This thesis presents the argument that the World Bank’s education policies are discursively inconsistent due to the concurrent adoption of conceptual frameworks – namely the neoliberal and global public goods frameworks – which are arguably in conflict with one another. More specifically, the World Bank presents education as both a public and a private good. This assessment is reached via a critical analysis of the Bank’s education policy discourse. The Bank’s policies are furthermore argued to be grounded in market economics and therefore are in tension with the notion of education as a human right – a legal and political framework, advocated by other development organizations, but neglected by the Bank. Over the course of this thesis, neoliberal influences on the World Bank’s education policies are critiqued on several levels, including potential ethical ramifications concerning equity, discursive logic and questionable use of evidence. This dissertation furthermore suggests that the Bank can re-conceptualize education in a light that does not engender these critiques, by embracing a rights-based vision of education. It is argued that it is not necessary for the Bank to relinquish an economic conceptualization of education, and that it is possible for the human rights and economic discourses to go hand-in-hand. Despite some tensions, education can be supported by both a public goods and rights-based framework, and that via such measures as collaboration with organizations that conceive of education as a right and reducing the dominance of economists within the organization, the Bank’s policies will become aligned with this rights-based vision. This thesis argues that World Bank education policies can take steps toward improvement if the neoliberal notion of education as an exclusive, private good is abandoned in favour of education as a non-exclusive, public good, and a right.

This thesis presents the argument that the World Bank’s education policies are discursively inconsistent due to the concurrent adoption of conceptual frameworks – namely the neoliberal and global public goods frameworks – which are arguably in conflict with one another. More specifically, the World Bank presents education as both a public and a private good. This assessment is reached via a critical analysis of the Bank’s education policy discourse. The Bank’s policies are furthermore argued to be grounded in market economics and therefore are in tension with the notion of education as a human right – a legal and political framework, advocated by other development organizations, but neglected by the Bank. Over the course of this thesis, neoliberal influences on the World Bank’s education policies are critiqued on several levels, including potential ethical ramifications concerning equity, discursive logic and questionable use of evidence. This dissertation furthermore suggests that the Bank can re-conceptualize education in a light that does not engender these critiques, by embracing a rights-based vision of education. It is argued that it is not necessary for the Bank to relinquish an economic conceptualization of education, and that it is possible for the human rights and economic discourses to go hand-in-hand. Despite some tensions, education can be supported by both a public goods and rights-based framework, and that via such measures as collaboration with organizations that conceive of education as a right and reducing the dominance of economists within the organization, the Bank’s policies will become aligned with this rights-based vision. This thesis argues that World Bank education policies can take steps toward improvement if the neoliberal notion of education as an exclusive, private good is abandoned in favour of education as a non-exclusive, public good, and a right.

This thesis presents the argument that the World Bank’s education policies are discursively inconsistent due to the concurrent adoption of conceptual frameworks – namely the neoliberal and global public goods frameworks – which are arguably in conflict with one another. More specifically, the World Bank presents education as both a public and a private good. This assessment is reached via a critical analysis of the Bank’s education policy discourse. The Bank’s policies are furthermore argued to be grounded in market economics and therefore are in tension with the notion of education as a human right – a legal and political framework, advocated by other development organizations, but neglected by the Bank. Over the course of this thesis, neoliberal influences on the World Bank’s education policies are critiqued on several levels, including potential ethical ramifications concerning equity, discursive logic and questionable use of evidence. This dissertation furthermore suggests that the Bank can re-conceptualize education in a light that does not engender these critiques, by embracing a rights-based vision of education. It is argued that it is not necessary for the Bank to relinquish an economic conceptualization of education, and that it is possible for the human rights and economic discourses to go hand-in-hand. Despite some tensions, education can be supported by both a public goods and rights-based framework, and that via such measures as collaboration with organizations that conceive of education as a right and reducing the dominance of economists within the organization, the Bank’s policies will become aligned with this rights-based vision. This thesis argues that World Bank education policies can take steps toward improvement if the neoliberal notion of education as an exclusive, private good is abandoned in favour of education as a non-exclusive, public good, and a right.

