The biological turn in education policy : navigating minds / edited by Anna Kyriazi (assistant professor of political science), Paola Mattei (professor of political science, Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan, Italy), Sophie Pia Stieger (postdoctoral researcher, Institute of Education, University of Zürich) and Christian Ydesen (professor of history of education and policy analysis, Institute of Education, University of Zürich, Switzerland).

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Kyriazi, Anna, editor.

Mattei, P. (Paola), editor.

Stieger, Sophie Pia, editor.

Ydesen, Christian, editor.

Edward Elgar Publishing, publisher.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Education and state.

Educational sociology.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (348 pages)

Place of Publication:

Northampton : Edward Elgar Publishing, 2026.

Summary:

"This book examines how concepts from the life sciences are reshaping contemporary understandings of education and learning. Scholars from diverse disciplines explore the historical roots and global spread of the 'biological turn' that has transformed how education is defined and administered, highlighting its promises and its risks. Contributors assess how biological reasoning applies to ideas of equity, potential and governance. They identify continuities between past biological rationalities, such as eugenics, and contemporary developments including educational genomics and neuroscience. Through its chapters, the volume examines how the biological turn in education has emerged, what drives it, and what its wide-ranging consequences may be, asking whether it marks a fundamental change in thinking or a reconfiguration of established ideas. Ultimately, the book advances research in this field, providing fresh insights into how biology is becoming intertwined with education's social and political purposes. The Biological Turn in Education Policy is a key resource for scholars and students of education policy, comparative and international education, sociology and public policy and politics. The book's analysis of the diffusion of global policy paradigms and the role of expertise and science in governance will also benefit policymakers in international organisations, national ministries and local authorities"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Contents: 1. The emergence of a paradigm: The biological turn in education / Paola Mattei, Sophie Pia Stieger, Anna Kyriazi and Christian Ydesen

Part I: Drivers, policy diffusion, and policy reforms

2. From eugenics to neurodiversity: The expanding system of special education and disability (send) and alternative provision (ap) schooling in England / Sally Tomlinson

3. Brainpower as biopower: Social-emotional learning and the politics of class division / Audrey Bryan and Yoko Mochizuki

4. Global diffusion and divergence of neuroscience in education: The EU and oecd compared / Anna Kyriazi, Paola Mattei and Federico Bruno

5. The neuro-affective turn, donor influence, and the making of early grade foundational learning policy / Mia Chin

6. Infrastructuring bio-edu-data sciences: Networks, methods, and technologies / Ben Williamson

Part II: Opportunities and constraints

7. Culture as a biological force: Identity, epigenetics, and the future of cultural rights / Maria P. Abbracchio and Monica Amari

8. Genetics of education: From research to policy to improve educational performance and equality / Kim Stienstra and Gaia Ghirardi

9. Genes and the environment: The heritability of education / Giorgia Menta, Lorenzo Cappellari, Daniele Checchi and / Sonia Brescianini

10. Ethics and intersectionality in geno-education in the United States / Daphne O. Martschenko and Maya Sabatello

Part III: Historicizing the paradigm

11. From iq to ai: The use of biological data in Swedish special education since the 1930s / Thom Axelsson

12. From brains to genes: A diachronic comparison of intelligence testing and genetic profiling in educational prognostics / Christian Ydesen

13. Genomic research, the technocratic myth, and their ambitions for education - historical reflections on lewis terman's genetic study of gifted children / Till Neuhaus and Michaela Vogt

14. Educated bodies, educated brains: Untangling the web of ideas behind the contemporary biological turn in education / Sophie Pia Stieger

15. Anthropocene biopolitics and the bio-affective turn in education and childhood studies: Where is the resistance? / Kirsi Yliniva and Julian Reid

16. Commentary Chapter - the biological turn in education research: Paradigm change or rebordering the field? / Antoni Verger.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print record.

ISBN:

9781035373222 (e-book)

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.