LAUSR

flowing as it does through discussions in areas including international testing regimes such as PISA, as well as in the increasing focus on lifelong learning. As the writers argue: ‘In all GOETE countries, governance reforms have been attempted which aimed, though in differing degrees, to optimise the coordination and the outputs of education, thus better preparing pupils for the knowledge-based economy’ (p76). Whilst the GOETE research suggests that context has played a part in producing differing and localised results, the common emphasis across these eight countries upon a human capital approach to education should stimulate lively debate within educational arenas (such as those within international education) where such an approach has had less impact. Readers working within international education will find that the chapter by Loncle et al on ‘Students and Parents as Actors’ resonates with the kinds of issues and questions which form part of their regular professional experience. The question of whether parents and students are ‘considered as citizens or as users’ (p129) is posed at the start of the chapter. The focus of the GOETE Project on state systems of education leads the authors to conclude that ‘Specifically, the role of parents is still insufficiently recognised’ (p142), though many international educators might consider that this viewpoint does not reflect their own experiences. Whilst, on the surface, readers might consider that this book does not have much to offer educators working in international education, there are key elements of the analysis which line up well with common concerns. The book sheds light upon the relationships between the educational process and the life chances and trajectories of students beyond the period of formal schooling and, as such, has much to say to international educators. Equally significantly, issues related to the knowledge-based economy throw into relief the extent to which an international education curriculum should, in the light of the impacts of globalisation, reflect a human capital approach to education. There is much of value in this study, and those working in the international education arena will find much in this volume to stimulate thinking.