I am very pleased to report on an excellent year for our Association and a wide range of activities. ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ continues to maintain a very robust financial status. As Malcolm Mercer, our Treasurer, will report, we have a current balance of over £100,000 and have this year recorded an income of nearly £25000 more than last year. We are therefore in the happy position of being able to expand to fund more activities aimed to further the aims of the Association, and you will receive more detailed reports on these during the AGM.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ news

The ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Executive Committee has met three times this year, and also had a separate strategy meeting in Leeds in February attended by Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. The executive resolved to expand its capacity to cope with the full range of activities better and I am delighted to announce the results of our recent elections for two new Ordinary Members. Welcome on board Peter Kelly and Tejendra Pherali.

This is an opportunity also to recognise the sterling work of Lizzi Milligan who moved to the post of Secretary a year ago, and has organised all the documentation before you while in Rwanda!

Many thanks to Elaine Unterhalter of the Institute of Education, our President for 2013, for her support, contributions to executive meetings and stimulating address. I am very pleased to announce that Professor Roger Dale has accepted our invitation to serve as ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ President for 2013-14. He will deliver the Presidential address to the 14^th ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ conference, Power, politics, and New Priorities for Comparative Education, to be held at the University of Bath. The conference team of Angeline, Michael and Lizzi at Bristol, and Robin Shields now at Bath and Qing as Vice Chair are already hard at work on organising the conference.

WCCES

As an indication of our robust flourishing, ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ submitted a bid to host the World Congress of Comparative Education Societies in 2016 as a collaborative venture between ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½, the University of Glasgow and the City of Glasgow. We were unfortunately not successful in this: we were outbid by the Chinese Comparative Education Society, so the 2016 Congress will be held in Beijing. We owe a debt of gratitude to our drafting team of Campbell Arnot, Malcolm Mercer, Mike Osborne and Michele Schweisfurth, who went to make the presentation on our behalf to CIES, supported in part by ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ funding. Although we didn’t win, our bid was very well received and as a result we submitted a Letter of Intent to bid again for 2019, and also suggested that it would be helpful for submitting societies if the deadline could be brought forward to allow more time for planning. This was considered at the WCCES meeting held at the 2013 Congress in Buenos Aires but no conclusion was reached.

We have had no formal response to this letter as this time of reporting to you, and have left the ball in the WCCES court. I should stress however that our intent was contingent on the excellent constellation of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ and the University and city of Glasgow. Meanwhile of course things move on, and Glasgow has been approached to host another major comparative education conference in 2016. We will therefore, when the next round of bids is announced, re-consider our position and decide afresh whether ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ will offer a bid to host the 2019 WCCES.

Other WCCES business, briefly. There is currently a call for nominationes to two posts, WCCES Historian. Deadline September 15th, 2013 and Treasurer, Deadline September 30th, 2013. If you have any interest in being nominated for either post pls let me know immediately.

Also, WCCES has resolved that future meetings will not necessarily be held at CIES and has issued an open call for Constituent Societies to host its AGM, deadline 1/10/13. The ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Executive has discussed the desirability and practicalities of hosting such a meeting and we do not intend to offer for this round.

Compare

Our Association journal is going from strength to strength. Earlier this year, as I hope you read in my letter in Compare, we were delighted to announce our inclusion in the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) with effect from Vol 40 (2010). Nitya, our Managing Co-Editor, will provide more detail on our impact factor and ranking. I would like to place on record a comprehensive round of thanks for this achievement. These go to the Editorial team and particularly Nitya, ably supported by Miriam McGregor our editorial assistant in the Compare office, who made sure the journal meets technical requirements such as copy submission deadlines;to Helen Wheeler, Managing Editor Education and Graham Hobbes at T&F/Routledge for their work on liaising with Thompson Reuters and promoting our cause.

Open Access is now more than on the horizon. We convened a joint Editorial Board and ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Executive Committee meeting earlier this year to receive a detailed presentation from Helen Wheeler. I am pleased to report that Compare is OA compliant, and we are vigilant about possible consequences of this move.

Expansion of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½-funded activities

Compare generates considerable income for ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½.Ìý We disburse these funds in many ways, including providing bursaries, funding events such as student conferences, and providing money for other meetings. We have ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Thematic Fora, offering £1500 per year for each BTF, and are encouraging applications for more of those – Nidhi Singhal will report, and give further detail.

I am also pleased to announce that we are now introducing two further funding pots for activities that further the Association’s aims. Qing has set these out in her report. Each is of up to £5,000 and we envisage awarding £20,000 in total per annum, divided equally across both. The first is a fund specifically to build Research Capacity and Networks, to enable strategic research capacity building and networking activities. The second is Seedcorn funding for pilot research projects and scoping work. Further information and the application form will be available on the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ website. For the development of that site, and revelations of the communicative scope of web-based technology on which they will report, we thank Terra Sprague and Michael Crossley.

AcSS

As a member organisation of the Academic of Social Sciences, ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ is represented there by our Academicians and we post information on the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ site, with inputs from David Turner on the Exec and our Academicians. Could I please bring to you now for approval the request from AcSS to rename our Academicians Fellows, which I will then submit to AcSS. The proposed change is from Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences, to Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. The proposal has arisen from a wider desire to elevate the perceived status and standing of the Academy in relation to public policy making.

AcSS is also carrying an Evaluation of Learned Societies Project to gives Learned Societies the opportunity to demonstrate the economic and social value of their activities. The project will generate an evidence base which can be carried forward in case-making activity and is being led by a consortium comprising Prof. Robert Dingwall and Dr. Michael Hewitt;Dr. Ilke Turkmendag has been commissioned to carry out thisÌý research and as Chair I am also shortly to be interviewed by her to brief her on ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ contributions.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Associate membership

At the executive meeting on 25th April 2013, the issue of whether Associate membership should be retained was raised during the sterling work carried out by Julia Paulson, our new membership secretary, with Malcolm, on reconciling subscriptions and member numbers, as they will report. I would therefore like to bring before you our suggestion that AM be removed as a membership option, due to the administrative burden and financial loss ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ currently incurs with this classification.

