Dynamics in policy shifts: multiple streams analysis and the K to 12 basic education programme of the Philippines

ABSTRACT

Much of the extant studies on the transition to a K to 12 basic education programme in the Philippines have narrow scope and lack analytical rigour. Anchored on John Kingdon’s multiple streams analysis, this study analysed the dynamics of the educational shift by specifically looking into the streams of problem, policies, and politics. The findings demonstrated the viability of using the theory of public policy processes in understanding policy changes in transitional democracies like the Philippines. In addition, this study generated theoretical implications for educational politics, policy borrowing, and policy learning in comparative education research.

KEYWORDS:

• department of education
• educational politics
• K to 12 education
• multiple streams analysis
• policy borrowing
• policy learning

Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges University of the Philippines Cebu for funding support through the Faculty Grant in 2016. The author is also grateful to the insights and comments of the three anonymous reviewers. All shortcomings, however, are the author’s sole responsibility.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. This is a task that requires counterfactual analysis for establishing causality common in experimental and quasi-experimental designs but is gaining traction in education research, See (Lemons et al., 2014).

2. The 2013 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) is a nationwide survey covering around 26,000 sample households. The survey seeks to gather information on the basic and functional literacy status, educational skills qualifications of the population, and exposure to mass media.

3. From the 1990s to the present, several important broad frameworks for education reform have been instituted – Education for All (EFA), The Philippine Plan of Action 1990- 1999; the 1991 Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM); the 2000 Presidential Commission on Education Reform (PCER); the 2000 Education for All (EFA) Assessment; the ADB–WB initiated and funded Philippine Education Sector Study (PESS); the 2006 National Action Plan for Education for All 2015, and the 2006 Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA).

4. Civil society in the Philippines is a ‘curious case’ owing to its vibrancy and divergence vis-à-vis other social forces that are engaging the government and the state in policy areas across the last 25 years. For further reading regarding the dynamics within Philippine civil society, see Holmes (2011).

5. In the May 2010 elections, the two biggest left-leaning party list formations, Makabayan (the largest bloc of party list organizations comprising Bayan Muna, Anak Pawis, Gabriela, Kabataan, and Act Teachers) and Akbayan, entered into electoral alliances with the major presidential candidates. The latter’s supported candidate won and joined in the coalition in the government. For further reading about the history of Philippine left, see Quimpo (2008).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of the Philippines Cebu’s Faculty Grant [2016].

Notes on contributors

Ronald A. Pernia

Ronald A. Pernia is an Assistant Professor in the Political Science Programme, College of Social Sciences, University of the Philippines Cebu, Cebu City, Philippines. His research interests include politics of education, Philippine local history and elite studies, empirical political analysis, authoritarian politics, and comparative populism. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in the Institute of Political Science at the National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU) in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.