Conference Agenda

This symposium aims at presenting some of the chapters of the book “International Organisations Inside Out: Professional, Organisational and Contextual Realities of Global Education Development” recently published by brill. In doing so we will have an exemplary chapter of each level of analysis of the book: global, national, local and professional experts.

The intensive and multifaceted involvement of international organisations (IOs) in education worldwide reflects the importance it is considered to have for the development of individuals and societies. In this context, education is increasingly governed through multi‑level (global, national, local) networks of actors, knowledge systems, and accountability mechanisms. In the past 80 years, IOs have increasingly contributed to defining development priorities, disseminating global standards, funding policy reforms, and generating comparative data that shape national decision‑making regarding education. Their work spans agenda‑setting at the global level, technical cooperation at the national level, and operational engagement in local educational systems. Yet, these processes are neither linear nor unproblematic. They are marked by tensions between universal policy models and the contextual needs of different regions, especially in the Global South, where the influence of external actors often intersects with historical inequalities, political fragility, and uneven capacity for local participation. Therefore, understanding how these organisations operate, professionally, organisationally, and contextually, is fundamental for unpacking the broader dynamics of global education governance.

The professionals who lead missions, conduct policy analyses, coordinate partnerships, or oversee programmes are not neural, they bring with them distinct forms of expertise, values, and positionalities. In addition, their everyday work is complex, involving the navigation of shifting priorities, resource constraints, and political sensitivities. Their personal and professional experiences are not merely background conditions, they are central to understanding how IOs turn global agendas into concrete strategies, and how they negotiate their legitimacy and authority in the in the organisation and in the contexts where they operate.

Equally important are the interactions between IOs and local actors—government agencies, NGOs, educators, and community organisations. These relationships shape how global policies are reinterpreted, resisted, or adapted, and they influence whether international cooperation fosters meaningful development or reinforces established asymmetries, being that many countries experience the weight of global policy frameworks and data regimes that may not fully account for local constraints or cultural dimensions of education.

Thus, to fully understand how education development unfolds, it is necessary to examine IOs not just as policy producers but as professional and organisational environments: spaces where experts construct meaning, respond to conflicting demands, and mediate between global norms and local educational realities. Research into these dynamics from the inside has been scarce, but it can reveal the hidden infrastructures of coordination, the complexities of multi‑stakeholder governance, and the dilemmas that practitioners face as they balance technical expertise with political and ethical considerations. This panel presentations will focus on education
Methodologically, the chapters apply diverse approaches, ranging from interview‑based analyses and collaborative ethnography to document studies. Together, these show the nuances that cannot be captured solely through policy documents or high‑level evaluations. They reveal the contradictions inherent in global education development: the aspiration for harmonised progress alongside deeply uneven conditions, the drive for evidence‑based policymaking alongside limited representativeness of “local” data and participation and the desire for partnerships that coexist with donor‑driven priorities and contextual needs and values.

This symposium aims to present these professional, organisational, and contextual realities of IOs by bringing together contributions that examine their internal dynamics, their engagement with national and local partners, and the broader implications for global educational development. Through this multi‑perspective lens, the symposium seeks to discuss how global education agendas are constructed, negotiated, and enacted.

This chapter examines the education policies developed in the context of the Angolan state, aiming to democratise access to education and address human rights violations because of the non-enforcement of rights within the framework of Sustainable Development Goal 4. It focuses on mapping the national context’s challenges, considering the senses and meanings local government actors produce, particularly in the education sector. This study’s starting point is an understanding of how local education actors translate SDG 4 indicators’ propositions as potential approaches to the local problem of democratising access to education and addressing historic inequalities and inequities given Angola’s sociopolitical and economic context. The study follows a qualitative approach with a descriptive and historical-analytical analysis, drawing on documentary and bibliographical sources. It is related to the policies and programmes research field based on policy formulation analysis. The study aims to shed light on how local education actors in a ‘fragile state’ in the Global South affect government policy measures to address local education problems through the appropriation and articulation of propositions globally constructed by international agencies, given the challenges of contextual reality. In summary, the analysis shows that education policies in Angola are strongly influenced by global agendas and international actors, which ultimately generates contradictions between local needs and the external indicators adopted. Despite the discourse of cooperation and democratic participation, a centralised, top-down logic prevails, limiting the role of non-state actors and marginalising local demands. As a result, adherence to global agendas, such as the SDGs, tends to conceal internal structural weaknesses and hinders the development of education policies that are genuinely contextualised and inclusive.