Student activity

We are fortunate in ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ to have an extremely strong and ever growing tradition of student activity, and recently welcomed Helen Hanna from Queen’s University Belfast to work alongside Sajjadllah Alhawsawi, University of Sussex. You will shortly hear their report, but this is an opportune moment for me to thank Sajjad for his contribution as he plans to step down, and to announce that elections for his replacement will soon be held.

It is a pleasure and a privilege to serve ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ and I am profoundly grateful to our dynamic and committed Executive Committee for all that they do to sustain such high levels of activity.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ chair report Sept2013 Dyer

Warm greetings to all members, longstanding, new and prospective.Ìý This has been an exceptionally busy and productive year for ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½, and I would like here to mention a few highlights and to point to some future initiatives and possibilities, most of which will be picked up in more detail during the meeting.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Executive Committee:Ìý The ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Executive Committee has met three times since the last Annual General Meeting, to discuss ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ business (of which there has been plenty).Ìý Attendance and participation have been excellent and ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ has moved forward substantially this year thanks to the dedication of this group of people.Ìý A number of changes to the Executive will be announced for your approval at this meeting.Ìý Caroline Dyer steps into the position of Chair from her Vice-Chair role.ÌýÌý Madeleine Arnot and Tanja Müller have completed their periods as ‘ordinary members’ and are standing down at this AGM.

A substantial number of nominations has meant that for the first time in many years, we held an election for the Vice-Chair position and for the ordinary members.Ìý There were three candidates for Vice-Chair and six for ordinary membership:Ìý a very positive sign, I’m sure, of interest in the Association.Ìý This is substantiated by the excellent voting rate in the election (27%).ÌýÌý The contests were close but I am delighted to introduce our winning candidates:

Vice-Chair:Ìý ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Qing Gu, University of Nottingham (currently an ordinary member)

Ordinary Members:ÌýÌýÌý Angeline Barrett, University of Bristol

Nidhi Singal, University of Cambridge

Robin Shields, University of Bath Spa

The ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Honorary Secretary, Brendan Bartram, has indicated that he would like to stand down soon after the AGM. ÌýLizzi Milligan, one of our current student representatives, has offered to take on this role at that point.Ìý So – ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ will be looking for a new student representative to join the committee in the near future.Ìý If you are interested and would like to find out more, speak to Lizzi or to the other student rep, Sajjad Al-Hawsawi.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ President:Ìý Thank you to Jo Boyden, ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ President for 2011-12.Ìý It was a privilege to have, again, such a distinguished President, with an interdisciplinary perspective.Ìý The Executive Committee invited Elaine Unterhalter of the Institute of Education to act as President for 2012-13 and I am very pleased to announce that she has accepted.Ìý Elaine will give a plenary presentation at the UKFIET conference in 2013.

Ìý

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ finances:Ìý As the treasurer, Malcolm Mercer, will report, ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ finances are in a very healthy state.Ìý Royalties from the Association journal, Compare, have helped us to secure this excellent position, and our contractual arrangements with Routledge/Taylor and Francis Ìýhave been negotiated to levels which will help to sustain and grow ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½’s financial health in the future.

Compare:Ìý Compare has had a very successful year, and a report from the editing team will provide further details.Ìý The journal continues to balance the publication of quality peer-reviewed articles in traditional formats, with focused special issues, discussion fora, and support for developing authors through the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½-funded Writers Programme.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ website:Ìý This has been another significant year for website development, and Terra Sprague and Michael Crossley should be congratulated again on how the website has improved in terms of technical specifications, ease of access to information, regular detailed updating, and overall appearance.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ membership:Ìý Despite the current economic situation, ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ membership has grown in the past year, due in part to the efforts of recruiters at ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ events.Ìý There has been significant progress in setting up on-line membership application, which will be a great help both to members and to the Membership Secretary.Ìý To reconcile some longstanding anomalies which have existed for years in the membership database, this summer ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ employed help on a one-off basis in order to ensure that records are accurate.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½-funded and –initiated activities:

In the past year, ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ has funded a number of events and initiatives.Ìý At the last AGM, it was requested that ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ hold a meeting regarding the REF, given its importance to our constituency.Ìý David Stephens and I organised a meeting in May, for which we were able to arrange the involvement of two members of the Education REF panel:Ìý Julian Elliott, who was a ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ nominee, and Andrew Pollard, the panel chair.Ìý Twelve members were able to attend and evidently found the discussion very useful.

We have had two applications under the ‘ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ thematic forum’ initiative;one on Insider/Outsider Perspectives, which included an open event, and one on Inclusion and Special Educational Needs in international perspective.Ìý More information is available on the website.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ also funded a dissertation workshop for students at institutions in the Bristol-Bath region, and a publication edited by Sheila Trahar, ‘Listening to Academic Voices’ has been sponsored by ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ and is available on the website.Ìý Student events were particularly popular this year, including the conference on ‘Emerging methodologies and methods from the field of International and Comparative Education’ (May 2012).

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ sponsored a number of people to attend the UKFIET conference in 2011 and this year’s ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ conference.Ìý The ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ student prize for best paper presented at the UKFIET conference in 2011 was awarded to Sharon Tao – congratulations to Sharon.

While all of these events have been successful, given the current challenges of securing funding especially for small-scale initiatives, the committee has been a little surprised at the fact that there have not been more applications for ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ funding.Ìý We would encourage members to make the most of the opportunities on offer.Ìý Equally, if you have suggestions for additional ways that ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ might use its resources to support the membership and the field, please suggest them to the Executive Committee.

