Charter schools are, by definition, contract schools. Charter means contract. To understand this fundamental feature of charter schools and the limits that stem from this aspect, this paper analyzes the topic of contracts and what contracting means for coming to terms with charter schools. This analysis locates charter schools in the realm of the…

Bourdieu's version of field theory has had an impressive impact on the ways that sociologists of education conceptualize educational practices. These accounts tend to focus on the varying levels of ontological complicity established between students' cultural dispositions and educational institutions. In this paper, the wisdom of these…

This paper reports on a recent study of aspirations for higher education by secondary school students from disadvantaged backgrounds in regional Australia. At the same time, it goes in search of explanations that transcend a Bourdieuian account of aspirations as produced by and reproductive of cultural histories and dominance, given the apparent…

The author is a long-time advocate inside the Labour Party for ending selective education and the 11-plus. She outlines how Labour Party frontbenchers routinely ignore or deflect calls from Party members to stand up for comprehensive education in both word and deed. As UKIP, whose policy is to extend selective education more widely, rises in the…

The authors examine higher education developments in two peripheral post-communist countries--Georgia and Armenia, whose education systems have previously received little attention in the literature. They focus on how both countries' models of higher education governance have evolved through the phase of political transformation and recent period…

This article focuses on education in Guinea-Bissau in the context of globalisations, examining the concept of globalisation and its relation to education and the curriculum. It focuses on the relatively neglected area of national education policies in Guinea-Bissau, comparing differences and common points of interference/influence of multilateral…

Using two conceptual frameworks from political science--Kingdon's (2003) multiple streams model and the advocacy coalition framework (Sabatier & Jenkins-Smith, 1993)--this case study examines the detailed history of a major tuition policy change in Ontario in 2004: a tuition freeze. The paper explores the social, political, and economic…

Set against a period of rapid change, education has grown in political importance and policy development has moved from the local authority to central government with a key role being played by the Secretary of State. Based on a series of semi-structured interviews, with 10 politicians who have served as Secretary of State for Education, this…

This article examines the complex relationship between England's new National Curriculum and the neoliberal reform of education known as GERM. It explores contradictions between economic functionality and Gove's nostalgic traditionalism. It critiques the new curriculum as narrow, age-inappropriate, obsessed with abstract rules, and poorly focused…

This article is excerpted from Marshall Project staff writer and author, Dana Goldstein's 2014 book, "The Teacher Wars: A History of America's Most Embattled Profession." It begins by describing Goldstein's experience traveling as an education reporter in the late 2000s and the incredible amount of political scrutiny under which the…

In this paper, I look into the papers of Fannia Cohn, an immigrant labour organizer, who served the Education Department of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) between 1918 and 1962 and became one of its few women vice-presidents. As an internationally recognized figure in the history of workers' education, Cohn left a rich…

The advancement of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has challenged the traditional notion of literacy as print-based reading and writing. In this article, I discuss why integration of ICTs into language and literacy curricula is important from the perspectives of the pedagogy of multiliteracies and sociocultural theories of…

Neo-liberal values have pervasive influence on education and teacher education around the globe. By analyzing findings from document analysis and interview with key policy actors as well as reviewing other academics' work, this article examines the penetration of neo-liberal ideas through policy content, selection of policy instruments, process of…

Using the PISA 2015 releases in Norway and England, this article explores how PISA has been presented in the media and how the policy level has responded to the results. England will be used as an example for comparison. The article presents early media responses from the 20 most circulated daily newspapers in the two countries and discusses them…

The author has never been frightened by the possibility of a candidate winning, as she was at the possibility of Trump becoming president. And now that he is president-elect, she has grave concerns about this nation's children and our future. In this article, she states her belief that it is time to mobilize in significant ways at all…