The fall of the Soviet bloc brought a sense of optimism for the establishment of open and democratic civil societies; however, the transition has been inconsistent and varied across the region. Some countries have embraced Western democratic and capitalist principles while others have encountered significant political challenges and setbacks. For young people, these diverse paths of development have led to both political engagement and apathy. In this systematic literature review (SLR) we aim to depict the state of research on school-age youth activism (YA) in post-socialist countries. Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted our search using three databases: Web of Science, EBSCO, and ERIC. The screening process resulted in 121 eligible papers. Our comparative analysis of peer-reviewed journal publications about YA in EU and non-EU post-socialist countries underscores the complexity of youth activism in post-socialist countries, revealing distinct research focuses and methodological disparities between EU and non-EU contexts. Our review challenges the notion of a uniform post-socialist landscape. Findings indicate that publications on non-EU countries often emphasise political events and youth organisations, such as the Euromaidan in Ukraine or groups like Nashi. In contrast, studies from EU countries tend to cover a wider range of topics but focus more on youth civic engagement and its deficiencies. Essentially, research from non-EU contexts highlights politically active youth, whereas EU-focused studies explore the reasons for political apathy and potential solutions. Additionally, papers on EU countries generally exhibit higher methodological rigour compared to those on non-EU countries.

This Special Issue brings together a collection of theoretical and empirical articles that variously apply, critique, and extend the concept of cosmopolitan nationalism. They mainly build on Maxwell, Yemini, Engel, and Lee’s (Citation2020) work that laid out the conceptual underpinnings of cosmopolitan nationalism and a growing body of work that has used it as an analytical lens to view education in an increasingly interconnected world (Poole & Qin, Citation2024; Wright, Lin, & Lu, Citation2024; Wright, Ma, & Auld, Citation2022; Yemini, Engel, Lee, & Maxwell, Citation2021; Yemini, Maxwell, Wright, Engel, & Lee, Citation2024). The overarching objective was to move beyond a portrayal of cosmopolitanism and nationalism as diametrically opposed to one another. The national and the global have so frequently been held in binary terms, dating back to decades-old discussions related to globalisation and debates over the weak-state vs. the strong-state in education policy formation (Engel, Citation2009). Scholars have continued to grapple with global education reforms in national spaces, seeking to understand the complex ways that global, national, and local ideas intersect, compete, marry, and become championed or resisted across different systems (e.g., Rizvi & Lingard, Citation2009; Tröhler, Piattoeva, & Pinar, Citation2022; Verger, Lubienski, & Steiner-Khamsi, Citation2016). Rather than being an oxymoron, cosmopolitan nationalism is put forward in this Special Issue as an analytical lens to understand the ambivalent values, motives, and/or processes that inform education policy and practice. Specifically, it refers to the

Cosmopolitanism and nationalism are often presented in binary terms, as standing in opposition to each other, especially with regards to education. In this paper, we establish a framework for studying education policy today through the lens of a concept we have developed: ‘cosmopolitan nationalism’. Many education systems around the world are grappling with and simultaneously integrating both cosmopolitan and nationalist elements in policy objectives, curricular content and pedagogic approaches. Through an in-depth analysis of three country examples – China, the US and Israel – we outline four different manifestations of education policy that can be explained by employing the analytical lens of cosmopolitan nationalism: (i) the increasing prominence and visibility of the International Baccalaureate within these three public education systems; (ii) reforms of specific curricula elements and pedagogies legitimised with reference to approaches assessed as globally leading through international assessments; (iii) efforts to promote national education systems as international beacons of best practice; (iv) creation of alternative education provisions that are promoted globally for very specific purposes and populations. We argue that, given our heterogeneous sample of case study countries, and careful analysis of these, a cosmopolitan nationalism lens offers important insights into education policy-making today which has the potential to be applied in other contexts.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 resulted in one of the largest refugee crises in Europe since World War II. A significant number of Ukrainian refugees, mostly women and children, have sought asylum in Germany, where they have been granted temporary protection status. These refugees found themselves in a state of protracted displacement, with uncertain futures. This article examines how middle-class Ukrainian women, with children, envision their futures and how this shapes their present. Engaging with the literature on protracted displacement and the concept of ‘agency-in-waiting’, we examine how this relatively privileged group variously respond to living in transit. To enable closer analysis of these variations, we extend examinations of protracted displacement with Grzymala-Kazlowska’s idea of anchors. This allows us to consider how previous social-class positioning, and also other external and internal structures in places migrated to, intersect to reveal the anchors facilitating or constraining ‘agency-in-waiting’.

