Innovation, Transformation and Education Governance: Technology Industry Agendas in School Contexts

• In Event: Technology, Education, and Capitalism in the 21st Century

Proposal

Navigating education dynamics today demands a deepening of our collective understanding of the diverse roles now being played by technology non-state actors, and their potential implications for education governance and systems of public education (Patil 2023; Williamson 2021; The World Bank et al. 2021). While technology non-state actors generally have origins in the United States, ubiquitous global demand for information and communications technologies infer a trend of international relevance. Largely working from a techno-determinist perspective and within technological constraints, these actors hold particular world views, sensibilities and goals of reforming education according to their unique institutional agendas and domain expertise (Avelar & Patil, 2023). These new techniques generate renewed expectations of system-wide “transformation” as well as concerns about unintended and deleterious effects. Institutional rationales, shifting modes of engagement, the power and influence of technology platforms, products and programs, and increasing engagement in politics and educational governance, are some examples of important dynamics for consideration. Education leadership, via models of technology in education transformation frameworks, is a specific example of the aforementioned dynamics and represents an under researched area of exploration.

This paper will explore Microsoft as a political and non-state actor advocating for, and inspires change in, educational leadership in the Global South. From a theoretical framework grounded in the politics of education borrowing and lending (Steiner-Khamsi, 2004), the paper will analyze the institutional rationales of Microsoft Corporation Showcase School Program, a techno-centric approach to educational leadership, and its enactment across three local contexts in the Global South (Microsoft 2023). The Guide to Monitoring eLearning Programs (Intel Corporation 2012) includes instruments for gathering contextual information, collecting school and classroom level data and guidelines for conducting analysis and reporting. This research will draw upon relevant protocols and questions from the Guide that emphasize context, history, and school leadership at various levels within the school setting such as principal, IT coordinator, and teachers. The data set will include: interviews with key stakeholders from Microsoft Corporation global and regional teams; educational leaders across three of Microsoft's Showcase Schools (i.e. principal, ICT coordinator, academic coordinator, teacher) in the Global South; participation observation of Microsoft education leadership community meetings and workshops; and document analysis.

This analysis aims to broaden understanding of how new actors from the technology sector are partaking in education governance and policy-making as well as the effects of education digitalization over education governance with a focus on the implications for and enactments in the Global South. The research aims to contribute to a long-standing research tradition in contemporary comparative education which considers more comprehensive understandings of institutional logics by incorporating the politics, processes and actors of transnational education transfer.

Author

• Lara Patil, NORRAG