Does Watching Help? In Search of the Theory of Change for Education Monitoring

Abstract

Following the publication of the 2015 Global Education for All Monitoring Report, this paper examines the question of how watching and reporting on these global goals might prompt changes in education. What is the function of monitoring and publicizing of information about progress in education? What is the effect of global monitoring? How does it impact on educational policy? While recognizing that the exponential growth in education is a consequence of general social and economic progress, the paper examines how the soft power of the United Nations, and global agreements such as Education for All, may affect ideas and strategic calculations of stakeholders and thus, in turn, lead to policy change. The paper highlights the importance of watching and asserts that, although monitoring is not indicated as a source of predictable progress, it is a way to position the ideas that influence how people talk about education.