Boeren, E. (2019). Understanding sustainable development goal (SDG) 4 on ‘quality education’ from micro, meso and macro perspectives. International Review of Education, 65, 277–294. Bortot, C. M., Brás, C., & Scaff, E. A. S. (2022). Regulación supranacional en la educación en África: un estudio desde la política de formación docente en Angola. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación, 90(1), 151–167. Brás, C. (2023). The policy agenda setting in Angolan education policies: Project for the creation of reference schools. International Journal of Social Science Humanity & Management Research. http://dx.doi.org/10.58806/ijsshmr.2023.v2i7n24 Klees, S. J. (2023). Why SDG4 and the other SDG s are failing and what needs to be done. International Journal of Educational Development, 104(2024), 102946 Nakidien, T., Singh, M., & Sayed, Y. (2021). Teachers and teacher education: Limitations and possibilities of attaining SDG 4 in South Africa. Education Sciences, 11(66). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11020066 Tomasevski, K. (2001). Human rights obligations: Making education available, accessible, acceptable, and adaptable. Novum Grafiska AB. United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September. Distr.: General, 21 October 2015. https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n15/291/89/pdf/n1529189.pdf?token=D5LQCijLzwwhezrC2E&fe=true

Schools in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions have become symbols of conflict rather than places of learning. The crisis in the Northwest and Southwest (NWSW) regions began in 2016, when teachers and lawyers protested against systemic marginalization from the government. What started as peaceful demonstrations escalated into armed conflict, with schools caught in the crossfire. Attacks on education, forced closures, and displacement left hundreds of thousands of children without access to safe learning. By 2022, only 9% of displaced children were enrolled in school, while more than 667,000 required urgent support. In response, the Education Cluster Coordination (ECC) mechanism was activated in 2018 to bring together humanitarian actors and strengthen the response. Yet coordination in this context is far from simple. It is shaped by resource inequalities, bureaucratic instability, and the tension between international agendas and local realities. Coordination is more than technical procedures—it is about power, culture, and human relationships. Informal networks, negotiations, and shared meanings often matter more than formal structures. The chapter draws on sociological perspectives to show that coordination is complex, and deeply human. Concepts like Bourdieu’s habitus, Foucault’s power, and Weick’s loose coupling help explain why coordination emerges as a dynamic process shaped by history, politics, and the lived experiences of those involved. Methodologically, the study uses “nomadism” and “sense-making” to capture this fluid reality. Through the SenseMaker® tool, ECC members shared micro-stories that revealed coordination as a space for exchanging experiences. This openness exposed both the fragility and the creativity of coordination practices in crisis settings. The central insight is that education in emergencies cannot be safeguarded by funding or technical fixes alone. It requires strategies that acknowledge historical divisions, political struggles, and the everyday realities of communities under pressure. Coordination, despite its imperfections, remains essential for defending children’s right to learn, enabling partners to collaborate, and ensuring responses are relevant. Cameroon’s neglected crisis is a reminder that education is more than a service—it is a lifeline of hope. Preserving it in the midst of violence demands collective action, resilience, and a willingness to embrace complexity.

Bourdieu, P. (1984). A social critique of the judgment of taste. Harvard University Press. Cameroon Education Cluster. (2023). Education cluster strategy 2023–2025 NWSW Cameroon (pp. 1–30). Cameroon Education Cluster. Deleuze, G., et Guattari, F. (1987). A thousand plateaus - Capitalism and schizophrenia. University of Minnesota. Ferreira, F. I. (2005). O local em educação: Animação, gestão e parceria [The place in education: Animation, management and partnership] [Doctoral dissertation, Universidade do Minho]. Retrieved from https://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/bitstream/1822/197/1/TESE%20DOUT.pdf Foucault, M. (1975). Discipline and punish. Penguin UK. Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA). (2024). Education under Attack 2024. https://eua2024.protectingeducation.org/#overview Gordon Crawford, J., Kewir, J. K., Annan, N., Gaby, A. A., Kah, H. K., Kiwoh, T. N., Mbiatem, A., Mbondgulo-Wondieh, Z., Niger-Thomas, A. E., Nsaidzedze, S. B., et Sone, P. M. (2022). Voices from "ground zero" report: Interrogating history, culture and identity in resolution of Cameroon's "Anglophone" conflict. African Leadership Center. Covey University. Nolan, A., Anderson, A., Diwakar, V., Khan, A., et Mansour-Ille, D. (2020). Education in Emergencies Coordination: Harnessing humanitarian and development architecture for Education 2030. Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE). https://inee.org/resources/education-emergencies-coordination-harnessing-humanitarian-and-development-architecture Weick, K. E. (1976). Educational organizations as loosely coupled systems. Administrative Science Quarterly, 21(1), 1–19.

