Qualifications frameworks are tools for describing qualifications of an education or training system by classifying them into levels. Each level provides a clear description of what the holder of a qualification knows, understands and is able to do. They are important tools for making qualifications transparent and comprehensible, within and…

Creating critical mass has become a cornerstorne of science policy on both national and transnational levels. It suggests that once a certain size is reached, exponential growth or accelerated change will occur. In reconstructing theories, policies and practices associated with critical mass, the paper traces the image of critical mass as a size…

The 2019 UNESCO recommendation on Open Educational Resources (OER) encourages member states to monitor policies and mechanisms in OER across the world. In higher education, there are many initiatives and policies around OER. This contribution gives insights into the current situation concerning OER policy documents that are of national or…

This contribution introduces the general principles of doctoral education in Germany first and then describes and discusses four key drivers of change: the increase in numbers, the diversification of degree models, the impact of the Bologna reforms on doctoral education, and changes induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the conclusions the…

This paper contributes to a growing body of research on the increasing datafication of schooling, which has become a salient topic in comparative education and education policy research. Specifically, we address the rising scholarly concern about the meaning of (comparing) contexts as bounded localities facing an increasingly fluid and generative…

Research on the history of childhood faces fundamental challenges in tracing children's voices. Not yet skilled in forms of written self-documentation, children leave few documents behind. Other forms of expression (i.e. drawings) must thus be recognised as valuable historical sources and appropriate methods must be applied. These research…

Today, the term 'global' has become a pervasive description of universities that aim to alleviate their importance and reach. The global looks inherently big. By relating to a spherical shape it attributes size in two distinct ways: it signifies the comprehensive and extensive reach of a theme or issue as well as the spherical centrality of an…

This article argues that in a society transformed by an increasing bureaucratic nexus of migration, artistic responses to political crises are particularly effective when working with institutions. To probe the prevalent discourse on the efficacy of performance art, the article interrogates "Grandhotel Cosmopolis" through a lens of…

Innovative teaching concepts such as problem-based learning (PBL) can make a difference in an academic setting, particularly when dealing with diversity, and support the successful completion of students' studies. Introducing new approaches to teaching requires the professionalization of the teaching staff and the development of new tools. As a…

This paper argues that country size can play a crucial role in shaping the type of gradual change observed in collective skill formation systems. Collectively governed dual-apprenticeship training has its base in the industrial and crafts sectors of the economy and builds on the decentralised cooperation of multiple public and private…

The development of the modern nation-state was an inherently centralising process. Education policy and the institutionalisation of mass public schooling played a key role in this process, facilitating industrialisation and the generation of mass loyalty toward the state. In almost all federal systems, however, education policy remained an…

Although many scholars in the field of mathematics education are aware that identity discourses are highly political, research in the field usually lacks a framework theoretically and methodologically to address the political dimension of identity research. Based on Laclau and Mouffe's discourse theory and the case of a female secondary school…

Within the process of harmonizing and strengthening Europe as a competitive knowledge economy education is presented as a basic pillar of economic growth in a multitude of European policy papers. But how do individuals respond to incentives coming from European education politics? (How) are they appropriating given targets and how do they engage…

Purpose: This article contains a reflection on researching in global citizenship education with a critical approach that aims to transcend the paradigm of methodological nationalism. Design/methodology/approach: Starting from outlining different dimensions of global citizenship (education), and looking at the current research situation in GCE, we…

Low-stakes assessment is supposed to improve educational practice by providing feedback to different actors in educational systems. However, the process of assessment from design to the point of a final impact on student learning outcomes is complex and diverse. It is hard to identify reasons for substandard achievement on assessments, let alone…