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Patterns of Educational Reform and Policy Borrowing

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Policy Borrowing and Reform in Education

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Abstract

Portnoi synthesizes research on educational reform and policy borrowing across various international contexts. Rather than focusing on specific educational issues, she emphasizes an understanding of the patterns of educational reform in a globalized world: First, a neoliberal, market orientation is evident throughout the literature on educational reforms worldwide. Second, most reforms originate from external sources, and a great deal of these reforms stem from ‘best practices’ lending by global governance organizations. Third, policymakers and governments typically overlook the importance of the broad context of the receiving country, the country’s culture of schooling, and the country’s educational infrastructure. Third, many reforms are top-down and fail to take into account the needs and experiences of the street-level bureaucrats who will implement them. Finally, global reforms are adapted into the local context through vernacular globalization.

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  1. California State University, Long Beach, California, USA

    Laura M. Portnoi

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Portnoi, L.M. (2016). Patterns of Educational Reform and Policy Borrowing. In: Policy Borrowing and Reform in Education. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53024-0_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53024-0_7

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