Key research themes
1. How do global governance actors shape and transform education policy under the Global Compact on Education framework?
This theme explores the role of major international organizations, multilateral institutions, and global policy networks in constructing, disseminating, and implementing education agendas aligned with the Global Compact on Education. It addresses how entities like the OECD, World Bank, G20/T20, and philanthropic actors influence education policy through normative frameworks, statistical governance, standardized curricula, and market-based reforms. Understanding these governance mechanisms is vital as they shape the global education landscape, often balancing economic imperatives, policy diffusion, and socio-political dynamics within countries.
2. What are the ideological and theoretical underpinnings of global education policies promoted through the Global Compact on Education?
This theme investigates the foundational ideas, ideological currents, and competing educational paradigms underlying the Global Compact on Education and related global education reforms. It engages with the critiques of neoliberal human capital models, the tension between global competence and global citizenship frameworks, and the religio-spiritual, cosmopolitan, and decolonial critiques that challenge the dominant visions embedded in policy. This area is critical for scholars seeking to understand the normative assumptions and socio-political implications of education reforms embedded in the Global Compact.
3. How can monitoring and implementation frameworks for the Global Compact on Education be improved to better capture transformative educational progress?
This theme addresses the challenges in operationalizing, monitoring, and reporting on ambitious education targets within the Global Compact on Education, especially SDG Target 4.7 concerning global citizenship, sustainability, and human rights education. It critiques current monitoring approaches for their inadequacy in capturing comprehensive and comparable progress, and proposes innovative, participatory, and context-sensitive alternatives to enhance accountability and peer learning. Insights here are essential for refining policy mechanisms sustaining the transformation goals of the Global Compact.