Privatization of education has expanded dramatically worldwide in the last two decades, and Turkey is no exception. It is seen that the developments affecting the transformation of public services began with the implementation of neoliberal education policies, especially after the 1980s. These policies have led to a significant transformation in…

This study examines a new profession in China and those who inhabit it--admissions counselors who advise Chinese students on how to apply to colleges in the United States. This study was conducted in the international divisions of eight Chinese public high schools in five cities in China and aims to fill the void in our knowledge of the vital role…

Parent involvement in their child's schooling is routinely celebrated and emphasised in government education policy in many countries. We take a critical lens to examining parent involvement by investigating voluntary parent fees in public secondary schools, and how these fees are patterned by school socioeconomic status (SES). In Australia, where…

A growing number of families around the world are relying on student loans to pay for university under recent cost-sharing policies. However, it remains unclear to what extent university costs and the likelihood of needing student loans affect decisions in the early stages of education. This article examines the influence of parents' attitudes…

Since 2010, the number of urban Chinese high-school students applying to US universities has rapidly grown. Many of these students have chosen emerging international curriculum programs established by elite public high schools in China. These programs prepare wealthy Chinese students for the US college application process by exposing them to an…

Social scientists have begun to document the stratifying effects of over a decade of unprecedented charter growth in urban districts. An exodus of students from traditional neighborhood schools to charter schools has attended this growth, creating troubling numbers of vacant seats in neighborhood schools as well as concentrating larger percentages…

Purpose: Regulation and privatization of education systems has led to a "league standing" mentality regarding school achievements. The purpose of this paper is to examine how school principals deal with the pressures of competition and achievements while aspiring to imbue pupils with values and a broad education.…

The consequences of neoliberal policies in education are controversial. Based on the micro-political approach, this study had two aims: (1) to examine teachers' attitudes toward the effect of privatization on inequality and educational improvement; and (2) to examine the link between teachers' positions of power in school and their attitudes…

The research reported here demonstrates the need for greater subtlety in the practice of policy than appears to be evident in many parts of the globe. Based upon an ethnographic study of school reform, this paper heeds Appadurai's call for those researching the "global diaspora of ideas" to pay attention to the contextual conventions…