Kerstin Martens

Transformation of education policy

PART I: THEORY AND METHODS Introduction - Education Policy in Transformation A.Nagel, K.Martens & M.Windzio Measuring Transformation of Education Policy - A Mixed-Method Approach A.Nagel, T.Bieber, A.P.Jakobi, P.Knodel, D.Niemann & J.Teltemann PART II: HISTORICAL SETTINGS The Educating State - Historical Developments and Current Trends A.Weymann PART III: COUNTRY CASE STUDIES Turn of the Tide - New Horizons in German Education Policy- Making through IO Influence D.Niemann Playing the Multilevel Game in Education - The PISA Study and the Bologna Process triggering Swiss Harmonization T.Bieber Whats England got to do with it? British Underestimation of International Initiatives in Education Policy P.Knodel & H.Walkenhorst Education Policy in New Zealand - Successfully Navigating the International Market for Education M.Dobbins A Contrasting Case - the USA and its Weak Response to Internationalization Processes in Education Policy M.Dobbins & K.Martens PART IV: COMPARATIVE ANALYSES Comparing Education Policy Networks A.Nagel The Internationalization of Education Policy in a Cross-National Perspective A.P.Jakobi, J.Teltemann & M.Windzio Conclusion: Education Policy, Globalization and the Changing Nation State- Accelerating and Retarding Conditions M.Windzio, K.Martens & A.Nagel

When Do Numbers Count? The Differential Impact of the PISA Rating and Ranking on Education Policy in Germany and the US

Why do international comparisons have an impact on some countries while other countries do not respond? This article examines the power of international ratings and rankings (R&R) using the OECDs PISA study and its differential impact on education policymaking as a case study. It argues that international R&R have an impact when two conditions are simultaneously fulfilled: the evaluated topic is framed as crucial in the national discourse, and a substantial gap between national self-perception and the empirical results can be observed. After assessing the media impact of PISA on 21 OECD countries, the theoretical argument is illustrated by an evaluation of the differing reactions of two similarly poorly performing countries: Germany and the US. While the German system of secondary education was strongly affected by the international comparison, beginning with the first PISA study in 2000, and underwent comprehensive changes, the US first responded noticeably in the public and the political discourse only in 2010 to its below-average ranking.

Transforming the golden-age nation state

The Golden-Age Nation State and its Transformation: A Framework for Analysis A.Hurrelmann, S.Leibfried, K.Martens & P.Mayer Europe, the Nation State and Taxation S.Uhl Internationalization of Intervention? UN and EU Security Politics and the Modern State S.Mayer & S.Weinlich From Diffusion to Interplay: Rethinking the Constitutional State in the Age of Global Legal Pluralism M.Herberg Transformations of Commercial Law: New Forms of Legal Certainty for Globalized Exchange Processes? G.Calliess, T.Dietz, W.Konradi, H.Nieswandt & F.Sosa Breaking the Nation State Shell: Prospects for Democratic Legitimacy in the International Domain J.Steffek Governing the Internet: The Quest for Legitimacy and Effective Rules: R.Bendrath, J.Hofmann, V.Leib, P.Mayer & M.Zurn The Internationalization of Education Policy: Towards Convergence of National Paths? K.Martens & A.Weymann The Role of the Nation State in the Internationalization of Accounting Regimes J.Zimmermann The Transformation of the Golden-Age Nation State: Findings and Perspectives A.Hurrelmann, S.Leibfried, K.Martens & P.Mayer

Boomerangs and Trojan Horses: The Unintended Consequences of Internationalising Education Policy Through the EU and the OECD

During the last few years, the EU and the OECD have become increasingly involved in the field of education policy. Both international organisations have been approached by national governments in this issue area and have triggered and shaped domestic debates about the reform of national education systems. In this contribution, we look at the two most prominent among these initiatives: the ‘Bologna process’, which is by now commonly associated with the EU and involves the standardisation of degree structures in higher education with the goal of creating a single European Higher Education Area (EHEA), and the OECD’s ‘Program for International Student Assessment’ (PISA), which regularly evaluates the performance of school students in different national education systems. Both processes stimulated extensive public debates and compelled policy makers to restructure their national education systems.