Finland has been active in development co-operation and the promotion of inclusive education since the 1990s. To advance this goal, Finland has assigned and seconded education experts in various international organisations. In this chapter, our aim is to explore the experiences of two Finnish experts in developing and promoting inclusive education in an international organisation: UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. Through collaborative autoethnography as our means of inquiry, we extended our exploration to understanding and developing professional expertise within the context of UNESCO’s organisational culture. We conclude that UNESCO is a complex, politically oriented elite bureaucracy with a high level of expertise, competition, and siloed working practices which both provide and limit opportunities for professional and organisational learning. In such a context, the development of expertise is based on personal ambition and curiosity.

Billett, S. (2008). Learning throughout working life: A relational interdependence between personal and social agency. British Journal of Educational Studies, 56(1), 39-58. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8527.2007.00394.x Bjerregaard, T., & Nielsen, B. (2014). Institutional maintenance in an international bureacracy: Everyday practices of international elites inside UNESCO. European Management Journal, 32, 981-990. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2014.03.003 Gherardi, S. (2014). Are Working Practices the Place Where Organisation Studies and Workplace Learning Cross? In J. Alegre, R. Chiva, A. Fernandez-Mesa, & J. L. Ferreras-Mendez (Eds.), Shedding New Lights on Organisational Learning, Knowledge and Capabilities. Cambridge Scholars Publishers. Reinikka, R., Niemi, H., & Tulivuori, J. (2018). Stepping Up Finland’s Global Role in Education. Niras. https://um.fi/documents/35732/0/UM_case_education_loppuraportti.pdf/a77c91c5-c6eb-ee2e-e38d-602ee8dd4d36 Wilson, G. (2006). Beyond the technocrat? The professional expert in development practice. Development and Change, 37(3), 501-523. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0012-155X.2006.00488.x

This chapter examines the intricate dynamics influencing global governance of education through a meta-interpretive synthesis of the book “International Organisations Inside Out: Professional, Organisational and Contextual Realities of Global Education Development” chapters. The importance of understanding education as a multifaceted entity affecting individual, local, national, and global levels is underscored. Weed’s (2005) meta-interpretation methodology is utilised to identify key mechanisms influencing education governance and to categorise them in epistemic, organisational, and international, as well as individual and sociopsychological, mechanisms. Epistemic mechanisms entail the power of language and evidence, showing how dominant languages and Western-centric evidence marginalise non-English speaking countries and local knowledge. Organisational and international mechanisms include relationality and collaboration, interplay, and colonial hierarchies, highlighting the complex interactions between global and local actors and colonial legacies’ enduring impact. Individual and sociopsychological mechanisms address sensemaking and professional trajectories, demonstrating how education professionals navigate their roles and develop expertise within the global governance framework. The chapter concludes by advocating more inclusive contextually relevant approaches to education development. It stresses the need for deeper engagement with local actors and historical perspectives. Further research is called for to incorporate diverse voices and multilevel analyses to enhance understanding and improve global governance of education.

King, K., & Palmer, R. (2014). Post-2015 and the global governance of education and train- ing. Working paper #9. Network for international policies and cooperation in education and training – Norrag. Lehtomäki, E., Janhonen-Abruquah, H., Tuomi, M., Posti-Ahokas, H., Okkolin, M.-A., & Palojoki, P. (2014). Research to engage voices on the ground in educational development. International Journal of Educational Development, 35, 37–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2013.01.003 Santos, Í., Pekkola, E., Abebe, R., Kujala, E., Kivistö, J., & Ilola, H. (2022). The presence and influence of Finnish education sector expertise in international organisations. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland. World Bank. (2019). The education crisis: Being in school is not the same as learning. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/immersive-story/2019/01/22/pass-or-fail-how-can-the-world-do-its-homework.print Weed, M. (2005). Meta interpretation: A method for the interpretive synthesis of qualitative research. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-6.1.508