Department Of Education And Science Research Articles

From New Public Management to public value: Irish education policy through the lens of Statements of Strategy

ABSTRACT Through the lens of successive Department of Education and Science (DES) Statements of Strategy (1997–2021) the author considers the evolution of Irish education policy making from the perspectives of New Public Management (NPM) and the public value paradigm. In the context of changing international and national environments, the Strategic Management Initiative (SMI), introduced in 1994, was rooted in NPM principles and characterised by performance indicators, measurable outcomes/outputs, and value for money. However, more recent strategy statements have been predicated on vision, a whole-of-system approach, and values that include learning as a public good, and wellbeing. This evolution occurred in an environment where social partnership has been a constant feature. Following consideration of the main contours of ten SSs, and discussion of the relevant antecedents and the move towards public value, some unresolved issues are briefly identified in the concluding remarks.

Kosovo's Challenges in Education After the 1999 Conflict

Classes in Kosovo are held in private and public educational institutions. Education in Kosovo went through very hard phases and challenges especially in the years 1990/1999 since differences and the need for change made us not entirely prepared. After the establishment of Kosovo Institutions, the Department of Education and Science (DES) was established within the Ministry of Education. The primary aim was to establish the legal and professional basis as a frontline of the reform of our education system, especially the acceptance of the Bologna processes that facilitate the radical reform of general and vocational education. This paper will address the aspects of reforming and progression of vocational secondary education, vocational schools, and correspondence to the needs of the EU market and the possibility of implementing in post-secondary and university higher education.

Education and Vocational Training in Kosovo, A Challenge and Objective of the 21st Century

Classes in Kosovo are held in private and public educational institutions. Education in Kosovo went through very hard phases and challenges especially in the years 1990/1999 since differences and the need for change made us not entirely prepared. After the establishment of Kosovo Institutions, the Department of Education and Science (DES) was established within the Ministry of Education. The primary aim was to establish the legal and professional basis as a frontline of the reform of our education system, especially the acceptance of the Bologna processes that facilitate the radical reform of general and vocational education. This paper will address the aspects of reforming and progression of vocational secondary education, vocational schools, and correspondence to the needs of the EU market and the possibility of implementing in post-secondary and university higher education.

ОПЫТ МОСКВЫ. Как заменить борьбу за ресурсы соревнованием за образовательные результаты

ОПЫТ МОСКВЫ. Как заменить борьбу за ресурсы соревнованием за образовательные результаты

Enhancing Literacy Concepts: Digital Natives and Cultural Tools

The paper reviews national and international literature on the effects of information and communications technology (ICT) in enhancing the conceptual development of children, and the impact of ICT in classrooms looking in particular at developing literacy skills in 0-3 years old children. Consideration is given to the effectiveness of computers and media equipment when integrated successfully, to enhance the holistic development of the child, while focusing on the area of literacy. This paper addresses the debate over the value and desirability of children in early years using computers; while considering the diversities involved with the use of ICT as opposed to traditional teaching methods in the area of developing concepts of early literacy, communication skills, and involvement. The paper links to a recent masters study which was completed in the area of pre-mathematical concepts, indicating significantly positive correlations for the implementation and use of ICT as a cultural tool to enhance the development of Irelands “digital natives” in preparation for a technologically changing society. The incentive for looking into this subject stems from the realisation that in spite of all the literature available on ICT and media in education, there is no real systematic discussion in the area of early years and pedagogy. This subject refers to what is suggested to be the most influential change in the educational system over the past decade, indicating a changing process which could not only determine the shape of educational systems, but also the nature of future generations and in fact education itself. This lack of discourse is proving detrimental to technologically changing societies and the complete understanding of what exactly is incorporated and involved in the term “integrating ICT and media” as a resource to enhance the early concepts of literacy. Research will be drawn from areas of literature, with supporting recommendations from Department of Education and Science (DES) (2011a; 2011b) and Punie, Zinnbauer, and Cabrera’s (2008) A Review of the Impact of ICT on Learning, providing current policy evidence to support the implementation of ICT in the Irish education system. It is important to note that there is a lack of information and good quality research findings on ICT in educational settings and particularly in the area of early years and literacy development. Furthermore, reports, articles, and Websites claim great benefits derived for children using ICT; however, evidence-based research for such writing is weak and unsupported at times, resulting in a lack of understanding of the benefits and the need for early intervention in this area, if children are to progress and develop into socially competent adults in a world where ICT, media, and technology are becoming part of their daily existence. It is intended that this contribution will help overcome the current phobias which are often associated with ICT and young children, while introducing new ideas of how beneficial this resource could be if implemented in a supporting manner.

