Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Introduction: Researching the Global Education Industry

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Researching the Global Education Industry

Abstract

The introductory chapter provides an overview of the emerging Global Education Industry (GEI). Referring in an exemplary manner to the landscape of worldwide operating businesses and organizations, it introduces the readers to how the field of education and educational policy is being currently reshaped. This includes the changing role of the actors involved (states, NGOs, companies) as well as the shifts in their rationales and logics and modes of operating. After delineating the central concepts and issues related to the GEI phenomenon, the introduction presents the questions and challenges that result from these recent developments: not only for educational policy and practice but also for educational theory and research. This not only involves, for instance, the blurred line between business interest and modernization, but also pertains to the question as to whether current conceptual approaches are adequate to grasp the present-day developments. Here, the aim is to show how actors from the educational field will have to perform a change of perspective in order to fully explore the consequences that the GEI will have for the future(s) of education. Finally, the introduction provides a brief overview of the chapters of the book.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Third Global Education Industry Summit, Luxembourg, 25–26 September 2017. Retrieved online: http://globaleducation.onetec.eu/index.html [last 21 July 2018].

  2. 2.

    In 2015, Helsinki hosted the Summit; in 2016, the summit took place in Jerusalem, Israel. See the Annexes provided in OECD (2017) for brief reports of the meetings. In 2018, the Summit will take place in Estonia in September in Tallinn. Retrieved online: https://www.eu2017.ee/news/press-releases/preparations-were-made-paris-next-years-global-oecd-summit-educational [last 21 July 2018].

  3. 3.

    See: “Economization, Commodification, Digitalization: The Emergence of a Global Education Industry.” Symposium at Goethe-University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16–17 February 2017. Retrieved online: http://www.symposium-gei.eu/Symposium/ [last 21 July 2018].

References

  • Adamson, F., Astrand, B., & Darling-Hammond, L. (Eds.). (2016). Global Education Reform: How Privatization and Public Investment Influence Education Outcomes. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Appadurai, A. (2012). The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective. Cambridge: University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Au, W., & Lubienski, C. (2016). The Role of the Gates Foundation and the Philanthropic Sector in Shaping the Emerging Education Market. Lessons from the US on Privatization of Schools and Education Governance. In A. Verger, C. Lubienski, & G. Steiner-Khamsi (Eds.), World Yearbook of Education 2016: The Global Education Industry (pp. 28–43). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ball, S. J. (2012). Global Education Inc. New Policy Networks and the Neoliberal Imaginary. London/New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Burch, P. (2009). Hidden Markets: The New Education Privatization. New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Fenwick, T., Mangez, E., & Ozga, J. (Eds.). (2014). World Yearbook of Education 2014: Governing Knowledge: Comparison, Knowledge-Based Technologies and Expertise in the Regulation of Education. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fitz, J., & Beers, B. (2002). Education Management Organisations and the Privatisation of Public Education: A Cross-national Comparison of the USA and Britain. Comparative Education, 38(2), 137–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (2000). Gouvernementalität. In U. Bröckling, T. Lemke, & S. Krasmann (Eds.), Gouvernementalität der Gegenwart. Studien zur Ökonomisierung des Sozialen (pp. 41–67). Frankfurt/M, Germany: Suhrkamp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunter, H. M., & Mills, C. (2017). Consultants and Consultancy: The Case of Education. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hartong, S. (2016). Between Assessments, Digital Technologies, and Big Data: The Growing Influence of ‘Hidden’ Data Mediators in Education. European Educational Research Journal, 15(5), 523–536.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartong, S., Hermstein, B., & Höhne, T. (Eds.). (2018). Ökonomisierung von Schule? Weinheim, Germany/Basel, Switzerland: Juventa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hogan, A., Sellar, S., & Lingard, B. (2016). Corporate Social Responsibility and Neo-Social Accountability in Education. The Case of Pearson plc. In A. Verger, C. Lubienski, & G. Steiner-Khamsi (Eds.), World Yearbook of Education 2016: The Global Education Industry (pp. 107–124). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawn, M. (2013). A Systemless System: Designing the Disarticulation of English State Education. European Educational Research Journal, 12(2), 231–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, S., & Lingard, B. (2015). The Multiple Effects of International Large-Scale Assessment on Education Policy and Research. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 36(5), 621–637.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lingard, B., Rawolle, S., & Taylor, S. (2005). Globalizing Policy Sociology in Education: Working with Bourdieu. Journal of Educational Policy, 20(6), 759–777.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mautner, G. (2005). The Entrepreneurial University. A Discursive Profile of a Higher Education Buzzword. Critical Discourse Studies, 2(2), 95–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mundy, K., Green, A., Lingard, B., & Verger, A. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook of Global Education Policy. Chichester, UK: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Normand, R. (2016). The Changing Epistemic Governance of European Education. The Fabrication of the Homo Academicus Europeanus? Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2017). Schools at the Crossroads of Innovation in Cities and Regions. Paris: OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264282766-en

