Nafsika Alexiadou
Biographic Data
| ID | 1141965 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Nafsika Alexiadou |
| GIVEN NAMES | Nafsika |
| FAMILY NAME | Alexiadou |
| SIGNATURE | ALEXIADOU N |
| AFFILIATIONS | Umeå University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8731-4728 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 82 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 25 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2001 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Internationalising the teacher education curriculum: An analysis of syllabi and student experiences
Internationalisation has increasingly become a key dimension of quality in initial teacher education (ITE) programmes. Although it is recognised as a means to strengthen future teachers' competencies and expand their professional knowledge, it remains underdeveloped in practice. This article examines the internationalisation of the ITE curriculum in Sweden. Using disciplinary lenses, we conducted a content analysis of the curriculum for grades 4–…
Learning, unlearning and redefining teachers’ agency in international private education: A Swedish education company operating in India
Private international education is on the rise, but we still have limited knowledge on how different commercial actors operate in this field and how it affects local teachers and their work in the schools abroad. Swedish school companies have been active in exporting schooling in the international arena, including “Swedish” education models. In this article, we examine one company and their operations in India. We explore the interpretations of t…
The Mobility-Immobility Continuum in Internationalised Higher Education: Intersecting Narratives and Contexts in Swedish Academia
This article explores the themes of academic mobility/immobility in Swedish higher education. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, we provide an analysis of mobility decisions and experiences, across disciplinary fields and career stages. We identify narratives of transformative and pragmatic mobility experiences, and the (often high) costs involved in (im)mobility, in relation to career progression, emotional and relational dimensions of academics’ l…
The European Semester as a Policy Instrument in Education—The Cases of Spain and Sweden
In this article we examine the European Semester as an innovative form of policy coordination, with distinct effects on education and skills policies for Member States. We analyse the Semester's framing of education policy, and examine its manifestations in Spain and Sweden, two countries considered to be different in their approach to education. Drawing on a policy instrumentation approach and interviews with policy actors and documentary analys…
Education policy governance and the power of ideas in constructing the new European Education Area
Twenty ye ars after the Lisbon strategy, education policy in the European Union (EU) is at a critical juncture, with a new set of strategic goals endorsed for the 2021–2030 decade. This article examines the complex interplay of ideas, institutions and actors, in articulating education policy priorities in the new European Education Area (EEA). Drawing on documentary reviews and interviews with policy actors in the European Commission and the Coun…
Transcending borders in higher education: Internationalisation policies in Sweden
This article examines the national and European policy contexts that shaped the Swedish internationalisation agenda in higher education since 2000, the policy ideas that were mobilised to promote it, and the national priorities that steered higher education debates. The analysis highlights how domestic and European policy priorities, as well as discourses around increasing global economic reach and building solidarity across the world, have produ…
Reading the Internationalisation Imperative in Higher Education Institutions: External Contexts and Internal Positionings
Early childhood education and care policy change: Comparing goals, governance and ideas in Nordic contexts
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is changing across Europe, reflecting multiple-policy intentions and assumptions about education in early years, and the role of the state in supporting, funding and regulating its institutions. In this article, we examine the evolution of ECEC comparatively in Finland and Sweden, and we explore the shifts in goals, governance mechanisms and policy ideas that have characterised reforms in the sector. We d…
Preparing Education Students for an International Future? Connecting Students’ Experience to Institutional Contexts
This article focuses on “internationalization at home” (IaH) for education students in Swedish Universities and its significance for their professional formation and future practice. We draw on research in two large institutions and explore the perceptions and experiences of internationalization of home students in education. We find that while the “intercultural” understanding of students is well developed, the international and intercultural di…
Early childhood education research in Europe: Contexts, policies, and ideas
From the very north to the south of Europe, the national examples of early childhood education research reported here address remarkably similar issues around the definition of core values in early childhood education, and their impact on pedagogical work in preschools. Policy histories and frameworks matter, since they define the parameters within which these definitions take place and they determine resources given to preschool provision. Our c…
Understanding inclusion in teacher education – a view from student teachers in England