‘Well, Harold Insists on Having It!’—The Political Struggle to Establish The Open University, 1965–67

The establishment of The Open University has been widely lauded as Harold Wilson's most successful policy achievement and his enduring legacy, a view with which Wilson himself concurred, although the policy itself was mostly drafted and developed by Jennie Lee, as Minister for the Arts, albeit based in the Department of Education and Science (DES). Wilson depicted The Open University as a major symbol of the Labour Party's commitment to modernisation in the 1960s, and envisaged that it would simultaneously contribute towards a more competitive economy while also fostering greater equality of opportunity and social mobility. The planned utilisation of television and radio to broadcast its courses was also supposed to link The Open University to the technological revolution about which Wilson waxed lyrical. Yet, from the outset, Lee encountered widespread scepticism and sometimes outright opposition towards the proposed Open University from several sources: senior officials in the DES; her departmental ‘boss’, Anthony Crosland; the Treasury; Ministerial colleagues, such as Richard Crossman; and television companies, particularly the independent or commercial broadcasters. Ultimately, although first publicly mooted in 1963, The Open University only became established due to Lee's dogged determination and tenacity during the period 1965–67, the steadfast support offered throughout by Prime Minister Harold Wilson, and the fact that the anticipated costs, as reported to Lee and Wilson by Arnold Goodman, were erroneous—far too low; yet by the time the real costs became apparent, it was too late to scrap the fledgling open university.

Education for reality

Apart from the university sector, education in the United Kingdom is devolved to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This paper relates to England, where the Department of Education and Science (DES) makes national policy and controls overall spending and local education authorities own and manage the schools and colleges. The paper outlines the way in which the DES and its partners are seeking to prepare young people for a world increasingly dependant upon technology, and in particular information technology. Topics dealt with are: educational links with industry, school curriculum and examinations, information technology.

Underneath the Band-Aid: supporting bilingual students in Irish schools

In a context of steadily increasing global migration, ethnic and linguistic diversity in Irish schools is becoming both more prevalent and more visible. In Ireland, schools have been availing of Department of Education and Science (DES) funding since 1999 in order to provide English-language support for bilingual students. The support provided in post-primary schools is examined here with reference to research carried out in a number of schools in a large urban centre. The picture that emerges is one in which teachers are struggling to meet the needs of their bilingual students in a context of limited training and resources. Language support practices vary widely and do not reflect international best practice. Practice in these schools is interpreted in light of discourses which construct Irishness in narrow terms. The State's ‘ad hoc’ approach to provision for bilingual students reflects discourses which position those who are not native English speakers as ‘other’ with consequent implications for their integration into Irish society.

Learning Our Way Forward in eLearning: The Story of Something Fishy

This paper describes how a number of unlikely publishing partners unexpectedly found themselves exploring eLearning as a medium for teacher and pupil learning. Blackrock Education Centre supports teachers through professional development programmes and the publication of educational resources under the auspices of the Department of Education and Science (DES) in the Republic of Ireland. This paper describes how the intention to create a standard primary school classroom resource by the Education Centre has been unexpectedly transformed in ways which have enabled us to explore eLearning in partnership with a local Institute of Technology, IADT. In doing so, we have ourselves become learners in unexpected ways with our teachers and students. The paper describes how intentions emerge in conversation in processes of local interaction and that the strategic direction of an organisation (in our case, our unexpected involvement in eLearning) is best understood in retrospect. It is about how our identity is transformed in our learning and how strategy can be viewed as an emergent property of relationships. The learning resource is entitled Something Fishy, a humorous play on an English expression meaning something a little suspicious, even subversive. Somethnig Fishy can be viewed at www.somethingfishy.ie

Analysing the historical evolution of ethnic education policy-making in England, 1965-2005

This research reviews the historical evolution of English ethnic education policy-making. The social provi sion of education when examining the implications on eth nic majorities and minorities raises many important issues and pose the following questions: Does the education sys tem exclude sections of the population i.e. ethnic minori ties? Can cultural diversity be taught and promoted? The research explores the implications these questions raise for Afro-Caribbean, Asian and Muslim communities. Assimila tionist, integrationist and multicultural education policies are analysed. By examining education and social policy documents and reports, the objective of this research is to make the reader think about how education policy shapes society and what consequences this can have on teaching ethnic educational issues concerning cultural diversity and institutionalised racism. Assimilationist and Integrationist Education Policy In 1965, a policy document was published by the Department of Education and Science (DES) entitled The Education of Immigrants that was published again as a Circular in 1971.3 The aim of the policy document seems to underline the significance of absorbing and assimulating Commonwealth children into the education system. It is interesting to note that 'educational difficulties' are highlighted as a problem generated by immigrant children rather than problems residing within the education system itself. The DES document goes further and actually implies that ethnic families are to blame for failures within the classroom.4 It is West Indian and Asian stereotypes that are being reinforced and highlighted here rather than the inability of the education system to cope 3 See: Department of Education and Science (DES) (1965) The Education of Immigrants (Circular 7/65) London, HMSO; DES (1971) The Education of Immigrants, London, HMSO. The 1971 DES document begins: 'Some schools before 1960 had a cosmopolitan range of nationalities among their pupils but had found relatively little difficulty in absorbing and educating children of the earlier post-war European immigrants. In the 1960's however, the concentration and rapid build-up in the numbers of children arriving from Commonwealth countries and entering the schools at different ages and at all times throughout the school year began to create serious educational difficulties (DES; 1971:1). 4 'For the West Indian child... The environment is one in which marriage is not always considered important in providing a secure basis for raising children ... to join his mother from whom he may be separated for several years ... the unknown father with whom his mother may be living, and perhaps, is very young, sent out to child-minders while his parents go out to work ... Asian mothers' tendency to live a withdrawn life and not to make outside contacts does not help ... Many [Asian parents] are shy at the thought of mixing with White parents with whom they have little or no contact out of school (DES, 1971:4-6).

