Dr Tore Sorensen

  • Lecturer in Education (Educational Leadership & Policy)

email: Tore.Sorensen@glasgow.ac.uk

School of Education, University of Glasgow, 11 Eldon Street, G3 6NH Glasgow

Import to contacts

ORCID iDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685

Biography

I do research and teach about contemporary education governance. In recent years, I have focused on three lines of research: Globalisation and global education governance; public policy analysis; and the teaching profession.

Since completing my PhD at the Graduate School of Education, University of Bristol (UK), in 2017, I have been fortunate to gain valuable experience from being involved in exciting research projects and collaborate with great colleagues in very different settings. Before coming to Glasgow in November 2023, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Hertie School's Educational Governance Team (Berlin, Germany), Taube Centre for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Jagiellonian University (Krakow, Poland), and in Groupe interdisciplinaire de Recherche sur la Socialisation, l'Education et la Formation (GIRSEF), UC Louvain (Belgium).

Along with my colleague Ellen Vanderhoven, I currently co-convene the Glasgow Comparative and International Education Research network (GLACIER). 

My research has been published in journals such as Comparative Education Review, Discourse, Education Inquiry, European Educational Research Journal, Education Policy Analysis Archives, Globalisation, Societies and Education, and Journal of Education and Work, as well as in a range of edited anthologies.

With Xavier Dumay (UC Louvain) and Lynn Paine (Michigan State University), I edited World Yearbook of Education 2025. The Teaching Profession in a Globalizing World: Governance, Career, Learning. The book was published by Routledge in November 2024. I have also been a guest editor for four special issues and special sections in some of the journals mentioned above. In addition, I edited the handbook section "Globalization and Teacher Education" in The Palgrave Handbook of Teacher Education Research (Editor-in-Chief Ian Menter), where I also contributed with the chapter "Globalization, Teachers, and Teacher Education: Theories, Themes, and Methodologies".

I am interested in supervising Masters, PhD and EdD students who are working on topics related to my research interests. In my supervision, I emphasise dialogue and supporting students in pursuing their research interests and develop their skills as researchers and academics. 

My personal website

ResearchGate profile

LinkedIn profile

 

Research interests

My research draws especially on the disciplines and literatures of comparative education, political sociology, public policy, and sociology of education.  

My work is characterised by three lines of research:

  • Globalisation and global education governance
  • Public policy analysis
  • The teaching profession

In particular, I have in recent years undertaken studies of the activities and influence of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Develoment (OECD) and the European Union regarding the governing of education sectors and the teaching profession.

My research mainly draws on qualitative methods, including different forms of discourse analysis and qualitative content analysis. I also have extensive experience with conducting different types of literature reviews. 

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2011 | 2009
Number of items: 20.

2024

Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Graf, Lukas (2024) A European experiment in governing teacher education and training: the case of the Erasmus+ Teacher academies. Education Inquiry, (doi: 10.1080/20004508.2024.2390713) (Early Online Publication)

Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Dumay, Xavier (2024) The European Union’s governance of teachers and the evolution of a bridging issue field since the mid-2000s. European Educational Research Journal, 23(2), pp. 237-260. (doi: 10.1177/14749041241234695) (PMID:38495622)

Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Eeva, Katri (2024) Re-articulating the form of the political: contemporary education governance in the European Union. Introduction to the Special Issue. European Educational Research Journal, 23(2), pp. 165-177. (doi: 10.1177/14749041241231021)

Dumay, Xavier, Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Paine, Lynn eds. (2024) World Yearbook of Education 2025: The Teaching Profession in a Globalizing World: Governance, Career, Learning. Routledge: Abingdon. ISBN 9781032579450 (doi: 10.4324/9781003441731)

Dumay, Xavier, Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Paine, Lynn (2024) Introduction: the teaching profession in a globalizing world. In: Dumay, Xavier, Sorensen, Tore Bernt and Paine, Lynn (eds.) World Yearbook of Education 2025: The Teaching Profession in a Globalizing World: Governance, Career, Learning. Routledge (Taylor & Francis): Abingdon, pp. 1-22. ISBN 9781032579450 (doi: 10.4324/9781003441731-1)

