Maren Elfert | King's College London (original) (raw)

Books by Maren Elfert

This book examines the educational role of three international organizations created as part of t... more This book examines the educational role of three international organizations created as part of the post-World War II multilateral architecture: the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Bank, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). These organizations have significantly promoted and shaped education as a fundamental feature of the modernization of society and contributed to the globalization of educational norms, policies and technologies. Drawing on primary source materials and interviews, the book provides novel perspectives to the literature on the global governance of education by focusing on the historical entanglements, relations and power struggles between these three organizations, rather than treating them separately. The study sheds light on the homogenizing effects of globalized educational policy-making and the shifting power dynamics in the global governance of education.

With a focus on lifelong learning, this book examines the shifts that UNESCO’s educational concep... more With a focus on lifelong learning, this book examines the shifts that UNESCO’s educational concepts have undergone in reaction to historical pressures and dilemmas since the founding of the organization in 1945. The tensions between UNESCO’s humanistic worldview and the pressures placed on the organization have forced UNESCO to depart from its utopian vision of lifelong learning, while still claiming continuity. Elfert interprets the history of lifelong learning in UNESCO as part of a much bigger story of a struggle of ideologies between a humanistic-emancipatory and an economistic-technocratic worldview. With a close study of UNESCO’s two education flagship reports, the Faure and Delors reports, Elfert sheds light on the global impact of UNESCO’s professed humanistic goals and its shifting influence on lifelong learning around the world.

Kaepplinger, B., & Elfert, M. (Eds.). (2018). Verlassene Orte der Erwachsenenbildung/Abandoned places of adult education (German-English volume). Studies in Pedagogy, Andragogy and Gerontagogy 74. Frankfurt: Peter Lang., 2018

Introduction to the Canadian contributions to the book: Kaepplinger, B., & Elfert, M. (Eds.). (2... more Introduction to the Canadian contributions to the book:
Kaepplinger, B., & Elfert, M. (Eds.). (2018). Verlassene Orte der Erwachsenenbildung/Abandoned places of adult education (German-English volume). Studies in Pedagogy, Andragogy and Gerontagogy 74. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.

Die ersten Lebensjahre eines Kindes sind entscheidend für die Entwicklung seiner Schriftsprachkom... more Die ersten Lebensjahre eines Kindes sind entscheidend für die Entwicklung seiner Schriftsprachkompetenz und damit für seinen späteren Schulerfolg. Family Literacy ist ein generationsübergreifender Ansatz zur Förderung der Schriftsprachkompetenz von Familien. Der Schwerpunkt liegt dabei auf der Stärkung der Fähigkeiten der Eltern, den Schriftspracherwerb ihrer Kinder zuhause zu unterstützen und sie dadurch besser auf die Schule vorzubereiten. Dieser Band bietet einen Überblick über internationale Family Literacy-Projekte sowie über Entwicklungen in Deutschland. Die Erfahrungen aus den hier vorgestellten Programmen zeigen, dass Family Literacy nicht nur für Kinder, sondern auch für viele Erwachsene der (Wieder-)Einstieg ins Lernen ist.

Papers by Maren Elfert

International Review of Education, 70, 2024

Obituary for Albert Tuijnman (1959-2024)

Comparative Education , 2024

This article – and the special issue it introduces – contributes to the expanding scholarly liter... more This article – and the special issue it introduces – contributes to the expanding scholarly literature on the global governance of education, with a particular focus on its future-oriented and ‘promissory’ dimension. Inspired by Beckert’s (2020) concept of ‘promissory’ legitimacy, a key contribution of this special issue is to critically analyse past and contemporary promissory narratives of the major international organisations and other global actors concerning the future of education. We focus on three overarching themes that emerge from the contributions to this special issue: Problems of legitimacy in the global governance of education; a shift towards multistakeholderism, which we explore through the lens of ‘the neuro-affective turn’; the use of crisis narratives as an instrument of global governance, and geopolitical shifts and the decline of the liberal world order.

Comparative Education, 2024

We argue that the legitimacy of international organisations (IOs) as self-proclaimed representati... more We argue that the legitimacy of international organisations (IOs) as self-proclaimed representatives of humankind, which was unfounded from the outset, is waning. To substantiate that claim, we undertake a critical inquiry into the legitimacy of the promissory visions pursued by IOs in the field of education across three historical periods. The first traces the rationalistic educational planning and idealistic 'one world' projects of the post-World War II period. The second examines the era of globalisation, when the discourse that legitimised the educational visions of IOs shifted towards the promises of the 'global knowledge economy'. The third discusses the contemporary trend towards emergency governance and crisis narratives. While the narratives of progress shifted, a pattern that has emerged is the move towards globalism and uniformity. Drawing on insights from philosophy and historical studies of world-empire, we argue that the world-making experiments conducted by IOs were destined to be unsuccessful.

