Steering futures
Practices and possibilities of institutional redesign in Australian education and training
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11488166 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Terri Seddon (0000-0002-6554-8347, corresponding author), Lawrence Angus |
| Year | 1999 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 491-506 |
| Publication date | 1999-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Education Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0268-0939 • E-ISSN: 1464-5106 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/026809399286170 |
| OpenAlex | W1978461375 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 15 |
This paper reports findings from an enthographic study of educational restructuring in an Institute of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) in Victoria Australia. Educational restructuring is analysed as a process of institutional redesign and theorized in relation to recent debates in institutional theory concerning the nature of institutional change. The review distinguishes between hyperrational approaches to institutional redesign based upon assumptions about rational actors and their motivations and behaviours, and social and cultural perspectives on institutional redesign that sees purposeful institutional change achieved through processes of ‘institutional gardening’. The paper documents the way Australian governments have adopted hyperrational strategies aimed at changing education and training by reworking institutional rules that frame the day-to-day practices within particular organizations. Reworking these practices of organizing serves to steer change by restructuring and rearticulating relationships, practices and centres of power within organizations. Data drawn from interviews with the TAFE Institute Director, and various managers and teachers are used to track the effects of government steering in the TAFE Institute. This analysis shows that government steering drives management steering in the TAFE Institute, creating new imperatives and work organization. These organizational changes are influenced by local conditions and management priorities. They also call forth counter-steering by teachers and managers as they attempt to deal with change. The paper suggests that hyperrational government steering drives towards probable educational futures but is also interrupted by counter-steering oriented to other values and priorities. While there are probable futures, there are also preferred futures to be willed for and worked for
Business · Economic growth · Economics · Futures contract · Government (linguistics · Higher education · Management · Political science · Power (physics · Process (computing · Public relations · Restructuring · Sociology · Work (physics · Education Systems and Policy · Engineering · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Management and Organizational Studies · Public Administration · Finance
Reforming education and changing schools
The Long Revolution
Education and Public Policy in Australia
Designing Institutions in East European Transitions
Institutions and Their Design
The Theory of Institutional Design
Economic Rationalism in Canberra
Beyond Economic Man
Interpreting Contemporary Contractualism
Modernity and the State
Assessing the Institutional Context of Decentralised School Management
Gender and Institutions
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,05 |
| Citation span | 2004 - 2004 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |