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The 2021 UNESCO report Reimagining Our Futures Together presented a compelling case for establishing a new social contract on education that addresses the persistent exclusion of vulnerable individuals and ensures that knowledge and learning contribute to a more sustainable future. Research literature highlights a global trend towards replacing "hard" with "soft" governance in education, whereby legally binding procedures are replaced by advice and persuasion. The report analyzed how this trend is amplified by the current spread of datafication and digitalization in the field of education, as well as by the increasing role of non-state actors, as exemplified by the early childhood care and education (ECCE) sector. In response to this analysis, this article proposes that the risk of developing a commercial model of soft governance can be moderated by creating an innovative, networked approach to educational governance, led by UNESCO as a global convenor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In its report published in 2021, the UNESCO International Commission on the Futures of Education invited the international community to forge a "new social contract for education" in order to repair past injustices and build a more equitable and sustainable planet. This new social contract should involve all education stakeholders and be governed by the principle of education as a common good. However, neither the concept of the new social contract nor the principle of education as a common good appear to be clearly defined in the 2021 UNESCO report, and this results in a lack of political discussion regarding the relationship among the institutions that should govern the new social contract for education. This article discusses the extent to which the notion of education as a common good provides the political framing for such a new social contract. It recalls the theoretical background of this concept and identifies some key areas that may be relevant to the discussion on the governance arrangements required to forge a new social contract for education with a view to revisiting existing hierarchies of power and strengthening democratic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores U.S.-China relations and educational exchanges between the two countries. It discusses a paradigmatic shift in international engagement efforts and its consequences for international education. Recommendations are offered for leaders who wish to move forward on educational exchanges.

IThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on our welfare state model, and especially with regard to public schools, due to the weakness of our education system after more than a decade of budget cuts. The closure of schools and the abandonment of face-to-face teaching forced by the pandemic have opened many debates about the quality of the public educational service. The public school is a key mechanism to reduce social inequalities, hence the importance of having the necessary resources to carry out its work. However, the measures adopted to manage the pandemic have increased inequality of opportunities among students, and have sometimes prevented the correct exercise of the right to education in the case of the most economically disadvantaged social classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International organisations' (IOs) legitimacy in global educational governance is commonly seen as a function of their regulative or normative power. By contrast, this paper stresses the increasing importance of scientific research and policy-relevant knowledge and its strategic production, dissemination and transfer by IOs. The article examines knowledge work at OECD, UNESCO and World Bank based on novel data from publication analyses, archival work and a number of interviews. Drawing on sociological institutionalism and constructivist international relations scholarship, this study is interested in the rationales, resources and capacities for knowledge production, the strategies of dissemination and transfer as well as the implications of science production for IOs' position and relevance in global governance. Findings emphasise the authority of science as the primary source of legitimacy – and even survival – in an increasingly crowded and competitive field of global education governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The liberal and neoliberal world order is increasingly under attack. Global levels of democracy have been declining for over a decade, accompanied by rollbacks in some kinds of rights. We examine the implications of increasing criticisms of the (neo)-liberal era over time for educational reform discourse around the world by drawing on a unique primary dataset of 473 reports produced by international organisations between 1998 and 2018. Extending insights from neo-institutional theories of organisations, we argue that globalised models of education reform is on a decline as a result of growing attacks on the (neo)-liberal cultural system that has affected education policies around the world. Empirically, we find no evidence that reform emphases continue to grow since the 1990s, and support for arguments that predict stagnant or falling levels of reform discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Transnational faculty development initiatives (FDIs) constitute a strategy to improve the quality of the teaching staff in medical schools. This study evaluates feedback from participants of an FDI designed as part of a collaborative transnational partnership between researchers of an Australian and an Indonesian medical school. Methods: The FDI was a three-day program that explored four major topics: effective clinical teaching, methods of teaching and supervising in clinical settings, assessment of clinical learners and clinical education in practice. These topics were identifled through comprehensive needs analysis and curriculum blueprinting exercises. Each participant (n= 27) submitted one piece of reflective writing and one critical appraisal or teaching/assessment assignment on each topic. Using a thematic analysis approach, two researchers independently reviewed each participant's written assignments to identify emerging themes. Results: Five core themes were identified. Most revolved around the benefits of the training, especially the learning issues that the participants identified during the FDI and how they could be applied to their local contexts. Additional themes covered participants' views on the delivery of the FDI and cross-cultural implications. Peer observation of teaching, qualitative assessment and feedback provision were also significant issues raised by the participants. Conclusions: This study presents important lessons for cross-cultural adaptation of best practices in the development and delivery of transnational FDIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theme that I have chosen for that article is at the crossroads of public policies, educational policies and international relationships. It relies