Elfert, M., & Rasmussen, P. (2024). Transnational governance and policy in adult education: The role of the OECD and UNESCO. In M. Milana, P. Rasmussen, & M. Bussi (Eds.), Research Handbook on Adult Education Policy (pp. 132-146). Edward Elgar., 2024

The chapter traces and discusses how two different supranational organizations, the OECD and UNES... more The chapter traces and discusses how two different supranational organizations, the OECD and UNESCO, both established in the wake of the Second World War, conceive and pursue adult education governance and policy. Both organizations have developed policy objectives and tools for adult education in the context of their general work, constituencies, and mandates. The OECD has mainly contextualised adult education and learning as an element of economic competitiveness and development, underpinned by human capital theory, while UNESCO has emphasized adult education as part of cultural and civic development, guided by a human rights approach to education. Over the years UNESCO’s civic agenda has gradually lost out against the priority placed on schooling in international development and the neoliberal individualistic lifelong learning and skills approach promoted by the OECD. In contrast to the OECD, which governs through metrics, UNESCO’s role in adult education is based on normative rather than empirical governing.

Convergence, Volume 45, No. 1, pp. 100-103, 2014

Comparative Education, 2023

This article argues that contemporary education policies promoted by UNESCO and the OECD are embr... more This article argues that contemporary education policies promoted by UNESCO and the OECD are embracing two distinct posthumanist visions, which I call the ‘sustainable futures’ and the ‘techno-solutionist’ strand. I will relate these strands to two conflicting agendas of education after World War II: the humanistic-emancipatory perspective represented by UNESCO, and the ‘economics of education’ movement, which was
dominant in the OECD. I argue that comparative education scholars would be well advised to draw on the humanistic and democratic traditions of the field in critically analysing the range of promissory visions and master narratives that have emerged
recently which carry de-humanising tendencies and represent a challenge to democracy.

International Review of Education , 2022

3rd International Handbook on Lifelong Learning, 2022

This chapter critically reflects on research on lifelong learning in the twenty-first century in ... more This chapter critically reflects on research on lifelong learning in the twenty-first century in three sections. The first section provides a brief overview of the history of lifelong learning, from its emergence in the 1960s to the present day, which we have categorized into three generations. In the “first generation” of lifelong learning, situated in the 1960s and 1970s, the concept was rooted in a progressive policy agenda invoking a broader learning perspective, although much of the research focused on the formal educational system. In the 1980s, in what has been labelled “the second generation,” driven by a neoliberal political economy, the discourse shifted towards investment in human capital and employability. The period of the “third generation” balanced the humanistic and instrumental approaches of the two previous generations while still prioritizing the employability aspect. The second section reviews previous research on lifelong learning, focusing on research for lifelong learning policy and research of lifelong learning policy. The third section discusses contemporary trends in research on lifelong learning and uses the UN Sustainability agenda to outline a research program that will consider long-standing social and economic challenges, made even more acute in the Covid-19 world. Against the background of the insights gathered from 70 years of research on lifelong learning and the dramatic inequalities that challenge the future of our societies, there is a need to go beyond the current focus on measurable outcomes and the utilitarian skills agenda in favor of greater attention to the democratic, nonformal, and pedagogical dimensions of lifelong learning.

International Journal of Educational Development, 2021

This paper examines the relationship between the World Bank and the United Nations Educational, S... more This paper examines the relationship between the World Bank and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) between the 1960s and the 1980s. It focuses on the Cooperative Program (CP) between the two organizations, which was established in 1964 and lasted officially until 1989. In the context of the Cooperative Program, the Education Financing Division (EFD) was established, a joint unit located in UNESCO, with the purpose of carrying out technical missions to assist governments in the identification and preparation of educational projects and the formulation of funding requests to the World Bank. Drawing on archival research and interviews with former UNESCO and World Bank officials, the paper traces the history of the Cooperative Program, which was characterized by intense power struggles exacerbated by Cold War tensions. During the 25 years of the duration of the Cooperative Program, the World Bank developed into the most influential policy shaper for education in developing countries, while the influence of UNESCO, created in the post-World War II order as the United Nations' designated organization for education, declined. Using Bourdieu's concept of fields and DiMaggio and Powell's concept of isomorphism as analytical lenses, the World Bank's expansion to a development agency will be explained by its greater autonomy as a field, endowed with more capital based on the rationalization of education and isomorphic processes of professionalization of the "field of power" of educational planning. To the detriment of UNESCO, the World Bank became the powerhouse of a global governance structure that was built with support from the United States government and furthered by the rise of economics.

