This paper offers a critical analysis of the UK coalition Government's educational computing policies. It argues that such policies must be viewed in relation to the broader ideological intent underpinning their development and the neo liberal orientation that seeks to further privatise and marketise education. In examining the related…

This article investigates the ways in which newly-established higher education institutions (HEIs) position themselves as "world-class" through constructing themselves as "global". With the escalating "free market" and competitive forces arising from the marketization of education, most universities see a construction…

Neoliberalism has become the dominant ideology of our day. As with all ideologies, it influences without drawing attention to itself. Critical pedagogy, with its focus on the oppressed and marginalised, offers a perspective on the media and education that seeks to expose neoliberalism's hegemonic power. Traditional media has become complicit…

This study considers the extensive critique of the impact of the "market" or "neoliberal" model on learning and its outcomes in the light of alternative models. The purpose is to consider the potential impacts of the market on learning and its outcomes and to contextualise critique by considering alternative coordination…

The election of Barack Obama appeared to signal a shift in U.S. policy toward the Left, particularly since Obama has been framed as a "socialist," but the education discourse and policy pursued under Obama and voiced by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has shown that education reform remains in the midst of a powerful corporate model. This essay…

Sweden has commonly been regarded as a striking example of a social democratic welfare-state regime (Esping-Andersen 1996), characterized by strong state governance and active involvement in welfare matters. In the last two decades, however, the Swedish public sector and education system have been radically and extensively transformed in a…

The number and range of school types in England is increasing rapidly in response to a neoliberal policy agenda aiming to expand choice of provision as a mechanism for raising educational standards. In this paper, I seek to undertake a mapping of these school types in order to describe and explain what is happening. I capture this busy terrain…

Using New York City schools as a case study, this study draws on interview data from principals, district consultants and administrators, and principal's union representatives to explore the relationship between market-based reform and colorblindness in educational policy. The study is informed by colorblindness theory, which explores the subtle…

Since the first publication of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) results in 2000, the Finnish education system has received much praise both in Finland and abroad. In recent years, Finland started to build up its own education export sector with the aim of…

This article examines the nature of an on-going educational partnership between a Higher Education institution and a number of Further Education (FE) colleges in the West Midlands region of England, forged against the backdrop of sectoral marketisation and neoliberal reform. The partnership originates in the organisation and administration of…

Similar to other European countries, the introduction of non-academic, especially managerial, criteria in higher education has shaped and altered Austrian universities since over a decade. This paper presents the results of a frame analysis of Austrian higher education debates from 1993 until 2010. It outlines how reforms in higher education were…

David Blunkett's "Review of Education Structures" for the Labour Party recognises that there is a chaotic and unsatisfactory situation in the English education system but its response is ambiguous and self-contradictory. Its proposals seek to normalise and regulate rather than remedy a system in which lack of democratic accountability,…

Debates have been taking place in higher education communities in Canada and other Anglo-American contexts between defenders of liberal education and promoters of neoliberalism. One development not addressed is the growth of co-operative education (co-op). The origins of co-op may reside in John Dewey's (1939, 1966) ideas about experience and…

Higher education in developing nations is typically viewed from a dependency perspective--institutions are seen as merely recipients of Western knowledge, aid and reform efforts. Nevertheless, universities in both the centre and the periphery are dealing with tensions between protecting the public good and embracing neoliberal values based on a…

Higher education has been continuously growing, changing and developing since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in China. With development of more than 30 years, Chinese higher education has achieved many breakthroughs. Meanwhile, it has been facing some new situations--demographic changes,…