Educational disadvantage takes many different forms, but globally is a major barrier to the well-being of individuals and communities and the prosperity of nations.  In developed and developing countries, there is wide acceptance that marked and persistent disadvantage can and should be ended.  The OECD, which has led international policy research on equity, has summarized the goal as "No More Failures" (OECD 2007).

University schools of education are uniquely placed to contribute to the twin tasks of understanding and overcoming educational disadvantage.  Broadly there are three ways in which they perform these tasks:

(1) research into the origins of disadvantage,

(2) the education of teachers to work in disadvantaged settings, and

(3) policy development through independent and critical studies and through government-commissioned research.

Professor Richard Teese is leading the joint IALEI research theme 2011/2012. Read more here.

Understanding and overcoming educational disadvantage and how schools of education contribute to improving equity will be discussed at IALEI's coming international conference in August 2012.  

The term `knowledge mobilisation´is one of a number of terms used to describe the processes through which research influences policy and practice. There has been a huge expansion of interest in this issue around the world, on the part of universities, research funding agencies, governments, and other education partners. Knowledge mobilisation was discussed at a symposium on 14 June and at IALEI's international conference on 15 June 2011, to which international politicians, research partners and relevant stakeholders were invited. Read more here.

The IALEI conference on `Multicultural Education´was held in October 2010 at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Download the joint research report. Read more here

Can education change the climate? In August 2009, the Alliance partners met at Seoul National University in South Korea and discussed the results of the cross-national analysis. The recommendations based on that meeting, were presented at a press conference at the Danish School of Education, in connection with the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, December 2009.

Watch the international conference at the Danish School of Education, Aarhus University, Copenhagen, August 2008, study the recommendations or read more about the theme here: