Professor Sam Sellar

Dean Research, College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences UniSA Education Futures

Mawson Lakes Campus (G4-11)
tel +61 8 830 22539

email Sam.Sellar@unisa.edu.au

Research Degree Supervisor

About me

Sam Sellar is Dean of Research (Education Futures) and Professor of Education Policy at the University of South Australia.

Sam’s research focuses on education policy, large-scale assessments and the datafication of education. He is currently co-investigator for an ESRC project investigating digital platforms in higher education (led by Janja Komljenovic, Lancaster University).

Sam has published more than 70 books, book chapters and journal articles, and he is Lead Editor of Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. His forthcoming book is Algorithms of Education: How datafication and artificial intelligence shape policy, co-authored with Kalervo N. Gulson and P. Taylor Webb.

UniSA Education Futures

Focused on developing education professionals, UniSA Education Futures contributes to innovation in education practice through quality teaching, learning and research excellence.

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Orcid
Scopus

Research

Research focus

Specialist Studies in Education
Education
Education and Educational Research
Sociology
Communication and Media Studies

Research

Outputs

Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID or Scopus

Open access indicates that an output is open access.

Books

Year	Output
2022	Gulson, KN, Sellar, S & Webb, PT 2022, Algorithms of education: how datafication and artificial intelligence shape policy, University of Minnesota Press, US. Open access
2018	Gorur, R, Sellar, S & Steiner-Khamsi, G 2018, World yearbook of education 2019: comparative methodology in the era of big data and global networks, Routledge, UK. 4
2017	Sellar, S, Thompson, G & Rutkowski, D 2017, The global education race: taking the measure of PISA and international testing, Brush Education, Canada. 11
2015	Ligngard, G, Martino, W, Rezai-Rashti, G & Sellar, S 2015, Globalizing educational accountabilities, Taylor and Francis, US. 132 6