2023

Sørensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Dumay, Xavier (2023) The European Sectoral Social Dialogue in Education and the strengthening of the European Union’s policy regime in education and employment. Journal of Education and Work, 36(7-8), pp. 542-562. (doi: 10.1080/13639080.2023.2275767)

Graf, Lukas, Marques, Marcelo, Sørensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Dumay, Xavier (2023) The emergence of European boundary-spanning policy regimes: analysing intersectoral policy coordination in education and employment. Journal of Education and Work, 36(7-8), pp. 511-523. (doi: 10.1080/13639080.2023.2275778)

2022

Sorensen, Tore ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 (2022) Globalization, teachers, and teacher education: theories, themes, and methodologies. In: Menter, Ian (ed.) The Palgrave Handbook of Teacher Education Research. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783030595333 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-59533-3_73-1)

2021

Sorensen, Tore ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 (2021) Wie stopt macht van de markt? Didactief, 11 Nov.

Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Dumay, Xavier (2021) Special section on teachers, teaching and globalization: introduction. Comparative Education Review, 65(4), pp. 723-724. (doi: 10.1086/716449)

Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Dumay, Xavier (2021) The teaching professions and globalization: a scoping review of the anglophone research literature. Comparative Education Review, 65(4), pp. 725-749. (doi: 10.1086/716418)

Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 (2021) The space for challenge in transnational education governance: the case of Education International and the OECD TALIS programme. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 42(4), pp. 572-589. (doi: 10.1080/01596306.2020.1718611)

Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685, Ydesen, Christian and Robertson, Susan Lee (2021) Re-reading the OECD and education: the emergence of a global governing complex – an introduction. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 19(2), pp. 99-107. (doi: 10.1080/14767724.2021.1897946)

Sorensen, T. et al. (2021) Rhetoric or game changer: Social dialogue and industrial relations in education midst EU governance and privatisation in Europe: Final project report “Social dialogue and industrial relations in education: The challenges of multi-level governance and privatisation in Europe” (IR-EDUREFORM). Project Report. European Trade Union Committee for Education.

2020

Sorensen, Tore ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Robertson, Susan L. (2020) Ordinalization and the OECD’s governance of teachers. Comparative Education Review, 64(1), pp. 21-45. (doi: 10.1086/706758)

2018

Robertson, Susan L. and Sorensen, Tore ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 (2018) Global transformations of the state, governance and teachers’ labour: Putting Bernstein’s conceptual grammar to work. European Educational Research Journal, 17(4), pp. 470-488. (doi: 10.1177/1474904117724573)

2017

Holloway, Jessica, Sorensen, Tore ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Verger, Antoni (2017) Global perspectives on high-stakes teacher accountability policies: an introduction. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 25, 85. (doi: 10.14507/epaa.25.3325)

2016

Sorensen, Tore ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 (2016) Teachers and the global educational policy field. In: Jules, T.D. (ed.) The Global Educational Policy Environment in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Series: Public policy and governance (26). Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.. ISBN 9781786350435 (doi: 10.1108/S2053-769720160000026003)

2011

Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 (2011) The Bias of Markets: A Comparative Study of the Market Form and Identity Politics in English and Danish Compulsory Education. Series: Copenhagen studies in bilingualism, 60. University of Copenhagen: Copenhagen. ISBN 9788791621888

2009

Sorensen, Tore ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 (2009) Promoting democratic citizenship through non-formal adult education: the case of Denmark. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 53(4), pp. 347-362. (doi: 10.1080/00313830903043125)

This list was generated on Mon Oct 6 05:03:41 2025 BST.
Jump to: Articles | Books | Book Sections | Research Reports or Papers
Number of items: 20.

