Tracing translations of ICT policies in higher education

Authors

  • Gary Alberto Cifuentes Aalborg University & Los Andes University
  • Paola Valero Aalborg University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.24.1914

Keywords:

Policy translation, Policy enactment, ICT policies, Sociomateriality, Higher education

Abstract

Educational policy enactment is a matter of policy translation. A Latourian sociomaterial perspective is proposed to challenge traditional policy implementation frameworks. We offer analytical tools to trace processes of policy translation in practice settings as entanglements of human agents, material actants and activities. The analytical strategy is deployed in the case of three Colombian higher education institutions working with ICT policies for teacher development. The cases show that agency is distributed among different entities constituting assemblages that enact policies in unexpected pathways. Equally, in all these cases routine activities or unobserved artifacts were key to trace such translations of policies. Our analysis and findings provide a critical review of hermeneutics of policies, one of the dimensions of Stephen Ball´s policy enactment theory. In doing so, a more nuanced understanding of policy enactment is achieved, contributing both theoretically and methodologically in the analysis of education policies in Latin America.

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Author Biographies

Gary Alberto Cifuentes, Aalborg University & Los Andes University

Gary Cifuentes is an educational researcher with a focus on the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) in education. His experience and interest are devoted to critical analysis of education policies, ICT leadership in institutions, and assessment on virtual learning environments. He is psychologist, Master in philosophy and PhD in Human Centered Communication and Informatics. He became an educational researcher in 2004 when he started to work at Los Andes University (Colombia). As an assistant professor at CIFE (Education Research and Training Centre) he is the formal leader in the group on ICT and education. His participation in a national project with the Colombian Ministry of Education initiated his interest in ICT policies and was the starting point for a critical reflection on technologies, policies and their enactments.

Paola Valero, Aalborg University

Paola Valero is Professor of Education in Mathematics and Science, director of the Science and Mathematics Education Research Group (SMERG), and director of the Doctoral Program Technology and Science at the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Aalborg University, Denmark. She researches the significance of mathematics and science in the school curriculum as fields where power relations are actualized in producing subjectivities and generating inclusion/exclusion of different types of students. Her research is part of the Nordic Center of Excellence “Justice through education in the Nordic Countries”.

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Published

2016-02-29

How to Cite

Cifuentes, G. A., & Valero, P. (2016). Tracing translations of ICT policies in higher education. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 24, 28. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.24.1914

Issue

Section

Stephen J. Ball y la investigación sobre políticas educativas en América Latina