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Cultivating Excellence in Education pp 11–26Cite as

Education and Talent in an International, Conceptual History Perspective

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Part of the book series: Educational Governance Research ((EGTU,volume 12))

Abstract

This chapter takes an international policy perspective in outlining the diachronic characteristics of the concept of talent since the 1960s. The focus is on the various connotations of ‘talent’ and the concept’s interactions with education in a broad sense. The chapter draws on conceptual history in order to shed light on the relationship between concepts and policy discourses (Palonen 2002; Burke and Richter 2012). The focus is on the meanings of ‘talent’ and what the implications of these meanings are in terms of policy, including a brief discussion about discursive struggles with other prominent discourses in the international field of education. The empirical base of this chapter is mainly drawn from the archives of OECD in Paris and research literature about UNESCO; the key international organizations working in education in the second half of the twentieth century and continues to do so with increased intensity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Since its inception in 1961 the OECD has worked together, parallel and in competition with other key international organisations working in education like UNESCO, the world bank and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) (Addey 2018; Martens and Jakobi 2010; Ydesen and Grek 2019).

  2. 2.

    OECD archive, STP/GC (61)1 (2nd.Rev.), Draft Programme for Scientific and Technical Personnel 1961–1962, Paris 29 Sep. 1961, pp. 14–16.

  3. 3.

    OECD archive, STP (66)15, Report on Curriculum Improvement and Educational Development, Paris 16 Sep. 1966, p. 10

  4. 4.

    OECD archive, STP/GC(61)1 (2nd.Rev.), Draft Programme for Scientific and Technical Personnel 1961–1962, Paris 29 Sep. 1961, p. 15; Danish National Archive, Ministry of Education, International Office, 1959–1970 cases concerning International Organizations, OE 21963–41,963, Committee for Scientific and Technical Personnel, The Study Group in the Economics of Education, Progress Report and Programme of Work, dated January 5th, 1963, p. 7f.

  5. 5.

    OECD archive, STP/GC(61)4, Governing Committee for Scientific and Technical Personnel, Seminar on Policy for School Science, Paris 20 Jan. 1961, p. 3

  6. 6.

    Ibid. p. 2

  7. 7.

    Danish National Archive, Ministry of Education, International Office, 1959–1970, Cases Concerning International Organizations, archival unit OE 40 1960 – 1 4 1963, letter no. 2542-41, 2nd department, 3rd office, OECD report ‘Seminar on Policy for School Science’, 13 June 1962, p. 13

  8. 8.

    OECD archive, STP (66)15, Report on Curriculum Improvement and Educational Development, Paris 16 Sep. 1966, p. 10f.

  9. 9.

    Ibid. p. 13

  10. 10.

    It should be duly mentioned that education had been of the agenda of the OECD’s predecessor, the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), culminating with the establishment of the Committee for Scientific and Technical Personnel (CSTP) and the Office for Scientific and Technical Personnel in 1958 (Bürgi 2017)

  11. 11.

    OECD archive, STP (69)7, Committee for Scientific and Technical Personnel, Programme of Work for 1970, 3 Jul. 1969

  12. 12.

    OECD archive, STP (69)11, Committee for Scientific and Technical Personnel, Study on the Supply and Demand for Teachers in Primary and Secondary Education, 17 Nov. 1969, p. 182.

  13. 13.

    OECD archive, Confidential working paper, Directorate for Scientific Affairs, Innovation in Higher Education - Towards a Mass University, 19 Jan. 1973, p. 44.

  14. 14.

    OECD archive, ED(77)1, Education Committee, Review of Policies for Basic Education, 25 Apr. 1977, p. 1

  15. 15.

    OECD archive, ED(77)14, Education Committee, Governing Board of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, Recurrent Education - Recent Developments and Future Options, 25 Oct. 1977, p. 21

  16. 16.

    OECD archive, CERI/CD (78)14, Basic Education in Sparsely-Populated Areas (SPA), 20 Sep. 1978, p. 57

  17. 17.

    OECD archive, ED(80)9, Education Committee, Governing Board of CERI, Review of OECD Educational Activities, Summary of past work, 7th May 1980, p. 15

  18. 18.

    OECD archive, CERI/ELD/80.03, Education, Urban development and local initiatives, 21st March 1980, p. 13.

  19. 19.

    OECD archive, ED(81)13, Educational Equality and Social justice, a preliminary statement of issues and suggestions for future work, 3rd November 1981, p. 13.

  20. 20.

    OECD archive, CERI/SF/80.01 Financing, Organisation and Governance of Education for Special Populations, Country Surveys of Current Practice: Australia, 1 September 1980, p. 16.

  21. 21.

    The OECD began work on developing comparative data for the OECD countries in the early 1960s (Bürgi 2016, 2017; Ydesen and Grek 2019).

  22. 22.

    OECD archive, ED/Min (84)2, Education in Changing Social, Economic and Technological Conditions, s. 119

  23. 23.

    Ibid. p. 122.

  24. 24.

    OECD archive, ED (90)10, Education Committee, Extended Bureau, High Quality Education and Training for All, Draft Analytical Report, dated July 18, 1990, p. 23.

  25. 25.

    See e.g. OECD archive, ED/Min (90)5/21 Meeting of the Education Committee at Ministerial Level, Item 4, National Statement Japan ‘Toward a Lifelong Learning Society’, 9 November 1990.

  26. 26.

    OECD archive, ED (88)16, Education Committee, Medium-term Priorities, 19 October 1988, p. 8.

  27. 27.

    OECD archive, EC (90)10, Education Committee, Extended Bureau, High Quality Education and Training for All, Draft Analytical Report, 12 July 1990, p.10.

  28. 28.

    OECD archive, ED (89)15, Education Committee, Meeting of the Committee at Ministerial Level, 3 November 1989, p. 6.

  29. 29.

    Australian National Archives, Canberra, A1642, C1990/12479, OECD Education Committee meeting at ministerial level, revised draft communique, 31 July 1990, p. 5

  30. 30.

    OECD archive, CERI/CD/M (86)2, Governing Board, Summary Record of the 35th Session, 27–28 November, 13 February 1987, p. 13.

  31. 31.

    OECD archive, CERI/INES/CoG/90.04, Project on International Educational Indicators, Educational Indicators at the 1990 AERA, 17 September 1990, p. 12.

  32. 32.

    OECD archive, CCNM/EDU/RD (2003)1, OECD Education Activities in Non-Member Economies, Paris 27 March 2003, p. 2

  33. 33.

    OECD archive, CCNM/EDU/RD (2003)1, OECD Education Activities in Non-Member Economies, 27 March 2003, p. 9

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  1. Department of Culture and Learning, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Annette Rasmussen & Christian Ydesen

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  1. Annette Rasmussen
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Rasmussen, A., Ydesen, C. (2019). Education and Talent in an International, Conceptual History Perspective. In: Cultivating Excellence in Education. Educational Governance Research, vol 12. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33354-6_2

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