in the assumption that is not possible to have public policies at national level if they are not in consistent relation with international regulations, eg. at the European level. Therefore, along of this study, I will try to give a retrospective look at the measures implemented by Romania in the fields of education and youth at international, European and national levels, in order to have to meet the overall orientations of the educational system to the ideal one. To accomplish this, the paper aims to meet the following objectives to identify the changes at international, European and Romanian levels in the fields of education and youth from their mentioning in the official documents of the European Union. I will also try to identify and analyse projects that have had a major impact in both areas through the achievement of the objects pursued at the time of their development and various levels of implementation. The Lisbon Strategy, adopted in 2000 and revised in 2005, has as a common goal the development of the European Union as a competitive, dynamic, knowledge-based, global economy capable of sustainable economic growth with a significant increase in the number and quality of jobs available work, as well as greater social cohesion. The education objectives provided for a substantial increase in public spending in this area, the promotion of lifelong learning, the adaptation of basic skills to the needs of the knowledge society, and better recognition of qualifications. With the 2005 Lisbon Strategy Review, education and training have been among the priority areas of the European Union, emphasizing once again the importance of developing human capital as the main asset of Europe. This is one of the European orientations for policy in education. I will try to find and explain in this article some international directions for policy in education. I will also try to talk about which are the main issues of international education, among which an interesting subject is that of equality of educational opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Erasmus mobility is one of the most important manifestations of internationalization of education in Europe. The aim of the study is to ascertain the participants' motives and the benefits coming from this international exchange of students as well as to diversify the results with regard to gender. The article, in its theoretical part, characterizes the concept of internationalization of education, describes the factors motivating for educational mobility, the benefits and the barriers of participation. The empirical part contains own researches carried out on a group of 125 students from Polish and foreign universities, using the CAWI (Computer-Assisted Web Interview) tool. It turns out that the main motivators to participate in student international education mobility is, among women, desire to travel as well as development of language skills. Men are mainly motivated by having fun and good time. Regardless of the research results it can be noticed that, generally, employers are more likely to decide to hire people who participated in and international student exchange, and the risk of long-term unemployment among graduates with international experience is lower by half than among graduates without such international experience. On the other hand, internationalization of education involves risks, including commercial profits, academic colonization and difficulties in providing high-quality education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on Dewey's concepts and thinking, a middle school mathematics teacher at The School at Columbia University describes her teaching practice and role as a field-based teacher-educator and professional development leader during EdTech Summit Africa. Through a first-person account of her experiences in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Pretoria, South Africa, the author reflects on how professional development with technology was embraced and illuminates why the development of an international community of practice with primary, secondary, and tertiary teachers is evolving. The article is divided into four sections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at iSTEM education, focusing on the subject nature, life and technology in the Netherlands as a case. Topics include the benefit of technology education from international exchange since the early 1980s, the significance of international exchange of ideas and experiences for the future of Technology Education, and the role of STEM teachers integrated STEM education.

This study traces the founding process of Eastern Mediterranean International School (EMIS) by analysing the motivations and interests of different stakeholders involved in the establishment process. In this novel initiative students from Palestine, Israel, and other countries study within the Israeli public school system towards an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with founders, educators, Ministry of Education officials, a parents' survey, and content analysis of related documents, the authors show how the school was established and approved despite the supposedly contradicting hegemonic discourse of the official Israeli policy. They conclude by suggesting some implications for scholars and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on the development of science and technology in China. It is noted that Chinese scientists are going through the process of change, and this is exhibited by the introduction of massive educational exchange programmes involving science and technology that the Chinese are negotiating with scientifically advanced countries. The presence of foreign scientists in this country emphasizes this international cooperation in scientific research. This fact showed the importance of the West in upgrading the current state of science and technology in this country.

The author, Kenya's envoy for the ongoing Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Replenishment Campaign and Financing Summit to be held in July 2021, urges Commowealth Parliamentarians to fully support education. Topics include the crisis in education, including crisis of access, learning crisis in schools and education not meeting the demands of an interconnected and fast evolving world, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education and the campaign of Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The article focuses on the declining supply of plant breeders in the U.S. In this report, Sherret S. Chase of the Botanical Museum, calls for the establishment of new centers of excellence to continue the vital work of plant breeders in enhancing the world's food supply. Also, Chase proposed for international plant breeding center to be charged with training plant breeder practitioners as masters and doctors of science in plant breeding, and furthering of applied breeding work in those regions of the world where major problems of economics have limited the application of plant breeding skills and the effective utilization of plant breeders.

