Research: Education Futures
My research primarily focuses on Education Futures—specifically the skills, competencies, and orientations required for the future and how this is developed. Of particular interest is the role of transdisciplinary education and curricular and pedagogical innovations for future readiness. Furthermore, I analyse the changing higher educational and pre-tertiary contexts within which this formation happens. Specifically, this focuses on the analysis of structural conditions through a sociological approach and the impacts of the proliferation of artificial intelligence in education.
In addition to observing these trends, I am interested in aborting the prevailing sense of inevitability by reimagining alternative futures that are more inclusive, equitable, and just.
Key Research Areas
Currently, my exploration covers several distinct but interconnected topics:
- Transdisciplinary education
- International and comparative education
- Sociology of education
- Curricular and pedagogical innovations (experiential learning, community-based learning).
- Artificial intelligence in education
Regarding methodology, I enjoy thinking with the empirical and the theoretical – through philosophy, sociology, anthropology, art, humanities, and cultural studies.
Collaborating on Research
Please reach out if you want to collaborate on any projects aligned with these research areas. For reference, here are my ResearchGate and Google Scholar profiles listing my scholarly works.
Research Publications in Detail
AI is not just a tool: Epistemic interoperability and sympoiesis
This conceptual paper discusses the challenges and promises of seamless AI and epistemic interoperability. The study argues that AI is not a neutral tool but a complex entanglement that requires necessary “care work” to correct cultural biases and hallucinations, proposing a collaborative human-machine approach to creating trustworthy, inclusive knowledge.
AI Policy and Implementations in Higher Education
As universities navigate the complexities of AI policy in higher education, a critical gap emerges between institutional guidelines and the lived experiences of students and teachers. This study reveals the messy realities of AI implementation in the face of decentralised and ambiguous policies. It discusses how institutions need to consider how policy interpretations, discourses, and material conditions shape teaching and learning practices.
Multilingual Health Communication through Generative AI
In a world where multilingual health communication is a fundamental human right, barriers still exist for non-native speakers due to costly translation services. This study discusses how student citizen adaptors in Australia and Hong Kong harnessed generative AI to transform neurofibromatosis health messages into multiple languages. The research uncovers the potential of non-professional, AI-assisted adaptations to democratise health communication. It signals the potential of AI use in reshaping the future of public health messaging and empowering communities.
Pandemic, neoliberalism, and holistic education
The study traces how the COVID-19 pandemic’s de-globalising impacts weakened the influence of neoliberal flows. This enabled schools such as the International Baccalaureate to temporarily focus on holistic missions, student well-being, and collaboration.
The growth and development of International Baccalaureate in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore
The rapid global expansion of international curriculum is dominated by the International Baccalaureate curricular programmes, in particular within Asia. Undertaking a comparative study across Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, the research illustrates the impacts of the ambiguous policies of the IB diploma programme and its consequences on teachers and teaching practices.
Digital Technology for Intercultural Exchange and Transdisciplinary Education
Digital technologies for intercultural exchange and transdisciplinary exploration By Jack Tsao, Sakinah Alhadad, Danielle Heinrichs, Suraiya Abdul Hameed, Kate McLay About This case study examined
Youth Aspirations and Chinese Identity in Hong Kong
Publications: Tsao, J., Hardy, I., & Lingard, B. (2021). Schooling in Hong Kong, youth aspirations, and the contesting of Chinese identity. British Journal of Sociology of
Aspiration Ambivalence of Hong Kong Youth
Aspirational Ambivalence of Hong Kong Youth By Jack Tsao, Ian Hardy, Bob Lingard About Youth in Hong Kong and across the world face greater uncertainty
List of Published Works
Below is a chronological list of my publications. Consequently, these works reflect the ongoing dialogue regarding my research intersecting curriculum and pedagogies, AI technology, and higher education policy.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
