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This research investigates how a mobile-based archive application and digital literacy impact pre-service administrators' understanding of the smart village concept in rural governance. It uses a quantitative approach with a questionnaire given to 100 pre-service administrators to evaluate their attitudes towards these factors. Validity and reliability tests were conducted as part of the data analysis, and the data were assessed for normality assumption. The data were then analyzed using a multiple linear regression model. The coefficient of determination, which is 99.3%, suggests that nearly all variables related to the smart village concept can be explained through the archive application and digital literacy variables. Furthermore, the mobile-based archive application and digital literacy have a positive and significant impact on understanding the smart village concept, both simultaneously (0.000<0.05) and partially (0.000<0.05). We found a negative t value (-5.739) for the understanding of the smart village concept, which can be improved through the mobile-based archive application (9.299) and digital literacy (6.538) variables. The implications from these findings indicate that pre-service administrators in rural governance recognize the need for improvement in their understanding of the smart village concept.

In October 2022, New Brunswick Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development Dominic Cardy publicly resigned and widely disclosed his disappointment with Premier Blaine Higgs' leadership. Using Cardy's unprecedented public resignation letter as a primary source, this paper explores the inner workings of neoliberal governance and privatization in public education and critically analyzes data manipulation, governance shifts, and problematic conservative "hands-offism." Applying a rhizomatic methodological framing and theoretically drawing from Bourdieu and Passeron's (1977) conceptualization of symbolic violence and Gilmore's (2008) notion of "organized abandonment," we argue that neoliberal governance and privatization disproportionately affect vulnerable communities and weaken democratic processes. To understand these complexities, we utilize a rhizomatic analysis, simultaneously considering historical and geographical contexts, governance structures, and political narratives. We conclude that neoliberal governance and privatization are inherently symbolically violent, as they are used in tandem to perpetually defund and dismantle public institutions.

This paper focuses first on the issue of measuring education. When we consider "education and equity," we tend to quantify educational outcomes and compare these figures with others. While it is necessary to consider "equity" (or inequity) through comparisons with others, if we quantify the achievement of outcomes and evaluate the management of the organisation, we fall into a "metric fixation." Next, the paper discusses the issue of meritocracy, presenting a perspective on abilities as social and communal rather than individual. Finally, it discusses the concept of "collaborative learning" as presented by the Central Council for Education Report of 2021. This report states the importance of respecting all others as valuable beings. In order to clarify the significance and value of the presence of others in educational relationships, the paper considers a certain high school discussion situation. "Equity" in education cannot be realised by comparing personal figures on a particular scale. If we wish to realise "equity," paradoxically, it is essential that we do not ask whether we are achieving "equity" through comparison with others. Being equally opaque to one another, being diverse, is essential for the realization of pleasurable "collaborative learning."

The release of ChatGPT and other Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools has raised significant and challenging questions around the ethics of artificial intelligence in higher education. The initial concerns regarding AI in higher education centered on academic integrity, and the literature reflects this initial response. However, the multifaceted nature of higher education institutions means that there are many domains that will be ethically impacted by the application and implementation of AI. The purpose of this literature review is to examine these many domains and stakeholders in terms of ethical impact to surface questions, concerns, and concepts that may help practitioners navigate this complex construct of education, technology, and ethics. The literature identifies several implications for practice, including academic integrity, assessment (including the concept of cognicy and the practice of authentic assessment), policies and syllabi, and frameworks, principles, and tools. It concludes with a rumination on how the work of ethics is often accomplished through questions, as well as with the recognition that, at this stage in the evolution of AI, it is difficult to identify black-letter answers. We must be prepared to adapt and evolve even as AI does.

This policy-interested South Australian public education case study problematises how the Chief Executive (CE) and members of the Education Department's Senior Executive Group (SEG) understood system and school improvement from 2018 to 2022. We applied Carol Bacchi's, "What's the Problem Represented to be?"(WPR) policy analysis framework to unearth the policy assumptions underlying the Department's overarching policy ensemble called "World Class," initiated across South Australia's public primary and secondary schools. WPR reveals heightened centralised technologies of command and control directed at teacher and leader work to achieve McKinsey defined World Class status by 2028. We find school improvement policy solutions were engineered through "managerially enforced complexity reduction" techniques within the paradigm of the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM). These techniques impacted policy prescriptions, performance management technologies, school improvement plans, curriculum materials for schools, and promoted NAPLAN as the ultimate measure of the good school, the good teacher, and the good principal. NAPLAN is the National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy used in Australia and takes the form of an annual standardised assessment for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. Most concerningly, we find the policy logics of World Class worked to incentivise inequality across public schools through diminishing the purposes of public education and the professionalism of educators. We conclude arguing for the democratisation of existing departmental structures within iterative inquiry-based approaches to policy formation and practice to better attend to public education purposes.