WCCES Glasgow 2016 Expression of Interest:Ìý The University of Glasgow, in partnership with the City of Glasgow, is interested in hosting the 2016 World Congress of Comparative Education Societies Meeting.Ìý Their interest was presented to the Executive Committee in February, who agreed to take it forward to the EoI stage at the WCCES meeting at CIES in April.Ìý As ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ representative on the World Council, I presented this proposal, and there were also EoIs from delegates representing China and Australia/New Zealand.Ìý All of the EoIs were accepted for development into full proposals.

This is good news and potentially a major development for ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½.Ìý But it’s essential that the endorsement of the membership through the AGM is evident before taking this any further, and so this is an important agenda item for this meeting.Ìý Mike Osborne, an Executive Committee Member and Professor at Glasgow will speak to this item before the discussion.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ students:Ìý Anupam Pachari stood down as student rep during this year, and was replaced by Sajjad Al-Hawsawi.Ìý Sajjad and Lizzi have been hard at work promoting student participation in ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½.Ìý The website is increasingly reflective of the needs and interests of students, and ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½-funded events have been organised by, with and for students.Ìý I am pleased to remind all students participating in this conference that we will again be offering a prize for a full paper of high quality based on a presentation here.Ìý Further details will be sent to all members in the coming weeks.

Good-bye!:Ìý I have thoroughly enjoyed my two years as ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Chair, and the two years before that as Vice-Chair.Ìý I know that I am leaving the organisation in robust financial and spiritual health, and in excellent hands.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ is blessed to have such a hard-working and committed Executive Committee, particularly at a time when the pressures at universities are so intense.Ìý So, as my parting shot, I would like to embarrass each of them individually.Ìý Thank you to:

Sajjad Al-Hawsawi:Ìý for engaging and helping to grow our student membership;

Madeleine Arnot:Ìý for hard work and attention and to detail in conference arrangement;

Brendan Bartram:Ìý for calm, cool and efficient management of our records;

Michael Crossley:Ìý for sustained commitment to ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ and to the field;

Caroline Dyer:Ìý for chairing the Compare board above and beyond the call of duty;

Qing Gu:Ìý for help with bursaries and awards, and for ongoing commitment to the committee;

Paul Lynch:Ìý for finding space for humour and imagination in the graft of managing membership records;

Malcolm Mercer:Ìý for tenacious and careful management of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½’s accounts;

LIzzi Milligan:Ìý for inspiring students and for stepping into the Secretarial role in future;

Tanja Müller:Ìý for help with bursaries and awards and contribution to WCCES 2013;

Mike Osborne:Ìý for taking forward boldly the WCCES EoI;

Terra Sprague:Ìý for digital wizardry and general can-do;

David Turner:Ìý for keeping us outward-looking to WCCES and AcSS;

The Compare editors, Paul Morris, Nitya Rao and Yusuf Sayed:Ìý for building a journal which is a major part of the Comparative and International Education landscape, and which is also the main reason for ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½’s excellent financial position.

And thank you, members, for your continuing active support for the Association.

Michele Schweisfurth

University of Birmingham

September 2012

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Welcome to all members, old, new and prospective.Ìý We have a busy agenda for this year’s AGM but I would like here to mention a few highlights from this past year and to point to some future initiatives.

The year that was

Day-to-day ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½:Ìý The ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Executive Committee has met three times since the last Annual General Meeting, to discuss ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ business.Ìý Meetings always include reports from officers, and standing items include the next conference and associated organisations.Ìý Paul Fean and Cheryl Rounsaville stepped down at the last AGM as student representatives, although both stayed in post while replacements were arranged and settled into their new roles.Ìý All other members of the current committee are either still serving their first terms, or are kindly willing to continue in their roles within the framework of the constitution, and so we have not sought nominations for new or additional officers for announcement at this AGM.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ website:Ìý This has been an important year for website development, and Terra Sprague and Michael Crossley should be congratulated on the substantial improvements that have been made.Ìý They will be launching the new website at this meeting and so watch this space.Ìý Increasingly, webpages and social networking are where people will find ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ and the wealth of information and opportunities that we can provide.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ finances:Ìý As the treasurer, Malcolm Mercer, will report, ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ finances are in a very healthy state.Ìý Royalties from the Association journal, Compare, have helped us to secure this excellent position.

Compare:Ìý Compare has gone from strength to strength this year.Ìý New editors and board chair have consolidated their roles;quality work in a number of formats is being published in special and open issues;and newer writers are offered professional development opportunities through workshops and ongoing support.Ìý A report from the editing team will provide more detail on these and other successes.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½-funded activities:Ìý In the past year, ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ has funded a number of events and initiatives.Ìý One event at the Institute of Education on the theme of Education, Development and Peace, organised by a group of students and alumni of MA International Education and Development at the IoE , and administrators of the online network ‘International Connections in Education and Development’ (ICED).Ìý A second project, organised by Sheila Trahar at the University of Bristol, captured stories of working in an intercultural higher education environment, which will lead to a publication.Ìý ÌýÌýThere was also a very successful on-line forum organised by Paul Fean and Cheryl Rounsaville, which included participants from around the world.Ìý While all of these events have been successful, we have been a little surprised at the fact that there have not been more applications for ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ funding for events, and we would encourage members to make the most of the opportunities on offer.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ @ UKFIET:Ìý This is our conference too, and we have worked with the planning committee to ensure that we are offering meaningful financial support to delegates, and that our part of the programme fits with the overall conference plan.Ìý Thank you to our 2010-11 President Professor Birgit Brock-Utne for the thought and planning she has put into her Presidential address, and for the support she has shown ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ over the past year.

