This book presents a searing critique of the global take on education, questioning why the idea that education should be international has come to dominate the field and positing that the discourse of internationalisation has altered the way we conceptualise education.

Using diverse examples from the Middle East, the UK and South-East Asia, the book gathers insights from international schooling, refugee education and the internationalisation of higher education to argue that the ‘global gaze’ renders other ways of looking at education as invisible. It suggests that an oversaturation of international comparison amongst individuals and institutions alike creates a culture of powerlessness, exclusion and silencing. Furthermore, this volume also debates the issues that are caused when education is required to transcend national boundaries.

Ultimately questioning the global education system in its current form, this book will be an important contribution for academics, researchers and students in the fields of higher education, education policy and politics, and education and development more broadly.

This book presents a searing critique of the global take on education, questioning why the idea that education should be international has come to dominate the field and positing that the discourse of internationalisation has altered the way we conceptualise education.

Using diverse examples from the Middle East, the UK and South-East Asia, the book gathers insights from international schooling, refugee education and the internationalisation of higher education to argue that the ‘global gaze’ renders other ways of looking at education as invisible. It suggests that an oversaturation of international comparison amongst individuals and institutions alike creates a culture of powerlessness, exclusion and silencing. Furthermore, this volume also debates the issues that are caused when education is required to transcend national boundaries.

Ultimately questioning the global education system in its current form, this book will be an important contribution for academics, researchers and students in the fields of higher education, education policy and politics, and education and development more broadly.

This volume presents the first-known investigation of the so-called diversity paradox, positing that diversity has become a tool for distinguishing and legitimating the concept of educated Western elites, and arguing for a major reconceptualization of diversity in different social and cultural contexts within international education.

Drawing on extensive and empirical studies of international school leadership, international school parents and pupils, institutional faculty, online sources and the author’s own wealth of experience teaching and leading in international contexts, the book investigates how this vision for education has emerged, contrasting it to both - how education is seen in other parts of the world, and how it has been conceptualised at other historical junctures. Exploring the positioning of teachers, academics and educational leaders in this discursive shift, chapters examine specific aspects of diversity, demonstrating how they have become areas of social conflict, serving to legitimise privilege in Western educational contexts while excluding other understandings of social cohesion and social inequalities. The book offers a novel approach to the analysis of international education by combining sociological and linguistic elements on which to base the argument.

Ultimately critiquing diversity as a rhetoric device that perpetuates structural and systemic inequalities, the book explores how diverse perspectives can be brought to discussion of diversity itself, and will therefore appeal to scholars, postgraduate students, and researchers in the fields of the sociology of education, international and comparative education, and higher education.

This volume presents the first-known investigation of the so-called diversity paradox, positing that diversity has become a tool for distinguishing and legitimating the concept of educated Western elites, and arguing for a major reconceptualization of diversity in different social and cultural contexts within international education.

Drawing on extensive and empirical studies of international school leadership, international school parents and pupils, institutional faculty, online sources and the author’s own wealth of experience teaching and leading in international contexts, the book investigates how this vision for education has emerged, contrasting it to both - how education is seen in other parts of the world, and how it has been conceptualised at other historical junctures. Exploring the positioning of teachers, academics and educational leaders in this discursive shift, chapters examine specific aspects of diversity, demonstrating how they have become areas of social conflict, serving to legitimise privilege in Western educational contexts while excluding other understandings of social cohesion and social inequalities. The book offers a novel approach to the analysis of international education by combining sociological and linguistic elements on which to base the argument.

Ultimately critiquing diversity as a rhetoric device that perpetuates structural and systemic inequalities, the book explores how diverse perspectives can be brought to discussion of diversity itself, and will therefore appeal to scholars, postgraduate students, and researchers in the fields of the sociology of education, international and comparative education, and higher education.

Until 2015, no refugees in Malaysia were able to access higher education, and they were unable to attend government schooling. Since then, six private higher education institutions have agreed to open their doors to refugees for the first time.

This book contains stories from this small group of successful refugees, who have managed to receive higher education in a country that neither recognizes that they exist nor offers them even basic education. It identifies the factors that aided their success, and charts the challenges that they and their communities have faced. The authors present each story, based on interviews, within the context of the individual’s background and nation of origin. These stories are framed by a discussion of the situation that refugees face in accessing education globally, explaining how these stories and the methodologies used for this study are universal.

Until 2015, no refugees in Malaysia were able to access higher education, and they were unable to attend government schooling. Since then, six private higher education institutions have agreed to open their doors to refugees for the first time.

This book contains stories from this small group of successful refugees, who have managed to receive higher education in a country that neither recognizes that they exist nor offers them even basic education. It identifies the factors that aided their success, and charts the challenges that they and their communities have faced. The authors present each story, based on interviews, within the context of the individual’s background and nation of origin. These stories are framed by a discussion of the situation that refugees face in accessing education globally, explaining how these stories and the methodologies used for this study are universal.

This book presents a searing critique of the global take on education, questioning why the idea that education should be international has come to dominate the field and positing that the discourse of internationalisation has altered the way we conceptualise education.

Using diverse examples from the Middle East, the UK and South-East Asia, the book gathers insights from international schooling, refugee education and the internationalisation of higher education to argue that the ‘global gaze’ renders other ways of looking at education as invisible. It suggests that an oversaturation of international comparison amongst individuals and institutions alike creates a culture of powerlessness, exclusion and silencing. Furthermore, this volume also debates the issues that are caused when education is required to transcend national boundaries.

Ultimately questioning the global education system in its current form, this book will be an important contribution for academics, researchers and students in the fields of higher education, education policy and politics, and education and development more broadly.

This book presents a searing critique of the global take on education, questioning why the idea that education should be international has come to dominate the field and positing that the discourse of internationalisation has altered the way we conceptualise education.

Using diverse examples from the Middle East, the UK and South-East Asia, the book gathers insights from international schooling, refugee education and the internationalisation of higher education to argue that the ‘global gaze’ renders other ways of looking at education as invisible. It suggests that an oversaturation of international comparison amongst individuals and institutions alike creates a culture of powerlessness, exclusion and silencing. Furthermore, this volume also debates the issues that are caused when education is required to transcend national boundaries.

Ultimately questioning the global education system in its current form, this book will be an important contribution for academics, researchers and students in the fields of higher education, education policy and politics, and education and development more broadly.

This volume presents the first-known investigation of the so-called diversity paradox, positing that diversity has become a tool for distinguishing and legitimating the concept of educated Western elites, and arguing for a major reconceptualization of diversity in different social and cultural contexts within international education.

Drawing on extensive and empirical studies of international school leadership, international school parents and pupils, institutional faculty, online sources and the author’s own wealth of experience teaching and leading in international contexts, the book investigates how this vision for education has emerged, contrasting it to both - how education is seen in other parts of the world, and how it has been conceptualised at other historical junctures. Exploring the positioning of teachers, academics and educational leaders in this discursive shift, chapters examine specific aspects of diversity, demonstrating how they have become areas of social conflict, serving to legitimise privilege in Western educational contexts while excluding other understandings of social cohesion and social inequalities. The book offers a novel approach to the analysis of international education by combining sociological and linguistic elements on which to base the argument.

Ultimately critiquing diversity as a rhetoric device that perpetuates structural and systemic inequalities, the book explores how diverse perspectives can be brought to discussion of diversity itself, and will therefore appeal to scholars, postgraduate students, and researchers in the fields of the sociology of education, international and comparative education, and higher education.

This volume presents the first-known investigation of the so-called diversity paradox, positing that diversity has become a tool for distinguishing and legitimating the concept of educated Western elites, and arguing for a major reconceptualization of diversity in different social and cultural contexts within international education.

Drawing on extensive and empirical studies of international school leadership, international school parents and pupils, institutional faculty, online sources and the author’s own wealth of experience teaching and leading in international contexts, the book investigates how this vision for education has emerged, contrasting it to both - how education is seen in other parts of the world, and how it has been conceptualised at other historical junctures. Exploring the positioning of teachers, academics and educational leaders in this discursive shift, chapters examine specific aspects of diversity, demonstrating how they have become areas of social conflict, serving to legitimise privilege in Western educational contexts while excluding other understandings of social cohesion and social inequalities. The book offers a novel approach to the analysis of international education by combining sociological and linguistic elements on which to base the argument.

Ultimately critiquing diversity as a rhetoric device that perpetuates structural and systemic inequalities, the book explores how diverse perspectives can be brought to discussion of diversity itself, and will therefore appeal to scholars, postgraduate students, and researchers in the fields of the sociology of education, international and comparative education, and higher education.

Until 2015, no refugees in Malaysia were able to access higher education, and they were unable to attend government schooling. Since then, six private higher education institutions have agreed to open their doors to refugees for the first time.

This book contains stories from this small group of successful refugees, who have managed to receive higher education in a country that neither recognizes that they exist nor offers them even basic education. It identifies the factors that aided their success, and charts the challenges that they and their communities have faced. The authors present each story, based on interviews, within the context of the individual’s background and nation of origin. These stories are framed by a discussion of the situation that refugees face in accessing education globally, explaining how these stories and the methodologies used for this study are universal.

Until 2015, no refugees in Malaysia were able to access higher education, and they were unable to attend government schooling. Since then, six private higher education institutions have agreed to open their doors to refugees for the first time.

This book contains stories from this small group of successful refugees, who have managed to receive higher education in a country that neither recognizes that they exist nor offers them even basic education. It identifies the factors that aided their success, and charts the challenges that they and their communities have faced. The authors present each story, based on interviews, within the context of the individual’s background and nation of origin. These stories are framed by a discussion of the situation that refugees face in accessing education globally, explaining how these stories and the methodologies used for this study are universal.