Papers by Gita Steiner-Khamsi
Comparative education, Feb 7, 2024
The article investigates how and when the two first movers in knowledge-based regulation—the OECD... more The article investigates how and when the two first movers in knowledge-based regulation—the OECD and the World Bank—developed policy brokerage as an instrument of global governance in the education sector. We also examine how their target clientele—national governments—responds to this instrument. Given the surplus of research evidence in today's digital economy, intergovernmental organisations have the challenge of standing out as trusted and credible knowledge brokers in a crowded space. The authors make the case for a comparative research programme—tentatively labeled “Governance by Numbers 2.0”—that is informed by a multidisciplinary (history, political science, interdisciplinary policy studies) interpretive framework and that advances a transnational, relational method of inquiry which draws attention to the global/national nexus.
Policy Studies, Jun 5, 2023
This study examines the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Worl... more This study examines the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank, the two largest global actors in the education sector, in their capacity as knowledge brokers. For these actors, positioning themselves between research and policy and circulating their versions of evidence has become a popular policy instrument to amplify their impact at the national level. To compare the strategies and targets of the OECD and the World Bank, we analyze three publication series: the OECD’s Education Policy Outlook and Reviews of national policies for Education and the World Bank’s Systems Approach for Better Education reports. The results reveal significant differences between the OECD’s and the World Bank’s approaches to producing evidence and brokering knowledge. We interpret the differences against the backdrop of the idiosyncrasies of the two organizations: The World Bank sees itself as a transnational actor, and its knowledge production and brokerage are highly decontextualized transcending national experiences. By contrast, the OECD is an international organization that facilitates policy learning and peer exchange. Situating the findings within the broader framework of the global–national nexus, we argue that the World Bank’s approach promotes vertical policy learning, while the OECD’s approach reflects horizontal policy learning. Keywords: Policy learning; International Organizations; evidence production, knowledge brokering, OECCD, World Bank
The article presents two key concepts of sociological systems theory-externalisation and structur... more The article presents two key concepts of sociological systems theory-externalisation and structural coupling-and applies them to explain (a) the exponential growth of international large-scale student assessments and (b) the rise of 'policy-relevant' educational research. The author concludes with a comparison between key concepts used in systems theory and those used in comparative policy studies. She identifies resemblances with concepts of pathways in historical institutionalism, the multiple-streams approach and the notion of punctuated equilibrium advanced in the advocacy coalition framework.
The study presents a bibliometric network analysis of the two most recent schools reforms in Norw... more The study presents a bibliometric network analysis of the two most recent schools reforms in Norway. Two research questions have been pursued: First, do the government-appointed expert commission use (in Green Papers) the same type of knowledge as 'evidence' for their reviews and recommendations as the Ministry of Education and Research (as reflected in the White Papers)? How has the use of 'evidence' changed over the two reform periods? Second, which body of knowledge amassed by the expert commission has the Ministry of Education and Science actually used for policy formulation? The network analysis shows (i) distinct changes in reference patterns over the two reform periods (e.g., average number of references more than doubled and references to international texts increased significantly), and (ii) an unexpectedly low usage of the 'evidence' presented by the expert commissions. The Ministry of Education and Research only draws on 9.5 percent of the references presented by the expert commissions. Strikingly, almost all of the adopted references are from a commissioned report that locally adapted and translated OECD's Definitions and Selections of Competencies project. The authors suggest 'studying up' and paying more attention to how scientific 'evidence' is actually used, translated, and edited at the political level.
Journal of Education Policy, Sep 18, 2019
Globalisation, Societies and Education, Oct 11, 2018
The introductory article of the GSE special issue 'PISA for scandalization, PISA for projection: ... more The introductory article of the GSE special issue 'PISA for scandalization, PISA for projection: the use of international large-scale assessments in education policy making' contextualises the four articles of the special issue in the broader context of comparative policy studies in education. It reflects in particular on the question of why cross-national comparison is relevant for the study of ILSA (international large-scale assessment) policy reception and how 'methodological nationalism' may be avoided when using national education systems as units of analysis.