Policies on inclusion are being increasingly embedded within education systems and teacher education across the world, with schools and teachers called upon to add ‘inclusion’ to their already large set of skills and tasks. There is, however, no consistent definition of what inclusion means or how it can be best promoted. The purpose of this paper is to explore the dilemmas that student teachers face when they encounter policy requirements to pra…
Lost in transition – policies to reduce early school leaving and encourage further studying in Europe
Lost in transition : Policies to reduce early school leaving and encourage further studying in Europe
Framing education policies and transitions of Roma students in Europe
The aim of this article is to identify the contexts and conditions that allow for successful education transitions and opportunities for the Roma minority in Europe. Thus far, transnational and national policies have failed to ensure Roma inclusion and education equality, even though some progress is visible. Using a combination of policy analysis and interviews with NGO and European Union actors, University academics and Roma students, the artic…
Internationalisation and migrant academics: The hidden narratives of mobility
Internationalisation is a dominant policy discourse in the field of higher education today, driven by an assemblage of economic, social and educational concerns. It is often presented as an ideologically neutral, coherent, disembodied, knowledge-driven policy intervention—an unconditional good. Mobility is one of the key mechanisms through which internationalisation occurs, and is perceived as a major form of professional and identity capital in …
Sweden’s Double Decade for Roma Inclusion: An Examination of Education Policy in Context
This article analyzes the Swedish Strategy for Roma Inclusion. Drawing on interviews and documentary materials produced around the Strategy by official sources and Roma organizations, we describe its background, rationale, and evolution, as well as the rifts it has revealed around the issues of minority representation and the framing of inclusion. We describe the Strategy as a framework for education policy, aligned with the European Framework fo…
Privatising public education across Europe – Shifting boundaries and the politics of (re)claiming schools
The issue of privatisation is not new. It has been debated since the end of the 1970s following a major financial crisis and the subsequent ‘crisis’ of the public sector. The once celebrated welfare state that has been a core institution in many industrialised European countries has been under various forms of pressure: financial, social, managerial, but also of political legitimacy. Ideologically, the welfare state has been challenged by (neo)li…
Policy space and the governance of education: Transnational influences on institutions and identities in the Netherlands and the UK
This article presents a comparative analysis of two country-specific cases. The comparative analysis is situated within the broad domain of the changing knowledge economy landscape for educational policy. The two cases examine the transfer, embedding and enactment of policies during the interactions between supranational, national, institutional and individual levels. Case study one concerns policy transfers and their mediation between the EU and…
Deflecting European Union Influence on National Education Policy-Making: The Case of the United Kingdom
This article examines how education policies developed in the European Union (EU) through the open method of co-ordination (OMC) are received at the member state level of the United Kingdom (UK). We argue that the UK's response to the education OMC can be understood mainly in terms of deflecting EU influence on the process and content of national education policy-making. We focus on three manifestations of deflecting EU influence on national educ…
Social inclusion and leadership in education: An evolution of roles and values in the English education system over the last 60 years
This article reviews the changing relationships between education policies and their links to social disadvantage and conceptions of school leadership. The argument is that definitions of leadership evolve as the assumptions underpinning the relationships between society, the economy and education institutions change. The article draws on the case of English education policy developments over the last 60 years, and places debates about school lea…
Policy learning and governance of education policy in the EU
Open methods for coordinating (OMC) education policies in the EU rely on a number of techniques, one of which is policy learning. This article examines how policy learning and governance transform each other. More specifically, policy‐learning in the education OMC becomes differentiated into four distinct learning styles: mutual, competitive, surface and imperialistic learning. While they overlap with some forms of policy learning discussed in th…
Social exclusion, and educational opportunity: The case of British education policies within a European Union context1
This paper first examines the New Labour government's redefinition of equality of opportunity in Britain, mainly with regard to education and the ways in which it mediates ‘opportunity’. In doing so, it also draws on wider social policy issues, such as the use of education policies to combat social exclusion. Second, the paper reviews European Union policies and selected documents that address questions of social inclusion, social cohesion and th…
Social inclusion and social exclusion in England: Tensions in education policy
