This presentation was given by Dirk Van Damme from the OECD at the GCES Conference on Governing Education in a Complex World during the Closing session in Brussels on 18 October 2016.

1. GCES CONFERENCE
CLOSING REMARKS
Dirk Van Damme
OECD/EDU/IMEP
@VanDammeEDU

2. • Coming at the end of the GCES journey, what
has been achieved?
– A series of very relevant questions
– A coherent and convincing analysis (and meta-
analysis) of where we are in educational policy
• Using new conceptual tools (complexity)
– A range of very interesting case studies on how
reforms and policies work in practice
– An appealing vision of (an) alternative
approach(es) to governing education systems
GCES: conceptualizing and disseminating an
alternative vision on governing education
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3. • Impact?
– Critical role: Promote reflection on current models
of policing education and ask the right questions
– Constructive role: Convince policy-makers that an
alternative approach is not only possible, but also
more effective
– Mobilizing role: Appeal teachers, stakeholders,
parents, various social actors to seize the
opportunity for stronger governance roles
GCES: conceptualizing and disseminating an
alternative vision on governing education
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4. • Growing diversity of views on education,
fragmentation, ‘how much disagreement can we
handle?’
• The seduction of political power and the
arrogance of power
• Sense of urgency, ‘do we have the time?’
• The risk of laisser-faire: ‘trust’ can become
newspeak for doing nothing or limiting ambitions
• Which governance model will lower the
tolerance for low-quality teaching & learning?
Possible barriers to success
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6. • Why after all did we get into the situation in
which we find ourselves and for which better
governance approaches are the solution?
– Education itself has become high-stakes, maybe
not yet even enough
– Control-and-command policies belong to
favourite policy paradigm of governments
– Arguments in favour of alternative governance
models will only be convincing if they effectively
reshape policy environments for better outcomes
Some further questions
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7. • How mature should a profession be to assume
it’s role into a different governance model?
– Professional status and identity as opposed to
industrial role of teacher unions
– Professionalization process of teachers has not
finished, but still is ongoing
– Balance between professional expertise and
commitment, mission
– Consists professionalism in procedures, bodies,
regulation, … or in the teaching & learning
practice?
Some further questions
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8. • Is a more knowledge-intensive ecosystem
asking for or lending itself to different
governance models?
– Teachers as (knowledge) professionals
– Knowledge flows and knowledge dynamics in the
profession and the wider system
– Interaction between (still weakly developed)
scientific and expert knowledge and alternative
knowledge sources
– Is knowledge a good basis for capacity and trust?
Some further questions
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9. • Where would we situate the limits for the new
governance regime?
– Home schooling? Creationism? Islamic schools?
Unqualified teachers? Increased between-school
segregation? Inverted teacher allocation?
Corruption in schools? Etc. all caused
governments to fall back in old, control-
command-punish policing regimes focusing on
accountability
– Sedimentation of different modes of policing and
governing?
Some further questions
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10. • Strategic, visionary leadership
– Strategic thinking, innovation strategy, …
• Professional leadership
• Meta-level leadership
– Defining the framework conditions and rules of
the game of governance
• How to ensure that leadership is empowering
and not disempowering the capacities and roles
of other stakeholders and actors?
The critically important role of leadership
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11. • The importance of context: participatory
governance is more sensitive to contexts than
old-style models
• The roles of the political (and ideological)
• And, for sure, this conversation has only just
started…!
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Final-final remarks…

12. Thank you !
dirk.vandamme@oecd.org
www.oecd.org/edu/ceri
twitter @VanDammeEDU
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