Conference Agenda

In 2021 Colleen McLaughlin and Alan Ruby published a first look at global case studies of attempts to reform whole education systems or elements of them. They chose case studies written by authors who had been actors in some capacity to show the human process that it is. the book focused upon the implementation of policy or its elements to show how hard it is. it was hoped that it would help policymakers and practitioners to learn from the successes and failure of others. As Stenhouse said, ‘…. improvement is possible if we are secure enough to face and study the nature of our failures. The central problem of evidence-informed practice is the gap between our ideas and our aspirations and our attempts to operationalise them’ (Stenhouse, 1975, 2-3). We also realised that our case studies were partial, and it is this desire to represent all and all attempts that has driven this second book, which this synposium focuses upon. This work holds to the aims of the first book but represents attempts to implement reform in countries where there may be limited resources in terms of civic development, or what has been called weak states. The case studies in the second book are here that are more representative of the globe and the societies who share it.

In the summary of the first book, we emphasised five important features or necessary considerations to facilitate successful reform implementation (McLaughlin and Ruby, 2021). The first of which was the importance of the historical and political context of reform. This is the factor that has stood out in this current stories of reform. The historical and political contexts in our world are more complex, more volatile and more challenging than even two years ago. They are presenting new problems for educational policy makers and many that are familiar. What is clear is that they demonstrate more profoundly than ever the need to educate our young people well and for policy makers and actors in change to engage in learning about how to implement policy or make things happen.

This symposium presents two of the case studies of reform - Scotland and Kazakhstan as well as the overall obervations of all ten countries.

This paper is an introduction to the field and to the case studies past and present. It describes the ten cases from parts of the world, notably Africa and Latin America, that constitute the overall work.We present cases that help us understand the realities of implementing reforms. Looking across the literature about education reforms over the last forty years we do not see a lot of material that addresses how education reform is enacted at the system level. We do see a lot of attention paid to the motivations driving reforms and the ideologies shaping the way reforms are presented.There was little attention paid to motivating professionals to adopt different practices or to afford some activities more time and importance in schools. Nor was there much attention paid to what social support measures were needed to ensure that students were ready to learn and that schools could focus primarily on student learning. Our aim is to avoid offering “magic bullets” like instructional alignment (Cohen, 1987), school choice (Chubb & Moe, 1990) competency-based education (Musiimenta,2023) or any piece of technology just released. As many have pointed out, like Larry Cuban (2010), ready-made, quick solutions do not sit well with the realities of schools where there are multiple actors, multiple purposes and long-time horizons. The Paradox of Rationality and Responsiveness is discussed as a major themes. Collectively the cases here and in the earlier volume point to the virtues and shortcomings of the wonderfully linear and stable models of policy formulation that shaped school reform ideas and strategies for the last forty years or more.

Barber, M. (2015). How to run a government : so that citizens benefit and taxpayers don't go crazy. UK: Allen Lane, . Boswell, J, (2023). Magical Thinking in Public Policy: Why Naïve Ideals about Better Policymaking Persist in Cynical Times Cohen, S.A., (1987). Instructional Alignment: Searching for a Magic Bullet Educational Researcher. 16 (8) pp16-20. Desimone, L. (2002). How can comprehensive school reform models be successfully implemented? Review of educational research, 72(3), 433-479. Elmore, Richard F. 1979. “Backward Mapping: Implementation Research and Policy Decisions.” Political Science Quarterly 94 (4): 601–16. v Liu, Y., (2023). Implementing educational reform—cases and challenges, Comparative Education, 59:1, 141-143, Murnane, R. J., & Levy, F. (1996). What General Motors can teach U.S. schools about the proper role of markets in education reform. Phi Delta Kappan, 78(2), 108. Nilsen, P., (2015). Making sense of implementation theories, models and frameworks. Implementation Sci 10, 53. . Sen, A., (2004). How Does Culture Matter? In Rao, V. & Walton, M., (Eds) Culture and Public Affairs, World Bank. Washington, D.C., pp37-59. Shulman, L.S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 1- 22.

Educational reforms – their origins, intentions, development, impediments, implementation and evaluation – have been a major focus of investigation for several decades (e.g., Ball, 1994; Chapman & Gunter, 2009; McLaughlin & Ruby, 2021). The Scottish experience serves not only to illustrate the scale of the challenge but also to point to some of the ways in which progress can be made. Scotland has developed ambitious and aspirational goals for its education system (OECD, 2021). At the heart of reform in Scottish education has been the Curriculum for Excellence programme, covering the age range 3-18 (Scottish Executive, 2004). In this paper we first provide a brief overview of the Scottish context, before highlighting four related issues which are central to the reform process. • the tension between the broad curricular intentions of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) and the narrow evaluative assessment practices used for National Qualifications and CfE levels; • the role of internal and external actors in shaping the Scottish Government’s management of change; • the extent to which governance reform (i.e., reconfiguring the roles and responsibilities of national organisations) is capable of enabling sustained cultural change; • the best means of encouraging teachers to develop a sense of agency, in which they become ‘curriculum makers’, not simply the implementers of policy devised by external ‘experts’. We conclude by reflecting on the challenges that have faced Scottish educational reform, including presentational and communication issues, a top-down culture that has been difficult to shift, extended timelines for reform, the absence of systematic review processes, and a tendency in Scottish education to overstate achievements while playing down areas of weakness. These issues have presented considerable challenges to the reform process, limiting its impact and even acting counter to aspirational policy goals (e.g., see Shapira et al., 2023).

