Preface

Despite the influence of globalization on educational innovation and social entrepreneurship, there is no universal model for developing an innovation infrastructure or capacity for social entrepreneurship that benefits education. Perhaps one reason is because these systems are so closely linked with contextualized economic demands, social norms, and value systems. However, international educational innovation and public sector entrepreneurship have reoriented to reflect global educational trends such as a shared emphasis on access to quality schooling. One example of innovation and social entrepreneurship in education worldwide is the organization known as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC). With the simple mission to alleviate poverty and injustice, BRAC has made significant, large-scale and sustainable impacts on communities worldwide through the largest, secular education system in the world. This kind of innovative thinking and entrepreneurial spirit is the focus of this volume examining international educational innovation and public sector entrepreneurship.

This volume in the International Perspectives on Education and Society series focuses on the ways that social entrepreneurs innovatively contribute to the development and implementation of education worldwide. The internationally comparative perspective of this volume’s theme frames educational innovation and social entrepreneurship using both the globalization and contextualization of educational quality and opportunity in disadvantaged communities worldwide as a foundation. Through the use of both empirical research reports and case study examples, this volume will examine the contributions of social entrepreneurs through educational programs, projects, and systems worldwide, and how the social, cultural, and political communities in each nation contextualize educational innovations – particularly in marginalized or exploited communities. Chapters will examine evidence to assess the impact of social entrepreneurship in education and to make recommendations for innovative educational change that is contextualized enough to be locally sustainable, but that is standardized enough that it provides an innovative model for similar communities worldwide. This volume will also highlight the importance of theory in both understanding and guiding innovative ideas in every stage of entrepreneurial development of education from research-to-practice. In particular, chapters will address the ways in which social entrepreneurs manoeuvre socially and politically charged contexts to build a resource infrastructure; reconcile the role of public/private partnerships in educational capacity-building; create and sustain real-world educational innovations; and then institutionalize those innovations for long-term sustainability.

The audience for this volume includes and expands beyond the scholars and professionals who already consider themselves part of the field. This volume, for example, brings together scholars, professionals, and the stakeholders connected to education at the local, national, and international levels to highlight those developments in the field that are of particular relevance to educational innovation and public sector (or social) entrepreneurship. This makes this volume particularly important not only in the academic community, but for those international development education professionals in aid or development organizations, research institutes, professional educators, and others. It is the thread from theory to research to policy to practice that connects comparative and international education scholars and professionals to stakeholders beyond the field itself.

Again, we extend a sincere and heartfelt thank you to the many supporters who made this volume possible, and who contributed to enhancing the quality and rigor of each chapter, the volume, and the International Perspectives on Education and Society series as a whole. The development of international educational innovation and public sector entrepreneurship is not only important to those of us who do the work relevant to the field, but to all who are invested in youth and dedicated to the development and improvement of education worldwide. It is our sincere wish that this volume and all that follow it will serve the field and all who participate in it as a tool for meaningful reflection and understanding.

Alexander W. Wiseman

Series Editor and Volume Editor