Soft governance by hard fact? The OECD as a knowledge broker in education policy

Abstract

As the policy field of education has become increasingly internationalized over the last two decades, international organizations like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) play an increasingly decisive role in the diffusion of knowledge, monitoring, and research in global education policy. Although the OECD lacks any binding or coercive governance instruments in relation to states, or ability to provide material incentives for compliance, it has nevertheless successively expanded its influence regarding education. From a perspective of social constructivism, we argue that the transmission of ideas and information generated through ratings and rankings can be viewed as a crucial governance tool for the influence of an international organization (IO). Our article seeks to analyze how the OECD uses large-scale education assessments to promote the economically based idea of human capital and related learning techniques in education policy – thus influencing national education systems. Furthermore, the OECD and its distinctive approach of soft governance through putative hard fact may become a role model for other IOs, both in the field of education and beyond.