Dr Andrew Wilkins

Staff details

Position

Head of Programme, BA Education, Reader in Education Policy

Andrew W. Wilkins is Reader in Education, UoA Lead for REF 2029, Subject Ethics Lead and Head of BA Education

Research interests in policy, technology and governance with a focus on education research using analytics of assemblage (Deleuze) and governmentality (Foucault).

Current project: Digital school leadership: Examining the governance and enactment of AI to address teacher workload (BELMAS DSA, 2026-2028)

Invited speaker at major events in Europe, Asia and Australasia.

Editor in Chief of Journal of Education Policy.

Assessor for Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS), Australian Research Council (ARC) and UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Member of the Sub-Panel of Education for VER 2026 Periodic Assessment of Research, Development, Artistic and other Creative Activities, Slovak Republic.

Fellow of Advance HE, UK.

Convenor of Education Policy Futures (EPF) Webinar Series.

Academic qualifications

BA Sociology, University of Leeds 2003
MRes Social Science Research Methods, Goldsmiths, University of London 2005
PhD Social Policy, Open University 2009

Teaching and supervision

Publications and research outputs

Article

Rethinking educational federalism: Using assemblage theory to analyse policy travel and transformation in Argentina Romualdo, VanesaORCID logo; and Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2025. Rethinking educational federalism: Using assemblage theory to analyse policy travel and transformation in Argentina. Journal of Education Policy, ISSN 0268-0939
A Systematic Review of School Governance Literature Between 2000 and 2023 Mifsud, DeniseORCID logo; and Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2025. A Systematic Review of School Governance Literature Between 2000 and 2023. Leadership and Policy in Schools, ISSN 1570-0763
The politics of teacher wellbeing: ‘Sung baang’, neoliberalism and power struggles in Hong Kong Tsang, Kwok K.ORCID logo; and Wilkins, Andrew W. ORCID logo . 2025. The politics of teacher wellbeing: ‘Sung baang’, neoliberalism and power struggles in Hong Kong. Globalisation, Societies and Education, ISSN 1476-7724

Book

Keywords in education policy research: A conceptual toolbox Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo ; Courtney, Steven J.; and Piattoeva‬, Nelli. 2024. Keywords in education policy research: A conceptual toolbox. Bristol: Policy Press. ISBN 9781447360100
Modernising School Governance: Corporate planning and expert handling in state education Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2016. Modernising School Governance: Corporate planning and expert handling in state education. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 9780815360674

Book Section

Foreword Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2026. Foreword. In: Craig Skerritt, ed. Opportunities and Challenges for Policy Advice and Policy Making in Education: Future Possibilities. London: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781350538955
Using Foucault to interrogate teacher wellbeing as discourse Gobby, Brad; Karnovsky, Saul; and Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2026. Using Foucault to interrogate teacher wellbeing as discourse. In: Richard Niesche and Denise Mifsud, eds. Thinking with Michel Foucault in Educational Leadership: Methodological and Conceptual Challenges. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781350471887
Assembling New Public Management: Actors, networks and projects Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo ; Collet-Sabé, Jordi; Esper, Tomás; Gobby, Brad; and Grimaldi, Emiliano. 2024. Assembling New Public Management: Actors, networks and projects. In: Derek Brent Edwards; Antoni Verger; Keita Takayama and Marcia McKenzie, eds. Researching Global Education Policy: Diverse Approaches to Policy Movement. Bristol: Policy Press. ISBN 9781447368021