Chapters

Year	Output
2024	Al'Abri, K, Hogan, A, Lingard, B & Sellar, S 2024, 'Researching policy elites in education', in M Stacey & N Mockler (eds), Analysing Education Policy: Theory and Method, Routledge, UK, ch. 16, pp. 235-249. 3 4
2024	Windle, J & Sellar, S 2024, 'Boundary work as an interpretative framework for understanding time poverty: contestations over legitimacy and identity in teachers' work', in G Thompson & A Hogan (eds), Teaching and Time Poverty: Understanding Workload and Work Intensification in Schools, Routledge, UK, ch. 9, pp. 146-159. 3
2023	Komljenovic, J, Sellar, S, Birch, K & Hansen, M 2023, 'Assetisation of higher education's digital disruption', in B Williamson, J Konljenovic & K Gulson (eds), World Yearbook of Education 2024 : Digitalisation of Education in the Era of Algorithms, Automation and Artificial Intelligence, Taylor and Francis, UK, ch. 8, pp. 122-139. 8
2023	Thorpe, M & Sellar, S 2023, 'Datafication', in RJ Tierney, F Rizvi & K Ercikan (eds), International Encyclopedia of Education, 4th ed., Elsevier, US, pp. 673-681. 1
2021	Hogan, A & Sellar, S 2021, 'Pearson's digital transformation and the disruption of public education', in C Wylatt-Smith, B Lingard & E Heck (eds), Digital Disruption in Teaching and Testing: Assessments, Big Data, and the Transformation of Schooling, Routledge, US, ch. 6, pp. 107-123. 6 23
2021	Thompson, G, Hogan, A, Shield, P, Lingard, B & Sellar, S 2021, 'Teacher concerns regarding commercialisation', in A Hogan & G Thompson (eds), Privatisation and Commercialisation in Public Education: How the Public Nature of Schooling is Changing, Routledge, US, ch. 9, pp. 152-167. 11
2019	Lingard, B & Sellar, S 2019, 'Schooling reform in Australia: legitimation through 'projections' onto Shanghai and East Asian schooling systems', in F Waldow & G Steiner-Khamsi (eds), Understanding PISA’s Attractiveness: Critical Analyses in Comparative Policy Studies, Bloomsbury Academic, US, ch. 3, pp. 49-64.
2019	Sellar, S 2019, 'Acceleration, automation and pedagogy: how the prospect of technological unemployment creates new conditions for educational thought', in MA Peters, P Jandric & AJ Means (eds.), Education and Technological Unemployment, Springer, Singapore, ch. 9, pp. 131-144. 6
2019	Sellar, S, Lingard, B, Rutkowski, D & Takayama, K 2019, 'Student preparation for large-scale assessments: a comparative analysis', in Brian Maddox (eds), International Large-Scale Assessments in Education: Insider Research Perspectives, Bloomsbury Academic, US, ch. 8, pp. 137-156. 1
2018	Sellar, S & Gulson, KN 2018, 'Dispositions and situations of governance: the example of data infrastructure in Australian schooling', in A Wilkins & A Olmedo (eds), Education Governance and Social Theory: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Research, Bloomsbury Academic, US, ch. 3, pp. 63-80.
2018	Sellar, S 2018, 'Why do countries participate in PISA? Understanding the role of international large-scale assessments in global education policy', in A Verger, M Novelli & HK Altinyelken (eds), Global Education Policy and International Development: New Agendas, Issues and Policies, 2, Bloomsbury Academic, US, ch. 5, pp. 97-118.
2018	Thompson, G, Rutkowski, D & Sellar, S 2018, 'Flipping large-scale assessments: bringing teacher expertise to the table', in DM Netolicky, J Andrews & C Paterson (eds), Flip the System Australia: What Matters in Education, Routledge, US, ch. 6, pp. 55-63. 4 116
2016	Hogan, A, Sellar, S & Lingard, B 2016, 'Corporate social responsibility and neo-social accountability in education: the case of pearson plc', in A Verger, C Lubienski & G Steiner-Khamsi (eds), World Yearbook of Education 2016; The Global Education Industry, Routledge, US, ch. 7, pp. 107-124. 121 34
2016	Lingard, B & Sellar, S 2016, 'The changing organizational and global significance of the OECD's education work', in K Mundy et al. (eds), The Handbook of Global Education Policy, John Wiley and Sons, UK, ch. 19, pp. 357-373. 49
2016	Sellar, S & Gale, T 2016, 'Framing student equity in higher education: national and global policy contexts of a fair chance for all', in A Harvey, C Burnheim & M Brett (eds.), Student Equity in Australian Higher Education: Twenty-Five Years of a Fair Chance for All, Springer, Singapore, ch. 3, pp. 39-52. 6 3
2015	Brennan, M, Zipin, L & Sellar, S 2015, 'Negotiating with the neighbours: balancing different accountabilities across a cluster of regional schools', in B Lingard, G Thompson & S Sellar (eds), National Testing in Schools: An Australian Assessment, Routledge, UK, ch.15, pp. 199-211. 13
2015	Hogan, A, Sellar, S & Lingard, B 2015, 'Network restructuring of global edu-business: the case of Pearson's efficacy framework', in Wayne HU & Joseph J Ferrare (eds), Mapping Corporate Education Reform: Power and Policy Networks in the Neoliberal State, Routledge, UK, ch. 3, pp. 43-64. 50
2015	Lingard, B, Thompson, G & Sellar, S 2015, 'National testing from an Australian perspective', in B Lingard, G Thompson & S Sellar (eds), National Testing in Schools: An Australian Assessment, Routledge, UK, ch.1, pp. 1-17. 34
2015	Sellar, S 2015, 'Repeating Deleuze and Guattari: towards a politics of method in education policy studies', in KN Gulson, M Clarke & EB Petersen (eds), Education Policy and Contemporary Theory: Implications for Research, Routledge, UK, ch. 3, pp. 40-50.
2015	Thompson, G, Sellar, S & Lingard, B 2015, 'The life of data: evolving national testing', in B Lingard, G Thompson & S Sellar (eds), National Testing in Schools: An Australian Assessment, Routledge, UK, ch.16, pp. 212-230. 14

Journal Articles

Year	Output
2025	Birch, K, Komljenovic, J & Sellar, S 2025, 'Architectures of assetization: Legacy infrastructures and the configuration of datafication in UK higher education', New Media and Society, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 1868-1887. Open access 1
2025	Kean, B, Komljenovic, J, Sellar, S & Hansen, M 2025, 'Data as asset, data as rent? Rentiership practices in EdTech startups', Learning, Media and Technology, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 15-28. Open access 1 4 3
2025	Komljenovic, J, Birch, K & Sellar, S 2025, 'Mapping rentiership and assetisation in the digitalisation of education', Learning, Media and Technology, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 1-14. 1
2025	Komljenovic, J, Birch, K, Sellar, S, Bergviken Rensfeldt, A, Deville, J, Eaton, C, Gourlay, L, Hansen, M, Kerssens, N, Kovalainen, A, Nappert, P-L, Noteboom, J, Parcerisa, L, Pardo-Guerra, JP, Poutanen, S, Robertson, S, Tyfield, D & Williamson, B 2025, 'Digitalised higher education: key developments, questions, and concerns', Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 276-292. Open access 1 3 18
2025	Komljenovic, J, Sellar, S & Birch, K 2025, 'Turning universities into data-driven organisations: seven dimensions of change', Higher Education, vol. 89, pp. 1369-1386. Open access 9 7 16
2024	Gulson, KN & Sellar, S 2024, 'Anticipating disruption: artificial intelligence and minor experiments in education policy', Journal of Education Policy, vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 702-717. 4 1 3
2024	Komljenovic, J, Birch, K & Sellar, S 2024, 'Monetising digital data in higher education: analysing the strategies and struggles of EdTech startups', Postdigital Science and Education, vol. 6, pp. 1196-1215. Open access 1 1
2023	Li, Y-C, Lingard, B, Reyes, V & Sellar, S 2023, 'Performative bilingual policy: an analysis of two Taiwanese White Papers on international education', Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 253-268. 2 1
2022	Shardlow, M, Sellar, S & Rousell, D 2022, 'Collaborative augmentation and simplification of text (CoAST): pedagogical applications of natural language processing in digital learning environments', Learning Environments Research, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 399-421. Open access 16 11 1
2022	Thompson, G, Sellar, S & Buchanan, I 2022, '1996: the OECD policy-making assemblage', Journal of Education Policy, vol. 37, no. 5, pp. 685-704. Open access 26 25 1
2021	Lingard, B, Baroutsis, A & Sellar, S 2021, 'Enriching educational accountabilities through collaborative public conversations: conceptual and methodological insights from the Learning Commission approach', Journal of Educational Change, vol. 22, pp. 565-587. Open access 7 5 4
2021	Sellar, S & Gulson, KN 2021, 'Becoming information centric: the emergence of new cognitive infrastructures in education policy', Journal of Education Policy, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 309-326. Open access 47 33 8
2021	Sellar, S, Gorur, R, Rutkowski, D & Takayama, K 2021, 'A new chapter for Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education', Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 1-4. 1
2021	Zipin, L, Brennan, M & Sellar, S 2021, 'Young people pursuing futures: making identity labors curricular', Mind, Culture, and Activity: An International Journal, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 152-168. Open access 11 5 1
2020	Webb, PT, Sellar, S & Gulson, KN 2020, 'Anticipating education: governing habits, memories and policy-futures', Learning, Media and Technology, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 284-297. Open access 52 43 2
2019	Gulson, KN & Sellar, S 2019, 'Emerging data infrastructures and the new topologies of education policy', Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, vol. 37, no. 2, pp.350-366. Open access 116 96 12
2019	Molla, T, Harvey, A & Sellar, S 2019, 'Access to languages other than English in Australian universities: an educational pipeline of privilege', Higher Education Research and Development, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 307-323. Open access 14 11 10
2019	Sellar, S & Zipin, L 2019, 'Conjuring optimism in dark times: Education, affect and human capital', Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 51, no., pp. 572-586. Open access 32 21 1
2018	Hogan, A, Thompson, G, Sellar, S & Lingard, B 2018, 'Teachers' and school leaders' perceptions of commercialisation in Australian public schools', The Australian Educational Researcher, vol. 45, pp. 141-160. Open access 32 21 49
2018	Sellar, S & Lingard, B 2018, 'International large-scale assessments, affective worlds and policy impacts in education', International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 367-381. Open access 37 21 6
2018	Thompson, G & Sellar, S 2018, 'Datafication, testing events and the outside of thought', Learning, Media and Technology, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 139-151. Open access 22 20 1
2017	Sellar, S & Cole, DR 2017, 'Accelerationism: a timely provocation for the critical sociology of education', British Journal of Sociology of Education, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 38-48. Open access 28 19 8
2017	Sellar, S 2017, 'Making network markets in education: the development of data infrastructure in Australian schooling', Globalization Societies and Education, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 341-351. Open access 39 22 2
2016	Anagnostopoulos, D, Lingard, B & Sellar, S 2016, 'Argumentation in educational policy disputes: competing visions of quality and equity', Theory into Practice, vol. 55, pp. 342-351. Open access 26 18
2016	Hogan, A, Sellar, S & Lingard, B 2016, 'Commercialising comparison: Pearson puts the TLC in soft capitalism', Journal of Education Policy, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 243-258. 118 74 10
2016	Lewis, S, Sellar, S & Lingard, B 2016, 'PISA for schools: Topological rationality and new spaces of the OECD's global educational governance', Comparative Education Review, vol. 60, no. 1, pp. 27-57. 89 69
2016	Sellar, S & Thompson, G 2016, 'The becoming-statistic: information ontologies and computerized adaptive testing in education', Cultural Studies - Critical Methodologies, vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 491-501. 38 1
2016	Sellar, S 2016, 'Leaving the future behind', Research in Education, vol. 96, no. 1, pp. 12-18. 8 6
2015	Lingard, B, Sellar, S & Baroutsis, A 2015, 'Researching the habitus of global policy actors in education', Cambridge Journal of Education, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 25-42. 63 52 1
2015	Peacock, D, Lingard, R & Sellar, S 2015, 'Texturing space-times in the Australian curriculum: cross-curriculum priorities', Curriculum Inquiry, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 367-388. 16 12 3
2015	Sellar, S 2015, ''Unleashing aspiration': the concept of potential in education policy', The Australian Educational Researcher, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 201-215. 29 22 1
2015	Sellar, S 2015, 'A feel for numbers: affect, data and education policy', Critical Studies in Education, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 131-146. 136 116 1
2015	Sellar, S 2015, 'Transparency and opacity: Levinasian reflections on accountability in Australian schooling', Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 118-132. 11 8
2015	Zipin, L, Sellar, S, Brennan, M & Gale, T 2015, 'Educating for futures in marginalized regions: a sociological framework for rethinking and researching aspirations', Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 47. no. 3, pp. 227-246. 248 194 6
2011	Sellar, SR, Gale, TC & Parker, SM 2011, 'Appreciating aspirations in Australian higher education', Cambridge Journal of Education, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 37-52. 80 62
2009	Sellar, SR & Cormack, P 2009, 'Redesigning pedagogies in middle years classrooms: challenges for teachers working with disadvantaged students', Pedagogy Culture and Society, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 123-139. 11 8
2009	Sellar, SR 2009, 'The responsible uncertainty of pedagogy', Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 347-360. 39 31

