Rankings dominate higher education policy making, although little is known about the experiences of those involved in perpetuating rankings. This paper explores middle-level academic leaders' sensemaking about university rankings and related policies in East Asia. Since university rankings have affected higher education policies and strategies…

This study examines the historical and long-term recurrence of teacher shortages in modern and contemporary Japan and explores why this problem has not been fundamentally solved. Although research has provided a detailed and complicated background for the recent teacher shortage in Japan, few studies have examined this issue as a historical and…

The international nature of doctoral education creates interesting tensions where national systems, institutional policies, disciplinary customs, individual supervisor preferences, and doctoral researcher needs meet. The Thesis by Publication (TBP), a model where published works are included within the thesis, is available to doctoral researchers…

This study explores the production, dissemination, and reception of the discourse of educational excellence and internationalisation in Japan's Designated National University Corporation System. The study frames the policy initiative within the longstanding goals of the Japanese government and demonstrates how the work of Michel Foucault helps…

The thesis by publication is expanding across countries, institutions and disciplines, and so a more in-depth understanding of the format across contexts is warranted, to ensure that all stakeholders understand the implications of this format and implement it in a fair and transparent manner. This paper provides a cross-sectional analysis of…

Using the contrast between "formal equality" and "equity," this study employs Amartya Sen's concept of capability to illustrate the relational structure of the distributive principle behind Japan's education system and policies, as well as its problems. In addition, it presents a practical principle and measures for…

This chapter examines the characteristics of Japan's international education cooperation policy during and after the 1990s, a period when it evolved under the combined influences of international trends and internal affairs. After 1990, international development discourse changed from "economic development-centered" to "human-,…

The evidence underscores the need to shift attention from school attainment to actual learning. While the average global return to an additional year of schooling is about 10 percent, a one standard deviation increase in test scores raises earnings by 15 percent. Studies show that including direct measures of skills reduces the estimated return to…

To make sense of the changes provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic and its immediate aftermath, this paper critically examines digital education policy responses in the context of the 'new realities' faced by schooling. Based on seven case studies contributed by authors from Australia, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Canada, Sri Lanka, two key questions…

This article examines the process of China's borrowing of the Japanese vocational education model from 1895 to 1922 from the perspective of educational policy transfer. This study serves as a unique example in educational policy transfer research where historical sources offer the possibility of testing the applicability of the Contextual Map of…

In 2007, the Japanese Ministry of Education revised the Education Law to pave the way for the introduction of a teaching license renewal system in 2009. The reform required all teachers to complete at least 30 hours of training in specially tailored university courses as a prerequisite for renewal of their teaching licenses every 10 years. In late…

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of vocational education digitalization policies across China, Australia, Japan, Germany, and the UK. It utilizes a multi-dimensional framework to assess policy subjects, themes and instruments. The findings highlight multi-stakeholder involvement and varying national approaches. A collective commitment…

India, with the third largest higher education system globally, has the lowest gross enrolment ratio compared to G20 nations. The National Education Policy 2020 has made a strong recommendation to enhance the gross enrolment ratio for higher education to 50% by 2035. This figure stood at 19.4% in 2010 and 28.4% in 2021-22. The study, therefore,…

Mainland China's domestic academic literature on foreign issues can be regarded as a reference for its policymaking since the early stages of the "Reform and Opening Up". This investigation constructs a multi-theoretical framework for examining and interpreting mainland China's domestic academic narrative surrounding higher education…

This study presents some of the current methodological issues regarding the analysis and comprehension of educational policy transfer, with particular emphasis on the issue of structure and agency. It suggests some shortcomings of current educational policy transfer research in dealing with the complex interaction between structure and agency. To…