International Review of Education, 2021

International Review of Education, 2020

International Review of Education, 2019

This article, which draws on a review of primary and secondary literature, examines the role of a... more This article, which draws on a review of primary and secondary literature, examines the role of a human rights-based approach to adult learning and education (ALE) in the context of the global Education 2030 agenda, which is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) launched in 2015 by the United Nations. Whereas the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) focused on primary education, the SDGs, through SDG 4 which is devoted to education, call on Member States to "ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all". The inclusion of lifelong learning has awakened hopes for a stronger role of ALE in global education agendas and policies. In principle, the ten targets of SDG 4 open up clear possibilities for ALE. However, the author cautions that there is cause for scepticism that ALE, in particular human rights-based ALE, will receive more attention under the SDGs than it did under the MDGs. The article is structured into three sections. The first section traces the emergence of a rights-based approach to adult education as an international paradigm, with particular attention given to the role of UNESCO. The second section discusses how the rights-based approach to adult education has been contested by other actors in the field of education for development. In the final section, the author draws on recent empirical data to reflect on the role of ALE in the age of the SDGs. Keywords lifelong learning • adult learning and education (ALE) • Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) • education as a human right • UNESCO • literacy Résumé Apprentissage tout au long de la vie dans l'Objectif 4 de développement durable : quelle importance pour l'approche de l'apprentissage et de l'éducation des adultes fondée sur les droits que préconise l'UNESCO ?-Cet article s'appuie sur une ana

European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, 2015

Against the background of internal developments of adult education as a field of study, and new e... more Against the background of internal developments of adult education as a field of study, and new external conditions for research, this article examines how the configuration of adult education research has been evolving, particularly over the last decade. Our analysis draws on a two-pronged approach: a reading of four seminal articles written by adult education scholars who have conducted bibliometric analyses of selected adult education journals; as well as our own review of 75 articles, covering a one-year period (2012–2013), in five adult education journals that were chosen to provide a greater variety of the field of adult education in terms of their thematic orientation and geographical scope than has been the case in previous reviews. Our findings suggest that the field is facing two main challenges. First, the fragmentation of the map of the territory that was noticed at the end of the 1990s, has continued and seems to have intensified. Second, not only practitioners, but als...

International Review of Education

International Review of Education, 70, 2024

Obituary for Albert Tuijnman (1959-2024)

Comparative Education , 2024

Comparative Education, 2024

Convergence, Volume 45, No. 1, pp. 100-103, 2014

Comparative Education, 2023

International Review of Education , 2022

3rd International Handbook on Lifelong Learning, 2022

International Journal of Educational Development, 2021

International Review of Education, 2021

International Review of Education, 2020

International Review of Education, 2019

European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, 2015

International Review of Education

The OECD’s historical rise in education: The formation of a global governing complex. , 2020

This chapter, which draws on a review of primary sources and secondary literature and interviews,... more This chapter, which draws on a review of primary sources and secondary literature and interviews, traces the historical role of the OECD in shaping and diffusing the “economics of education” and in building a new world order dominated by the United States in the post-World War II period. The chapter focuses on the 1960s, when a rationalistic approach to social engineering and planning gained momentum in government circles, universities and international organizations. It is divided into three sections. The first will examine how the OECD and its precursor, the OEEC, served as platforms to spread the influence of the U.S. government as well as the American scientific community and philanthropic foundations to European countries. The second section addresses the controversy surrounding the economization of education among educators who were suspicious of economists’ intentions in relation to education. The concluding section will discuss what became of the “economics of education” approach at the OECD and reflect on its relevance within the contemporary landscape. The chapter aims to contribute to the understanding of the hegemonic influence the OECD has gained on the education agenda worldwide.

K. Gram-Skjoldager, H. A. Ikonomou, & T. Kahlert (Eds.), Organizing the 20th-century world - International organizations and the emergence of international public administration, 1920-1960s. London: Bloomsbury. , 2020