We investigate the sub-networks involved in education policy in Israel in recent years, using Mixed Methods Social Networks Analysis – drawn from combined analysis of qualitative and quantitative data. Our objective was to comprehensively explore the Israeli education policy network to deliver an understanding of its structure, actors, and relationships. Our research offers a descriptive, analytical, and interpretive account of the contemporary Israeli education policy sector, including the actors involved, central policy sub-networks and organizations, and their relationships. We analyze dependence relations within the sub-networks using Resource Dependency Theory and Policy Networks Typology. Our findings contribute to understanding the dynamics of Israeli education policy networks and their perceived influence on policy-making and enactment processes. To the international field of educational policy-related research, we introduce a novel category of policy network actors, previously unaddressed as a distinct type. We have termed this category ‘Ethos networks’ to characterize this group of actors and elaborate on its significance within the field. Additionally, we underline the importance of considering external societal and political factors in education policy-making.

In this chapter we examine, through in-depth interviews with 15 Israeli Jewish globally mobile professional families, school choice strategies for their children. Drawing on Bourdieu’s (1986) concept of cultural capital and Ben-Porath’s (2009) notion of ‘bounded rationality’, we illustrate an evolving pattern of decision making, where further relocations instigate new criteria that determine school choice. While initially parents seek out the familiar in unfamiliar locations, in an attempt to create a ‘soft landing’; subsequent family moves to new education systems open up choices, and patterns of school choice mirrors those of other (non-mobile) middle class families more closely. Our findings emphasise how economic and cultural resources facilitate greater school choice, but also demonstrate how mobility affects the bounded rationality of such decision-making.

The Covid-19 Pandemic has affected more than 94 % of students and learners around the globe since its first outbreak in Wuhan, China. This figure comprises of 1.58 billion children and youth from all levels of education (UNESCO, 2020). In certain countries, the effect is more severe such as Sub-Saharan Africa where this constitutes 47 % of the 258 million out-of-school children. The global lockdown of learning institutions has led to major disturbance in students’ teaching and learning. Vast literature points out that digital platforms have been used to ensure accessibility to education (OECD, 2020).

This qualitative study examines how teachers perceive teacher-parent relationships in international schools in Cyprus. Using semi-structured interviews, 17 teacher interviews reveal that teachers face pressure from demanding parents, feel professionally undermined by them, and experience conflicts and misunderstandings with parents driven by from cultural differences. In addition, teachers noted numerous barriers to parental involvement, including differing expectations of parental involvement, language gaps, a lack of parental familiarity with curricula, and the lack of social or familial support common to expatriate parents. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

The under-representation of minorities at senior levels in academia has received some research attention in recent years. However, the experience of immigrant women from the former Soviet Union (FSU) in Israeli academia has not been examined. These women are mostly from a generation known as the ‘1.5 generation’ who immigrated to Israel as children. This study focuses on the intersection of immigration and gender that shape the lives and careers of the 1.5 generation women currently employed as senior academics in Israel. Using the theoretical framework of capital, Bourdieu’s concepts of cultural and social capital, as well as Borjas’ ethnic capital, we analyzed twenty in-depth interviews to examine the perception of these women, their life story, and their professional integration into Israeli academia. We identified two focal points that fostered their success – (1) the Soviet heritage- selective adoption of ethnic capital, encompassing cultural and social capital of an ethnic group and (2) role models within and outside the family often based on ethnicity. We discuss the obstacles faced by minorities in attempting integration into selective professional guilds.

