A central policy claim for opening free schools in England was that these new schools would create competitive threats that incentivise nearby schools to improve. Where comparable policies have been pursued, notably charter schools in America, research has often measured competitive effects quantitatively. The perceptions of local actors assumed…

Emerging studies on university stratification have often attributed the developmental gaps between universities to the popularization of new public management in contexts where market mechanisms prevail in higher education governance. However, less attention has been paid to how state powers continue to mediate university stratification alongside…

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…

Philosophical anthropologies (PAs) -- ontological assumptions about human species-nature -- have long faced Foucauldian post-structural rejection of their value and legitimacy in explaining sociological problematics. In this article I endorse Bourdieu's resistance to a post-PA momentum, arguing that PAs need assuming in sociological research. In…

The provision of sports opportunities for youths in schools has expanded beyond traditional competitive offerings, with activities such as skateboarding and surfing now considered important avenues for youth development. This trend follows the recent expansion of action or 'lifestyle' sports provision into various community and educational…

Those who compete in the Gaokao, China's College Entrance Exam, are often referred to as Gaokao zhanshi, or warriors. Based on long-term ethnographic research, this article examines how Gaokao warriors combine two types of agency that are conventionally considered contradictory: the docile cultivation of virtue and the struggle against social…

The fall of the New Order government in 1998 changed the landscape of Indonesian education from a highly centralized system to a decentralized one. With this paradigm shift, district governments received a transfer of power in most public sectors in 2001, including education. The central questions in this chapter are: (1) How has Indonesia managed…

National policies on school digitalisation take shape in their local contexts. Consequently, to understand the outcome of national policy, the local translations must be set within a contextual perspective. This article explores how four contextually different municipalities in Sweden translate national school digitalisation policy. It draws on a…

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…

This study investigates 'partnership' as a key discursive tool for extending neoliberalism in the field of international development. As a case study, it examines the language-in-use among development organizations when discussing public libraries as potential partners in Africa. Critical discourse analysis of 20 interviews with development…

Problem-based learning along with other game and player-centred approaches have been promoted as valuable alternatives to more traditional, skill-based, directive, and leader-centric pedagogical approaches. However, as research has shown, they are not unproblematic or straightforward to apply. Heeding to calls for more empirical studies of…

Background: Coach observation studies have been a mainstay of coaching science research for decades, with a major focus on the use of instruction and feedback by coaches. However, relatively few studies have investigated feedback provided in a live competition setting, with a majority focussing on the training environment. As such, little is known…

The authority given to teachers within the school setting is vital to any educational work. According to its most widely accepted meaning, this concept signifies teachers' legal and social right to teach, counsel or guide that derives from a formal recognition of their ability to do so. As a concept, authority in the education system has undergone…

Most recent research on language learning and identity emphasizes on investing learners' capital as affordance to affirm their identities (Darvin & Norton, 2015; Norton, 2013). Learners' capital refers to prior knowledge, home literacies/native languages. Drawing on data from English language academies from Pakistan, this study finds a…

Commercialization and commodification of higher education has been subjected to wide critique in academic literature. The relative privilege of academic professions seems to be on the decline, as universities are subjected to increasing competitive pressures -- pressures which these institutions pass on to academics. Academics experience a loss of…