2025 Publications
| Tsao, J. (2025) Trajectories of AI policy in higher education: Interpretations, discourses, and enactments of students and teachers. Computers & Education: Artificial Intelligence 8 (2025), Article 100496 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2025.100496 |
| Tsao, J., Heinrichs, D.H., Camit, M. (2025) Artificial intelligence and epistemic interoperability: Towards a sympoeitic approach. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2025.2579702 |
| Tsao, J., Liang, C., Nogues, C., Wong, S.M. (2025) Perceptions and integration of generative artificial intelligence in creative practices and industries: A scoping review and conceptual model. AI and Society. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-025-02667-2 |
| Hameed, S.A., Li, Y.C., Tsao, J. (2025) Navigating the neoliberal tensions during the Covid-19 pandemic: International Baccalaureate practices within Singapore, Hong Kong & Taiwan. The Australian Educational Researcher. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-025-00884-8 |
| Heinrichs, D.H., Camit, M., Tsao, J. (2025) Response-able, collaborative adaptations of multilingual health messaging: A case study from Australia and Hong Kong. Critical Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2025.2555211 |
| Law, N., Wang, N., Ma, M., Liu, Z., Lei, C.U., Feng, S. Hu, X., Tsao, J. (2025) The role of generative artificial intelligence in collaborative problem solving of authentic challenges. The British Journal of Educational Technology. http://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.70010 |
| Tsao, J., Alhadad, S., Heinrichs, D.H., Hameed, S.A., McLay, K. (2025) The digital-intercultural-transdisciplinary nexus: Online international exchanges for transdisciplinary education. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.9620 |
| Tsao, J., Kochhar-Lindgren, G.M., Lam, A.M.H. (2025) Institutionalising a transdisciplinary curriculum: assemblages, territories, and refrains. Higher Education. 89, 849–864 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-024-01250-w |
2024 and Earlier Publications
Li, Y.C., Tsao, J., Hameed, S.A. (2024) 學校內的教育全球化：國際文憑學校的觀Educational globalisation in schools: Perspectives from IB schools. 當代教育研究季刊 Contemporary Educational Research Quarterly 32:3, 101 – 133 http://doi.org/10.6151/CERQ.202409_32(3).0004 |
Tsao, J., Nogues, C. (2024) Beyond the author: Artificial intelligence, creative writing, and intellectual emancipation. Poetics. 102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2024.101865 |
Tsao J, Li Y.C., Hameed, S.A. (2023) The impacts of International Baccalaureate expansion on professional cultures and assessments in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, Cambridge Journal of Education https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2023.2246397 |
| Heinrichs, D.H, Hameed, S.A., Tsao, J., McLay, K., Huong, N., Alhadad, S. (2023) Mundane matters: Entangling moments of student well-being across cultures, time, space, and virtual world, Critical Studies in Education https://doi.org/10.1080/17508487.2023.2252469 |
| Tsao J., Hardy I. & Lingard B. (2021) Schooling in Hong Kong, youth aspirations, and the contesting of Chinese identity, British Journal of Sociology of Education https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2021.1882836 |
| Tsao J., Hardy I. & Lingard B. (2018) Aspirational ambivalence of middle-class secondary students in Hong Kong, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 39:8, 1094-1110 https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2018.1456904 |
Edited Book
| Kochhar-Lindgren, G.M., Sims-Schouten, W., Tsao, J. (Forthcoming, 2026) Transdisciplinary Experiments: Research, Teaching, & Institutionalisation, UCL Press, London. |
Book Chapters
| Li, Y.C., Tsao, J., Hameed, S.A. (Forthcoming, 2026) Creating Institutional Legitimacy of Internationality: International Baccalaureate Schools in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. In J.C.K. Lee, M. Lee & E.Wright (Eds.) Handbook of Asian Educational Innovation towards the Futures of Education. Springer Nature, Singapore. |
| Kochhar-Lindgren, G.M., Sims-Schouten W., Tsao, J. (Forthcoming, 2026) Coda: transdisciplinary experiments in motion. In G.M. Kochhar-Lindgren, W. Sims-Schouten & J. Tsao (Eds.), Transdisciplinary Experiments: Research, Teaching, & Institutionalisation. UCL Press, London. |
| Tsao, J. (Forthcoming, 2026) Artificial Intelligence and Transdisciplinary Playgrounds. In G.M. Kochhar-Lindgren, W. Sims-Schouten & J. Tsao (Eds.), Transdisciplinary Experiments: Research, Teaching, & Institutionalisation. UCL Press, London. |