Federal and highly decentralized political systems open different spaces to interpret, adapt, and enact international policy trends and ideas within the same territory. Spain, a country with a highly decentralized educational system and contentious territorial politics, is a very suitable case to analyze these dynamics. Spain and its different…

Privatisation of public education is becoming more and more common across the world. As much current research presupposes causal links between the degree of privatisation and issues of competition and student's free choice, we see a need for research on other ways of organising the presence of private providers in public education. In this…

This paper examines the "Double Reduction" policy issued by the Chinese government in 2021 by using a Critical Discourse Problematization Framework (CDPF) that combines Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and what's the problem represented to be (WPR) approach. The study points out that the changing discourse of equality and equity in…

This paper presents empirical evidence on kindergarten admission preparation services in Hong Kong. Parents increasingly turn to tutoring companies for a range of services, such as social skills training, portfolio editing, mock interviews, and parental consultation. We used qualitative methods to capture the views of parents, teachers, tutors,…

Purpose: Over the past decades, there has been an intensifying movement to privatize education in Western nations, with equal concern about the quality of education for all. This article adds to a global understanding of school inspections as a governance mechanism to promote educational quality in an entirely open K-12 educational marketplace.…

The UK education system is becoming increasingly dominated by exclusive economic and political ideology. The neoliberal agenda marketises young people and encourages them to take part in a competitive system. The rise of multi-academy trusts (MATs) further exacerbates an already inequitable system in which young people with special education needs…

The article re-imagines the current developments of Swedish education into a possible future. Historically, education was organized and funded by the state; however, reforms towards privatization in the 1990s implemented school choice, private schools and a tax-financed voucher system with the option of turning profits on education. A new judicial…

Privatization of education has become a prevalent global trend, representing a significant shift from viewing education as a public good to considering it as a private commodity. This transformation is closely tied to the modernization of the state under the principles of neoliberalism. A comprehensive analysis, as presented in this book using…

In a number of advanced market democracies the role of public technical and vocational education and training institutions has been called into question. This is one result of a singular dominant public policy discourse favouring the provision of public services through contracting out in competitive markets. With the limitations of this default…

This article explores the relationship between education, training and the single market, focusing on the market for the production of policy evaluations in the areas of education and training, culture and youth of the European Commission. Two questions are addressed: the first question relates to the geographical distribution of the organisations…

Educational public-private partnerships (EPPP) have been widely implemented in the Philippines, primarily through the Education Service Contracting (ESC) voucher. Yet, the effects of this voucher on privatization of education, school choice, and competition dynamics remain largely understudied. This article addresses this gap through an…

What we understand about the world is determined by what the world is, who we are, and how we conduct our inquiries. Action research privileges the question "why are things as they are?" This article explores how neoliberalism, with its key principle that competition is the defining characteristic of human relations, reshapes our work as…

School autonomy policies have circulated through various modes of educational governance internationally, endorsing the view that more autonomy will improve schools and their systems. When subject to the discourses and practices of marketization, however, school 'autonomy' has been mobilized in ways that generate injustice. These injustices are…

This article explores how a growing apparatus of edupreneurial actors offers solutions for the current 'school crisis' and how these commercial actors become taken for granted in the public school system. The Swedish case is interesting, as it involves a once-strong welfare state that is now associated with both the neoliberal discourse of…

Charter schools continue to grow in influence, as does the push for inclusive education for students with disabilities. What is the value and impact of these schools, especially on the marginalized populations they often serve? Relying on the fields of DisCrit, and Sociology of Special and Inclusive Education, this book answers these questions by…