This interdisciplinary study examines the issue of education in presidential election campaigns from 1968 through 2012. Historians of education have argued that the public's embrace of The National Commission on Excellence in Education report A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform (ANAR), in 1983 forced education onto the national agenda because political elites had to respond to voters' concerns about educational quality. Yet, historians of education have largely overlooked presidential election campaigns in their analysis of how education became a prominent political issue. In contrast, political scientists have focused a great deal on presidential election campaigns in seeking to understand the interaction between political elites and voters but have given little attention to the issue of education. This study integrates these two lines of inquiry to provide a better understanding of how education became a top-tier political issue and to better reveal the interactions between political elites and voters in that process. This study makes use of source materials that have received little scholarly examination. Internal campaign strategy documents reveal how political elites understood public opinion about education and how they sought to make use of that understanding to win elections. These underutilized sources reveal that historians have overemphasized the role of ANAR in the rise of education on the national political agenda. Long before education appeared in public opinion data as a top voter concern, strategists from both major political parties already wanted to push education onto the national political agenda. Yet, candidates were largely constrained from using education during the 1970s because they wanted to avoid engaging the controversial issue of de facto school desegregation. White voters were inconsistent on the issue: they claimed to support desegregation but took actions indicating they actually opposed desegregation. This made it difficult to craft an effective education message. When forced to discuss school desegregation, candidates of both parties employed a "quality education for all students" frame that deracialized the school desegregation debate and made education a safe issue to prime by the end of the decade. Beginning in the 1980s, Republicans used education for two electoral ends. First, they sought to use the recent transformation of the National Education Association (NEA) into a labor union and its endorsement of Democratic candidates to convince voters that the Democratic Party was beholden to radical special interest groups. Republican candidates also increased their priming of education in an attempt to close the gender gap arguing that women voters had a particular concern for the issue of education. Between 1990 and 2012, both parties wanted to use education to appeal to white voters. Republican candidates had long been committed to using education to soften their image. Now they began framing education as a civil rights issue in order to reassure white voters of their racial sensitivity. Meanwhile, Democratic candidates began framing education as an economic issue to reassure middle class white voters anxious about their children's future in the emerging global economy. A primary element in these electoral strategies was the idea that education was a "special" political issue. The "special" status rested on political elites' perceptions of voters' strong personal commitment to education and their nonpartisan attitudes toward specific policy positions. The lack of partisan correlation presented challenges for both parties but also unique opportunities to address campaign concerns related to a candidate's image, targeted voting blocs, and possible attacks on their opponents. The rise of the issue of education on the national agenda was often less about voters' concerns with educational quality and more about campaign strategy.

Magistro darbe išanalizuotos valstybinio švietimo strateginių nuostatų įgyvendinimo pradiniame ugdyme problemos. Analizuojama teoriniai valstybinio švietimo strategijų, pradinio ugdymo sampratos, bei valstybinio švietimo plėtotės aspektai. Išsamiai išanalizuojami Lietuvos autorių teoriniai ir praktiniai švietimo strategijos įgyvendinimo būklės tyrimai. Analizuotas Šiaulių apskrities pradinio ugdymo pedagogų požiūris į švietimo strategijos įgyvendinimą. Patvirtinama autoriaus suformuluota mokslinio tyrimo hipotezė, kad, įgyvendinant valstybinio švietimo strategines nuostatas pradiniame ugdyme, įgyvendinami ne visi strateginiai uždaviniai. / This Master work analyzes the problems of national education strategy implement in the primary school. We represent conceptions of national education strategies and primary school; also there you can find aspects of national education development. Researches are given for realizing the state of Lithuanian authors’ theoretical and practical education strategies. Analyze was done in order to find out the realization of pedagogue attitude about the education strategy of Šiauliai district primary school. The hypothesis of scientific research was proved by author that realization of national education strategy implement in the primary school is not completed by all strategical tasks.

The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that there is a link between children's musical experiences and attitudes, and their musical skills and understandings. For the purpose of the research, experience and attitudes have been measured by the National Education Monitoring Projects (NEMP) 2000 Music Survey, whilst the NEMP 2000 Assessment Results have been used to provide levels of musical skills and understandings. The first part of this study focuses on the nature of NEMP music assessment in relation to different aptitude, ability and achievement tests, and compares NEMP with various national assessments, in particular the ones used by the United States of America and Wales. The second part of the study tests the hypothesis that whether a link is present between children's musical experiences and attitudes, and the extent of their musical skills and understandings, as revealed in their NEMP survey results and scores. The analysed results should be helpful in teacher education situations in determining the balance and relationship between teaching musical skills and understandings alongside student attitudes and previous experiences. Based on the sample used in this research, correlation analyses showed that attitudes toward music do not have a strong influence on students' musical abilities. A greater number of relationships was found between musical experiences and students' NEMP scores. This result is similar to a few other attitude researches which will be briefly discussed and compared.

