For over a decade, Mainland China has been embarking on an ambitious nation-wide education reform ('New Curriculum Reform') for its basic education. The reform reflects China’s propensity to borrow selected educational policies from elsewhere, particularly North America and Europe. Chinese scholars have used a local proverb "the West wind has overpowered the East wind" to describe this phenomenon of ‘looking West’. But what do we mean by educational policy borrowing from the West? What are the educational policies in China's new curriculum reform that are perceived to be borrowed from the West? To what extent have the borrowed educational policies in China's new curriculum reform been accepted, modified, and rejected by the various educational stakeholders? How does culture influence the various educational stakeholders in China in interpreting and mediating educational policy borrowing from the West? How do the findings of this study on China’s education reform inform and add to the existing theories on and approaches to on cross-cultural educational policy borrowing? This book answers the above questions by critically discussing China’s policy borrowing from the West through its current reform for primary and secondary education. It presents the latest in-depth research findings from a three-year empirical study (2013-2015) with school principals, teachers, students and other educational stakeholders across China. This study offers new insights into China’s educational policy borrowing from the West and international implications on cross-cultural educational transfer for academics, policymakers and educators.

The phenomenon of "travelling reforms" has become an object of great professional interest and intensive academic scrutiny. The fact that the same set of educational reforms is transferred from one country to another made scholars wonder whether policy transfer has increased as a result of globalization. But also the fact that policy makers increasingly import "best practices "and international standards and use them as a tool to accelerate reform has captured the imagination of many that deal with policy studies. An international comparative perspective is key for understanding why reforms travel from one corner of the world to another. Not surprisingly, the study of policy borrowing and lending constitutes one of the core research topics of comparative policy studies; a new area of research that links comparative education with policy studies. The World Yearbook of Education 2012 brings together a diverse range of perspectives on education policy through contributions from internationally renowned authors. It reflects on the way policy borrowing and lending is reconfiguring the world of education and offers a new collection of insights into the changes occurring across the world. It particularly focuses on: The political and economic reasons for policy borrowing, The agencies, international networks and regimes that instigate policy change, The process of borrowing and lending The impact of these systems, agendas and institutions on indigenous settings. This book will prove invaluable to researchers of globalization and to policy experts, especially those interested in comparative and international educational studies. It is also essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students and anyone involved in the sociology, economy or history of education. Gita Steiner-Khamsi is Professor of Comparative and International Education at Teachers College Columbia University, New York, US. Florian Waldow is Research Director at the University of Münster, Germany.

This book builds on the Editors’ previous work on the analysis of policy borrowing processes in education. A number of prominent researchers in comparative studies contribute articles describing and analysing policy borrowing in a number of historical contexts, with many of the examples testing aspects of the explanatory models developed by Phillips & Ochs. The countries covered include England, Spain, Germany, France, Austria, Japan and South Africa.

This book builds on the Editors’ previous work on the analysis of policy borrowing processes in education. A number of prominent researchers in comparative studies contribute articles describing and analysing policy borrowing in a number of historical contexts, with many of the examples testing aspects of the explanatory models developed by Phillips & Ochs. The countries covered include England, Spain, Germany, France, Austria, Japan and South Africa.

This book addresses the intersections of globalization, policy borrowing, and educational reform. Drawing upon multiple disciplines, it provides a comprehensive overview of globalization’s history, processes, theories, and trends, both generally and in education specifically. The book includes an in-depth discussion of policy borrowing, emphasizing its political nature, to provide an understanding of globalization’s impact on education. Portnoi interrogates the dominance of the Global North and the influence of the global governance organizations that serve as the core of the aid and development regime. Using a critical perspective, Portnoi emphasizes the manner in which local agents intervene to mediate the forces of globalization. The book provides a comprehensive foundation for students and scholars of comparative education and associated disciplines, including social foundations, educational policy, teacher education, higher education, globalization studies, sociology of education, and policy studies.

PISA and Global Education Policy: Understanding Finland's Success and Influence provides an in-depth investigation for the reasons behind Finland’s success in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Finland’s high performances in every administration of PISA since 2000 have captured worldwide attention. This volume offers a comprehensive exploration into the context of Finland, uncovering its historical, cultural, political, and societal nuances. Furthermore, it delves into the history of Finnish education, providing a strong foundation from which to view the system that produced so much success in PISA. The book analyses empirical data from Finnish professors of education, ministers of education, head teachers, and teachers for the reasons behind Finland’s consistently high outcomes in the survey. It includes viewpoints from OECD officers with direct responsibility for PISA. In addition, it uncovers the impact of Finnish influence on education policy worldwide. Thus, the text presents an analysis of the growing politicisation of international achievement studies such as PISA. The increasingly globalised educational context surrounding PISA calls for an analysis of policy transfer and the already-apparent uncritical policy borrowing of Finnish education policy within the UK context.