'Reducing Conflict In Educational Policies' Educational policies are more a product of two things; political ideology and educational ideology. The ideologies represent the framework of values, ideas, beliefs, attitudes, expectations and desires of those empowered with leadership against those with expert power closer to the society on the ground. The two ideologies easily contradict each other, but can when properly managed complement each other. The main issue is how to do this.

To demonstrate a few examples of conflicts in ideologies, in the neo-liberal approach, the political systems dictate that schools should compete in national examinations, pupils should compete as well, parents become consumers who purchase the education commodity by sending their children to schools of their choice as long as they are able to pay the fees. Individual or private providers are allowed to run education as a business from pre-primary education to higher education in a free market. On the other hand, teachers who follow the progressive approach want to claim learner-centred teaching, individual participation, personal development, elimination of social inequality, emphasis on equality of opportunity among students, positive self concept, parent-teacher partnership and non-streaming of schools. The two ideologies are clearly contradictory. Therefore, education policies that are formulated on the basis of such ideological frame of thinking have a wider field of conflict. How can such conflict be reduced?

There is no readily available answer to this issue. Admittedly, both ideologies cannot be overlooked in policy formulation. For example globalisation and neo-liberalism are the challenges that the modern economy is heading towards. At the same time a contemporary classroom instruction is expected to be learner-centred but also consider the needs of the knowledge economy. Schools in developed countries, for example, are experimenting with the methods of critical thinking in classroom instruction. While teaching is done to address the 'objective', 'topic' and 'subject', teachers may be required to move towards applying methods that train learners to be critical thinkers.

To shift towards complementary ideological approach requires first, that policy makers should recognise that teachers and parents are critical in policy formulation. Teachers must lead with knowledge, skills and information and actively participate at all levels of policy formulation. For example, teachers need to be helped to understand the political thinking and be given the opportunities to come up with ways in which the political views could be incorporated in their instructional activities. Many times policy makers and politicians participate in world forums where they agree on economic and political agendas, which cannot be achieved without the teacher and the parent, but unfortunately do not take these critical and potential change agents on board. For example, how many teachers and parents know about Education for All (EFA) goals and/or Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)? When education and political leaders attend such world meetings, how many ever think of taking a teacher and parent with them? A complementary ideological education policy making should begin by recognising that teachers and parents cannot forever remain at the margins of policy making.

Secondly, "context matters". An education system cannot achieve equality by treating situations as equal. Equality can be achieved if situations are not treated as if they are the same. Variations, local needs, special cases and differences must be appreciated. In that way, parents in different communities will be accommodated in policy planning in their special way. Educational resources will be distributed according to the rate of demand and criticality of the issues to be addressed in specific context.

The amount of money, attention, time, energy and effort that the education policy provided for children in Nxau-Nxau School in North West district should be more than what the policy plan provides for the children in the Segale, Masunga and Sebele schools in Kgatleng, North East and Kweneng districts respectively, because the context must be taken into consideration. Teachers and parents in the schools need greater support and more opportunity to participate in policy making and to further interact with policy documents so that they fully merge the political and educational ideologies in the way they run their school and the way they teach in their classrooms.