10th UKFIET International Conference on Education and
Development.
15 – 17 SEPTEMBER 2009.
The influence of politics on policy, whether at local, national
or international levels, has far-reaching implications for
educational development. Globalisation, international aid, the
knowledge economy and the marketisation of education are
well-recognised terms to describe complex processes which exert
powerful and often competing pressures on education systems. In a
contested and interdependent arena, they raise urgent questions
about progress in education.
How do the dynamics of power influence the framing of
educational policy and its commitment to developing human
capabilities and social justice? What do the resulting strategies
imply for progress in education and human development, and how they
are implemented? Where is the political will to create programmes
which enable and value new forms of work, eliminate poverty,
protect environments, and fight disease? What learning will empower
minorities, halt corruption, prevent financial instability and
armed conflict? As education increasingly becomes a traded
commodity, how can it transform the lives of those who do not enjoy
the power of purchase?
The conference will once again bring together a wide
constituency of participants, including policy makers,
administrators, teachers, civil society representatives and
researchers from all spheres of education and training. They will
engage with these and other questions and seek to address future
policy challenges.