This paper extends the scholarship on attainment grouping by focusing on the policy initiatives of streaming and subject-based banding (SBB) in Singapore. The study is framed by the concept of pragmatic perfectionism, which refers to the continuous and ideals-oriented drive to improve a system through practical, incremental and paradoxical…

School subjects differ in their histories, epistemologies, and relations to state and federal policies. Though educational policymaking is shaped by how education leaders view school mathematics--what mathematics is, how mathematics is learned, and what counts as equitable and high-quality mathematics education--policy research often takes a…

Assessment policy in England is often of public significance. Assessments, especially GCSEs, A levels and their vocational equivalents, have significant stakes for candidates and wider society (including for school accountability and for selection to higher education). Such assessments are frequently critiqued. There has been little major…

This study explores the evolution of teacher education in Israel from 1974 to 2024, analysing key policy actions, reforms, and initiatives that have shaped the field over the past five decades. During these years, extensive efforts were undertaken at the state level by the Ministry of Education and the Council for Higher Education to elevate the…

This article explores the positioning of dual qualifications (DQs) in the Finnish education policy and the education system since the late 1980s. The analysis is carried out in the context of academic-vocational divide. At the end of the 1980s, Finland questioned the functionality of the strict academic-vocational divide in post-compulsory…

Purpose: This paper presents a qualitative systematic review of Swedish research on vocational education and training (VET) at the upper secondary school level over the past 20 years. The review is based on a theoretical model on curriculum making as social practice that may serve as model for comparative studies between countries. By introducing…

This study of rural stakeholders' perspectives related to college and career readiness exposes a nuanced dynamic that extends beyond pragmatic concerns for preparing rural students for the future. As college preparatory courses "crowded out" Career and Technical Education (CTE) offerings, stakeholders voiced a concomitant sense of losing…

While global citizenship education (GCE) becomes increasingly popular, the concept is still contested in definition and assumes different meanings in various contexts. Many countries have started including GCE-related concepts in national educational policies and school curriculum. However, not much empirical research has been conducted on GCE in…

This article engages with the teacher education (TE) reform approach adopted in India's National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. It locates the policy recommendations in the context and challenges of TE in India and makes sense of the NEP's vision for the domain. It examines the knowledge traditions and global education policy (GEP) discourses that…

Recent policy on careers guidance in England suggests a somewhat straightforward process. The assumption is that quality careers guidance will enable young people to make informed career-related decisions. However, the 'reality' of provision is far more complex, as highlighted by the findings from a small in-depth study of careers provision in one…

In this paper, which takes the form of a dialogue, we discuss the possible directions that vocational education might take in the contemporary social, economic and technological context of the early 21st century. Taking account of the unresolved debates around vocational education internationally and future global economic demands for expertise we…

What impact did the 1988 Education Reform Act (1988 ERA) have on higher education from the perspectives of professors working in the sector at the time? How did it reshape the sector's structures? How did it contribute to the conditions that have unleashed the so called 'undergraduate monster'? These questions are addressed in this paper. I draw…

In Switzerland, the baccalaureate school is an important pathway to university education, and the aspirations of families and students to enter baccalaureate school have grown. However, vocational education and training (VET) remains the predominant educational pathway and has a strong lobby. We investigate how in this context, the transition from…

Academisation of schooling in England is a significant development with consequences for the disavowal of the role of community and democracy in education at the local level and wider resonance for geo-policy jurisdictions where neoliberal education reforms play out. This study analyses the operation of power and control of Multi Academy Trust…

The five articles in this special issue present studies focusing on two key aspects of vocational education and transitions in the Nordic countries in relation to social justice: (a) impacts of policies and reforms on transitions and (b) content, practices, curriculum and equality. Collectively, the articles outline important similarities and…