This thesis presents the argument that the World Bank’s education policies are discursively inconsistent due to the concurrent adoption of conceptual frameworks – namely the neoliberal and global public goods frameworks – which are arguably in conflict with one another. More specifically, the World Bank presents education as both a public and a private good. This assessment is reached via a critical analysis of the Bank’s education policy discourse. The Bank’s policies are furthermore argued to be grounded in market economics and therefore are in tension with the notion of education as a human right – a legal and political framework, advocated by other development organizations, but neglected by the Bank. Over the course of this thesis, neoliberal influences on the World Bank’s education policies are critiqued on several levels, including potential ethical ramifications concerning equity, discursive logic and questionable use of evidence. This dissertation furthermore suggests that the Bank can re-conceptualize education in a light that does not engender these critiques, by embracing a rights-based vision of education. It is argued that it is not necessary for the Bank to relinquish an economic conceptualization of education, and that it is possible for the human rights and economic discourses to go hand-in-hand. Despite some tensions, education can be supported by both a public goods and rights-based framework, and that via such measures as collaboration with organizations that conceive of education as a right and reducing the dominance of economists within the organization, the Bank’s policies will become aligned with this rights-based vision. This thesis argues that World Bank education policies can take steps toward improvement if the neoliberal notion of education as an exclusive, private good is abandoned in favour of education as a non-exclusive, public good, and a right.

This thesis presents a case study of Microsoft Corporation’s Partners in Learning (PiL) program, an example of transnational policy authority in education, with two embedded case studies of PiL in Jordan and South Africa. The constructivist and rationalist approaches highlight the changing nature of governance through the cultural and strategic shifts that led to Microsoft’s policy role in education. Microsoft’s strategic profit interests and its corporate-social-responsibility aspiration to play a policy role in education influenced its educational footprint. From a top-down perspective, Microsoft used supranational forms of power by implementing its global PiL blueprint through similar PiL programs worldwide. From a bottom-up perspective, Microsoft used “localization practices” by engaging different subnational agents and used different strategies to gain footholds in two very different political and policy contexts. Microsoft’s top-down and bottom-up approaches link the supranational policy arena to the subnational or subgovernmental. Microsoft’s economic power and strategic engagement gave it entry into education. It gained expert authority from its extensive history and experience in education. Its expert authority was experessed through strategic relationship building through diplomacy and partnerships, policy networks, and the sharing of best practices. The company was however not able to claim absolute legitimacy because of resistance in both countries. This thesis highlights that at the governmental level, sovereignty does not disappear when transnational corporations become involved in education at the national level. Instead, nation- states become strategic sites for the restructuring of global policy roles. The Jordanian government became a public facilitator, by working with Microsoft to implement a stand-alone PiL program. The South African government became a public integrator, by implementing the PiL program within government policies and programs. Power was also redistributed within both countries, moving away from government education officials towards the monarchy in Jordan and the presidency in South Africa. The findings of the study highlight the need for corporations engaged in public education to be governed within instituted accountability measures, for appropriate partnership frameworks, and for governance tools that can both effectively engage companies in education and ensure that they work within common goals and values set out by international education organizations.

This thesis presents a case study of Microsoft Corporation’s Partners in Learning (PiL) program, an example of transnational policy authority in education, with two embedded case studies of PiL in Jordan and South Africa. The constructivist and rationalist approaches highlight the changing nature of governance through the cultural and strategic shifts that led to Microsoft’s policy role in education. Microsoft’s strategic profit interests and its corporate-social-responsibility aspiration to play a policy role in education influenced its educational footprint. From a top-down perspective, Microsoft used supranational forms of power by implementing its global PiL blueprint through similar PiL programs worldwide. From a bottom-up perspective, Microsoft used “localization practices” by engaging different subnational agents and used different strategies to gain footholds in two very different political and policy contexts. Microsoft’s top-down and bottom-up approaches link the supranational policy arena to the subnational or subgovernmental. Microsoft’s economic power and strategic engagement gave it entry into education. It gained expert authority from its extensive history and experience in education. Its expert authority was experessed through strategic relationship building through diplomacy and partnerships, policy networks, and the sharing of best practices. The company was however not able to claim absolute legitimacy because of resistance in both countries. This thesis highlights that at the governmental level, sovereignty does not disappear when transnational corporations become involved in education at the national level. Instead, nation- states become strategic sites for the restructuring of global policy roles. The Jordanian government became a public facilitator, by working with Microsoft to implement a stand-alone PiL program. The South African government became a public integrator, by implementing the PiL program within government policies and programs. Power was also redistributed within both countries, moving away from government education officials towards the monarchy in Jordan and the presidency in South Africa. The findings of the study highlight the need for corporations engaged in public education to be governed within instituted accountability measures, for appropriate partnership frameworks, and for governance tools that can both effectively engage companies in education and ensure that they work within common goals and values set out by international education organizations.