After the Second World War, governments embraced multilateralism as a way to secure peace and col... more After the Second World War, governments embraced multilateralism as a way to secure peace and collaboration among nation-states. New international organizations (IOs) were created for specific purposes, and they would become powerful agents of global governance and international politics, building up bureaucracies of specialized knowledge. The new global governance regime that emerged in the post-war period was characterized by bureaucracies forged by dialectical relationships among IOs, governments, and an array of communities consisting of experts who derived their authority from new knowledge and scientific instruments generated in the shape of statistics, indicators and comparative studies. The role of the United States that emerged as the major hegemonic world power after World War II, was instrumental in the formation of this new bureaucracy of global governance. This chapter focuses on two organizations that played a critical role in these developments: The Organization for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The OEEC was the precursor of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that today is arguably the most influential policy shaper in the global education arena. The guiding question of the chapter is: What was the American influence on the bureaucratic modes of governance developed by the OEEC/OECD and UNESCO? Other connecting questions we are interested in are: What were the tensions within and between these organizations in building their institutional cultures and modes of governance and finding a role for themselves? How did the OECD – an organization created with the purpose of promoting
economic development – assume its hegemonic position in the landscape of global governance of education, while UNESCO –which was founded as the specialized agency of the United Nations with a clear mandate for education – experienced a decline in its influence? To address these questions, we will identify the similarities and differences between UNESCO and the OEEC in terms of 1) the establishment of an institutional culture working for the promotion of a scientific worldview; 2) the relationship of the United States with both organizations; and 3) the educational activities and modes of governance of both organizations during the 1950s and early 1960s. The chapter draws on state-of-the-art research; historical publications; primary source materials harvested from the U.S. National Archives, the Rockefeller Archive Center and the UNESCO and OECD archives in Paris.

European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, 11(1), 109-125. (Thematic issue: The changing landscapes of literacies and adult education, ed. by B. Merrill, A. Fragoso & L. Tett)., 2020

There was a period of time, from the late 1980s until the early/mid-2000s, when interest in adult... more There was a period of time, from the late 1980s until the early/mid-2000s, when interest in adult literacy in Canada was strong among the public, in the media, and with policy-makers, and a policy window opened for the mainstreaming of literacy. Against this background, it is surprising that the Canadian literacy infrastructure was subsequently largely dismantled. Drawing on theories of policy formation, and recent and previous research, including interviews with key stakeholders, we argue that mainstreaming literacy has failed and explore the reasons for this failure. The paper is structured in three sections. First, we report on the construction of an adult literacy infrastructure in Canada over two phases: i) the period from the 1970s up until the launch of the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) in 1994; ii) the story of IALS and changes occurring up until around 2005. Second, we examine the reasons for the failure of the mainstreaming of literacy in Canada. We conclude with further reflections on the present situation in which adult literacy has been largely reduced to employability skills which are under-supported. 1

NORRAG blog, 2020

In this post, the author looks at the often-misunderstood concept of lifelong learning (LLL) in r... more In this post, the author looks at the often-misunderstood concept of lifelong learning (LLL) in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals. Will the SDG promise of a transformative vision concerning LLL be translated into concrete policy actions? Or will the promise not come to fruition, like many other “passing fads” in the global development agenda?

A. Mazawi, & M. Stack (Eds.), Bodies of knowledge and their discontents: Critical international perspectives on course syllabi in faculties of education. Bloomsbury Critical Education. London: Bloomsbury., 2020

This chapter examines teacher education syllabi through the lens of the geopolitics of knowledge.... more This chapter examines teacher education syllabi through the lens of the geopolitics of knowledge. It focuses on the syllabus as an ontological and epistemological statement of what is considered valuable knowledge in teacher education. The syllabus is an ontological statement regarding what education or the work of the teacher stands for and is also an epistemic statement—that is, a tool through which one reflects on and comes to know oneself as a teacher and an educator. For this chapter we analyzed the master syllabi of the teacher education program for secondary school teachers at a leading Canadian research university. Drawing on a critical cartography approach, we mapped the publisher and author locations of the literature used in the teacher education program. The maps we generated from the data show that the knowledge represented on the teacher education syllabi originates overwhelmingly in the United States and Canada, and to a lesser extent, the United Kingdom. The maps present a stark visualization of the "abyssal line" and the limited geographical
location of knowledge that teachers encounter in their education program. Our mapping of knowledge made the extensive exclusion of knowledge visible. Our study suggests the problem of how to create a teacher workforce which is more evenly representative of the diversity of the Canadian population.

