知識經濟∕商品化教育∕績效學校：九０年代教育市場化的發展與挑戰

Knowledge Economy/Commercialized Education/Accountable Schools: The Development and Challenge of Marketizing Education in the 1990s

知識經濟時代的經濟基礎與特徵對於教育的發展有何重要的意涵？帶來什麼樣的挑戰？隨著共產政權的崩解，政治上的壁壘分明逐漸為經濟上的國際競賽所取代，當經濟競賽愈趨自由化、全球化、資訊化，各國無不卯足全力從事相對應的人力資源發展，一九六○年代就被提出的人力資本論再度受到矚目，教育與訓練再度被視為贏得這場經濟競賽的重要籌碼，各國提出的教育改革策略或多或少都可以說是經濟競賽驅動下的產物，換言之，儘管知識經濟標榜新經濟型態的來臨，教育在新經濟時代裡被賦予的角色或被期望的功能並無根基性的改變，教育在新經濟時代裡更像商品，學校在新經濟時代裡更求績效，九○年代許多國家的教育市場化改革策略都可說是教育商品化、學校績效化的反映。本文首先探討知識經濟的意涵及其與政治情勢、經濟成長與教育發展的關係，其次分析全球性的教育改革趨勢，以英、美九○年代的教育市場化政策為例，說明教育政策的制訂如何與經濟發展的需求如影隨形，接著對比兩個國家的學校績效運動，指出知識經濟在不同的社會脈絡裡所隱含的政治意涵及其可能產生的社會後果，最後探討英、美教育市場化改革策略在理念上所面臨的挑戰，在實際運作上所遭遇的困能，及其對臺灣教育改革的啟示。

What implications does the knowledge economy have for the development of education and what challenges will it bring about? Since the collapse of the communist regimes， the economic race among nation states has gradually replaced the political one. As deregulation and globalization of the economy get more and more intensified， all states get more devoted to developing human resources. The human capital theory that has been proposed since the 1960s receives serious attention again. Education and training are believed to be very important chips to win. It is safe to say that the educational reform strategies employed by many states are driven by the economic competition. Even if the knowledge economy claims a new economic pattern to come， the role that education is expected to play remains. In the age of the new economy， education becomes more like a commodity and schools are demanded to be more accountable， that were reflected by the international trend of marketization of education in the 1990s. This paper is first to discuss the meaning of the knowledge economy and its relations to political situations， economic growth and educational development. Next it analyzes the global trend of educational reform. Taking the policies of marketizing education in the U.S. and the U.K. as examples， the close relationship between the formulation of educational policies and the need of economic growth is articulated. The contrast of the school accountability movement in both countries follows to show that the knowledge economy has certain political implications and social consequences in different societal contexts. Finally， the challenges facing the policies of marketization of education in idea and in practice are discussed and their implications for educational reform in Taiwan are drawn.