As was the case for the last ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ conference, ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ has offered funding to UKFIET conference participants from developing countries.Ìý This year two delegates have benefited from this opportunity.Ìý ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ has also offered a discount to all members attending the UKFIET conference, and so if you are here your membership has paid for itself.Ìý But of course there are many other benefits.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ representation:Ìý ÌýÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ has worked to secure representation in important forums in higher education and policy sectors.Ìý We proposed a number of nominations to the REF Education Panel and Professor Julian Elliott of the University of Durham is the first ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ representative to serve on such a panel.Ìý We hope that others among our nominations will be asked to act as assessors to ensure that comparative and international research is judged appropriately. ÌýWe were encouraged as an Association to get involved in policy debate on how comparisons are being used to shape or justify policy;to this end, Paul Morris recently represented ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ at a Parliamentary Research Enquiry.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ students:Ìý Our new student representatives, Anupam Pachauri and Lizzi Milligan, have been hard at work promoting student participation in ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½.Ìý The website is increasingly responsive to the needs of students, and ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½-funded events have been organised by, with and for students.Ìý We are please to remind all student members at the conference of the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ student prize for the best paper.Ìý The written paper must be submitted to the judging panel by the beginning of 2012, and the winner will receive a £500 prize.Ìý Last year’s winner was Kate Jere, whose paper was entitled:Ìý “Improving access and retention of vulnerable children in high HIV prevalence communities of Malawi: the potential of open, distance and flexible learning (ODFL)“

Looking forward

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ conference 2012:Ìý We look forward to the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ conference in 2012, to be hosted by the Universities of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin, on the theme of ‘Education, Mobility and Migration’.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ President 2011-12:Ìý We are delighted to announce that Professor Jo Boyden has agreed to act as ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ president for 2011-12.Ìý Jo is Professor in Development Studies, University of Oxford, and an authority on child development and children’s rights.Ìý Her interdisciplinary work has spanned child labour, education, children in conflict, and childhood resilience.Ìý She will be very well-placed to address next year’s conference theme.

Special Interest Groups (SIGs): ÌýOn the AGM agenda is an item to discuss incorporating SIGs into ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½’s work.Ìý A number of things have prompted this suggestion.Ìý Our opportunities to participate in policy discussions in the UK means it would be very useful, for example, to consolidate our expertise on UK policy and the use of comparisons.Ìý I am also aware that there are some substantive themes – such as Inclusion and Special Educational Needs – which could also usefully be pulled together in a SIG, for a multitude of purposes:Ìý organising conference sub-themes;putting together research funding bids;lobbying;publications.Ìý Similar Comparative Education national organisations have SIGs but we do not necessarily have to follow the patterns used elsewhere.

Finally:Ìý These are difficult times in higher education in the UK.Ìý Pressures and accountabilities are biting within institutions, while the Research Excellence Framework, core funding cuts, tuition hikes, research funding stringencies and the star-sink game of league tables of all kinds are all pressing in the wider higher education context.ÌýÌý In this environment, I feel blessed – as I hope you do – to have such a hard-working, collegial and creative committee giving freely of their time in order to promote the shared interests of the constituency.ÌýÌý This is an important time for solidarity within the field, to ensure that it thrives.ÌýÌý We welcome suggestions from members as to what we can do to secure our continuing success, and to do even better.

Michele Schweisfurth

University of Birmingham

September 2011

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Dear ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ members

I am delighted to report that ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ continues to thrive – despite current uncertainties across the higher education sector in the UK and elsewhere. We have been able to increase our membership and our finances are in a healthy position. As an Association we have been very active, offering support to a number of events. The journal Compare continues to be very highly regarded, not only by its contributors and readers but also by its publisher, Taylor&Francis. We have a strong and lively executive committee which has made a number of creative decisions this year – as this somewhat lengthy letter indicates. We are mindful that some of our income, Ìýwhich is generated largely from the sale of Compare, should benefit our membership and the overall professional field of international and comparative education.

Supported projects

Last year I reported that we had decided on a single theme for ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½-sponsored events per year. For 2008/09 this was “Internationalisation of Educational Research, Learning and Teaching”. Because these events had attracted a considerable number of participants we decided to let the same theme run for 2009/10.Ìý Under this banner we financially supported the following projects:

Exploring Academic staff mobility: Conversations around experiences and needs of international staff in higher education University of Bristol (£1000.00) Contact: Dr Sheila Trahar.

Promoting international understanding of intercultural education and practice. University of East Anglia (£1000.00) Contact: Dr Sheila Aikman, University of East Anglia.

Educational research in cross-cultural perspective: Exploring the possibilities and challenges in Bangladesh,TheOpen University, University of Manchester, University of Dhaka and University of Rajshahi. This is a jointly funded project with workshops taking place in Bangladesh and the first time that a ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ supported initiative will take place outside the UK (£1000.00). Contact: Freda Wolfenden, The Open University.

ÌýIn due course the reports of these events will be available on our website

ÌýHistory and Archive Project:

This project is led by Prof. Keith Watson and Prof. Michael Crossley, University of Bristol. It began in 2008 with the aim to strengthen our knowledge and understanding of the Society’s history, to locate key documentation and to establish a formal archive. We hope to have the virtual archive available on our redesigned website in the coming year.

Conferences/ workshop

A one day ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½-ESCalate jointly supported event took place on the 22^nd of September at the University of Bristol under the title of “Developing Intercultural Competencies in International Higher Education Communities: Initiating European Conversations”. With 43 participants from throughout the UK and key speakers from Germany, and the Netherlands and the UK , the day was considered to have been hugely successful and oversubscribed. Contact: Dr. Sheila Trahar, University of Bristol.

A two-day ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ supported student workshop/conference took place on the 14^th of January, 2010 at the University of Sussex. The first day focused on Professional Development with 12 participants from 5 institutions. This was followed by a student conference the next day under the theme “Linking practice to theory and theory to practice” with a total of 30 participants. Adverse weather conditions prevented more people coming but all participants found the event very worthwhile. Contact: Paul Fean, University of Sussex.

