Seminar "OECD in Finnish education policy" 27 September 2006
Johanna Kallo
OECD‘s knowledge-based regime:
aspects on dissemination and influence
The presentation draws from dissertation work contributing to the research project “OECD Education Policies: Three National Cases” at the Centre for Research on Lifelong Learning and Education (CELE) at Turku University 2002-2005. The objective of the project was to study the change of emphasis in OECD education policy from the 1950s to today and the influence of the OECD on the education policies of different nation states.
The first part of the presentation analyses the OECD as an organisation from the perpective of regime theory. According to this approach, the OECD can be conceived as an epistemic community, which maintains one kind of knowledge-based regime. The central tool of the OECD’s regime formation is knowledge: decision-makers demand high quality information and those who can supply that information can exert considerable influence on policy. Further, the epistemic communities do not generate truth, they rather provide consensual knowledge. The main effect mechanism of the OECD is dissemination, which means that the OECD works mainly through agenda-setting. Agenda-setting can be understood as a strategy with which the OECD demonstrates the probable direction of future politics to it’s member states. The second part of the presentation introduces current views on how to research the effects of ideas on policies. There is an ongoing methodological debate around the analysis of the effects of ideas on policies. The difficulty of this ideational analysis occurs when ideas have not caused evident change in the national system but effected the system implicitly or over a long period of time.
Finally, the presentation provides aspects on how the OECD has influenced education policy in three nation states: United Kingdom, Finland and China. Expert interviews indicate that the degree of influence of the OECD has been higher on Finland than on the UK. The OECD has for the most part made approving comments about domestic policies of the UK. Several interviews brought up the fact that it has been not always clear who influences whom (the OECD influences the UK, or the other way around). Concerning Finland, four types of responses to OECD reviews will be presented. OECD reviews on the Chinese education system have had little effect so far. However, there is some evidence that aspects on the OECD Review on financing and quality assurance reforms in higher education have been incorporated into the national legislative work.
OECD‘s knowledge-based regime:
aspects on dissemination
and influence
Johanna Kallo
CELE, Department of Education
University of Turku, Finland
Research project:
OECD Education Policies and Three
National Cases:
Longitudinal and Comparative Study on
Finland, UK and China
Presentation:
1.
Knowledge-based regime:
- OECD as an epistemic community
- Aspects on dissemination
2.
Some aspects on influence of the
OECD on education policies in three
countries
OECD‘s knowledge-based regime:
aspects on dissemination
Knowledge-based regimes in
education
Regimes:
Principles, norms, rules and
decision-making procedures
Knowledge-based regime approach
:
Knowledge is a central tool for regime
formation;
Decision-makers demand high quality
information – those who can supply that
information can exert considerable
influence on policy (Hasenclever et. al
2002)
Epistemic Communities:
Networks of professionals with
recognized expertise and competence in a
particular domain
OECD could be seen as one type of
Peer pressure
Soft / direct
agenda setting
Public scrutiny
and exposure
Persuasion/
Agenda
setting
Process
Implicit
Explicit
Explicitness
of process
Findings
Dale (1999)
Character-istic
Dissemination as OECD‘s
effect mechanism
Implicitness in OECD processes:
education policy review as an
example
Stage of process:
1.
Agreement on the
need for the study
2.
Background report
prepared by the
country
3.
Visit of the review
team, which
prepares a draft
report
4.
Confrontation
meeting at the
OECD Education
Committee
5.
Producing the final
report
6.
Distribution of the
report
Influential factors:
The OECD needs to
adjust it's ideas to
national political
circumstances and trends
The OECD needs to rely
on the data provided by
the national governments
It‘s review teams have
predetermined mandates
The national governments
attempt to divert the
attention of the review
teams
Moral dimension in OECD
education policies
It’s end-products are
used by national
governments for political
purposes
Moral dimension in OECD
education policies
If you look at the OECD as a whole,
how the organisation works, it is an
inter-governmental body, which moves
by peer review, countries looking at one
an others work and commenting on that
and it can be quite strong normative in
what is the current view of what is the
right thing to do.
And you don’t need hard law to do
that, we have a soft law as we call it,
guidelines, like guidelines on
multi-national enterprises.
And we are to do it ourselves in
education actually for the first time.
Some aspects on the influence
of the OECD on UK, Finland and
China (1)
Research method:
- Analysing the effects of ideas on policies
(Yee 1996; Arminggeon & Beyeler 2004)
- Debated research area
United Kingdom:
- Experts Interviews: OECD has had little
influence
- Manning (2004): The OECD has made
approving comments about the UK domestic
policies
- British influence on OECD programmes
significant
Finland: Four types of effects
1. Longitudinal and implicit effect
2. Legitimative effect
3. Legislative effect
4. Nonacceptance
