The Global Education Policy Field: Theorization and Problematization

This book challenges conventional approaches to global education policy (GEP) by exploring its often-overlooked onto-epistemic and religio-spiritual dimensions. Through eight thought-provoking chapters, leading scholars critically examine how fundamental questions of knowing, being, and worldview shape the field’s theoretical foundations and practical implications.

The contributors delve deep into the Western modernist assumptions that underpin GEP. From Vietnam’s educational exchange with Mozambique to Christian normativity in higher education, the chapters offer diverse perspectives on how colonial legacies, religious frameworks, and philosophical traditions continue to influence educational policy and practice worldwide.

The book makes a vital contribution by:

• Interrogating the Western-centric nature of GEP scholarship
• Exploring alternative epistemological and ontological frameworks
• Examining the intersection of rationalized bureaucracy with ritual governance
• Investigating transnational academic mobility in relation to the notion of multiple selves

This volume is essential reading for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners seeking to understand the deeper structures and assumptions that shape global education policy. By bringing together perspectives from comparative education, philosophy, and critical theory, it opens new pathways for reimagining the field beyond its current theoretical and methodological boundaries. It was originally published as a special issue of Comparative Education.

D. Brent Edwards Jr is Professor and Chair of the Department of Educational Foundations at the University of Hawaii. His work focuses on the global governance of education and global education policies from critical and decolonial perspectives.