This volume recognises how many researchers across the social sciences, and in comparative and international education in particular, see themselves as insiders or outsiders or, more pertinently, shifting combinations of both, in the research process. The book revisits and problematises these concepts in an era where the global mobility of researchers and ideas has increased dramatically, and when advances in comparative, qualitative research methodologies seek to be more inclusive, collaborative, participatory, reflexive and nuanced. Collectively, the chapters argue that, in the context of such change, it has become more difficult to categorise and label groups and individuals as being 'inside' or 'outside' systems, professional communities, or research environments. In doing so, it is recognised that individual and group identities can be multiple, flexible and changing such that the boundary between the inside and the outside is permeable, less stable and less easy to draw.The book draws upon an exciting collection of original research carried out in a diversity of educational systems from British, European, Latin American, Indian Ocean, South Asian, African and Chinese contexts and cultures. This develops a deep and innovative reconsideration of key issues that must be faced by all researchers involved in the planning and conduct of in-depth field research. This is a challenging and stimulating methodological contribution, designed to advance critical and reflective thinking while providing practical and accessible guidance, insights and support for new and experienced researchers within and beyond the field of comparative and international education. Following a foreword by Caroline Dyer, the following chapters are presented: (1) Positioning Insider-Outsider Research in the Contemporary Context (Lore Arthur, Elizabeth McNess, Michael Crossley); (2) 'Ethnographic Dazzle' and the Construction of the 'Other': Shifting Boundaries between the Insider and the Outsider (Elizabeth McNess, Lore Arthur, Michael Crossley); (3) Exploring the Concept of Insider' Outsider in Comparative and International Research: Essentialising Culture or Culturally Essential (Anna Robinson-Pant); (4) Constructing the Insider and Outsider in Comparative Research (Peter Kelly) (5) Beyond 'Insiders' and 'Outsiders' in Research for Education Policy-Making? The Discursive Positioning of the Researcher in International and Comparative Education (Nilou M. Hawthorne); (6) Mind the Gap: Reflections on Boundaries and Positioning in Research in International and Comparative Education (Claire Planel); (7) Methodological Challenges: Negotiation, Critical Reflection and the Cultural Other (Nicola Savvides, Joanna Al-Youssef, Mindy Colin, Cecilia Garrido); (8) Insider-Outsider-In Betweener? Researcher Positioning, Participative Methods and Cross-Cultural Educational Research (Lizzi O. Milligan); (9) Multiplicities of Insiderness and Outsiderness: Enriching Research Perspectives in Pakistan (Sughra Choudhry Khan); (10) Outside Inside, Inside Out: Challenges and Complexities of Research in Gypsy and Traveller Communities (Juliet McCaffery); (11) (Re)constructing Identities beyond Boundaries: Revisiting Insider-Outsider Perspectives in Research on International Students (Qing Gu); (12) Investigating Processes Underlying Identity Formation of Second Language Master's Students in UK Higher Education: Insiders or Outsiders (Hania Salter-Dvorak); (13) Coming Alongside in the Co-Construction of Professional Knowledge: A Fluid Approach to Researcher Positioning on the Insider-Outsider Continuum (Ed Wickins, Michael Crossley); and (14) Sharing Insights: How Culture Constructs and Constricts Knowledge (Maroussia Raveaud).