Ambivalent governance and the changing role of the state: Understanding the rise of international schools in Shanghai through the lens of policy networks

The current literature demonstrates the commercialised orientations of international schools in China and the role of the global education industry and overseas governments. This paper, drawing on narratives of school principals and senior managers who experienced the rise of international schools in Shanghai and working with theoretical tools from policy network studies and policy sociology, demonstrates the powerful and pragmatic role of the state in shaping and shifting the beliefs and traditions of international school practices and policies, and a process of disrupted neoliberalisation. The findings indicate the complexities and ambivalences in such notions as education governance, neoliberalisation, and globalisation, and shed light on the localised modalities and assemblages embedded within specific Chinese education policy contexts.