This handbook provides a global synthesis of on-going research in education and policy change during the last decade. It examines discourses of globalisation from the perspectives of the global North and global South. Major theories of globalisation and education policy reforms employed in the handbook are classified into two broad categories: structuralist and post-structuralist. The handbook, while examining the impact of global trends in different societies, cultures and educational settings, attempts to synthesise different meta theories of globalisation and their impact on societies and educational systems.
It discusses the continued interaction of global, national and local forces and influences, especially the importance of standards and quality driven education reforms, the need to overcome inequality of access to quality schools, and aims at providing quality education for all students. In addition, the impact of neo-liberal ideology on education is examined, in terms of its impact on ongoing standards-driven education reforms globally. The handbook analyses neo-liberalism in education and its focus on increasing global competitiveness, accountability, efficiency, quality, standards-driven policy reforms and educational stratification. The impact of globalisation on education policy and reforms is a strategically significant issue for us all. The unifying conceptual framework, used in the handbook to critique strategic significance of globalisation, is grounded in discourse, CDA and critical theory. The work offers the latest findings concerning major issues in education and policy directions, such as global social and economic inequality, neo-liberal standard-driven education and policy reforms, performing schools in the performing culture, education for human rights and social justice, new perspectives on education for sustainability, dominant and effective models of values education in schools, and the ubiquitous impact of ICTs on education systems.