‘Soviet’ in teachers’ memories and professional beliefs in Kazakhstan: points for reflection for reformers, international consultants and practitioners

This paper is a part of a three-year study, ‘Internationalisation and reform of secondary schooling in Kazakhstan’, jointly conducted by an international team of UK- and Kazakhstan-based researchers in 2012–2014. The study was conceived as a mechanism to support education reform in the country. This was achieved through reconstructing the education policy narrative of the last two decades and understanding the effects of the newly established Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools and the Centres of Excellence in-service professional development programme on the larger system. While the focus of the study was on Kazakhstan’s educational present, the references to the previous system of education, which was often referred to as Soviet, traditional, but also successful, fundamental and the best in the world, were numerous. These continuous references to the past prompted the authors of this paper to address the questions: What memories and practices of Soviet education are still dominant in the field of education in Kazakhstan? How do these beliefs continue to shape educational debate in the country? In support of its argument, the paper draws on the literature on Soviet schooling and contemporary education reform, interview data with national and international teachers in Kazakhstan, and field observations. The resultant narrative, which brings together the analysis of educational change and changes in teachers’ beliefs, may appeal to many involved in the construction of the contemporary reform agenda

Governamentalidade como Ferramenta Conceitual na Pesquisa de Políticas Educacionais

Este artigo trata da governamentalidade, como ferramenta conceitual, na pesquisa em Ciências Humanas; particularmente, em estudos sobre políticas educacionais. Examinam-se as principais definições de governamentalidade apresentada por Foucault (1991). Argumento que a governamentalidade não constitui um enquadramento teórico fechado, mas é operacionalizada como ferramenta analítica genérica. A percepção “desigual” de governamentalidade nos estudos educacionais é discutida na segunda parte do ensaio. Há uma clara lacuna no estudo das políticas educacionais em contextos não-liberais na perspectiva da governamentalidade. Usando a pesquisa de Tikly (2003), aplico o conceito de “governamentalidade emergente” para uma compreensão da elaboração de políticas, como tecnologias de governo na Ucrânia pós-comunista. As possibilidades e limitações desta tentativa teórica são discutidas na parte final do ensaio

Testimonies of Syrian Academics Displaced Post 2011: Time, place and the agentic self

This article explores the experiences of protracted displacement in a group of 19 displaced Syrian academics now living in Turkey who are often referred to as the precariat that is, a group or collective of people who are living in conditions of high unpredictability, insecurity and uncertainty. As part of a small-scale collaborative professional enquiry , semi-structured interviews with these academics were conducted to understand the social, affective and professional experiences, needs and concerns of the academics during and after their forced displacement. The key concepts of precarity and crises of selfhood, alongside memory and testimony, inform the analysis. This article seeks to provide an account of this collective experience and its complex character and concludes with observations on how one might understand the constraints on professional agency and how might one support displaced academics in such contexts. Solidarity in exile and the development of political friendships are argued for as a principle to inform all work.CARA and Soros Foundatio

Governamentalidade como Ferramenta Conceitual na Pesquisa de Políticas Educacionais

Este artigo trata da governamentalidade, como ferramenta conceitual, na pesquisa em Ciências Humanas; particularmente, em estudos sobre políticas educacionais. Examinam-se as principais definições de governamentalidade apresentada por Foucault (1991). Argumento que a governamentalidade não constitui um enquadramento teórico fechado, mas é operacionalizada como ferramenta analítica genérica. A percepção “desigual” de governamentalidade nos estudos educacionais é discutida na segunda parte do ensaio. Há uma clara lacuna no estudo das políticas educacionais em contextos não-liberais na perspectiva da governamentalidade. Usando a pesquisa de Tikly (2003), aplico o conceito de “governamentalidade emergente” para uma compreensão da elaboração de políticas, como tecnologias de governo na Ucrânia pós-comunista. As possibilidades e limitações desta tentativa teórica são discutidas na parte final do ensaio