Articles

Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Graf, Lukas (2024) A European experiment in governing teacher education and training: the case of the Erasmus+ Teacher academies. Education Inquiry, (doi: 10.1080/20004508.2024.2390713) (Early Online Publication)

Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Dumay, Xavier (2024) The European Union’s governance of teachers and the evolution of a bridging issue field since the mid-2000s. European Educational Research Journal, 23(2), pp. 237-260. (doi: 10.1177/14749041241234695) (PMID:38495622)

Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Eeva, Katri (2024) Re-articulating the form of the political: contemporary education governance in the European Union. Introduction to the Special Issue. European Educational Research Journal, 23(2), pp. 165-177. (doi: 10.1177/14749041241231021)

Sørensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Dumay, Xavier (2023) The European Sectoral Social Dialogue in Education and the strengthening of the European Union’s policy regime in education and employment. Journal of Education and Work, 36(7-8), pp. 542-562. (doi: 10.1080/13639080.2023.2275767)

Graf, Lukas, Marques, Marcelo, Sørensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Dumay, Xavier (2023) The emergence of European boundary-spanning policy regimes: analysing intersectoral policy coordination in education and employment. Journal of Education and Work, 36(7-8), pp. 511-523. (doi: 10.1080/13639080.2023.2275778)

Sorensen, Tore ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 (2021) Wie stopt macht van de markt? Didactief, 11 Nov.

Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Dumay, Xavier (2021) Special section on teachers, teaching and globalization: introduction. Comparative Education Review, 65(4), pp. 723-724. (doi: 10.1086/716449)

Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Dumay, Xavier (2021) The teaching professions and globalization: a scoping review of the anglophone research literature. Comparative Education Review, 65(4), pp. 725-749. (doi: 10.1086/716418)

Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 (2021) The space for challenge in transnational education governance: the case of Education International and the OECD TALIS programme. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 42(4), pp. 572-589. (doi: 10.1080/01596306.2020.1718611)

Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685, Ydesen, Christian and Robertson, Susan Lee (2021) Re-reading the OECD and education: the emergence of a global governing complex – an introduction. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 19(2), pp. 99-107. (doi: 10.1080/14767724.2021.1897946)

Sorensen, Tore ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Robertson, Susan L. (2020) Ordinalization and the OECD’s governance of teachers. Comparative Education Review, 64(1), pp. 21-45. (doi: 10.1086/706758)

Robertson, Susan L. and Sorensen, Tore ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 (2018) Global transformations of the state, governance and teachers’ labour: Putting Bernstein’s conceptual grammar to work. European Educational Research Journal, 17(4), pp. 470-488. (doi: 10.1177/1474904117724573)

Holloway, Jessica, Sorensen, Tore ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Verger, Antoni (2017) Global perspectives on high-stakes teacher accountability policies: an introduction. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 25, 85. (doi: 10.14507/epaa.25.3325)

Sorensen, Tore ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 (2009) Promoting democratic citizenship through non-formal adult education: the case of Denmark. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 53(4), pp. 347-362. (doi: 10.1080/00313830903043125)

Books

Dumay, Xavier, Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Paine, Lynn eds. (2024) World Yearbook of Education 2025: The Teaching Profession in a Globalizing World: Governance, Career, Learning. Routledge: Abingdon. ISBN 9781032579450 (doi: 10.4324/9781003441731)

Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 (2011) The Bias of Markets: A Comparative Study of the Market Form and Identity Politics in English and Danish Compulsory Education. Series: Copenhagen studies in bilingualism, 60. University of Copenhagen: Copenhagen. ISBN 9788791621888

Book Sections

Dumay, Xavier, Sorensen, Tore Bernt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 and Paine, Lynn (2024) Introduction: the teaching profession in a globalizing world. In: Dumay, Xavier, Sorensen, Tore Bernt and Paine, Lynn (eds.) World Yearbook of Education 2025: The Teaching Profession in a Globalizing World: Governance, Career, Learning. Routledge (Taylor & Francis): Abingdon, pp. 1-22. ISBN 9781032579450 (doi: 10.4324/9781003441731-1)

