Transnational Policy Learning: A comparative study of OECD and EU education policy in constructing the skills and competencies agenda

Many scholars of education policy have drawn attention to the emergence of a global education policy agenda, driven by the need for increased competitiveness, skill development and employability and dominated by International Organisations (IOs), among which the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Commission (EC). The EC in response to knowledge economy pressures, has recently become more active in steering policy through the use of benchmarks and indicators. The OECD has also assumed a stronger role in the field, through the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA). There is thus apparent convergence of technologies (ie tools and ways of steering systems) as well as of direction/content in the agendas of the two IOs. The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) provides a specific case through which transnational policy learning may be scrutinised. The enquiry will use policy texts, interviews and network analysis to produce a typology of the main actors and ideas and the directionality of policy learning in developing PIAAC;
identify specific instances of policy teaching and learning between the two IOs; and
develop a preliminary perspective on the extent and significance of policy learning in transnational education governance.

教育政策领域的诸多学者已关注到全球教育政策议程的兴起，该议程以提升竞争力、技能培养与就业能力为核心驱动力，且由各类国际组织（International Organisations, IOs）主导，其中经济合作与发展组织（Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD）与欧洲委员会（European Commission, EC）为该领域的核心主体。为应对知识经济带来的压力，欧洲委员会（EC）近期愈发积极地通过基准与指标工具引导政策制定。经济合作与发展组织（OECD）也通过国际学生评估项目（Programme of International Student Assessment, PISA）在该领域强化了自身角色。因此，这两大国际组织的政策议程在治理技术（即政策引导工具与系统运行方式）以及方向与内容层面均呈现出明显的趋同态势。国际成人能力评估项目（Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, PIAAC）为审视跨国政策学习提供了具体的研究案例。本研究将采用政策文本、访谈与网络分析方法，完成三项核心研究任务：一是梳理在推进PIAAC过程中的主要参与主体、核心理念以及政策学习的方向性，构建相应类型学；二是识别两大国际组织之间政策传授与学习的具体实例；三是就跨国教育治理中政策学习的范围与意义提出初步研究视角。