This article reports on data and analysis from a case study investigating policy enactments in a multi-academy trust (MAT) in England. The focus is the influence of a policy intermediary organisation (PIO), The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), on policy making by school leaders. The case is located in the literacy policy of a MAT of 15…

Background: Understanding knowledge utilisation in policymaking is a core task for the social and political sciences. However, limitations and biases abound in commonplace approaches to measuring such use. Consequently, we have little systematic evidence of the extent to which knowledge sources are used in policy decisions. Aims and objectives:…

This paper delves into the multifaceted landscape of South Africa's 2004 e-education White Paper, addressing critical issues related to digital equity, educational disparities, and leadership, particularly in the context of the post-COVID-19 era. The study employs a qualitative approach, conducting in-depth content analysis of policy reports,…

In this critical, political discourse analysis, we trace how two concepts, equity and quality, became discursively linked and contested in the administration of postsecondary education policy over time (1968-1994) -- a developmental process we refer to as (e)quality politics. By engaging in a historical analysis, we investigate (a) the racialized…

Education policies are typically anchored in official texts that provide a foundation for their enactment in schools. What are the implications of an "invisible" policy not anchored in any official text due to political motives? This study explores the enactment of an invisible education policy that regulates religious enclave schools.…

Global scholarly narratives have identified a strong influence of anti-racist, anti-discrimination, and gender equality movements and discourses on affirmative actions in higher education in different national contexts. While empirically valid for various cases, this portrait overlooks affirmative actions' problematic entanglements with other…

This article engages in evidence-based policymaking by addressing (a) how civil servants endeavor to link evidence and policy and (b) examining how political bias influences this knowledge work in the ongoing digitalization of the Norwegian school. More specifically, it looks at the "uncertainties" civil servants encounter in their…

Hybrid teaching & learning (T&L) environments in higher education are on the rise. This study adopts a qualitative exploratory approach to draw on data from interviews with 15 academics to examine their perspectives of hybrid T&L in a higher education, post COVID-19 context. In a unique application of both the Reset, Restore, Reframe…

This article analyses how the future has been discussed in Swedish higher education and research policy, providing an overview of public inquiries during the period 1970-2020. Expanding on the conceptual framework of German historian Reinhart Koselleck, the article approaches discourses on the future through the analytical lens of sociology of…

Diversity audits are frequently used as an assessment method to measure the diversity of a library collection. Yet, there is not frequent research on the aftermath of diversity audits, especially in the context of comparing data from several audits to assess the difference in the makeup of a library collection. In this article, the author…

The report examines two communities in New York City's suburban Westchester County--Scarsdale and Port Chester--and the ways in which restrictive zoning impedes educational opportunities. The first part of this report examines how Scarsdale and Port Chester differ in their demographic makeups, home prices, and in the educational opportunities that…

This article investigates policymaking for Norwegian lower secondary education, with a focus on policy problems and solutions emphasising pre-vocational education. The data consist of official policy documents such as Green and White Papers, hearings, propositions to the parliament, protocols of parliamentary debates and votes in the parliament.…

The purpose of this study is to trace and document the emerging contours of a Vocational Training, Adult Education and Lifelong Learning (VTAELL) space in the EU via an examination of the policy framework built over time in this area over more than six decades, from the inception of today's European Union to the present day. Nineteen key primary…

Policy change is an integral part of the modern education policymaking process. Policy changes can be done with different tools, one of which lies in policy transfer. The cons and pros of the education policy change and transfer can be seen comprehensively in post-socialist states, as the education system changed fundamentally in line with…

This paper identifies and considers issues of perspective taking and communicative agency in applying Jürgen Habermas's discourse theory to policymaking in educational settings. The central question is whether Habermas provides an epistemic framework that supports reciprocal and sincere expressions of the views and interests of individuals in a…