ERIC Number: EJ1131037
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0268-0939
EISSN: N/A
Tracing Assessment Policy Discourses in Neoliberalised Higher Education Settings
Raaper, Rille
Journal of Education Policy, v32 n3 p322-339 2017
This article explores assessment policy in two European universities with different political, historical and social backgrounds: the University of Glasgow and Tallinn University. The University of Glasgow is a well-established Russell Group university in the UK; Tallinn University is a relatively new university in post-Soviet Estonia, shaped by very recent neoliberalisation processes. By applying a Foucauldian theorisation and Faircloughian methodology, this article approaches assessment policy as not only relating to institutional contexts but also national and global policy environments. The article argues that the assessment policy in Glasgow relates to globally dominant neoliberal discourses of accountability and excellence. These discourses have turned assessment into a complex technology of government that manages educational processes as well as academic and student subjectivities. While Tallinn University is shaped by neoliberalism at strategic levels, the policy documents in Tallinn still indicate a strong sense of local tradition where regulations have a modest impact on academic freedom and assessors' disciplinary power over students.
Descriptors: Higher Education, Educational Policy, Policy Analysis, Foreign Countries, Universities, Comparative Education, Cross Cultural Studies, Neoliberalism, Accountability, Excellence in Education, Academic Freedom, Student Evaluation, Discourse Analysis, College Students, Educational Administration
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Estonia; United Kingdom (Glasgow)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A