Of Credits, Kontrakty and Critical Thinking: Encountering ‘market reforms' in Kyrgyzstani higher education

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeleine Reeves
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Higher Education Reform ◽  
Market Reforms ◽  
Administrative Reforms ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
Anthropological Literature ◽  
The Impact

This article explores the impact of market metaphors and mechanisms on higher education in Kyrgyzstan. Drawing upon recent anthropological literature on the local meanings of market reforms in post-socialist contexts, as well as work in the field of educational policy that has focused attention on the ‘local spaces' in which curricular and administrative reforms are encountered, this study will explore the ways in which languages of market have been received and appropriated by the students, teachers and administrators who have to negotiate what Kyrgyzstani higher education reform means in practice. Specifically, the article examines how practices and valuations of higher education have been affected by the opening of commercial ( kontraktnyie) departments in nominally state universities, by the transformation of curricular content and teaching practice in the social sciences, and by the severing of the Soviet-era link between higher education and guaranteed professional employment. Drawing upon interviews and participant observation, it will suggest that we need to move beyond the overdrawn dichotomies in which contestations over the post-Soviet educational space are generally cast (‘East’ vs. ‘West’; ‘Tradition’ vs. ‘Innovation’) to focus on the complex ways in which educational ‘reform’ is practised and interpreted in specific institutional settings.

scholarly journals Poland's Transition In Business Education

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-60
Author(s):  
Bozena Leven
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Market Economy ◽  
Business Education ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
Higher Education Reform ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Planned Economy ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
The Impact

Prior to Poland's transition from central planning to a market system, which began in 1990, schools of business were non-existent in that country. Instead, university level instruction on economics during the socialist period was closely tied to ideological priorities, and limited to imparting skills suitable for planned economy. All universities were owned by the state, heavily politicized, and solely focused on supporting a centrally planned economy.  There was no meaningful attempt to impart, or even describe, market oriented theories, leaving Poland almost wholly without the basic human capital needed to run a market economy. This backdrop makes higher education reform particularly crucial for Poland’s continued economic development and, to date, marketization has fundamentally transformed that sector.  Poland’s current higher education system is now compatible with those of many Western European countries, relies on standard Western curricula, and enjoys significant academic autonomy, which exceeds that of some more developed Western countries. This sector has also seen an unprecedented growth in economics and business programs enrollments, along with the formation of private universities.  Indeed, the depth and rapidity of Poland's progress in reforming higher education stands in marked contrast to that of other former centrally planned economies, and may serve as an interesting case study for potential reforms in Russia and other former Soviet republics.  In this paper we describe the progress and effects of several major reforms in Poland's higher business education, examining changes in funding, potential funding sources, the structure of faculty governance, educational programs and degrees granted, the formation of new curricula, and Poland’s system of faculty promotion. Following this examination, we identify and discuss a number of continuing systemic obstacles to further progress in this area, and discuss how they might be addressed.  In addition, we apply Western metrics to assess and evaluate the impact of reform on the current and future quality of Poland's business education. One consequence of Poland's transition to a market economy is its high level of governmental involvement in income redistribution policies,  and  a  quasi-monopolistic position regarding the provision of such services as for example, health care, and quality higher education .  Because these governmental policies have parallels in the experiences of European countries, those experiences provide insights into possible outcomes upon which various policy recommendations for Poland may be drawn.

scholarly journals Programme Profiles and the Reform of Higher Education in Europe: The Role of Tuning Europe

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi F. Donà dalle Rose ◽  
Guy Haug
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Bologna Process ◽  
Higher Education Reform ◽  
Tuning Method ◽  
The World ◽  
Governmental Institutions ◽  
The Impact

