In these two videos, Professor Hugh Lauder and Steve Packer introduce the UK Forum for International Education and Training (UKFIET). UKFIET provides a pro-active forum for universities, non-governmental organisations, consultancy groups and professional associations, working for education and development internationally, to share ideas, knowledge and expertise. The Forum’s diverse membership is engaged in research, training, teaching, and campaigning. It also provides a significant advisory resource to policy makers and practitioners in government, development agencies and non-governmental organisations in the United Kingdom and beyond.

UKFIET

To encourage the development of teaching, training, research and publication, and the promotion of good policy and practice, UKFIET does the following:

• Organises events and activities on education and development issues
• Provides a network of expertise for research and consultancy
• Sponsors a biennial International Conference on Education and Development.
• Hosts an annual colloquium on the EFA Global Monitoring Report in conjunction with the UK National Commission of UNESCO
• Publicises and publishes work on issues of topical concern
• Makes representations to government and aid agencies on issues of common interest and concern

Through their membership, UKFIET constitutes a body of professional expertise that serves as a resource to policy-makers in multi-lateral, government, and non-government organisations, and to other institutions and agencies.

The 12th UKFIET International Conference on Education and Development took place in Oxford in September 2013. The conference was attended by 550 participants from more than 60 countries. One of the many notable speakers at the conference was Sir Ian Diamond, who contributed to the Round Table discussion on the evolution of DFID’s education programme. He recorded a short video reflecting on the session and DFID’s education programme in general. More information on DFID’s position on education can be found in their improving learning and expanding opportunities paper.

The focus of the conference was Education and Development Post-2015. Many of the presentations from the conference are now available to download via the UKFIET Community of Practice section of their website.  The Community of Practice (CoP) is the Forum’s online venue for ongoing discussion and debate of international education and development topics. Established in 2012 in response to its membership’s desire for increased interaction between events and conferences, the CoP allows for the diverse UKFIET membership and wider community to express opinion, test ideas and engage in respectful debate. Participation is free and open to all.

Biographies

Professor Hugh Lauder is the executive chair for UKFIET, and is also a Professor of Education and Political Economy at the University of Bath. Previously he studied at The University of London, (The Institute of Education), and gained his Doctorate at the University of Canterbury.  Hugh was formerly the Inaugural Dean of Education at Victoria University of Wellington. He specialises in the relationship of education to the economy and has for over 10 years worked on national skill strategies and on the global skill strategies of multinational companies. He is head of the Globalisation, International Education, Policy and Organisation Group within the Department of Education. Hugh has been a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Education, London University, The University of Turku and currently at the University of Witwatersrand. He is also member of the ESRC Virtual College.

Steve Packer is the deputy executive chair of UKFIET. He is also an Associate Consultant for Oxford Policy Management (OPM). He has 40 years’ experience in education and development, as a teacher, an international education programme manager, a DFID staff member, a research leader and an independent consultant. He combines experience of delivering change at senior levels of government, with working as an international consultant on education, evaluation, planning, policy reform and capacity development. Steve has successfully led large teams of researchers and consultants engaged in the production and dissemination of high quality and innovative education research and data. He helped to initiate and develop the Education for All Global Monitoring Report (EFA GMR) – now the standard reference for the state of education. He was Deputy Director of the EFA GMR from 2002 to 2005, where he oversaw the planning, commissioning, writing, production, communication and promotion of four ground-breaking EFA reports including The Leap to Equality and The Quality Imperative. As part of his responsibilities as Deputy Head of DFID’s Education Department from 1998 to 2002, Steve was responsible for DFID’s work on education sector policy. Steve leads Education Data, Research and Evaluation in Nigeria (EDOREN), a four year project run by OPM and funded by DFID.