The central aim of this paper is to explore a kind of rationality that seeks to do justice to educational practice: to our understanding of its complexities and to its actual conduct. The enquiry begins with a review of the limits of standardising procedures, including their inbuilt technicist bias, which are increasingly dominant in educational…

This article draws on two studies of language diversity and adult literacy education in Timor-Leste that were conducted in different regions of the country between 2009 and 2013. Its central focus is on the day-to-day language practices and language values of local participants and the way in which these practices and values relate to national…

Using a post-structuralist framework, this article seeks to analyse the ways in which English early years curriculum policy has led to different constructions of young children. Although policy is often presented as being logical and factual, policy making can also be seen as a value-laden process in which meanings are socially constructed and…

New cognitive infrastructures are emerging as digital platforms and artificial intelligence enable new forms of automated thinking that shape human decision-making. This paper (a) offers a new theoretical perspective on automated thinking in education policy and (b) illustrates how automated thinking is emerging in one specific policy context. We…

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…

Libraries should begin to revise service policies to include cultural competency approaches to ensure they provide students a reliably inclusive experience with our services. Many non-LIS disciplines have established easy to borrow practices that libraries can adapt for these purposes. Revision of policies is not enough, however, and inclusive…

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the effects of standardization, accreditation process on academic freedom and quality learning in higher education institutes (HEIs). In addition, this study explores the mediating effects of academic freedom between standardization, accreditation and learning. Design/methodology/approach: To attain the…

This paper examines the impact of process mapping on the management of change in an academic library in a UK higher education institution. Book ordering has been highlighted by a group of subject librarians as being time-consuming and inefficient, detracting from their ability to respond to new challenges and opportunities. An action research…

This paper reports a rhetorical analysis of policy texts illustrating the emergence of the mandatory Educational Leader role in early childhood services in Australia. We argue that policy texts before 2012 constructed a 'problem' of workforce quality in early childhood education and offered a new leadership configuration as a policy solution. We…

I describe how a policy aimed at increasing achievement among students labeled EL initially went awry--and how a researcher-district partnership persevered to rectify it. The policy, which called for 100% EL classrooms, produced unintended consequences. Critical discussion of empirical evidence and district-solicited input from multiple…

Native Hawaiians have long been underrepresented among Hawai?i's university graduates, yet there is a dearth of studies that explore factors that have contributed to these disparities. My dissertation investigated how multiple factors: prejudices among education administrators, erasures of early advocates from dominant narratives, and failures to…

COVID-19 has "taught" universities worldwide that using digital technologies to support purely online or blended learning is a survival strategy. This lesson plus the inclusion of technology in continental, national, and university policies and strategic plans implicate significant technology integration, especially blended learning, in…

The widening participation (WP) policy agenda directs higher education institutions (HEIs) in England to deliver measures aimed at increasing participation rates among under-represented groups. A central aspect of this is the idea that targeting must be used to reach individuals belonging to these groups. However, the detail of how to go about…

The article seeks to refine two central concepts in scholarly accounts of national policy responses to international data: 'selectivity' and 'instrumentalisation'. It does so by broadening, firstly, the empirical focus of research to include forms of international data other than the performance data of global learning metrics and international…

This article discusses the growth of neoliberal student activism in Brazilian higher education, considering the role of organisations called neoliberal think tanks. The following questions are addressed: why and how do these think tanks operate in the field of higher education? How do they articulate and promote student activism? The study…