Chapman, C. & Gunter, H., eds., (2009) Radical Reforms: Perspectives on an Era of Educational Change. London: Routledge. McLaughlin, C. & Ruby, A. (2021) Implementing Educational Reform: Cases and Challenges. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

This paper presents the transformation of the teacher remuneration system in Kazakhstan, particularly in the context of the government's decision to double teacher salaries between 2020 and 2023. The primary research question explores how this salary increase impacts the quality of teaching, the recruitment of skilled teachers, and the overall educational outcomes. This research is grounded in the hypothesis that significant changes in teacher compensation can lead to improvements in educational quality and outcomes. It examines the assumption that teacher salaries, if not comparable to the average salary in the economy, hamper the recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers. The authors scrutinize various aspects of the new remuneration system, including its reflection of teacher quality, student outcomes, specific working conditions, coverage for teacher absences, and recognition of extra-lesson work. The study provides a comparative analysis of the new remuneration system against the traditional Stavka System, incorporating a review of international experiences in transforming teacher compensation. The methodology is primarily qualitative, involving a detailed analysis of policy documents, salary tables, and first-hand narratives obtained through interviews. Forty interviews were conducted with a diverse group of participants, including teachers, school administrators, and regional and national education officials in Kazakhstan. These interviews aimed to gather insights into the personal experiences, perceptions, and impacts of the new salary system on teaching practice and educational outcomes. The authors also conducted a thorough review of existing literature and policy documents related to teacher remuneration systems both in Kazakhstan and internationally. This comparative analysis allowed for an understanding of the unique features of the Kazakhstani approach and its positioning within the global context. The research revealed several key outcomes of the new teacher remuneration system in Kazakhstan. Firstly, the increase in salaries has positively impacted the profession's prestige, evidenced by an increased interest among school graduates in teaching careers and heightened competition for teaching positions, especially in rural areas. However, the new system has also faced challenges. It has not adequately incentivized non-teaching responsibilities or extra-lesson activities, which are crucial for comprehensive education. Additionally, there remains a lack of financial motivation for teachers to engage with underperforming or exceptionally talented students. The study found that the new system has not significantly altered teachers' workload, and in some cases, has led to an increase in classroom hours to boost income, raising concerns about teacher burnout and the sustainability of high-quality teaching under such conditions.

Ball, S. J. (2021). The education debate. Bristol, Policy Press. Berman, G., + Fox, A. (2023). Gradual: The case for incremental change in a radical age. New York, OUP. Baltodano, M. (2012) ‘Neoliberalism and the demise of public education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 25:4, 487-507, Edelman, M. (1988). Constructing the political spectacle. University Chicago Press. Foa, R.S. et al (2022). The Great Reset: Public Opinion, Populism, and the Pandemic. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Centre for the Future of Democracy. Gewirtz, S., et al (2021) What’s wrong with ‘deliverology’? Performance measurement, accountability and quality improvement in English secondary education, Journal of Education Policy, 36:4, 504-529, Marteau, T. (2021) ‘Evidence neglect: addressing a barrier to health and climate policy ambitions.’ Science and Public Policy. 2023, 00, 1-7 McLaughlin, C, and Ruby, A. (2021). Implementing Educational Reform: Cases and Challenges. Cambridge, England: cUP.. Sahlberg, P. (2023).’ Trends in global education reform since the 1990s: Looking for the right way’. International Journal of Educational Development, 98 (2023) Schedler, A. (2023). ‘Rethinking political polarization.’ Political Science Quarterly. Vol.00, no 00, 1-25. Viennet, R. and Pont, B. (2017). Education policy implementation: A literature review and proposed framework. OECD Education Working Papers No. 162.

This final paper takes an overall view of the ten case studies examining the different types and approaches taken to reform as well as the outcomes. We conclude that evidence is not enough that there has got be a use of knowledge to inform implementation. The managerialist reform models, like ‘deliverology’, skate over the historical and cultural factors which shape participants’ responses to proposals which aim to change core processes like pedagogy and assessment. We examine the different features and demands of reform in the different contexts. Our conclusions compare these cases to those written about in 2012 and we conclude there are strong variations and new elements. The model of reform needs to be changed and the popular model has serious side effects and distortions. A more consensual approach is needed The more populist models and approaches have become more in vogue and dominant. Some may see this prognosis as pessimistic, but what is clear is that education reform is now an overtly political process, sometimes symbolic, sometimes democratic, and always shaped by culture, heritage and individual interests and voices. Consensus building approaches are important in this climate if generations of learners are to be spared repeated waves of ill-conceived reforms.

Ball, S. J. (2021). The education debate. Bristol, Policy Press. Berman, G., + Fox, A. (2023). Gradual: The case for incremental change in a radical age. New York, OUP. Baltodano, M. (2012) ‘Neoliberalism and the demise of public education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 25:4, 487-507, Edelman, M. (1988). Constructing the political spectacle. University Chicago Press. Foa, R.S. et al (2022). The Great Reset: Public Opinion, Populism, and the Pandemic. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Centre for the Future of Democracy. Gewirtz, S., et al (2021) What’s wrong with ‘deliverology’? Performance measurement, accountability and quality improvement in English secondary education, Journal of Education Policy, 36:4, 504-529, Marteau, T. (2021) ‘Evidence neglect: addressing a barrier to health and climate policy ambitions.’ Science and Public Policy. 2023, 00, 1-7 McLaughlin, C, and Ruby, A. (2021). Implementing Educational Reform: Cases and Challenges. Cambridge, England: cUP.. Sahlberg, P. (2023).’ Trends in global education reform since the 1990s: Looking for the right way’. International Journal of Educational Development, 98 (2023) Schedler, A. (2023). ‘Rethinking political polarization.’ Political Science Quarterly. Vol.00, no 00, 1-25. Viennet, R. and Pont, B. (2017). Education policy implementation: A literature review and proposed framework. OECD Education Working Papers No. 162.