Unesco Institute For Lifelong Learning, 2008

Canadian Labour Market and Skills Researcher Network. Working Paper 129, 2013

Recent development of adult learning typologies stems from the policy community’s interest in co... more Recent development of adult learning typologies stems from the policy community’s
interest in collecting information on learning activities of populations in order to
understand the economic and social benefits of learning and to contribute to the
development of evidence-informed policy making in the field of adult education and
training. In this regard, the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation’s (SRDC’s)
Adult Learning Typology (Myers, Conte & Rubenson, 2011) was constructed as a
heuristic device capable of classifying all types of learning in a single framework.
Through a primarily conceptual process the authors arrived at a typology consisting of
five classes of learning: foundational; higher education; workplace-related; labour
market-related; and personal/social. While initial feedback has been positive, the
typology needed to be tested for utility in describing the actual participation patterns and
practices of adult learning. This paper assesses the utility of the SRDC’s adult learning
typology by addressing three broad questions: 1) How does the typology compare to
emerging international adult learning classification schemes (UNESCO, OECD-PIAAC
and EUROSTAT)?; 2) To what extent is the typology useful in describing actual
participation patterns as captured by the Access and Support to Education and Training
Survey?; 3) How well does the typology describe how adult learning activities are
organized provincially, using British Columbia as a case study? Based on the
examination of the typology conducted in this report, the authors recommend to revise
the SRDC’s typology. They further recommend that future surveys collecting information
on organized forms of adult learning and education should be designed to collect
information on all forms of formal and non-formal learning activities, as well as on
informal learning.

Clssrn Working Papers, Nov 22, 2013

Recent development of adult learning typologies stems from the policy community's interest in col... more Recent development of adult learning typologies stems from the policy community's interest in collecting information on learning activities of populations in order to understand the economic and social benefits of learning and to contribute to the development of evidence-informed policy making in the field of adult education and training. In this regard, the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation's (SRDC's) Adult Learning Typology was constructed as a heuristic device capable of classifying all types of learning in a single framework. Through a primarily conceptual process the authors arrived at a typology consisting of five classes of learning: foundational; higher education; workplace-related; labour market-related; and personal/social. While initial feedback has been positive, the typology needed to be tested for utility in describing the actual participation patterns and practices of adult learning. This paper assesses the utility of the SRDC's adult learning typology by addressing three broad questions: 1) How does the typology compare to emerging international adult learning classification schemes (UNESCO, OECD-PIAAC and EUROSTAT)?; 2) To what extent is the typology useful in describing actual participation patterns as captured by the Access and Support to Education and Training Survey?; 3) How well does the typology describe how adult learning activities are organized provincially, using British Columbia as a case study? Based on the examination of the typology conducted in this report, the authors recommend to revise the SRDC's typology. They further recommend that future surveys collecting information on organized forms of adult learning and education should be designed to collect information on all forms of formal and non-formal learning activities, as well as on informal learning. JEL classification: I20; I21; and I29 Adult learning typology ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The overall purpose of this report is to contribute to the development of evidence-informed policy making in the field of adult education and training by constructing a heuristic typology of adult learning. Recent development of adult learning typologies stems from the policy community's interest in collecting information on learning activities in their populations. The goal is to better understand the impact of learning activities on skills distribution and the wider economic and social benefits that eventually result. Despite conceptual and empirical progress in measuring competencies, the development of crucial linkages is less evident; we refer here to ties between competencies, forms of adult learning and education, policy levers, and outcomes. Such analyses are essential in gauging how well education and training systems perform in generating required competencies, and in clarifying which policy levers would best enhance socio-economic returns. The development of a robust typology of adult education and learning is a key component of such efforts. The Social Research and Demonstration Corporation's Adult Learning Typology is constructed as a heuristic device capable of classifying all types of learning in a single framework. Through a primarily conceptual process the authors arrived at a typology consisting of five classes of learning: foundational; higher education; workplace-related; labour market-related; and personal/social. These five types of learning were further described in terms of providers, funders, duration, learners' motivations, and other design and delivery features.

Comparative Education, 2024

International Review for Education, 2021

This is a book review of "Lifelong learning, global social justice, and sustainability" by Leona ... more This is a book review of "Lifelong learning, global social justice, and sustainability" by Leona M. English and Peter Mayo. Palgrave Macmillan/Springer International, Cham. 2021, 146 pp. ISBN 978-3-030-65777-2 (hbk), ISBN 978-3-030-65778-9 (eBook).

Quaderni di Pedagogia Della Scuola, 1(2), 2022

The UNESCO report Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education, launched... more The UNESCO report Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education, launched in November 2021 in the context of UNESCO's Futures of Education initiative, represents the organisation's third major report on the future of education, following the 1972 Learning to Be (aka the Faure report) and the 1996 Learning: The Treasure Within (aka the Delors report). The report maintains the strong humanistic orientation long associated with UNESCO's visions of education. Overall we interpret the report as a challenge to both the powerful impact of the tenets of neoliberalism on education and of a range of factors that have accelerated over the last three decades; including climate change, sustainability, technological change, the rise of populist nationalisms and health pandemics. We will comment on what we consider to be the key messages of the report by situating them in the context of its two precursor reports, with a focus on the "social contract". We will argue that the report lacks a political stance and a critical analysis of power which undermines its ability to challenge the status quo.