This study examines the interaction between non-governmental organization (NGO), the Local Education Authority (LEA), and public schools in communities of different socioeconomic backgrounds in Israel. We characterize how schools serving more and less affluent communities create, cultivate, and preserve interactions with NGOs; how NGOs form, and…

While the policy approach in Urban Regeneration Partnership tends to be viewed as participatory governance using an urban studies lens, this article posits an alternative theorisation that takes an adult education perspective. We draw from Lefebvre's notion of "space", Engeström's "Cultural Historical Activity Theory" and…

The aim of this article is to elucidate how a new system of school and teacher assessment in Catalonia is transforming the conceptions, practices and identity of head teachers, especially younger ones. It begins by considering the impact of global neoliberal policies on educational practices, highlighting their Foucauldian productive nature. It…

Policy network approach has become a broadly accepted and frequently adopted practice in modern state governance, especially in the public sector. The study utilises a broadly defined policy network conceptual frame and categories of reference to trace the evolution of education policy-making in China. The study uses "The Outline of China's…

In this paper, we describe one secondary school's radical attempt to rethink the shape and purpose of education for its pupils, and its subsequent return to more traditional methods in the face of pressures of performativity and accountability. Framing our analysis within activity theory and its emphasis on contradiction as a driver for change, we…

The study detailed in this paper examines the growing role of non-state actors in the transnational policy-making landscape through a case study of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE)--a partnership of donor and developing country governments, multilateral organizations, civil society, private companies and foundations, dedicated to…

Scholars studying the global governance of education have noted the increasingly important role corporations play in educational policy making. I contribute to this scholarship by examining the Assessment and Teaching of twenty-first century skills (ATC21S™) project, a knowledge production apparatus operating under cognitive capitalism. I analyze…

Since the 1980s, state schools in England have been required to ensure transparency and accountability through the use of indicators and templates derived from the private sector and, more recently, globally circulating discourses of "good governance" (an appeal to professional standards, technical expertise, and performance evaluation…

In recent years, education and family policy in the UK has sought to incorporate the views of children and young people through an active participation agenda, in the fulfilment of children's rights under the obligations of the UN Convention for the Rights of the Child. Drawing on empirical evidence, this paper suggests that this aspiration is…

This paper focuses on the dual dependencies apparent at the intersection of the media society and the audit society by empirically exploring and discussing the relationship between Swedish local newspaper coverage and school inspection activities. The research questions pertain to the Inspectorate's media strategy, how inspection is represented…

Parent involvement policies have been central in the Dutch push towards educational governance. How the implementation of these policies plays out on the ground is context-dependent. The ethnic and class cleavages impacting the Dutch educational system should be taken into account. On the basis of 50 in-depth interviews with teachers, social…

Lately, a deliberative conception of democracy has gained influence in policy debates throughout Europe. Individuals are here seen to be fostered into responsible, mature--democratic--citizens by being involved in dialogue. In the 1990s, calls for "democratic education" intensified in Sweden. This article analyses two pedagogical models…

Open methods for coordinating (OMC) education policies in the EU rely on a number of techniques, one of which is policy learning. This article examines how policy learning and governance transform each other. More specifically, policy-learning in the education OMC becomes differentiated into four distinct learning styles: mutual, competitive,…

This article examines the role of the consultants in secondary schools and local authorities within a large-scale consultancy-based reform, the Secondary National Strategy (SNS), in London, UK. The SNS follows a cascade model of implementation in which nationally created initiatives are introduced and supported within local authorities (LA) and…

The ascendency of neoliberal ideas in education and social policy in the 1980s and 1990s was succeeded in the new millennium by a "new" social democratic commitment with emphases on community empowerment, building social capital and a "whole of government" approach to partnering with civil society to meet community needs. In…