The article tackles the question, how to provide students with a comparative orientation to public administration. We eschew the older tradition of comparing major systems such British parliamentary system or French bureaucratic approaches to organizations' structure. Rather, we seek to understand public administration in countries with different…

The Organization of Economic, Cooperation and Development's Programme for International Student Assessment (OECD's PISA) is explored as a site of science as an actor managing a social life. Its calculations form at the interstices of multiple historical lines as a comparative reason about nations, societies, and populations. That reason is…

As the world seeks to build back better into a new era of green and equitable economic growth, tertiary education systems are at the heart of the big transformations required throughout economies and societies. Tertiary education is vital for the development of human capital and innovation. Strategic and effective investments in tertiary education…

This paper applies insights from narrative theory to analyse the OECD's transition to providing humanitarian large-scale assessments under the SDGs, situating this within the evolving dynamics of a global development complex. The perspective is guided by the thematic interests of the special issue, with the goal of enriching understanding of both…

The outbreak of the Corona-virus created a global health crisis which has affected educational systems globally, resulting in near-total closures of schools with far reaching economic and social consequences. Countries adopted different strategies to ensure learning was sustained using digital technologies. However, the majority of children in…

This paper presents and engages with Basil Bernstein's rich conceptual grammar in order to generate a sociological account of the outcomes for teachers' work, identity and social class, of strategic shifts in governance to the global scale. Our aim is to develop a two-way conversation between Bernstein's conceptual grammar and how best to theorise…

The definition and goals of education are mercurial, varying widely across time and space. In Cambodia, which has experienced both flux and reflux over time, education--particularly in schools--has strongly reflected the political circumstances of the time. Education as a fundamental human right is a very new idea: it was, and still is to a…

Sustainable development in education for future economic growth has always been a global focal point for non-governmental agencies across the world. This article highlights the extensive work the Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD) has achieved over time, constructing contemporary society as we know it today, continually…

Any vision of knowledge societies must affirm the core aspirations for peaceful and sustainable knowledge societies in a way that acknowledges the interests of all stakeholders. It is essential to recall that knowledge societies are concerned with human development, not only with technological innovation and its impacts. This report focuses the…

The international conferences and the official publications of the International Bureau of Education (IBE) comprise a platform where a growing number of governments exposed their considerations and concerns with the purpose of building up a better world through education. The resulting recommendations foster the basis of an "international…

Bhutan is a "small state" according to the World Bank, and therefore categorized as fragile and vulnerable to local and global challenges. However, since the 1960s, when the country first engaged in "modernization" development and global politics, Bhutan has been anything but fragile and helpless. The Royal Government's focus…

This article features the University for Peace (UPEACE), an international academic institution that was created as a Treaty Organization within the framework of the United Nations (Resolution 35/55-1980) to support the central peace and security objectives of the United Nations. UPEACE has carried out postgraduate programs since its inception in…

Vocational education and training (VET) can contribute to the attainment of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. A key to economic and social progress is the training of better-qualified individuals and skilled enterprise staff who will be more productive, improving goods, increasing incomes and adapting to changing markets. Experts…

In the face of compelling challenges, the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE), the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), as well as the national education coalitions in Asia, have levelled up efforts in the past five years to advance the right of all citizens to quality education and learning opportunities…

The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development signals an unparalleled opportunity to link education with sustainability. But in the age of corporate globalization, will education bow to the external pressures that have always sought to subordinate it to vested interests, or will it reach beyond these narrow confines to the…