Education in a Recovering Nation: Renewing Special Education in Kosovo

“The inexhaustible problem of the Balkans” (Tuchman, 1962, p. ix). Kosovo, technically still a province of Serbia, was devastated by the wars of the 1990s, culminating in 1999 in the flight of refugees to neighboring countries, whether voluntarily or through deliberate “ethnic cleansing”; the NATO bombing raids; the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops; and the transfer of civil administration to the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). UNMIK's Department of Education and Science (DES) set about reorganizing the education system without regard to ethnicity. This article presents a case study of the state of education of students who are deaf and blind during the war and in the early days of the DES administration in the hope of a more peaceful future for the children of Kosovo.

Research into Demand for Counselling/Therapeutic Provision in a Group of Secondary Schools

BALL, S. J. and BOWE, R. (1992). 'Subject departments and the implementation of National Curriculum policy: an overview of issues', Journal of Curriculum Studies, 24, 97-115. CALDERHEAD, J. (1981). 'Stimulated recall: a method for research on teaching, British Journal of Educational Psychology, 51,211-17. CALDERHEAD, J. (1987). 'Developing a framework for the elicitation and analysis of teachers' verbal reports', Oxford Review of Education, 13,183-9. CROLL, P. and MOSES, D. (1990). 'Perspectives on the National Curriculum in primary and secondary schools', Educational Studies, 16,187-98. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE (DES) (1989). National Curriculum: From Policy to Practice. London: DES. HER MAJESTY'S INSPECTORATE (HMI) (1988). The Introduction of the General Certificate of Secondary Education in Schools, 1986-1988. London: DES. HMI (1992). Education in England, 1990-91. London: DES. KYRIACOU, C. (1992a). 'Effective teaching and the National Curriculum: a review of non-statutory guidance', All-in Success, 4, 2, 34-5. KYRIACOU, C. (1992b). 'Active learning in secondary school mathematics', British Educational Research Journal, 18, 309-18. MARTIN, R. L. (1991). 'Neglected potential in the secondary school: implications for the National Curriculum', Educational Studies, 17,127-34. NATIONAL CURRICULUM COUNCIL (1991). Report on Monitoring the Implementation of the National Curriculum Core Subjects: 1989-90. York: National Curriculum Council. RUDDUCK, J. (1991). 'It's not labour and it's not play: teaching and learning in secondary schools', Curriculum Journal, 2,125-35. TRAINING COMMISSION (1987). New Approaches to Teaching and Learning. Trist Regional Network, Paper of National Interest 6. London: Training Commission. VULLIAMY, G. and WEBB, R. (1993). 'Progressive education and the National Curriculum: findings from a global education research project', Educational Review, 45, 21-41.

Scottish Higher Education Regained: Accident Or Design?

Until last year Scottish higher education was a fractured system. Its universities, which had played such a celebrated role in the assertion and definition of Scotland's national identity from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, were subordinated to an English-dominated quango, first the University Grants Committee (UGC) in London and more recently the Universities Funding Council (UFC) in Bristol, both of which in turn were responsible to the (English) Department of Education and Science (DES). The rest of Scottish higher education, the central institutions (CIs), were directly accountable to the Scottish Office Education Department (SOED), without the benefit of the dubious protection of a buffer agency like the UGC/UFC. Last year, following the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, the pattern of British higher education was restructured. The binary system - the separation between universities and polytechnics or colleges - was abandoned in England and less decisively so in Scotland. All the English polytechnics and two former colleges of higher education, Derby and Luton, became universities. In Scotland four CIs (Napier, Robert Gordon, Paisley and Glasgow Caledonian) also became universities. Equally significant was the decision to establish separate funding councils for England, Scotland and Wales. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) inherited responsibility for the 35 English universities and all the institutions previously accountable to the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council (PCFC). The HEFCE sector now comprises 68 universities and 49 colleges. In addition the council funds higher education courses in 77 further

Are British Universities in a Position to Consider Implementing Total Quality Management?

