Drawing upon a long-term study of venture philanthropy and public schools in Australia, this paper focuses on Teach For Australia (TFA) as a major component of a venture philanthropic network, one that builds critical infrastructures and connections between non-government organisations and the state, creating a product pipeline into public…

Across the globe school autonomy reforms have been criticised for opening up public assets to various dangers or risks, from misappropriation of public monies by private sponsors to secretive governance structures maintained by homophilic groups. While these risks are not the exclusive product of school autonomy reforms, they are an endemic…

This paper explores perceptions of work intensification around the world. Underpinning this analysis is C. Wright Mills' (1959) argument that many personal troubles are public issues, and the notion that a significant dimension of the privatisation of public education, a concern of public education advocates worldwide, is the ways in which school…

Purpose: Current developments in the Australian agricultural research, development and extension (RD&E) system exemplify the complex governance challenges arising from the international privatisation of agricultural extension. Presenting early challenges emerging from a multi-stakeholder project aimed at stimulating the role of the private…

Universities receive a great deal of attention by governments due to its vast importance in development and economy. Productive type of universities are the most affective in this regard as they are producers of income, research, patents, intellectual activities, and good graduates. No wonder, they are always ranked highly among international…

One significant, tangible and interesting challenge for the privatised university is its impedance of particular forms of effective engagement and action in teaching and research, notably with respect to inequities in the broader social context, and the position of the university within that context. In the face of significant resource constraints…

This paper provides a critical analysis of the edu-businesses currently working in partnership with the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority to deliver the Commonwealth government policy initiative of the National Assessment Program--Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). These emerging public--private partnerships (PPPs) exemplify…

This paper proceeds from the view that managerial capture has already become a fundamental problem after a couple of decades of largely untrammelled managerialism in our public universities, and that this problem is likely to be compounded by further shifts towards deregulation and de facto privatisation, which is the direction that current…

While students chanting "No cuts, No fees, No corporate universities" may be dismissed as youthful hyperbole by some, it is not as superficial a characterisation of the state of our public university system as it seems.

Managerial changes to Australian universities have had considerable impact on employees. In this article, we consider some of these changes and apply a theory known as the democratic deficit to them. This theory was developed from the democratic critique of managerialism, as it has been applied in the public sector in countries with…

Much has been written about globalization and the challenge of preparing young people for the new world of work and life in times of complexity and continuous change. However, few works have examined how globalization has and will continue to shape education in the East. This volume discusses education within the context of globalization and…

Discusses the rise of entrepreneurialism in Australian universities as one response to globalization. Examines its positive and negative effects upon educational standards, academic morale, and structure of academic work. Highlights areas of fundamental change in the sector, including changes in university missions and culture and the uneven…

An analysis of Australia's two conflicting trends in school governance and their effectiveness in meeting two major educational challenges is the purpose of this paper. Nationalization, which refers to greater centralization and increased national regulation; and privatization, which refers to decentralization, deregulation, and increased local…