The Global Business of Education : Approaches, Issues and Critical Directions

This open access book addresses issues related to viewing education as a business endeavor. It introduces the readers to central conceptual issues and relates them to the pedagogical, educational and social issues at various levels and sectors of education. The book offers paradigmatic approaches and theories used to model and examine education as a business endeavor. Business of Education is a global phenomenon that has experienced an exponential growth during the past decades; it goes well beyond the influence of private interests in shaping policymaking or the expansion of private schooling and encompasses policy, practice, and research in the field of education. The work includes both classical positions and newer viewpoints challenging mainstream debates to approach the diverse manifestations of the business of education and the varying responses across the globe. The volume assesses the impact of business activities at various levels/sectors of education – lifelong learning, vocational education, supplementary education, higher education, teacher education and focuses on different issues and challenges, from financing to sustainability, from geopolitics to reform and on different geographical areas, such as Australia, Brazil, Chile, and Germany. The analyses draw on different frameworks – philanthropy, racial capitalism, transhumanism, neoliberalism – and go well beyond a materialist perspective of the topic at hand to include other important dimensions since controversies abound as to the impact and/or side-effects of these developments beyond their purely economic import. The book also critically discusses the future of the field by showcasing research that deliberate on different directions and that reflect on possible futures for (the business of) education. The research presented has strong global perspective and integrates in-depth conceptual analyses with real-world examples and case studies that aim at contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the business of education across different contexts and regions.