Conference Agenda

Educational inequality is a nuanced and multi-dimensional phenomenon (Ball, 2021), requiring a comprehensive exploration, including that at a regional/subnational level. This subnational analysis is crucial not only due to its political implications but also for the potential transformative impact on addressing social injustices. Existing literature delves into educational inequality at different geographic tiers, encompassing administrative regions (Thomas, 2001; Edgerton et al, 2008), broader geographic regions (Qian and Smyth, 2008; Gumus and Chudgar, 2016), and district levels (Bramley and Fletcher, 1995; Hogrebe et al, 2008; Ataç, 2019). Additionally, studies explore rural/urban divides within countries (Qian and Smyth, 2008; Smanova, 2021). This research specifically focuses on regional educational inequality in Kazakhstan, using international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) as a basis.

Kazakhstan exhibits substantial achievement gaps among students in different regions. Recent ILSAs reveal that students in Western and Southern regions lag behind their counterparts in science, reading, and math by 2-3 years (IAC, 2020; OECD, 2023). Such regional disparities are not unique to Kazakhstan, as OECD experts acknowledge similar trends in other European countries, emphasizing the significance of subnational results in educational assessments (OECD, 2019, p. 63). In Kazakhstan, these differences are compounded by complex historical legacies, varying quality of life, cultural traditions, and even primary language differences, with Russian-speaking regions consistently outperforming their counterparts.

Kazakhstan is a large transcontinental country with a territory greater than that of the whole Western Europe, and its European part including two regional capitals. Bordering two world superpowers, as well as culturally close Central Asian neighbours, it is, historically, a land of contradictions - geographic, political and cultural, which seemed to coexist peacefully until recently (Rees et al, 2021).

While it is rarely mentioned in the European post-colonial academic discourse, Kazakhstan’s unique geopolitical and cultural landscape makes it an ideal case study for understanding the impact of Soviet/Russian colonial influence on contemporary life, including educational disparities (Rees et al, 2021). For example, recent violent unrests which shook the country’s leadership, originated in regions with prevailing share of Kazakh-speaking population and higher levels of socio-economic inequality (Kudaibergenova and Laruelle, 2022). Cultural differences between Southern and Northern regions further shape local attitudes towards education (Diener, 2015; Koch and White, 2016). Despite drastic socio-economic variations across regions, conventional explanations fall short, with both overpopulated, economically poor Southern regions and underpopulated, oil-rich West Kazakhstan demonstrating similarly low academic achievement.

Tsai et al's (2017) assertion that educational policy should strive for both academic excellence and equity resonates with Coleman's (1975) call for addressing the unequal impact of external environments on educational opportunities. This study posits two central research questions: the extent to which regional educational inequality is addressed in national policy and the factors associated with student achievement on national and regional levels, particularly whether these factors vary between regions.

Rooted in the critical educational research paradigm, this study combines Habermas's (1972) knowledge-constitutive interests, encompassing technical knowledge derived from a positivist approach, hermeneutic knowledge acquired through interpretive methodologies, and critical knowledge aimed at emancipating disadvantaged groups (Gibson, 1986). The theoretical framework draws significantly from Habermas's notion of lifeworld and Bourdieu's concepts of cultural and social capital and 'habitus' (Edgerton and Roberts, 2014). These frameworks provide a foundation for exploring causal factors in this educational inequality research, despite Giroux's (1983) caution about the overdetermination of human agency in Bourdieu's works. Caro et al’s (2014) research relying on ILSA data and employing Bourdieu’s three forms of capital, Bernstein’s language code theory and Coleman’s (1988) definition of social capital is one of the primary examples used in this research.

(Inter)national empirical findings repeatedly prove that both socioeconomic status and contextual factors at the level of the learning group, the school, and the social space are decisive for educational opportunities (e.g., OECD, 2019). Equity funding policies might be an effective way to reduce educational inequalities and to create equal life opportunities. Following this approach, schools in challenging circumstances can receive additional staff, funding, or further support. In this regard, resource allocation might be based, for example, on available data (e.g., social indices), application processes, or discretionary of policy makers. According to Verelst, Bakelants, Vandevoort, & Nicaise (2020), more than half of EU countries currently provide some type of equity funding to schools that serve target groups such as low-SES students or children with a migration background. Results from both national and international testing show a strong relationship between students’ socio-economic background and performance. In Germany, this interrelation is particularly strong (e.g., OECD, 2019). Therefore, equity funding policies are meant to compensate for the educational disadvantages of underprivileged students and should lead to an increase in their performance. Moreover, schools in deprived areas often show higher teacher turnover and greater difficulties in attracting qualified teachers and school leaders than school working in more favourable conditions (e.g., Simon & Johnson, 2015; Clotfelder, Ladd, Vigdor, & Wheeler, 2007). Equity funding policies might also counteract these challenges, as a recent meta-analysis highlights the influence of educational policies external to the school on teacher turnover (Nguyen, Pham, Crouch, & Springer, 2020).

However, evidence concerning the effects of equity funding policies is scarce and mixed. Moreover, the implementation of equity funding policies depends on the availability of (additional) resources and the willingness of policy makers to reduce educational inequalities. In the multi-level system, municipalities play a dual role regarding the allocation of funds, as they have their own resources but are also responsible for the concrete distribution of federal or state funds. In line with educational governance theory (e.g., Altrichter, Brüsemeister, & Wissinger, 2007), decision-making on the municipality level is shaped by organizational and political conditions and decision-making on the district or federal level (e.g., Honig, Coburn, & Stein, 2009).

In recent years, evidence-based decision-making has become a topic of growing interest. Following this approach, grounding decisions and actions in evidence and available data should be the case on every level of the school system. This is seen as a prerequisite for an efficient and effective performance and an increase in students’ achievement (e.g., Honig & Coburn, 2008). International findings suggest that the amount of resources and the ways they are (supposed to be) allocated and used influence the effects of equity funding schemes (e.g., Franck & Nicaise, 2022). Based on theoretical assumptions and international findings, different designs of equity funding schemes can be distinguished. In this regard, the following dimensions can be differentiated:

• allocation of human resources vs. allocation of budget/monetary means
• earmarking vs. free disposal/usage
• data-driven allocation (e.g., based on social indices) vs. allocation based on negotiations or expertise

It can be assumed that policy makers have a considerable leeway in allocating resources. Therefore, their attitudes towards justice in educational opportunities are of great importance as they may influence resource allocation. However, there are hardly any findings in Germany regarding the extent, the concrete design, and the effects of equity funding policies. To our knowledge, a systematic overview of the concrete implementation of resource allocation at the municipal level is still lacking and little is known regarding the attitudes of German policy makers.

While policies, laws and programs of various kinds have been implemented to address inequality of opportunity in education, achievement gaps caused by background rather than ability are persistent across the world. Looking at unequal educational opportunities as a ‘wicked problem’, we propose that collective action networks consisting of various educational actors, such as policy makers, political leaders, school leaders, teachers, parents and other educational professionals, are needed to refine approaches to tackling unequal educational opportunities.

For such networks to be successful, though, these actors need to be brought together, get to know each other’s role in the context of the problem, and think of unequal educational opportunities as a wicked problem. We propose that a serious policy game can help the educational field to achieve this and to work towards successful collective action networks. In this article, we present the contours of one such game, designed for the Dutch context, and we explain how a similar game can be developed for usage in other contexts.

In doing so, the paper covers two research questions, whereby the second question follows upon our answer to the first: 1) What is needed to refine approaches to tackling the problem of unequal educational opportunities? 2) What does a serious policy game to work towards collective action networks to address unequal educational opportunities look like?

In relation to the first question, the paper builds on the concept of ‘wicked problem’, coined by Ritter and Webber (1973) and further developed by Korsten (2019). Wicked problems are characterized by cognitive, normative and social complexity, and we argue that the problem of inequality of educational opportunities is complex in all these three respects, which makes it a typical wicked problem. This leads us to conclude that this problem needs to be addressed through collective action networks (Duke & Geurts, 2004; Innes & Booher, 2016; Crowley & Head, 2017; Korsten, 2019).

Drawing on game theories, in particular Duke and Geurts’ (2004) 5Cs for serious policy gaming, we propose that a serious policy game is a useful strategy to work towards such networks. In relation to the second question – what such a game would look like – we employ Olejniczak, Wolański and Widawski’s (2020) well established game typology to arrive at a design framework for a policy game on unequal education opportunities. Both the design framework and an example game are presented in this paper.

The New Public Manegment (NPM) influences educational policy in many aspects. One of them deals with strengthen global governance by the reinforce the involvment of stakehoders from the business sector and philanthropy in educational policy. This involvement strives to adapt values of globalism, standards, and accountability as part of the educational evaluation policy (Lingard, Martino, & Rezai-Rashti, 2013).

The educational evaluation policy targets power relations between different stakeholders. The stakeholder's position and values are more often reveal in the way they identify structural problems and strategical difficulties in the education system. That effects both the educational evaluation policy and the expectancy from the education system to enact and implement the policy. The enactment of evaluation policy is more often challenging due to demands from the formal authorities and obstacles from inside the educational system (Adert-German, 2021; Ball, Magurie, Braun, & Hoskins, 2011; Camphuijsen, 2020).

The objective of this research is to comprehend the scope of evaluation policy and the effects of NPM on it. This highlights the influence of different ideologies and standards regarding educational evaluation policy. Moreover, the research challenges policy stakeholder's expectancy from enactment and implementation of the policy.

Our research deals with the educational policy in Israel since 2005. This was a significant year for Israeli education policy because of the Dovrat (Israel National Force for Education) Committee, which revealed their findings and recommendations.

This committee raised concerns regarding improving evaluation and measurement of the educational system, and adopting an evaluation policy that promotes accountability (Livni-Huberman, 2021; Resnik, 2011).

The Dovrat committee recommended establishing the National Authority for Measurement and Evaluation. It was also involved in the evaluation policy and its implementation in the educational system, including the national and international examinations. Another notable recommendation was creating the position of evaluation coordinator. A coordinator is a teacher specializing in the field of evaluation. This teacher trained to become the school evaluation coordinator and to enact the evaluation policy within the school.

In recent years, instability has become one of the permanent elements in everyday life, from the global economic crisis in 2008, through the climate crisis and the Arab Spring, which increased emissions and migration to Europe, culminating with the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the consequences of these emergencies was recognition of the advantage of local government over central government in effectively solving problems (Gupta et al., 2021). These events, along with changes of government, demographic shifts, and economic changes, are reflected in the characteristics of educational reform (Cohen, Spillane, & Peurach, 2018). Educational reforms usually seek to establish a new policy that will change teaching and learning patterns for the benefit of the schools and society (Sahlberg, 2016). As such, educational reform usually challenges the school principals’ basic concepts and assumptions, and can affect their professional skills. This study seeks to explore how a top-down reform affects principals’ professional skills.

The reform explored in this study is called “Gefen” (PAF – Pedagogical-Administrative Flexibility), designed by Ministry of Education policymakers, to be implemented by school principals. This reform reflects the growing accountability and crisis management trend at local leadership level. By means of a digital platform, this reform enables management of school budgets by selecting administrative and pedagogical alternatives, such as educational programs, consultancy and training, technological tools, etc. Choosing solutions requires principals to use professional skills to diagnose the schools’ needs, choose an appropriate intervention, and infer from the process and results (Abbott, 1988). In addition, to successfully meet the demands of the reform, principals have to develop supportive networks with colleges and experts to obtain information, resources, and tools (Eyal, 2019). The present study seeks to examine the relationship between educational reform and the professional skills of school principals.