Thesis (M. P. A.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-40).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Canterbury, 2002. / Typescript (photocopy). "June 2002." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 325-340).. Also available via the World Wide Web.

A análise do setor da educação nas últimas duas décadas permite visualizar a expansão do número de entidades privadas de cunho mercantil atuando especialmente no âmbito da educação superior. Paralelamente a isto, é possível perceber as transformações no posicionamento assumido pelo Estado diante desta situação e como isto tem se refletido sobre a legislação referente à educação. Neste sentido, o avanço do pensamento neoliberal, conforme descrevem Dardot e Laval (2016), conduz a uma nova prática de governo que subverte os fundamentos da democracia e o reconhecimento de direitos sociais atrelados à condição de cidadão, embora este movimento não se dê alheio à resistência de diferentes fontes. Com base nestes indicativos e nos trabalhos realizados por outros autores (CORBUCCI, 2004; CARVALHO, 2006; LEHER, 2014; CHAVES, 2010), percebe-se que há o aprofundamento de um processo de empresarização ocorrendo sobre a Educação. Nesta dissertação analiso o posicionamento de grupos empresariais privados no processo de formulação do Plano Nacional de Educação (PNE), vigente no período de 2014-2024, a partir da perspectiva da teoria da empresarização, conforme descrita principalmente por Solé (2008) e Abraham (2006). Para eles, a empresa se apresenta como a organização por excelência em nossa sociedade, uma vez que ela materializa as demais relações responsáveis por moldar nossos modos de pensar e agir. Os traços típicos da empresa, quer sejam a ―invenção e autonomização da realidade econômica‖, o ―mito fundador da escassez‖, a ―racionalidade moderna‖, a ―propriedade privada‖ e a ―inovação e mito do progresso‖, foram adotados como referência para poder evidenciar a expansão do modelo empresarial sobre o setor. A metodologia utilizada foi a análise de conteúdo, para a qual utilizei documentos formulados pelas entidades empresariais, reportagens e as notas taquigráficas das reuniões e audiências públicas da Câmara dos Deputados e do Senado Federal como principais fontes de dados. Os resultados observados apontam para a presença dos traços nos posicionamentos defendidos pelos grupos estudados, bem como sobre o texto final do PNE 2014-2024 o qual incorporou muitas das opiniões empresariais de forma direta e flexibilizou certas determinações em favor dos interesses destas. Foi possível perceber uma defesa clara da eficiência intrínseca das IES privadas em detrimento de ações Estatais em educação e um direcionamento no sentido de que a avaliação da qualidade da educação se dê primordialmente a partir de critérios de resultados e produtividade, quantitativamente medidos. As demandas do mercado e de desenvolvimento econômico são também tidas como instituições legitimadoras das ações em educação, conotando a presença dos traços supracitados. / The analysis of the educational sector in the last two decades allows one to visualize the expansion on the number of private mercantile entities acting specially upon higher education. Paralel to this, it‘s possible to notice the transformations on the positioning adopted by the State regarding this situation and how it‘s been reflected over the legislation regarding education. In this way, the advance of neoliberal ideas, as described by Dardot and Laval (2016), leads to a new practice of government which subverts the fundamentals of democracy and the acknowledgment of social rights attached to the condition of citizenship, even though this movements do not go on without facing resistence from various sources. Based on these indicatives and the work done by other authors (CORBUCCI, 2004; CARVALHO, 2006; LEHER, 2014; CHAVES, 2010), it is perceived that there is a deepening of a process of enterprisation occuring on Education. In this dissertation I analyze the agency of private business groups in the process of formulating the National Education Plan (PNE), in force in the period 2014-2024, from the perspective of enterprisation theory, as described mainly by Solé (2008) and Abraham (2006). To the authors, the enterprise is the organization per excellence in out society once it materializes other social relations responsible for molding our ways of thinking and acting. The typical traits of the enterprise, which are ―the invention and autonomization of the economical sphere‖, the ―founding myth of scarcity‖, ―modern rationality‖, ―private property‖ and ―inovation and the myth of progress‖, were adopted as reference in order to be able to show the expansion of the entrepeneurial model over the educational sector. The method of analysis chosen is the analysis of content, which was applied to documents produced by the groups under study, media reports and the shorthand notes of the meetings and public hearings held by the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate. Results point to the presence of the enterprisation traits on the positions defended by the private groups studied, as well as on the final text of the PNE 2014-2024 which at some points directly incorporated their understandings and, in others, made certain determinations more flexible in order to meet their interests. It was possible to perceive a clear defense of the intrinsic efficiency of the private Educational Institutions in detriment of Governmental actions in education as well as an attempt of redirectioning the sense of quality evaluation of higher education in order to observe mainly results and productivity criteria, quantitatively measured. The demands of the market and of economic development are considered as legitimating institutions to the actions promoted in education, connoting the presence of the aforementioned traits of enterprisation.

