Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is changing across Europe, reflecting multiple-policy intentions and assumptions about education in early years, and the role of the state in supporting, funding and regulating its institutions. In this article, we examine the evolution of ECEC comparatively in Finland and Sweden, and we explore the shifts…

There has been a transnational policy convergence in introducing professional standards for school leaders, and it constitutes a dominant discourse on school leadership. Focusing on the adoption of external references in policy transfer, this article presents a case in which the global leadership discourse was transferred to China, and the Chinese…

Curriculum has become a core element of universities' competitive positioning, internationally and nationally. This paper presents a longitudinal analysis of policy processes and outcomes associated with 'radical' university curriculum reforms that resulted in divergence from institutions' own historical patterns and national conventions and…

This paper critically examines narratives of internationalisation in higher education, highlighting three core narratives: a normative narrative that emphasises economic growth and quality education, a critical narrative that challenges internationalisation as a hegemonic market-based force, and a narrative that addresses colonial legacies, the…

This article analyses contradictions in the Thai engagement with UNESCO discourse by examining how concepts relating to Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship Education have been interpreted in key national policies. Thai education policy discourse signals convergence with certain aspects of the international sustainability…

The pursuit of inclusive education in different countries is shaped by the extent and the nature of existing special educational provisions. We focus on two authoritarian regimes in the previous century: Soviet Russia (USSR) with its ideology of class (proletarian humanism and egalitarian universalism) and South Africa with its ideology of race…

Through analysis of policy documents and interviews with educational practitioners, this study investigates the policy of professionalisation of teaching and teacher education in China. Key findings include participants' overall endorsement of professionalisation and identification with its objective along with mixed feelings towards several…

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between fair access policies and discourses of development through a policy analysis of higher education reform in post-authoritarian Indonesia (1998-present). The method was document analysis of five laws/regulations, using the criteria of accessibility, availability, and horizontality to…

This is the second of two articles on World Bank support for technical and vocational education and training in sub-Saharan Africa. The first article reviewed the World Bank's latest policy document on TVET in SSA. This article takes a broader historical perspective by examining the evolution of World Bank policy and practice in this key area of…

This paper explores how a group of Cambodian teachers implemented the Ministry of Education's Child Friendly Schools Policy. It uses the concept of translation to enable a more nuanced understanding of those factors that shaped and influenced how they interacted with and enacted the policy. Using a multi-site case study in three primary schools,…

Despite increasing consensus around strengthening school choice regulations to reduce its segregating effects, policy changes and research in this direction are scarce. In that context, this article tackles the recent equity-oriented reform introduced in the highly marketised Chilean school system. Based on in-depth interviews, we explore the…

National education policies often emerge from the global arena. These global policy norms hold the promise that reforms will produce similar education and development outcomes in different contexts. However, research on "how" and "why" global education reforms are practised 'on the ground' and with "what effects" is…

This study investigates the timing for a global education reform to be adopted locally. Drawing on the Multiple Streams Approach while expanding it with a transnational dimension, the Free-Semester Program in Korea is used to examine the convergence of the streams of problem, policy, and politics. An analysis of policy documents, media accounts,…

It is often assumed within much of the academic literature and by many of those working in higher education that universities across Europe are homogenising, converging around an Anglo-American model as a result of neo-liberal pressures and the aim of creating a single European Higher Education Area. However, drawing on an analysis of 92 policy…

In the context of educational globalisation, the role of supranational organisations in shaping the educational policy decisions, especially of aid-dependent countries, has increased. Using global governance as a theoretical framework and Critical Policy Sociology (CPS) as a methodological framework, this paper analysed key educational policy…