In diesem Beitrag wird ein Schreibprojekt für angehende DaF-Lehrkräfte in Deutschland und Studierende der Auslandsgermanistik in Polen vorgestellt. Nach einer Darstellung der Rolle des Schreibens im Fremdsprachenunterricht und in der Fremdsprachenlehrerausbildung wird auf ausgewählte Online-Projekte eingegangen. Im nächsten Schritt werden die Ziele und der Ablauf des bereits erwähnten Projekts beschrieben. Im Anschluss daran wird das Projekt aus der Sicht der Lehrenden und Studierenden ausgewertet. Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es vor allem, zur Durchführung ähnlicher Projekte mit angehenden DaF-Lehrenden in den deutschsprachigen Ländern und internationalen DaF-Lernenden/-Studierenden – z. B. in der Auslandsgermanistik und in Studiengängen der Übersetzung – zu ermuntern. This article presents a writing project between students of German Studies in Poland and future teachers of German as a Foreign Language. Firstly, we discuss the role of writing in the language classroom and in teacher training. We subsequently describe the aims and the process of our project and, eventually, evaluate the project from the perspective of the learners and the teachers. With our article we would like to encourage the organization of similar projects with students of German as a Foreign Language in German speaking countries and international students of German Studies, Translation etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: International collaboration has come to play an important role in Cuban higher education, from which it is inferred that the correct management, evaluation of results and determination of their impacts constitute a topic of current relevance and relevance at the current time. Objective: To evaluate the results and impacts in the University of Holguín of the participation in the international collaboration project Strengthening of management in Cuban entities (FORGEC). Methods: Based on the precepts established in the Spanish Cooperation Evaluation Methodology (2001), a procedure was designed consisting of three phases, in each of which a group of tools such as; group work, development of workshops with beneficiaries and involved, documentary consultation and others. Results: The determination of a diagnosis on the management status of international collaboration projects at the University of Holguin, the implementation of the required activities and the identification of the main results and impacts of the main project activities are significant aspects of the research developed. Conclusions: The results and impacts evidenced by the implementation of the FORGEC project at the University of Holguin, evaluated by the Spanish Cooperation Evaluation Methodology, have certain similarity with experiences carried out in other contexts, at the same time, the project management constituted a reference for the conception, monitoring and evaluation of future projects (of any nature) that are executed in the CEGO and the university [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conhecimento Online is the property of Universidade Feevale and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Geological Exploration Technology, Geothermal Energy, Sustainable Development / Technika Poszukiwan Geologicznych is the property of Mineral & Energy Economy Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article starts by examining the roots of the European Union, the first manifestation of which was the «Europe of Six», conceived by a group of people nowadays known as the «founding fathers of the EU». It then moves on to consider the educational discourses that supported the establishment of democracy in countries where this supranational political agreement was developing. The end of the First World War (1914-1918), one hundred years ago this year, saw the start of a process of peaceful reconstruction in which the foundations of a European federation to maintain internal peace were laid. From this perspective, Europe has not only been a superlative example of political understanding but also, and predominantly, a pedagogical success story. This is why Europe is, has been, and will always be, a pedagogical project above all. In light of the new challenges facing it today (break-up as a result of Brexit, citizens' mistrust of its institutions, the constant threat in markets from emerging powers, and multicultural societies, to name but a few), the solution must be educational. The pedagogical «founding fathers» of Europe tried to consolidate democracy by putting the citizen at its centre. Returning to and updating its foundational educational discourses could reposition our educational actions for reformulating the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When collaborating remotely and cross-culturally, negotiating control, navigating ambiguities in context, and recognizing one's own cultural influences require immense amounts of self-awareness when positioning oneself within a project. This is of particular relevance to the field of TESOL as the everexpanding realm of English language education brings with it an increasing number of partnerships between organizations and individuals from a diverse range of countries and contexts. In this study, two US-based TESOL graduate students, from Senegal and the United States, collaborated on a lesson plan to be implemented by an American university EFL teacher stationed in Timor-Leste. Through the process, the importance of fostering equity amongst Western and non-Western teaching philosophies and traditions, as well as grounding all decisions in a relevant cultural context, became imperative. Complicating measures, however, were resolved by accommodating diverse perspectives, building flexibility into lesson delivery, and trusting the intuitions of the teacher implementing the lesson. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science and higher education have always been intensely internationalized areas of human activity. Especially in the era of globalization, higher education systems around the world face the challenge of internationalization. Internationalization not only strengthens opportunities for development, but is seen as an inevitable necessity in the globalizing and strongly competitive world. Although there is a long-standing tradition of academic cooperation between Poland and Mexico, the changing reality enforces increased efforts to build a more conscious, comprehensive relationship with measurable, long-lasting results. since ad hoc contacts between individual researchers are not sufficient any longer, a complex, realistic vision of such cooperation is needed. Universities in Poland and Mexico start to see the opportunity to intensify cooperation, which -- effectively explored -- can significantly contribute to a nation's economic competitiveness in general and to understanding the nature of trends and challenges in international higher education. The author discusses current activities within the framework of academic cooperation between the two countries and the most important initiatives that may bring closer cooperation in the future. A special focus will be put on the challenges faced by both countries in higher education cooperation schemes, as seen from the Polish perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past few decades, researchers, policy makers, educators and the general public, who have an interest in mathematics education in different countries, pay a great deal of attention to the results from international comparative studies. Of great interest to the international studies is the results of Eastern students consistently achieving higher marks among the participating countries. In recent years, we have seen a climate of intense global economic competition and a growing belief in the key role of education, which have persuaded governments to become increasingly obsessed with the international rankings of measured educational outcomes. Accordingly, educational policy is increasingly driven by national attempts to “copy” the perceived advantage associated with the educational strategies and techniques of other countries. In this note, we present a discussion of the benefits and criticisms of one of these international comparative studies: Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) studies. In so doing, we attempt to call attention to a continuously growing culture of “teaching to the test” in mathematics education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the link between innovation and sustainability in the context of higher education, with the purpose of investigating the fundamental barriers for innovation and sustainable development in universities around the world. The method used involves both a quantitative and a qualitative approach, gathering the views of 301 experts from 172 universities across all continents. The results show that there are similar barriers across different geographical regions that require greater support from university administrations and management. In particular, the willingness of leaders, policy makers and decision-makers to envisage a sustainable future inside universities is often missing. Yet, without the support of senior management within a university, bottom-up sustainable initiatives seem destined to fail in the longer term due to a lack of investment and administrative support. This study also identifies that in order to yield the anticipated benefits, the challenges listed should be taken seriously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines United States-Indonesian cooperation in the training of Indonesian teachers during the early decades of the Cold War. Indonesia badly needed teachers but the government's efforts to train new teachers were hampered by the tremendous lack of teachers who could train new teachers. The aid provided by the United States enabled the Indonesian government to send its prospective teachers to study in the United States and to have American educationists help develop teachers' colleges in Indonesia. How far did the decolonisation of teacher training and the making of a new education standard in postcolonial Indonesia reflect the conflicting ideological undertones and the US strategy of the Cold War? This paper argues that the US-Indonesian cooperation in teacher training marked a significant stage in the decolonisation of Indonesia. Yet, it also fostered the US cultural strategy of the Cold War in Southeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents correction to the article titled "Making aid work for education in developing countries: An analysis of aid effectiveness for primary education coverage and quality"

Promoting Equality in African Schools (PEAS) seeks to expand access to sustainably delivered, quality secondary education in Africa. PEAS builds and runs chains of not-for-profit, low-cost private schools in public-private partnership with governments. External evaluation data1show that PEAS schools in Uganda are delivering higher quality education, to more disadvantaged students, and at lower average cost per student than government schools. PEAS has been part of the UK Department for International Development's Girls' Education Challenge (GEC) fund2over the past four years. The GEC aims to help up to a million of the world's poorest girls improve their lives through education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Education Policy Analysis Archives / Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas / Arquivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas is the property of Educational Policy Analysis Archives & Education Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reframe transformative and culturally sustaining leadership for a diverse global society by addressing the need for educational systems to better serve people of color, situated in the urban Auckland area of Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ), who have been marginalized by the societies to which they immigrate.Design/methodology/approach Grounded in an applied critical theoretical framework, this qualitative inquiry uses raw auto-ethnographical data gleaned from a case study featuring the voice of Deva, a Malaysian Punjabi woman educator, who is also an aspiring school leader. In aspects of her auto-ethnography, she candidly shares experiences of racism, discrimination, and oppression germane to her professional educational experiences in Aotearoa NZ.Findings Findings inform practice and policy to foster more inclusive school improvement in a bicultural and increasingly multicultural context that has historically recognized Maori (indigenous to Aotearoa NZ), Pakeha (of European descent), and Pacific Islander (e.g. Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Niue, Cook Islands) achievement in a national context. Global and international implications are included.Originality/value This contribution presents a unique perspective showcasing Deva’s direct experiences with acknowledgment of and professional positioning around Te Tiriti o Waitangi – The Treaty of Waitangi, the principles of which are now being applied not only to the rights of Maori and Pakeha, but also Pacific Islander and immigrants to the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key questions explored in this volume converge around issues of educational governance in the context of globalization. The individual chapters each contribute to the goals of assessing the development of the educational agenda of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and providing evidence on the trajectories through which the organization's programs and policies have directly and indirectly influenced and affected diverse educational systems. The chapter explores these issues in more depth, drawing on the perspectives presented in the volume's individual chapters. The first section provides a discussion of the contexts that have given rise to the OECD as a key global education policy actor. Following this brief historical overview, some of the key findings raised by the volume's authors are examined in the context of wider literature on global education policy. Collectively, the chapters raise important questions about the role of nation-states in educational planning, the scope and spatiality of international assessments such as PISA and TALIS, and the complexity of evidence and expertise in global, national, and local educational policy-making. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of the implications of the volume's work for the wider field of comparative and international education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter presents a theoretical and historical account of the OECD policy diffusion mechanisms, specifically addressing their influence on teacher policy. In order to present our argument, the chapter is divided in three sections. First, we present a historical description of how the Directorate of Education and Skills of the OECD has become a central figure in global policy discussions. Then, we address the particular mechanisms through which the OECD is able to expand their influence. We argue that the scientific validation of their recommendations through country reviews and the invitation to participate in large-scale studies and surveys, such as the Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) and the Teaching and Learning Survey (TALIS), have become pivotal for communicating policy messages concerning teacher quality and development. Next, we argue that while OECD recommendations are engrained in notions of human capital, their work on teachers has incorporated elements of professional capital. Additionally, we stress how the influence of social science and large-scale survey studies has contributed to the development of a concept of teacher professionalization promoted by the OECD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter focuses on a new school-level instrument for international benchmarking and policy learning - the OECD's PISA-based Test for Schools ("PISA for Schools") - and how it helps to constitute new global spaces and relations of education policymaking and governance. Unlike main PISA, PISA for Schools assesses school performance in reading, mathematics, and science against the schooling systems measured by the main PISA test. Schools are thus positioned within a globally commensurate space of measurement and comparison, and are encouraged to engage with, and learn from, the policy expertise proffered by "high-performing" international schooling systems and the OECD itself. Drawing suggestively across literature and theorizing around new spatialities associated with globalization, the "becoming topological" of culture and "power-topologies," and informed by document analysis and interviews with 33 policy actors from across the PISA for Schools policy cycle, the chapter examines how PISA for Schools helps the OECD to directly "reach into" local schooling spaces. This respatialized PISA for Schools, or "PISA to Schools", provides the OECD with the means to influence how schooling is practised and conceived at the level of local policy implementation, while limiting mediation by national and/or subnational politics. Moreover, the school-to-system performance comparisons enabled by PISA for Schools arguably provide one of the first - if not the only - international data-driven catalysts of school-level reform. This furthers the relevance and diffusion of "lessons" from main PISA and the OECD to schools themselves, and helps extend the epistemic communities through which the OECD practices its global epistemological governance of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings of a literature review on public private partnerships (PPPs) in two sectors - education and health - in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It highlights the heterogeneity of the category within and across sectors and shows that the key predictions of the PPP doctrine - cost-efficiency for improved social service delivery to the poor - are hardly fulfilled in practice. Moreover, PPPs - both as policy model and practical arrangements - are underpinned by a narrow conception of education and health, which denies their broader embeddedness within the economy and society. The paper identifies theoretical and methodological limitations of the existing scholarship. It underlines the scarcity of data on the corporate sector and, more broadly, about the economics of education and health PPPs. It also stresses the little attention paid to the beneficiaries. The paper finally calls for further research to open up the 'black box' of PPPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the circulation of a single artefact, the Museu Escolar Brasileiro (Brazilian School Museum) and its use in education through the pedagogical method of object lessons. Concentrating on the activities of particular individuals and enterprises (Menezes Vieira, Oliveira Lopes and Maison Deyrolle), within three geographical spaces (Brazil, Portugal and France), this article seeks to explore the relationship between the national and the international in educational proposals and initiatives that emerged at the end of the nineteenth century. The approach adopted also allows connections between the history of education and the history of science during this period to be pursued. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the aftermath of the World War II, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched an ambitious campaign to improve access to education and to fight illiteracy worldwide. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 had legitimised international action to raise educational and living standards in the ‘underdeveloped’ areas of the world, many of which were still under colonial rule. Based on primary archival material, this article sheds light on UNESCO’s efforts to assess educational levels in these territories, notably by collecting, standardising and processing data and statistics. The analysis shows how the work UNESCO undertook to measure inequalities contributed to the reappraisal of the economic and social role of literacy thus laying the foundations of a number of pedagogical programmes designed for developing countries. The limits of UNESCO’s global policies are also considered. Against the background of the Cold War and decolonisation, UNESCO’s assessment of educational needs in colonial areas raised highly political problems, which significantly affected the global concern for the right to education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study uses the global non-radial Malmquist index to measure performance change in the educational systems of 29 countries/economies participating in PISA 2003 and 2012 for students at age 15 in the disciplines of mathematics and reading. This methodology is particularly appropriate both for its desirable properties as well as its suitability for the educational context. Results indicate a positive evolution in educational systems' performance during this period. This improvement is mainly due a positive efficiency change, which offsets the negative technological change observed. Nevertheless, a deeper scrutiny at the country level shows that results varied remarkably among them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors discuss global health diplomacy as a pillar of the security agenda in the U.S. They mention that early intervention lessens cost to the taxpayer, improves the capabilities of host nations to deal with a global health threat and protects U.S. citizens. They say that to spread the burden of international investment in diplomacy, leadership development and education will reap many-fold governance and health benefits in the countries that participate.

International partnerships between universities are expanding and diversifying worldwide. Policymakers have understood that an active strategy of partnering national universities with world-class universities can bring socio-economic returns, and promote change. This article analyzes the background and logic behind the design and early development of an ongoing international partnership program established between a medium-sized European country and three prominent US research universities in 2006. Our findings show that political will, combined with an academic background and experience, have enabled the policymakers to learn from other international partnerships, and shape the involvement with the US universities. The role of “champion” policymakers was critical to the establishment of the partnerships before and during the initial period. Throughout this process the role of previous science policies and networks were found to have leveraged national research groups to collaborate and benefit from the IPPs, and supported long-term research collaboration ties with US universities. Portuguese faculty at US universities mediated the interaction between US and Portuguese academics and policymakers, and promoted the partnerships within their universities. Finally, the policymaker's focus on institutional competition was able to draw on the competitiveness of academics and institutions on both sides of the Atlantic, encouraging individuals and institutions to increase their involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business schools have the responsibility of preparing students for work in multicultural organisations and global markets. This paper examines a situated learning experience for undergraduates through a virtual collaboration between a UK university and a Brazilian university. This facilitated remote communication using social media and smart devices, allowing students from both institutions to enhance their cross-cultural management competencies. A qualitative approach was used for the research, drawing on the reflections of the tutors from both institutions and feedback received from students in the UK and Brazil. This paper provides empirical observations regarding the use of this innovative pedagogic approach, generating discussion of the implications for teaching, thus contributing to the literature on international collaborations in cross-cultural management education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As of year-end 2014, the Confucius Institutes—the largest international educational cooperation project in human history, and the largest internationalization project in the history of Chinese universities—celebrated their first decade of existence. This case study examines 27 Confucius Institutes in 15 countries spread across six continents around the world and relies on first-hand empirical data to reveal their development models, experiences, and challenges; disparities in operations in developed countries and developing countries; and the far-reaching significance of Chinese Universities 3.0: Going International with respect to the development of world civilizations. The significance of the Confucius Institutes’ past decade of development is not limited to Chinese teaching and the popularization of Chinese culture around the world, but rather rests in the proactive promotion of the Chinese model for educational development, diversification of human civilization, and bidirectional cooperation, truly embodying a new realm of peace, cooperation and equality. This model actively assumes and promotes the peaceful mission of exchanges and dialogue between different civilizations, providing a positive lesson for the further development of the Confucius Institutes, for international cooperation and educational development by Chinese universities, and even for UNESCO, the World Bank, and other institutions for international development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]