Educational Reform in Europe

Education is a contested terrain. The symmetry of education reform among the seven countriesexamined in this volume is remarkable. There is much commonality in the issues they raise inthe competing groups battling over education policy their policy choices and theimplementation of such policies. Also all seven countries address the same issues: equityglobal competition the performance of their students. Nonetheless differences are subtle andsignificant.There are at least six important traits characterizing these battles: the context the combatants theissues the process student performance and the policies. To begin with history culture andgovernance regime set the context for education policy and reform. Second there is the processof how these battles are waged--is compromise an outcome or is it a zero sum contest? Thirdthere appear to be four groups of combatants each with its own ideology representing a particularsocial class in society and their views about education and its uses: Conservatives Socialists Neo-Liberals and Elites. Education is animportant and valued resource that each status group tries to control and shape to its own views. Fourth there are key issues that driveeducation reform: how education can best flatten a social system how education trains students for work and how education socializesstudents to be functioning citizens. In recent years a fifth issue has emerged: student performance on international standardized tests.Not only is a society's international reputation based on their students' performance but nations see such performance as an indicator ofthe quality of their educational system and if it is good enough to secure its economic future. Finally there are the policies themselves--do they reduce or increase inequality who benefits and how?The chapters in this volume clearly point out that education reform is not a homogeneousprocess as some scholars have conjectured. Rather education reform involves heated battlesover the control of the educational system because education is seen as a key factor inmaintaining a society's vision and social structure.