Transnational Private Authority in Education Policy: A Case Study of Microsoft Corporation in Jordan and South Africa

• Main Author: Bhanji, Zahra
• Other Authors: Mundy, Karen
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: Education policy; Comparative education; Transnational corporations in education; Jordan education; South Africa education; Microsoft Corporation; Private authority in education; Global governance and education; Private sector and education; Top down and bottom up education policy; Corporate social responsibility and education; Accountability and education; Government sovereignty and education; International education; Education policy actor; Global actor in education; Transnational education policy; Transnational education actor; Globalization and education; Microsoft Partner's in Learning program; International relations and education; Education policy networks; Corporate diplomacy in education; Public private partnerships in education; Education Memorandum of Understanding; Microsoft and education; Corporate social engagement in education; Corporate power in education; Social constructivism and education; Rationalism and education; 0515
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/19141

This thesis presents a case study of Microsoft Corporation’s Partners in Learning (PiL) program, an example of transnational policy authority in education, with two embedded case studies of PiL in Jordan and South Africa. The constructivist and rationalist approaches highlight the changing nature of governance through the cultural and strategic shifts that led to Microsoft’s policy role in education. Microsoft’s strategic profit interests and its corporate-social-responsibility aspiration to play a policy role in education influenced its educational footprint. From a top-down perspective, Microsoft used supranational forms of power by implementing its global PiL blueprint through similar PiL programs worldwide. From a bottom-up perspective, Microsoft used “localization practices” by engaging different subnational agents and used different strategies to gain footholds in two very different political and policy contexts. Microsoft’s top-down and bottom-up approaches link the supranational policy arena to the subnational or subgovernmental. Microsoft’s economic power and strategic engagement gave it entry into education. It gained expert authority from its extensive history and experience in education. Its expert authority was experessed through strategic relationship building through diplomacy and partnerships, policy networks, and the sharing of best practices. The company was however not able to claim absolute legitimacy because of resistance in both countries. This thesis highlights that at the governmental level, sovereignty does not disappear when transnational corporations become involved in education at the national level. Instead, nation- states become strategic sites for the restructuring of global policy roles. The Jordanian government became a public facilitator, by working with Microsoft to implement a stand-alone PiL program. The South African government became a public integrator, by implementing the PiL program within government policies and programs. Power was also redistributed within both countries, moving away from government education officials towards the monarchy in Jordan and the presidency in South Africa. The findings of the study highlight the need for corporations engaged in public education to be governed within instituted accountability measures, for appropriate partnership frameworks, and for governance tools that can both effectively engage companies in education and ensure that they work within common goals and values set out by international education organizations.