A análise do setor da educação nas últimas duas décadas permite visualizar a expansão do número de entidades privadas de cunho mercantil atuando especialmente no âmbito da educação superior. Paralelamente a isto, é possível perceber as transformações no posicionamento assumido pelo Estado diante desta situação e como isto tem se refletido sobre a legislação referente à educação. Neste sentido, o avanço do pensamento neoliberal, conforme descrevem Dardot e Laval (2016), conduz a uma nova prática de governo que subverte os fundamentos da democracia e o reconhecimento de direitos sociais atrelados à condição de cidadão, embora este movimento não se dê alheio à resistência de diferentes fontes. Com base nestes indicativos e nos trabalhos realizados por outros autores (CORBUCCI, 2004; CARVALHO, 2006; LEHER, 2014; CHAVES, 2010), percebe-se que há o aprofundamento de um processo de empresarização ocorrendo sobre a Educação. Nesta dissertação analiso o posicionamento de grupos empresariais privados no processo de formulação do Plano Nacional de Educação (PNE), vigente no período de 2014-2024, a partir da perspectiva da teoria da empresarização, conforme descrita principalmente por Solé (2008) e Abraham (2006). Para eles, a empresa se apresenta como a organização por excelência em nossa sociedade, uma vez que ela materializa as demais relações responsáveis por moldar nossos modos de pensar e agir. Os traços típicos da empresa, quer sejam a ―invenção e autonomização da realidade econômica‖, o ―mito fundador da escassez‖, a ―racionalidade moderna‖, a ―propriedade privada‖ e a ―inovação e mito do progresso‖, foram adotados como referência para poder evidenciar a expansão do modelo empresarial sobre o setor. A metodologia utilizada foi a análise de conteúdo, para a qual utilizei documentos formulados pelas entidades empresariais, reportagens e as notas taquigráficas das reuniões e audiências públicas da Câmara dos Deputados e do Senado Federal como principais fontes de dados. Os resultados observados apontam para a presença dos traços nos posicionamentos defendidos pelos grupos estudados, bem como sobre o texto final do PNE 2014-2024 o qual incorporou muitas das opiniões empresariais de forma direta e flexibilizou certas determinações em favor dos interesses destas. Foi possível perceber uma defesa clara da eficiência intrínseca das IES privadas em detrimento de ações Estatais em educação e um direcionamento no sentido de que a avaliação da qualidade da educação se dê primordialmente a partir de critérios de resultados e produtividade, quantitativamente medidos. As demandas do mercado e de desenvolvimento econômico são também tidas como instituições legitimadoras das ações em educação, conotando a presença dos traços supracitados. / The analysis of the educational sector in the last two decades allows one to visualize the expansion on the number of private mercantile entities acting specially upon higher education. Paralel to this, it‘s possible to notice the transformations on the positioning adopted by the State regarding this situation and how it‘s been reflected over the legislation regarding education. In this way, the advance of neoliberal ideas, as described by Dardot and Laval (2016), leads to a new practice of government which subverts the fundamentals of democracy and the acknowledgment of social rights attached to the condition of citizenship, even though this movements do not go on without facing resistence from various sources. Based on these indicatives and the work done by other authors (CORBUCCI, 2004; CARVALHO, 2006; LEHER, 2014; CHAVES, 2010), it is perceived that there is a deepening of a process of enterprisation occuring on Education. In this dissertation I analyze the agency of private business groups in the process of formulating the National Education Plan (PNE), in force in the period 2014-2024, from the perspective of enterprisation theory, as described mainly by Solé (2008) and Abraham (2006). To the authors, the enterprise is the organization per excellence in out society once it materializes other social relations responsible for molding our ways of thinking and acting. The typical traits of the enterprise, which are ―the invention and autonomization of the economical sphere‖, the ―founding myth of scarcity‖, ―modern rationality‖, ―private property‖ and ―inovation and the myth of progress‖, were adopted as reference in order to be able to show the expansion of the entrepeneurial model over the educational sector. The method of analysis chosen is the analysis of content, which was applied to documents produced by the groups under study, media reports and the shorthand notes of the meetings and public hearings held by the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate. Results point to the presence of the enterprisation traits on the positions defended by the private groups studied, as well as on the final text of the PNE 2014-2024 which at some points directly incorporated their understandings and, in others, made certain determinations more flexible in order to meet their interests. It was possible to perceive a clear defense of the intrinsic efficiency of the private Educational Institutions in detriment of Governmental actions in education as well as an attempt of redirectioning the sense of quality evaluation of higher education in order to observe mainly results and productivity criteria, quantitatively measured. The demands of the market and of economic development are considered as legitimating institutions to the actions promoted in education, connoting the presence of the aforementioned traits of enterprisation.

