In recent years, as evidenced in the transnational proliferation of codified competence frameworks for teacher education purposes, we have seen the increased politicisation and regulation of the task of teaching and what it means to be a teacher. Making the case for an ethico-political conceptualisation of teacher identity and, using a…

This study critically examines gender equality planning (GEP), which has been obligatory in all Finnish comprehensive schools since 2015. GEP has been welcomed as a promising method of systemizing perspectives on gender in Finnish basic education. A regionally representative, discretional sample of gender equality plans (N = 140) was analysed…

In this critical, political discourse analysis, we trace how two concepts, equity and quality, became discursively linked and contested in the administration of postsecondary education policy over time (1968-1994) -- a developmental process we refer to as (e)quality politics. By engaging in a historical analysis, we investigate (a) the racialized…

Purpose: This study examined the policy processes that occurred during the creation of social studies state standards across 18 states and the District of Columbia. Research Methods/Approach: Using a critical education policy studies approach, researchers analyzed policy documents, media reports, and interviews with state standards panel…

Based on a multi-site ethnography of three distinct Ghanaian secondary schools and drawing on the Contextual Interaction Theory (CIT), this research explored teachers' perceptions of the implementation of Ghana's Free Senior High School Policy. The study employed document analysis, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews. The…

This case study examined how research has been used in the federal higher education rulemaking process, through which the U.S. Department of Education implements programs under the Higher Education Act. Findings indicate that in this high-conflict policymaking process, politics infuses various forms of research use to create several overlapping…

International organisations' importance in education policy has been growing in recent years. They have been able to promote their role by providing data and interpreting it through international assessments and guidance, and by highlighting some countries or regions as benchmarks for global improvement, performance, and efficiency. International…

How parents spend time with their children, what they teach their children and how they raise them in the early years have again become topics of policymaking and public debate. There is an intensive discussion about parental involvement in early childhood education and care (ECEC). The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's…

Politics and pragmatics are central and inseparable features of curriculum reform. In a federated system like Australia, many individuals and organisations are invested in reform at the national and jurisdictional level. This paper focuses on the policy work and roles of key actors positioned at the interface of national and state-based curriculum…

School communities across the United States are experiencing increasing calls to remove the teaching of critical race theory (CRT) from their curricula despite not actually doing so in practice. This anti-CRT push is part of a larger, conservative agenda to ban teaching "divisive" topics in public schools and exemplifies the underlying…

At the present conjuncture of political, economic, social, and ecological crises, it is important to pay attention to the ways in which intensifying demands for equality, sustainability and social inclusion are met in education policy. In this article, we present results from a critical discourse analysis of an EU council recommendation on…

Quality in higher education (HE) can be considered a floating signifier that lacks a stable meaning due to the many possible interpretations different actors may ascribe to it in different contexts. We investigate how policy makers employ the term quality in HE policymaking attempting to legitimize policy reforms and find that it is employed in…

As resegregation occurs across the country, some school districts are pursuing voluntary integration. This qualitative case study uses critical policy analysis to explore the political and social contexts surrounding the early stages of developing a voluntary integration plan in Wake County Public School System, North Carolina. Through analysis of…

The exclusion of certain tribes in an educational system can be best understood from the context of national educational policy. The new national education policy in Indonesia causes the exclusion of minority tribes such as "Samin" community in Indonesia. This study investigates how the National Education law (SISDIKNAS) was implemented,…

While many scholars recognize and criticize the politicization of education policies, scholarly attention to the strategies politicians utilize to politicize educational policy discourses remains limited. Focusing on the officials of Ghana's two major political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), as…