Dr Shalini Bhorkar

About Research

Email: shalini.bhorkar@stmarys.ac.uk

Biography

• PhD in Education and International Development, Institute of Education, University College London
• M.Ed. in Comparative and Global Studies in Education & Development, University of Hong Kong
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA Ref. PR293903)

Shalini is an educator and researcher with extensive experience in teaching and research across diverse educational and cultural contexts. She has taught children and adults in India, Japan, Hong Kong and the UK, and conducts research in the field of comparative education and international development.

She leads and teaches modules on the Education Doctorate (EdD) programme, supervises doctoral researchers, and co-leads the ‘Sustainable Futures Through Global Responsibility in Education and Society’ research group. Her research focuses on the political economy of educational privatisation, education policy and social justice.

Shalini is passionate about building research capacity and has mentored colleagues within and beyond St Mary’s University, as well as aspiring doctoral researchers from marginalised communities in India. Drawing on her research expertise, she also undertakes consultancy assignments.

She is Associate Editor for International and Comparative Education at the journal, Cogent Education.

She is External Examiner for the MA International Development and Education programme at Newcastle University.

Doctoral Supervision

Shalini welcomes enquiries from prospective doctoral students interested in exploring education quality and equity, including issues related to educational privatisation, policy and governance, and the educational experiences of underserved and minoritised groups, particularly through comparative and decolonial perspectives.

She is also available to serve as an external examiner for doctoral vivas in these and related areas, particularly for research focusing on low- and middle-income country contexts. She has particular country expertise in India.

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Research

Research profile

Shalini’s research examines questions of education quality, equity and social justice, with a particular focus on the implications of educational privatisation for underserved and minoritised student populations. Her research and publications span areas including shadow education, private schooling, multilingualism and international higher education, drawing on comparative and international perspectives.

Doctoral Supervision

• Linferd Fernandes (Passed): Belonging in schools: An ecosophical study of educators, teacher education and policy in secondary schools in Goa
• Bianca Boateng: Child labour and its influence on education: A mixed-methods study in the Ashanti region in Ghana
• Aba Abekah-Mensah: Counted out: Post-16 students' experiences of mathematics education: A critical race theory-informed participatory study
• Dawa Tshering Sherpa: Exploring teacher talk in classrooms: Perspectives of rural teachers in Nepal
• Kate Rogers: How can schools collaborate more effectively with partner agencies, including social care, to support children with a social worker who are severely absent from school.
• Shanita Burrun-Jootun: Conceptualising learner autonomy from the perspectives of mature students in Mauritius: A decolonising and ethnographic study

Selected Publications

Peer-reviewed journal articles

• Bhorkar, S. (2026). The double whammy of schooling – tutoring inequalities: Hierarchical access and provisioning of private tutoring in India. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2026.2639753
• Bhorkar, S. (2025). Tutoring for the margins: Addressing uncertainties and inequalities in the Indian education system (Le tutorat pour les marges : réagir aux incertitudes et aux inégalités dans le système éducatif indien). Revue internationale d’éducation de Sèvres, HS-4/2025. (Bilingual – English and French) https://doi.org/10.4000/146w8
• Bhorkar, S. (2024). Variegated roles of and relationships between private tutoring and schooling: Insights from the State of Maharashtra, India. ECNU Review of Education, 7(1), 66-88. https://doi.org/10.1177/20965311231167186
• Bhorkar, S. (2023). Teaching-learning dynamics between schools and tutoring centres in India: Avirtuous or vicious cycle? (Las dinámicas de enseñanza-aprendizaje en los centros escolares y los centros de tutorías privadas en la India: ¿ciclo virtuoso o ciclo vicioso?). Journal for the Study of Education and Development, 46(4), 879-913. (Bilingual – English and Spanish) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02103702.2023.2243781
• Bhorkar, S. (2023). Public perceptions on education provision: The case for reforming India’s unequal system. ORF Issue Brief No. 651, July 2023, Observer Research Foundation.
• Bhorkar, S., & Bray, M. (2018). The expansion and roles of private tutoring in India: Fromsupplementation to supplantation. International Journal of Educational Development, 62, 148-156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2018.03.003

Book chapters

• Bhorkar, S. (In press). One step forward, two steps back: How private tutoring can nullify progressive policy reforms in India? In S. Christensen, M. Majumdar, & N. Sarkar (Eds.), Shadow Education in India. Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC), The University of Hong Kong and Routledge.
• Bhorkar, S. (2024). Unregulated private tutoring in India: Educational inequalities engendered by the “Light but Tight” National Education Policy 2020. In T. Saeed, R. Iyengar, M.A. Witenstein, & E.J. Byker (Eds.), Exploring Education and Democratization in South Asia: Research, Policy, and Practice. Palgrave Macmillan. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-47798-0_6

Reports, Blog Articles and Podcasts

• Perceptions of generative artificial intelligence from the classroom: Student and staff views and experiences, and implications and future practice (co-authored with six colleagues in the School of Education, St. Mary’s University, Twickenham, London) https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/partnerships/docs/cpd-docs/perceptions-of-generative-ai-from-the-classroom-full-report.pdf
• Fincham, K., & Bhorkar, S. (2024). Women’s empowerment: Part 1. [Hosted by Prof. Pauline Dixon, Newcastle University: Empower project podcast]. https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/empower-en/files/2024/01/00-Empower-podcast-1-1.mp3
• Online education in Covid-times India: Putting the cart before the horse. (2021, June 2). CEID Blog Series, Education in the Time of COVID-19 #047. UCL Centre for Education and International Development (CEID), UCL Institute of Education. (Co-authored). https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/ceid/2021/06/02/khanapurkar-etal/
• How prepared are teachers to deal with ‘learning lag’ of students? (2020, July 15). UKFIET The Education and Development Forum. (Co-authored).https://www.ukfiet.org/2020/how-prepared-are-teachers-to-deal-with-learning-lag-of-students/
• How “Paryavaran Mitra” reinforces ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) in schoolin India: A case study. (2017, June 26). Encyclopaedia of Education for Sustainable Development. (Single-authored)http://www.encyclopediaesd.com/blog-1/2017/6/26/how-paryavaran-mitra-reinforces-esd-in-schools-in-india-a-case-study

Selected Conferences and invited lectures

• Regulatory complexities in the private tutoring sector: An Indian case study (2026). BERA (British Educational Research Association) Annual Conference 2026, University of Manchester.
• When regulation travels poorly: A dialogic comparison of shadow education across differently structured systems (2026). BAICE (British Association for International & Comparative Education), University of Glasgow.
• The pipeline of international teachers. Opportunities and challenges. Panel Discussion. (2025). BERA (British Educational Research Association) Annual Conference 2025, University of Sussex.
• Bridging perspectives on shadow education: A comparative study of teachers’ perceptions of private tutoring in England and India (2025). BERA (British Educational Research Association) Annual Conference 2025, University of Sussex.
• Educating in the age of proliferating places of learning: International conference on ‘Educating in an uncertain world: a global challenge’ conducted by France Educational International (affiliated with France’s Ministry of National Education and Youth) (2025). Invited to conduct a workshop: Paris, France.
• Shaping the future: Foregrounding children and young people’s insights on AI. (2025). Festival of Learning and Teaching 2025, St. Mary’s University, London.
• Contextualising foundational literacy learning: Grassroots lessons from educators in India and Mexico (2024). BAICE (British Association for International & Comparative Education), University of Sussex.
• Evoking a regulatory response for the heterogenous private tutoring sector: Global insights. (2024). Networking Workshop on Supplementary Education in Theory, Policy, and Practice, School of Education, University of Birmingham.
• Reinventing Teachers’ Unions in India: Insights from a Case Study in Maharashtra State, India. France Educational International’s (affiliated with France’s Ministry of National Education and Youth) International Seminar on ‘Collaborative work at schools’ (2023). Invited as a speaker: Paris, France.
• The dynamics between mainstream education and private tutoring: Implications for educational quality and equity (2023). Centre for Excellence in Teacher Education, Tata Institute of Social Sciences. Invited as a speaker: Mumbai, India
• The expanding role of private tutoring in India: Policy perspectives. (2022) Shadow education in transition Workshop, Danish School of Education, Aarhus University and Nordic-Asian Network, New Delhi.

 

 

 

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