Comparative Education Policy

Stephanie Hagen Is education policy-making a science or an art? If you work for your national education ministry, how would you attempt to create reforms in your country's school system? It would be tempting to take a scientific approach by analyzing the various policy-approaches used around the world, eliminating those deemed ineffective enough until one “end all be all” approach stands which can be applied to your national school system. However, a policy-maker who neglects to consider context will be as fruitful as a painter without a brush. Professor Pont called education policy-making an   “art of the possible,” it is what one can do in a constrained environment with the data, evidence and actors available to him or her. It is diverse, dynamic, messy and very much embedded in its context. According the PISA 2015 Education Policy Outlook there are five primary governance approaches which are summed up in the table below. Each approach has its advantages and disadvan...

André Rebeiz Observing and understanding the context of education across OECD countries is important in crafting policy that supports education systems in mutual learning, the goal ultimately being to ensure that children in school learn for the future. This is one of the messages of the introductory session to the course “Trends in Comparative Education Policy” by Professor Beatriz Pont.  The Importance of Context  With this message in mind, it is important to consider that schools reflect the societies that they belong to. It is thus important to take into account the impacts of globalization, migration, inequality, and technology. Such issues impact education, or can be impacted by education, in the following ways: Globalization and Education : the interdependency of economies increases the need for transferable skills so that countries can be competitive. How can education systems, then, deliver what the labour market (or the labour market of the futur...