This book sets out to examine the neo-liberal dimensions of globalisation and market-driven economic imperatives that have impacted higher education reforms. It critiques the notions of accountability, efficiency, academic capitalism, quality of education, and the market-oriented and entrepreneurial university model, based on a neo-liberal…

Across Asia, the international school scene has experienced marketisation and corporatisation. A consequence is that many wealthier families -- outside of expatriate communities -- view international schools as a desirable choice, and they seek ways to enrol their children in international schools. States have responded to this situation through…

This qualitative, comparative case study examined global civic education (GCE) in the Asian global cities of Hong Kong and Singapore. Guided by theories that position curriculum at the intersection of discourse, context, and personal meaning-making, we sought to describe the ways in which intentions for GCE reflect broader societal discourses of…

This paper looks at how cosmopolitanism is practised amongst Singaporeans who have experienced Singapore's education reform in the 1990s. Cosmopolitanism in Singapore is tied to state-intervention with a national orientation. To complement Singapore's push towards cosmopolitanism, the education reform in the 1990s promoted the idea of a national…

This article introduces a collection of papers comprising the special issue, "Competing interests: Parents, Schools and Nation States." Drawing on the seven papers in the collection, and situating them in recent developments in the sociological field, the article discusses globally shifting relations between families, schools and the…

Once regarded as the most essential subject in the national curriculum vital for civilizing the public, English Literature has now lost its place of prominence. In this paper, I focus on Singapore where the subject was a core aspect of the colonial curriculum and where it is currently facing declining enrolment at the national examinations. In the…

Educational systems worldwide are being challenged to respond effectively to the digital revolution and its implications for learning in the 21st century. In the present new media age, educational reforms are desperately needed to support more open and flexible structures of on-demand learning that equip students with competencies required in a…