Conclusion : Beyond publicness? Key questions and implications

This phenomena of ‘joined-upness’ requires a more nuanced understanding that extends to consider policy networks, advocacy groups and corporate entities that are operating within the blurred public/private boundaries. There is also an obvious demarcation problem, as many corporate entities are pursuing both opportunities for privatisation and commercialisation at the school level and enlist education actors to pursue these goals. Future research needs to better understand the regulatory environment that surrounds the development and sale of commercial products, the potential equity issues that influence the ability of all schools and teachers to access these commercial services and the enhancement rather than diminishment of teachers’ professional capacities, particularly through critical understanding and engagement about the effects of privatisation and commercialisation on their professional practice. Much of the research to date has focused on the macro level, investigating the political, social and economic forces that have given rise to marketisation, privatisation and commercialisation in schooling.