M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The study was concentrated on the period following the first democratic elections for a new government in South Africa, that is, post -1994 up to the year 2000. The change from a system based on fixed apartheid ideology to a more open and democratic one meant that the political scene became more characterized by fierce competition and volatility. The aim of the research was to understand the nature of the contestation as it manifests itself in both the development and implementation of school governance policy at national, provincial and local levels in a climate of political change and turbulence. / South Africa

Magister Educationis - MEd / Ideology reveals itself in the commonly shared ideas and ideals which act as the driving force responsible for group formation underlying nationalist aspirations in society. It reveals itself in various ways with politics as the most visible and education as the most powerful, yet unobtrusive, manifestation. In South Africa Afrikaner Nationalism and Black Nationalism have been involved in a titanic battle for the last fifty years. The ideology of Afrikaner Nationalism developed as a striving for political, cultural and educational freedom from British imperialist domination. An important part of this struggle was waged in the field of education, leading to the development of the sub-ideology of Christian National Education. The tenacity with which the Afrikaner pursued his nationalist aspirations was rewarded with the recognition of Afrikaans as official language in 1925, the National Party gaining political power in 1948 and the establishment of the Afrikaner educational ideology, Christian National Education, as state education policy in 1967. The Afrikaner Broederbond, under the cover of an Afrikaner cultural society, exercised a tremendously strong influence in the political, economic and social spheres. With the support of the extremely influential Dutch Reformed Church hegemonic rule was further consolidated. In order to attain its ideals and maintain its position of power, Afrikanerdom engaged in suppressing the Black sector of the population. This manifested in the denial of political and human rights to Blacks, and was reinforced by an education system which offered Blacks inferior education to that of Whites to ensure that they would not become a threat to Afrikaner power. The Afrikaner Broederbond, under the cover of an Afrikaner cultural society, exercised a tremendously strong influence in the political, economic and social spheres. With the support of the extremely influential Dutch Reformed Church hegemonic rule was further consolidated. In order to attain its ideals and maintain its position of power, Afrikanerdom engaged in suppressing the Black sector of the population. This manifested in the denial of political and human rights to Blacks, and was reinforced by an education system which offered Blacks inferior education to that of Whites to ensure that they would not become a threat to Afrikaner power tendency towards communalism in Black society resulted in Black Nationalism adopting the ideology of Black Liberation Socialism, under whose banner many former colonies had attained independence from their European mother countries. The educational sub ideology of People's Education served the Black Nationalist ideal by adopting in its curricula, syllabi and organisational structure an approach which supported Black liberation from the apartheid regime. The South African state (government, the police, the legal system, etc.) acted in a repressive manner under the influence of the Afrikaner ideology. The oppression Afrikaners suffered at the hand of British imperialism was repeated when Afrikaner Nationalism assumed power under the Nationalist government. It subjected Blacks to oppression and totally negated Black nationalist aspirations. Education always serves the dominant ideology - a concept clearly manifested in Christian National Education as it served the Afrikaner Nationalist ideology. In the same manner People's Education proved to be an extension of the Black Liberation Struggle. Ideology is thus in the service of power. Ample evidence exists that Afrikaner Nationalism and Christian National Education served to entrench Afrikanerdom in a position of seemingly unassailable power for an extended period of time after it had discarded the British imperialist yoke. This dominant position was maintained despite being a minority group. Should the same pattern prevail one would expect the African National Congress to abuse its present position of power to oppress the White minority and take revenge for the suffering that the latter had inflicted on Blacks for so many years. Both the Oppressed and the Oppressor are dehumanised in the process of oppression. Although the Afrikaner was in a dominant, powerful position and seemingly free, he became enslaved to his own ideology. He was deprived of independent opinion and thought by the prescriptive ideology of Afrikaner Nationalism and its educational ideology of Christian National Education. Non-compliance was frowned upon and deviants ostracised. It is ironic that, by ousting the Afrikaner nationalist regime, the African National Congress actually became the agent which liberated the Afrikaner from his self inflicted ideological oppression. Oppression thus seems to follow a vicious circle with both the Oppressor and the Oppressed suffering dehumanisation. Unless the Oppressed is rehumanised the oppressive role model presented by the Oppressor is emulated and the former Oppressed become the new Oppressor. The necessity for the process of rehumanisation to occur in the postapartheid South African society can not be over-emphasised and thus various steps that can be taken to effect rehumanisation are suggested.