Social exclusion is a key policy theme for the New Labour government, and has been closely associated with education policy. The emphasis is on the need to combat social exclusion by creating a globally competitive economy through the education system, and through responsible individual attitudes. However, this dominant discourse is interpreted differently at various levels of policy making that provide alternative conceptualizations of the probl…
Researching policy implementation: Interview data analysis in institutional contexts
In this paper I am concerned with the analysis of semi-structured interview data that emerge from an inquiry rooted in institutional environments. The examples of data used to illustrate the procedures of analysis come from research carried out in Further Education Colleges in England, The focus is on individual actors (managers and teachers), mediating change within organizations. This focus provides scope for the exploration of social manifesta…
Researching policy implementation: Interview data analysis in institutional contexts
In this paper I am concerned with the analysis of semi-structured interview data that emerge from an inquiry rooted in institutional environments. The examples of data used to illustrate the procedures of analysis come from research carried out in Further Education Colleges in England. The focus is on individual actors (managers and teachers), mediating change within organizations. This focus provides scope for the exploration of social manifesta…
Management Identities in Transition: A Case Study from Further Education
Since the mid-1980s, Further Education has experienced deep transformations as the result of market driven reforms and the emergence of 'new managerialism' in the sector. The changes affected its governance, purpose, organisation and culture, and had deep influence on the relations and identities in the workplace. This paper explores the response of managers in selected Colleges of FE in England, and their discursive construction of new work iden…
Policy learning and governance of education policy in the EU
Open methods for coordinating (OMC) education policies in the EU rely on a number of techniques, one of which is policy learning. This article examines how policy learning and governance transform each other. More specifically, policy‐learning in the education OMC becomes differentiated into four distinct learning styles: mutual, competitive, surface and imperialistic learning. While they overlap with some forms of policy learning discussed in th…
Social inclusion and social exclusion in England: Tensions in education policy
Social exclusion is a key policy theme for the New Labour government, and has been closely associated with education policy. The emphasis is on the need to combat social exclusion by creating a globally competitive economy through the education system, and through responsible individual attitudes. However, this dominant discourse is interpreted differently at various levels of policy making that provide alternative conceptualizations of the probl…
Framing education policies and transitions of Roma students in Europe
The aim of this article is to identify the contexts and conditions that allow for successful education transitions and opportunities for the Roma minority in Europe. Thus far, transnational and national policies have failed to ensure Roma inclusion and education equality, even though some progress is visible. Using a combination of policy analysis and interviews with NGO and European Union actors, University academics and Roma students, the artic…
Early childhood education and care policy change: Comparing goals, governance and ideas in Nordic contexts
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is changing across Europe, reflecting multiple-policy intentions and assumptions about education in early years, and the role of the state in supporting, funding and regulating its institutions. In this article, we examine the evolution of ECEC comparatively in Finland and Sweden, and we explore the shifts in goals, governance mechanisms and policy ideas that have characterised reforms in the sector. We d…
Policy space and the governance of education: Transnational influences on institutions and identities in the Netherlands and the UK
This article presents a comparative analysis of two country-specific cases. The comparative analysis is situated within the broad domain of the changing knowledge economy landscape for educational policy. The two cases examine the transfer, embedding and enactment of policies during the interactions between supranational, national, institutional and individual levels. Case study one concerns policy transfers and their mediation between the EU and…
Management Identities in Transition: A Case Study from Further Education
Since the mid-1980s, Further Education has experienced deep transformations as the result of market driven reforms and the emergence of 'new managerialism' in the sector. The changes affected its governance, purpose, organisation and culture, and had deep influence on the relations and identities in the workplace. This paper explores the response of managers in selected Colleges of FE in England, and their discursive construction of new work iden…
Researching policy implementation: Interview data analysis in institutional contexts
In this paper I am concerned with the analysis of semi-structured interview data that emerge from an inquiry rooted in institutional environments. The examples of data used to illustrate the procedures of analysis come from research carried out in Further Education Colleges in England. The focus is on individual actors (managers and teachers), mediating change within organizations. This focus provides scope for the exploration of social manifesta…
Privatising public education across Europe – Shifting boundaries and the politics of (re)claiming schools
The issue of privatisation is not new. It has been debated since the end of the 1970s following a major financial crisis and the subsequent ‘crisis’ of the public sector. The once celebrated welfare state that has been a core institution in many industrialised European countries has been under various forms of pressure: financial, social, managerial, but also of political legitimacy. Ideologically, the welfare state has been challenged by (neo)li…
Deflecting European Union Influence on National Education Policy-Making: The Case of the United Kingdom
This article examines how education policies developed in the European Union (EU) through the open method of co-ordination (OMC) are received at the member state level of the United Kingdom (UK). We argue that the UK's response to the education OMC can be understood mainly in terms of deflecting EU influence on the process and content of national education policy-making. We focus on three manifestations of deflecting EU influence on national educ…
Sweden’s Double Decade for Roma Inclusion: An Examination of Education Policy in Context
This article analyzes the Swedish Strategy for Roma Inclusion. Drawing on interviews and documentary materials produced around the Strategy by official sources and Roma organizations, we describe its background, rationale, and evolution, as well as the rifts it has revealed around the issues of minority representation and the framing of inclusion. We describe the Strategy as a framework for education policy, aligned with the European Framework fo…
Learning, unlearning and redefining teachers’ agency in international private education: A Swedish education company operating in India
Private international education is on the rise, but we still have limited knowledge on how different commercial actors operate in this field and how it affects local teachers and their work in the schools abroad. Swedish school companies have been active in exporting schooling in the international arena, including “Swedish” education models. In this article, we examine one company and their operations in India. We explore the interpretations of t…
Understanding inclusion in teacher education – a view from student teachers in England
Policies on inclusion are being increasingly embedded within education systems and teacher education across the world, with schools and teachers called upon to add ‘inclusion’ to their already large set of skills and tasks. There is, however, no consistent definition of what inclusion means or how it can be best promoted. The purpose of this paper is to explore the dilemmas that student teachers face when they encounter policy requirements to pra…
Social exclusion, and educational opportunity: The case of British education policies within a European Union context1
This paper first examines the New Labour government's redefinition of equality of opportunity in Britain, mainly with regard to education and the ways in which it mediates ‘opportunity’. In doing so, it also draws on wider social policy issues, such as the use of education policies to combat social exclusion. Second, the paper reviews European Union policies and selected documents that address questions of social inclusion, social cohesion and th…
Early childhood education research in Europe: Contexts, policies, and ideas
From the very north to the south of Europe, the national examples of early childhood education research reported here address remarkably similar issues around the definition of core values in early childhood education, and their impact on pedagogical work in preschools. Policy histories and frameworks matter, since they define the parameters within which these definitions take place and they determine resources given to preschool provision. Our c…
Lost in transition – policies to reduce early school leaving and encourage further studying in Europe
Lost in transition : Policies to reduce early school leaving and encourage further studying in Europe
Researching policy implementation: Interview data analysis in institutional contexts
In this paper I am concerned with the analysis of semi-structured interview data that emerge from an inquiry rooted in institutional environments. The examples of data used to illustrate the procedures of analysis come from research carried out in Further Education Colleges in England, The focus is on individual actors (managers and teachers), mediating change within organizations. This focus provides scope for the exploration of social manifesta…
Researching policy implementation: Interview data analysis in institutional contexts
In this paper I am concerned with the analysis of semi-structured interview data that emerge from an inquiry rooted in institutional environments. The examples of data used to illustrate the procedures of analysis come from research carried out in Further Education Colleges in England. The focus is on individual actors (managers and teachers), mediating change within organizations. This focus provides scope for the exploration of social manifesta…
Management Identities in Transition: A Case Study from Further Education
Since the mid-1980s, Further Education has experienced deep transformations as the result of market driven reforms and the emergence of 'new managerialism' in the sector. The changes affected its governance, purpose, organisation and culture, and had deep influence on the relations and identities in the workplace. This paper explores the response of managers in selected Colleges of FE in England, and their discursive construction of new work iden…
Social inclusion and social exclusion in England: Tensions in education policy
