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Why context matters: a comparative perspective on education reform and policy implementation

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Abstract

This article explores the significance of context within the process of contemporary education reform and policy-making. It draws upon evidence from a comparative study of educational change and transformation in seven education systems: Australia, England, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Russia, and Singapore. The article focuses on school leadership preparation, training, and development, which has become a policy priority and central improvement strategy in many education systems. The article explores how seven education systems are using this strategy to promote school and system improvement. The article reflects upon the centrality of context in the process of policy implementation and in the broader pursuit of system transformation. The article concludes that more contextually appropriate approaches to educational policy selection are needed and that borrowing approaches from other countries many bring unintended consequences and unfortunate side effects. Further, the article concludes that the process of policy implementation, in context, requires far more attention, if the intended outcomes are to be achieved.

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Notes

  1. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

  2. Since 1997, the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) has been in place in England. It remains the gold standard of leadership preparation and development even though this qualification is no longer mandatory.

  3. Agency for School Principal Empowerment and Development.

  4. Aitsl.edu.au p1.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the University of Malaya for funding part of the ‘7 system leadership study’ and also thank the expert advisers from each country. The authors acknowledge the research team at the Institute of Educational Leadership, University of Malaya, who contributed to this empirical study.

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  1. Department of Education, University of Bath, Bath, UK

    Alma Harris & Michelle Jones

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  1. Alma Harris
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Correspondence to Alma Harris.

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Harris, A., Jones, M. Why context matters: a comparative perspective on education reform and policy implementation. Educ Res Policy Prac 17, 195–207 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10671-018-9231-9

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