Feature
BOOK REVIEW: Education
in Times of Transition
Edited
by David Coulby, Robert Cowen and Crispin Jones
by Robert
Sedgwick
Editor,
eWENR
The
2000 World Yearbook of Education, entitled Education in Times
of Transition examines how recent international geopolitical shifts
and socioeconomic trends have affected educational systems around the
globe.
Since World
War II educational development in most countries has been in a continual
state of flux, although most of the transformations have been brought
about through the implementation of piecemeal reforms.
The changes
that occurred during the last decade, however, have been nothing short
of radical. New curricula, degree structures and credit systems, for example,
are revolutionizing educational sectors on all continents.
Changing
attitudes about the objectives of education are giving rise to new paradigms
of knowledge, which are more job-oriented in their approach, and new delivery
systems have emerged in the form of online and satellite-based learning
programs.
At the same
time, the diminishing role of state institutions is giving universities
increased financial and administrative autonomy. These trends along with
the expanding demand for college graduates, especially in the high-tech
fields, are making it increasingly apparent that the old state-sponsored
system of higher education established in the 19th century is on the decline.
This sudden
metamorphosis in education did not occur in a vacuum, however; rather,
the changes reflect recent periods of social and geopolitical transition
(what Crispin Jones terms "transitologies").
Since the
collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, we have seen the resurgence
of nationalism and the adoption of pluralistic political systems in many
of the former Soviet republics and Eastern Bloc countries.
As these
newly independent countries scramble to become part of the global economy,
there has also been a shift away from the isolationism of the Cold War
era.
Robert Cowen,
one of the book's editors, defines educational transitions as "the
more or less simultaneous collapse or destruction and then reconstruction
of state apparatuses, political visions of the future, economic and social
stratification systems and the deliberate incorporation of the education
system, as an active agency and as a message system, into this social
transition."
The contributing
authors were asked to pinpoint the date of transition, or turning point,
in the country they were writing about, and to assess the impact of those
changes on the education system. Many of the contributors went on to discuss
how education in its newer forms is redefining history and affecting minorities
in those countries.
For Hungary
and Poland, both formerly under Soviet occupation, the turning point was
1989 to 1990. The liberation of Eastern Europe following the collapse
of U.S.S.R. engendered sweeping economic and political reforms: the reintroduction
of capitalism, the legalization of private property and the adoption of
democratic systems of government were among the most important changes
that took place during those years.
Not surprisingly,
political pluralism, which filled the communist vacuum, has given rise
to multiple visions of education. Indeed, education has become an important
battleground for political parties seeking power, and educational reform
initiatives have often been conflict-laden in many Eastern European countries.
In the early
1990s, Slovenia, Ukraine (which includes the Crimea) and other former
Soviet republics broke away from the foundering Soviet Union and proceeded
down the turbulent path of nation-state building. Slovenia experienced
violent political upheaval from 1991 to 1992 as it established its sovereignty
for the first time. The bumpy transition from totalitarian rule to a pluralistic
society has, among other things, brought about significant changes in
attitudes toward education.
The Ukraine
also became a new state following the fall of the Soviet Union. As a result,
repressed nationalistic disputes flared up throughout much the country
but were particularly severe in the Crimea where Russians, Ukrainians
and Tatars attempted to assert cultural hegemony over the peninsula.
This conflict
has inevitably spilled over into the educational sector as the three groups
argue over which language should be used as the medium of instruction,
which geography is accurate or what history should be taught.
Russia underwent
significant changes even before the Soviet Union came unraveled. In the
late 1980s the old order yielded to glasnost and perestroika,
which introduced openness and challenged the rigidity of the communist
system. As in other newly independent states, plurality in the political
system resulted in multiple educational visions where before there existed
only one view.
In the Baltic
states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, a similar process took place
following the collapse of the old order in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Under Soviet rule, education was an important vehicle in the "Russification"
process, which began during the Stalin era and solidified the Soviet Union's
control over those countries.