Abstract Accompanying the removal of the binary divide between polytechnics and universities, the Department of Education and Science (DES) also specified the requirement that the British higher education sector should give more emphasis to the effective management of quality. Some writers have suggested that this can be achieved by institutions introducing the concept of Total Quality Management (TQM). A vital aspect of TQM is the integration of multiple functions across the organization with the objective of establishing a quality conscious workforce. A recommended practice is to use the concept of internal marketing as a mechanism to persuade departments to work together in the creation of internal customer chains. To determine the current status of internal customer management practices in British Universities, a survey of academics was undertaken using a modified version of the Parasuraman SERVQUAL model. The majority of respondents indicated the existence of Type 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Gaps in the internal customer management process within their institution. Major influencers of these service gaps include minimal effort to gain further understanding of internal customer requirements and a lack of formal quality standards for managing internal customer relations. Respondents consider their faculties are unable to enhance internal quality if the issue was given higher priority by senior management. Identified obstacles to greater emphasis on an internal customer philosophy include insufficient trust between departments and low confidence levels of ability to manage the process. Under these circumstances, it does not appear that for the foreseeable future, British universities are in a position to adopt TQM philosophy. Hence it seems more advisable that these institutions should restrict their quality management activities to the simpler assessment‐based approach recommended by the Committee of Vice‐Chancellors and Principals (CVCP) Academic Audit Unit.

The introduction of university staff appraisal

Universities have had to respond to the Government's requirement for greater accountability and efficiency in the use of public resources. This has resulted in a movement to more commercial, or executive styles of management, and with this the introduction of systematic staff appraisal. Funded by the Department of Education and Science (DES), the authors are conducting an evaluation of university staff appraisal schemes as they begin to operate.

Pictures in Books for Children at Key Stage 1: an analysis

Summary The Department of Education and Science (DES) provided a graded list of books for pupils at Key Stage 1. These books tend to include pictures. Pictures have the potential to offer information which might be difficult to provide briefly or meaningfully in simple language. The pictures of the books on the DES booklist were analysed in order to gauge some aspects of their potential. It was found that, while most might serve as a second line of communication to facilitate the construction of meaning, they also fell into two distinct groups, one of ‘picture’ books and one of ‘word’ books. Writers and illustrators and those who select and grade books for young children might consider the attributes of word and picture together so that there is a smoother progression from one group to the other.

Labouring at School: Work-Experience in the Technical and Vocational Education Initiative

The Technical and Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI) is a four year programme of study for 14-18 year olds which aims to provide vocational and general education broadly related to employment trends. It was announced by the Prime Minister in 1982 and in 1986 the government signalled its intention to extend TVEI to all local education authorities (LEAs) in England and Wales. Although it is not yet clear how much of TVEI will be retained within or alongside the National Curriculum, elements of the Initiative will undoubtedly affect the future education of school students. The central curricular feature of TVEI has been work-experience and in 1988 the Department of Education and Science (DES) announced that this activity was to be extended to all secondary students in England and Wales. This paper analyses the recent development of work-experience, locates it within broader shifts which have taken place in the school-society relationship and uses data from eight LEAs to examine its organization and effects on participating students.

DYNIX to LIBERTAS:

In July, 1989, permission was given by the Department of Education and Science (DES) for the merger on 1 April, 1990, of Harrow College of Higher Education (HCHE) with the Polytechnic of Central London (PCL).

From a ‘Sketchy Policy’ to a ‘Workable Scheme’: the DES and grant‐maintained schools

ABSTRACT This paper examines how initial proposals for grant‐maintained (GM) schools were developed by the Department of Education and Science (DES) as it took them forward into legislation. Drawing on interviews conducted with officials involved in creating a statutory framework for GM schools, the paper addresses wider issues of policy generation including the extent to which civil servants influence the content of education policy. In the case of GM schools policy, this study suggests that the DES developed the original policy proposals in ways unforeseen by its early advocates. It concludes by reviewing the significance of recent changes to the policy and argues that these have to be interpreted in light of the government's ideological commitment to bring ‘market principles’ to the education service.

Primary‐Secondary Transfer after the National Curriculum

Abstract Much recent comment by the Department of Education and Science (DES) and National Curriculum Council (NCC) has suggested that continuity difficulties will largely disappear as a result of the introduction of the National Curriculum. The National Curriculum, however, does not address the main issue — lack of communication between teachers. Any effect it has is likely to be caused by changes in ways in which primary schools are organised to deliver the curriculum — changes which will bring them closer in ethos to the secondary sector.