FRAMEWORKS FOR ANALYSIS
4. CROSS-NATIONAL ATTRACTION
I begin with attempts which Ochs and Phillips (2000) have made to devise a model which might describe the aspects of education elsewhere that spark off ‘cross- national attraction’. By identifying and analysing in detail a series of ‘snapshots’ of evidence of the direct influence of the German experience on educational development in England (exemplified in official reports and legislation, but also in more informal discussion of what might be learnt from Germany over a long period) we can begin to put together a ‘structural typology of cross-national attraction’ that might facilitate analysis of education ‘elsewhere’. Our principal aim here is to devise a framework for analysis of what attracts in foreign systems.
We see those aspects that initiate ‘cross-national attraction’ as essentially embedded in the context of the ‘target’ country and we describe them in six stages within our ‘structural typology’ (Ochs & Phillips, 2000,a,b).
CO N TEX T O F A TTRACTION
G u i d i n g Ph i l o so p h y o r Id e o l o g y
‘St r a t e g i e s’
En a b l i n g St r u c t u r e s
Pr o c e sse s T e c h n i q u e s
H i st o r i c a l Po l i t i c a l
G e o g r a p h ic a l
Ec o n o m i c A d m i n is t r a t i v e
R e l i g i o u s
C u l t u r a l So c i a l
D e m o g r a p h i c
T e c h n o l o g i c a l
‘A m b i t i o n s’
G o a l s
N a t i o n a l C h a r a c t e r Li n g u is t ic
Ph i l o s o p h i c a l
Figure 1. Structural Typology of ‘Cross-National Attraction’ in Education
The purpose of this typology is to guide analysis of both the processes andthe context of ‘cross-national attraction’, which the researcher can use in thinking about the discrete elements of educational policy, their inter-relationship, and the necessary conditions for policy transfer. The typology aims: (1) to provide a framework for thinking about the development of educational policy as a process;
(2) to identify important factors in the context of policy transfer; and (3) specifically to examine which contextual factors are important for the successful adoption of educational policy derived from elsewhere.
It seeks to categorise features of educational policy in one country which have observably attracted attention in another. It tries in this regard to create a structure for analysis of what might otherwise appear to be a general and unfocused interest in education ‘elsewhere’. It expresses aspects of educational policy as six stages:
1. Guiding Philosophy or Ideology of the Policy: The core of any policy, and the underlying belief about the role of education – formal, non-formal, and informal.
2. Ambitions / Goals of the Policy: The anticipated outcomes of the system, in terms of its social function, improved standards, a qualified and trained workforce, etc.
3. Strategies for Policy Implementation: The politics of education, or the
investigation of the political leads to be considered in the forms of governance of education and the creation of educational policy.
4. Enabling Structures: There are two types: those supporting education, and those supporting the education system. Here, we examine the structures of schooling, such as funding, administration, and human resources.
5. Educational Processes: The style of teaching (formal, informal, and non-formal education, generally speaking), and the regulatory processes required within the education system. This includes such matters as assessment, curricular
guidelines and grade repetition.
6. Educational Techniques: The ways in which instruction takes place. This includes aspects of pedagogy, teacher techniques and teaching methods (see Ochs & Phillips, 2002a).
As we have put it in our previous study (Ochs & Phillips, 2002a):
The process of educational policy development begins with its guiding philosophy or ideology, influencing the ambitions and goals of the education system, then moves through its strategies, the development of enabling structures, and then on to the processes and techniques used for instruction. The close relationship and synergies between processes (such as methods of learning) and techniques (such as pedagogy of instruction) are illustrated by the arrow between the two boxes. A circular flow illustrates that changes in educational policy, at any point in the process, will ultimately lead back to the guiding philosophy or ideology of education, and the cycle will begin again. Although the flow and evolution of the process is unidirectional, the process and speed of development is largely influenced by the contextual factors. All aspects of educational policy are embedded in context, and the degree of contextual influence varies according to each situation. ‘Cross-national attraction’ can occur at any point; a foreign country may be interested in only the techniques described in an educational policy, a combination of elements, or the whole policy. ‘Borrowing’, at any stage, may impact the development of educational policy in the interested country (Ochs & Phillips, 2002a, pp. 14-15).
The six stages enable us to categorise interest in aspects of educational provision elsewhere. In the case of British interest in education in Germany, the example on which our structural typology is predicated, we have devised a schema to place historical examples of such interest within the stages described in the model.
Table 1 below includes eight of the examples used in a previous study and identifies the factors in terms of cross-national attraction that can be identified in the use made each time of German provision.
Table 1.Categorisation of legislation, etc. in England in terms of use of the German example, 1834-1986
Legislation, reports, etc.
Factors in cross-national
attraction Result
Select Committee Report on the State of Education, 1834
strategies, enabling structures, processes, techniques
Accumulation of considerable evidence to inform future discussion
Newcastle Report on enabling structures Preparing the ground
Legislation, reports, etc.
Factors in cross-national
attraction Result
the State of Popular Education, 1858
for the introduction of compulsory
elementary education Cross Report on the
Elementary
Education Acts, 1888
strategies, enabling structures, processes
Potential models for the solution of problems resulting from legislation 1902 Education Act
(the Balfour Act)
strategies, enabling structures, processes
Introduction of local education authorities 1918 Education Act
(the Fisher Act)
strategies, enabling structures, processes
Principled support for notion of continuation schools
1944 Education Act (the Butler Act)
guiding philosophy, ambitions, enabling structures, processes, techniques
Selective secondary education, based on a tripartite system Robbins Report on
Higher Education, 1963
strategies, enabling structures Expansion of higher education
HMI Report on Education in the Federal Republic, 1986
enabling structures, processes Introduction of National Curriculum;
National testing (Source: Phillips, 2003, derived from Ochs & Phillips, 2002a )
Here, then, we attempt to analyse the aspects of education elsewhere that have attracted attention in terms of British interest in education in Germany. But we can now incorporate our typology of cross-national attraction into a larger model that takes the processes of policy borrowing back a stage and also anticipates future developments once initial ‘attraction’ has become manifest.
5. POLICY BORROWING IN EDUCATION: A COMPOSITE MODEL