After the
Baltic states asserted their independence, textbooks were rewritten, the
old Marxist-Leninist ideology was purged from curricula, and English replaced
Russian as the second language.
On the downside,
the Baltic States also witnessed a resurgence of nationalism, the rise
of xenophobia and the disenfranchisement of minorities. The redefined
educational systems in these countries have given impetus to these trends
and are not merely passive by-products of the wider changes taking place.
In Latin
America (Mexico, Bolivia and Brazil), the most noticeable trends have
been the end of economic isolationism, the restructuring of the region's
economies and the desire to participate in the global economic order.
In short, international markets seem to be replacing the functions of
the state in many countries throughout the region.
Before Mexico
signed the NAFTA treaty in the early 1990s, the predominant ideologies
were nationalism and economic self-determination. The economic crisis
that started in 1982, however, compelled the government to move toward
economic integration with Canada and the United States.
Mexico's
educational system was largely built on the notion of autonomous national
development. Today Mexican higher education is largely geared toward training
middle-level management and emphasizes increased integration into the
new international labor market.
In Bolivia
the implementation of educational reforms has reflected a wider change
process. The broader reforms are aimed at altering the traditional political
and economic system to allow the country to participate in a global economic
order. The most prominent changes include withdrawal of the state from
the educational sector and a shift toward participatory, bilingual and
intercultural education aimed at benefiting the indigenous population
as well as people of European ancestry.
Similar attitudes
and trends are taking shape in Brazil. The current consensus is that socioeconomic
development can only be achieved through the provision of universal basic
education. Educational reforms in the mid-1980s and after 1991, in particular,
led to decentralization and increased school autonomy.
In Greece
and Iran, the links between education and political change are more evident
than the links to socioeconomic change. When the social democrats came
to power in Greece in the early 1980s, the one-party bureaucracy sought
to assert control over all state institutions, including education.
The objective
was to wean the education system away from the political right through
the implementation of democratization, decentralization and social participation.
More recently,
Greece has taken measures to modernize schools and universities in response
to the forces of globalization; education is in a transitional phase between
past and present.
In Iran,
the 1979 revolution led to the Islamization of the education system largely
through the revision of textbooks, which were considered to have a socializing
effect on the populace.
Education
was key for disseminating the values of the new regime and for maintaining
its legitimacy. Old values that smacked of American or European influences
were eradicated; teachers and professors considered too Western in their
thinking were purged from faculties.
Neoliberalism
in the United States, Canada and New Zealand during the 1990s actively
promoted the corporate-dominated global economy. This shift ultimately
changed the dynamic between state, civil society and economy within each
of those countries.
Other transitional
trends include changes in the labor market, increased immigration, and
the burgeoning demand for post-secondary education. In all three of these
countries, educational reforms stress the link between school and work
(education for economic prosperity as opposed to enlightenment) and are
aimed at preparing students for a changing world.
The chapter
on the United Kingdom focuses on the historical development of separate
educational systems in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
After more than a decade of conservative rule under Margaret Thatcher,
who was unabashedly Anglo-centric in her outlook, the 1990s ushered in
a period of educational pluralism.
South Africa
experienced a dramatic period of transition between 1990 and 1994 that
effectively dismantled the apartheid system. Ironically, it was the expansion
of education for black youth that provided fuel for the antiapartheid
movement. Throughout the 1980s schools and colleges became sites of political
struggle and in the end, as the author makes clear, the apartheid education
system was its own destroyer.
Education
in Times of Transition is a useful and insightful book on many levels.
The essays are concise, informative and will benefit anyone wanting to
know the current state of education in any of the countries dealt with.
Obviously,
due to space considerations, the editors had to be somewhat selective
in their choices. Eastern and Central Europe are well represented, as
are the countries of North and South America.
Asia, however,
does not fair as well. The absence of China and India (the world's two
largest countries) leaves the book with an enormous hole. This is unfortunate
considering that the educational systems of both those countries are undergoing
significant changes at the moment.
Likewise,
the Middle East is poorly represented with only Iran deserving mention.
Neither Israel nor the Arab countries are covered at all.
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