Centre for Globalisation, Education and Societies (GES)

The GES was established in 2003 to systematically research the complex, changing and co-constitutive relationship between globalisation and education.

It is the only centre of its kind in the UK to focus specifically on this relationship.

Scholars and students are engaged in theorising and researching a very wide range of issues and questions - in particular with how forms of educational policy and practice respond to and shape these interactions at a range of levels and scales.

Its members contribute to leading debates on globalisation, knowledge, state strategies and social justice within the academy, government policy circles and the community.

The GES's work is shaped by commitments to:

Theoretical and methodological explorations of how, why and with what consequences the relationships between globalisation societies and education are changing
Carrying out empirical research into these relationships with a view to improving both understanding of the structures and processes involved, and educational practices associated with them
Informing all its work by a sense of extending and strengthening education's roles in social justice, globally and locally

Topics of current interest to members of the GES include:

Multiscalar governance of education
The role of international organizations and NGOs in education and development
Europe, the Bologna Process and the development of a competitive, cohesive Europe
The role of the university in city-regional development
Globalisation of neo-liberalism and its consequences
Development of knowledge-based economies through lifelong learning
Alternative economies of knowledge production
Social cohesion, social justice and disadvantage in education systems
Changing identities in a globalising world
Social implications of digital technologies
Researching globalisation (e.g. post-colonial, neo-Gramscian, governmentality theories)

Journal

The GES also hosts the journal Globalisation, Societies and Education

EdQual, DfID-funded Consortium

Leon Tikly of the GES leads EdQual, engaged with developing countries, learning and education quality.

ESRC funded Research Centre; Learning and Lifechances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (LLAKES)

The GES is collaborating in an ESRC funded Research Centre Learning and Lifechances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (2008-2012) with the Institute of Education, London.

NESSE - the Network of Experts on Social Science and Education

GES's Roger Dale is the Scientific Coordinator for NESSE - the Network of Experts on Social Science and Education. The network advises the European Commission on the social aspects of education policy and practice.

Blog

The GES co-edits a weblog GlobalHigherEd - visit the blog maintained by Kris Olds (Wisconsin) and Susan Robertson (Bristol), and contributed to by GES members.