Call for Applications: Summer University Course on Privatization in Education

Date:

May 20, 2011

Under the auspices of the Privatization in Education Research Initiative, the Education Support Program of the Open Society Foundations and the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary, are offering a one-week summer university course on privatization in education, July 25–29, 2011.

Bringing together an internationally renowned faculty, the course aims to:

Locate new governance initiatives in education sectors in relation to wider transformations in the global political and cultural economy; education as a services sector; education as a tradeable commodity; education as a form of human capital and investment; education as a human right; education as a form of cultural capital; education as a means for emancipation; education as a cultural and class project.
Demonstrate understanding of the complex nature of education governance that involves different actors, differing activity, and different scales on which to act.
Outline the nature of the conceptual complexities and empirical phenomena associated with Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) as emerging, hybrid, forms of governance and their role in, and consequences for, the governance of the education sector, and new forms of privatisation of education.
Develop a critical account of a range of education governance initiatives; from low-fee-schooling; Charter Schools; Shadow Schooling; PPPs, global transnational firms, such as GEMS, Cisco Systems; education consultants, such as CfBT, and so forth.
Apply a theory of social justice to the framing and outcomes of new governance initiatives in education.

Places are limited to 25, are fully funded, and offered on a competitive basis. The scholarships include visa, travel, accommodation, tuition fees, and a subsistence allowance.

Global applications are invited from PhD candidates, early career educational researchers and policy analysts with a PhD, policy makers and government officials, and faculty in education, particularly those engaged in comparative scholarship and scholarship on education policy, social inequalities, and institutional change. Practitioners with a strong policy engagement are also encouraged to apply, especially those based in or working with southern countries.