From Nursing to Pre-Med in the Design of Technological (vocational) High School Tracks: Neo-Liberalization and Heterogeneous Actor-Networks

In recent years, the Israeli secondary-school system has undergone various reforms. This has resulted in a gradual narrowing of the gap between academic and technological (vocational) tracks. Today, technological-track graduates can obtain a quality matriculation certificate that allows them to pursue academic studies in prestigious university departments.

This paper focuses on the health studies curriculum, its development, and its transformation from a low-status Practical Nursing track within the vocational subsystem (in the 1970s) to the prestigious Pre-Med program of the 21^st century.

At the macro level, the paper analyzes the social forces that affect this transformation. Following the ANT (Actor-Network Theory) methodology, it delves into the specific details of the process, unraveling the networks that enabled the establishment of the health studies curriculum and those that led to its ‘fall from grace’ and transformation.

In the design of the Practical Nursing track we see the influence of central actors who served as policymakers in various ministries. By contrast, the Pre-Med study programs were initiated by different and separate local heterogeneous actors and networks in various social and geographical locations and spaces in Israel.

This difference reflects a shift away from a centralized educational policy that is partly the result of globalization and a neo-liberal model that allows local actors to accumulate power and influence the design of official curricula. These forces fostered the development of inter-school competition and parental choice and thus promoted efforts to attract affluent populations and high-achieving students.

The change reflects the state’s retreat from its involvement in the establishment of curricula and the increasing influence of secondary actors, a situation that might affect the equality of opportunities provided to all students.