Social exclusion is a key policy theme for the New Labour government, and has been closely associated with education policy. The emphasis is on the need to combat social exclusion by creating a globally competitive economy through the education system, and through responsible individual attitudes. However, this dominant discourse is interpreted differently at various levels of policy making that provide alternative conceptualizations of the probl…
Social exclusion, and educational opportunity: The case of British education policies within a European Union context1
This paper first examines the New Labour government's redefinition of equality of opportunity in Britain, mainly with regard to education and the ways in which it mediates ‘opportunity’. In doing so, it also draws on wider social policy issues, such as the use of education policies to combat social exclusion. Second, the paper reviews European Union policies and selected documents that address questions of social inclusion, social cohesion and th…
Policy learning and governance of education policy in the EU
Open methods for coordinating (OMC) education policies in the EU rely on a number of techniques, one of which is policy learning. This article examines how policy learning and governance transform each other. More specifically, policy‐learning in the education OMC becomes differentiated into four distinct learning styles: mutual, competitive, surface and imperialistic learning. While they overlap with some forms of policy learning discussed in th…
Social inclusion and leadership in education: An evolution of roles and values in the English education system over the last 60 years
This article reviews the changing relationships between education policies and their links to social disadvantage and conceptions of school leadership. The argument is that definitions of leadership evolve as the assumptions underpinning the relationships between society, the economy and education institutions change. The article draws on the case of English education policy developments over the last 60 years, and places debates about school lea…
Deflecting European Union Influence on National Education Policy-Making: The Case of the United Kingdom
This article examines how education policies developed in the European Union (EU) through the open method of co-ordination (OMC) are received at the member state level of the United Kingdom (UK). We argue that the UK's response to the education OMC can be understood mainly in terms of deflecting EU influence on the process and content of national education policy-making. We focus on three manifestations of deflecting EU influence on national educ…
Privatising public education across Europe – Shifting boundaries and the politics of (re)claiming schools
The issue of privatisation is not new. It has been debated since the end of the 1970s following a major financial crisis and the subsequent ‘crisis’ of the public sector. The once celebrated welfare state that has been a core institution in many industrialised European countries has been under various forms of pressure: financial, social, managerial, but also of political legitimacy. Ideologically, the welfare state has been challenged by (neo)li…
Policy space and the governance of education: Transnational influences on institutions and identities in the Netherlands and the UK
This article presents a comparative analysis of two country-specific cases. The comparative analysis is situated within the broad domain of the changing knowledge economy landscape for educational policy. The two cases examine the transfer, embedding and enactment of policies during the interactions between supranational, national, institutional and individual levels. Case study one concerns policy transfers and their mediation between the EU and…
Sweden’s Double Decade for Roma Inclusion: An Examination of Education Policy in Context
This article analyzes the Swedish Strategy for Roma Inclusion. Drawing on interviews and documentary materials produced around the Strategy by official sources and Roma organizations, we describe its background, rationale, and evolution, as well as the rifts it has revealed around the issues of minority representation and the framing of inclusion. We describe the Strategy as a framework for education policy, aligned with the European Framework fo…
Internationalisation and migrant academics: The hidden narratives of mobility
Internationalisation is a dominant policy discourse in the field of higher education today, driven by an assemblage of economic, social and educational concerns. It is often presented as an ideologically neutral, coherent, disembodied, knowledge-driven policy intervention—an unconditional good. Mobility is one of the key mechanisms through which internationalisation occurs, and is perceived as a major form of professional and identity capital in …
Understanding inclusion in teacher education – a view from student teachers in England
Policies on inclusion are being increasingly embedded within education systems and teacher education across the world, with schools and teachers called upon to add ‘inclusion’ to their already large set of skills and tasks. There is, however, no consistent definition of what inclusion means or how it can be best promoted. The purpose of this paper is to explore the dilemmas that student teachers face when they encounter policy requirements to pra…
Lost in transition – policies to reduce early school leaving and encourage further studying in Europe
Lost in transition : Policies to reduce early school leaving and encourage further studying in Europe
Framing education policies and transitions of Roma students in Europe
