The Decentralisation Debate: Thinking about Power

Berkhout, Susara J

doi:10.1007/s11159-005-7743-z

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The central government is influenced by international educational development organisations and how they collaborate on in-service teacher development initiatives. According to Berkhout (2005), education policy is embedded not only in a particular historical background, but also globally where similar contextual forces drive reform. An example of this is the USAID funded project which allowed two US university partners-the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to work with lecturers from eight universities in Western Indonesia on action research training for lecturers who in turn would help school teachers to conduct classroom action research in schools (Milligan, 2011).…”

Section: Cbar As a Government's Progressive Initiative And Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Complexities of Implementing Classroom-Based Action Research in a Remote School in Indonesia

Hajar¹

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Despite almost a decade since the introduction as a professional learning model for teachers in Indonesia, the growth of Classroom-Based Action Research (CBAR) is very limited. The CBAR process in Indonesia has relied heavily on one-off-top-down and non-school based professional development.This study was conducted in a small town in the Eastern Flores regency of the East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. The study involved English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers at one public secondary school in a rural and disadvantaged context who worked with the researcher to attempt to implement a school based approach to CBAR. Four phases of the study were conducted: Getting started; Workshops; CBAR in action; and Post CBAR through an imagined, intended and enacted methodological structure. In this study I adopted a Foucauldian approach as a theoretical perspective, as well as applying Foucauldian theories to the data analysis.Drawing on a variety of data sources including: meetings and interviews; workshop sessions and classroom visits; and reflective journals and field notes, the study identified three major discourses circulating within the CBAR project. These three discourses are used to explore understandings of reflective practice, subject positionings, and collaboration.The Foucauldian approach to analysis focused on discourses and the idea that individuals have multiple identities as a result of multiple subject positionings, and their relationships are influenced by the discourses that operate within a specific context. These discourses create the nexus between power and knowledge and impact on how the CBAR worked in this context, how the participants positioned me and themselves, how they positioned themselves and their colleagues, and were positioned by their colleagues, in their effort to implement the CBAR project.Through the exploration of the discourses of reflective practice, it was found that being a critical practitioner was not easily translated into a remote and disadvantaged context in Indonesia.An analysis of the discourses of subject positionings indicates the participants' multiple constructions of me and my multiple constructions of them continued throughout the study due to the complexities of the situation. There were often 'pull and push' subject positionings where I attempted to get the teachers to do research but their limited abilities, autonomy, and resources as well as their practice/tradition rooted in the mandates/policy from the central government created problems. There were also tensions and struggles in their inability to complete research without my ii assistance and constant request for help, and my tensions and struggles to avoid providing and giving more assistance.Through the investigation of the discourses of collaboration, it was found that the implementation of the project as a collaborative work is a site of tension for both the participants and myself caused in part by the multiple identities that we took up. There were tensions and struggles between the partic...

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Section: Cbar As a Government's Progressive Initiative And Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Complexities of Implementing Classroom-Based Action Research in a Remote School in Indonesia

Hajar¹

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“…However, others analyze this as a dynamic political process in which centralization and decentralization are interactively constituted. The process does not simply involve “the distribution of the manifest powers of decision-making and the challenges involved in the (re)allocation of resources” (Berkhout 2005 , p. 315), because power is relational and mediated through discourses (Foucault 1977 ). When analyzing processes of decentralization it is therefore essential to distinguish between the model and the outcome.…”

Section: Decentralization and Environmental Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Systems and Local Actors: Decentralizing Environmental Policy in Uganda

Oosterveer

Vliet

2010

Environmental Management

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In Uganda, environmental and natural resource management is decentralized and has been the responsibility of local districts since 1996. This environmental management arrangement was part of a broader decentralization process and was intended to increase local ownership and improve environmental policy; however, its implementation has encountered several major challenges over the last decade. This article reviews some of the key structural problems facing decentralized environmental policy in this central African country and examines these issues within the wider framework of political decentralization. Tensions have arisen between technical staff and politicians, between various levels of governance, and between environmental and other policy domains. This review offers a critical reflection on the perspectives and limitations of decentralized environmental governance in Uganda. Our conclusions focus on the need to balance administrative staff and local politicians, the mainstreaming of local environmental policy, and the role of international donors.

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“…This decentralisation is, however, accompanied by centralisation and a strengthening of the education ministry's regulatory power (cf. Berkhout 2005). The public sector exerts pressure with a focus on good results, in both countries.…”

Section: The Kenyan and The Swedish School Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Same but different: head teachers′ perceptions of leadership in Kenya and Sweden

Thylefors

Persson

Thylefors³

et al. 2007

Africa Education Review

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The Decentralisation Debate: Thinking about Power

Cited by 4 publications

References 8 publications

The Complexities of Implementing Classroom-Based Action Research in a Remote School in Indonesia

The Complexities of Implementing Classroom-Based Action Research in a Remote School in Indonesia

Environmental Systems and Local Actors: Decentralizing Environmental Policy in Uganda

Same but different: head teachers′ perceptions of leadership in Kenya and Sweden

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