Shadow Education: Broadening and Deepening Research in the Field

ABSTRACT

This Editorial frames a collection of 10 papers on private supplementary tutoring, which is widely known as shadow education. The Editorial has two main starting points. First is a predecessor collection published in the European Journal of Education in 2020; and second is a 2025 publication developed from a UNESCO Policy Forum. The Editorial also places this new collection in the context of wider literature to show advances in both broadening and deepening research on shadow education. Then, looking forward, it presents possible agendas for continuing research across individual, local, national, regional, and global contexts.