Preliminary findings show that the main challenges the principals face are meeting budget requirements, timetables, and reports, while keeping to the reform budget. The principals deal with these challenges by participating in networks that provide sound advice, consultation, and quick solutions to the demands of the reform. Following the wisdom of the network enhances the pattern of compliance, and suppresses the professional skills needed to adapt the solutions to the school’s needs and context. Virtually no evidence was found of diagnostic processes regarding students’ or teachers’ needs. The principals preferred to delegate diagnosis responsibilities to middle leaders, such as the social education coordinator, or favored programs with popular topics, like student inclusion and resilience. At times, the guiding principle of “Every child gets something”, leads to purchasing a wide variety of programs that do not necessarily correspond to the students’ or teachers’ needs.

At the same time, when the principals chose programs, there was partial reference to an informed choice between alternatives. One reason for this is that the digital reform includes more than 5,000 different programs, making it difficult to choose. Consequently, in most instances, the principals look for recommendations from colleagues, or continue with programs already operating at the school.

Finally, little evidence was found to evaluate the quality of the program. Principals used accessible indicators, such as the students’ desire to participate or the absence of discipline problems, with no reference to whether the program’s pedagogical or administrative goals have been achieved. Possible explanations for the principals’ coping patterns are associated with the nature of reform implementation (top-down, all at once, without sufficient time), with “growing pains” of the new digital system, and with the principals’ lack of professional skills, which altogether result in them devoting their efforts to “solving the problem of the reform”, rather than to the problems the reform seeks to solve.

The study analyzes the emergence of new modes of regulation in education and the teaching profession, resulting in phenomena of multiregulation in education (Barroso, 2005). This involves the interaction of state and non-state actors at different levels and with different approaches, in new spaces, utilizing various governance instruments (Leuze Martens & Rusconi, 2007; Rizvi & Lingard, 2006). The study acknowledges the increasing intensity and complexity of transnational governance in education (Carvalho, 2016), leading to the creation of non-traditional spaces. One such example is the Erasmus+ support line for European projects, specifically Key Action 3 – Support for policy reform, Action Type – Policy experimentations, which includes the case of the European project - LOOP – Empowering Teachers.

The propositions put forth by this group are analyzed as an expression of transnational governance (Ozga & Lingard, 2007; Djelic & Sahlin-Anderson, 2006) of teacher training policies in unconventional forums. The identification of the issues that unite the actors in the LOOP consortium is based on the recognition of a global political matter that demands attention. This matter arises from two main factors: i) the shortage of teachers in Europe, which poses a pressing challenge and has significant impacts on educational systems, and ii) the necessity to attract and retain more qualified professionals, recognizing the critical early stages of the teaching profession (Almeida et al., 2018; Costa et al., 2019). In this context, the establishment of the consortium is justified, further fortified by the approval and funding of the proposal at the European level.

The consortium brings together representatives from Ministries of Education, academics, and teachers from six European countries (Croatia, Slovenia, Spain (Catalonia), Greece, Italy, and Portugal) to address a shared issue. The consortium's collective goal is to design a solution that can be implemented at a national level, incorporating perspectives from state authorities, teachers, and academic experts. The involvement of Ministries of Education adds legitimacy to the consortium as they are considered crucial stakeholders responsible for implementing the proposed solutions within their respective national contexts.

Therefore, as part of a larger project, this study has three main objectives: i) to document how the consortium organizes itself and assigns roles to different actors involved; ii) to analyze the issues raised as part of a critical analysis process, constructing a coherent argument that identifies and defines the key features of a shared problem and emphasizes the need for a collective response; and iii) to present the recommendations that emerge from the coordinated search for solutions to the identified problems, including proposals and suggestions for addressing the challenges at hand.

This effort encompasses a progressive exploration of potential approaches that should be adopted, following the established guidelines (Delvaux, 2009). It is crucial to analyze the tools and methods employed by the consortium to generate knowledge that supports the proposed solutions. For instance, the consortium utilizes various instruments in different national contexts, such as identifying teachers' needs and motivations during the initial phase in the consortium's six countries. Additionally, the consortium gathers 'best practices' and exemplary case studies from participating countries, which serve as inspiring models.

The generated knowledge, aiming to build the supporting 'argument' for the group's proposals, is based on 776 questionnaires collected by the LOOP consortium, applied to teachers (newly graduated and experienced) and school directors; 56 interviews conducted by LOOP teams and six focus groups (64 participants), and results obtained through a trial of the solution via the implementation of national pilot projects.

The development of multilingual curriculum has usually been regarded as one of marketized strategies for global neoliberal education environment (Huang, 2022) or the intercultural or multicultural practice in the society (Senar, Janés, Huguet & Ubalde, 2023; European Commission, n.d.). However, this may not be the case for the recent multilingual education policy in Taiwan. In 2019, the legislation of “Development of National Language Act” is given the task to realize linguistic and cultural human rights on the islands. Responding to the enactment of Development of National Languages Act, Taiwanese Ministry of Education has amended and implemented a new version of Curriculum Guidelines of 12-Year Basic Education in 2022 in order to implement the policy of national language courses from elementary to senior high school level. According to the new Curriculum Guidelines, from the school year of 2022 (which starts from September, 2022), local languages education, implemented as mandate courses, is extended from elementary school to junior and senior high school with various course hours and/or credits. With such a policy, it becomes a mandate for students not only take national language courses in their 9-year compulsory education but also carrying on national language courses in the optional 3-year post-secondary education. With the conceptualization of half-education by Adorno (1993), the paper scrutinizes the discourse development of national language and its position in the post-secondary education in Taiwan. There are 2 overarching research questions: 1) What is the construct of national language education, and 2) What are the unique tasks and characteristics of post-secondary national languages education in Taiwan.

As a postcolonial society, Taiwanese schooling has organized and operated in different languages. In Japanese colonial regime, Japanese language was taught as the national language, while Mandarin has become the only instructional language used in schooling after the Chinese national government took place in 1945. The top-down language policies have been regarded as one of powerful tools that reconstruct not only the cultures and communication practices but also the identities. This paper critically examines two policies enacted in 2017 and 2019, the 2030 Bilingual Nation policy and the Development of National Languages Act, and investigates their impacts on schooling in Taiwan. The multilingualism and intercultural practices developed in European societies will be utilized as a reference in the investigation of Taiwanese multilingualism under the enactment of recent language policies.

In an era when English dominates international and transnational dialogues, the concept of 'education' is framed predominantly through an Anglophone lens. Global education policy and research frameworks thus dominated by the English language may cause potential misinterpretations when the term 'education' is translated across languages, which harbours the risk of conceptual dissonance. Such concerns are amplified in discourses led by major international bodies such as the OECD, UNESCO and the EU. This raises questions about the inclusiveness and applicability of education policy and research, particularly in the light of the EU's commitment to multilingualism as enshrined in its Charter of Fundamental Rights.

This paper critiques the prevailing "linguistic hegemony" (Reagan 2018) in educational discourse and argues that an English-centric approach in policy and research publications may dilute diverse educational philosophies, especially amidst Europe's rich linguistic tapestry. Sensitivity to multiple meanings and local epistemologies is important, especially when dealing with social issues that are often local and contextual. Drawing on critiques of global governance (Tikly 2017; Parreiro de Amaral 2011) and comparative education theory (Keiner & Schriewer 2000; Ermenc 2015; Cowen & Kim 2023; Tröhler 2023), this study aims to analyse the impact of English language dominance in shaping international education narratives and argues for multilingual sensitivity.

The research examines the treatment of the contextual nuances of education and English-centric narratives in international reports from the OECD, UNESCO and the EU. It furthermore evaluates the use of language and the extent of sensitivity to contextual specificity of these documents, as they not only describe but also propose future educational visions and policies. Three key questions guide this examination:

• How do these policy reports conceptualise 'education', especially with regards to future goals and educational content?
• To what extent do they address issues of translation and contextual specificity?
• How do they accommodate multilingual and multiplex interpretations of 'education'?

Using the methodologies of Bray et al. (2014) and Phillips (2006), this study explores the conceptualisation of 'education' and its recognition of local epistemologies. It examines the usage of the English term 'education' within these documents for implicit or explicit assumptions, with the goal of revealing cases of undue uniformity in the understanding of conceptualizations of ‘education’.

The present study aims to demonstrate that a productive way to advance discourse within the dominant English-centric model is the 'import' of ideas and conceptual frameworks from non-English educational-theories, such as e.g. the German "Erziehungstheorie" (theory of education). Contrasting English publications with their German translations will showcase that exploring non-Anglophone theoretical perspectives, such as the German concepts of 'Erziehung' and 'Bildung', provide a more nuanced understanding of 'education' beyond the confines of the Anglophone discourse. This approach could uncover underlying normative, ethical, and intergenerational aspects of education that are often overlooked in Anglophone discussions, thus broadening the theoretical landscape of educational research and policy.

Following existing studies of hidden assumptions within policy documents (Forster 2014; Vaccari & Gardinier 2019), the analysis seeks to highlight the drawbacks of overlooking linguistic diversity in educational discourses and argues for the inclusion of local epistemologies to enrich policy and research. Finally, drawing on Geertz's (1983) concept of 'local knowledge' and Merton's (1949) 'middle range theories', I argue that a multilingual and culturally sensitive approach to educational policy and research could make a significant contribution to the field by embracing the theoretical richness offered by Europe's linguistic and cultural diversity.

This paper introduces the notion of ‘layers of recontextualisation’ to conceptualise complexities in the reshaping of the Global Inclusive Education Policy (GIEP), advocated and promulgated globally by UNESCO, according to contextual dynamics in Pakistan. GIEP concerns the 'ensemble' (Ball, 1993: p.14) of educational policies combating discrimination which are grounded in the Right to Education (United Nations, 1989). The term 'global' denotes the extent of these policies through endorsement by member states of the United Nations. We defined Inclusive Education (IE), as per UNESCO's (2019a) perspective on non-discrimination in education, as Education for All (EfA). Additionally, we assume an inherent link between social and educational inclusion (Felder, 2018). We present key findings that address our primary research question exploring the macro-level forces shaping GIEP in Pakistan following ratification by the Federal Government.

Our study established GIEP as situated in a tension between the structural-institutional image of states and their interpretative-plural practices. We demonstrate this using a 'collaborative' education reform initiative in Pakistan, involving the Government of Punjab and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID), called the Punjab Education Roadmap (PER), and two associated media packages. Through our analysis of in-depth interviews with elite policy actors we reveal the complex dynamics and disparate political agendas driving this reform effort.

While the PER set out to address Pakistan's educational challenges by improving school enrolments and reinforcing system accountability, our analysis exposes its entanglement in domestic and bilateral sociopolitical dimensions, including the War on Terror, aid accountability mechanisms, and local political intricacies rooted in political kinship, ultimately diluting the envisaged improvements. Our conclusion posits that GIEP is ensnared in three critical yet often overlooked layers: multilevel policy structures founded on societal divisions; patronage-based kinship networks; and the positioning of states within the international political economy.

Contrary to prevalent discourses framing educational exclusion as a mere 'policy-implementation gap,' we advocate for a nuanced understanding that considers the contextual complexities inherent in these layers of recontextualisation. By emphasising the entanglement of education policy within these layers, our analysis provides an alternative perspective to often oversimplified narratives of educational exclusion. Instead, we direct attention to the broader sociopolitical dynamics shaping state practices mediating education policy. In doing so, we contribute to a more comprehensive discourse on education exclusion, highlighting the multifaceted challenges associated with state-centric approaches in implementing global inclusive education policies. We stress the importance of a deeper understanding of the broader socio-political factors at play, challenging the perception of education policy as a purely 'technical' issue. Instead, we characterise the reshaping of GIEP in Pakistan as reflective of the politics of struggle, informality, and conflict in wider society, the outcome of which will unlikely reproduce the text of policy.

This paper has relevance for scholars interested in policy mobilities and the politics of education policy and governance in countries beyond the global North. It also offers insights of broader relevance to scholars studying education policies, especially those aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Four (SDG4) in countries in receipt of ‘ Official Development Assistance’ (ODA) from ‘donor’ nations.

The importance of host-country language skills for educational success and socioeconomic mobility for migrant children is well documented. This research has mostly focused on immigrant students. The focus on return migrant children or “invisible outsiders” (Hoffmann, 2023) is more recent. Research indicates that, on average, students of return migrant background are likely to be at educational disadvantage compared to other groups of students (Hoffmann, 2023). Yet, the situation appears to vary from country to country and children with access to better resources appear to do well academically.

Proficiency of language of instruction is a prerequisite for educational success. Difficulties with the language of instruction contributes to lesser or negative educational outcomes for return migrant children (Kienzler et al., 2019; Zevulun et al., 2021). While research on older children and young people has found that difficulties in learning the language of the host country can have a noticeable impact on newly arrived young people's integration into their new school (Olliff & Couch, 2005; Sanagavarapu, 2010), there are studies and theories that challenge this and argue that there is no clear correlation between language acquisition and wellbeing at school. Apart from a lack of vocabulary and an accent, even more subtle nuances in communication can also hamper language proficiency – irony, humour and rhetorical questions in cultural and social contexts can all contribute to discomfort and stress, which only subsides when the speech patterns and pragmatic-rhetorical aspects of the language have been acquired (Zilka, 2021).

As an example of the way that host countries address migrant integration challenges, the struggles of migrant children in UK schools are in the process of being mitigated with targeted interventions. Thus, the informal role that schools play in helping migrant families to fit in needs to be recognised and local authorities need to provide adequate financial support to schools to hire dedicated EAL (English as an Additional Language) teachers or support staff where appropriate (Manzoni & Rolfe, 2019, p. 61). Initial familiarisation with the new family by the school is important so that each child's need for a tailor-made learning and support programme can be assessed from the start of their school career.

Building on these findings our research will explore education policy models that exist to support the learning of the local language of instruction among foreign-born or raised return migrant children. What are the experiences of return migrant families and their children navigating school under the existing language-of-instruction acquisition model? The current paper seeks to answer these questions. First, it compares how education policies in countries with a track record of return migration such as Finland, Estonia and Latvia support language learning among return migrant children. Second, it offers a bottom-up perspective of return families within the existing language-of-instruction acquisition support model in Latvia. The experiences of returnee children in school settings, particularly in the context of inclusive education, is an under-researched area and this study will, therefore, offer new insights and contribute to migration debates on return migration.

Research Question:

This is a work in progress. The research question probes the complex dynamics at the intersection of global economic trends and Georgia's distinct socio-political landscape. Specifically, it seeks to unravel how these factors collaborate and conflict to direct the course of pro-privatisation policies within Georgia's education system since the fall of the USSR. The query is poised to uncover the processes through which educational reforms are not only proposed and adopted but also sustained or discarded over time. It places particular emphasis on the Georgian response to global neoliberal influences in the wake of significant socio-political upheaval, thereby examining the country's educational evolution as a case study for broader post-socialist transformations in Eastern Europe. This question illuminates the nuances of policy adaptation and resistance within a national context, acknowledging the powerful sway of international agencies and financial institutions, while also highlighting local agency and the inextricable influence of cultural and historical factors.

Theoretical Framework:

The Cultural Political Economy (CPE) approach, as conceptualised by Jessop and further elaborated by Verger et al., serves as the theoretical backbone of this study. This framework is pivotal for its integrative analysis of both the semiotic (discursive, ideological) and the material (economic, institutional) dimensions of privatisation policies. By applying CPE, the study delineates how the narratives and rationalities of privatisation gain prominence, translating into concrete educational reforms that reflect a blend of global neoliberal doctrines and Georgia-specific socio-political conditions. The research critically examines established pathways to privatisation, such as those propelled by systemic shocks (‘privatisation through catastrophe’) and comprehensive state reforms ('privatisation as a state structural reform').

Moreover, this study contributes to the CPE discourse by proposing a new pathway: 'Educational Privatisation in Post-Soviet Eastern European States.' This pathway contextualises the privatisation process within the unique historical trajectory of post-Soviet nations as they transitioned from centralised economies to market-oriented systems. It accounts for the persistence of Soviet-era educational legacies and the influence of European integration aspirations, thereby offering a nuanced understanding of Georgia's educational privatisation journey.

This theoretical scaffolding allows for a multifaceted analysis that addresses the complex interdependencies between global policy prescriptions and local realities. The CPE perspective enables the study to move beyond the surface of policy adoption, delving into the strategic and discursive actions of varied actors—including governments, international organisations, and local stakeholders—engaged in the contestation and construction of educational policies. It also facilitates an understanding of how such policies are variably institutionalised, resisted, or reformed, providing a rich tapestry of the socio-political interplay that defines Georgia's educational landscape in a global context.

By intertwining the theoretical insights of CPE with empirical data from Georgia's education sector, this research aims to make a significant contribution to the discourse on policy analysis and education reform, with implications that reverberate far beyond the Georgian context. The resulting synthesis promises to deepen our comprehension of educational privatisation as a phenomenon occurring at the confluence of global ideological currents and entrenched local practices, offering valuable lessons for policymakers, educators, and researchers alike.

This paper aims to explore how teachers and school-based staff experience policy and navigate instability in urban schools labeled as failing and placed into ‘turnaround’. Urban public schools in the United States have been impacted by perpetual uncertainty and precarity as cities transform and schools are subjected to frequent policy churn. These schools are sites of both stability and instability during times of change and upheaval such as the coronavirus pandemic and current cost-of-living crisis. Urban schools provide stability through social services for families (e.g.: food banks, Wi-Fi hotspots) and safe spaces for students in addition to schooling; however, many urban schools simultaneously experience increased surveillance, turbulence, and intervention through accountability policies that label them ‘failing’ and in need of ‘turnaround’ (school takeover or intervention), or closure. This instability is further compounded by local contextual factors (rising intakes of English learners and special education students amidst budget constraints, competition with charter schools, local school choice policies) as well as national and international trends (privatization of education, displacement of families due to gentrification, financial crises and widening inequalities). Schools are on the frontlines of navigating societal and local instabilities, but there is limited research exploring how school-based staff respond to these challenges while experiencing school accountability interventions.

Since the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act, a significant focus of American education policy centered on ‘corrective action’ designed to turnaround ‘underperforming’ schools, in common with other neoliberal systems. Turnaround policies vary by state and include options such as firing school staff, appointing private management, restructuring the school, or closure. The decision to intervene in ‘failing’ schools is determined by student performance on standardized tests and other metrics such as graduation rates. The goal of turnaround is rapid change and improvement in school performance. Similar policies exist internationally such as ‘special measures’ in England (Perryman, 2006), ‘turnaround’ in China (Tao, 2023) and Malaysia (Harris et al., 2017), and ‘failing schools’ interventions in some German states (Dedering, 2018). Turnaround policies connect to the governance turn (Ball, 2009) in neoliberal education policy and frequently involve public-private partnerships, consultants, and philanthropic actors in schools. In America, after two decades of turnaround policies, there are “very few examples of permanent school turnaround” (Meyers, 2020), but many students, teachers, and communities have been impacted as thousands of schools experienced turnaround- mostly in urban, low-income, Black and Latinx communities (Lipman, 2011).

Accountability systems often center ‘teacher-deficit’ views (Ingersoll, 2011) even as teachers are central to school improvement work. Furthermore, the experiences and perspectives of teachers are frequently underrepresented in research on turnaround policy. The limited scholarship on teachers in turnaround schools highlights the uncertainty and stress at the heart of their experiences. Cucchiara et al.’s (2015) study on working conditions under turnaround shows teachers experienced rigorous workloads, long hours, chronic instability, and frequent turnover of leadership and staff. Peck and Reitzug’s (2018) case study contributes portraitures of four primary teachers in turnaround schools and highlights the “dizzying nature of change” and high teacher attrition rates. The pandemic has exacerbated these conditions and Harbatkin et al. (2023) found that turnaround schools were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and experience greater educational inequities.

In exploring teachers’ experiences, this study will pay particular attention to contextual factors, issues of equity, and teachers’ identities. Ultimately, this paper examines the relationship between accountability policies and teacher experiences in neoliberal systems and can act as a cautionary tale of the impacts of policy interventions and labels, especially when these interventions ignore context and substitute control for support.

In Europe, the overwhelming majority of the Roma population lives at risk of poverty and suffers from intense discrimination and segregation. Historically, the Roma people endured five centuries of slavery, became victims of genocide during the Holocaust, and suffered from strategic governmental acculturation attempts. Consequently, the Roma population’s socioeconomic status and educational success are below the average for the non-Roma European population. The social inclusion of the Roma community is among the most important topics on the European Union’s agenda; therefore, in 2011, the European Commission adopted an EU framework for national Roma integration strategies, which was reviewed in 2020. The framework is followed by a guide on how each Member State of the European Union should develop their own strategies to promote the social inclusion of the Roma people. However, the lack of significant evolution in the Roma situation regarding socioeconomic exclusion, education, employment, health, and housing in the past decade led the 2020 EU framework for national Roma integration to consider the past integration Strategies as a failure. Romania faces the challenge of integrating the Roma people as well, with low improvement in the Roma minority’s educational and socioeconomic situation and with the maintenance of a strong gap between the Roma ethnic people and the non-Roma Romanian population. Not only do Roma students have lower levels of educational attendance, but they face a system where high levels of school segregation and discrimination against the Roma minority remained present in the last decade. The 2022-2027 Strategy of the Government of Romania for the Inclusion of the Romanian Citizens Belonging to the Roma Minority states that there was no progress in compulsory education and that access to upper secondary education for Roma students in Romania in the last decade has even worsened.

In this paper, we analysed the educational aspect of the Strategies of the Government of Romania for the Inclusion of Romanian Citizens Belonging to the Roma Minority from 2012 to 2027. Looking at the transformations of the Strategies over time will contribute to a better understanding of the causes of the limits and failures they faced and the present situation of Roma educational exclusion in that country, drawing possible implications for understanding the persistent educational disadvantage that Roma people face in education at a European level.

This paper will explore the relationship between education policymaking, practice and research in the field of adult literacy in Ireland. It draws on our involvement in a series of research reports completed for the national adult literacy and Further Education and Training (FET) services in Ireland between 2018-2022. Each research project was conducted on a national scale, intending to capture literacy practice in their respective areas of family literacy, numeracy, inclusion of adult learners with intellectual disabilities, and inclusion of adult literacy across FET. This represented a very active period by the national statutory agencies in researching the evidence base of adult literacy to inform governmental strategic planning. It aimed to provide an evidence-base for literacy education to inform emergent policies, in a manner that consulted with and gave voice to the experiences of staff and students at multiple levels, types and sites of adult literacy provision in Ireland. The findings were written and presented as research reports, before being translated into a series of policy briefing papers (NALA, 2022) and forming part of the evidence-base for consultation process for the first National Adult Literacy for Life Strategy, 2021 in Ireland. This paper explores how the socio-cultural and political context of this research influenced how it was able to relate to and influence policy.

Much like other European countries (Assmann & Broschinski, 2021), Denmark has a sizeable group of young people that are neither in education, employment, or training (NEET) (Statistics Denmark, 2023). Denmark simultaneously identifies a lack of vocational professionals resulting in a looming threat of decreased growth (Aarkrog, 2020). At the same time the upper secondary schools struggle with a lack of motivation among students and school refusal (Pless & Katznelson, 2019). These issues became politically intertwined in 2023 as the Minister of Education, Mattias Tesfaye, proposed to make the comprehensive public school more practical and vocationally oriented (Tesfaye, 2023). The proposal was argued to lead to an educational system better accommodating students than is the case today and thus create a more secure future for the individual (Tesfaye, 2023). One of the initiatives in the proposal is the introduction of junior apprenticeships. A junior apprenticeship offers students from grade 7 to 9[1] a reduced school schedule and instead combine school with an internship at a company. The hypothesis is that it will contribute to less school refusal, decrease the risk of students leaving their 9^th grade examinations without plans for further education, and simultaneously prepare students for the future and further education. In this sense, the national proposal seeks to address broader European concerns (Rasmussen & Juul, 2020; Eleveld, Bazzani, De Le Cour & Staszewska, 2022).

Hjørring Municipality has locally experimented with a similar initiative they call prolonged internship for the past four years. The prolonged internship entails students in grade 7 through 9 being able to have as little as an afternoon and as much as multiple days a week where they instead of school go to a local company. The initiative is part of a broader policy in Hjørring Municipality labelled the “Youth Guarantee” (Friche, Enemark & Ydesen, 2021). The policy aims to ensure people under the age of 30 in the municipality avoid a position without education, employment, or training. Hence, it is akin to the European Youth Guarantee (Tosun et al, 2019), but crucially establishes a collaboration between employment and education already at the lower secondary education level. The Hjørring Municipality policy has a constellation of partners from education institutions, the bureaucracy, and companies that guarantee they will take responsibility for young people and helping them on their way (Bolvig, Jeppesen, Kleif, Østergaard, Iversen, Broch-Lips, Jensen and Thodsen, 2019). The prolonged internship is one of the initiatives the partners collaborate on. The aim is, similarly to the recent proposal at the national level, to offer a break from students’ everyday school life, increase students’ motivation, and establish a more secure and certain path for the future at an individual level (Hjørring Municipality, 2023).

This paper therefore takes up the prolonged internship to explore if this is a suitable measure and how this local policy can potentially mitigate national and European issues. The paper is guided by the question: “How are prolonged internships in a Danish municipality enacted and what potential does it have to mitigate European issues in education and employment?”. The paper relies on focus group interviews with students, parents, companies, and the relevant staff surrounding them and explores the question through the concept of policy enactment as an analytical lens.

[1] In the Danish education system tracking occurs quite late in students’ schooling career, namely following the 9^th grade final examinations. This has been the norm since 1975 where the comprehensive public school was unified and means grades 8 and 9 primarily are when students must consider their future education trajectory.

The institutional care for children starts at the age of 3 years old in the Czech republic and the lack of institutions providing early child care and education for children at the age above 3 years old is significantly missing (RILSA). Number of private institutions or children's groups insure places for about 15.000 children (at the age of 2 to 3 years old mostly), but these are not available for all children, mostly children from lower sociological backgrounds are excluded because of the financial situation of families. Though a number of findings conclude the benefits of institutional care for children from disadvantaged backgrounds mostly, there are also financial benefits of providing care and support to disadvantaged children (Korbel at Prokop, 2019 ). The care and education is administratively split between two sectors in the Czech republic with various qualification requests for caregivers or teachers for different ages or type of service. Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MoLSA) ensure the care for children at the age 0 - 3 (mostly in Children s group) where caregivers declare their competencies for services supported by the Ministry, a considerable number of private services has no law or no control mechanism or exist as a part of an underground economy with no regulation. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports administrate Kindergartens (about 72 % children attends the Kindergarden from the age of 3, the compulsory education starts at the age of 5), where teachers have to be qualified according to the Act on Education Staff and the quality of Education is ensured by Czech School Inspectorate. The straddle situation described is not unique in Europe and various systems face the lack of numbers in the quality of institutional care in different ways.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs proposes an innovative project to start a Home based care for children at the age from 6 months till the beginning of compulsory school education. This project should ensure high quality service for every child (when not excluding children from disadvantaged families of children with special needs and ensuring qualified caregivers) and low threshold for caregivers and parents at the same time. The evaluation of the project looks for the model where caregivers could still have a lower degree of education (ICSED 3) and additional support of authorities and experts to ensure high quality care and education and provide sufficient monitoring of the development of every child individually. The system of monitoring and evaluation in the innovation project of the home based care is also consulted in the expert group of Technical Support Instrument: Developing a Comprehensive Framework for the Monitoring and Evaluation of Early Childhood Education and Care in the Czech Republic.

The research question are as following:

How to set the parameters of the service to deliver a service with high quality standards while maintaining a low entry barrier to make it accessible for the broadest spectrum of children possible.

What are the needs of caregivers and what kind of support do they need to ensure high quality of service for every child?

How can we set the evaluation of the service so it leads to the continuous learning and improving of the service?

The Swedish preschool, as part of the national educational system, is influenced by global discourses wherein education is defined as in need of constant improvement (Moss, 2013). These perceptions often stem from discussions of insufficient outcomes in international assessments, such as TIMMS and PISA. In response, governments, including the Swedish, regularly introduce new policies intended for implementation in local pedagogical practices (Adolfsson & Håkansson, 2019; Smith, 2016). Examples of such national initiatives include: “The Best School Possible” (CBS) (U2019/03786/S) in Sweden, “Every child matters: change for children in schools” (DfES/1089/2004) in Great Britain and “No child Left Behind” (20 USC 6301 note, 2002) in the United States.

This paper draws on an ongoing research project (2022–2024) investigating CBS policy (U2019/03786/S) in Swedish preschools. Decentralisation and recentralisation of educational systems, such as the Swedish, create unique settings for the realisation of policies like CBS (cf. Håkansson & Rönnström, 2021). While CBS can be understood as an example of the state’s increased control over preschools, it also includes intentions for local professional’s influence (U2019/03786/S).

CBS entails a three-year working process with a predetermined plan to identify and improve deficiencies in pedagogical practices (Skolverket, 2023). This initiative in local preschools, supported by university staff and led by head teachers and selected preschool teachers, aims to involve all preschool staff. Swedish preschool staff consist of various professions, mostly common preschool teachers with university degrees and professionals (referred to as assistants) with college degrees. Despite their different formal responsibilities, all are expected to provide high-quality pedagogical practice in line with the common national curriculum (Swedish National Agency of Education [SNAE], 2018).

Despite the rich array of international studies on national improvement initiatives (e.g., Cameron, 2010; Coborn & Spillane, 2016), research specifically on CBS, especially in the preschool context, remains sparse (Adolfsson & Håkansson, 2019).

In the current research project, we raise questions about how preschool professionals meet the demand for improvement in preschools with challenging conditions. Specifically, how is the CBS policy ‘made’ by professionals in local preschools? This paper aims to discuss how this policy is perceived and used in pedagogical practices by preschool professionals at the end of the three-year process.

The following research question is addressed:

- How do preschool teachers and assistants understand and experience the way CBS is transformed and carried out in preschools’ pedagogical practice?

This paper is grounded in Billig’s (1991) theoretical and methodological concept of ideological dilemmas. Billig argues that such dilemmas, which are overarching and recurring in society, may appear in different contexts, including scientific, political and everyday talk. These dilemmas encompass different logics regarding, for instance, regarding how education should be and can be controlled. Furthermore, they are seen as productive – if contrary rhetorical positions are articulated and discussed (cf. Billig 1991) – potentially deepening the understanding of a phenomenon such as CBS. In this paper, ideological dilemmas are useful for analysing both the opposing logics in professionals’ reasonings regarding CBS and the general dilemmas operating in the educational context (cf. Olsson et al., 2023).

The discourses on digital transition discourses have a prominent position in the political agendas of both transnational and national governance institutions. For instance, the European Commission and the European Council, emphasise the role of digital transition as a key driver of Europe's social and economic development and essential to ensuring better jobs (European Commission, 2018, 2020; European Council, 2019).

The importance, intensity and reach of the digital transition into all sectors of society has led to it being called the fourth Industrial Revolution (Lima, 2021) or technological revolution. According to António Magalhães (2021), education has been incorporating digitalisation into teaching and learning processes and the CoViD-19 pandemic has accentuated the discourse on the need of this, making it urgent. The pandemic has thus served as a catalyst for a political agenda that was already underway, "placing the digitalisation of education and the development of digital skills at the heart of the education policy agenda" (Magalhães, 2021). By digitalisation of education, we mean the "configuration of teaching and learning, their materials and their methods and techniques in digital language" (Magalhães, 2021, p. 6). This configuration has led to changes in education, educational relations and forms of governance of education which, according to Ben Williamson (2016), should currently be understood as the digital governance of education. This is precisely the subject of our work.

The purpose of this paper is to present a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) on the digital governance of education, developed as part of an ongoing doctoral project entitled "public education policies in a context of digital transition", which aims to study the mandates addressed to the Portuguese education system, specifically compulsory education, by the digital transition discourses delivered by transnational and national institutions. We identified educational governance as one of the dimensions to be studied when analysing these mandates.

The digitalisation of education governance processes accentuates a political grammar of public administration - New Public Management - characterised by the adoption of performance measurement strategies and the promotion of markets to take over the provision of public services. It is an approach to the governance of public services that, , according to Radhika Gorur (2020) or Jenny Ozga (2016),is dominated by the emphasis on numbers.. This perspective of governance, combined with the efficiency and precision of digitalisation, enables the collection and provision of information in the form of data, thereby informing the governance decisions of the state., constituting what Foucault (1991) calls "governmentality".

The advance of the digital in the governance of educational systems favours the emergence of a new technological industry that is leading the most significant changes in educational policies and, consequently, in the ways of learning and teaching in the classroom. Geo Saura (2021) argues that, in the continuity of forms of governance marked by the growing influence of transnational actors and the opening up of the state to service providers and the private sector, governance is carried out through political networks of digital governance. These networks are made up of political actors, software, digital technologies and large technology companies, which play an important role in shaping and developing education policies.

Despite its increasing prominence, the digital governance of education has been little studied (Williamson, 2016). This SLR aims to report on the scientific literature produced in this field, seeking to systematise knowledge and open up possibilities for discussion in the less studied dimensions.

In 2023, the Swedish government submitted a policy proposal for a National Professional Program (NPP) for principals, teachers and preschool teachers. The purpose of the reform was to develop teaching quality, strengthen the attractiveness of these professions and increase equity for students in Swedish education (Prop. 2022/23:54).

The NPP follows the international trend of evidence-based practice with policy techniques, such as certification standards for teachers and teacher proficiency (Holloway & Larsen Hedegaard, 2021) which also applies for school leaders (Møller, 2009). Pettersson (2008) points to how new actors, such as transnational institutions and regimes, have come to play a central role in exerting pressure to increase the national reform agenda, and how these affect Swedish national politics. During the 21st century, international organisations such as OECD, have influenced educational systems, and PISA has taken on an increasingly prominent position as an authoritative measurement of knowledge, functioning as a regulatory mechanism (Lingard et al., 2013). The driving role of the OECD is viewed as a consequence of the neoliberal ideology rooted in the 1980s (Baltzer, 2020).

Around the globe, a crisis discourse has emerged, which legitimises educational reforms (Nordin, 2014). Based on the declining performance of Swedish students in PISA 2012, the OECD (2015;216) recommended a comprehensive and system-wide national school improvement strategy in Sweden. One aim was to improve the attractiveness of teaching and school leadership, and professionalism was highlighted as a central concept, characteristic of high-performing countries.

The OECD (2015) also pointed to insufficient coherence in Sweden’s recent career reform efforts: There is a lack of clarity in responsibilities of education priorities at various levels of administration as well as varying capacity at local level. Further, they draw attention to an imbalance between accountability and local autonomy. OECD’s concrete policy recommendations were to design a career structure including national professional standards.

In line with the OECD:s recommendations, the Swedish government suggests introducing a national structure for professional development in Sweden, as well as a national qualification system for teachers and school leaders. This implies a continuous professional development (CPD) of teachers and school leaders, which will increasingly become a state concern (Prop. 2022/23:54, 2022/23:UbU13), contrary to the system from 1991 where local authorities have been responsible.

From an international perspective, the Swedish case is an example of transnational policy trends, carried by powerful agents such as OECD, including key elements of what Ball (2003) refers to as policy technologies and performativity. Professionals’ in-service training can be considered as part of state regulation, producing new professional roles and subjectivities.

By the NPP, professional performance and excellence, but also the life-long learning discourse, has been put high on the Swedish political agenda, as in many other countries. This can be seen as a part of an accountability regime that keeps a constant gaze on teacher performance, and also the life-long learning discourse (Heffernan, 2016; Rizvi & Lingard, 2009).

The aim of the present study is to visualise the discourses underlying the proposed policy. We will critically examine the intentions and the effects of the NPP policy. The study is inspired by Bacchi’s (2009) Foucault-influenced analytic strategy. Drawing on Bacchi’s methodological framework, ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ (WPR), the following research questions guide our study:

- What problem representations can be identified in the policy proposal of a National Professional Program?

- What presuppositions or assumptions underpin these problem representations and how have they come about?

- What effects for Swedish school leaders are produced by problematizing the policy proposal of a Swedish National Professional Program for principals, teachers and preschool teachers?

France and Germany are among the European countries where a pupil's performance at school depends most on his or her social background. According to the 2023 PISA international survey, the difference in performance on mathematics tests between the most socially advantaged and the most socially disadvantaged students was 113 points in France and 111 points in Germany, both well above the OECD average of 93 points(OECD, 2023b, 2023a).

Numerous measures have been taken in Germany and France to address the 'big problem' of the strong correlation between social background and educational outcomes. The European Eurydice report on equity in education distinguishes several types of policy aimed at reducing this correlation(Eurydice, 2020).These are: support measures, which grant aid to socially disadvantaged schools and pupils; stratification policies, which modify the structure of the education system by reforming the number of secondary school streams, for example ; and, finally, standardisation policies, which determine the standards set in the school system, such as the level of autonomy of schools and the type of diplomas awarded.

I focus on two recent support policies: Schule macht stark (school makes you strong) (SchuMaS) developed in Germany in 2019 and Les contrats locaux d'accompagnement (local support contracts) (CLA) launched in France in 2020. These policies share an experimental format with an implementation in a limited number of schools (with option to be extended) and a limited budget. I am intrigued by the deliberately restricted format of these two policies. I want to explore the relationship that these 'small' policies have with other measures in France and Germany that also tackle the 'big' problem of social inequalities in education.

I ask the question: to what extent are SchuMaS and CLA bringing about change in the way social inequalities in education are dealt with in France and Germany?

To answer this question, I choose a neo-institutionalist approach(Scott, 2014). The institution I am interested in here is 'addressing social inequalities in education'. In France, the treatment of social inequalities in education is essentially thought of in terms of support policies. For the past forty years, the French have sought to reduce the impact of social origin on school results mostly by granting additional resources to schools with a high proportion of socially disadvantaged pupils (Heurdier, 2023). In Germany, the treatment of social inequalities is essentially thought of in terms of stratification policies. Debates about the advantages of a tiered school system drew the attention of politicians and impacted their approach to tackling social inequalities (Maaz, 2020). The German way of addressing social inequalities in education has traditionally focused on (de-)stratification measures. These two different ways of looking at the same problem inside Europe make the Franco-German comparison particularly relevant.

I put forward two hypotheses: H1 (self-reinforcement mechanisms)(Mahoney, 2000): CLA and SchuMaS do not break with the policies that developed before them. They confirm the path dependence of the way social inequalities are tackled in France and Germany. The ‘smallness’ of the policies would be a sign that they are being launched for political reasons, to give the impression that measures are being taken to combat social inequalities in education, but without really changing what was being done before. They would be "small" measures taken on the surface to avoid changing the education system in depth.

H2 (layering)(Mahoney & Thelen, 2010): CLA and SchuMaS bring about a gradual institutional change and are deployed alongside or on top of the other measures dealing with social inequalities in France and Germany. The restricted operating mode would make it possible to introduce innovation without making a sudden political break.

This presentation aims to explore how interventions by non-state actors are received, adopted, and ultimately enacted in public schools. Specifically, the paper presents an empirical study focused on the perceptions of school actors in public schools in Portugal regarding a digital education program promoted by a private foundation. According to previous literature, there has been a growing emphasis on the involvement of private political actors, such as philanthropists, think tanks, and edu-businesses, in education governance worldwide and in Portugal (Lubienski et al., 2022; Viseu & Carvalho, 2021). These actors have been active in using new strategies, including networking and knowledge brokerage to influence education policies (Avelar, 2021; Fontdevila et al., 2019; Viseu, 2022). However, the study of the actions and effects of private political actors within schools continues to be an underexplored field.

To address this gap, this study use “policy enactment” (Ball et al., 2012) as a starting point to capture the different positions of school actors in “doing school” (Maguire et al., 2015). With this theoretical approach, we seek to highlight the non-deterministic nature of interventions by private political actors in public schools, focusing on the different translations, interpretations, and recontextualizations by school actors.

To this end, the study focuses on the enactment by public Portuguese public schools to DigitALL program from the Vodafone Portugal Foundation. This program started in 2020 and so far evolved 7,000 students and 1,300 teachers. After applying for the program, the selected schools benefit from a comprehensive package that includes a digital platform, digital curriculum, student kits containing electronic circuits and motherboards, in-person teacher training, and weekly 50-minute classes guided by trained monitors. DigitALL program design confirms the argument of Spreen and Kamat (2018), in which non-state actors “are not only beginning to control curriculum content and testing in countries, they also make decisions about who teaches and under what conditions” (p. 111). The government, as a privileged ally of the new philanthropy, endorsed the institutional partnership established with the Vodafone Portugal Foundation, as the DigitALL program aims to develop digital and social skills; provides teacher training and “quality scientific and pedagogical digital educational resources” (Director of Directorate-General for Education available at Fundação Vodafone Portugal, 2022b).

In this scenario, we aim to contribute to discuss the interventions made by non-state actors in public schools as signs of privatization (Ball, 2007; Quilabert & Moschetti, 2022). Furthermore, we seek to identify how these initiatives align with an educational reform agenda that emphasizes performance policies, assessments, platformization and public-private partnerships (Verger et al., 2022; Williamson, 2019).

Corporate private foundations with vast financial resources are taking on an increasingly proactive and influential role in shaping educational aims, practices, and institutions around the world (Srivastava & Oh, 2010; Ball and Olmedo, 2011; Lubienski et al. 2022; Parreira de Amaral et al. 2019). While the concrete involvement of foundations reflects the historical specificities of different contexts, the increasing entanglement of private foundations in public education and state schooling has been interpreted as reflecting a broad shift in the work of foundations toward new forms of “hands-on” or “new” philanthropy in which foundations move from a contributory to a disruptive role (Horvath & Powell, 2016; Wilson, 2014). Framed in terms of educational governance and politics, this shift places major pressure on the conceptual and practical boundaries of conventional democratic control, delegations of responsibility, and framings of legitimacy.

The shifting grounds for articulating and enacting democratic control and legitimacy is especially salient in the context of European education and the region’s historical forms of welfare governance. While private foundations in the US and other contexts are, by now, an established (if controversial) part of educational governance, recent scholarship emerging across Europe points to important problematics regarding the effects of current philanthropic practices on the conventional divisions of power and democratic practices of accountability characteristic of European welfare states (Rasmussen, 2022; Avelar & Ball, 2019). Such effects pose a significant challenge to the notion of legitimacy as grounded in a chain of delegation, accountability, and trust, where voters authorize politicians to make decisions – on the priorities of public education, for example – and politicians then delegate the responsibility for implementing policies to civil servants (Strøm 2000). This is obviously different when it comes to private foundations: While foundations are legal actors attributed a status as charitable organizations by the political system, they do not themselves hold a role in the processes that make up the political system.

In this paper, we set out to explore empirical changes and reconfigurations of power and legitimacy in educational governance as corporate private foundations take on a proactive label of “change-makers” in public education. Situating our work within the historical context of the Danish welfare state, we set out to explore how legitimacy in public education is (re)constructed and altered through the practices of “new philanthropy” as a set of practices marked by increasing amounts of money, extended public-private partnerships, and new forms of educational knowledge production. We ask: How do corporate private foundations describe their responsibility for the change they aim at? And through what kind of practices are their investments in systematic change articulated and implemented?

In the paper, we respond to these questions through a case-based analyses focused on situating the practices of the two largest Danish foundations currently involved in the education sector: The Lego Foundation and the Novo Nordisk Foundation. Drawing on theoretical approaches that can help approach reconfigurations of power and control in educational practices (Alaimo & Hekman, 2008; Brøgger, 2018; Deleuze, 1992; Foucault, 1977; Powell & Menendian, 2011), we are interested in extrapolating the broader historical and governmental dynamics at play in how foundations shape ideas of legitimacy by actively transgressing conventional governance arrangements and hierarchies. Theoretically, this includes perspectives that open to discuss the soft power of seduction and affectivity (Dernikos et al., 2020) as important factors when it comes to understanding new philanthropic practices. Through in-depth case analyses, the paper highlights the performative effects of enacting new philanthropy in relation to three interrelated practices: 1) new constructions of actors, 2) emerging forms of affective control, and 3) new forms of knowledge production.

This presentation focuses on the participation of new non-state actors in educational governance in Portugal, seeking a new analytical perspective: how these actors build their public image through the media. This focus stems from the interest in education policy studies in non-state actors over recent decades, recognizing their expanding role in reshaping education governance (Ball, 2012; 2016; Lubienski et al, 2022). These include firmly established global political actors such as the UN, OECD, UNESCO, the European Union, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, as well as governmental cooperation organizations, non-profit organizations, edu-businesses, think tanks and philanthropic foundations (Brent Edwards et al., 2021).
Think tanks and philanthropic foundations have received particular and growing attention from the academic community (Reckhow & Snyder, 2014). It is well-established that they have evolved into key players in educational policies, creating and producing new and relevant policy networks, acting as "policy actors" or "state-makers" (Lingard & Rawolle, 2011; Sellar & Lingard, 2014).
Previous research has illuminated the strategies employed by these actors for advocacy and policy influence, such as knowledge brokerage, networking and the creation of new policy networks, “problem-solving” and “leading by example” (Williamson & Hogan, 2020; Fontdevila, Verger & Avelar, 2021; Matovich & Esper, 2023). Following a long-established tradition in other countries, in recent years, Portugal has witnessed the emergence and consolidation of this phenomenon and think tanks and philanthropic foundations are acting as intermediary actors (Viseu & Carvalho, 2021; Carvalho & Viseu, 2023).
Simultaneously, studies on the media have focused on analyzing the thematization and framing that the media perform on education, demonstrating how a) the media attribute relevance to certain themes to the detriment of others, acting as instruments to simplify the complexity of the social world and narrow down the possibilities of how education is perceived and interpreted by the public (Santos, Carvalho & Melo, 2022); b) are used by state and non-state actors to manage expectations about public education, place certain educational policies on the agenda, or strengthen/undermine support for specific educational policies, practices, and ideologies. They also help define the boundaries of accountability and social responsibility for public education, shaping the field of educational policy (Blackmore & Thorpe, 2003; Anderson, 2007).
Studies have also revealed that the media produces a critical and negative portrayal of educational systems (Dixon et al., 2013), depicting them as damaged and in crisis. This has contributed to creating public outcry about their performance (Yemini and Gordon, 2015; Baroutsis & Lingard, 2023) and validating social distrust in public school educators (Baroutsis, 2016). In this regard, some studies reveal how the narratives constructed by the media about teachers contribute to the creation of an ideal type of teacher whose characteristics and attributes are highly valued by the private sector (Gautreaux & Delgado, 2016).
The relevance of the media as a political influence arena with significant effects is further demonstrated by studies that analyze the increasing presence of non-state actors in the media (Blach-Ørsten & Kristensen, 2016). However, studies examining how these non-state actors strategically use their presence in the media as a means of constructing their public image and, in turn, legitimizing their (positive) actions are still very scarce. Our work aims to contribute to filling this gap. Thus, this presentation aims to describe and analyze the image that non-state actors project about themselves and their interventions in the media, positioning as the political actors capable of contributing to solving the existing problems in schools and the “education crisis”.

In 2021 Colleen McLaughlin and Alan Ruby published a first look at global case studies of attempts to reform whole education systems or elements of them. They chose case studies written by authors who had been actors in some capacity to show the human process that it is. the book focused upon the implementation of policy or its elements to show how hard it is. it was hoped that it would help policymakers and practitioners to learn from the successes and failure of others. As Stenhouse said, ‘…. improvement is possible if we are secure enough to face and study the nature of our failures. The central problem of evidence-informed practice is the gap between our ideas and our aspirations and our attempts to operationalise them’ (Stenhouse, 1975, 2-3). We also realised that our case studies were partial, and it is this desire to represent all and all attempts that has driven this second book, which this synposium focuses upon. This work holds to the aims of the first book but represents attempts to implement reform in countries where there may be limited resources in terms of civic development, or what has been called weak states. The case studies in the second book are here that are more representative of the globe and the societies who share it.

In the summary of the first book, we emphasised five important features or necessary considerations to facilitate successful reform implementation (McLaughlin and Ruby, 2021). The first of which was the importance of the historical and political context of reform. This is the factor that has stood out in this current stories of reform. The historical and political contexts in our world are more complex, more volatile and more challenging than even two years ago. They are presenting new problems for educational policy makers and many that are familiar. What is clear is that they demonstrate more profoundly than ever the need to educate our young people well and for policy makers and actors in change to engage in learning about how to implement policy or make things happen.

This symposium presents two of the case studies of reform - Scotland and Kazakhstan as well as the overall obervations of all ten countries.

This paper is an introduction to the field and to the case studies past and present. It describes the ten cases from parts of the world, notably Africa and Latin America, that constitute the overall work.We present cases that help us understand the realities of implementing reforms. Looking across the literature about education reforms over the last forty years we do not see a lot of material that addresses how education reform is enacted at the system level. We do see a lot of attention paid to the motivations driving reforms and the ideologies shaping the way reforms are presented.There was little attention paid to motivating professionals to adopt different practices or to afford some activities more time and importance in schools. Nor was there much attention paid to what social support measures were needed to ensure that students were ready to learn and that schools could focus primarily on student learning. Our aim is to avoid offering “magic bullets” like instructional alignment (Cohen, 1987), school choice (Chubb & Moe, 1990) competency-based education (Musiimenta,2023) or any piece of technology just released. As many have pointed out, like Larry Cuban (2010), ready-made, quick solutions do not sit well with the realities of schools where there are multiple actors, multiple purposes and long-time horizons. The Paradox of Rationality and Responsiveness is discussed as a major themes. Collectively the cases here and in the earlier volume point to the virtues and shortcomings of the wonderfully linear and stable models of policy formulation that shaped school reform ideas and strategies for the last forty years or more.

Barber, M. (2015). How to run a government : so that citizens benefit and taxpayers don't go crazy. UK: Allen Lane, . Boswell, J, (2023). Magical Thinking in Public Policy: Why Naïve Ideals about Better Policymaking Persist in Cynical Times Cohen, S.A., (1987). Instructional Alignment: Searching for a Magic Bullet Educational Researcher. 16 (8) pp16-20. Desimone, L. (2002). How can comprehensive school reform models be successfully implemented? Review of educational research, 72(3), 433-479. Elmore, Richard F. 1979. “Backward Mapping: Implementation Research and Policy Decisions.” Political Science Quarterly 94 (4): 601–16. v Liu, Y., (2023). Implementing educational reform—cases and challenges, Comparative Education, 59:1, 141-143, Murnane, R. J., & Levy, F. (1996). What General Motors can teach U.S. schools about the proper role of markets in education reform. Phi Delta Kappan, 78(2), 108. Nilsen, P., (2015). Making sense of implementation theories, models and frameworks. Implementation Sci 10, 53. . Sen, A., (2004). How Does Culture Matter? In Rao, V. & Walton, M., (Eds) Culture and Public Affairs, World Bank. Washington, D.C., pp37-59. Shulman, L.S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 1- 22.

Educational reforms – their origins, intentions, development, impediments, implementation and evaluation – have been a major focus of investigation for several decades (e.g., Ball, 1994; Chapman & Gunter, 2009; McLaughlin & Ruby, 2021). The Scottish experience serves not only to illustrate the scale of the challenge but also to point to some of the ways in which progress can be made. Scotland has developed ambitious and aspirational goals for its education system (OECD, 2021). At the heart of reform in Scottish education has been the Curriculum for Excellence programme, covering the age range 3-18 (Scottish Executive, 2004). In this paper we first provide a brief overview of the Scottish context, before highlighting four related issues which are central to the reform process. • the tension between the broad curricular intentions of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) and the narrow evaluative assessment practices used for National Qualifications and CfE levels; • the role of internal and external actors in shaping the Scottish Government’s management of change; • the extent to which governance reform (i.e., reconfiguring the roles and responsibilities of national organisations) is capable of enabling sustained cultural change; • the best means of encouraging teachers to develop a sense of agency, in which they become ‘curriculum makers’, not simply the implementers of policy devised by external ‘experts’. We conclude by reflecting on the challenges that have faced Scottish educational reform, including presentational and communication issues, a top-down culture that has been difficult to shift, extended timelines for reform, the absence of systematic review processes, and a tendency in Scottish education to overstate achievements while playing down areas of weakness. These issues have presented considerable challenges to the reform process, limiting its impact and even acting counter to aspirational policy goals (e.g., see Shapira et al., 2023).

Chapman, C. & Gunter, H., eds., (2009) Radical Reforms: Perspectives on an Era of Educational Change. London: Routledge. McLaughlin, C. & Ruby, A. (2021) Implementing Educational Reform: Cases and Challenges. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

This paper presents the transformation of the teacher remuneration system in Kazakhstan, particularly in the context of the government's decision to double teacher salaries between 2020 and 2023. The primary research question explores how this salary increase impacts the quality of teaching, the recruitment of skilled teachers, and the overall educational outcomes. This research is grounded in the hypothesis that significant changes in teacher compensation can lead to improvements in educational quality and outcomes. It examines the assumption that teacher salaries, if not comparable to the average salary in the economy, hamper the recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers. The authors scrutinize various aspects of the new remuneration system, including its reflection of teacher quality, student outcomes, specific working conditions, coverage for teacher absences, and recognition of extra-lesson work. The study provides a comparative analysis of the new remuneration system against the traditional Stavka System, incorporating a review of international experiences in transforming teacher compensation. The methodology is primarily qualitative, involving a detailed analysis of policy documents, salary tables, and first-hand narratives obtained through interviews. Forty interviews were conducted with a diverse group of participants, including teachers, school administrators, and regional and national education officials in Kazakhstan. These interviews aimed to gather insights into the personal experiences, perceptions, and impacts of the new salary system on teaching practice and educational outcomes. The authors also conducted a thorough review of existing literature and policy documents related to teacher remuneration systems both in Kazakhstan and internationally. This comparative analysis allowed for an understanding of the unique features of the Kazakhstani approach and its positioning within the global context. The research revealed several key outcomes of the new teacher remuneration system in Kazakhstan. Firstly, the increase in salaries has positively impacted the profession's prestige, evidenced by an increased interest among school graduates in teaching careers and heightened competition for teaching positions, especially in rural areas. However, the new system has also faced challenges. It has not adequately incentivized non-teaching responsibilities or extra-lesson activities, which are crucial for comprehensive education. Additionally, there remains a lack of financial motivation for teachers to engage with underperforming or exceptionally talented students. The study found that the new system has not significantly altered teachers' workload, and in some cases, has led to an increase in classroom hours to boost income, raising concerns about teacher burnout and the sustainability of high-quality teaching under such conditions.

Ball, S. J. (2021). The education debate. Bristol, Policy Press. Berman, G., + Fox, A. (2023). Gradual: The case for incremental change in a radical age. New York, OUP. Baltodano, M. (2012) ‘Neoliberalism and the demise of public education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 25:4, 487-507, Edelman, M. (1988). Constructing the political spectacle. University Chicago Press. Foa, R.S. et al (2022). The Great Reset: Public Opinion, Populism, and the Pandemic. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Centre for the Future of Democracy. Gewirtz, S., et al (2021) What’s wrong with ‘deliverology’? Performance measurement, accountability and quality improvement in English secondary education, Journal of Education Policy, 36:4, 504-529, Marteau, T. (2021) ‘Evidence neglect: addressing a barrier to health and climate policy ambitions.’ Science and Public Policy. 2023, 00, 1-7 McLaughlin, C, and Ruby, A. (2021). Implementing Educational Reform: Cases and Challenges. Cambridge, England: cUP.. Sahlberg, P. (2023).’ Trends in global education reform since the 1990s: Looking for the right way’. International Journal of Educational Development, 98 (2023) Schedler, A. (2023). ‘Rethinking political polarization.’ Political Science Quarterly. Vol.00, no 00, 1-25. Viennet, R. and Pont, B. (2017). Education policy implementation: A literature review and proposed framework. OECD Education Working Papers No. 162.

This final paper takes an overall view of the ten case studies examining the different types and approaches taken to reform as well as the outcomes. We conclude that evidence is not enough that there has got be a use of knowledge to inform implementation. The managerialist reform models, like ‘deliverology’, skate over the historical and cultural factors which shape participants’ responses to proposals which aim to change core processes like pedagogy and assessment. We examine the different features and demands of reform in the different contexts. Our conclusions compare these cases to those written about in 2012 and we conclude there are strong variations and new elements. The model of reform needs to be changed and the popular model has serious side effects and distortions. A more consensual approach is needed The more populist models and approaches have become more in vogue and dominant. Some may see this prognosis as pessimistic, but what is clear is that education reform is now an overtly political process, sometimes symbolic, sometimes democratic, and always shaped by culture, heritage and individual interests and voices. Consensus building approaches are important in this climate if generations of learners are to be spared repeated waves of ill-conceived reforms.

Ball, S. J. (2021). The education debate. Bristol, Policy Press. Berman, G., + Fox, A. (2023). Gradual: The case for incremental change in a radical age. New York, OUP. Baltodano, M. (2012) ‘Neoliberalism and the demise of public education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 25:4, 487-507, Edelman, M. (1988). Constructing the political spectacle. University Chicago Press. Foa, R.S. et al (2022). The Great Reset: Public Opinion, Populism, and the Pandemic. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Centre for the Future of Democracy. Gewirtz, S., et al (2021) What’s wrong with ‘deliverology’? Performance measurement, accountability and quality improvement in English secondary education, Journal of Education Policy, 36:4, 504-529, Marteau, T. (2021) ‘Evidence neglect: addressing a barrier to health and climate policy ambitions.’ Science and Public Policy. 2023, 00, 1-7 McLaughlin, C, and Ruby, A. (2021). Implementing Educational Reform: Cases and Challenges. Cambridge, England: cUP.. Sahlberg, P. (2023).’ Trends in global education reform since the 1990s: Looking for the right way’. International Journal of Educational Development, 98 (2023) Schedler, A. (2023). ‘Rethinking political polarization.’ Political Science Quarterly. Vol.00, no 00, 1-25. Viennet, R. and Pont, B. (2017). Education policy implementation: A literature review and proposed framework. OECD Education Working Papers No. 162.

Symposium Aims

This symposium brings together researchers from Sweden, Norway, UK and Chile to discuss the relation between juridification and education. The so far available limited research on this issue has mainly been subject-specific, often split between research on the legislation itself, or the enactment of specific forms of juridification. In addition, in critical studies of education the legal system has until recently remained an outlier, and few have tried to understand this phenomenon in relation to different national contexts.

The aim of this ECER 2024 symposium is to empirically broaden and theoretically deepen our knowledge on the many faces of juridification in education. The double character of juridification is an important starting point, namely that the use of legal means can both contribute to creating a just, equal and democratic society, at the same time as there is a risk of adverse consequences, such as overregulation and leading to a colonization of the lifeworld. This duality also puts the light on the complexity embedded in the concept of juridification, as it points to the many interconnections between education and other systems, especially politics and law. Moreover, from this follows that juridification can appear both as direct means to govern education, as well as a result of surrounding societal changes. Although juridification has received rather limited attention in the education literature so far, there has yet been discussions in other fields for a longer time, especially by sociological researchers with central names as Jürgen Habermas and Günther Teubner. What relevance does the phenomenon of juridification have for education? What is similar and potentially different, between different countries? How can we methodologically study juridification of and in education, in order to contribute important knowledge?

The symposium explore the many faces of juridification. Most importantly, the symposium focuses on the challenges for the stakeholders at both local and state level following new regulations, especially when these are not adequately designed to fit into the educational system. Included in the symposium are papers that provide case studies of 1) law and student rights and 2) the impact on professional discretion, alongside papers that explore 3) the drivers of juridification and 4) the different forms of juridification from a conceptual perspective.

The symposium is of high relevance for the ECER conference, first as juridification so far has received limited attention in educational research, and second as this symposium brings together legal and educational researchers to better understand the complex relation between juridification and education.

Keywords: juridification, differentiation, welfare state. Abstract: This paper is guided by the overriding question: Why juridification of education now – and how? In the context of the welfare state, legal means have traditionally been used to solve social problems with the objective of creating just, equal, and democratic societies. However, the other side of the coin is that there is a risk of overregulation and adverse consequences, which potentially can inhibit democratic progress. The increasingly long arm of the law finds itself entangled with other forms of accountability, creating ever-expanding systems of bureaucratic complexity. The relation between juridification and education is now of high relevance for Nordic educational research (Bergh & Arneback, 2016; Lindgren et al. 2021; Molander et al, 2012; Ottesen & Møller, 2016) and becoming more so in the UK (Murphy, 2022). This paper is an early step towards further collaboration between researchers from different countries. Against the backdrop of successive developments and changes in the welfare state the aim of the paper aims to analyze how and to what extent juridification appears in two different countries: Sweden and United Kingdom are chosen as illustrative cases as these two countries, apart from many similarities, also represent different cultures and traditions as well as legal systems. Theoretically, we draw on Niklas Luhmann’s (1984/1995) theory of functional differentiation, Gunther Teubner’s (1987) problematization of juridification and Claus Offe’s work (1984) on welfare state contradictions. Empirical examples have been chosen that characteristically illustrate how for example content and authority are differentiated through juridification. Our preliminary results indicate that juridification of education is closely interwoven with transformations of the welfare state, including general trends towards marketization and the increased emphasis on legally assured human rights. The paper also explores other sources of juridification, including structural changes to systems of bureaucratic governance and institutional differentiation, as well as the increased pressures on legitimation stemming from civil society. To this, our comparative analysis adds further knowledge on the many faces of juridification, with regard to both similarities and differences between countries. For example, in the UK the spread of a litigation culture seems to be more common than in Sweden and the other Nordic countries, while there are similar concerns on pedagogical and educational consequences, such as how increased use of legal means impacts professional discretion.

Bergh, A. & Arneback, E. (2016). Hur villkorar juridifieringen lärarprofessionens arbete med skolans kunskaper och värden? Utbildning & Demokrati 25(1), 11–31. Lindgren, J., Hult, A., Carlbaum, S., & Segerholm, C. (2021). To see or not to see: Juridification and challenges for teachers in enacting policies on degrading treatment in Sweden. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 65(6), 1052–1064 Luhmann, N. (1984/1995). Social systems. Stanford University Press. Molander, A., Grimen, H. & Eriksen, EO. (2012). Professional discretion and accountability in the welfare state. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 29(3), 214–230. Murphy M. (2022). Taking education to account? The limits of law in institutional and professional practice, Journal of Education Policy, 37(1), 1–16. Offe, C. (1984). Contradictions of the Welfare State (Edited by John Keane). London: Hutchinson Press. Ottesen, E. & Møller, J. (2016). Organisational routines – the interplay of legal standards and professional discretion. European Educational Research Journal, 15(4), 428–446. Teubner, G. (1987). Juridification. Concepts, aspects, limits, solutions. In G. Teubner (Ed.), Juridification of social spheres: A comparative analysis in the areas of labor, corporate, antitrust and social welfare law (pp. 3–48). Walter de Gruyter.

Keywords: juridification, school principals, professionalism. Abstract: Juridification in education is a field of study that analyzes the impact of the law on different areas of social policies and services (Rosén, Arneback & Bergh 2021). For instance, in educational systems, the popularization of legal discourse to regulate issues that had traditionally been negotiated and resolved in a non-judicial way has negatively impacted the ability of educators to make decisions based on their professional discretion (Murphy 2022). In Chile, the creation of the Superintendence of Education a decade ago has contributed to juridification of the school system. This institution is part of the National Quality Assurance System (SAC), whose main function is to enforce compliance with regulations in schools that have official state recognition, whether of public, subsidized, or private administration (Law 20,529). Superintendence provides parents and tutors with a formal procedure to present complaints about situations that occur within schools. Most of these complaints are related to issues of school violence (e.g., harassment, physical or psychological abuse, aggressions through social networks, discrimination), but there are also others that point towards issues such as financial resources management, technical-pedagogical decisions, and health and safety protocols. This paper analyzes the incidence that the Superintendence of Education has had in the work of school principals, especially in relation to their management of the educational service, through an instrumental case study (Yazan 2015) with 8 principals working in schools with different administrations. Results suggest that there is an increasing feeling of stress and overwhelm due to the complexity of procedures to respond to complaints. Parents and tutors wield a new power that weakens the ability to reach agreements with representatives of the school without escalating the problem and issuing a complaint with the Superintendence. Most management processes become over-bureaucratized, which diverts principals’ focus from pedagogical issues. Based on these findings, we analyze the negative implications of juridification for the exercise of the professional discretion of Chilean principals, by incorporating highly bureaucratized processes into their management practices. More broadly, we discuss the intensification of negative effects for school leaders’ professionalism that quality assurance and accountability policies have had in Chile and could have in other systems with similar governance arrangements.

Murphy, Mark. (2022). Taking Education to Account? The Limits of Law in Institutional and Professional Practice. Journal of Education Policy 37(1), 1–16. Rosén, Maria, Emma Arneback, & Bergh. Andreas (2021). A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Juridification of and in Education. Journal of Education Policy 36(6), 822–842. Yazan, Bedrettin (2015). The Qualitative Report Three Approaches to Case Study Methods in Education: Yin, Merriam, and Stake. The Qualitative Report 20(2), 134–152.

Keywords: juridification, school environment, students’ rights. Abstract: Juridification implies increased focus on the law, and such movement has clear implications on society, also in a school setting. Concurrently, individual rights are more in the limelight than previously, at the expense of collective ideals. Also, schools are increasingly scrutinized according to legal standards and justice (Murphy, 2022). Blichner and Molander (2008) distinguish between five dimensions of juridification; for example, the expansion and differentiation of juridification, and as conflict resolution based on the law. Together, these forms of juridification express emphasis on the legal consequences of decisions made at different levels in public administration, also at local level by school authorities and leaders (Hall, 2019; Andenæs & Møller, 2016). The aim of this paper is to study how amendments in the Education Act may be understood as expressions of juridification and governance of the Norwegian school system. Drawing on the theoretical perspectives of Teubner (1988) and Blichner and Molander (2008), as well as previous, empirical research in the Nordics (e.g. Hall & Johansson, 2023; Karseth & Møller, 2020; Rosén et al., 2021), this study investigates recent changes in Norwegian legislation, more closely section 9A of the Education Act (1998), which ensures students’ individual right to a safe and good school environment. Through content analysis of section 9A itself, the paper also includes a selection of key documents leading up to the changes in 2017, such as Grey Paper 2015: 2 (Ministry of Education and Research, 2015). Early findings in the study suggest that this shift has been paramount in challenging school leaders and their professional discretion. For example, we observe a general increase of regulatory procedures, which tests established practices and positions within and across schools (Murphy, 2022). This is supported by recent survey data showing that the demands in this area of the law are experienced as highly stressful to abide by (Baldersheim et al., 2023).

Andenæs, K., & Møller, J. (Eds.) (2016). Retten i skolen: mellom pedagogikk, juss og politikk. Universitetsforlaget. Baldersheim. H. et al. (2023). Rektors handlingsrom: Er vi styrt eller støttet. Report, Agderforskning. Blichner, L.C., & Molander, A. (2008). Mapping juridification. European Law Journal, 14(1), 36–54. Hall, J. B. (2019). Rettslig styring og rettsliggjøring av grunnopplæringen – konsekvenser for skoleledere som juridiske aktører. In R. Jensen et al. (Eds.), Styring og ledelse i grunnopplæringen - spenninger og dynamikker. Cappelen. pp. 39-55. Hall, J. B., & Johansson. L. (2023). Shifting school environment policies: A Deleuzian problematisation of universal rights in Norwegian education. Policy Futures in Education (Open Access). Karseth, B., & Møller, J. (2020). Legal regulation and professional discretion in schools. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 64(2), 195–210. Murphy, M. (2022). Taking education to account? The limits of law in institutional and professional practice. Journal of Education Policy 37(1), 1-16. Rosén, M. et al. (2021). A conceptual framework for understanding juridification of and in education. Journal of Education Policy, 36(6), 822-842. Teubner, G. (1988). The transformation of law in the welfare state. In G. Teubner (Ed.). Dilemmas of law in the welfare state. Walter de Gruyer. pp. 3-10.

Key words: juridification, education, discrimination, Rights of the Child, conceptualization. Abstract: The aim of this paper is to contribute to conceptualization of different forms of juridification in education. The text focuses on the enactment of legislation on discrimination (Discrimination Act 2008:567), degrading treatment (Education Act 2010:800) and the Act on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (2018:1197, CRC) in Sweden. The theoretical framework is based on research concerning various aspects of juridification focusing on how legislation is enacted in different contexts and involves different dimensions (Blichner & Molander 2008, Rosen et al 2021). This shows that enactment of legislation can lead to both enabling and disabling processes in the society and in education (cf. Habermas 1987, Honneth 2015, Murphy 2022). To methodologically conceptualize different forms of juridification we work in the following steps: 1) Analysing and interpreting the legal sources. 2) Examining how officials at national school authorities enact political, legal, and pedagogical discourse when discussing the CRC legislation, and which dimensions of juridification that are highlighted. 3) Compare the outcomes with previous research on juridification in relation to discrimination and degrading treatment in schools. The result presents and compare two different forms of juridification in education: Accountability-oriented juridification: Research on discrimination and degrading treatment is a suitable example of this form of juridification (Arneback, 2012; Refors Legge, 2021; Lindgren et al. 2021; Rosén et al 2021). The results shows that the legislation in combination with different forms of accountability leads to a juridical framing in education that challenges pedagogical practices. Elusive juridification: Based on data from an ongoing research project the decision to incorporate the CRC into Swedish law illustrate another form of juridification. The law fills a political symbolic function and is understood as a tool for realizing the commitments in the Convention. However, the data reveals uncertainty on how to implement the law and it is unclear in what way the law should be enacted in pedagogical practises. When comparing accountability-oriented juridification and elusive juridification, differences emerge in how increased legal regulation impacts the education system. The accountability-oriented juridification shows clarity in expectations, but challenges pedagogical practices. Elusive juridification lacks clarity and result in uncertainty on its legal and pedagogical implications. These two examples of juridification highlights the need of navigating different forms of juridification and raises the question on what other forms of juridification that could be identified in the education field.

Arneback, E. (2012). Med kränkningen som måttstock. Om planerade bemötanden av främlingsfientliga uttryck i gymnasieskolan (diss.). Blichner, L.C. & Molander, A. (2008). Mapping juridification. European Law Journal, 14(1), 36–54. Habermas, J. (1987). The Theory of Communicative Action. Lifeworld and System: A Critique of Functionalist Reason. Beacon Press. Honneth, A. (2015). Freedom’s Right - the Social Foundations of Democratic Life. Columbia University Press. Lindgren, J, A. Hult, S. Carlbaum & Segerholm, C. (2021). To See or Not to See: Juridification and Challenges for Teachers in Enacting Policies on Degrading Treatment in Sweden, Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 65(6,) 1052–1064. Murphy M. (2022). Taking education to account? The limits of law in institutional and professional practice, Journal of Education Policy, 37(1), 1–16. Rosén, M, E. Arneback & Bergh, A. (2021) A conceptual framework for understanding juridification of and in education, Journal of Education Policy, 36(6), 822–842. Refors Legge, M. (2021) Skolans skyldighet att förhindra kränkande behandling av elever. En rättsvetenskaplig studie (diss.) SFS 2008:567 Diskrimineringslag [Discrimination Act]. SFS 2010:800. Skollag [Education Act]. SFS 2018:1197. Lag om Förenta nationernas konvention om barnets rättigheter [Act on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child].

Nationally and internationally, the leadership and organisation of education have altered significantly through the provision of market technologies and rationalities in the form of competition, choice or performativity, and managerialism (Gunter et al., 2016). At an organisational level, technocracy is privileged concurrently with the hollowing out of traditional stakeholder school governance models to make way for private management takeover of public entities (Verger and Curran, 2016). In England, these trends are illustrated by the rise of academy trusts, akin to Friskolor in Sweden (Simkins et al., 2019): publicly funded legal entities controlled by boards of trustees with discretion over strategy and finance. Furthermore, the professionalisation of school governance, perfecting technologies of rational self-management (Wilkins, 2019a), alongside the marketisation of education, promulgated by successive national Governments, have placed democratic principles, empowerment and participation, secondary to market principles. Thus, creating a democratic deficit, with a focus on skill-over-stake (Allen, 2018). The active removal of stakeholders denigrates localism and its voice (Simkins and Woods, 2014). These policy changes disadvantage social groups, such as parents or community members of low socioeconomic status, women and non-white Others (Hetherington and Forrester, forthcoming). While academy trusts operate independently of local government, in England, expansion, and acquisition opportunities, for example, are determined by their performance and subsequent, position in a notional hierarchy (Hetherington and Forster, 2023). Therefore, corporatised entities, such as schools nationally and internationally, have strong incentives to model themselves in the image of businesses to maximize precision governance. This includes limiting the practice of deliberative democracy by restricting who gets to perform and engage in governance (Hetherington and Forester, 2023). However, some schools do maintain a commitment to both technical-managerial and democratic priorities owing to their sponsorship model and develop tensions and contestation in achieving both (Wilkins, 2019b).

Those restricting access to governance, to secure brand advantage, are referred to by Puwar (2001:652) as the somatic norm. The somatic norm is “the corporeal imagination of power as naturalised in the body of white, male, upper/middle-class bodies”; naturalised in the neoliberal inculcation of institutional leadership with power, knowledge, and capability. With an embodied somatic norm model of educational leadership, comes expectations of civility and social norms. The standards of civility are set by the somatic norm, which also determines breaches or not, of the bounds of civility, by those who engage in practices (Calhoun, 2015), such as governance. For powerless or excluded groups, the disenfranchised, such as women, refugees, those who are from an ethnic minority or whose first language is not English or who are from a low socio-economic group, the bounds of civility are founded on a ‘contract’ whether that be racial (Puwar, 2001) or gendered (Caravantes and Lombardo, 2024), which has demarcated spaces for those corporealities. For Puwar (2001) and others, there are choices, to remain silent with the burden of invisibility or incivility.

In this research, complex issues are empirically and conceptually explored through an investigation of the Co-operative Academies Trust (CAT), an edu-business sponsored by the Co-op Group, with a specific focus on how democracy is performed, transformed, and translated in the power dynamic between governance and the parent body as participants in decision-making. The CAT is legally bound by its sponsor to adhere to international values of co-operativism (ICA, 2020), including a commitment to democracy. Conceptually, political theories demonstrate how power is configured within these relations to privilege certain positions and discourses over others.

The research is significant internationally, given the tension between the neoliberal imperative and the democratic deficit associated with governance currently (Hardin, 2014), and the concurrent tension with democratic practices associated with co-operative values (Wilkins, 2019b).

As one of several organisations jostling for influence in the global governance of education, UNESCO is not only aptly positioned to promote its ideal global education landscape, but also holds a vested interest in doing so. In recent years, the organisation has advanced a vision of education predicated on the idea of the commons. In this view, education serves a global common good and should thus be protected by institutional arrangements that bind peoples and communities closer together (UNESCO 2015, UNESCO 2021). In its publications, UNESCO advocates for a commoningapproach, supporting the emergence of modes of collectivity and social relations around shared values and a perceived common future. While rooted in the ideal of shared values and requiring collaborative participation, the commons remain, as Means et al. (2019) describe it, “always a divided and contested terrain”. The global governance of education is itself contested, with various organisations vying for influence and legitimacy in this space (Robertson 2022). UNESCO’s promotion of a global common good perspective on education thus occurs in a complex and competitive landscape of ideas, actors, and interests.

This paper critically examines UNESCO’s construction of a commons approach to global education through a multivocal analysis of its 2021 report “A new social contract for education: imagining our futures together”. Through this novel form of analysis, we show how UNESCO constructs the commons by referring implicitly to a specific addressee, what we call the “global reader”, articulated as part of a global community bound by shared values, collective futures and faced with a common set of global crises. A particular subjectivity is thus implied by the text through the construction of a “we”, an undefined community which readers are expected to relate to. We question to what extent this community of global readers exists and consider its implications for a global commons approach to education.

With the migration of education policy beyond state boundaries and the increasing engagement of international organisations in education agenda setting, a “global project of education reform” (Ball Junemann and Santori 2017) has developed. Studies have explored how and under what conditions global education policy and reform travel to different domestic contexts. While promoted as a “global” endeavour, the norms and agendas of international organisations like UNESCO are ultimately distributed and implemented unevenly in local policy contexts (Mundy et al. 2016). By highlighting how policy ideas are received and interpreted by the report’s addressees, this study shifts attention from national or local policy to a more affective, individual perspective. The collaborative analysis and shared critique bring to light how the report is interpreted by its readers. Ultimately, the report is addressed to readers making up the ‘global community’- it is directed towards a “we”- intended to represent individuals and communities making up a common humanity. Hence, an inquiry into how addressees of the report take in its language and ideas is important. Our policy analysis moves beyond the study of how global education policies are received and implemented by relevant governments and policy stakeholders to underscore how they are digested and interpreted by individual readers irrespective of national, regional borders and differences.

Under neoliberal educational governance, many schools are subject to the global discourse of school choice and competition, and thus market themselves (DiMartino & Jessen, 2018). Schools aim to persuade potential customers (parents and students) of the value of their education. Greater enrollment of students can yield higher income, while inadequate enrollment can force the school to lose income or close. For instance, UK schools with low inspection scores risk further downgrades or school closure, so they publicise themselves to avoid losing their students. While it is understandable that schools need to consider their survival and prosperity, such entrepreneurial acts, and resultant hierarchy among schools, often have a negative impact on schooling and students, e.g., reproducing the existing inequitable structure, marginalisation of disadvantaged students, or mission drift (e.g., pursuing profit at the cost of genuine student learning) (Chiu & Walker, 2007; You & Choi, 2023).

School competition and marketing occur across the globe, especially in the contexts of change and uncertainty. Some leaders of state-funded schools (aided schools) in Hong Kong partly in response to the public’s equation of the private with quality, turned themselves partly private collecting fees (e.g., Hong Kong’s direct subsidy schools) (Zhou et al, 2015). In Nepal, private schools teach in English, which parents perceive to be superior to public schools’ lessons in native Nepali, and became more popular than public schools (Choi & Poudel, 2024). Schools in both regions use social media to build their image and recruit potential students.

However, past studies have not documented schools’ marketing strategies on social media, their effectiveness or impact on schooling. Nor did they investigate their interactions with socio-historical contexts (Choi, 2022; Takayama, 2012). So this study begins to address these research gaps. Informed by privatisation studies (e.g., You & Choi, 2023), marketing studies (e.g., Khan & Qureshi, 2010), and a comparative thematic analysis of Facebook posts of 18 case schools in Hong Kong and Nepal in the 2022-23 academic year, this study examines how the schools appeal to the potential local customers. Using the contrasting case contexts of Hong Kong (epitome of neoliberal educational system) and Nepal (democratic polity that prioritises social justice in governance), we explicate localised enactment of school privatisation via marketing.

Past studies categorised schools’ marketing activities by audience and directness (Khan & Querishi, 2010) or audience and marketing aspects (Chen, 2008). While such studies provide a good foundation of broader marketing, they lack in-depth understanding of schools’ online marketing, which differs to other face-to-face marketing, e.g., immediate responses from the stakeholders, unbound by time or space, but mediated by digital literacy and resources. Nor did they study their potential impact on schooling as public good. To shed light on these phenomena, this study analysed Facebook posts (most widely used by schools) by schools and by parents. The following research questions guided this study:

1. What contents are prioritised in schools’ online marketing via Facebook posts?

2. To what degree do schools’ Facebook posts show neoliberal ideology (e.g., school choice, entrepreneurialism)?

3. What other factors affect their posting type and content?

Understanding the answers to these questions will help understand the political manoeuvres in which schools engage in this digital era in order to take the delicate balance between the neoliberal entrepreneurship and providing education as a public good.