Bridging the gap between policy and practice: Unpacking the commercial rhetoric of Google for Education

2021 ◽  
pp. 147490412199721
Author(s):  
Hanna Carlsson
Keyword(s):  
Educational Practice ◽  
Information Infrastructure ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Vantage Point ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
Success Story ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Practical Solution ◽  
Digital Infrastructure ◽  
Problem Representations

This paper unpacks the commercial rhetoric of Google for Education. Through the analysis of information published on the official Google for Education website, the paper seeks to make visible how this service promotes and reproduces certain ways of talking, thinking about and doing education. The aim is to contribute to a critical discussion of the potential implications of allowing major commercial players to take the lead in the development of digital infrastructure in education. Guiding the analysis is the notion of ‘problem’ understood as central for Google for Education’s success story. The case of Sweden, in which Google for Education has become widely used, forms the vantage point for this discussion. The study makes visible how Google for Education, in the commercial rhetoric, is constructed as the solution to problem representations by being positioned as a much-needed bridge, in the shape of digital information infrastructure, between digital policy and educational practice. However, Google for Education is far from simply a practical solution to a set of expensive and urgent problems. To uncritically embrace Google as the information infrastructure of education is to hand over power to one actor, which closes doors to alternative paths of doing and knowing in education.

Federal Education Policy and Practice: Building Organizational Capacity Through Chapter 1

1994 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Timar
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Education Policy ◽  
Organizational Capacity ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
Individual Student ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Policy And Practice

This article analyzes the effects of federal compensatory education policy on the capacity of schools to deliver high-quality services to poor children who have benefited only marginally from schooling. A major focus is federal assessment of Chapter 1 programs and how such assessment practices shape the organizational capacity of schools. Current assessment practices focus on student outcomes, thereby ignoring the inchoate mass of organizational variables that shapes the quality of instructional practices and student achievement. This article examines the policy history of Chapter 1 evaluation, particularly as evaluation relates to school improvement. It then proposes alternatives to current practice that focus on efforts to move evaluation from instantaneous and often misleading snapshots of performance to evaluation that informs federal policymakers of their ability to shape institutional competence and organizational capacity. While, as a practical and political matter, Chapter 1 assessment will continue to focus on individual student achievement, that assessment should be supplemented by evaluation that focuses on the capacity of Chapter 1 to shape the quality of educational practice in schools. Finally, the article proposes several conceptual models of organizational assessment that foster practices aligned with institutional capacity building.

Beware the neuromyths! A critical discussion on the ‘brainification’ of early childhood music

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Young
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Current Policy ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Early Childhood Music ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Current Context ◽  
The Brain

References to neuroscience and the brain now crop up regularly in academic and pedagogical literatures in early childhood music education. In this article, I discuss this recent ‘brainification’ (a term coined by Vandenbroeck) of early childhood music and point out problems and pitfalls that can arise from this current enthusiasm for neuroscience narratives. Concern at the misinterpretation of neuroscientific research in music education, often referred to as neuromyths, has led to a small and important body of literature. This literature is reviewing, analysing and providing summaries of neuroscience in music, correcting misconceptions and clarifying the implications for educational practice. First, I introduce this work and outline its main arguments. However, despite these corrections and clarifications, neuromyths persist. Therefore, I go on to ask why ‐ when the research base is being demonstrated to have many limitations ‐ do certain neuroscientific ideas continue to occupy such a prominent position? The answer I suggest lies in the current context of social media proliferation of information together with the certainty that neuromyth narratives (falsely) promise. I will go on to explain how the prominence of neuromyths goes hand in hand with the current policy environment for early childhood education and care that constructs children as a form of future investment. The article arrives at a number of suggestions for how the problems and pitfalls might be overcome or avoided.

scholarly journals Education Policy and Practice on Intimate Partner Violence Among Young People in the UK

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Xiaomin Sheng
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Young People ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Real Life Situation ◽  
The Uk

This paper presents a qualitative systematic review of educational policy and practice on tackling intimate partner violence (IPV) among young people in the UK. Up to date, the majority of school-based IPV interventions were conducted in the US and now there is growing consensus among UK policymakers, researchers and practitioners as well to address IPV issues through educational practice. This review aims at gathering evidence of the type and nature of policies and institutional level practice adopted to tackle IPV issues among young people within an educational context, and what impacts these interventions have on mitigating the occurrence of IPV. In undertaking this review, three databases (Eric, BEI and Scopus) were searched and grey literature was manually added. Findings from the review suggest that the majority of interventions were effective in altering attitude and promoting awareness of IPV. Still, longitudinal studies are needed to see if changes in attitude can be translated into the effective behavioural alteration in real-life situation. Although most students expressed satisfaction toward the existing interventions, it was also found that lack of consideration of gender can lead to uncomfortable feelings among students. There were contradictory views regarding whether teachers or external experts would be a better person to deliver the intervention and who was the person students preferred to turn to for help. Besides, country-wide interventions are needed to make sure all schools have an opportunity to provide IPV education, and the support from the UK government is of crucial importance to make this happen.

scholarly journals The National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) and its Implications for a Research Agenda for Digital Preservation

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (84) ◽  
pp. 32-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Information Infrastructure ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
Digital Products ◽  
The Public ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Not For Profit ◽  
Integration Of Technology ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Technical Architecture ◽  
Organizational Needs

