Global Public Seminars in Comparative and International Education

The Global Public Seminars in Comparative and International Education address themes of major interest to academics, practitioners, and policy-makers working in the field of education globally.
These seminars aim to illuminate the role of education in societal development, with a focus on understanding changes in education policy, discourse, and practice, and how these changes influence individual opportunities and shape the development of educational institutions around the world. Seminars will zoom into the local and zoom out into the national and supranational spaces, flows, and influences on education.
The series was established in Trinity term 2021 as a joint initiative by the University of Oxford’s Department of Education and St Edmund Hall, and are chaired by Professor Maia Chankseliani, Fellow by Special Election in Comparative and International Education.
Seminar Programme & Registration
Ukrainian Higher Education in Times of War Programme
24 January 2024
Speaker: Dr Yuliya Zayachuk, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukraine, and Academic Visitor at the Department of Education, University of Oxford, UK
Talk title: “Internationalisation as one of the key components of Ukrainian university activities in times of Russia’s military invasion”
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEuceytrTwrHdWS6rLU_FUBi47KhQ6zQbif
31 January 2024
Speaker: Professor Roman Gladyshevskii, Dr. Sc., Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Vice-Rector for Research, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukraine
Talk title: “Adapting the University (of Lviv) in time of war”
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEuceytrTwrHdWS6rLU_FUBi47KhQ6zQbif
7 February 2024
Pofessor Olena Lokshyna, Dr. Sc., Institute of Pedagogy of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University, Ukraine
“Higher education in Ukraine at a time of war: state of the network, legislative support, educational process organisation peculiarities”
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEuceytrTwrHdWS6rLU_FUBi47KhQ6zQbif
14 February 2024
Professor Oksana Bodnar, Dr. Sc., Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University, Ukraine
“Perception of uncertainty by the participants of the educational process under state of war in higher education institutions of Ukraine”
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEuceytrTwrHdWS6rLU_FUBi47KhQ6zQbif
Chaired by Maia Chankseliani and Yuliya Zayachuk
Global Public Seminars in Comparative and International Education programme
20 March, 2024 – Professor Oakleigh Welply, Duham University, UK
Time: 3-4pm (UK time)
Title: ‘Society is fragmenting!’: discourses of migration and education in the press in France and England
This talk will critically examine the framing of migration and education in policy and media discourse in France and England. These two countries are often presented as “pole opposites” in terms of their philosophies of integration, yet they present multiple points of convergence with regard to migration and education. Despite increased diversity in school populations (linguistic, cultural, religious), both national educational systems have remained firmly monolingual and monocultural. In both countries, the legacy of colonial histories and the recent emergence of populist, far-right and xenophobic discourses contribute to contexts in which narratives of the “threatening immigrant Other” permeate social imaginaries around education and migration. Against this increasingly hostile background, schools are given a central, yet paradoxical role, at the same time blamed for fractures in society and invested with the task of building social cohesion. Educational initiatives in each country highlight these tensions around migration and education: on the one hand reinforcing national(ist) values through curricular changes (Fundamental British Values in the UK; Grande Mobilisation pour les Valeurs de la République in France) whilst on the other hand promoting new ways of being inclusive towards linguistically and religiously diverse school populations. This talk will examine these different (yet convergent) approaches to migration and education through a critical review of the press over the period 2000-2021. It will discuss the dominant narratives and discourses which emerged from this review, whilst reflecting on what this can tell us about the relationship between public discourse and education policy.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwodOCqrzkuGdVCqnTSxR-0kbDQSsn9c4Pm
24 April 2024 – Professor Akiyoshi Yonezawa, Tohoku University, Japan
Time: 3-4pm (UK time)
Title: Internationalising Education Research: Bridging National and Global Perspectives in Japan’s Education and Comparative Education Research
Education research and its academic communities have developed in close connection with national education systems. However, increased globalization and digital interconnectedness necessitate the internationalization of educational research, which demands deeper engagement with international colleagues and communities. This presents a substantial challenge, particularly for Japan’s education research communities that are deeply rooted in the national language and research structures. What should be done to provide early career researchers in education with future research perspectives and careers that are well connected to international research communities as well as national and local educational communities? What is the role of comparative education research in this context? Drawing on my research with leading experts, I will explore diverse perspectives on internationalization from the leaders of educational research associations, early career researchers, and prominent comparative education scholars.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsc-CvrDgjG91GnIdpoLL8zjcA_dnUi14X
22 May 2024 – Gustavo Fischman, Arizona State University, USA
Time: 3-4pm (UK time)
Title: Using, misusing, and abusing education research journals