This article provides an overview of the profiling of higher education programmes in Europe as part of the overall process of higher education reform in Europe over the past decade (2000-2012) and of the role of Tuning in this process. The article starts with a recall of the architecture and objectives of the change process, based on the interplay between the intergovernmental Bologna process (with a main focus on structural change), the European Union’s parallel Agenda for the Modernisation of Higher Education (with a focus on policy change for the Union’s main objectives: growth and jobs, mobility, recognition and attractiveness) and Tuning. The second part of the article provides some data about and examples of the method and importance of Tuning in stimulating and shaping the renovation of higher education programmes, with a focus on Tuning’s initial geographical area (Europe) and a glimpse to other continents, in line with Europe’s need to build up the visibility and attractiveness of its universities in the rest of the world. The final section is a retrospective and analytical reflection about the impact of Tuning on some key dimensions of the agenda for the modernisation of higher education in Europe; while acknowledging that the Tuning method and principles have not always been fully understood by higher education as well as governmental institutions, Tuning has made an outstanding contribution to such key aspects as the relevance, comparability and quality of programmes, the development of quality assurance and accreditation policies and agencies and the recognition of qualifications — both within Europe and with partner countries in other parts of the world.

BOOK REVIEWS

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-102
Author(s):  
Laura Louise Sarauw ◽  
Sintayehu Kassaye Alemu ◽  
Penny Welch
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Higher Education Reform ◽  
Student Plagiarism ◽  
Looking Back

Macfarlane, B. (2017), Freedom to Learn: The Threat to Student Academic Freedom and Why It Needs to Be Reclaimed London: Routledge, 140 pp., ISBN 978-0-415-72916-1P. Zgaga, U. Teichler, H. G. Schuetze and A. Wolter (eds) (2015), Higher Education Reform: Looking Back and Looking Forward Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 431 pp., ISBN 978-3-631-66275-5D. Pecorari and P. Shaw (eds) (2019), Student Plagiarism in Higher Education: Reflections on Teaching Practice London: Routledge, 180 pp., ISBN 978-1-138-05516-2

Modern Information Technology on Higher Education Reform and the Countermeasures Analysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 1023 ◽  
pp. 225-228
Author(s):  
Ling Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
High Technology ◽  
Higher Education Reform ◽  
Modern Distance Education ◽  
Modern Information Technology ◽  
Modern Information ◽  
The Impact

The development of modern information technology to accelerate the rapid development of high technology, the rapid development of high technology and promote the differentiation and integration of university disciplines. By describing the main contents of modern information technology, and analyzes the impact of modern information technology on Teaching Reform of higher education and university teachers from the use of multimedia technology to improve the level and increase the ability of teachers to use modern distance education university and college teachers to improve the teaching of measures to address three aspects of information literacy universities.

Academic Course Evaluation

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 297-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edith Braun ◽  
Bernhard Leidner
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Bologna Process ◽  
Course Evaluation ◽  
Higher Education Reform ◽  
Teaching Behavior ◽  
Personal Benefit ◽  
Quality Of Higher Education ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
The Bologna Process

This article contributes to the conceptual and empirical distinction between (the assessment of) appraisals of teaching behavior and (the assessment of) self-reported competence acquirement within academic course evaluation. The Bologna Process, the current higher-education reform in Europe, emphasizes education aimed toward vocationally oriented competences and demands the certification of acquired competences. Currently available evaluation questionnaires measure the students’ satisfaction with a lecturer’s behavior, whereas the “Evaluation in Higher Education: Self-Assessed Competences” (HEsaCom) measures the students’ personal benefit in terms of competences. In a sample of 1403 German students, we administered a scale of satisfaction with teaching behavior and the German version of the HEsaCom at the same time. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the estimated correlations between the various scales of self-rated competences and teaching behavior appraisals were moderate to strong, yet the constructs were shown to be empirically distinct. We conclude that the self-rated gains in competences are distinct from satisfaction with course and instructor. In line with the higher education reform, self-reported gains in competences are an important aspect of academic course evaluation, which should be taken into account in the future and might be able to restructure the view of “quality of higher education.” The English version of the HEsaCom is presented in the Appendix .

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