Governmentality as a Conceptual Tool in Education Policy Research

Este artigo trata da governamentalidade, como ferramenta conceitual, na pesquisa em Ciências Humanas; particularmente, em estudos sobre políticas educacionais. Examinam-se as principais definições de governamentalidade apresentada por Foucault (1991). Argumento que a governamentalidade não constitui um enquadramento teórico fechado, mas é operacionalizada como ferramenta analítica genérica. A percepção desigual de governamentalidade nos estudos educacionais é discutida na segunda parte do ensaio. Há uma clara lacuna no estudo das políticas educacionais em contextos não-liberais na perspectiva da governamentalidade. Usando a pesquisa de Tikly (2003), aplico o conceito de "governamentalidade emergente" para uma compreensão da elaboração de políticas, como tecnologias de governo na Ucrânia pós-comunista. As possibilidades e as limitações desta tentativa teórica são discutidas na parte final do ensaio.This paper analyses governmentality as a conceptual tool in social science research; in particular, in education policy studies. I examine the main definitions of governmentality put by Foucault (1991). I argue that governmentality does not constitute a closed theoretical framework, but rather is operationalised as a generic analytical tool. The uneven perception of governmentality in education studies is discussed in the second part of the paper. There is a clear gap in the studies of education policy in illiberal contexts through the perspective of governmentality. Taking Tikly’s (2003) research as a point of reference for my study in progress, I attempt to apply the concept of "emerging governmentality" to an understanding of policy-making, as technologies of government, in post-communist Ukraine. The possibilities and limitations of this theoretical endeavour are discussed in the final part of the paper

Governmentality as a Conceptual Tool in Education Policy Research

Este artigo trata da governamentalidade, como ferramenta conceitual, na pesquisa em Ciências Humanas; particularmente, em estudos sobre políticas educacionais. Examinam-se as principais definições de governamentalidade apresentada por Foucault (1991). Argumento que a governamentalidade não constitui um enquadramento teórico fechado, mas é operacionalizada como ferramenta analítica genérica. A percepção desigual de governamentalidade nos estudos educacionais é discutida na segunda parte do ensaio. Há uma clara lacuna no estudo das políticas educacionais em contextos não-liberais na perspectiva da governamentalidade. Usando a pesquisa de Tikly (2003), aplico o conceito de "governamentalidade emergente" para uma compreensão da elaboração de políticas, como tecnologias de governo na Ucrânia pós-comunista. As possibilidades e as limitações desta tentativa teórica são discutidas na parte final do ensaio.This paper analyses governmentality as a conceptual tool in social science research; in particular, in education policy studies. I examine the main definitions of governmentality put by Foucault (1991). I argue that governmentality does not constitute a closed theoretical framework, but rather is operationalised as a generic analytical tool. The uneven perception of governmentality in education studies is discussed in the second part of the paper. There is a clear gap in the studies of education policy in illiberal contexts through the perspective of governmentality. Taking Tikly’s (2003) research as a point of reference for my study in progress, I attempt to apply the concept of "emerging governmentality" to an understanding of policy-making, as technologies of government, in post-communist Ukraine. The possibilities and limitations of this theoretical endeavour are discussed in the final part of the paper

Conflict, insecurity and the political economies of higher education: The case of Syria post-2011

Purpose This paper stems from a 12-month collaborative enquiry between a group of Syrian academics in exile in Turkey and academics from the University of Cambridge into the state of Syrian Higher Education after the onset of the conflict in 2011. The purpose of this paper is to draw on 19 open-ended interviews with exiled Syrian academics; two focus groups; mapping and timeline exercises; and 117 interviews collected remotely by collaborating Syrian academics with former colleagues and students who were still living inside Syria at the time of data collection. The findings of the research suggest that Syrian HE after 2011 was fragmented across regions; in some cases non-existent, and in others deemed to be in a state of reform in order to meet student needs. Key issues that emerged from this work are human rights’ abuses directed against academics and students including the detainment, purging and kidnapping of academics, an increased militarisation of university life and a substantive loss of academic and human capital. Design/methodology/approach The overall design involved two workshops held in Turkey (in June and July, 2017) at which the Cambridge team explained the stages of undertaking qualitative research and planned the collaborative enquiry with Syrian co-researchers. The first workshop addressed the nature of qualitative research and explored the proposed methods of interviewing, using timelines and mapping. The instruments for interviewing were constructed in groups together and mapping was undertaken with the 21 Syrian academics in exile who attended the workshop. Syrian academics also built their own research plans as a way of expanding the consultation dimension of this project inside Syria, engaged in survey and interview protocol planning and discussed ways to access needed documentation which could be drawn upon to enrich the project. The Syrian co-researchers interviewed remotely HE staff and students who had remained in, or recently left, Syria; the key criterion for group or participant selection was that they had recent and relevant experience of Syrian HE. The second workshop focused on data analysis and writing up. There was also wide consultation with participants inside and outside Syria. As part of the research, the Cambridge team conducted open-ended interviews with 19 Syrian academics and students living in exile in Turkey. This involved interviewing Syrian scholars about their experiences of HE, policy changes over time and their experiences of displacement. The researchers developed this protocol prior to the capacity-building workshops based on previous research experience on academic and student displacement, alongside extensive preparation on the conditions of Syrian HE, conflict and displacement. In addition to interviewing, a pivotal element of methodological rigour was that the authors sought to member check what participants were learning through mapping and timeline exercises and extensive note-taking throughout both workshops. The major issues that the authors confronted were ethical concerns around confidentiality, the need to ensure rigourously the protection of all participants’ anonymity and to be extremely mindful of the political sensitivity of issues when interviewing participants who may not feel able to fully trust “outsider” researchers. Issues of social trust have been reported in the literature as one of the most significant drawbacks in conducting research in “conflict environments” (see Cohen and Arieli, 2011) where academics and students have been working and/or studying in autocratic regimes or were operating within political contexts where being open or critical of any form of institutional life such as university work or the nation could cost them their jobs or their lives. Findings The accounts of Syrian academics and students emerging from this work point to some of the state-building expressions of HE manifested in the shaping of professional and personal experiences, the condition and status of HE, its spatial arrangements and their associated power formations, and resulting in feelings of intense personal and professional insecurity among Syrian scholars and students since 2011. While acknowledging that the Syrian situation is deemed one of the worst humanitarian crises in the region in recent decades, these accounts resonate, if in different ways, with other studies of academics and students who have experienced highly centralised and autocratic states and tightly regulated HE governance regimes (Barakat and Milton, 2015; Mazawi, 2011). Originality/value Currently, there is virtually no research on the status and conditions of higher education in Syria as a consequence of the war, which commenced in 2011. This work presents a first-person perspective from Syrian academics and students on the state of HE since the onset of the conflict. The major contribution of this work is the identification of key factors shaping conflict and division in HE, alongside the political economies of HE destruction which are unique to the Syrian war and longstanding forms of authoritarian state governance.Funded by Council For At Risk Academics (CARA

Políticas de escolarização e governamentalidade nas tramas do capitalismo cognitivo: um diagnóstico preliminar

O presente ensaio pretende constituir um diagnóstico preliminar das políticas de escolarização e governamentalidade produzidas nas tramas políticas e econômicas do estágio atual do desenvolvimento capitalista. Partindo de uma revisão dos modos de constituição das políticas de escolarização produzidas pelo estado moderno, interessa, desde uma inspiração nos estudos foucaultianos produzidos no final da década de 1970, caracterizar as diferentes estratégias reguladoras dos processos de escolarização em massa produzidos desde o século XVIII e diagnosticar os múltiplos deslocamentos nessas pautas políticas na contemporaneidade. A partir de uma leitura sociológica, apresentam-se algumas mudanças nos sentidos educacionais fabricados pela sociedade industrial, na direção de uma educação flexível e interativa. Entende-se que as condições do capitalismo cognitivo, tal como esse cenário tem sido nomeado pelos economistas neomarxistas italianos, sugerem um cenário no qual o conhecimento assume o lugar de vetor das inovações e das dinâmicas produtivas, desestabilizando o modelo da fábrica e imaterializando as relações de trabalho. As políticas de escolarização passam a ser movidas por tecnologias otimizadoras que privilegiam conduzir os sujeitos escolares a estágios elevados de desempenho, assim como propõem a qualificação de suas performances nas tramas do contemporâneo. Tal diagnóstico pode ser ponto de partida para ressignificarmos as pautas investigativas dos estudos críticos em educação