The final issue of 2023 shows a diverse range of topics taken up by international studies of sociology of education. The 15 articles in this issue feature diverse contexts, including Ireland, Australia, China, Brazil, Japan, Germany and Russia. They present multiple perspectives and topics of interest to the field internationally, from global citizenship, to career preparation, to issues of identity and belonging. The articles offer a diversity of conceptual orientations and methodological approaches. Collectively, this issue illustrates the contributions of international studies in sociology of education to understanding the complexities of education and the human beings who engage in these systems in the changing global world.

This being the final issue of our time as editors of ISSE, it ignites a kind of contemplative reflection about the field – its contributions, shortcomings, and future directions. During our terms as editors of International Studies in Sociology of Education, the world has endured a global pandemic, continued devastation brought by the climate crisis, challenges to national sovereignty, and the horrors of war and terrorism. Amidst global conflict, massive migration, and planetary shifts, societies and communities are shifting so rapidly that it can be difficult to both live these changes, whilst trying to understand their impacts in our education systems – it is like looking for balance during an earthquake.

As we look back at our term and the scholarship published in ISSE, we are convinced that international studies in sociology of education are a significant field to engage in these rapidly changing global, national, and local dynamics; and yet, with full candor, we find it challenging to mark precisely where we think the future directions of sociology of education ought to go – as there continue to be so many priorities that require closer investigation and theorising. It seems that educational systems worldwide are grappling more than ever with dilemmas related to social and economic inequalities, the role of the teacher, the types of content that should be taught, incorporating multiple modes of learning, addressing ‘learning loss,’ methods of instruction and learning, among other issues. At times when our field engages in these debates, it is all too easy to lose sight of the humanistic essence of education and to allow diverse points of view to form separate echo chambers.

If we are to point to any hopes amidst the chaos, it is for the field to continue to press forward the basic rights of education for all and enhance the understanding of education as a core system through which each individual may contribute to their immediate community and the world. We hope that future research in the field will offer the discipline of sociology of education and the field of education rich insights, based on solid research. We hope that the use of theories will be done appropriately and with the required caution, and researchers will embrace nuances in applying theories to different contexts. We also hope that researchers in the field will continue to be committed to universal standards that uphold human rights and the right to education. We hope that international collaborations, like the ones we have created as editors, as an editorial board, and as a community of readers, reviewers, and authors worldwide, will continue to enrich the field with new insights, taking care not to marginalise colleagues due to their ethnic or national positioning, and that these research dialogues will serve as fertile ground for innovation and promoting human dignity.

Above all, we are grateful for the opportunity to engage with the field in our capacity as editors of the International Studies in Sociology of Education. We thank the Editorial Board for their reflective and collective work in support of the mission of the journal. Members of the editorial board undertake the critical role of offering generative and supportive comments to authors, but also in participating in meetings to discuss the future direction of the journal and in selecting our annual ‘Best Paper Award’. Our impressive turn-around in sending back reviews to authors was only possible because of the generous commitment made by our editorial board colleagues who are doing the hidden labor of reading, reviewing, revising, and engaging with authors and editors.

We thank the book editors for their work. Dr Luke Lu from NTU Singapore worked tirelessly for the journal for over 4 years, innovating how book reviews were created by introducing interviews with authors, alongside the more traditional forms of book reviews. Prof. D. Brent Edwards has kindly stepped in as book review editor during 2023 and will support the incoming editorial team.

ISSE places great emphasis on seeking submissions from across the world. The publishers have supported us in monitoring this closely, and we have tried to reach out to our networks to ensure we have a broad representation of scholars on the editorial board, as well as colleagues seeking to submit their work to the journal. This is an area that will always require commitment and focus, and while Global North scholars still dominate, even in this issue of ISSE we can see how colleagues from Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe are sharing their work through the journal.

Editing a journal is a huge privilege, which we have been most grateful for; but it is also a lot of work, which goes largely unrecognised by the universities that employ us. When we realised that our enthusiasm had dimmed and when our other work commitments became even less flexible in offering us the generosity of spirit required to edit a journal, we knew it was time to hand on the baton. We are therefore thrilled that this exciting team of experienced colleagues will now spearhead ISSE, in alphabetical order – Dr Cristina Costa (Durham), Dr Aline Courtois (Bath), Dr Denise Mifsud (Bath), Dr Mark Murphy (Glasgow), and Prof. Jonathan Tummons (Durham).