Michael Crossley

Short Biography & Significant Contribution

Michael Crossley is Professor of Comparative and International Education, Director of the Research Centre for International and Comparative Studies and Director of the Education in Small States Group at the Graduate School of Education, University of Bristol, UK. Professor Crossley was Editor of Comparative Education from 2004 to 2009 inclusive, and was Vice-Chair and Chair of the British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE) from 2000 to 2004. He is the Founding Series Editor for the Bristol Papers in Education: Comparative and International Studies (Symposium Books), and is a member of the Editorial Board for the International Journal of Educational Development and Research in Post-compulsory Education, a Corresponding Editor for the International Review of Education, and a former Chair of the Editorial Board for Compare. Between 1985 and 1990 he was Editor for the Papua New Guinea Journal of Education. Professor Crossley has published widely and undertaken teaching, research and consultancy work in countries that include England, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Tanzania, Pakistan, China/Hong Kong, Belize, Botswana, Saint Lucia, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Fiji and Malaysia. Consultancies have been carried out for bodies that include The World Bank, UNESCO/IIEP, the Commonwealth Secretariat, DFID, and various national governments. The focus of this work includes research and evaluation capacity building, educational development in small states and numerous project evaluations. He is a Trustee for the United Kingdom Forum for International Education and Training (UKFIET). Major research interests relate to: theoretical and methodological scholarship on the future of comparative and international education; the dilemmas of uncritical international transfer in education policy and research; research and evaluation capacity and international development co-operation; and educational development in small states.

Professor Crossley has published around 200 articles and books in the field of Comparative and International Education. Much of this work has developed a strong critique of the uncritical international transfer of educational policy and practice. In doing so, it is argued that context matters more than many policy makers and researchers recognise. Secondly, Professor Crossley's research points to the potential to be gained from a 'bridging of cultures and traditions' within and beyond the Social Sciences if Comparative and International Education is to enhance its contribution to both policy development and the advancement of theory. In recognition of this contribution, and his leadership of BAICE, in 2005 he was elected as an Academician (AcSS) by the UK Academy for the Social Sciences.

Professor Crossley teaches Masters and Doctoral courses in Comparative and International Education at the University of Bristol and through the Bristol Doctoral Programme in collaboration with the City University of Hong Kong. This was the first EdD Programme to be launched in Europe and the UK, and it is now in its second decade of operation in Hong Kong. To date, Professor Crossley has supervised around 30 doctoral students in the field of Comparative and International Education, coming from many countries worldwide.

Link:

Personal Website: Professor Michael Crossley

Professional Website: http://www.smallstates.net

Educational Background

PhD Comparative Education, La Trobe University, Melbourne, 1984

MA Educational Planning in Developing Countries, University of London, Institute of Education, 1974

BEd Geography and Education, University of Keele, 1972

Professional Background

Professor Crossley has been Professor of Comparative and International Education at the University of Bristol, Graduate School of Education in the UK since 2003. This is one of the leading research universities in the UK, with a long and distinguished history in the field of Comparative and International Education. While at Bristol, Professor Crossley has led the Research Centre for International and Comparative Studies since 2001, was Director of the MPhil/PhD Programme from 1994-2000, and currently serves as Director of the Doctor of Education Programme. He is a Research Associate with the Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC) at the University of Hong Kong, and Adjunct Professor of Education at the University of the South Pacific. Prior to joining the University of Bristol, he was Associate Dean for Planning and Research at the University of Papua New Guinea.

Affiliations (associations, organizations, institutions)

Elected as an Academician (AcSS) by the British Academy for the Social Sciences (2005-)

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) (2001-)

Adjunct Professor of Education, University of the South Pacific

Trustee, United Kingdom Forum for International Education and Training (UKFIET) (2007-)

Member, British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE) (1990-); Vice-Chair (2000-2002); Chair (2002-2004)

Member, Comparative and International Education Society (CIES)

Member, British Educational Research Association (BERA)

Member, Council for Education in the Commonwealth (CEC)

Selected Publications

Crossley, M., Bray, M., Packer, S., Colin, M., Martin, M. & Atchoarena, D. (2011): Education in Small States: Policies and Priorities. London: Commonwealth Secretariat.

Crossley, M. (2011): Strengthening the development of educational research capacity in small states. In Martin, M. and Bray, M. (eds.), Tertiary Education in Small States. Planning in the Context of Globalization. Paris: UNESCO/IIEP.

Crossley, M.(2010) Context matters in educational research and international development: learning from the small states experience. Prospects, 40, 421-429.

Crossley, M. (2009): Rethinking context in comparative education. In Cowen, R. & Kazamias, A.M. (eds), International Handbook of Comparative Education. Dordrecht: Springer, pp.1173-1188.

Crossley, M. and Watson, K. (2009): Comparative and international education: policy transfer, context sensitivity and professional development. Oxford Review of Education, 35, 633-649.

Crossley, M., Bray, M. & Packer, S. (2009): Education in the small states of the Commonwealth: towards and beyond global targets. The Round Table, 98(405), 731-752.

Crossley, M. (2008): Bridging cultures and traditions in comparative research in education: dialogue, difference and context. International Review of Education, 54(3),319-336.

Sutherland, M., Watson, K. & Crossley, M. (2007): The British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE). In Masemann, V., Bray, M. & Manzon, M. (eds), Common interests, uncommon goals: histories of the World Council of Comparative Education Councils and its members. Hong Kong: Comparative Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong & Dordrecht: Springer, pp.155-169.

Crossley, M., Broadfoot, P. & Schweisfurth, M. (eds) (2007): Changing educational contexts, issues and identities: 40 years of comparative education. New York & London: Routledge.

Crossley, M., Herriott, A., Waudo, J., Mwirotsi, M., Holmes, K. & Juma, M. (2005): Research and evaluation for educational development: learning from the PRISM experience in Kenya. Oxford: Symposium Books.

Crossley, M. and Tikly, L. (eds) (2004): Postcolonialism and Comparative Education. Special Issue of Comparative Education, 40(2).

Crossley, M. and Watson, K. (2003): Comparative and international research in education: globalisation, context and difference. London: Routledge. (reprinted 2004)

Tikly, L. and Crossley, M. (2001): Teaching comparative and international education: a framework for analysis. Comparative Education Review, 45(4), 561-580.

Crossley, M. with Jarvis, P. (eds) (2001): Comparative education for the twenty-first century: an international response. Special Number of Comparative Education 37(4).

Crossley, M. and Jarvis, P. (eds) (2000): Comparative education for the twenty-first century. Special Number of Comparative Education, 36(3).

Crossley, M. (1999): Reconceptualising comparative and international education. Compare: A Journal of Comparative Education, 29(3), 249-267.

Created: 10/14/2010

Updated: 6/20/2012

Contributed By: Maria Manzon, The University of Hong Kong