A New Generation of Global Education Leaders

There's a photograph of 20 graduates from the first class of the International Education Policy Program on the wall of Ford Foundation Professor Fernando Reimers' office on the fourth floor of Gutman Library. He can easily point to each graduate by name and say what they do today. There's Kenneth-an education specialist at UNICEF in Jamaica, who will soon return to HGSE as a doctoral student. Manuel works for Unesco's Institute of Statistics in Montreal. Jennifer created and directs a nonprofit that supports organizations involved in education. Ya-Jeng leads a private school developing innovative curriculum in Brazil. Mariana works at Unesco's International Institute for Educational Planning in Argentina.

Over the five years since the program's inception at HGSE, Reimers has kept in touch with the graduates of IEP. In fact, chances are, he can tell you where everyone is and what they are doing-despite the fact that program alums are spread out all over the world.

"Being in touch with my former students is very stimulating, as is knowing how they are making a difference in expanding educational opportunity around the world," Reimers says.

"Being in touch with my former students is very stimulating, as is knowing how they are making a difference in expanding educational opportunity around the world."–Ford Foundation Professor Fernando Reimers The IEP Program began with Reimers' underlying idea of developing a strong international education program focused on more than providing children in developing countries access to school. Reimers, who worked as an education specialist advising governments at the World Bank and the Harvard Institute for International Development, is very interested in the quality of education children receive, the relevance of what they learn, and the relationship between instructional improvement and social and political development.

After joining the Harvard faculty in 1998, Reimers sought to create a program that focused on the development of leadership and policy analysis skills to improve the quality of education in developing nations.

The result of that vision was the International Education Policy Program, a rigorous master's program that is built around a core curriculum, seminars, and ample opportunities for students to develop a personal vision of how they will lead in expanding educational opportunity globally. The IEP Program also deliberately provides opportunities for students to develop strong personal and professional relationships and to build trust with one another-something Reimers believes is essential. In practice, international education policy leadership is a distributed enterprise, he says. You can be a lot more effective if you learn to work with others, and if you know how to create high performing teams that depend on the different strengths of each member. The IEP provides a laboratory for students to develop their leadership skills. Students are encouraged to develop leadership projects at HGSE, organizing conferences, seminars or projects to support education reform. What began as a program with only 20 students in its first year has quickly grown to 65 students today.

"We are very pleased to be contributing to the important challenge of educating a new generation of global education leaders," Reimers says.

Alums like Wendy Robinson, Ed.M.'02--who, since graduating HGSE, has worked as a USAID contractor implementing the Afghanistan Primary Education Program--benefit directly from the program's tight-knit group. "The IEP Program has been a huge influence in the direction I've chosen to take and useful in opening some doors and starting conversations with people for doing the kind of work that I want to do," Robinson says. "It was a great experience and investment in my time, considering the people I was able to study with, and being able to secure entry into a line of work that's not easy to get your foot in the door."

"The IEP Program has been a huge influence in the direction I've chosen to take and useful in opening some doors and starting conversations with people for doing the kind of work that I want to do. "–Wendy Robinson, Ed.M.'02

Robinson, whose strong interest in education drew her to HGSE, says she always knew that she wanted to work internationally. Although she enjoyed the location of HGSE and the faculty members, she considers the best part of her experience to be less technical. "The big part is the people that I went through [the IEP Program] with because I've remained in touch with them all," she says. "Harvard and the IEP are successful at creating a cohort that becomes a professional network. In the realm of international development, [having a network] is important to do your job. It's nice to have personal relationships to support professional ones."

Developing personal and professional relationships is part of the program's design, according to Reimers. "Every year we organize seminars and social events so students can build social capital," he says. This year a large number of students in the program will travel to Washington D.C. to meet graduates working in several international organizations and learn about the organizations.

Another specialty of the IEP Program is bringing in speakers from all over the world to address students, like Mexico's Secretary of Education Reyes Tamez Guerra who spoke to the students last fall.

Juan de Dios Simon, Ed.M'05, an education officer for UNICEF in Peru, remarks that the visitors and professional conferences helped him meet important people in the field, as well as make friends in the international world.

"HGSE gave me the confidence, the initiative, the intellectual curiosity, and knowledge of the basis of international education," says Simon. "It also gave me the tools and the experience of professors in the field."

For many IEP students, it's the lure of travel, challenge, and a desire to change the world that draws them to this profession. "The graduates are all unique, but have a lot in common such as their interest in social justice and their hope that through education we can help all children expand their freedoms," Reimers says.

As the IEP Program continues to grow and as graduates of the program advance in their careers, Reimers anticipates that the positive global influence of this network of graduates will grow exponentially. He foresees HGSE alums moving into senior leadership roles and making a significant influence in the future of international education and the lives of children everywhere, so they can be more knowledgeable, capable, tolerant, and ultimately freer.