Abstract:

The centennial development of the International Bureau of Education (IBE) provides an important case for examining the historical evolution and functional transformation of international educational organizations in global education governance. Overall, the IBE has undergone five stages of development, including institutional foundation, coordinated development, system integration, transformative focus, and emerging crisis. It has gradually evolved from a civil-initiative organization into an important institution within the UNESCO system, playing an active role in institutional innovation, knowledge production, norm-setting, capacity building, and idea dissemination in global education governance. However, under the influence of UNESCO’s governance logic and value orientation, its functions have gradually narrowed to the field of curriculum, and tensions in organizational development have become increasingly evident. The development of the IBE shows that international educational organizations need to maintain a balance between institutional embeddedness and strategic autonomy in order to sustain their influence. Its implications for China’s development of international educational organizations lie in strengthening knowledge production and the provision of international public goods in education, and in advancing international educational cooperation oriented toward shared values.

Key words: International Bureau of Education, global education governance, historical evolution, organizational functions, development of international organizations