Search

Framed by the mantra of 'Building back Better' (BBB) the COVID-19 Pandemic has inspired myriad proposals to transform education systems for the future. We interrogate the phrase 'building back better', focusing on its origins and application within crisis narratives. We analyse responses to the pandemic published by influential global agencies focusing on their agendas and visions for the future of education. We identify the common and divergent elements in their narratives, illustrating how the crisis was used to promote each organisation's specific interests, and how these narratives were sustained through strategic silences and the selective use of evidence. Whilst the pandemic was used to promote the different longstanding agendas of those agencies, we argue that overall it was used to constrain the future as a privatised techno-utopia, rather than build towards a new vision.

Whilst Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 has influenced education in various ways, major reforms perceived as promoting mainland control have been resisted. For two decades, Hong Kong's educational autonomy under the 'one country, two systems' formula was thus largely maintained. This changed radically with the response to the protests of 2019--2020, culminating in the introduction of a National Security Law. This has drastically constrained Hong Kong's civil society, enhanced central government control of education and accelerated efforts to reeducate Hongkongers as loyal PRC citizens. We trace how this transformation has been enacted and justified, and reflect on its consequences. We analyse the current situation through the lenses of 'internal colonialism' and securitisation, which have characterised governance of China's restive periphery under Xi Jinping. We argue that analytical perspectives in Comparative Education, relating to postcolonialism/decolonisation and globalisation, obstruct or distort understanding of Hong Kong's present predicament.

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 stages of policy making, delivery and monitoring which revolves around the selling of 'best global practices'. They argue that the outcome is a commercial model of applied 'comparative education' designed for 'selling to the other' and it is both distinctive and of limited effectiveness; it also provides a vision of the future as educational policy making is increasingly outsourced to the private sector. They conclude with a discussion of the conditions which facilitated this approach and of what others might learn from the experience of the Gulf.

The OECD's PISA programme has been portrayed as central to the emergence of a regime of global educational governance and the subsequent convergence of policies towards a standardised model. Whilst there is an extensive literature describing PISA's impact on education policies, there is a paucity of analysis of how PISA data is presented to the public within nations by three main actors which interpret the results; namely the OECD itself, politicians, and the media. This study analyses how England's 2012 PISA results were interpreted by those actors, focusing particularly on the role of the media. We demonstrate that the OECD's original messages were significantly distorted by the UK Government and show how the media, driven by its own logic, framed the results in terms of a narrative of decline, crisis and the need for urgent reform, while, significantly, giving little coverage to either the recommended policy actions or the contrasting interpretations of the PISA results by politicians and the OECD. We argue that a form of 'mediatised governance' shaped and limited the overall frame within which the results were debated and had a powerful influence on how local politicians represented the PISA results and advocated their own policy actions.

Since the mid-1980s, a number of East Asian societies have consistently performed well in international tests, and their education systems have emerged as models of "best practice", including Hong Kong, which has been extensively referenced by politicians and their advisers in England. In parallel, local dissatisfaction with the education system in Hong Kong has prompted major education reforms. This mismatch between the perceptions of the Hong Kong education system of the two policy communities is explored using documentary analysis and interviews with policymakers and other key stakeholders. We analyse the ways in which features of Hong Kong's education system are reconstructed and projected in policymaking in England and argue that the referencing to Hong Kong in England is akin to a form of political theatre, reminiscent of a pantomime, with stereotyped villains, heroes and fairy godmothers, narratives of good conquering evil, and comical set-pieces. We argue that these elements provide the means for both constructing and validating simple causal claims and their associated policy actions.

Education reform is increasingly based on emulating the features of "world-class" systems that top international attainment surveys and, in England specifically, East Asia is referenced as the "inspiration" for their education reforms. However, the extent to which the features identified by the UK Government accord with the situation within East Asia is problematic. This paper examines the relationship between the English representation and the "reality" of East Asian education systems, using school autonomy as an illustrative example. We focus on Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, which are cited extensively to legitimate policies providing greater autonomy for schools in England. We argue firstly that the English representation has been largely discursive and inaccurate; has failed to recognise the variations across the region; and has been selected to endorse the Government's ideological preferences. Secondly, the scope, form and nature of school autonomy vary markedly, and are operationalised in each society in ways reflecting the prevailing sociopolitical priorities.

