Global Education Policy Research Articles

Globalisation, the research imagination and deparochialising the study of education

This paper works in dialogue with Arjun Appadurai's paper, ‘Grassroots globalization and the research imagination’ in an attempt to outline some necessary changes in researching education in the multiple contexts of globalisation. The paper provides two narratives as part of this project, which Appadurai calls the ‘deparochialisation of the research ethic’. The first narrative deals with the emergence of a ‘world or global educational policy field’ and suggests that Bourdieu's epistemological disposition, work on fields and his late political critiques of neo‐liberal globalisation provide a way to begin to deparochialise the national focus of educational policy studies. The second narrative deals with my own pedagogies in relation to a full time MA course in educational policy and practice in Sheffield, where most of the students are from China, and my work in the Caribbean on Sheffield's masters and doctoral programmes. The two narratives demonstrate that Bourdieu's work inflected by postcolonialism, the creolisation of research and theory as a two‐way process of retranslation, and challenges to the dominant research ethic from post‐positivist epsistemologies of many sorts collectively offer an important contribution towards deparochialising research in education.

International Organizations, the “Education–Economic Growth” Black Box, and the Development of World Education Culture

International Organizations, the “Education–Economic Growth” Black Box, and the Development of World Education Culture

International Organizations, the "Education-Economic Growth" Black Box, and the Development of World Education Culture

International Organizations, the "Education-Economic Growth" Black Box, and the Development of World Education Culture

Globalizing policy sociology in education: working with Bourdieu

This paper uses Bourdieu to develop theorizing about policy processes in education and to extend the policy cycle approach in a time of globalization. Use is made of Bourdieu’s concept of social field and the argument is sustained that in the context of globalization the field of educational policy has reduced autonomy, with enhanced cross‐field effects in educational policy production, particularly from the fields of the economy and journalism. Given the social rather than geographical character of Bourdieu’s concept of social fields, it is also argued that the concept can be, and indeed has to be, stretched beyond the nation to take account of the emergent global policy field in education. Utilizing Bourdieu’s late work on the globalization of the economy through neo‐liberal politics, we argue that a non‐reified account of the emergent global educational policy field can be provided.

GATS and the Education Service Industry: The Politics of Scale and Global Reterritorialization

One consequence of the hype around globalization and education and debates on global political actors such as the World Bank, IMF and WTO—is that there has not been sufficient attention paid by education theorists to the development of a rigorous set of analytic categories that might enable us to make sense of the profound changes which now characterize education in the new millennium. 1 This is not a problema confined to education. Writing in the New Left Review, Fredric Jameson observes that debates on globalization have tended to be shaped by “…ideological appropriations— discussions not of the process itself, but of its effects, good or bad: judgements, in other words, totalizing in nature; while functional descriptions tend to isolate particular elements without relating them to each other.” In this paper we start from the position that little or nothing can be explained in terms of the causal powers of globalization; rather we shall be suggesting that globalization is the outcome of processes that involve real actors—economic and political—with real interests. Following Martin Shaw, we also take the view that globalization does not undermine the state but includes the transformation of state forms; “…it is both predicated on and produces such transformations.”3 Examining how these processes of transformation work, however, requires systematic investigation into the organization and strategies of particular actors whose horizons or effects might be described as global.

Plus ca change …the world bank global education policy and the post-washington consensus

For the last two decades the World Bank (WB) has increased its economic and ideological influence in setting the educational policy agenda of the so-called less developed countries (LDC). The economic crisis of two poor regions of the world in the 1980s (Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America), the reduction of bilateral forms of educational aid, and the economic and political protagonism of the WB through Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs), and loan conditionality have been important factors in locating the WB as a real subject of the educational globalization process. Since the 1990s, however, the WB hegemony in the economic, social and educational policies for development has been challenged by the evident failure of SAPS as a mechanism for achieving economic growth and the involvement of LDC in the global economy. In the educational field, direct and indirect effects of WB policies have had a negative impact on a number of indicators, while hitting especially the poorest sectors of society. Some authors have observed in this crisis a real challenge for the institution and the reason for the reconstruction of the WB's economic and educational policies. Changes in the role allocated to the state, new forms of attacking poverty or new strategies to set up links with the civil society are seen as clear signs of policy change. This article analyses the current WB educational policy priorities and strategies to assess the extent to which a real policy change can be observed. The article will show that, while there are some movements in the WB agenda, the theory, principles and expected outcomes of the WB education policy remain unaltered. Those observed movements, on the other hand, are interpreted as part of the necessary legitimisation strategies developed by the Bank to deal with its self-attributed role as the institution responsible for global welfare.

