The appropriation of the global discourse in the formulation of national education policies: a case of continuing education of teachers in Greece

Abstract

Educational research over the last decades has been preoccupied with the way the global discourse has been employed in national educational policy making. Examining a case of teachers’ continuing education in Greece, the paper focuses on the way this global discourse has been selectively appropriated by national agents.

Using data of focused interviews with key agents and the content analysis of policy documents, the paper examines the institutionalisation process arguing that (Greek) education policy is not always subject to rational planning, or global imperatives, but involves informal networks which interact parasitically inside formal policy networks to further sectoral interests.

Keywords:

• continuing education
• primary education
• global discourse
• national policy formulation
• sectoral interests

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments, as well as my friend Alex Patramanis for his essential contribution to the completion of this paper.