The COVID-19 pandemic prompted unprecedented school closures in England, which quickly generated widespread concern at the impacts of missed schooling: 'lost learning' became the dominant motif of these concerns and 'catch-up' emerged as the received solution. This article focuses on the central pillar of the government's post-pandemic response:…

This paper explores transnational circulation during the early 1970s of lifelong education and recurrent education as 'policy repertoires' addressing redistribution of participation in organised (adult) learning throughout life. Focused on a re-reading of UNESCO's 1972 report on lifelong education, the paper offers a critical analysis of the Faure…

Sociologists recognise research or other constructions of society are not neutral. Ideologically generated 'fact', or 'findings', can reproduce elite vested interest. There is a lacuna in our knowledge about educational research policy, including inherent ideological leanings, giving cause for concern about 'findings' that are congruent with…

This paper presents an overview of critical policy scholarship (CPS) in education. Historically, policy research has been dominated by what is commonly referred to as the policy science tradition, which is positivist in its philosophical stance and instrumentalist in its purpose--it focuses on producing knowledge relevant for policy decisions.…

Across jurisdictions, what constitutes inclusive education varies. The adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2006 provides a critical opportunity to untangle the elasticity of 'inclusive education'. Using Article 24 CRPD as the normative framework for inclusive education and drawing on a content and…

Finland has repeatedly been presented as a "success story" of equality and education, promoter of human rights and included equality and human rights as part of national curricula. However, research has shown the slow progress of integrating topics of equality and human rights in teacher education despite hundreds of project-based…

The expansion of university systems across the planet over the last fifty years has led to the emergence of a new policy assemblage -- 'global higher education' that depends on the collection, curation and representation of quantitative data. In this paper I explore the use of data by higher education policy actors to sustain 'epistemic…

Over the past few years (2020-present), the United States has experienced a period of racial unrest, which has led to heated debates about school curriculum and policy. Considering the current sociopolitical context, this critical policy analysis traces the trends in statelevel education legislation related to race/ethnicity that was both…

This article examines how the 'teacher quality' agenda, evident in the globalised discourse on education policy, constructs changes to teachers' work and teacher education. We undertake a critical policy analysis of two reports from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), addressing three issues. First, we discuss the…

In the aftermath of the Capitol Insurrection, many states sought to bolster civic education through efforts such as the South Dakota Civics and History Initiative (SDCHI). This study examined the SDCHI through a Critical Policy Analysis and Critical Race Theory lens to understand how the initiative and related rhetoric reflected, protected, and…

Market-based policies, especially school vouchers, are expanding rapidly and shifting students out of traditional public schools. This article broadens, deepens, and updates prior critiques of the free market logic in five ways. First, although prior articles have pointed to some of the conditions necessary for efficient market functioning, I…

This paper explores how the twin processes of neoliberalism and neoconservatism work together on, and through, curricula and their associated pedagogies. It bridges the gap between policy and classroom practice, focusing on the particular example of the school subject of mathematics and the notion of mastery, operationalised in the English…

This article foregrounds the value of using "critical policy historiography" as an analytical/methodological tool in undertaking policy formulation research, highlighting the importance of taking a long-term historical perspective. Using school-funding policies in South Africa as a case study, it argues that while there was wide…

A trend towards evidence-based practice has developed in policy and practice in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia in recent years, evolving to become a powerful hegemonic force. This paper considers this latest impetus to teach according to the mandates of a narrow evidence base as a symptom of the post-truth condition, one that…

In this piece the author provides a critical response to the new 'Looking at Our School' quality framework in Ireland and illustrates how policy overlooks critical scholarship. The author questions the claim that the updated policy reflects recent thinking and developments, and critiques the policy's stance on notions of both distributed…