This article examines a particular type of public-private partnership (PPP) that is rarely studie... more This article examines a particular type of public-private partnership (PPP) that is rarely studied in comparative educational policy studies: one in which a government funds privately run international schools. The aim of this PPP is to enrich and thereby improve the regular curriculum or to the quality of education in public schools. As the exponential growth of International Baccalaureate (IB) illustrates, such forms of PPP have increased significantly over the past few years. The authors show that transnational accreditation holds a special appeal for the middle class that is committed to cosmopolitanism, international mobility, and global citizenship. However, international standards schools such as IB are not alone with advancing a transnational accreditation of their educational programmes. Symbolically, Programme in International Student Assessment also provides a transnational accreditation, albeit not on individual education programmes but rather on entire educational systems. The article examines the reasons for the popularity of this type of PPP, analyses the interaction between the private and public education sectors, and investigates how governments explain, and what they expect from, the close cooperation with private education providers.
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education
This article focuses on why education is a lucrative business for private sector providers. It id... more This article focuses on why education is a lucrative business for private sector providers. It identifies the five most common strategies that education businesses apply when selling goods or services in the education sector. In addition, this study also cursorily presents examples of how public education has networked with, reframed its mission, and built institutional structures that resemble businesses. The author proposes that the interaction of the two types of providers – public sector versus private sector – should constitute the focus of academic inquiry. Nowadays, the two sectors react to, and compete with each other. As a result, changes in one sector impacts the other. The article provides examples of boundary work and translation in the two sectors.
Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 2017
This policy study examines how policymakers and policy experts in Norway made us of research and ... more This policy study examines how policymakers and policy experts in Norway made us of research and studiesproduced in Norway, in the Nordic countries and outside the Nordic regionto explain the 2020 incremental school reform. In total, 2 White Papers, 12 Green Papers and 3438 texts, cited in the White and Green Papers, were used as data for the text-based social network analysis. The three major findings were the following: First, the policymakers and experts make excessive use of references (on average, 246 references per White or Green Paper). The publications they cite are highly specialized and issue centred with little overlap between the various papers. Second, the policy references for the 2020 reform were mainly domestic. Approximately 70% of the referenced texts were published in Norway. Finally, the social network analysis enabled the authors to identify five texts that were influential and that bridged curriculum with quality monitoring reform topics. The authors suggest that more attention should be paid to an analysis of incremental reforms such as the 2020 reform in Norway. They identify a few of the blind spots that the more commonly used focus on fundamental reforms tends to produce.
Oxford Review of Education, Nov 16, 2017
The media analysis is situated in the larger body of studies that explore the varied reasons why ... more The media analysis is situated in the larger body of studies that explore the varied reasons why different policy actors advocate for international large-scale student assessments (ILSAs) and adds to the research on the fast advance of the global education industry. The analysis of The Economist, Financial Times, and Wall Street Journal covers publications on 'PISA' , 'TIMSS' , and related search items over the period 1996-2016. The three media outlets vary in terms of ILSA reporting. The Economist and Financial Times tend to focus on PISA, whereas the Wall Street Journal pays greater attention to TIMSS than PISA. The content analysis of 59 articles yields interesting results about how the business-oriented readership of the three media outlets frames public education and why it sees education as a profitable business opportunity. The three most common narratives, reflecting the business logic, are the following: (i) public education is in crisis; (ii) there is no correlation between spending and education outcome; and (iii) school accountability, teacher performance, and decentralisation represent the most effective policies to improve the quality of education. Drawing on these three common narratives, the financial media outlets present a particular vision of how to improve education; a vision in which the private sector is supposed to play a major role. The exponential growth of international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) has unsurprisingly become a topic of academic curiosity. The growth is noticeable both in terms of educational systems that participate and the frequency with which student assessments are carried out. The two most widespread ILSAs, Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), are administered every three or four years, respectively. PISA experienced a spectacular growth, from 28 countries participating in the 2000 study (reading domain only) to 72 countries in 2015 which had their 15-year-olds assessed in the science, reading, and mathematics domains. A similar surge in interest may be observed for the fourth-grade assessments of TIMSS. In 1995, TIMSS was carried out in 25 countries. Twenty years later, TIMSS 2015 managed to enlist 49 countries, that is, it nearly doubled the number of countries taking part.
