Problematising ‘education’ in the Modernisation Agenda for Higher Education: The onset of language(s) of education

Starting from the assumption that ‘education’ in higher education (HE) is a floating signifier and can take on different meanings, we problematise the problem representations regarding the notion of ‘education’ in HE. We hereby focus on the analysis of problem representations in a set of Communications on the Modernisation Agenda for Higher Education by the European Commission. Drawing on Bacchi’s method What’s the Problem Represented to be, we look at two policy solutions and their related problem representations. Using Pollack’s term ‘creeping competence’, and drawing on previous research, we identify within these problem representations and policy solutions, a double creeping competence. Secondly, we problematise these problem representations and creeping competences from an educational perspective. The first problem representation is problematised as being instrumental and monofunctional. By contrast, we look at what it means to look at HE as worthy in and of itself, and as having multiple purposes at once. The second problem representation of a language of learning is problematised by suggesting the onset of language(s) of education. We conclude that further research is needed to pursue this articulation of these languages of education and hence to explore other possible articulations of education in HE.

“Apa salahku?”: Interrogating social policy problem representations of domestic violence within Singapore's Malay/Muslim population

<p><b>What’s the problem of domestic violence (DV) represented to be in Singapore’s social policy? This thesis interrogates the social policy responses to DV by looking at its discursive effects on Singapore’s Indigenous Malay/Muslim population. Undergirding the study is a theoretical understanding of structural intersectionality, which allows for a recognition of the unique identity of the Malay/Muslim population in Singapore. Such an approach contextualises Malay/Muslim women’s experiences of DV against the backdrop of Singapore’s colonial history and its current Anglo-Chinese political hegemony, which adopts a neoliberal, patriarchal and authoritarian form of governance. </b></p> <p>Through qualitative interviews with seven professional advocates working in the social sector and public service, and in-depth analysis of policy documents and first-hand accounts, I examined the ways in which the problem of DV has been imagined and, thus, remedied. Using thematic analysis and taking some inspiration from Carol Bacchi’s post-structuralist “What’s the problem represented to be?” analytical tool, I identified the representations of DV that are found in the interviews and first-hand accounts by survivors and uncover the implicit problematisations within the discourses. These representations show that DV within the Malay/Muslim population is seen as experiences of patriarchal and religious authoritarianism, housing and income insecurity, inadequacies with informal strategies of resistance, and limitations of formal forms of resistance. Then, using the WPR mode of questioning more conventionally, I analysed policy documents and solutions, such as counselling, public education and criminal justice solutions, to reflect on the parameters and limits of how DV has been problematised and where policies fall short in addressing Malay/Muslim women’s experiences according to discourse. </p> <p>The study concludes that social policy solutions define DV within the Malay/Muslim population largely as cultural problems, divorced from the historical and structural context it operates within. Problem representations also mute the overarching ideological position of Singapore’s governance. </p> <p>The findings urge advocates and policy-makers to commit to a structural intersectional framework that actively dismantles the neoliberal capitalist systems and patriarchal ideologies legitimised by the State, which underpin and intensify experiences of DV among Malay/Muslim women and other marginalised groups.</p>

“Apa salahku?”: Interrogating social policy problem representations of domestic violence within Singapore's Malay/Muslim population

<p><b>What’s the problem of domestic violence (DV) represented to be in Singapore’s social policy? This thesis interrogates the social policy responses to DV by looking at its discursive effects on Singapore’s Indigenous Malay/Muslim population. Undergirding the study is a theoretical understanding of structural intersectionality, which allows for a recognition of the unique identity of the Malay/Muslim population in Singapore. Such an approach contextualises Malay/Muslim women’s experiences of DV against the backdrop of Singapore’s colonial history and its current Anglo-Chinese political hegemony, which adopts a neoliberal, patriarchal and authoritarian form of governance. </b></p> <p>Through qualitative interviews with seven professional advocates working in the social sector and public service, and in-depth analysis of policy documents and first-hand accounts, I examined the ways in which the problem of DV has been imagined and, thus, remedied. Using thematic analysis and taking some inspiration from Carol Bacchi’s post-structuralist “What’s the problem represented to be?” analytical tool, I identified the representations of DV that are found in the interviews and first-hand accounts by survivors and uncover the implicit problematisations within the discourses. These representations show that DV within the Malay/Muslim population is seen as experiences of patriarchal and religious authoritarianism, housing and income insecurity, inadequacies with informal strategies of resistance, and limitations of formal forms of resistance. Then, using the WPR mode of questioning more conventionally, I analysed policy documents and solutions, such as counselling, public education and criminal justice solutions, to reflect on the parameters and limits of how DV has been problematised and where policies fall short in addressing Malay/Muslim women’s experiences according to discourse. </p> <p>The study concludes that social policy solutions define DV within the Malay/Muslim population largely as cultural problems, divorced from the historical and structural context it operates within. Problem representations also mute the overarching ideological position of Singapore’s governance. </p> <p>The findings urge advocates and policy-makers to commit to a structural intersectional framework that actively dismantles the neoliberal capitalist systems and patriarchal ideologies legitimised by the State, which underpin and intensify experiences of DV among Malay/Muslim women and other marginalised groups.</p>

