This study interrogates how one of the least-studied regional intergovernmental organisations, the African Union (AU), operationalises or recontextualises the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the process of developing its post-2015 education and development strategies. Employing critical discourse analysis and drawing on…

Fifty years after UNESCO's publication of "Learning to be: The world of education today and tomorrow," the author of this article provides an assessment of this seminal report, commonly known as "the Faure report". He characterises the educational vision of the report as humanistic and democratic and highlights its emphasis on…

The International Commission on the Development of Education set up by UNESCO in 1971 was chaired by Edgar Faure. The conceptualisation of a new social contract in his work between the 1960s and 1970s had a strong influence on the final report prepared by this commission. Published in 1972, Learning to be: "The world of education today and…

It is a truth universally acknowledged that education and economic development go hand in hand. Not only is lack of education generally recognised as a cause of poverty, it has come to be recognised as one of three core "dimensions of poverty", alongside living standard and health (World Bank 2016). Despite strong economic growth…

This paper is a reflection that critically examines the dynamics of education and the struggle by African people for freedom, control of the mind, self-definition and the right to determine their own destiny from the start of colonial rule to the present. The primary methodological approach is historical structuralism, which stipulates that social…

Within the international momentum for achieving Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), many African countries have made considerable progress during the last decade in terms of access to basic education. However, a significant number of children enrolled in the early grades of primary schools either repeat classes or…

Over the next two decades, sub-Saharan Africa will face substantial pressure to expand its secondary education system. This is driven by the current low development of secondary education compared to other world regions, continued rapid population growth, the increase in the enrollment and completion rates at the primary education level, and the…

This article considers the development of educating cities from a political perspective, illustrating in detail the diversity of organisations and individuals involved and the challenges they are facing. Bearing in mind that educating cities were established from the 1990s onwards in Europe and spread to other continents from there, the purpose of…

"Ubuntu" is an African philosophy of human kindness; applying it in the Global South would fundamentally alter the design of the education sector. This essay argues, however, that the field of international educational development is not, in fact, structured to support an education influenced by "ubuntu" ideals. Specifically,…

This reflective think-tank contribution begins by comparing advocacy and research as distinct modalities of professional and social action. In practice they frequently elide and merge into one another. While alliance and complementarity between the two modalities is constructive for shaping policy and practice, it poses risks when governments and…

In a fast-changing and highly inequitable world, lifelong learning is becoming increasingly important, not only as a key organising principle for all forms of education and learning but also as an absolute necessity for everyone. It is particularly important for disadvantaged individuals and groups who have been excluded from or failed to acquire…

The 14th World Congress of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES), held in Istanbul in June 2010, was entitled "Bordering, re-bordering and new possibilities for change in education and society". It opened with this address, in which the author explores how the idea of a norm works for education using key…

Today's world may be characterised as the dawn of the new millennium of the learning society, where knowledge is considered as a country's most valued asset and primary source of power. In the increasingly intense competition among international communities, Thailand has been respected for advancing the concept of transforming communities, cities…

In this article, the late Jarl Bengtsson briefly traces the evolution of the concept of lifelong learning within the member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). He points out that on the one hand lifelong learning is accepted, in policy terms, by all OECD countries and many other countries, but on the other…

This paper situates the philosophy and politics of partnership in educational development cooperation in the context of wider epistemological and axiological shifts in contemporary social theory. Partnerships in development cooperation are also considered in the light of the alleged failure of international development assistance, a claim that has…