The Global Trajectories of Compulsory Education: Clustering Sequences of Policy Development

Abstract

AbstractIn Chap. 10.1007/978-3-030-78885-8_3, Fabian Besche-Truthe looks at the global trajectories of compulsory education. A plethora of studies exist that examine fundamental policy changes at a national level from a global perspective. In comparison, the global policy trend of expanding the duration of compulsory education has been less explored. Besche-Truthe draws on the concepts of trajectories and ‘pathways’ in order to reveal the various development paths that account for the expansion of compulsory education. A sequence analysis (SQA) lends itself as a method of inquiry because it enables the researcher to regard the whole trajectory of policy development as a single unit of analysis. The chapter yields the first exploration into different trajectories and how these trajectories can be subsumed and clustered into specific development paths.