Adaptation, Decolonization, and Integration: Oceania and Global Trends

• Published in: Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2022 Vol. 46A; pp. 147 - 159
• Main Authors: McCormick, Alexandra, Johansson Fua, Seu’ula
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Emerald Publishing Limited 14.12.2023
• Subjects: Education; Education & society; Global & comparative education; post-colonial education; New Zealand; Australia; Decolonization; Aotearoa; Oceania
• DOI: 10.1108/S1479-36792023000046A010
• ISBN: 9781837537396; 1837537399
• ISSN: 1479-3679

Abstract This chapter presents a survey of education development in Oceania, a region of diversity held together by its commonalities, shaped by the largest ocean on the planet. The chapter outlines the regional contexts of Oceania and offers a brief historical overview of formal education. Oceania, like most regions, has struggled to mediate between global agendas and national and regional aspirations for sovereignty and self-determination. The chapter recounts ongoing efforts to navigate education in the post-colonial period, efforts to negotiate some of the aspirations of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Education for All (EFA), and other global agendas of the early 2000s with, more recently, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this survey, we hope to demonstrate collective efforts to respond to global agendas, to shape and strengthen regionalism, while maintaining sovereignty in a globalized world. We also highlight the evolving identities of the region, in particular the relationships between Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific countries that collectively make up Oceania.