scholarly journals Policy Documents of Nepali Technical and Vocational Education and Training: A Critical Discourse Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Tikaram Poudel

This study critically examines the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) policy documents of Nepal, not only to understand the specific plans of the government agencies in designing, implementing and expanding TVET programmes but also to problematise discursive practices of TVET programmes in the existing socioeconomic and power hierarchy of Nepali society. More specifically, it aims at understanding the ineffectiveness of these training programmes concerning the target groups. This study makes use of Fairclough’s (1995) model of Critical Discourse Analysis of three inter-related dimensions of description, interpretation and explanation within the theoretical framework of capabilities approach (Sen, 2009).  The findings indicate that the policy documents of Nepali TVET prioritise the development of semi-skilled human resources for the low-paid international labour market but ignore the conservation and development of indigenous knowledge systems of diverse ethnic communities of Nepal. The study initiates the discourse that integrating indigenous knowledge systems in TVET programmes provides a sustainable model of development.

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amber Gazso

In this article, I undertake a critical discourse analysis of policy documents and in-depth interviews with seven caseworkers and 28 benefit recipients to explore how two discourses, ‘work first’ and ‘distance from the labour market,’ inform how persons living with addiction access and then experience social assistance in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Drawing in Foucauldian insights on power, I reveal the conceptualisation of benefit recipients’ eligibility for Ontario Works through these two discourses and how this is replete with ideological assumptions and disciplining power relations, constitutive of a subject position of ‘the recovering addict’, and suggestive of social control implications. I argue that the coercion and regulation of benefit recipients’ lives on Ontario Works has not disappeared but transmuted for Torontonians living with addiction, and conclude by considering the governance of this population as biopower.


2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Claude Byungura ◽  
Henrik Hansson ◽  
Kamuzinzi Masengesho ◽  
Thashmee Karunaratne

Abstract With the development of technology in the 21st Century, education systems attempt to integrate technology-based tools to improve experiences in pedagogy and administration. It is becoming increasingly prominent to build human and ICT infrastructure capacities at universities from policy to implementation level. Using a critical discourse analysis, this study investigates the articulation of ICT capacity building strategies from both national and institutional ICT policies in Rwanda, focusing on the higher education. Eleven policy documents were collected and deeply analyzed to understand which claims of ICT capacity building are made. The analysis shows that strategies for building ICT capacities are evidently observed from national level policies and only in two institutional policies (KIST and NUR). Among 25 components of ICT capacity building used, the ones related to human capacity are not plainly described. Additionally, neither national nor institutional policy documents include the creation of financial schemes for students to acquire ICT tools whilst learners are key stakeholders. Although there is some translation of ICT capacity building strategies from national to some institutional policies, planning for motivation and provision of incentives to innovators is not stated in any of the institutional policies and this is a key to effective technology integration.


Author(s):  
Emma Trentman ◽  
Wenhao Diao

Abstract The 21st century has seen an emphasis in US media and policy documents on increasing the numbers of US students studying abroad and also the amount of US students studying ‘critical’ languages. This paper examines the intersection of these discourses, or the experiences of critical language learners abroad. We analyze this intersection by using critical discourse analysis to examine US media and policy documents and data from students studying Arabic in Egypt and Mandarin in China. This analysis reveals considerable discrepancies between rhetoric and experience in terms of language and intercultural learning. We argue that a critical examination of current discourses of study abroad (SA) reveals that they in fact recreate the colonial map, mask global inequalities, and create a new global elite. We conclude that language and intercultural learning abroad will remain a source of tension until SA students and programs critically engage with these discourses.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Blerjana Bino

The paper addresses the complex phenomenon of marginalised youth and particularly children in street situation in the Albanian contemporary society. Through a qualitative methodology of critical discourse analysis, the paper investigates the most relevant policy documents on inclusive education for marginalised youth in Albania. The paper is interested in exploring the conceptualisation of marginalised youth, specifically children in street situation, as embedded in policy documents, action plans and intervention programmes for inclusive education. The intention here is to discover the explicit and implicit themes of the policy discourse on marginalised youth in Albania and the how it impacts the approaches adopted by the government to address the phenomenon. The critical discourse analysis on policy framework shows that the discourse on marginalised youth in the public sphere (re)produces and reinforces already existing aspects of social deprivation, marginalization and discrimination. The research shows that there are limited efforts to elaborate the concepts of ‘marginalised youth’ and ‘children in street situation’ and that there is confusion in policy regarding the use of the terms. In addition, children in street situation are seen either as victims of socio-economic hardship and endangered by their presence in the spaces of the ‘street’ or as a possible threat to the rest of the society, i.e. the street criminalises children. The research shows two main policy approaches: (i) correctional or repressive-oriented policy approach that conceives ‘street children’ as a danger to public order whose features differentiate from mainstream childhood and as such invites intervention programmes that tend to ‘normalise’ children; (ii) protective or rehabilitative policy approaches, i.e. emphasising children needs and aiming at protecting and re-integrating them in family and mainstream society. The paper takes a critical stance on the current policy discourse and the consequent policy approaches of ‘normalisation’ and ‘integration’ and argues for a reconceptualization of children in street situation as social actors based on the notion of childhood as socially constructed. It is thus necessary to link research on the socialisation processes, identity construction and resilience of marginalised youth in the spaces of the street based on their dynamic lifestyles and perspectives with policy development.


Author(s):  
Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu ◽  
Chidi Oguamanam ◽  
Vedaste Ndungutse

This study explores Rwandan ethno-veterinary knowledge and the degree to which this knowledge is reflected in the country’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) instruction. The knowledge considered is the Indigenous medicinal knowledge used by rural Rwandan livestock farmers to treat their cattle. Through interviews with farmers, TVET graduates and TVET teachers, and an examination of the current TVET Animal Health curriculum, the research identifies a neglect of Indigenous knowledge in the curriculum, despite the fact that local farmers use numerous Indigenous medicinal innovations to treat their animals. The focus of the Rwanda’s TVET Animal Health curriculum is on Western-origin modern veterinary practices. The authors argue that this leaves Rwandan TVET Animal Health graduates unprepared for optimal engagement with rural farmers and with the full range of potential treatments.


2022 ◽  
pp. 133-150
Author(s):  
Jahid Siraz Chowdhury ◽  
Haris Abd Wahab ◽  
Mohd Rashid Mohd Saad ◽  
Noralina Omar ◽  
Mokbul M Ahmed ◽  
...  

This chapter aims to explain the bioprospecting situation in Bangladesh from an analytical, philosophical, and indigenous standpoint. It has three parts: looking at the philosophical history of bioprospecting; looking at combining the concept of bioprospecting linked with forest and the indigenous people, which also shows the combination of the bioprospecting concept with the indigenous people in Bangladesh; and asking some question based on the critical analysis. Methodologically, this study aligns with the indigenous standpoint theory and critical discourse analysis, where mostly the authors adopted secondary data. The proposal—in effect—is like this: what needs to be done in the question appropriation and translation of indigenous knowledge particularly of the Rakhain people. Although the focus is Bangladesh, the authors believe that this situation exists in many countries. Therefore, this research may raise similar askings and can contribute to global efforts in this regard.


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