Background: This paper analyses the role of, and approach to, policy referencing and borrowing in Hong Kong's recent reforms that culminated in the creation of its New Academic Structure and the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education. Main argument: It argues that Hong Kong has gone further than most jurisdictions not just in responding to global influences on education reform, but in taking explicit steps to internationally benchmark its curriculum and assessment, and in involving the global community at multiple levels in the process of education policy planning and implementation. Sources of evidence and method: The paper is based on the documentary analysis of policy documents in Hong Kong, and 23 interviews with key stakeholders in the policy network, including policy-makers, practitioners and community leaders. Discussion and conclusions: While policy referencing and borrowing in the Hong Kong context can, in part, be traced to a colonial legacy, the Special Administrative Region of China demonstrates a collaborative approach to education reform involving local and international engagement that may be relevant to other systems. Its approach was informed by a measured use of policy referencing that involved "horizon scanning" of other systems' policies and practices; international benchmarking; and engaging international expertise to facilitate implementation.

Education reform is increasingly portrayed as a means to improve a nation's global competitiveness as measured by its performance in international league tables of pupil achievement. This has created a demand for comparative research which identifies "what works" in high-performing school systems. A diverse array of consultancies, thinks tanks, and entrepreneurs has emerged to satisfy that demand, portraying their approach as a pragmatic and objective form of evidence-based policy-making. However, the attempt to translate complex conditions into straightforward solutions (i.e. "what works") leads researchers into a basic paradox. This paper identifies the strategies used to address this paradox and to advocate reforms. We demonstrate that, though they are persuasive, the strategies fundamentally fail to overcome the problems inherent in the enterprise.

Education reform in England is increasingly portrayed as a quest to create "world class" schools through the transfer of features of "high performing" school systems. The demand for evidence to support policy borrowing has been serviced by an influential intermediary network, which uses international data banks to compare education systems, and to identify and promote evidence of "what works". The approach to comparisons has been portrayed as a "New Paradigm" by its advocates, and whilst the network has been extensively critiqued, this has largely focused on its deviation from the norms of academic comparative education. This article explores how the "New Paradigm" operates, identifying its inherent features and the strategies used to overcome the methodological issues associated with policy borrowing. This is pursued through an analysis of the rationale; assumptions; underlying ideology; methodology; omissions and silences; dealing with critics; and language and presentation of four of its influential publications.

Education reform is increasingly portrayed as a quest to achieve a "world class" education system through a process of identifying and adopting the practices of those systems whose pupils perform best in league tables of achievement. This is the rationale for the range of new policies proposed by the coalition government in the schools White Paper published in November 2010, which promotes whole-system reform in England. This article examines the White Paper and analyses the sources and nature of the evidence for reform and the congruence between the policy intentions and their associated policy actions. The analysis suggests that the evidence for the proposed reforms and policy actions is at best tenuous. Both the White Paper and its key sources of evidence are characterised by: a selective use of data: a propensity to mix and match the sources of comparison; and an overall tendency to employ comparisons with high-performing systems elsewhere as a facade to legitimate preferred policy options. (Contains 1 table and 3 notes.)