Globalisation, Societies and Education, 2017
This paper addresses the rise and consequences of an emerging global education industry (GEI), wh... more This paper addresses the rise and consequences of an emerging global education industry (GEI), which represents new forms of private, for profit involvement in education across the globe. The paper explores the emergence within the GEI of new and varied, largely transnational, markets in education by focusing on three examples of the GEI at work. The first example addresses the issue of Charter Schools, what they have come to represent, how they have been implemented, and, especially, the impact they have had on public schooling more broadly. While they have taken different forms in different places, they have succeeded in installing the idea of quasi-markets in education, which has been directly instrumental in opening up opportunities for private investment in education. The second example concerns the ways that the increasingly global standardisation of education policies, provision and practices, presents lucrative opportunities for investment and profit. The forms and consequences of such standardisation are described in the contrasting cases of Qatar, Mongolia and Indonesia. The third example concerns low-fee private schools in the Global South. Far from such schools being seen as local initiatives, the paper shows how they have become a major opportunity for profitable investment by international corporations.
Routledge eBooks, Jun 9, 2020
The authors examine indicator research over three periods and discuss shifts in policy usage over... more The authors examine indicator research over three periods and discuss shifts in policy usage over time. The study compares influential actors that reflect discursive shifts in how, and for what purpose, indicators were used: (1) Jullien de Paris, (2) faculty at Teachers College at Columbia University in the early-twentieth century (notably Paul Monroe and Isaac Kandel) and (3) UNESCO Institute for Statistics' contribution to the debate on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators. Arguably, these periods reflect the broader agenda and usage of indicators: modernization/nation-building (Jullien), colonization/ development (Monroe and Kandel) and standardization/globalization (SDGs). In this view, indicators make systems comparable, despite their differences: educational systems are not comparable per se, they are made comparable through standardized measurement. Jullien crucially shaped empirical research through uniform questions that enable description, analysis and comparison educational systems' key features. Recently, policy analysts and researchers have referred to those standardised questions as indicators.
Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 2017
Voprosy obrazovaniâ, Jun 28, 2016
Asia Pacific Education Review, Jun 22, 2016
Research on policy borrowing is a well-established research area of comparative education. Over t... more Research on policy borrowing is a well-established research area of comparative education. Over the past 20 years or so it gained prominence among globalization scholars. Of great interest is not so much the question of which reforms ''travel'' internationally, and which ones are homebound, but rather why traveling reforms resonate in a given context and at a specific moment, and how they are subsequently translated or locally adapted. In addition to issues of reception and translation, questions on the politics and economics of policy transfer are central to this research area. Empirical studies have shown that borrowing reforms from other countries, from other sectors within a country, or from ''international standards'' broadly defined often help coalition-building in a country. Policy borrowing also helps to mobilize financial resources, especially when it is preceded by political talk of falling behind some international standards or ''best practices.'' Therefore, the methods of inquiry used, the type of research questions asked, and the conclusions drawn in this body of research tend to address political and economic aspects of educational reform. Arguably, a transnational perspective is indispensable to carry out this kind of intellectual project. The academic preoccupation with policy borrowing has helped to formulate the contours of comparative policy studies. The article provides a brief overview of the main tenets of policy borrowing research and then focuses specifically on three aspects: policy reception, policy projection, and the rise of the global education industry as a new actor and beneficiary of global education policy.
Routledge eBooks, Jul 23, 2019
Current Issues in Comparative Education, 2014
In this issue, CICE brings together noted scholars in education who were invited to reflect on th... more In this issue, CICE brings together noted scholars in education who were invited to reflect on the theme Rethinking Culture, Context, and Comparison in Education and Development. This special issue can be seen as a sequel to the most recent one, entitled Comparative and International Education: The Making of a Field and a Vision into the Future. The previous issue addressed meaningful theoretical contributions to the field of comparative and international education since its establishment.