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Peters, M. A., & Besley, T. (2015). Finance Capitalism, Financialization, and the Prospects for Public Education. In M. A. Peters, J. M. Paraskeva, & T. Besley (Eds.), The Global Financial Crisis and Educational Restructuring (pp. 21–49). New York: Peter Lang.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Porter, M. E. (2014). Foreword. Education Presents and Immense Opportunity for Companies to Create Shared Value. In FSG Consulting (Ed.), Shared Value Initiative. The New Role of Business in Global Education. Retrieved online at: https://www.sharedvalue.org/new-role-business-global-education. Last 19 July 2018.

  • Rizvi, F., & Lingard, B. (2010). Globalizing Education Policy. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, S. L., & Verger, A. (2012). Governing Education through Public Private Partnerships. In S. L. Robertson, K. Mundy, A. Verger, & F. Menashi (Eds.), Public Private Partnerships in Education. New Actors and Modes of Governance in a Globalizing World (pp. 21–42). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Edgar.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Schleicher, A. (2017). Schools at the Crossroads of Innovation in Cities and Regions. Video Presentation at the 3rd Global Education Industry Summit, Luxembourg, 25–26 September 2017. Retrieved online: http://globaleducation.onetec.eu/. Last 21 July 2018.

  • Schumpeter, J. A. (1993). Theorie der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung. Berlin, Germany: Duncker & Humblot.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sellar, S., & Lingard, B. (2014). The OECD and the Expansion of PISA: New Global Modes of Governance in Education. British Educational Research Journal, 40(6), 917–936.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Selwyn, N. (2014). Digital Technology and the Contemporary University: Degrees of Digitalisation. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Spring, J. (2015). Economization of Education: Human Capital, Global Corporations, Skills-Based Schooling. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Spring, J., Frankson, J. E., McCallum, C. A., & Banks, D. P. (Eds.). (2017). The Business of Education: Networks of Power and Wealth in America. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tooley, J. (2001). The Global Education Industry: Lessons from Private Education in Developing Countries. In The International Finance Corp. Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Zwan, N. (2014). Making Sense of Financialization. Socio-Economic Review, 12, 99–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verger, A. (2012). Framing and Selling Global Education Policy: The Promotion of Public-Private Partnerships for Education in Low-Income Contexts. Journal of Education Policy, 27(1), 109–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verger, A. (2016). The Global Diffusion of Education Privatization: Unpacking and Theorizing Policy Adoption. In K. Mundy, A. Green, B. Lingard, & A. Verger (Eds.), The Handbook of Global Education Policy (pp. 64–80). Chichester, UK: Wiley.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Verger, A., Fontdevila, C., & Zancajo, A. (2016). The Privatization of Education: A Political Economy of Global Education Reform. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verger, A., Lubienski, C., & Steiner-Khamsi, G. (Eds.). (2016). World Yearbook of Education 2016: The Global Education Industry. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, B. (2016). Digital Education Governance: Data Visualization, Predictive Analytics, and ‘Real-time’ Policy Instruments. Journal of Education Policy, 31(3), 123–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, B. (2017). Big Data in Education: The Digital Future of Learning, Policy and Practice. London: SAGE.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The research presented in this volume has profited from engaging discussions duringthe Symposium “Economization, Commodification, Digitalization: The Emergence of a Global Education Industry” held in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, in February 2017. We would like to thank the Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany; the Westfälische Wilhelms-University Münster, Germany; the Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA; NORRAG, Geneva, Switzerland; as well as the Freunde und Foerderer of the Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany, for their logistic and financial support. But principally, we want to thank the participants who provided pertinent insights and invaluable comments on the first drafts of the chapters. We thank in particular Frank-Olaf Radtke, Isabell Diehm, Johannes Bellmann, Thomas Höhne, Florian Waldow, Wivian Weller, and Sieglinde Jornitz. Thanks also go out to those who provided administrative support for the preparation of the symposium and for the preparation of the manuscripts, in particular Nicole Stelter, Tomoko Kojima, and Marvin Erfurth.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Theory and History of Education, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Christiane Thompson

  2. Institute of Education, University of Münster, Münster, Germany

    Marcelo Parreira do Amaral

Authors
  1. Christiane Thompson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marcelo Parreira do Amaral
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Education, University of Münster, Münster, Germany

    Marcelo Parreira do Amaral

  2. Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Gita Steiner-Khamsi

  3. Theory and History of Education, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Christiane Thompson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Thompson, C., Parreira do Amaral, M. (2019). Introduction: Researching the Global Education Industry. In: Parreira do Amaral, M., Steiner-Khamsi, G., Thompson, C. (eds) Researching the Global Education Industry. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04236-3_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04236-3_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-04235-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-04236-3

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation