ABSTRACT
The genealogy of the transnational turn in European school and education policy is a narrative about epochal transformations since the 1990s, when European national education policies have been increasingly negotiated in transnational forums (the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], European Union [EU], and the Bologna Process). Here diverse nation-states engage in ongoing policy processes that are consolidated in strengthened collaboration.
Drawing on (post-)Foucauldian theory, this chapter maps the genealogy of how transnational truth regimes have been produced that link school and education policy to the performance of the national economy by means of discursive imaginaries—the Knowledge Economy discourse in particular. As a result, discourses about the purpose of school, what counts as public good, and—by implication—teacher education, are fundamentally transformed.
The transnational turn in European school and education policy becomes manifest in discursive processes and political technologies. This is emphasized through key words like ‘employability’, ‘competences’, and ‘lifelong learning’ and through political technologies like comparative surveys (Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA], Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study [TIMSS], and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study [PIRLS]), country reports, and performance indicators. The Open Method of Coordination signifies the master template of a consensus-advancing truth regime in which mutual peer pressure and the invitation to become comparable ensure that different nation-states integrate according to the European motto of ‘unity in diversity’.
