This paper argues that more focus on the temporal is needed in critical policy sociology in education. In so asserting, the paper extends the concept of 'historically informed' as included in the foundational definition of policy sociology in education proffered by Jenny Ozga. There are four foci to this extension to encompass the temporal, taken…

This paper focuses on the complex, entangled relationships between research and policy and suggests this is a very important topic in the contemporary era of so-called, 'evidence-based' or 'research-based' policy in education. The paper argues that we can only ever have 'evidence-informed' and 'research-informed' policy because all policy is an…

In 2011, the Taiwanese Ministry of Education issued a policy on the internationalisation of schooling. The policy assumes that being 'international' has become necessary in order to maintain economic competitiveness in a globalising world. It was published in two languages: Mandarin, the official language in Taiwan, and English, presupposed as a…

As the third-largest export industry, international education occupies an important place in the Australian economy and society. Employing Bacchi's "What is the Problem Represented to be" (WPR) approach, this paper critically analyses four key policies pertaining to international students in Australia since the 1990s. Drawing upon…

This article illustrates how the British Council Bangladesh (BCB) made use of panel discussions and commissioned research as policy vehicles to persuade the government of Bangladesh of the value of social enterprises for public service delivery, including in education. Drawing upon Appadurai's notion of 'imagined worlds' in relation to influential…

This paper traces the complexities, contingencies and tensions involved in the creation of a new, 'scientific' assessment in what we call Prefecture A in Japan. We start with a thick, granular description of the complicated and ongoing narrative of a new policy emergence. This descriptive account serves as a precursor to our application of an…

The argument of this paper is that new methodologies associated with the emerging field of "policy mobilities" can be applied, and are in fact required, to examine and research the networked and relational, or "topological", nature of globalised education policy, which cuts across the new spaces of policymaking and new modes of…

This article documents the methodological thinking that underpined a sociological study of "Teach for Bangladesh" ("TFB"), a globally mobile yet locally embedded education policy situated in a developing world context. In order to reassess education policy vis-à-vis spatialities-power, relationships-resources, culture-change…

This paper provides an account of the topological and its description of contemporary culture and use as a research methodology, a topological lens, generally, and in education research specifically. Some commentary is proffered on the relationships between the topological and the topographical, between relations and locations. A critical account…

This chapter deals with the multiple scales, spaces and places of contemporary education policy reforms. The focus is on new non-state policy actors, namely, international organizations such as the OECD, and edu-businesses such as Pearson. The first case of the OECD's PISA demonstrates the lack of policy learning in relation to international data…

Globally, education policy reforms are increasingly aimed at attending to excellence in education. This is mainly expressed as attempts at raising educational standards generally, but also of identifying intellectual elites and making special provisions for them. Denmark, which is otherwise considered an exponent of an equality-oriented tradition…

This paper provides a critical policy analysis and network ethnography of "Teach for Bangladesh" ("TfB"). We demonstrate that TfB is a localised version of a global teacher education policy--"Teach for All/America" ("TfAll/A"). Santos, Boaventura De Sousa [2002. "The Processes of Globalisation."…

In this paper, we examine how "Teach for Bangladesh" ("TfB") has utilised Facebook since 2012 in its effort to extend its policy influence and message to young Bangladeshi graduates and local population. We reveal this as an example of how Facebook has become a powerful new platform for "policy mediatisation." This is…

This paper reprises the argument for the emergence of a global education policy field and then focuses on the shared habitus of global and national policy actors and technicians. It is argued that this shared habitus is constituted as a reflection of and a contribution to the creation of the global education policy field. Bourdieu's approach to…

This paper examines the impact of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in two national policy contexts: Canada and Australia. Drawing on theories of globalisation and affect, the paper explores 'catalyst data' and its effects in these contexts to show how affective…