Globalization Viewed from the Periphery: The Dynamics of Teacher Identity in the Republic of Benin

L'auteur tente d'expliquer les differences d'impacts de la mondialisation au niveau local sur les systemes educatifs par les variations de l'identite des enseignants. L'enseignant, considere en tant qu'acteur social, politique et historique d'un pays donne, peut malgre tout aider a apporter des solutions aux politiques reformatrices developpees. En effet, si les pays en voie de developpement ont des besoins similaires qui repondent a des logiques, des priorites et des attentes bien definies, les consequences des reformes engagees different selon les pays.

Globalization Viewed from the Periphery: The Dynamics of Teacher Identity in the Republic of Benin

Globalization Viewed from the Periphery: The Dynamics of Teacher Identity in the Republic of Benin

Transnational Advocacy, Global Civil Society? Emerging Evidence from the Field of Education

L'objectif des auteurs de cet article est double. Il s'agit d'une part de presenter une etude exploratoire sur les tendances actuelles temoignant de l'emergence d'un nouvel activisme non gouvernemental dans le champ de l'education et d'autre part de dresser un cadre analytique afin d'evaluer l'importance de cet activisme, en elaborant des concepts bases sur les recherches ayant porte sur les nouveaux mouvements sociaux et les debats theoriques actuels a propos de la societe civile mondiale.

Transnational Advocacy, Global Civil Society? Emerging Evidence from the Field of Education

Transnational Advocacy, Global Civil Society? Emerging Evidence from the Field of Education

Civics and Values in the Asia‐Pacific Region

The Asia‐Pacific region has witnessed a substantial and frequently profound surge of interest in civics and democratic citizenship in recent years. This change has been driven by global forces and educational policy initiatives at national level in most countries and more localized levels in others. In turn these policies have been driven by a perceived need for a more active, participatory citizenry in a time of accelerated capitalism and globalization. A key feature of the policies in the region has been the deliberate inclusion of a set of values based on concepts of the ‘good’ citizen and democratic citizenship. This article examines these developments in selected countries within the region, with particular emphasis upon the values initiatives taken, in an attempt to make sense of the changing scene in civics education. This article was prepared as part of a project funded by the Pacific Basin Research Center and Soka University.

Education and Its Limitations in the Maintenance of Peace in El Salvador

Previous articleNext article No AccessEducation and Its Limitations in the Maintenance of Peace in El SalvadorLillian Moncada-DavidsonLillian Moncada-Davidson Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Comparative Education Review Volume 39, Number 1Feb., 1995Special Issue on Education in Latin America Sponsored by the Comparative and International Education Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/447289 Views: 20Total views on this site Citations: 9Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1995 The Comparative and International Education SocietyPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:D. Brent Edwards The EDUCO Program: Operation, Analyses, Evaluations, (Sep 2017): 31–66.https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50875-1_2D. Brent Edwards The National and International Context of El Salvador, (Sep 2017): 149–172.https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50875-1_6D. Brent Edwards Jr., Julián Antonio Victoria Libreros, Pauline Martin The geometry of policy implementation: Lessons from the political economy of three education reforms in El Salvador during 1990–2005, International Journal of Educational Development 44 (Sep 2015): 28–41.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2015.05.001D. Brent Edwards Conflict-Affected Contexts and Emergence of Global Education Policy, (Jan 2015): 85–103.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-010-9_6Andrea Dyrness National Divisions, Transnational Ties: Constructing Social and Civic Identities in Postwar El Salvador, The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology 19, no.11 (Apr 2014): 63–83.https://doi.org/10.1111/jlca.12076Moosung Lee, Tom Friedrich Citation Network Analysis of Comparative Education Texts, (Jan 2011): 113–144.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6091-722-6_7 Karen L. Biraimah Transforming Education, Transforming Ourselves: Contributions and Lessons Learned Biraimah, Comparative Education Review 47, no.44 (Jul 2015): 423–443.https://doi.org/10.1086/379493Helga Cuéllar-Marchelli Decentralization and privatization of education in El Salvador: Assessing the experience, International Journal of Educational Development 23, no.22 (Mar 2003): 145–166.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0738-0593(02)00011-1Jayne R. Beilke, Malcolm B. Campbell, J. Thomas Owens, Aziz Talbani, Sharon Kruse, Shirley Mthethwa-Sommers, Tracy Stevens, Martha L. Whitaker, Sylvia Norris Jones, Sharon Kruse BOOK REVIEWS, Educational Studies 31, no.22 (Jun 2000): 146–194.https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326993ES3102_5

