Introduction to the Special Issue: History of Education, International Relations and Transnational Perspectives: State of the Art

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to present those studies in the field of the History of Education that have emphasized international influences and educational modernization. To do this, the first part of this article addresses the origin of this type of research within the History of Education. We then focus on analyzing the subsequent evolution that occurred with the beginning of the transnational turn and its impact on educational-historical research. Through a bibliographic review, we attempt to highlight the importance of studying international organizations, public diplomacy, the Cold War and Modernization Theory in order to understand the transformations that took place in educational systems worldwide during the second half of the 20th century. All these elements reveal more clearly the factors that made countries with different political regimes, cultural traditions or educational models begin to develop similar educational policies. Finally, this article points out the value of new research to understand the origin and development of certain policies at the international level.