ABSTRACT
Science is an international activity, advanced through extensive collaborations and through active sharing of progress and results in accessible publications. Work on the science of learning is no exception as the chapters in this book demonstrate. The particular focus of this chapter is the role of international, intergovernmental organisations in taking up work on the science of learning and sponsoring its application in education policy and practice through links with national and regional governments. The main organisations that have been involved are the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization International Bureau of Education (UNESCO-IBE), United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and the World Bank.
These international organisations are not typically early adopters of new perspectives but, when they do pick them up, they can add an authoritative voice in support of the work and its application. They have convening power and can engage leading researchers internationally in collaborative work. They also have the capacity to engage leaders in policy and practice in education at national and local levels. Their influence is evidenced in the subsequent chapters of this part.
The chapter also considers the way in which OECD's work on educational measurement, both in method and in substance, has exerted a powerful international influence to suggest a strategy for magnifying the impact of work on the science of learning.