Analyzes the relationship between educational reform in Hong Kong and the changing political system. Finds that political problems (regime legitimacy, destructive political culture) have obstructed the meaningful implementation of educational reform. Thus reform initiatives have been largely symbolic. (Contains 30 references.) (PKP)

Uses a major reform, the Target Oriented Curriculum, to explore interaction of cultures and curriculum reforms in Hong Kong schools. The reform was adopted and enacted in contexts exhibiting very different cultures. The analysis stresses the fragmented, pluralistic, and changing nature of culture within Hong Kong society. (Contains 30 references.) (MLH)

Identifies the major legacies inherited by the post-colonial government in Hong Kong (China). Focuses on the educational policy making process and the concept of citizenship promoted through the school curriculum. Analyzes these two aspects of education using the state promoted concepts of civic participation and identity. Includes references. (CMK)

Three case studies of changes in civics education, social studies, and liberal studies (emphasizing critical thinking about controversial issues) demonstrate that Hong Kong's political transition to Chinese sovereignty has significantly affected the intended curriculum but not the implemented curriculum, which has been strongly influenced by parental attitudes and competition among schools for academically able students. Contains 36 references. (Author/SV)

Analyzes the impact on secondary school curriculum of Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty. States that changes will be influenced through curriculum controls including: providing curriculum-wide guidelines, selecting range and content of subjects, and selecting textbooks. Concludes that state bureaucracy plays a critical role in the definition of curriculum. (LS)

We analyze the policies of China and Israel towards students from Hong Kong and East Jerusalem respectively. We demonstrate that they are treated as International students and subject to a form of 'internationalization' designed to consolidate national forms of identity and extend state control over 'troublesome' minorities within the nation state. This domestic adaptation of the structures designed to support internationalization within Universities, through which the state deploys higher education as a tool of 'soft power' to control parts of the nation, operates within a broader program of 'internal colonization' that is neither well developed in the literature nor explained by prominent typologies of internationalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Framed by the mantra of 'Building back Better' (BBB) the Covid-19 Pandemic has inspired myriad proposals to transform education systems for the future. We interrogate the phrase 'building back better', focusing on its origins and application within crisis narratives. We analyse responses to the pandemic published by influential global agencies focusing on their agendas and visions for the future of education. We identify the common and divergent elements in their narratives, illustrating how the crisis was used to promote each organisation's specific interests, and how these narratives were sustained through strategic silences and the selective use of evidence. Whilst the pandemic was used to promote the different longstanding agendas of those agencies, we argue that overall it was used to constrain the future as a privatised techno-utopia, rather than build towards a new vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 stages of policy making, delivery and monitoring which revolves around the selling of 'best global practices'. They argue that the outcome is a commercial model of applied 'comparative education' designed for 'selling to the other' and it is both distinctive and of limited effectiveness; it also provides a vision of the future as educational policy making is increasingly outsourced to the private sector. They conclude with a discussion of the conditions which facilitated this approach and of what others might learn from the experience of the Gulf. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education reform is increasingly based on emulating the features of ‘world-class’ systems that top international attainment surveys and, in England specifically, East Asia is referenced as the ‘inspiration’ for their education reforms. However, the extent to which the features identified by the UK Government accord with the situation within East Asia is problematic. This paper examines the relationship between the English representation and the ‘reality’ of East Asian education systems, using school autonomy as an illustrative example. We focus on Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, which are cited extensively to legitimate policies providing greater autonomy for schools in England. We argue firstly that the English representation has been largely discursive and inaccurate; has failed to recognise the variations across the region; and has been selected to endorse the Government’s ideological preferences. Secondly, the scope, form and nature of school autonomy vary markedly, and are operationalised in each society in ways reflecting the prevailing sociopolitical priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: This paper analyses the role of, and approach to, policy referencing and borrowing in Hong Kong’s recent reforms that culminated in the creation of its New Academic Structure and the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education. Main argument: It argues that Hong Kong has gone further than most jurisdictions not just in responding to global influences on education reform, but in taking explicit steps to internationally benchmark its curriculum and assessment, and in involving the global community at multiple levels in the process of education policy planning and implementation. Sources of evidence and method: The paper is based on the documentary analysis of policy documents in Hong Kong, and 23 interviews with key stakeholders in the policy network, including policy-makers, practitioners and community leaders. Discussion and conclusions: While policy referencing and borrowing in the Hong Kong context can, in part, be traced to a colonial legacy, the Special Administrative Region of China demonstrates a collaborative approach to education reform involving local and international engagement that may be relevant to other systems. Its approach was informed by a measured use of policy referencing that involved ‘horizon scanning’ of other systems’ policies and practices; international benchmarking; and engaging international expertise to facilitate implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Education reform is increasingly portrayed as a means to improve a nation's global competitiveness as measured by its performance in international league tables of pupil achievement. This has created a demand for comparative research which identifies ‘what works’ in high-performing school systems. A diverse array of consultancies, thinks tanks, and entrepreneurs has emerged to satisfy that demand, portraying their approach as a pragmatic and objective form of evidence-based policy-making. However, the attempt to translate complex conditions into straightforward solutions (i.e. ‘what works’) leads researchers into a basic paradox. This paper identifies the strategies used to address this paradox and to advocate reforms. We demonstrate that, though they are persuasive, the strategies fundamentally fail to overcome the problems inherent in the enterprise. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses Comparative Education research, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and educational reform policy, focusing on Great Britain. Topics addressed include connections between a country's economic and educational performance, and he expresses concerns regarding linking policies and pupil performance data.