Small country, big business?: New Zealand as education exporter

This paper discusses New Zealand’s role in the global market for tertiary education. The internationalisation and liberalisation of education markets is progressing rapidly in today’s globalising world, as reflected by the incorporation of education as a service into the GATS framework. Through the example of New Zealand as a case study for the internationalisation of education services, the study depicts the way the government is involved in this process. Commodification of sectors traditionally subject to domestic public policy is often associated with a less interventionist state, but our example of education shows that this is not necessarily the case, at least not in the medium‐term: New Zealand’s government rather appears to be an active facilitator of the liberalisation process in education. We review its recent move towards treating education as an international export good and present data on the growth of this industry. The paper concentrates on the particular ways by which New Zealand’s government is trying to facilitate this process of liberalising the education sector.

Diffusion durch internationale Organisationen: Die Bildungspolitik der OECD

Der Beitrag untersucht am Beispiel der OECD, auf welche Weise internationale Organisationen Einfluss auf ihre Mitgliedsstaaten gewinnen konnen. Die OECD ist heute eine der wichtigsten bildungspolitischen Instanzen, deren Studien in nationaler Politiken twicklung vielfach beachtet werden.1 Die Organisation widmete sich zwar schon seit ihren Anfangen auch bildungspolitischen Themen, doch erst in den letzten Jahren wurde sie zu einem bedeutenden Akteur in diesem Politikfeld. In diesem Beitrag gehen wir dieser Entwicklung zu einer fuhrenden internationalen Bildungsorganisation nach und kontrastieren ihre jetzigen, vielfach wahrgenommenen Tatigkeiten mit denen der 1960er und 1970er Jahre, in denen sie in diesem Bereich weniger wirksam agierte. Unsere grundlegende These ist, dass die OECD heute wichtige Beitrage zur internationalen Bildungspolitik leisten kann, weil sie — im Gegensatz zu fruher — ein Gesamtpaket von Problemdefinition und Losungsansatz prasentiert. Dies gelingt durch die gezielte Kombination verschiedener Diffusionsinstrumente.

Introduction—Education Policy in Transformation

2010 is an “education year”: the results of the “Programme for International Student Assessment” (PISA)—the largest survey on students’ performance—are being published again and will continue for another round of three evaluations; the Bologna Process—the largest project to provide Europe with a comparative higher education degree system—is supposed to be implemented within the region. Although the PISA Study and the Bologna Process have by now established themselves as prominent political issues with substantial impact on the political debate all over Europe and beyond, scholars of political science and political sociology have been rather reluctant to give this field the attention needed. This volume analyzes the significant changes in the field of education policy observable since the 1990s. It deals with the impact of the PISA Study and the Bologna Process as the most prominent examples with regard to the growing role of international organizations (IOs) and their impact on national education systems.

The Bologna Process as a template for transnational policy coordination

The Bologna Process (BP) presents the largest ongoing reform initiative in higher education (HE). Although it has triggered large-scale changes in HE structures in Europe, comparative analysis about its impact on other regions of the world is scarce. Using transnational communication and sociological institutionalism as a theoretical framework, this article investigates the impact of the BP on the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America and the Caribbean [LAC] and (parts of) Africa. Our results demonstrate that not only the policies promoted in the realm of the BP, especially in the field of study structures, have been copied by non-European HE institutions, but also its governance modes for managing transnational HE reform initiatives. Thus, the BP can be regarded as a template for transnational HE harmonization processes in the absence of legal obligation.

PISA as an ideational roadmap for policy change: exploring Germany and England in a comparative perspective

Education policy has undergone transformation in many countries over the last decade. In this article, we focus on the effects of the most significant international initiative in secondary education, which is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developments (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). We analyse two countries that provide variation regarding the degree of change in their respective education policy-making due to this study; while Germany substantially reformed its education system in reaction to its mediocre PISA results, almost no change has been observed in England. As we show, alterations and shifts in ideas of education policy best account for such a change.

Professionalised representation of human rights NGOs to the United Nations

Abstract Most studies explain the rise of NGOs as actors on the international stage by emphasising political developments or technical achievements as factors which have fostered their success. The focus in this paper, instead, will be on how NGOs themselves have transformed and how such change has affected the way in which they have become significant players in international relations. Drawing upon the notion of professionalisation as deriving from theoretical approaches of societal activism, I argue that NGOs increasingly invested in their international presence and gradually professionalised. In order to illustrate the argument, professionalisation of NGO representation to the UN will be examined with respect to four case studies of international human rights organisations: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Federation of Human Rights and the International League for Human Rights.