This article examines the power dynamics underpinning performance management at a selected South African university. It specifically employs Michel Foucault's (1977) ideas on Governmentality to interpret the envisioning of performance management in this context at the level of Policy. The study employed a qualitative research methodology to…

Chinese higher education policy texts appear to suggest that training 'para-diplomats' is a goal of China's international student recruitment. However, few studies have considered the ways such policies are recontextualised and implemented at the institutional (meso-) level and become integral to students' career pathways after graduation. To…

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…

This case study follows a district racial equity initiative from policy formulation through implementation, and finally to the review of a high school discipline measure. The initiative had a consistent theme of addressing implicit bias. However, over time, district equity champions expanded the definition of implicit bias beyond its conventional…

In several countries where immigration influxes have changed or increased, citizenship education policies have been strengthened as a way to build social cohesion. In this paper, I took the case of Chile to explore citizenship education policies throughout their references towards immigration. Methodologically, I use the Foucauldian notion of…

Social justice is a hallmark of social work practice. The call to end oppression and discrimination are voiced in the Grand Challenge, Achieve Equal Opportunity and Justice, the National Association of Social Work Code of Ethics preamble, and the Council on Social Work Education Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards. However, none of…

Scholars have become increasingly vigilant about leaders, the role of government and wider governance bodies, and their influence on education policy. Councils in Europe and North America, generally, and education councils, specifically, are good examples of influential bodies whose decision-making processes have rightfully come under scrutiny;…

This article presents findings from a representative case study of a typical childcare centre in Singapore that achieved an emerging level of quality certification despite being under-resourced as a non-profit centre. Like other centres, it was navigating a climate of early childhood care and education (ECCE) policy reforms and teacher shortage.…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways that history curriculum has worked to legitimise dispossession through narratives that elide questions of Indigenous sovereignty, and which construct and consolidate white settler identity and possession. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses two case studies to compare history…

Globally, performance-based research funding aims to support the most deserving academic institutions and researchers. However, overcoming entrenched assumptions about quality is a persistent challenge for higher education research policies worldwide; traditionally powerful institutions tend to maintain dominance. Research impact as a performance…

This study uses critical race theory (CRT) to uncover racialized interactions that influence legislative processes. The transcripts from public hearings from the 2017 Nevada State legislative session were included in the data analysis. Results demonstrate the utility of CRT as an analytic tool to examine the policy-making process, identify…

This article uses a case study approach to reimagine risk management in education abroad programming. It brings together a group of program partners to explore pre-COVID risk management decision-making during political unrest in Ecuador in 2019. Through continued dialogue and self-directed creative reflection techniques, the partners (a Dean of…

This paper focuses on a specific example of an all-too-rare phenomenon in education studies: the successful resistance by ordinary classroom teachers of policy change at the macro-level. Focusing on the withdrawal of the 2013 Draft National Curriculum for History in England, it considers the views of six teachers who were personally involved in…

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…

Neo-liberal reforms in higher education have resulted in corporate managerial practices in universities and a drive for efficiency and productivity in teaching and research. As a result, there has been an intensification of academic work, increased stress for academics and an emphasis on accountability and performativity in universities. The paper…