Reports for both events will be made available on our new website.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½/Compare New Writers’ Programme

This programme began in 2007 and has now completed its third year. To date, 55 writers have been involved in the programme The workshop heldÌý at the UKFIET Conference in Oxford 2009 had 22 participants, 12 were based in UK institutions, with the remainder coming from New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Egypt ÌýKenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and India. Following an in-depth evaluation, the programme is considered to have been highly successful and worthy of our on-going support – though in a slightly different format. (see editors’ report).

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ conference fee support

Thanks to our healthy financial situation, we were able to support this year’s ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ conference at the University of East Anglia by £40.00 per person across all fee categories. This was an exceptional case though the rising costs of either setting up or participating in conferences is a matter of concern.

We were also able to offer sponsorship for three presenters from low income countries for which £3000 in total was allocated.

Students presenting a paper at the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ conference have received a subsidy of £50.00

The ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ website

The website is in the process of being revamped. Previously, the site was supported by the University of Sussex but for a variety of reasons this was no longer practical. We decided, therefore, that the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ website should be independent of an institutional affiliation;in other words, we now ‘own’ our website, although the University of Bristol has taken on the task of redesigning and administering it in the course of the coming weeks. So keep an eye on it.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Presidents

I am delighted to report that Prof. Birgit Brock-Utne the Institute for Educational Development, University of Oslo, has agreed to be the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ President 2010-2011.

She is well known for her work on human rights and African Studies.

I would like to thank Prof. Anne Hickling-Hudson, ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ president 2009-2010 for her support and encouragement throughout the year and particularly for her key note address at this year’s conference.

Honorary Members

This year the executive board has recommended that Prof. Rosalind Pritchard and Dr Rosemary Preston should become Honorary Members of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ for their distinguished contribution to the field of international and comparative education, and their commitment to ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ over many years.

According to our Constitution this recommendation has to be approved of by members present at the AGM. There are four additional honorary members of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½: Peter Williams, Hugh Hawes, Margaret Sutherland and Lalage Bown. Details of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ honorary members will be made available on the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ website.

New Co-Editor for Compare

I am pleased to be able to inform you that Dr Nitya Rao, Senior Lecturer, School of International Development, University of East Anglia, has been appointed to be the third co-editor of Compare. She will join Prof. Paul Morris and Dr Yusuf Sayed. Compare, as you will know, has six issues per year which means that the workload remains considerable. Nitya has a distinguished publications record, received a number of research awards and previously made substantial contributions to the journal. The editorial office will remain at the University of East Anglia for the time being.

Nitya will begin her new tasks in September following this year’sÌý AGM – taking over from Prof. Anne Robinson-Pant who will be very much missed. Anne has made a huge and very distinguished contribution to the journal for over five years. In addition to the demanding editorial work she initiated and kept going the now well-established Writers’ Development Programme.

Other departures

Dr Sheila Trahar (Secretary)

Dr Jane Anthony (Treasurer)

Dr Kwame Akyeampong (Website Manager)

Paul Fean (Student Representative)

All have made a considerable, energetic and creative contribution to the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ executive committeeÌý and I, together with all other members of the executive committee, are very grateful for all their hard work and sheer commitment!

New officers

I would like to welcome a number of colleagues, some new and some not so new, to the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ executive committee from September 2010 onwards:

Chair of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½: Dr Michele Schweisfurth, University of Birmingham

Vice Chair: Dr Caroline Dyer, University of Leeds.

Secretary: Dr Brendan Bartram ÌýUniversity of Wolverhampton,

Treasurer: ÌýDr.Ìý Paul Lynch, University of Birmingham,

Website Manager: Prof. Michael Crossley , University of Bristol

It is nice to know that we have had no difficulties in finding members keen to be involved in the executive committee’s work.Ìý Given that workloads and pressures across universities have increased considerably over recent months this is particularly laudable.

Finally, I would like to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as Chair of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ and am grateful to all colleagues who have made this experience so stimulating and worthwhile.

Best wishes to all of you

Lore

Dr Lore Arthur, Chair of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ 2008-2010

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Dear ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ member,

This has been a good and very busy year for the Society, despite a slight decrease in membership, possibly due to the current economic climate. However, ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ has a very strong and highly committed Executive Committee – as you can see from the number of increased activities undertaken this year. Furthermore, the journal COMPARE is continuing to enhance its international reputation which is reflected in the sheer number of articles submitted for refereeing from many countries across the globe. This has meant that we have been able to increase the number of journal issues to six per year – without having to increase our membership fee! For the time being we remain financially in a sound position. We have continued to be a constituent member of the Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS), the World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES) and The United Kingdom Forum for International Education and Training (UKFIET).

Student prize

As announced at last year’s AGM we have offered a student prize of £500 for what was in our view the best paper presented at the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ biennial conference in Glasgow last year. The prize went to Arathi Sriprakash, University of Cambridge, for her paper “Joyful Learning in rural Indian Primary Schools” (see ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ website for further details). We intend to do the same for the 2010 ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ conference.

Sponsored events

Last October the Executive Committee decided – and this is a new development for ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ – to choose a particular theme for the coming year under which seminars or day conferences would be sponsored, for up to £1000. A further aim was to strengthen regional collaboration between universities with shared academic interests. The theme chosen for 2008-2009 was “Internationalisation of Educational Research, Learning and Teaching”. Following the announcement on the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ website we received three applications and we decided to sponsor all three. These were:

• University of Brighton for “Cultural Relationships in PhD supervision: a symposium to explore the experiences of international doctoral students and supervisors in UK universities”, a one-day workshop which was held in May 2009.Ìý Eight supervisors and eleven students from many different countries attended, representing seven universities in the Southeast region: Brighton, Chichester, Kent at Canterbury, Portsmouth, Southampton, Surrey and Sussex. Separate symposia were held for students in the morning and supervisors in the afternoon.
• University of Cambridge and the University of East Anglia with two linked workshops in May and June this year entitled “Internationalising Educational Research Cultures and Graduate Training”. These two workshops provided an opportunity to reflect on the ‘internationalisation of higher education’ in terms of educational research in a cross-cultural context, as well as exploring issues around pedagogy and practice in education faculties. The workshops were attended by 34 participants on each occasion.
• University of Bristol for “Intercultural Competencies in International Higher Education Communities: Initiating European Conversations” which will take place September 22^nd, following the UKFIET conference. The one day seminar, to be held in collaboration with ESCalate, with over 50 participants is already oversubscribed.

The success of these three conferences is an indication that such one-day events are popular and that the theme chosen for this year is, indeed, topical and of considerable interest to many in the comparative, international field. It is anticipated that all three projects will be presented at the 2010 ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Conference. ÌýÌýInterim reports have been posted on the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ website.

The Executive Committee will choose another theme for the coming academic year. Suggestions are welcome, by October 15 (contact Sheila Trahar at ku.ca.lotsirbobfsctd-49e980@rahart.s). Further details will be announced on the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ website in due course.

Additional activities

In addition, the Committee supported again the very successful Compare/ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Writers’ Development Programme which took place in London following the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Conference in Glasgow. This event was set up and developed by Dr Anna Robinson-Pant, co-editor of Compare, together with Dr Theresa Lillies and Dr Anna Magyar, with writers submitting for peer reviewing their articles for publication after online mentoring support lasting five months. The event will again be hosted at the UKFIET conference, Oxford with 22 participants from a wide range of countries.

The second Dissertation Writing Workshop, aimed at Masters students researching in international and comparative education, also took place in May this year. This is a joint venture between the University of Birmingham and the University of Bristol. The event was hosted by the Centre for International Education and Research at the School of Education (CIER), University of Birmingham where approximately 50 delegates met throughout the day.Ìý A poster display profiling a sample of dissertations was also presented in the room where a ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ display and ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ membership table were also located.

Please note: further details of these events can be found on the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ website.

Outgoing President 2008-2009

I would like to thank Professor Robin Alexander for having been our President this year. As you will know Prof. Alexander has had an exceptionally busy year completing the Cambridge Primary Review. Despite a heavy workload, pressures and responsibilities he found time to prepare his Presidential Address for this year’s Oxford Conference and to support all our committee activities in the past year. His presidency follows the distinguished tradition of past ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ presidents.

Incoming President 2009-2010

I am very pleased to be able to announce that Prof. Anne Hickling-Hudson, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia, has agreed to be our President for the coming year. Anne Hickling Hudson is well known in the international comparative field. Some of you may remember her inspiring key note address at the WCCES conference in Havana. She is an Associate Professor in the School of Cultural and Language Studies in Education. Widely published, she is a pioneer in using postcolonial theory as a technique of comparative education.

Compare co-editors

You may know that, after five years, Prof. Karen Evans’s term of office has come to an end this September. She has been an outstanding co-editor of Compare for the past five years and a strong supporter of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ and all its activities. We are sorry to see her go.

However, we have now appointed two new co-editors: Prof. Paul Morris (Institute of Education) and Dr Yusuf Sayeed (University of Sussex) with the help of two external advisors: Dr Rosemary Preston and Prof. Madeleine Arnot. The co-editors will share the increasing responsibilities with Dr Anna Robinson-Pant whose term of office will be for another year. All three are distinguished academics in their own right, each with their own particular expertise, which should benefit the journal Compare and ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ enormously.

Reviews Editor

We have also appointed a new Compare Reviews editor, Dr Frances Hunt (University of Sussex) who took over from Dr Pauline Rose in April in April this year. After five years, Pauline’s term of office had finally come to an end. She has now moved to a senior position with UNESCO in Paris.

Treasurer

I am particularly sad to see the departure of Dr Ulrike Niens, ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½’s longstanding treasurer who has now joined the editorial board of Compare. The role of the treasurer has been expanded greatly in recent years due to different financial arrangements with the publisher Taylor and Francis and Ulrike implemented these changes with great skill.

I am pleased, however, that Dr Malcolm Mercer has volunteered to take on this demanding task.

Publicity material

You may have already noticed that with the help of a professional designer, Jennifer Osborne, we now have a range of new publicity materials including leaflets, letterheads, PowerPoint presentation logos, and other related publicity materials. The new design allows us to be more flexible, to make changes when needed, and to present a fresh and cohesive image.

Thank you

I would like to thank all members of the Executive Committee and officers appointed by the Executive Committee for their sheer hard work, creative ideas and commitment, particularly Dr Sheila Trahar, ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Secretary and Jane Anthony, the Membership Secretary.

Indeed, many thanks to you all for ensuring that ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ will continue to be such a strong and vibrant Society. I hope to see you all at the 2010 ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Conference (September 10-12) at the University of East Anglia!

On behalf of the Executive Committee

Dr Lore Arthur

Chair of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ 2008-2010

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Dear ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Members,

I am writing to greet you and to give you a report at the end of the year 2006-2007 which is the first of my two-year term of office as Chairperson of the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ executive. We can report the following.

1. We have revised the Constitution which had not been done since 2002. The main points are that

• We have deleted corporate membership as we do not have any corporate members, and did not think this category worth keeping. More importantly, the Acting Managing Editor of the journal Compare asks that current members should be individuals and not institutions or corporate bodies. In order to ensure the continuing success of the journal, they need to be able to charge full commercial rates to libraries and other corporate bodies, and therefore ask the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ nor solicit any further corporate members.
• We would like to permit a President to serve for two years if he or she desires. The rationale for this is the pool of potential people is narrow, and if we can find a good President who is really interested in the Association it could be beneficial to let him or her serve for two years rather than one.
• We have changed the provision that the members run the Association to one under which the Executive runs the Association on behalf of the members.
• We have put the web manager as one of the officers as this is a clearly designated task, and an increasingly demanding one in modern society.
• We have allowed for more than one student representative.
• We have tightened wording and made the text more logical.

