Terminological “Communities”: A Conceptual Mapping of Scholarship Identified With Education’s “Global Turn”

Abstract

This chapter presents an innovative, cross-disciplinary methodological approach to systematically reviewing and comparing large bodies of literature using big data, Natural Language Processing, network analysis, and supplementary qualitative analysis. The approach is demonstrated through an analysis of the literature surrounding four common concepts within the scholarship related to the global turn in education: 21st-century skills, global citizenship, intercultural competencies, and cosmopolitan education. An analysis is made of each network representing the focal concepts. We also undertake a comparative analysis of topics appearing across the scholarship found on the different concepts. Through this analysis we highlight some benefits of the outlined methodology in identifying overarching themes across bodies of literature, locating differences in how topics are approached within the context of each concept, revealing blind spots and caveats in specific areas of scholarship, and being able to outline distinctive characteristics of the literature related to each concept. Limitations and potential uses of the method are subsequently discussed. This review will be of use to researchers from any field who are interested in novel methodological ways of unpacking and analyzing large bodies of knowledge, as well as scholars embarking on research related to the global turn in education, and finally, policymakers looking to identify which concepts to utilize in their work in this area.