Soft governance by hard fact? The OECD as a knowledge broker in education policy

Abstract

As the policy field of education has become increasingly internationalized over the last two decades, international organizations like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) play an increasingly decisive role in the diffusion of knowledge, monitoring, and research in global education policy. Although the OECD lacks any binding or coercive governance instruments in relation to states, or ability to provide material incentives for compliance, it has nevertheless successively expanded its influence regarding education. From a perspective of social constructivism, we argue that the transmission of ideas and information generated through ratings and rankings can be viewed as a crucial governance tool for the influence of an international organization (IO). Our article seeks to analyze how the OECD uses large-scale education assessments to promote the economically based idea of human capital and related learning techniques in education policy – thus influencing national education systems. Furthermore, the OECD and its distinctive approach of soft governance through putative hard fact may become a role model for other IOs, both in the field of education and beyond.

Exploring theoretical approaches to global social policy research: Learning from international relations and inter-organisational theory

“…While IOs compile and spread educational concepts and educational standards not only to their member states but also across the globe, we know little about which IOs are out there working in the field of education policy and what education ideas they are propagating. Although various single studies exist, mainly on the 'usual suspects' such as UNESCO, the World Bank and the OECD (Lerch and Buckner, 2018;Niemann and Martens, 2018;Rubenson, 2008;Verger and Mundy, 2016), more work is needed about how the world of education IOs is constituted (Martens and Niemann, 2017). The same is true for other GSP fields.…”

The Architecture of Arguments in Global Social Governance: Examining Populations and Discourses of International Organizations in Social Policies

“…In this regard, the discursive actions of IOs become pivotal in the realm of global governance, given that the ways in which issues and problems are framed and perceived play an important role in influencing policy outcomes. In this vein, IOs can become "knowledge brokers" (Niemann and Martens 2018). They define social problems, provide answers to them, and distribute the solutions worldwide, often backed by academic research and empirical data.…”

The authority of science and the legitimacy of international organisations: OECD, UNESCO and World Bank in global education governance

“…'Soft' in this sense refers to normative mechanisms. In these softer versions, IOs become 'knowledge brokers' (Jakobi 2009;Niemann and Martens 2018) or 'norm entrepreneurs' (Barnett and Finnemore 2004), often with a particular focus on IOs' role in diffusing large-scale assessment in the 'age of measurement' (Biesta 2009;also, Meyer and Benavot 2013). Zapp (2018) counted N = 44 IOinitiated international assessments with a growing number of countries worldwide participating.…”