2. At the Queen’s University conference in 2006, we introduced a new pricing structure whereby non-members had to pay a higher change than members. This was equivalent to the price of membership, and enabled us to offer non-members a year’s membership of the association. This is in line with practice in several other associations, and should be good for the organisational health of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½.

3. We have devoted attention to serving students. We have organised a Writing Workshop at the UKFIET conference, and re-structured the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Student Meeting to make it more useful to members and potential members.

4. We have tried to visualise ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ as a British nation-wide association, and to this end have co-opted a Scottish member to the Executive, and are proposing two nominations from Wales for your approval. We already have representation from Northern Ireland.

5. We have made preparations for the 2008 conference to be held at the University of Glasgow.

6. We have re-designed the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ leaflet to look livelier, and to match the colours of Compare, our flagship journal. ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ has reached a new agreement with Taylor and Francis under which the advance royalty payable to ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ will be increased from £5,000 to £15,000 which should more than adequately cover the amount currently paid each January to the two editors. Student members will be provided with copies of Compare.

7. We have worked closely with the publishers and the editors to promote the success of the journal, Compare, which has gone to five issues and is being prepared for possible inclusion in the Social Science Citation Index. Tony Gallagher and I have edited a special issue arising from the Belfast conference.

8. We have maintained contact with the Academy of the Social Sciences and proposed two former chairpersons for membership.

9. We have devised our first strategic plan which we are circulating for your approval.

I hope that we shall go from strength to strength. We greatly value your interest and look forward to seeing as many as possible of you in Glasgow next year.

Yours sincerely

Rosalind Pritchard

Dear ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Member

I am delighted, once again, to be writing to all members of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ with this annual mailing.Ìý The last year has seen the world-wide resurgence of interest in our field reflected in numerous ways through ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½.Ìý These include a variety of substantial publications by members;Ìý ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ participation in UKFIET (United Kingdom Forum for International Education and Training) seminars and activities;Ìý contributions to the 15^th Commonwealth Conference of Education Ministers (CCEM) (held in Edinburgh during October 2003);Ìý and, of course, ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ collaboration in the 7^th Oxford International Conference on Education and Development (September 2003).Ìý Our thanks go to our outgoing ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ President, Prof Graham Vulliamy (University of York), for delivering the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ 2003 Presidential Address at Oxford, and to Dame Pearlette Louisy, Governor General of St Lucia, for her ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½/ Compare Lecture.

In strengthening our intellectual and professional links with related bodies, I am particularly pleased to report on the success of the first ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½/BERA (British Educational Research Association) Day Conference.Ìý This was held at Clifton Hill House, University of Bristol, and attracted much attention from both constituencies.Ìý A report of this event is included here – and was recently published in Research Intelligence, the BERA Newsletter (November 2003).Ìý Plans are in train to arrange a follow-up event in 2004 – and we hope this may become an annual feature in both associations’ calendars.Ìý ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Day Conferences also continue to thrive – with details of one scheduled for May 2004, at the University of London, Institute of Education, being enclosed.Ìý Do put this in your diary, and remember that the Executive Committee will be delighted to consider proposals for other ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ sponsored day conferences and activities from members.

Looking further ahead, the 2004 ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Conference will be held from 3^rd – 5^th September, at the University of Sussex, on the theme ‘Education in the 21^st Century:Ìý Conflict, Reconcilliation and Reconstruction’.Ìý Further details and an application form are enclosed.Ìý Our new ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ President, Prof Lynn Davies (University of Birmingham), will deliver the 2004 Presidential Address, drawing upon her recently published book Education and Conflict:Ìý Complexity and Chaos (London:Ìý Routledge Falmer).Ìý Members are also reminded to plan for the forthcoming XII World Congress of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES) to be held in Cuba, from 25^th – 29^th October 2004, on the theme of ‘Education and Social Justice’ (see http://12wcces.cujae.edu.cu).

The new ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ website (www.baice.ac.uk) is now up and running thanks to Pauline Rose, our Website Manager.Ìý Do let Pauline have relevant material for possible addition to the website.Ìý Our Secretary, Elizabeth McNess, would also welcome suggestions for possible future ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ nominations to the Academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences.

Finally, along with the minutes of the last AGM and other enclosures, you will find a copy of your ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Renewal Form enclosed (unless you already have a standing order) from our Membership Secretary, Angeline Barrett.Ìý Please return this a soon as possible – this is always a great help, and it ensures that you do not miss any copies of our excellent journal, Compare!

With very best wishes to all for a productive and enjoyable 2004.

Michael Crossley

Professor of Comparative &International Education

Chair:Ìý ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½

University of Bristol

Dear ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Member

It is a pleasure to be writing to all ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ members with this mailing.Ìý Comparative and international research in education is currently experiencing a resurgence of interest – and this can be seen in the widening of our membership constituency, and in the new challenges that all working within the field now face.Ìý The Association’s journal, Compare, continues to go from strength to strength and is playing a key role in advancing related developments – now including four issues each year for the cost of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ membership.Ìý Do submit your work for consideration by Compare.

During my term of office as Chair of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½, I aim to help strengthen our intellectual and professional linkages with related bodies such as the Academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences, the British Educational Research Association (BERA) and the World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES).Ìý One provisional date for your diaries is, for example, Thursday, 12^th June.Ìý We are currently planning a joint ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½/BERA Day Conference for that date to be held in Bristol.Ìý Look out for further details once we can confirm these arrangements.

Looking ahead to later in 2003, do put 9^th – 11^th September firmly in your diary for the Oxford International Conference on Education and Development – which, following tradition, incorporates our ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ conference activities for this year.Ìý Our new ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ President, Prof Graham Vulliamy of the University of York, will deliver the Presidential Address.Ìý The Oxford Conference will also feature our regular ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ lecture – and we will hold our Annual General Meeting during that week.Ìý Book now for your place at the 2003 Oxford (and ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½) Conference – ‘The State of Education:Ìý Quantity, Quality and Outcomes’ (www.cfbt.com/oxfordconference).

