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The Commonwealth consists of fifty-three independent nations that have associated in order to facilitate better international communication and cooperation. These sovereign nations are not bound by a constitution, but do issue statements outlining Commonwealth agreements, beliefs, and recommendations. In September 2004, a Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol was endorsed by all Commonwealth member states. The Protocol calls for the rights of the source countries to be balanced against those of recruiting countries as well as the right of teachers to migrate, and the rights, freedoms, and privileges teachers should enjoy when they migrate. In attempting to establish whether the Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol (CTRP) in its present form provides answers to the teacher recruitment problems of Commonwealth nations, some key questions have arisen. The research reported in this article attempts to shed light on the way the Protocol has been received by policymakers, school principals, and OTTs themselves across the Commonwealth, but in England specifically. (Contains 2 notes.)

This article discusses the development and implementation of the Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol, which was adopted in September 2004. Following a review of the contextual issues of international teacher migration, the challenges of teacher recruitment are discussed. Key features of the Protocol are highlighted and discussed with regard to the current task of implementation. A comparison is made between recruitment before and after the adoption of the Protocol, focusing on the United Kingdom. In conclusion, the article highlights challenges and opportunities for Protocol implementation and areas for further research. (Contains 2 figures and 4 notes.)

This paper reports on a case study of the London Education Authority of Barking and Dagenham's borrowing of Swiss educational practices, and the implementation and internalisation of those foreign practices in the teaching of mathematics in primary schools. The study employs analytical frameworks that might be used by policy makers or researchers looking at "borrowing" educational practices and policies from elsewhere to use at home. The significance of context (e.g. social, economic, political and demographic) is highlighted, both in the process of educational borrowing and in the implementation of these ideas to improve education at home. In conclusion, the paper reflects upon "best practices" and strategies that might serve as lessons to others. (Contains 3 figures and 10 notes.)

This article considers some of the methodological challenges involved in investigating, within the traditions of comparative research in education, the complex issue of educational 'policy borrowing'. It discusses notions of 'borrowing' and 'influence' and refers to a model previously proposed by the authors for the analysis of what are seen as four stages in the policy borrowing process which can be tested empirically. These are identified as cross-national attraction, decision, implementation, and internalization/indigenization. The problems involved in researching each stage of this process are considered, in particular in relation to the authors' previous work on the attractiveness to British observers of educational policy in Germany over a long historical period.