The aim of this article is to identify the contexts and conditions that allow for successful education transitions and opportunities for the Roma minority in Europe. Thus far, transnational and national policies have failed to ensure Roma inclusion and education equality, even though some progress is visible. Using a combination of policy analysis and interviews with NGO and European Union actors, University academics and Roma students, the artic…
Early childhood education research in Europe: Contexts, policies, and ideas
From the very north to the south of Europe, the national examples of early childhood education research reported here address remarkably similar issues around the definition of core values in early childhood education, and their impact on pedagogical work in preschools. Policy histories and frameworks matter, since they define the parameters within which these definitions take place and they determine resources given to preschool provision. Our c…
Preparing Education Students for an International Future? Connecting Students’ Experience to Institutional Contexts
This article focuses on “internationalization at home” (IaH) for education students in Swedish Universities and its significance for their professional formation and future practice. We draw on research in two large institutions and explore the perceptions and experiences of internationalization of home students in education. We find that while the “intercultural” understanding of students is well developed, the international and intercultural di…
Transcending borders in higher education: Internationalisation policies in Sweden
This article examines the national and European policy contexts that shaped the Swedish internationalisation agenda in higher education since 2000, the policy ideas that were mobilised to promote it, and the national priorities that steered higher education debates. The analysis highlights how domestic and European policy priorities, as well as discourses around increasing global economic reach and building solidarity across the world, have produ…
Reading the Internationalisation Imperative in Higher Education Institutions: External Contexts and Internal Positionings
Early childhood education and care policy change: Comparing goals, governance and ideas in Nordic contexts
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is changing across Europe, reflecting multiple-policy intentions and assumptions about education in early years, and the role of the state in supporting, funding and regulating its institutions. In this article, we examine the evolution of ECEC comparatively in Finland and Sweden, and we explore the shifts in goals, governance mechanisms and policy ideas that have characterised reforms in the sector. We d…
Education policy governance and the power of ideas in constructing the new European Education Area
Twenty ye ars after the Lisbon strategy, education policy in the European Union (EU) is at a critical juncture, with a new set of strategic goals endorsed for the 2021–2030 decade. This article examines the complex interplay of ideas, institutions and actors, in articulating education policy priorities in the new European Education Area (EEA). Drawing on documentary reviews and interviews with policy actors in the European Commission and the Coun…
The European Semester as a Policy Instrument in Education—The Cases of Spain and Sweden
In this article we examine the European Semester as an innovative form of policy coordination, with distinct effects on education and skills policies for Member States. We analyse the Semester's framing of education policy, and examine its manifestations in Spain and Sweden, two countries considered to be different in their approach to education. Drawing on a policy instrumentation approach and interviews with policy actors and documentary analys…
Learning, unlearning and redefining teachers’ agency in international private education: A Swedish education company operating in India
Private international education is on the rise, but we still have limited knowledge on how different commercial actors operate in this field and how it affects local teachers and their work in the schools abroad. Swedish school companies have been active in exporting schooling in the international arena, including “Swedish” education models. In this article, we examine one company and their operations in India. We explore the interpretations of t…
The Mobility-Immobility Continuum in Internationalised Higher Education: Intersecting Narratives and Contexts in Swedish Academia
This article explores the themes of academic mobility/immobility in Swedish higher education. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, we provide an analysis of mobility decisions and experiences, across disciplinary fields and career stages. We identify narratives of transformative and pragmatic mobility experiences, and the (often high) costs involved in (im)mobility, in relation to career progression, emotional and relational dimensions of academics’ l…
Internationalising the teacher education curriculum: An analysis of syllabi and student experiences
Internationalisation has increasingly become a key dimension of quality in initial teacher education (ITE) programmes. Although it is recognised as a means to strengthen future teachers' competencies and expand their professional knowledge, it remains underdeveloped in practice. This article examines the internationalisation of the ITE curriculum in Sweden. Using disciplinary lenses, we conducted a content analysis of the curriculum for grades 4–…
Political science (22 works) · Sociology (20 works) · Economics (15 works) · Higher education (15 works) · Public Administration (14 works) · Education policy (12 works) · Global Educational Policies and Reforms (12 works) · Public relations (11 works) · Law (10 works) · Public Administration (10 works)