Publics in education: Thinking with Gunter on plurality, democracy and local reasoning Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2023. Publics in education: Thinking with Gunter on plurality, democracy and local reasoning. In: Tanya Fitzgerald and Steven, J. Courtney, eds. Critical education policy and leadership studies: The intellectual contributions of Helen M. Gunter. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature, pp. 113-126. ISBN 97830031368004
Introduction Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2023. Introduction. In: Andrew Wilkins, ed. Policy Foundations of Education. London: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781350171138
Mapping the field: Education policy research and theory Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2023. Mapping the field: Education policy research and theory. In: Andrew Wilkins, ed. Policy Foundations of Education. London: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781350171138
Academisation and the law of ‘attraction’: An ethnographic study of relays, connective strategies and regulated participation Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2022. Academisation and the law of ‘attraction’: An ethnographic study of relays, connective strategies and regulated participation. In: Christy Kulz; Kirsty Morrin and Ruth McGinity, eds. Inside the English Education Lab: Critical Ethnographic Perspectives on the Academies Experiment. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 35-59. ISBN 9781526145383
Deconstructing governance: Perspectives in post-positivist thinking Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2021. Deconstructing governance: Perspectives in post-positivist thinking. In: Michael A. Peters and Richard Heraud, eds. Encyclopedia of Educational Innovation. Singapore: Springer. ISBN 9789811322624
Governance and educational leadership Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo ; and Gobby, BradORCID logo. 2021. Governance and educational leadership. In: Steven Courtney; Helen Gunter; Richard Niesche and Tina Trujillo, eds. Understanding educational leadership: Critical perspectives and approaches. London: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 309-322. ISBN 9781350081833
Neoliberalism, citizenship and education: A policy discourse analysis Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2020. Neoliberalism, citizenship and education: A policy discourse analysis. In: Andrew Peterson; Garth Stahl and Hannah Soong, eds. The Palgrave Handbook of Citizenship and Education. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783319678276
Technologies in rational self-management: Interventions in the ‘responsibilisation’ of school governors Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2019. Technologies in rational self-management: Interventions in the ‘responsibilisation’ of school governors. In: Julie Allan; Valerie Harwood and Clara Rübner Jørgensen, eds. World Yearbook of Education 2020: Schooling Governance. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 9781138362635
Wither democracy? The rise of epistocracy and monopoly in school governance Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2019. Wither democracy? The rise of epistocracy and monopoly in school governance. In: Stewart Riddle and Michael W. Apple, eds. Re-imagining Education for Democracy. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 142-155. ISBN 9780367197124
Assembling schools as organisations: On the limits and contradictions of neoliberalism Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2018. Assembling schools as organisations: On the limits and contradictions of neoliberalism. In: Michael Connolly; David H. Eddy-Spicer; Chris James and Sharon D. Kruse, eds. The SAGE Handbook of School Organization. London: SAGE, pp. 509-523. ISBN 9781526420664
Conceptualising education governance: Framings, perspectives and theories Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo ; and Olmedo, Antonio. 2018. Conceptualising education governance: Framings, perspectives and theories. In: Andrew Wilkins and Antonio Olmedo, eds. Education governance and social theory: Interdisciplinary approaches to research. London: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781350040083
Creating expert publics: A governmentality approach to school governance under neoliberalism Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2017. Creating expert publics: A governmentality approach to school governance under neoliberalism. In: Steven J Courtney; Ruth McGinity and Helen Gunter, eds. Educational Leadership: Theorising Professional Practice in Neoliberal Times. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 97-110. ISBN 9780367202170
The business of governorship: Corporate elitism in public education Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2017. The business of governorship: Corporate elitism in public education. In: Helen M. Gunter; David Hall and Michael W. Apple, eds. Corporate Elites and the Reform of Public Education. Bristol: Policy Press, pp. 161-176. ISBN 9781447326809
Gobernanza escolar y la lógica de la política neoliberal. ¿Qué puede hacer la democracia? Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2016. Gobernanza escolar y la lógica de la política neoliberal. ¿Qué puede hacer la democracia? In: Jordi Collet and Antoni Tort, eds. La gobernanza escolar democrática. Madrid: Morata, pp. 84-100. ISBN 9788471127846
Affective Labour and Neoliberal Fantasies: The Gendered and Moral Economy of School Choice in England. Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo . 2014. Affective Labour and Neoliberal Fantasies: The Gendered and Moral Economy of School Choice in England. In: Melinda Vandenbeld Giles, ed. Mothering in the Age of Neoliberalism. Bradford, Ontario: Demeter Press, pp. 265-282. ISBN 9781927335284

Edited Book

Policy Foundations of Education Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo , ed. 2023. Policy Foundations of Education. London: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781350171138
Education Governance and Social Theory: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Research Wilkins, Andrew ORCID logo ; and Olmedo, Antonio, eds. 2018. Education Governance and Social Theory: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Research. London: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781350040083