Sorensen, Tore ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 (2022) Globalization, teachers, and teacher education: theories, themes, and methodologies. In: Menter, Ian (ed.) The Palgrave Handbook of Teacher Education Research. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783030595333 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-59533-3_73-1)

Sorensen, Tore ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-5685 (2016) Teachers and the global educational policy field. In: Jules, T.D. (ed.) The Global Educational Policy Environment in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Series: Public policy and governance (26). Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.. ISBN 9781786350435 (doi: 10.1108/S2053-769720160000026003)

Research Reports or Papers

Sorensen, T. et al. (2021) Rhetoric or game changer: Social dialogue and industrial relations in education midst EU governance and privatisation in Europe: Final project report “Social dialogue and industrial relations in education: The challenges of multi-level governance and privatisation in Europe” (IR-EDUREFORM). Project Report. European Trade Union Committee for Education.

This list was generated on Mon Oct 6 05:03:41 2025 BST.

Prior publications

Other

Tore Bernt Sorensen, Susan L. Robertson (2017) The OECD Program TALIS and Framing, Measuring, and Selling Quality Teacher™ International Handbook of Teacher Quality and Policy Crossref Metadata Search. (doi: 10.4324/9781315710068-8)

Supervision

Research Supervision Areas

I welcome supervision inquiries from potential PhD students who share my research interests, including but not limited to:

  • Education policy
  • Public policy
  • Global governance
  • Teaching profession and teacher education
  • Comparative and international education
  • Sociology of education

In my supervision, I emphasise dialogue and supporting students in pursuing their research interests and develop their skills as researchers and academics. 

Supervision Inquiries

For supervision inquries, please email me the following: 

  1. Research proposal of approximately 1500 words (see here for guidance)
  2. Updated CV
  3. Transcripts of all academic degrees
  4. Any books, articles, chapters, or reports you’ve published already
  5. A 250-word description of how your research interests align with my research and why you’re interested in pursuing a PhD with me (I would recommend reading at least 2-3 of my publications)
  6. A brief description of your funding situation (already in receipt of a scholarship, planning to apply to one, planning to self-fund, etc.) 

In University of Glasgow, I have supervised Masters dissertations on the following programmes:

  • Erasmus Mundus Joint Master in Education Policies for Global Development (GLOBED)
  • MSc Education, Public Policy & Equity
  • MSc International and Comparative Education
  • MSc in Education Online
  • MEduc Education with Primary Teaching Qualification

In UC Louvain (Belgium), I was PhD co-supervisor of Jo B. Helgetun’s project “Teacher training at the crossroads of the global education policy field and national paths? Case studies in England and France” (Completed in September 2021). 

 

Teaching

Since April 2025, I have been Deputy Programme Leader on the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master in Education Policies for Global Development (GLOBED).

In the academic year 2025-2026, I'll be course lead and teaching on:

  • International and Comparative Education (EDUC5858, core course of GLOBED)  

  • Policy Enquiry And Decision-Making (EDUC5249, core course of MSc Education, Public Policy & Equity)

  • Modern Educational Thinking (EDUC51000, core course of MSc in Education Online)

In addition, I will continue teaching on:

  • Education Policy (core course of the EdD Doctorate in Education)
  • Contemporary Themes in Education Policy (EDUC51001, core course of MSc Educational Studies)
  • Modern Educational Thought (EDUC5156, core course of MSc Educational Studies)

Professional activities & recognition

Editorial boards

  • 2018: European Educational Research Journal
  • 2023: Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy

Supplementary

  • Peer reviewer for the following academic journals (in period since January 2022): Comparative Education Review, European Educational Research Journal, Global Society, Globalisation, Societies and Education, International Journal of Lifelong Education, Journal of Education Policy, Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, Paedagogica Historica, Research in Comparative and International Education

Additional information

 

 


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