This handbook provides a global synthesis of on-going research in education and policy change during the last decade. It examines discourses of globalisation from the perspectives of the global North and global South. Major theories of globalisation and education policy reforms employed in the handbook are classified into two broad categories:…

This article addresses how European policy initiatives in higher education, research and innovation are diffused in the European higher education research and education area. Based on an instrumental and an institutional perspective, specific expectations are developed as to how policy diffusion might unfold, and, through an in-depth analysis of…

As a leading mobilizer of international development and educational knowledge, the World Bank has been critiqued in two key areas: (1) the dominance of economic thinking in its policies, and (2) its Northern-generated knowledge which informs its work in the Global South. In this paper, we investigate the disciplinary foundation of Bank knowledge,…

This reflective think-tank contribution begins by comparing advocacy and research as distinct modalities of professional and social action. In practice they frequently elide and merge into one another. While alliance and complementarity between the two modalities is constructive for shaping policy and practice, it poses risks when governments and…

This article explores the policy changes and actions that have taken place in Scotland between 2005 and 2014 in response to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD). This article examines the development and content of policy documents relating to schools, Further and Higher Education and Community Learning and Development,…

The author cannot think of a time in his career when the leaders of higher education institutions have faced so many complex issues and hard decisions, with the possible exception of the student uprisings in the late 1960s to early 1970s. Unlike that earlier time, however, the issues facing higher education today go to the very heart of who people…

The purpose of this article is to suggest how philosophy might play a key, if precisely delineated, role in the shaping of policy that leads educational development. The argument begins with a reflection on the nature of confidence in the relationship between philosophy and policy. We note the widespread resistance to abstract theorising in the…

Since 1995 I have been engaged in consultancies and since 2001 in research dealing with the language of instruction policies in Africa. To what extent are the policies being implemented? What is the role of research and consultancy when it comes to language policy? What happens when researchers or consultants come up with recommendations which do…

This report attempts to clarify certain aspects of educational research policy According to the preface, the objectives of a research policy cannot be formulated except in the context of educational and related policy goals. The organization of the decision-making process to achieve the objectives must be brought into the picture. In effect,…

This synopsis of a symposium on priorities for research and development in education was intended as a planning report for the National Institute of Education. The members of the symposium suggested that the following research and development efforts be undertaken: a) an analysis of the data base for teacher education; b) an analysis of the…

In order to develop and implement new governmental policies in educational research and development (R&D) which meet the needs of R&D specialists and the concerns of the public, it is important to understand the complexity of the research-development-knowledge utilization cycle and to develop a strategy which serves the public interest but…

This paper originated as part of the early phases of internal planning within the National Institute for Education (NIE). A status study was conducted of the existing system of educational research and development (R&D) which (1) provided a framework of information as an initial context for framing policy and (2) examined a major mandate,…

Stanford's multidisciplinary program (1) encourages the combining of a concern over educational policy and educational changes with the competence to make rigorous and imaginative contributions to policy and change; and (2) develops an awareness of the relationship among policymaking in education, fundamental research in social science, and…

Case studies have shown that, while only a limited number of research-based products or processes are available for introduction into teacher education programs, involvement of trainers and teachers in originating and developing innovations is necessary if they are to become widespread and influential. Because innovation requires changed behavior…

Discusses the processes by which science education policy is determined at the National Science Foundation (NSF). Included are the degree of the involvement of different groups in policy-making, major issues related to the role of the NSF, and policies currently in effect. (HM)