Nazima Rassool

School Effectiveness and the Displacement of Equity Discourses in Education

An essential aspect of school effectiveness theory is the shift from the social to the organisational context, from the macro- to the micro-culture. The school is represented largely as a bounded institution, set apart, but also in a precarious relationship with the broader social context. It is ironic that at a time when social disadvantage appears to be increasing in Britain and elsewhere, school effectiveness theory places less emphasis on poverty, deprivation and social exclusion. Instead, it places more emphasis on organisational factors such as professional leadership, home/school partnerships, the monitoring of academic progress, shared vision and goals. In this article, the authors evaluate the extent to which notions of effectiveness have displaced concerns about equity in theories of educational change. They explore the extent to which the social structures of gender, ethnicity, sexualities, special needs, social class, poverty and other historical forms of inequality have been incorporated into or distorted and excluded from effectiveness thinking.

Post-Fordism? Technology and new forms of control: the case of technology in the curriculum

Technology is changing not only our material reality, but also our social roles and power positions within the social structure. Whilst its increasingly widespread applications in industry, on the one hand, facilitate production processes they also contribute to the marginalisation and displacement of particular groups of people within the labour force (Sivanandan, 1989; Pollert, 1988). Thus, technology can “embody specific forms of power and authority” (Winner, 1986, p. 19). This article considers the view that Technology as a reconstituted subject in the National Curriculum in England and Wales functions to a large extent as a means of naturalising evolving work practices and specific worker awarenesses required within the technological production process. It also serves to legitimate real and symbolic differences created between the new ‘technical’ knowledge elites and the functionaries within the production process. The accommodation in the technology curriculum of new structural changes occurring wit...

Multilingualism in African schools: constraints and possibilities

Language plays a vital role in personal, community, social and economic development. It represents a primary means through which people build their stocks of knowledge, awarenesses, capabilities and human resource capacity. Together these benefit society as a whole with regard to filling skills needs within the labour market. This, in turn, contributes to national economic growth, supporting the development of a more knowledgeable citizenry and strengthening the ability of citizens to engage in democratic processes. The benefits for individuals and communities lie in increased personal efficacy and confidence and the ability to access social, political and economic resources and to maintain inner social cohesion. Language also represents a key identity variable; it provides the means through which people name their world as well as the means through which cultural knowledge is produced and reproduced across generations. Clearly then, the languages that prevail within society represent rich cultural, economic, political and individual resources. The importance of developing the linguistic capital of a country’s population in order to maximise its educational, social and economic potential therefore cannot be over-emphasised. Research during the past 30 years has found that educating learners in their first language, at least during the primary school years, provides them with easy access to concepts and thus facilitates cognitive development. Moreover, what they learn is taught in a language in which they are fluent, which they can understand and which relates to their homes and communities (Skutnabb-Kangas 1984; Skutnabb-Kangas and Cummins 1988; Cummins 1979; Cummins and Swain 1986; Baker 1993). Fluency in learners’ first language also facilitates the acquisition of second and third languages and, as such, provides a sound basis for multilingualism (Cummins 1981; Tosi 1984; Spolsky 1986). Whilst these theories have influenced the construction of multilingual education curricula, pedagogical models and the production of teaching and learning materials in industrialised societies, this has not been the case uniformly in developing countries. This special issue addresses some of the main factors involved in the relative successes and constraints experienced in the implementation of multilingual education policies in a selection of countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) – Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Many of the language and education issues in SSA have their origins in colonialism, particularly in the ‘Scramble for Africa’ and the redrawing of the map of Africa at the Berlin Conference in 1884–1885 (Rassool 2007). The arbitrary borders drawn resulted in the fracturing of previously cohesive ethnic communities, creating fragmented language clusters around border regions. The fact that ‘the Mandingo people were dispersed in the colonies of Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Ivory Coast, Gambia and Sierra Leone’ (Rassool 2007, 37) gives some indication of the extent of this fragmentation. Thus, although there are commonalities amongst some language groups within countries throughout SSA, there are greater levels of cultural and linguistic commonalities across countries (Prah 2002). SSA therefore is a complex multilingual context historically marked by heteroglossia, a

Language policies for a multicultural Britain

Since language policy for Welsh speakers has existed since 1907, parents have had the right to choose the language of instruction for their children. Although teaching hours in Welsh vary between Local Education Authorities (LEAs), different models of bilingual education exist in Wales and the overall emphasis is on developing bilingualism and bi-culturalism (Lewis 1980). Similarly, Irish has become the official language of Eire and bilingual programmes have been developed also in Ireland and Scotland (Alladina & Edwards 1991). Special language provision was made also for Polish ex-soldiers who after the second world war refused to return to a Communist occupied country. This provision was made under the Polish Resettlement Act 1947 (Tosi 1988). Similarly, European languages such as French, German, Spanish and Italian are taught as a normal part of the Modern Languages Curriculum in England and Wales. However, the situation for ethnic minority immigrant groups from former colonies is significantly different. Since no official policy has emerged to support the teaching of their languages in British schools, educational provision for their language maintenance has remained an unresolved issue. Following Lewis’ (1980, ibid.) view that language policy lies at the very heart of the state, this review provides an account of the development of the debate that has surrounded language provision for immigrant groups from former colonies who have made their homes in post-colonial Britain (also see reviews by May in this volume; by Baker in Volume 5; and by Donmall in Volume 6).

