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Not just the usual suspects: 100 years of UNESCO IBE's shaping global governance of education (Part I)

Sat, March 22, 1:15 to 2:30pm, Palmer House, Floor: 7th Floor, Burnham 2

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Part I. Reclaiming the IBE's legacy in global governance of education: A historical view

Over the past two centuries, the transnational circulation of educational ideas has been driven by a firm conviction that international cooperation in education is essential for achieving global peace. This movement, further propelled by globalization, advancements in communication, and free trade, was transformed by the advent of new technologies. These innovations have not only revolutionized how stakeholders convene and engage in global governance in education but also reshaped the nature of the initiatives pursued.

The International Bureau of Education (IBE) stands as an early pioneer in intergovernmental cooperation, evolving into a form of global governance. Despite the IBE’s rich archival resources that attest to its foundational role, its contribution to the constellation of global education governance remains somewhat overlooked. This panel aims to shed light on the IBE’s extraordinary 100-year impact on shaping global governance of education.

Founded in 1925 on the initiative of the Rousseau Institute, the IBE became the first organization ever to apply the principles of intergovernmental cooperation to education in 1929. Under the leadership of renowned psychologist Jean Piaget, the IBE's partners worked tirelessly to unite states around a common goal: achieving global peace through science and education. Governments were engaged in what came to be known as “the global education march” (Hofstetter & Schneuwly, 2024). They documented their educational progress annually and responded to surveys on pressing global educational issues, resulting in some of the earliest global databases on education. These data were rigorously analyzed during the annual International Conference on Public Instruction, where international recommendations were developed to improve educational systems and practices worldwide. In this context, the IBE can be viewed as a matrix of educational internationalism (Hofstetter & ERHISE, 2021).

Building on this foundation, UNESCO has been linked with these Conferences since its creation. Following an agreement with the IBE in 1952, UNESCO also helped shape their direction. This normative approach in education sought to balance local specificities with universal goals, guiding national educational policies. Leveraging its success and collaboration with a UN agency, the IBE expanded its network, bringing together more countries and forging partnerships with various international and non-governmental organizations. This effort laid the groundwork for a global mode of governance in education (Brylinski, 2023). However, the 1950s and 1960s brought significant challenges, as the IBE (and UNESCO) grappled with political interference amid Cold War tensions and postcolonial conflicts. In 1968, after Piaget's departure from these international organizations, UNESCO integrated the IBE as a Category I institute in 1969.

While current literature on global education governance is abundant, historical perspectives remain relatively sparse, primarily focusing on organizations like the OECD, the World Bank, and UNESCO (Elfert & Ydesen, 2023; Montjourides, 2022; Mundy, Green, Lingard, & Verger, 2016). However, the IBE, both before and after its integration with UNESCO, is also a key player. This conference panel is based on the work of leading scholars who have explored the rich archives of the IBE and other relevant international and non-governmental organizations. The goal is to highlight the IBE’s role in the historical development of global governance in education, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century. The challenge lies in examining how individual and collective actors constructed their arguments to build legitimacy both in Western contexts and with countries in the Global South. This analysis aims to better position these institutions within the constellation of educational organizations with internationalist ambitions (Matasci & Hofstetter, 2023).

Central questions include: How did the IBE and other related organizations lay the foundations for global governance in education? Who are the stakeholders, and what causes and strategies legitimized their efforts? How does the IBE fit into the extensive network(s) of international organizations positioning themselves as leaders in educational governance?
This panel will be divided into two parts. The first part will explore how the IBE's legacy has contributed to the foundations of global governance of education, highlighting its collaborations and tensions with other global actors. The second part will examine the IBE's contribution to the development of key global education concepts and trends, addressing the paradoxes and tensions inherent in this process. A key focus will be on the IBE's historical role in shaping global dialogue on digital transformation and the future of curriculum, learning, and work.

References
Brylinski, É. (2023). Les Conférences internationales de l’instruction publique (CIIP) : vers une gouvernance mondiale en éducation au second 20e siècle ? [The International Conferences on Public Instruction (CIIP): Towards global governance in education in the second half of the 20th century?]. SEFRI research project on “Geneva: An Intersectoral Platform for International Cooperation in Education”.
Hofstetter, R. & Erhise [Boss, C., Brylinski, É, de Mestral, A., Droux, J. & Schneuwly, B.]. (2021). Le Bureau international d’éducation, matrice de l’internationalisme éducatif (premier 20e siècle) [The International Bureau of Education, a matrix of educational internationalism (early 20th century)]. Peter Lang.
Hofstetter, R., & Schneuwly, B. (2024). The International Bureau of Education (1925-1968): “the ascent from the individual to the universal” (1st ed. 2024). Springer Nature Switzerland Imprint Palgrave Macmillan.
Elfert, M., & Ydesen, C. (2023). Global governance of education: The historical and contemporary entanglements of UNESCO, the OCDE and the World Bank. Springer.
Montjourides, P. (2022). Is this the future we want? Understanding the legitimacy of international education agendas: The example of equity in education [PhD thesis]. University of Cambridge. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.89624
Mundy, K., Green, A., Lingard, B., & Verger, A. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook of global education policy. John Wiley & Sons.
Matasci, D. & Hofstetter, R. (2023). Décentrer les sciences de l’enfance et de l’éducation. Production, circulations et réappropriations de savoirs entre Genève et les pays du Sud (1919-1980) [Decentering the sciences of childhood and education: Production, circulation, and reappropriation of knowledge between Geneva and the Global South (1919-1980)]. Swiss National Science Foundation project proposal 215356.

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