Spatial Theorizing in Comparative and International Education Research

The authors argue for a critical spatial perspective in comparative and international education. We briefly summarize how time and space have been conceptualized within our field. We then review mainstream social science literature that reflects a metanarrative, which we critique for contributing to false dichotomies between space and place and oversimplified views of the relationship between the global and the local. We present some of the key ideas associated with the “spatial turn,” including a relational understanding and productive capacity of space. In the final part of this article, we analyze the significance of new spatial theorizing for comparative and international education by reviewing examples of both comparative and educational researchers who are engaging with critical spatial theorizing. We argue that a possible way to confront binary thinking about space and place is by shifting attention to the relational conceptions of space, through analyses of networks, connections, and flows.Fil: Larsen, Marianne A.. No especifica;Fil: Beech, Jason. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Pro-market educational governance: is Argentina a black swan?

Over the past years there seems to have been a general consensus in the literature with regards to the increasing worldwide momentum pro-market reforms have gained in the field of education.  Taking this worldwide ?wave? of pro-market reforms as a starting point, this article analyses the case of Argentina, and the extent to which global discourses promoting pro-market reforms have been discussed and put into practice in the Argentine political context.  The main argument of the paper is that the Argentine educational system has been overall impermeable to pro-market governance models in education.For analytical purposes, three different phases within the pro-market movement have been identified.  The first phase, referred to as the experimental phase, deals with the policy reforms promoted by the Chicago Boys in Chile under Pinochet?s dictatorial regime.  Secondly, the first pro-market wave of reforms considers the cases of Thatcher, Regan and reforms in Australia and New Zealand.  In addition, during this phase, the increasing role of multilateral organisms such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund will be also assessed.  Lastly, following Stephen Ball`s broader conception of privatization, the third phase will consider the role think tanks, for-profit companies and philanthropic associations are currently having within the pro-market movement.Once the different phases have been identified and the common denominators that define the key elements of pro-markets reforms have been established, the paper delves into the specific Argentine context.  The core of the analysis will thus be to assess the influence and the impact of the three pro-market phases described above in Argentina`s education system. That is to say, to what extent was the Chilean experience with the Chicago Boys exported to the Argentine case?  The reform of the 1990s in Argentina was strongly influenced by the discourse of international organizations, but to what extent can this reform be described as defining a pro-market model of governance? Finally, the recent National Law of Education (2006) bans the ?mercantilization of public education?, and has not questioned the traditional bureaucratic model of governance of the educational system. However, some for-profit companies such as INTEL are participating of huge programmes to provide hardware and connectivity to schools in Argentina, and public-private initiatives taking the form of philanthropy are increasingly being devised. So, is pro-market ideology entering the Argentine educational system through subtle mechanisms that overleaps the state?s political rhetoric?Consequently, is it appropriate to state that there is a generalized worldwide trend towards pro-market reforms?  In case this is so, to what extent has the Argentine system been impermeable to it?  To what extent will Argentina be able to maintain, due to commercial agreements and international treaties such as the GATS, a hard position with regards to this matter? Based on these questions, the paper will reflect upon the specificities of the Argentine case, and will also consider the ways in which the analysis of ?black swans? (cases that have been overall resistant and impermeable to ?world trends?) can contribute to a better understanding of the worldwide diffusion and recontextualisation of pro-market ideologies.Fil: Beech, Jason. Universidad de San Andrés. Escuela de Educación; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Barrenechea, Ignacio. Universidad de San Andrés. Escuela de Educación; Argentin

El concepto de “transferencia educacional” en la historia de la educación comparada: continuidades y rupturas

Este artículo analiza nociones de “transferencia ” en laliteratura de la educación comparada, buscando continuidadesy discontinuidades en la forma como el proceso de transferenciaeducacional ha sido interpretado. El análisis muestra que eltema de transferencia ha sido fundamental, en la educacióncomparada, desde inicios del siglo XIX hasta hoy en día. Apesar de que algunas de las cuestiones abordadas en sus orígenestodavía sean cruciales hoy en día, se sugiere, al final del estudio,que dichos problemas deberían volver a ser tratados, en unmundo cuyo espacio educacional se ha vuelto más complejo,en la medida en que actores supranacionales y subnacionalesse hacen más importantes a la hora de producir y reproducir elconocimiento especializado sobre educación.Este artigo analisa noções de “transferência” na literatura da educação comparada, buscando continuidades e descontinuidades na forma como o processo de transferência educacional tem sido interpretado. A análise mostra que o tema da transferência tem sido fundamental, na educação comparada, desde o começo do século XIX até a atualidade. Apesar de algumas das questões abordadas no campo desde suas origens ainda serem cruciais hoje, sugere-se, na parte final do estudo, que esses problemas deveriam agora ser tratados em um mundo cujo espaço educacional tem se tornado mais complexo, à medida que atores supranacionais e subnacionais se fazem crescentemente importantes na produção e na reprodução de conhecimento especializado sobre educação.This article analyses notions of ‘transfer’ in the literatureof comparative education, searching for continuities anddiscontinuities in the way that the process of educationaltransfer has been construed. The analysis shows that the themeof transfer has been fundamental in comparative education fromthe early nineteenth century until the present day. Althoughsome of the questions addressed in the field since its origins arestill crucial today, it is suggested in the final part of the study thatthese problems should now be addressed in a world in whicheducational space has become more complex, as supra-nationaland sub-national actors become increasingly important in theproduction and reproduction of specialized knowledge abouteducation.Tradução: Rafaela Silva RabeloFil: Beech, Jason. Universidad de San Andrés. Escuela de Educación; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Rabelo, Rafaela Silva. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasi

