New perspectives on international, intercultural and global education
Research Intelligence issue 140

This special issue of Research Intelligence is guest-edited by Pinky Jain and Nicola Savvides, convenors of BERA’s Comparative and International Education special interest group.

Focussing on contexts of change and transition, its contributors draw on new theoretical and empirical research to provide fresh perspectives on globalisation and internationalisation, and the impacts of these forces on the education sector and education policy, discourse and research methodology across the world. The issue aims to provide a broad starting point for further debate and development, provoking us to think about how we can work to ensure better outcomes in education on a global scale.

The articles cover:

• the challenges of internationalising the curriculum in higher education, and of translating an international strategy into practice in curricula and classrooms
• the lived experiences of refugee children at a French refugee camp, and their need for educational initiatives that support their mental health, wellbeing and transitions to formal schooling
• how internationally collaborative educational research projects should investigate empirical manifestations of intercultural capital in schools
• critiques of Unesco’s reconceptualisation of education as a ‘common good’ and its implications for policy, and of its ‘counterproductive’ focus on ‘universal values’ in its promotion of global citizenship education
• the contradictions presented by the internationalisation of education, including the fact that internationalisation is a both marker of privilege and a means of tackling inequality
• the need for educational researchers to take methodological risks in order to undertake truly transnational research, rather than remaining anchored in familiar national frameworks
• how lesson study can be used as a collaborative research tool to investigate how students from diverse backgrounds experience learning, and to enhance inclusive pedagogy in higher education.

Elsewhere in this issue we review the careers of BERA’s new John Nisbet Fellows; present new research from the winners of BERA’s latest Public Engagement and Impact Award and the first of three reports from the latest round of BERA/BCF Curriculum Investigation Grant recipients; present a preview of selected highlights from BERA’s upcoming Annual Conference; the Early Career Researcher Network provides advice and events on writing for publication; Luisa Conti offers a view from Germany, where one school is piloting an innovative new approach to inclusive pedagogy; and Gary McCulloch posts his final column as president of BERA.