finnish teachers’ MA.  Similarly, the University Training Schools scheme, based on Finnish university-affiliated, teaching practice schools, contrasts heavily with the rest of the White Paper reforms, which contradict the philosophies and ethos behind Finnish teacher education by proposing the move of English teacher preparation away from the universities.  The analysis highlights the uncritical eye through which politicians may view international survey results, looking for “quick fix” (Noah 1984, 550; Phillips and Ochs 2004, 780) options instead of utilising academic evidence for investigation on education and education reform.

In the last 20 years the Ethiopian education system has rapidly expanded, leading to a 500% increase in primary school enrolment. The Ministry of Education (MoE) has sought to address a perceived decline in educational quality through nationally-mandated programmes for school improvement and teachers’ professional development . Such programmes – imported on the advice of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Department for International Development (DfID) and other development partners – are implemented “mechanistically”, without adaptation for societal or organisational cultural contexts. This article reviews empirical research from the last decade, including “grey” literature, in the school improvement (SI) and school effectiveness research (SER) traditions to draw implications for primary school principals in Ethiopia.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Central Asian education reform discourses have become increasingly similar to distinctive Western policy discourses traveling globally across national boundaries. Tracing the trajectory of ‘traveling policies’ in Central Asia, this article discusses the way Western education discourses have been hybridized in the encounter with collectivist and centralist cultures within post-socialist environments in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. In the context of international aid relationships, the article considers different motivations and driving forces for reforms, the way pre-Soviet and Soviet traditions are affirmed within the reforms, as well as how these reforms speak back to Western reform agenda. Emphasizing the historical legacy of Soviet centralist traditions, this article reveals how traveling policies have been ‘hijacked’ by local policy makers and used for their own purposes nationally.

Teach For All is a global network of state-based organizations that translate Teach For America’s market model of school reform into moral projects of nation-building abroad. Referring to this challenge as one of “scaling” the organization, its leaders elaborate a theory of change that hinges on replicability: in order to effect a global education revolution, Teach For All must reproduce inspiring instances of change in classrooms around the world. In service of this goal, the organization marshals an impressive archive of transformational stories. Each supports its “shared problems, shared solutions” philosophy and attains status as evidence, suggesting that Teach For All’s brand of transformative teaching can eradicate educational inequity despite the contingencies of place. Teach For All’s use of stories to “sell” this brand of reform is itself nothing new. But what is so peculiar about Teach For All’s project is that tales of individual conversion – of situated transformation – come to serve as sites for scalability. By exploring stories as technologies of scale, tracing the ways in which they travel the globe and operate on different audiences, and interrogating the work they do within Teach For All’s ideological apparatus, this article explores the relationship between storytelling “shared solutions” and scaling global reform, and the generic subject that such a relationship produces.

This article analyses empirical data to assess the possible transfer of Finnish teacher education policy, and more specifically, the university training school, into another context. Transnational organisations increasingly pressure nation-states to carry out education policy change, especially due to dissatisfaction with international assessment outcomes. As a high performer in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), administered by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Finland has been at the centre of international attention. PISA revealed that the high quality of Finnish teachers contributes to the overall calibre of the country's education system. Thus, Finnish teacher education has become a model for other education systems. This article uses empirical research to explore the export possibilities of the Finnish normaalikoulu, or university training school. It implements qualitative methodology, using semi-structured interviews with Finnish educationalists to explore the possible export of Finnish education, the implications in terms of policy transfer, and the migration of ideas, specifically the university-affiliated, teacher training school. The export and migration of Finnish education and its impact on education policy are discussed in this article, along with educational export's position in trans-national policy formation.

Internationalization has become an important strategy for many Japanese universities as they face falling enrollments. While some have successfully attracted students from overseas, others seek different means by which to promote their international appeal, primarily as an attractor of domestic applicants. One way that this is highly visible is in the creation of “international communication lounges” on campuses: mediated spaces for intercultural exchange and language study that have developed out of the imported model of the self-access center. This ethnographic study looks at the establishment of an “International Communication Lounge” (ICL) at a private university on the outskirts of Tokyo, where exchange activities, open-access communication classes, and self-study facilities are provided to students in a casual setting. Phillips and Ochs (2003) ‘Four Stages of Policy Borrowing in Education’ is utilized as a framework to gain insight into the motivations of various stakeholders in the development of the facility. The ICL is shown to have had a positive impact on interest in international exchange programs, and on motivation to study English among the small group of students who make use of the facility. Through this study, a microcosmic view of one university’s efforts to internationalize their campus is provided, and there is an impetus for further discussion on the value and implementation of self-access communication spaces on university campuses.

Education is important for it affords individuals the opportunity to fulfil their potential and contribute to society. However stark differences exist in the educational achievement levels between different social classes and documented research on the cause; the inter-connected problems which face these children and young people. However their social mobility, or the opportunities they will have, will be markedly affected by their social background. This could blight the poor, bright child, compared to the not so bright, richer counterpart.

The solution appears to reside within ‘social policies’ however the Great British Cabinet Office Strategy Unit accepted that by 2000, social mobility had not risen, despite various policies. A current policy example is the Academies Act (2010), which has been selected for analysis and evaluation in this essay. The author chose this policy as it presents a national school improvement option which contrasts against a current structural solution, under implementation for local primary schools.