“Apa salahku?”: Interrogating social policy problem representations of domestic violence within Singapore's Malay/Muslim population

<p><b>What’s the problem of domestic violence (DV) represented to be in Singapore’s social policy? This thesis interrogates the social policy responses to DV by looking at its discursive effects on Singapore’s Indigenous Malay/Muslim population. Undergirding the study is a theoretical understanding of structural intersectionality, which allows for a recognition of the unique identity of the Malay/Muslim population in Singapore. Such an approach contextualises Malay/Muslim women’s experiences of DV against the backdrop of Singapore’s colonial history and its current Anglo-Chinese political hegemony, which adopts a neoliberal, patriarchal and authoritarian form of governance. </b></p> <p>Through qualitative interviews with seven professional advocates working in the social sector and public service, and in-depth analysis of policy documents and first-hand accounts, I examined the ways in which the problem of DV has been imagined and, thus, remedied. Using thematic analysis and taking some inspiration from Carol Bacchi’s post-structuralist “What’s the problem represented to be?” analytical tool, I identified the representations of DV that are found in the interviews and first-hand accounts by survivors and uncover the implicit problematisations within the discourses. These representations show that DV within the Malay/Muslim population is seen as experiences of patriarchal and religious authoritarianism, housing and income insecurity, inadequacies with informal strategies of resistance, and limitations of formal forms of resistance. Then, using the WPR mode of questioning more conventionally, I analysed policy documents and solutions, such as counselling, public education and criminal justice solutions, to reflect on the parameters and limits of how DV has been problematised and where policies fall short in addressing Malay/Muslim women’s experiences according to discourse. </p> <p>The study concludes that social policy solutions define DV within the Malay/Muslim population largely as cultural problems, divorced from the historical and structural context it operates within. Problem representations also mute the overarching ideological position of Singapore’s governance. </p> <p>The findings urge advocates and policy-makers to commit to a structural intersectional framework that actively dismantles the neoliberal capitalist systems and patriarchal ideologies legitimised by the State, which underpin and intensify experiences of DV among Malay/Muslim women and other marginalised groups.</p>

Representations of Policing Problems and Body-Worn Cameras in Existing Research

In this article, we analyze scholarly publications on body-worn cameras (BWCs) to shed light on scholars’ grounding assumptions about BWC technology and the policing problems assumed to be amended by it. We conducted a systematic search and a double-blind review, including 90 peer-reviewed journal articles, and analyzed how scholars warrant their studies, their findings and their recommendations. We found that BWC research largely investigates the effectiveness of BWCs worn by police officers in the United States and build upon a set of dominant policing problem representations: the police crisis in the United States and the police use of force, lack of oversight and control of police officers, citizen dissatisfaction and lack of police legitimacy, and police officer resistance toward BWC use. Assumptions underlying all four problem representations is that BWC technology will amend these problems and is legitimate and useful if the public supports it. Taken together, this enhances the representation of BWC technology as a self-evident means of improving community relations and police legitimacy in the United States. Finally, we provide recommendations for future research on BWCs, particularly the need for research departing from altogether different problem representations.

Institutionalizing school failure: From abandoning to reintroducing a failing grade—the rationales behind Swedish grading reforms

The article aims to depict the political framing of three grading reforms in Swedish compulsory school, in terms of the political problem they are supposed to solve and what kind of attention is given to the lowest performing pupils. Discourse analysis is employed, focusing on statement producers. The empirical material consists of policy documents from the late 1930s to 2010. The analyses show that three cases of the same type of policy change, a new grading system, rely on very different problem representations. The changes were launched as an equality tool, an accountability measure and a remedy for declining results, respectively. The discourse about the least successful pupils differs. Reasonable demands and a ranking scale without a failing grade characterize the introduction of a norm-referenced system; a first criterion-referenced system rests on a belief that virtually all pupils will meet the formulated levels for passing, an expectation not met, and a changed focus behind the second criterion-referenced system normalizes that some pupils will fail compulsory school. The article also illustrates the merits of studying educational policy change through the theoretical lens of problem representations and directs attention to how reforms can have discursive effects as well as unintended side effects that matter substantially for some people.

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

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.

Svartmaling av gutter og sykeliggjøring av jenter

This chapter explores gendered narratives about young people. We argue that – in recent decades – two clearly gendered problem representations have come to dominate the academic and public debate about youth: “pathologisation of girls” and “negative representations of boys”. For boys the narratives revolve around society’s problems with them. Regarding girls the focus is more on various ways in which societal pressures concerning self-expression and individual performance affect them negatively. In other words, the popular story about pressure and stress among girls today contains an undertone of “poor them”, whereas corresponding representations regarding boys often include a “poor us” assumption. Based on recent research, we discuss the basis for these narratives, how they are expressed, and the role research plays in their emergence and in nuancing the predominant problem representations. Moreover, we demonstrate how such gendered stories about blame and victimization appear in extreme versions when it comes to young Norwegians with minority backgrounds. We discuss how these gendered problem narratives may affect youth policy, views of youth, and not least the young people themselves. What happens when problems that concern a relatively small number of young Norwegians come to dominate narratives about all boys and girls?