The worlds first think tank on education
The International Alliance of Leading Education Institutes is the world's first think-tank on education. The aim is to produce new insights and recommendations on educational matters - much like what the World Economic Forum does on economic matters.
The Alliance consists of 10 leading Education Institutes from 6 continents: Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Northand South America.
"It is beyond doubt that knowledge, education and learning have become global issues. Unlike other productive forces such as land and industry, knowledge cannot be limited to a specific region or nation, but moves freely across borders. Therefore, education and educational policy are subjects which can only be comprehensively studied and explained in a global perspective," says Dean Lars Qvortrup, The Danish School of Education. Denmark currently holds the chairmanship of the Alliance.
The Alliance was formed at a summit in Singapore in 2007. Its initial priority was to examine the role and importance of Teacher Education, currently a major concern throughout the world. In August 2008, the Alliance published the report 'Transforming Teacher Education: Redefined Professionals for 21st Century Schools' including an analysis of teacher education and a list of recommendations.
In October 2008, The Alliance launched a new joint research project with focus on Climate Change and Sustainable Development - the Response from Education. A set of recommendations based on the project's findings will be published in August 2009, in time for the UN Climate Summit to be held later in the year.
Read more: www.intlalliance.org
Three goals
The aim of the Alliance is to provide evidence to policy decisions, secure funding and inspire research and intervention efforts that will improve education locally and globally. The Alliance will utilise existing strengths of each institutions to:
- Speak with one voice on educational matters to raise the profile and quality of education with government, international agencies and the public at large.
- Act as a forum for collaboration to develop understanding in order to address current local and global educational issues.
- Be a think-tank that draws upon existing expertise and research- based evidence to generate ideas, anticipate trends and develop future scenarios.
Ten members
The International Alliance of Leading Education Institutes comprises ten of the world's leading faculties and university schools in the field of educational research.
Melbourne Graduate School of Education, Melbourne University, Australia
Faculty of Education, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada
School of Education, Beijing Normal University, People's Republic of China
Danish School of Education, Aarhus University, Denmark
Faculty of Education, Seoul National University, Korea
National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
School of Education, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Institute of Education, University of London, UK
School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA