<i>‘Decentralised’</i>neoliberalism and/or<i>‘masked’</i>re-centralisation? The policy to practice trajectory of Maltese school reform through the lens of neoliberalism and Foucault

Mifsud, Denise

doi:10.1080/02680939.2015.1121409

Cited by 19 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 47 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The literature on decentralisation of education is generally categorised into three strands. The first comprises the literature on full decentralisation; the second on decentralisation as a form of 'masked' recentralisation (Mifsud, 2016); and third, a decentralised-centralism strategy as a compromised position. The scholarly debate has often centred on the centralisation-decentralisation dichotomy, whether there needs to be more decentralisation, a tilt towards centralisation, or a balance of both spectrums.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To a certain degree, decentralisation of education is considered a governance strategy that the state may employ to uphold its legitimacy, and to re-centralise its control over the schools (Karlsen, 2000). The process of decentralisation sometimes creates new forms of independent agencies or local authorities who act as proxies for the central authority; in other words, a form of 'masked' re-centralisation (Mifsud, 2016). In this context, decentralisation is often understood as a means to manage conflict and to give 'compensatory legitimisation' (Weiler, 1990).…”

Section: Centralisation Versus Decentralisation Of Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Paradoxically, decentralisation is countered by systematic regulatory re-centralisation (Edwards & Mbatia, 2013;Lee, 2006;Tan & Ng, 2007). One should ponder whether decentralising in this context, "masquerades" as a "masked recentralisation" (Mifsud, 2016). This leads us to question whether Malaysian Cluster Schools of Excellence are a form of decentralisation, re-centralisation or more accurately, a "decentralised-centralism" strategy (Karlsen, 2000).…”

Section: Decentralisation Re-centralisation or Decentralised Centralism?mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Untitled

2020

JICE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A major curriculum reform was implemented in Maldives in 2015. Little is known about how the new curriculum has been used and implemented in classroom teaching. This qualitative multiple-case study aims to examine the teacher-tool relationship of six teachers teaching sixth grade English and the factors that shape the teacher-tool relationship. The teachers were situated in four schools with distinct contexts -a densely populated urban context, a sparsely populated island with multi-grade classrooms, an island dependent on fishing and an island dependent on tourism. Data collected include three video-recorded observations of each teacher as well as post and pre-observation interviews. Brown's Design Capacity for Enactment Framework (DCEF) was used as a basis to see whether teachers offload, adapt or improvise the curriculum. In addition, an analysis of the descriptive data, across and within the cases was done to identify factors that shape the way teachers use the curriculum. The analysis revealed that teachers use the curriculum in distinctive ways and included multiple layers of offloading, adapting, improvising and omitting. The way teachers use the curriculum varies from one teacher to another, from one lesson to another, and from one activity to another. Curriculum tool features, individual characteristics as well as the island context played significant roles in shaping how teachers use the curriculum in their teaching. The results of the study can provide curriculum developers with a different perspective in designing curriculum tools, particularly to create flexible affordances within the curriculum to allow for differing teacher and locational characteristics.

show abstract

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Centralisation Versus Decentralisation Of Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Decentralisation Re-centralisation or Decentralised Centralism?mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Untitled

2020

JICE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…6. This tension between autonomy and accountability in the unfolding network dynamics is explored in Mifsud (2016b).…”

Section: Fundingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution dilemmas

Mifsud¹

2016

Educational Management Administration & Leadership

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this paper, I explore the relationship of democracy to educational leadership; more specifically, to the notion of distributed leadership as it unfolds within policy-mandated multi-site school collaboratives, with particular reference to practices in Malta. Under the policy framework ‘For All Children To Succeed’ introduced in Malta in 2005, Maltese primary and secondary state schools embarked on the process of being organized into networks, legally termed ‘colleges’. I explore leadership distribution among the leaders constituting the college and the subsequent inherent tensions within this educational scenario. The notion of distributed leadership as perceived by the leaders is examined, and especially the leaders’ reception of its presentation in the policy document as the leadership discourse; and its eventual (non-)enactment at both school and college level. A Foucauldian theoretical framework, specifically Foucault’s concepts of power relations, governmentality, discourse, and subjectification, is used to carry out a case study of a Maltese college, collecting data via semi-structured, in-depth interviews, participant observation and documentary analysis. Narrative is both the phenomenon under study and the method of analysis. The policy discourse does not unfold in a participatory democratic manner in practice, resulting in an organizational paradox where leadership enactment in a Maltese college is ‘directed’ from above, rather than ‘distributed’. These findings may be significant for educational practice, policy and theory in terms of the generation of problematization which may lead to further research on this contested topic.

show abstract

“…That Miller selects to end this complex project on a return to individuality is not only underwhelming, but also omits a growing body of work that speaks back to engaging school leadership in challenging times and across contexts (e.g. Bergh, 2015; Bristol et al, 2014; Keddie, 2015; Misfud, 2016); this provides a response to the challenge of context that is critical and draws on more than the individualized responses of the maximum leader. Rather, it promotes responsive leading in challenging times as situated in the power of the social – the collective.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Paul Miller, Exploring school leadership in England and the Caribbean: New insights from a comparative approach

Bristol

2017

Power and Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

‘Decentralised’neoliberalism and/or‘masked’re-centralisation? The policy to practice trajectory of Maltese school reform through the lens of neoliberalism and Foucault

Cited by 19 publications

References 47 publications

Untitled

Untitled

Distribution dilemmas

Paul Miller, Exploring school leadership in England and the Caribbean: New insights from a comparative approach

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About