Placing Teachers in Global Governance Agendas

This article examines the focus on teacher policies and practices by a range of global actors and explores their meaning for the governance of teachers. Through a historical and contemporary reading, I argue that an important shift in the locus of power to govern has taken place. I show how the mechanisms of global governance of teachers are being transformed from “education as (national) development” and “norm setting” to “learning as (individual) development” and “competitive comparison.” Yet despite tendencies toward a convergence of agendas, there are important differences between them. I conclude by examining the limits and possibilities of governing at a (global) distance, as well as the contradictions inherent in neoliberal framings of teacher policies to realize the good teacher.