There has been an abundance of research on commercial actors in education. However, there has hardly been any attempt to streamline the existing ways of thinking about their presence and activity in the field of education. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to do a comprehensive literature review on the involvement of commercial actors in…

This study examined the lived experience of 10 activist teachers at the kindergarten through 12th grade level. All participants were veteran teachers with 10 or more years of public school experience who have come to terms with bureaucratic elements inside the system and yet continue to practice active resistance to policies, practices, and…

Influencing major education policies in the US such as school vouchers and charter schools, market theory assumes that organizational autonomy, parental choice, and competition between schools improve the quality of education. However, whether those policies can influence the instructional core of schools is not well understood. Comparing private…

This paper analyses the approach to systemic educational reform in the Arabian states of the Gulf and the central role within that of the Global Education Industry (GEI). Initially the authors identify the commonalities of their approach; subsequently they compare the approaches in Bahrain and Qatar. They demonstrate how the GEI is embedded in all…

Purpose: This study explores the development trajectory of private tutoring in Bangladesh. Specifically, it illustrates how private tutoring has emerged and expanded in the country's education system and examines how governments have responded on this issue. Design/methodology/approach: The authors adopted a case study methodology for this study.…

This paper engages, Sara Ahmed's theorising on 'the uses of use' to frame an analysis of the hidden, embedded effects of standardised testing policy that have become normative practice/s in Queensland, Australia. It (re)examines data from an ethno-case study into the datafication of assessment and learning over one school year, in primary and…

Relatively few studies have explored the ways in which 'middle tier' institutional arrangements in education, such as school districts and local authorities, are responding to New Public Management reforms characterized by centralization, decentralization, marketization and disintermediation. This paper analyses these issues, drawing on governance…

In response to growing pushback to decades of privatization and disinvestment in high-poverty communities of color, elected officials and business leaders in the United States have turned to 'community-engaged strategies' to advance education reform. This qualitative case study of a California school district, the Oakland Unified School District,…

International schools in China have enjoyed soaring popularity in recent years. Many of these schools adopt curricular forms and/or school brands originating from the US, UK or Canada, and they brand themselves as American-style ("meishi"), British-style ("yingshi") and Sino-Canadian ("zhongjia") international schools…

Marketing in schools has a new twist, and teachers are at the center. Corporate firms, particularly those producing education-technology products, have contracted with teachers to become so-called brand ambassadors and micro-influencers. Scant research, however, has examined these brand ambassador arrangements, leaving policymakers uninformed…

In recent years, international development organisations have responded to concerns about the growth of private schooling in the global south by calling on governments to commit to quality public provision and effective regulation of the private sector. This paper draws on the case of India's experience with the Right to Education Act to consider…

This report draws on insight from a nationally representative survey of schools in England, a convenience sample of nearly 1,500 supply teachers and qualitative research with 60 supply teachers, 22 leaders, and seven supply teacher providers conducted in 2023. It explores individuals' motivations for entering the supply market, along with the…

Across the globe school autonomy reforms have been criticised for opening up public assets to various dangers or risks, from misappropriation of public monies by private sponsors to secretive governance structures maintained by homophilic groups. While these risks are not the exclusive product of school autonomy reforms, they are an endemic…

Schooling is a subsidiary of reform, which is an institution. Reform commodifies people, making them resources to social ends. As an institution, reform's dual and interrelated mission is self-perpetuation and consolidation of the status quo. A corollary is that damages of reform are greater on marginalized populations than on privileged ones. As…

The purpose of this study was to conduct a critical text analysis of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) policy documents and the resources teachers have access to help them implement these standards into their classroom. NGSS outlines the skills and content needed for students to become proficient in STEM fields. These standards increase the…