The Reconstruction of Schooling in Africa

Often regarded primarily as a lending institution, the World Bank has increasingly emphasized its role as a development adviser. Few, if any, other international institutions have a comparable concentration of development expertise and experience. Its investment in research surely exceeds that of most African countries and perhaps all of them combined. In some domains-education is a prime example-the World Bank's development advice may have as much influence on programs and policies as its loans. As it plays this role, the World Bank becomes more than a broker of relevant information. Directly and indirectly, it seeks to guide and manage the creation of knowledge and, in doing so, to set the standards for what has come to be called knowledge production. Implicit in the provision of foreign assistance to African education are several broad propositions about the relationships among research, knowledge, and public policy. Generally accepted uncritically, these propositions seem unexceptional, so obvious that they hardly require systematic presentation and supporting evidence. Embedded in these propositions is an increasingly influential conjunction of funding and research that has far-reaching consequences for African education and for African development in general. The understanding implicit in the assistance relationship begins with two related assumptions: education is essential for development, and education in Africa is currently in such disarray that it cannot fulfill its developmental role. From that starting point comes a third widely accepted proposition: foreign assistance is required to support new initiatives in education, to rehabilitate African education systems that have deteriorated in recent years, and to meet recurrent expenditures. A second set of propositions informs the determination of what sort of assistance is to be provided. Although foreign assistance is of course negotiated and thus subject to the exigencies and vagaries of politics, priorities and targets for foreign aid should be determined, it is generally assumed, on the basis of careful research on education and development. That is, reliable knowledge about education, both in general and in its role in African development,

Mission to Planet Earth and global space education policy

Abstract Decisions about new curriculum and teaching strategies to be made before the full implementation of the global Mission to Planet Earth project now getting underway should be predicated on the basis of young students' (1) early comprehension of new technologies, (2) more complete understanding of the project in full, and (3) training and preparation for the work world and for university. No current human project requires more commitment than achieving an understanding of the integration of natural forces that make up our planet, and no project will eventually be as enlightening or demanding of our skills. Nothing less than the threatened survival of our planet is at stake.

Rethinking School Ethnographies of Colonial Settings: A Performance Perspective of Reproduction and Resistance

Previous articleNext article No AccessFocus on Comparative PerspectivesRethinking School Ethnographies of Colonial Settings: A Performance Perspective of Reproduction and ResistanceDouglas E. FoleyDouglas E. Foley Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Comparative Education Review Volume 35, Number 3Aug., 1991 Sponsored by the Comparative and International Education Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/447051 Views: 11Total views on this site Citations: 15Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1991 The Comparative and International Education SocietyPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Min Zhang “No! I Can’t!”: Noise and silence as everyday resistance at a Chinese suburban middle school, Ethnography 23, no.11 (Mar 2020): 104–129.https://doi.org/10.1177/1466138120910169Erwin H. Epstein Education as a Fault Line in Assessing Democratization: Ignoring the Globalizing Influence of Schools, (Sep 2021): 737–755.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66003-1_42Jana Obrovská Rituály s „těmi druhými“: Perspektiva interakčních rituálů ve školní etnografii etnicky různorodých třídních kolektivů, Sociální studia / Social Studies 11, no.22 (Aug 2016): 51.https://doi.org/10.5817/SOC2014-2-51Amy Stambach Ethnography and the Localization of Global Education Policy, (Mar 2016): 490–503.https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118468005.ch27Ken McGrew A Review of Class-Based Theories of Student Resistance in Education, Review of Educational Research 81, no.22 (Jun 2011): 234–266.https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654311402358David Poveda Performance and interaction during ‘reading hour’ in a Spanish secondary school, Linguistics and Education 22, no.11 (Mar 2011): 79–92.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2010.11.004Jeong-Hee Kim Understanding student resistance as a communicative act, Ethnography and Education 5, no.33 (Sep 2010): 261–276.https://doi.org/10.1080/17457823.2010.511349Monisha Bajaj ‘I have big things planned for my future’: the limits and possibilities of transformative agency in Zambian schools, Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education 39, no.44 (Jul 2009): 551–568.https://doi.org/10.1080/03057920701844503Ajay Sharma Making (electrical) connections: Exploring student agency in a school in India, Science Education 92, no.22 (Jan 2008): 297–319.https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.20246Malou Juelskjær Resisting and committing to schooling: intersections of masculinity and academic position, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 21, no.11 (Jan 2008): 49–63.https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390701768799Ben Rampton Language and Ethnicity at School : some implications from theoretical developments in Sociolinguistics, Langage et société n° 116, no.22 (Jun 2006): 51–71.https://doi.org/10.3917/ls.116.0051Norrel A. London School inspection, the inspectorate and educational practice in Trinidad and Tobago, Journal of Educational Administration 42, no.44 (Aug 2004): 479–502.https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230410544080Daniel A. Yon Highlights and Overview of the History of Educational Ethnography, Annual Review of Anthropology 32, no.11 (Oct 2003): 411–429.https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.32.061002.093449Mark G. McFadden Resistance to Schooling and Educational Outcomes: questions of structure and agency, British Journal of Sociology of Education 16, no.33 (Sep 1995): 293–308.https://doi.org/10.1080/0142569950160302Erwin H. Epstein Education as a Fault Line in Assessing Democratisation: Ignoring the Globalising Influence of Schools, (): 613–630.https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-2960-8_38