Theorizing literacy, politics and social process: Revisiting maktab literacy in Iran in search of a critical paradigm

Abstract Literacy as a social practice is integrally linked with social, economic and political institutions and processes. As such, it has a material base which is fundamentally constituted in power relations. Literacy is therefore interwoven with the text and context of everyday living in which multi-levelled meanings are organically produced at both individual and societal level. This paper argues that if language thus mediates social reality, then it follows that literacy defined as a social practice cannot really be addressed as a reified, neutral activity but that it should take account of the social, cultural and political processes in which literacy practices are embedded. Drawing on the work of key writers within the field, the paper foregrounds the primary role of the state in defining the forms and levels of literacy required and made available at particular moments within society. In a case-study of the social construction of literacy meanings in pre-revolutionary Iran, it explores the view that the discourse about societal literacy levels has historically constituted a key terrain in which the struggle for control over meaning has taken place. This struggle, it is argued, sets the interests of the state to maintain ideological and political control over the production of knowledge within the culture and society over and against the needs identified by the individual for personal development, empowerment and liberation. In an overall sense, the paper examines existing theoretical perspectives on societal literacy programmes in terms of the scope that they provide for analyses that encompass the multi-levelled power relations that shape and influence dominant discourses on the relative value of literacy for both the individual and society.

Considering heteroglossia in language and development in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract Countries throughout the Sub-Saharan (SSA) region have a complex linguistic heritage having their origins in opportunistic boundary changes effected by Western colonial powers at the Berlin Conference 1884–1885. Postcolonial language-in-education policies valorizing ex-colonial languages have contributed at least in part to underachievement in education and thus the underdevelopment of human resources in SSA countries. This situation is not likely to improve whilst unresolved questions concerning the choice of language(s) that would best support social and economic development remain. Whilst policy attempts to develop local languages have been discussed within the framework of the African Union, and some countries have experimented with models of multilingual education during the past decade, the goalposts have already changed as a result of migration and trade. This article argues that language policy makers need to be cognizant of changing language ecologies and their relationship with emerging linguistic and economic markets. The concept of language, within such a framework, has to be viewed in relation to the multiplicity of language markets within the shifting landscapes of people, culture, economics and the geo-politics of the 21st century. Whilst, on the one hand, this refers to the hegemony of dominant powerful languages and the social relations of disempowerment, on the other hand, it also refers to existing and evolving social spaces and local language capabilities and choices. Within this framework the article argues that socially constructed dominant macro language markets need to be viewed also in relation to other, self-defined, community meso- and individual micro-language markets and their possibilities for social, economic and political development. It is through pursuing this argument that this article assesses the validity of Omoniyis argument in this issue, for the need to focus on the concept of language capital within multilingual contexts in the SSA region as compared to Bourdieus concept of linguistic capital.

Exploring the construction of social class in educational discourse: the rational order of the nation state versus global uncertainties

Abstract This article aims to create intellectual space in which issues of social inequality and education can be analyzed and discussed in relation to the multifaceted and multi-levelled complexities of the modern world. It is divided into three sections. Section One locates the concept of social class in the context of the modern nation state during the period after the Second World War. Focusing particularly on the impact of ‘Fordism’ on social organization and cultural relations, it revisits the articulation of social justice issues in the United Kingdom, and the structures put into place at the time to alleviate educational and social inequalities. Section Two problematizes the traditional concept of social class in relation to economic, technological and sociocultural changes that have taken place around the world since the mid-1980s. In particular, it charts some of the changes to the international labour market and global patterns of consumption, and their collective impact on the re-constitution of class boundaries in ‘developed countries’. This is juxtaposed with some of the major social effects of neo-classical economic policies in recent years on the sociocultural base in developing countries. It discusses some of the ways these inequalities are reflected in education. Section Three explores tensions between the educational ideals of the ‘knowledge economy’ and the discursive range of social inequalities that are emerging within and beyond the nation state. Drawing on key motifs identified throughout, the article concludes with a reassessment of the concept of social class within the global cultural economy. This is discussed in relation to some of the major equity and human rights issues in education today.