Current Issues in Comparative Education
The symposium on Rethinking Culture, Context, and Comparison in Education and Development brought... more The symposium on Rethinking Culture, Context, and Comparison in Education and Development brought together several groups of noted scholars. Of those, I would like to focus on two: those that utilize a disciplinary lens versus those that apply an interdisciplinary, or rather multidisciplinary approach to the comparative inquiry of education [1].
The article examines two key concepts in research on policy borrowing and lending that are often ... more The article examines two key concepts in research on policy borrowing and lending that are often used to explain why and how educational reforms travel across national boundaries: reception and translation. The studies on reception analyse the political, economic, and cultural reasons that account for the attractiveness of a reform from elsewhere. Translation, in turn, captures the act of local adaptation, modification, or reframing of an imported reform. Strikingly, in most cases the act of policy borrowing is deterritorialized and draws on broadly defined international standards or "best practices". The exceptions are references to the league leaders in international student achievement tests such as, most recently, Singapore, Finland, and Shanghai. The article makes the argument that policy analysts in other countries only emulate the system features of league leaders if it fits their own domestic policy agenda. Furthermore, there is a new body of research emerging in comparative education that investigates the country-specific projections into the educational systems of the league leaders. Finally, the article points to the "yes, but. .. " phenomenon in cases where there is resistance to learn, adopt or borrow from league leaders. It is in such moments of resistance to change that policy makers tend to highlight fundamental differences by insisting that the contexts are not sufficiently comparable to learn a useful lesson: Finland is too monocultural, Shanghai too urban, and Singapore relies too much on private tutoring to be relevant for lesson drawing.
European Educational Research Journal, 2013
This article critically examines how 'what-went-right' analyses are used to subsequently justify ... more This article critically examines how 'what-went-right' analyses are used to subsequently justify the transfer of reform packages or 'best practices' from one country to another. Similar to evidence-based policy planning, the what-went-right approach needs to be criticized for being presumptuous. There are three fallacies of the what-went-right analysis that the article dismantles: rationality, precision and universality. The article focuses on the façade of universality and examines how the claim to universal solutions is methodologically sustained. First, the author shows how standardized or normative comparison has in recent years overshadowed the other two types of comparison: comparison across time (historical analyses) and comparison across contexts ('simple comparison'). Then, she elaborates on why the what-went-right approach requires policy analysts to downplay differences between educational systems in order to establish comparability between cases. The emphasis on comparability and similarity of cases is a prerequisite to importing 'best practices' from vastly different educational systems. But what if transfer occurs regardless of difference? There is a curious phenomenon that the article addresses in greater detail: the retrospective definition of a local problem. Given the worldwide circulation of 'best practices' and traveling reform packages, policy analysts sometimes are under pressure to align their analyses of local problems with already existing global solutions. The article ends with a reflection on policy borrowing and lending research and situates the what-went-right approach in the broader question of why and how policy analysts 'buy' or 'sell' reform packages that worked well in one context for transfer into another. In this article I examine the reasons why the 'what-went-right' approach has become so popular, the methodological assumptions upon which it depends, as well as its impact upon agenda setting and policy formulation. This approach often leads to the erroneous assumption that what went right in one educational system will inevitably work well in another. Because it is associated with policy borrowing and learning, the approach has drawn the attention of comparative education researchers. The what-went-right approach is related to two other practices in policy studies: evidencebased policy planning and lesson-drawing. The latter is nowadays more commonly defined as learning from 'best practices.' If we were to place the three terms on a continuum ranging from analytical to prescriptive, evidence-based policy planning would be considered the most analytical, lesson-drawing the most prescriptive, and the what-went-right approach would fall somewhere in between. Evidence-based policy planning is, at least in its intention, an instrument for evaluating and understanding the effectiveness of a reform. At the other end of the continuum are 'best practices' that organizations export or import, lend or borrow or, more generally, transfer from one context to another.
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Papers by Gita Steiner-Khamsi