EERA NETWORK 23 Policy Studies and Politics of Education ONLINE SEMINAR SERIES 2025

Mandatory registration.

Thursday 22 May 2025
14.00 – 15.15 (CET)

Shifting Landscapes: Retrospects and Prospects in Global Education Governance

ZürichThis webinar explores the evolving dynamics of global education governance by examining theshifting roles, positions, and entanglements of key intergovernmental organizations—UNESCO, OECD,and the World Bank—over the past seven decades. Through an analysis of historical patterns andtrajectories, we trace the development of governance mechanisms, policy instruments, andconstituencies to better understand the current state and future directions of global governance ineducation. Particular focus will be placed on the implications for the emerging post-SDG4 agenda.Grounded in research from the book Global Governance of Education: The Historical andContemporary Entanglements of UNESCO, the OECD, and the World Bank (2023) and enriched byinsights from comprehensive archival material and interviews with key actors, this talk providescritical perspectives on how the interplay of these organizations has shaped—and continues toshape—the global education landscape. By looking back, we aim to provide foresights into thetrajectories and challenges ahead for education governance in a rapidly transforming world.

Maren Elfert •King’s College London)
Christian Ydesen • University of Zürich

Thursday 29 May 2025
14.00 – 15.15 (CET)

There is power in a union: the politics of participatory research with education policy elites

UniversityParticipatory research (PR) places an emphasis on inquiry with stakeholders thereby privilegingcommunity priorities and perspectives in knowledge production (Cornwall and Jewkes, 1995). In civilsociety, specifically, PR approaches have been adopted with the aim to bring about transformativechange in organisations and wider society (Knight and Tandon, 2002). However, PR stakeholdersrepresent diverse professional roles, identities, and statuses, which can lead to power imbalances incommunity membership and have implications for the design, process and underlying democraticprinciples of PR (McDonald, 2021). For instance, research with policy elites in civil society – individualsof a higher organizational position who have the greatest interest, involvement and influence inpolitics and the policymaking process (e.g. Lilleker, 2003) – could be deemed problematic. In education trade unions, policy elites are often categorised as union bureaucracy, which is distinctfrom, and generally described in opposition to, ‘rank and file’ membership (Hyman, 1989). In thisseminar, I will explore the challenges and opportunities for genuine participatory research with thisdistinct social group. Drawing on a collaborative policy analysis conducted with two senior officials atSveriges Lärare, the recently amalgamated teacher union in Sweden (Milner, Bäckström andErnestam, 2024), I will examine the principal methodological considerations in the research design,the opportunities for participatory decision-making, the power dynamics in the research process, theuse of dialogue as method, and the limitations of, and future possibilities for, research with educationpolicy actors.

Alison Milner • Aalborg University