In recent decades, the broad field of education research has shown robust growth in the number of journals and articles published, coupled with the use of metrics associated with journals to assess the “impact” of scholars. And yet, despite the growth and crucial functions of journals in the field, it is rare to find satisfied editors, authors, reviewers, and readers. Most journals are under great stress to effectively work with authors and reviewers and struggle with multiple demands, such as finding reliable metrics of impact, increasing the diversity of authors, editorial boards, and readership, maintaining viable funding, and adapting to the evolving uses of AI and the growing cases of scientific misconduct. Recognizing the intricate interplay between conceptual orientations, accountability systems, funding models, and reputation in academic publishing, I will focus on reward and assessment structures in the political economy of education journals. In this scenario, the reward structures used in the field often and perversely discourage journals from considering interdisciplinary collaborations or acknowledging different epistemological standpoints and wastefully ignoring scholarship from multiple regions. I advocate for a transformative shift towards frameworks that de-emphasize using journals as proxies for assessing scholars. Instead, I encourage collaborative interdisciplinary approaches, multilingual teamwork, open data sharing, non-commercialized funding, and stakeholder engagement. By fostering these strategies, the whole field of education research could improve scholarly rigor, trustworthiness, usability, and relevance.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqdOyqrz0tE9TH7BfT64qJzqP3VV5UnINu
26 June 2024 – Dr Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai-Techavijit, University of Reading, UK
Time: 3-4pm (UK time)
An international survey study exploring teachers’ perceptions on using mathematical storytelling: The case of England
This international qualitative survey study sets out to investigate in-service and pre-service primary school teachers’ perceived barriers to and enablers for the integration of storytelling in mathematics teaching and learning across five different countries (England, Ireland, Malta, Australia and Taiwan). While research over the past three decades have documented pedagogical benefits of teaching mathematics using children’s literature, research into teachers’ perceptions regarding the use of such resources is virtually non-existent. The study thus filled this research gap by drawing responses from open-ended survey questions of 1,000+ in-service and pre-service teachers across these aforementioned five countries. (In the context of this presentation, the focus will be on presenting data relating to England with some broad comparisons made with the other countries’ datasets.) A thematic analysis revealed a set of perceived barriers classified under themes, such as Lack of Pedagogical Knowledge and Confidence, and Time Constraint. Moreover, the study also identified a set of perceived enablers classified under themes, such as Pedagogical Benefits and Social Norms. Findings also showed that most of the teachers in the study have never used or infrequently used storytelling as part of their mathematics teaching. The study highlights the role of professional learning and teacher training in ensuring that both in- and pre-service teachers have the necessary pedagogical knowledge, experience and confidence in using children’s literature to enrich their mathematics teaching. The presentation will then conclude with a summary of the speaker’s research impact-generating activities based on the findings so far.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYodumhrToqEtRvBQ7eWIAksjkYapxyW2Va
Past Seminars
The recordings of past Global Public Seminars in Comparative and International Education can be accessed by following these links:
- Why does educational tracking lead to greater inequality in political engagement? Zooming in on France Speaker: Professor Germ Janmaat, UCL Institute of Education, UK
- Education in Emergencies & the Implicated Subject: Imperial Pasts and Presents Speaker: Professor Mario Novelli, Professor in the Political Economy of Education, Centre for International Education, University of Sussex, UK
- Tiger parenting under globalization: Social class, ethnicity and culture Speaker: Dr Nutsa Kobakhidze, Assistant Professor in Comparative and International Education, Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
- Overview of Education In Africa: How the Implementation of the CESA And SDG4 Agendas is Progressing? Speaker: Dr Carolina Alban Conto, Research and Development Manager, IIEP – UNESCO Africa Office, Dakar, Senegal
- At The Crossroads: Rethinking the Role of Education in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism Speaker: Thomas Koruth Samuel, Consultant, Terrorism Prevention, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
- Social Distance, Teachers’ Beliefs and Teaching Practices in a Context of Social Disadvantage: Evidence from India and Pakistan Speaker: Dr Rabea Malik, CEO and Fellow, Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives; Assistant Professor, School of Education, LUMS, Pakistan
- ‘Breaking gender, sex and sexuality borders: The case of comprehensive sexuality education in South Africa’ Speaker: Thabo Msibi, Dean and Head of School, School of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- Global Middle-Class families – comparative study of travel trajectories and imagined futures Speaker: Miri Yemini, Senior Lecturer, Tel Aviv University, Israel
- Equal’ Transnational Partnerships in Higher Education: Sino-Foreign Case Studies Speaker: Miguel Antonio Lim, Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Manchester, UK
- Why did policymakers in India and Mexico adopt the Germanic model of dual apprenticeships?’ Speaker: Oscar Valiente, Senior Lecturer University of Glasgow, UK
- Governing education by partnership: the GPE in the context of other sectors’ global financing partnerships.’ Speaker: Moira V. Faul, Executive Director, NORRAG, Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland
- A comparison of the transition of returning scholars to domestic research environments in Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Cambodia. Speaker: Aliya Kuzhabekova, Associate Professor, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
- Methods and Findings from OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) Video Study of Teaching Speaker: V. Darleen Opfer, Vice President, RAND Education and Labor Research Division; Distinguished Chair in Education Policy, USA
- Renegotiating the Public Good: Education Policy Responses to Covid-19 in England, Germany and Italy Speaker: Dr Peter Kelly, Reader in Comparative Education, University of Plymouth, UK