ABSTRACT

As the title implies, this paper is concerned with the new: with the new times we are going through; the new education policies and new and pseudo-new education forms that both reflect and help to effect such times; and with the new issues for education that arise as a result of the new. We will begin with a brief overview of the current education policies that are seeking to effect ‘new’ education and will point to one particular consequence of such policies. We will then briefly identify some of the key features of ‘new times’ and some of the debates about this concept. The rest of the paper will focus on the new educational forms which have emerged as a result of the heady mix of new policies and new times. It will identify their key features, put them into historical context, and identify a framework which helps to conceptualize the structural shifts which these new forms represent. We will conclude by raising a number of issues about new education in new times.