Ways Forward

This concluding chapter draws a summary of previous chapters, and provides insights into policy processes and the role of language therein. It further illustrates how the book presented a multilevel analysis of the drivers and shapers of educational outsourcing, from the global, down through the national and regional, to the school level. Then it teases out how the teaching of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) has been situated as a key component of the outsourcing process, and what biased assumptions exist around it. The social justice angle, has been emphasized by summarizing key lessons, not just for student learning but for teachers’ right to work, and enactment of educational outsourcing. This chapter proposes to consider matters from the linguistic side, looking at the specificity of language as a learning subject, and the persistent native-speakerism in the ESOL industry, despite counteracting discourses such as English as a lingua franca. Theoretically, this chapter advises concerned stakeholders to revisit their assumptions by proposing to reconceptualize educational equity using a nuanced understanding of outsourcing services and providers. It also discusses how policy enactment theory, which informs the overall book, can be extended by looking into how policy ensembles, while not necessarily well-coordinated, have a collective impact on public schooling. The author hopes that such reflections will help increase social justice via quality education for all.