This paper explores the role of media in shaping adult literacy discourse and policy in Canada. The authors show how journalists, newspapers and other media personalities have directly and indirectly influenced (1) government and public perception of adult literacy and (2) the creation of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and…

The Lisbon commitment for a European knowledge society together with the subsequently implemented policy of lifelong learning and social inclusion has significantly affected the German educational system and its teaching practices. This article examines the impact of these policy reforms on educational work in Germany through an analysis of the…

This article addresses two questions. First, how does a state, in casu the Danish welfare state, based on universalism and social rights as regards its citizens, deal with immigrants and their descendants through education? Second, how does such a state manage to make its differential treatment of human beings work legitimately, that is, what…

During the Cold War over half a million Asians, Africans and Latin Americans studied and graduated in the Soviet Union's universities and technical schools as part of this country's educational aid policies. Cuba was an intermediary player in the Cold War geopolitical contest between the United States and the Soviet Union, fuelled by the…

Market forces are being introduced in public spheres such as higher education and public health, which hitherto were closed to such forces. Ironically, it is the state that is responsible for this process of marketisation. Some see this state action as leading to a growing influence of the state in public policy while others see an attenuation of…

In its attempt to become a member of the European Union (EU), Turkey is challenged to upgrade its workforce to keep up with economic developments and improve the living conditions in the country. Multiple policy players on global, European and transnational levels are assisting in reforming Turkey's vocational education and training (VET) sector.…

The purpose of this article is to explore the experiences of Temporary Foreign Workers in health care in Alberta, Canada. In 2007-2008, one of the regional health authorities in the province responded to a shortage of workers by recruiting 510 health-care workers internationally; most were trained as Registered Nurses (RNs) in the Philippines.…

Participation in adult education is today generally considered an individual responsibility. However, participation is the result of a complex bounded agency between individuals, educational institutions and regulating governments. This paper explores the motives of 12,000 European adult learners in formal adult education in 12 European countries.…

Academic entrepreneurialism appears to have become global. University systems around the globe are moving in the direction of a more entrepreneurial model of higher education. Scholars have not yet reached a consensus on the definition of entrepreneurship. Research on academic entrepreneurship in East Asia has been lacking. This article…

This article reviews major national policies and strategies adopted by the Chinese central government to promote entrepreneurship education and also describes the current social and economic background to reveal the motives of entrepreneurship education in mainland China. The core of this article sums up the content of national policies on…

When it comes to building European public action, expertise is ubiquitous and polymorphic. This article intends to study the ways expertise is being used in the European Commission and the logics underlying its use. The massive use of expertise also has consequences for the practices and identities of actors with whom European institutions…

Faced with an increasing number of data and rankings, the author questions the roles of the different groups of actors who were originally involved in questioning the use of statistical indicators as a means of addressing issues of access to higher education. The comparison and nature of these international (UNESCO, OECD, EUROSTAT) and national…

This paper engages in a series of critical self-reflections on the author's involvement in the spate of career guidance reviews that have taken place since the year 2000, and which were commissioned by such supra-national entities as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and various agencies and directorates of the…

In recent years, policy scholars have increasingly turned towards the international level as a source for national policy change. This article conceptualises this development as the emergence of a global policy field of education. The example of lifelong learning is given to illustrate this global policy process. In the first part, I introduce…

The Guatemalan educational system has been the most unequal system in the Latin American region ever since the 1950s. The indigenous Maya people, who constitute around half of the population, experienced the state mainly through repression, exploitative labour relationships and exclusion from education. The return to democracy and the peace…