Reports

Year	Output
2024	Manathunga, C, Tomas, L, Sellar, S, Dooley, K, Smith, L, McIlwain, L, Gannon, S, Fraser, S & Mason, J 2024, National Report on the State of Australian Education Research, Australian Council of Deans of Education, Australia. Open access
2022	Windle, J, Morrison, A, Sellar, S, Squires, R, Kennedy, JP & Murray, C 2022, Teachers at breaking point: why working in South Australian schools is getting tougher, University of South Australia, Australia. Open access
2010	Gale, T, Hattam, R, Comber, B, Tranter, D, Bills, D, Sellar, S & Parker, S 2010, Interventions early in school as a means to improve higher education outcomes for disadvantaged students, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Australia. Open access
2010	Sellar, S, Hattam, R, Bills, D, Comber, B, Tranter, D & Gale, T 2010, Interventions early in school as a means to improve higher education outcomes for disadvantaged (particularly low SES) students : Component C: Case studies of selected Australian university outreach activities, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Australia. Open access

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

Organisation	Country
Australian Catholic University	AUSTRALIA
Charles Darwin University	AUSTRALIA
Columbia University	UNITED STATES
Deakin University	AUSTRALIA
Griffith University	AUSTRALIA
Indiana University	UNITED STATES
James Cook University	AUSTRALIA
King’s College	UNITED KINGDOM
King's College London	UNITED KINGDOM
Kyoto University	JAPAN
La Trobe University	AUSTRALIA
Lancaster University	UNITED KINGDOM
Laval University	CANADA
Manchester Metropolitan University	UNITED KINGDOM
National University of Tainan	TAIWAN
Queensland University of Technology	AUSTRALIA
RMIT University	AUSTRALIA
Sultan Qaboos University	OMAN
University College London	UNITED KINGDOM
University of Barcelona	SPAIN
University of British Columbia	CANADA
University of California San Diego	UNITED STATES
University of California, Merced	UNITED STATES
University of Cambridge	UNITED KINGDOM
University of Connecticut	UNITED STATES
University of Edinburgh	UNITED KINGDOM
University of Glasgow	UNITED KINGDOM
University of Gothenburg	SWEDEN
University of New England	AUSTRALIA
University of New South Wales	AUSTRALIA
University of Nottingham	UNITED KINGDOM
University of Oslo	NORWAY
University of Queensland	AUSTRALIA
University of South Australia	AUSTRALIA
University of Sydney	AUSTRALIA
University of Tasmania	AUSTRALIA
University of the Sunshine Coast	AUSTRALIA
University of Turku	FINLAND
University of Wollongong	AUSTRALIA
Utrecht University	NETHERLANDS
Victoria University	AUSTRALIA
Western Sydney University	AUSTRALIA
Western University	CANADA
York University	CANADA

External engagement & recognition

Engagement/recognition	Year
Member European Education Research Association	2022
Member Comparative and International Education Society	2019
Guest Editor of Special Issue Educational Philosophy and Theory	2018
Member British Educational Research Association	2018
Member Comparative and International Education Society	2018
Member British Educational Research Association	2017
Member American Educational Research Association	2017
Member Comparative and International Education Society	2017
Member Australian Association for Research in Education	2016
Member American Educational Research Association	2016
Member Comparative and International Education Society	2016
Member American Educational Research Association	2015
Member Comparative and International Education Society	2015
Member American Educational Research Association	2014
Guest Editor of Special Issue Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education	2013
Guest Editor of Special Issue Cambridge Journal of Education	2011
Guest Editor of Special Issue Australian Educational Researcher	2011

Teaching & student supervision

Research degree supervision

Supervisions from 2010 shown

Thesis title	Student status
An Investigation into Indigenous Educational Leadership in South Australian Schools	Current
Professional learning communities that support social justice through action-research: a critical narrative ethnography of the redesigning pedagogies in the north project	Current
Scaling Quality and Compliance in Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Low-Resource and Fragile Contexts: A Systems-Level Analysis	Current

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Professor Sam Sellar

About me

About me

UniSA Education Futures

About me

Professional Associations

Experience

Qualifications

Research

Research focus

Projects

Outputs

Books

Chapters

Journal Articles

Reports

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

Collaborations

External engagement & recognition

Member

Member

Guest Editor of Special Issue

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

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Member

Guest Editor of Special Issue

Guest Editor of Special Issue

Guest Editor of Special Issue

Teaching & student supervision

Courses and programs

Research degree supervision

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