Legislation enacted by the U.S. Congress in December 2000 allocates funding to the Library of Congress to lead the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP). The collaborative initiative is focused on materials created primarily in digital form for which there are no analogue representations and which users experience as digital products, sometimes known as "born digital". The investigators have consulted with numerous parties in public, private and not-for profit entities and have defined the "infrastructure" as having two major components: a preservation network of individuals and a technical architecture that provides coherence to localized efforts to archive digital works but is able to accommodate change as technologies advance and organizational needs evolve. This article describes the progress of the initiative and its implications for near and long term research. A striking feature of the research is the integration of technology and organization. The program emphasizes collaboration among a wide range of partners, looking toward solutions that can accommodate multiple and disparate requirements, and communication and outreach to many communities and the public.

scholarly journals Mechanisms of constraint: a clinical inquiry of digital infrastructuring in municipalities

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jwan Khisro ◽  
Tomas Lindroth ◽  
Johan Magnusson
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Research Question ◽  
National Level ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Digital Government ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Digital Infrastructure ◽  
Infrastructure Policy ◽  
Public Sector Organizations ◽  
Generative Mechanisms

Purpose The purpose of this study is to contribute to research concerning the role of digital infrastructure in digital government. This is done by answering the research question: how does digital infrastructuring constrain ambidexterity in public sector organizations? Design/methodology/approach The research is designed as a clinical inquiry in a large Swedish municipality, involving data collection in the form of interviews and internal documents. The method of analysis involves both exploring generative mechanisms in digital infrastructuring and theorizing on the findings based on previous literature. Findings The findings identify four generative mechanisms through which stability and change in digital infrastructuring constrain ambidexterity in terms of both efficiency (exploitation) and innovation (exploration). Research limitations/implications This study’s limitations are related to international and intersectoral transferability and risks associated with its approach to clinical inquiry. The main implications are its contribution to the literature on how stability counteracts not only innovation but also efficiency and how change counteracts not only efficiency but also innovation. Practical implications This study identifies clear generative mechanisms that should be avoided by managers striving for digital government, and it offers clear recommendations for said managers regarding how to avoid them. Social implications This study offers implications for national-level digital infrastructure policy and contributes to efforts to increase the capabilities of digital government. Originality/value As two of the four identified generative mechanisms are novel contributions, this study offers a concrete addition to existing research. This study has resulted in factual change in the studied organization as well as at the national level through successful dissemination of the findings for both policy and practice in other public sector organizations.

scholarly journals Designing the single knowledge space based on network-centric information infrastructure in the modern age of digital economy development (Annual paper presented to the Fourth World Professional Forum «Crimea-2018»)

2018 ◽  
pp. 3-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yakov Shrayberg
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Information Infrastructure ◽  
Digital Economy ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
The Russian Federation

Traditionally, the annual report opens the World Professional Crimea Forum. Primarily, the speaker focuses on the concept of digital economy interpreted as the economic relations system based on the digital information and communication technologies. The Program “Digital economy of the Russian Federation” is reviewed. Several concepts, e. g. bitcoin and blockchain, Industry 4.0, New Internet, etc., are defined. The current problems of the Internet are examined, in particular, the lack of the single management and development center. The statistical data on the profile and involvement of the internet users is reported. Special attention is given to using Internet in Russia and the related problem of copyright in Russia and worldwide. The role of open access in building the knowledge environment and the role of the main contributors to the process, namely, publishers, libraries, educational institutions, are emphasized. Online education and accessible seamless education environment are specified as the main trends in education, The key vectors of developing knowledge content and its application in the digital environment are defined, these are: inclusiveness, artificial intelligence and green (sustainable) libraries, etc. The current situation in the global book market is evaluated on the basis of the results of the London Book Fair 2018. The project “The modern digital educational environment in the Russian Federation” is examined along with the projected results. The role of the National Electronic Library as the major innovative library project and the national information system is emphasized. The author concludes that the libraries of the future become an essential part of the national and global information infrastructure.

Personal Reflections on the Masters in Educational Practice

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-155
Author(s):  
Emma Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Educational Practice ◽  
Experienced Teachers ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Qualified Teachers ◽  
National Educational Policy ◽  
Personal Reflections ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Newly Qualified Teachers

In September 2015, I successfully completed the Masters in Educational Practice (MEP). This article focuses on the professional gains of this qualification including the opportunities for classroom-based inquiry, structured reflection and professional dialogue with colleagues. I discuss the benefits of mentoring support from experienced teachers, as well as ongoing professional development in key aspects of national educational policy and practice. I describe how the qualification encourages newly qualified teachers to continually reflect on their practice and how this has had a direct and long-lasting impact on my own practice and the practice of my MEP colleagues, enhancing the experience for pupils and raising standards in Welsh classrooms. Core to my own experience of the MEP was the encouragement of professional dialogue and networking with mentors, experienced teachers, academics and other newly qualified teachers. This community has formed a strong platform for generating, critically considering and sharing a wealth of ideas about excellent pedagogical practice. Within this article, I give practical examples of how my experiences of the MEP have directly benefitted the learners. I explain the relevance of the MEP modules and how these underpin the Welsh Government's three national priorities for improving educational outcomes for learners in Wales: improving literacy, improving numeracy and reducing the impact of deprivation on attainment. Therefore, I maintain that the qualification crucially demonstrates the interaction between classroom, local and national contexts. I hold that, without the MEP, I do not think that I would have developed as a practitioner as quickly or as effectively. The skill of critically reflecting on my practice is one which will benefit my learners for the rest of my teaching career.

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