International agencies, educational discourse, and the reform of teacher education in Argentina and Brazil (1985-2002) : a comparative analysis

This thesis addresses the relationship between the discourses about teacher\ud education produced by international agencies and the policies and practices of\ud teacher education in Argentina and Brazil. In particular the thesis analyses the\ud proposals of UNESCO, the World Bank and OECD for teacher education, arguing\ud that there are certain common assumptions that underlie these recommendations.\ud Based on the theories of Foucault, the thesis identifies a universal model for teacher\ud education that international agencies promote as the solution to most educational\ud problems in most contexts.\ud In order to illuminate the effects of the discourse produced by UNESCO, the\ud World Bank and OECD, the thesis analyses the reforms of teacher education in\ud Argentina and Brazil in the 1990s, showing a strong influence of international\ud agencies on these reforms. However, the effects of the discourse of international\ud agencies in Argentina and Brazil depend on the interaction of this discourse with\ud local assumptions about what constitutes good education for teachers.\ud Consequently, the discourse of international agencies was recontextualized\ud differently in each of these contexts of reception. Drawing upon the work of Ball and\ud Bernstein, an analysis of interviews with teacher educators in Argentina and Brazil\ud shows how the discourse of international agencies was re-interpreted in and through\ud the views of teacher educators, revealing several unanticipated consequences of\ud local ising the proposals of international agencies in these countries.\ud Thus, this thesis shows that foreign influences in education cannot be\ud explained by theories that are only centred on the state. Rather, comparative\ud education needs a theory that takes into account supranational and sub national actors\ud that are fundamental in defining educational practices. In order to contribute to the\ud development of such a theory, the findings of this thesis are placed within a broader\ud theoretical model to map the circulation of discourse in the global educational field

Cohesión social y formación ciudadana en un mundo cosmopolita: desafíos para la escuela en Argentina.

Ningun

Multi-directional sorting modes in deterministic lateral displacement devices

Deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) devices separate micrometer-scale particles in solution based on their size using a laminar microfluidic flow in an array of obstacles. We investigate array geometries with rational row-shift fractions in DLD devices by use of a simple model including both advection and diffusion. Our model predicts novel multi-directional sorting modes that could be experimentally tested in high-throughput DLD devices containing obstacles that are much smaller than the separation between obstacles

Sorting cells by size, shape and deformability.

While size has been widely used as a parameter in cellular separations, in this communication we show how shape and deformability, a mainly untapped source of specificity in preparative and analytical microfluidic devices can be measured and used to separate cells

Global policy mobilities in federal education systems

As an introduction to this special issue, this paper presents a discussion of different theoretical and methodological challenges in analyzing the ways in which global policy flows are shaping education policies and practices within and across federal systems. We argue that the dynamics between the global and the federal systems are complex, non-linear, multi-directional and ever changing. We start by discussing the notion of global policy mobilities and the kinds of theoretical approaches that we suggest can be productive in understanding the flows of power in education across spaces. We then move on to conceptualize “the federal” in education. While global flows do not lead toward universal results or linear policy convergence across nations, we also stress the necessity to think about federalism not as singular but in the plural, as federalisms, given the different configurations and historical developments of federal systems of education. To conclude, we highlight four analytic tensions and new directions for future research on global policy mobilities in federal education systems

Migration and education in the city of Buenos Aires: Political, educational and ethnic tensions

Este artículo analiza la situación actual de la inmigración en la ciudad de Buenos Aires y, en particular, las reacciones y tensiones que la presencia de migrantes limítrofes y del Perú genera en el sistema educativo de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Vemos que las políticas educativas de la Ciudad (tanto en el nivel macro como micro) no han abordado las necesidades de los alumnos extranjeros (o hijos de extranjeros) ya que siguen estando basadas en visiones homogeneizadoras y asimilacionistas. Sugerimos entonces que las diferencias en los perfiles migratorios actuales en Buenos Aires han generado tensiones étnicas, políticas y pedagógicas que no pueden ser neutralizadas y domesticadas a través de las viejas estrategias usadas en los orígenes de la construcción de la Nación Argentina. Este abordaje tiene problemas éticos, ya que las propias normas migratorias y educativas establecen que esta homogeneización no es deseable, pero también presenta grandes problemas prácticos, ya que es evidente que ante la situación de segregación urbana y escolar que sufren los jóvenes inmigrantes es muy difícil que los rituales y contenidos patrióticos por sí solos logren promover la participación plena y en paridad de condiciones de los inmigrantes en los procesos sociales.This article reviews the current state of immigration in the city of Buenos Aires and, in particular, the reactions and tensions that the presence of immigrants from the neighboring countries and Peru generate in the educational system of the city of Buenos Aires. We notice that the needs of foreign students (or children of foreigners) have not been addressed by the educational policies of the city (both at a macro and a micro level) as these are still based on homogenizing and assimilationist views. We then propose that the differences in migration profiles present in Buenos Aires have generated ethnic, political and pedagogical tensions that cannot be neutralized or tamed by the old strategies traditionally used in the construction of the Argentine Nation. This approach presents ethical issues, since the migration and education policies establish that this homogeneity is not desirable. It also presents major practical problems, since it is clear that given the situation of urban and educational segregation experienced by young immigrants, it seems very difficult that patriotic contents and rituals could promote parity of social participation for immigrants.Fil: Beech, Jason. Universidad de San Andrés. Escuela de Educación; Argentina. University of London; Reino UnidoFil: Princz, Pablo. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentin