This book analyses the nexus between ideology, the state, and education reforms worldwide. The research evinces the neo-liberal ideological imperatives of current education and policy reforms and illustrates the way these shifts in the relationship between the state and education policy are affecting current trends in education reforms and schooling around the globe. With this as its focus, the chapters represent hand-picked scholarly research on major discourses in the field of global education reforms. Offering a compendium of the very latest thought on the subject, this book is, like the others in the series, a state-of-the-art sourcebook for researchers, practitioners and policymakers alike. Not only do the chapters offer a timely analysis of current issues shaping education policy research; the work also contains ideas about future directions that education and policy reforms could take. By doing so, it provides a comprehensive view of the diverse and intersecting discourses on globalisation and policy-driven reforms in education.

The book draws on recent studies in the areas of globalisation, education reforms, and the role of the state. Respective chapters critically assess the dominant discourses and debates on education and policy reforms. Using diverse comparative education paradigms, ranging from critical theory to historical-comparative research, they focus on globalisation, ideology and democracy, and examine both the reasons for and outcomes of education reforms and policy change.