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ now funds three student bursaries designed to help doctoral candidates to attend our annual conference.Ìý One of these has a special distinction and is known as the Edmund King Bursary.Ìý Applications for these bursaries for Oxford 2003 should be submitted (along with an abstract for a presentation), following the normal conference procedures.Ìý Candidates should specify that they are applying for a ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Bursary, and they should include a letter of support from their university supervisor.

The 2002 ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Conference, held in Nottingham, was widely regarded as a great success – challenging and enjoyable!Ìý Our collective thanks, therefore, go to Prof John Morgan and colleagues for their excellent efforts.Ìý Looking to the future, the 2004 ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Conference will be at the University of Sussex …

Other new developments include a revamping and relocation of the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ website that is currently underway.Ìý Once this has been re-established, we will use it as a major vehicle for keeping members in touch with new developments.Ìý In this respect, we welcome Dr Pauline Rose, of the University of Sussex, as ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Website Manager.Ìý Two new ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Executive Committee Members were also elected this year:Ìý Prof John Morgan (Nottingham) and Prof Rosalind Pritchard (Ulster).Ìý Congratulations to both and to our newly elected Vice Chair, Prof Clive Harber (Birmingham).

Finally, unless you already have a standing order, or have paid up for 2003, you will find a copy of your membership renewal form enclosed.Ìý Please return this as soon as possible – this is always a great help.

With very best wishes to all for 2003.

Michael Crossley

Chair:Ìý ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½

University of Bristol

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World Council for Comparative Education Societies

The year has been one of intensive discussions about the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ bid to host the 2004 World Congress.Ìý A draft proposal was submitted, but for a number of reasons, our eventual decision was not to proceed with the bid.Ìý The reaction to our proposal from the WCCES Executive was not as encouraging as we had hoped, and confirmed the enormity, risk and time involved in attempting such a large venture.Ìý I attended the World Congress in Korea in July this year, and was able to convey our views to the Executive at their meeting.Ìý I also raised questions about what services WCCES provides to its members apart from the generation of the three-yearly Congress.Ìý The new President of WCCES is Anne Hickling-Hudson, who was able to be warmly welcomed on behalf of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½.

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Committee

David Matheson has asked to retire as treasurer of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ from September, and we are in the process of handing over to a new treasurer, to be announced at the AGM.Ìý I would like to thank David for all the work he has put in, especially with all the complications of merging and establishing different accounts.Ìý The role of secretary has been split, and Keith Holmes agreed to become membership secretary.ÌýÌý There have been no new nominations for committee members, but Joanna Le Metais and Simon McGrath have been re-nominated and expressed their willingness to continue.

Thank you to Hugh Hawes for his active participation as Association president for 2000 – 2001.Ìý He will be delivering the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ presidential paper at the Oxford Conference on Wednesday 19 September.ÌýÌýÌý

Membership

Membership remains steady if not slightly increasing (147 paid up but 20 more expected).Ìý There are 58 members paying by standing order, which is a substantial increase.Ìý It is hoped that if we can find a mechanism for international members to pay by credit card, we could also increase this international membership.Ìý The category of corporate membership has been abandoned.Ìý A new brochure is being prepared by Taylor and Francis which will detail our activities as well as general information.Ìý

Day Conferences

A day conference on International Education and National Systems was held in Bath on 18th October 2000 and a conference on Researching Education and Occupational Travelling was held at the University of Warwick on March 2nd.Ìý A day conference on Education in Africa was held in Edinburgh on May 11th;Ìý the next year’s conference on this theme may be in IOE.Ìý Thanks to all involved in organising these conferences, and encouraging students to attend.

ÌýÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Conference 2002

It is confirmed that the next ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ conference will be at Nottingham, for the first weekend in September 2002.Ìý The theme will be Lifelong Learning and the Building of Human and Social Capital.Ìý It has been proposed that John Morgan be co-opted onto the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ committee in order to facilitate the conference planning.

Professor Lynn Davies, Chair of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½

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Dear ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ member,

Greetings to all members, and especially to new members who have joined since our last mailing and since the Oxford conference.Ìý A few things to draw to your attention.

First of all is to ask your permission to produce a list of members which can be sent to all the membership.Ìý This would have only your name and institution.Ìý The purpose is mainly to enable nominations to be made to the Academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences, of which ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ is a member.Ìý Any member can nominate anotherÌý for this, but cannot do so unless they know who is also a member!Ìý The list would not have emails or phones etc, and would not be released for marketing purposes.Ìý We do get requests for our membership list from people wanting to use them for mailing, but would obviously refuse.Ìý So if you are happy for us to circulate this internal list, we would ask that you keep it confidential and do not release it to other organisations or commercial firms.Ìý Many thanks.Ìý Just let me know if you do NOT want your name on this list.

Secondly, enclosed in this pack is a renewal letter – please disregard this if you have already paid, or you are paying by standing order.Ìý If you are not sure whether you have taken out a standing order, then please contact Keith Holmes.

Thirdly, in the pack is a flier for the September 2001 ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ conference in Nottingham.Ìý ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ tries to support students to go to conferences, and this time we are funding bursaries for fees for three students to attend the conference and present a paper.Ìý (They would have to find the travel themselves).Ìý Applications should go to John Morgan at Nottingham, and then a selection will be made by the conference organisers and by the Chair and Vice-Chair of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ committee.

Fourthly is a flier from Compare.Ìý The journal does welcome submissions from ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ members and is always pleased to receive articles.

Finally, to remind you of the ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ website.Ìý We do post details of day conferences and other events on there:ÌýÌý .

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