This paper examines the Canada-China Management Education Program (CCMEP, 1983-1996) between the University of Toronto (UT) and Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST). In this paper, we create a "Three Levels/Four Parameters" analytical framework, based on the concept of mutuality from Johan Galtung (1980) and the concept…

In 1988, Albert Shanker, head of the United Federation of Teachers, suggested that small groups of teachers could design charter (performance-based)schools as alternatives to local public schools. In theory, charter school teachers would be held in check by a performance contract but would be otherwise free from rules, norms, and regulations that…

A tiered autonomy policy was recently implemented in Philadelphia, where select principals were granted autonomy to manage school operations while others were promised greater district support to improve school functioning. This article provides evidence on how principals used their autonomy and the extent of district support for non-autonomous…

This article focuses on Islamic education in Belgium. First, attention is given to the organization of Islamic classes in state schools, where some important problems occur, such as the lack of appropriate teachers and inspectors, the mono-confessional content of the curricula, and the absence of state control. Next, the content of religious…

Specifying learning outcomes (LOs) in higher education as part of the European Qualification Framework (EQF) has resulted in a variety of experiences in the national contexts of England and Norway, as well as in different institutional and disciplinary settings. This article contributes to a contextualised understanding of the kind of management…

In 2014, the Springfield Public School district in Massachusetts had tried just about every strategy in the turnaround playbook to improve a set of struggling middle schools, but these efforts failed to generate the desired improvement. In 2015, drawing inspiration from national efforts to infuse schools with enhanced autonomy and accountability,…

This article examines the ideologies present in Colombian official policy for English language teaching (ELT) and traces the links between governmental planning for state-funded schools and school pedagogical practices. Building on analysis of interviews with policy agents, policymakers' pronouncements, documents and classroom observations, the…

Due to the politicisation of universities-within-the-state, the state's governance of higher education in China differentiates itself from other countries. This study examines how the Chinese central government adjusts its governance over universities between 1978 and 2018. Based on an extensive analysis of policy documents and scholarly research,…

The curriculum has been target of social and political demands due to its central role in school education and to the changes that occurred in education over the 20th century. The changes include more autonomy assigned to schools and teachers and the establishment of educational standards. These raised concerns that led European bodies to…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to trace the development of school autonomy and accountability and related multiple changes and impacts in key areas of school education in Hong Kong since implementing school-based management (SBM) from 1990s. Design/methodology/approach: To explore the evolution and the uniqueness of autonomy and…

This article is a response to Kevin Donnelly's article, "The Australian Education Union: A History of Opposing School Choice and School Autonomy Down-Under," and aims to correct specific errors and misrepresentations as found by Susan Hopgood, Federal Secretary of the Australian Education Union. She argues that the article is misleading…

Since the 1980s, state schools in England have been required to ensure transparency and accountability through the use of indicators and templates derived from the private sector and, more recently, globally circulating discourses of "good governance" (an appeal to professional standards, technical expertise, and performance evaluation…

In this article, we apply Max Weber's ideal types of fief and benefice feudalism to elite and non-elite chemistry departments in the USA. We develop a theoretical analogy of academic feudalism in regard to three dimensions: power relations, engagement with companies, and the impact of structural changes on the autonomy of scholars. We use a mixed…

We examine how discourses of leadership and responsibilisation are used in contemporary universities to deepen neoliberal administration and further the corporate university's business plan by restructuring and redescribing academic work. Strategically, responsibilisation discourse, promoted as "distributed leadership", is a technology…

This book asks how modern universities are organized and managed, and questions whether 30 years of university reforms have resulted in stronger managerial structures and leadership control. It further asks whether current organisational and decision-making structures can be explained by public reform policies. The book offers a coherent,…