Education reform in England is increasingly portrayed as a quest to create ‘world class’ schools through the transfer of features of ‘high performing’ school systems. The demand for evidence to support policy borrowing has been serviced by an influential intermediary network, which uses international data banks to compare education systems, and to identify and promote evidence of ‘what works’. The approach to comparisons has been portrayed as a ‘New Paradigm’ by its advocates, and whilst the network has been extensively critiqued, this has largely focused on its deviation from the norms of academic comparative education. This article explores how the ‘New Paradigm’ operates, identifying its inherent features and the strategies used to overcome the methodological issues associated with policy borrowing. This is pursued through an analysis of the rationale; assumptions; underlying ideology; methodology; omissions and silences; dealing with critics; and language and presentation of four of its influential publications. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Education reform is increasingly portrayed as a quest to achieve a ‘world class’ education system through a process of identifying and adopting the practices of those systems whose pupils perform best in league tables of achievement. This is the rationale for the range of new policies proposed by the coalition government in the schools White Paper published in November 2010, which promotes whole-system reform in England. This article examines the White Paper and analyses the sources and nature of the evidence for reform and the congruence between the policy intentions and their associated policy actions. The analysis suggests that the evidence for the proposed reforms and policy actions is at best tenuous. Both the White Paper and its key sources of evidence are characterised by: a selective use of data: a propensity to mix and match the sources of comparison; and an overall tendency to employ comparisons with high-performing systems elsewhere as a façade to legitimate preferred policy options. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Hong Kong government, in common with many others around the world, has experienced major difficulties in implementing educational reforms. The nature of the constraints on implementation, however, have differed significantly between the pre- and post-1997 periods. During the transition to Chinese sovereignty, the colonial government sought to avoid friction with teachers and pressure groups which might have resulted from determined efforts to implement its reforms. Policy, consequently, was usually symbolic and often remained at the level of rhetoric. The post-1997 government has shown more intent to bring about change but has been hampered both by an inherited culture of inertia and cynicism towards reform and by the dysfunctions of a disarticulated political system which have led to problems of co-ordination and a loss of capacity. The article analyses the relationship between educational reform and the changing political system and concludes that reform remains an elusive objective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper starts with a broad historical overview of educational reforms and then focuses on those specific to civic education. Lastly we look at the implementation of policy, and examine the effect of the current political climate in the Special Administrative Region (SAR) on civic education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial introduction to the December 2013 issue is presented, focusing on the topic of equity and educational change in India and Kenya, citing contributions by Rob Higham, Benta Abuya, and Asayo Ohba.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including classroom experience from the perspective of Ghana's teachers, higher education in the Asia-Pacific region, and the role of educational policies.

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discusses several articles on educational issues in countries like South African, Spain and England and share an overall concern for investigating responses to global educational reforms and the impact of specific educational reforms on pedagogy.