Summer camps are widespread in many countries and have a long history. Their contribution to children's and young people's leisure and recreation is widely acknowledged, as is their usefulness as an educational resource. That large numbers of children and young people across Europe attend summer camps is well-known; according to Eurofound (2020), most of the twenty-seven countries analyzed record student attendance at camps, and in twelve countries (including Spain) over 50% of young people take part. However, another study carried out in the member countries of the European Union (Plantenga & Remery, 2017) stated that when the availability, use, and quality of this service was assessed, it was seen that out-of-school services lacked structure and quality. Despite being an especially important and relevant topic in political discourses and international organizations, most countries do not define the service clearly and precisely (OECD, 2011). According to Eurofound (2020), many European states centralize their planning of educational leisure at national level, including the laws and decrees that underpin how these activities are organized. But camps are implemented locally, and municipalities play a significant role in designing and providing this leisure activity, both during the year and during holiday periods. Coinciding with previous publications (Eurofound, 2007), the formula for success was to be found in public-sector support, community involvement, integration between services and spaces, and the inclusion of minorities.

Summer camps in the United States operate in different contexts and formats to attract and serve youth with varying backgrounds. Overall, they currently serve more White, able-bodied, middle- to upper-class youth than youth of color, LGBTQ+ youth, youth with differing physical abilities, and other diverse identities (American Camp Association, 2018; Browne et al., 2019). Like many youth organizations, many camps view this trend as problematic and are addressing it through new and updated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and practices (American Camp Association, 2013; Gutiérrez et al., 2017). While some research has documented DEI strategies used at summer camps, no research to date has assessed the prevalence of specific strategies used at camps across the United States. Therefore, this study aims to identify the frequency of specific DEI strategies used by camps, effective approaches to hiring staff from underrepresented backgrounds, and training strategies that support existing staff in incorporating DEI practices into their work. Having this data will enable camps to self-evaluate their own progress. It also establishes a benchmark where future scholarship can begin to determine how to assess and promote more effective DEI practices.

Big Data offers opportunities and challenges in all aspects of human life. In relation to research ethics, Big Data represents a normative difference in degree rather than a difference in kind. Data are more messy, rapid, difficult to predict, and difficult to identify owners; but the principles of informed consent, confidentiality, and prevention of harm apply equally to digital data. Recognition that technologies are not inherently value neutral, and that data collection, aggregation, and their use in decision making can both create and intensify inequities and harms is central to applying these principles. Data justice extends concern with voice and authenticity into the digital domain. Universities act as gatekeepers to professional accreditation in fields including software engineering. The relation between academic freedom of enquiry, state and corporate interests in the Big Data age raises important questions about power and control in the academy, which have governance implications.

This article explores the rise of digitalisation in Australian higher education and its impact on learning and teaching, administration, and regulatory obligations. This digitalisation can be epitomised by the prevalence of learning management systems (LMS) which have reshaped the conduct and configuration of education. As universities have embraced the LMS, as forced by the pandemic, the confluence of disruptive digitalisation combined with globalisation, regulatory reforms, and shifts in government funding models have seen the Australian higher education sector in constant evolution. This article contextualises the impacts of digitalisation using the lens of neoliberalism and globalisation, with past, current, and future state considerations in the sector. It includes a case study from a large metropolitan Australian university with a signature pedagogy of industry-partnered and flexible learning to consider how Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Australia must continue to evolve in identity and provision of learning to serve social interests for the future in digitalised contexts.

Understanding teachers' expectations of university social responsibility (USR) is imperative for formulating effective human resources strategies within higher education institutions (HEIs). This study delves into teacher perceptions of USR within the context of higher education institutions (HEIs) in emerging countries, examining how these perceptions influence teacher satisfaction. The mediating roles of HEIs' reputation and image in shaping this relationship are also explored. Data were collected from 140 teachers across 15 Vietnamese universities. The research model underwent evaluation through structural equation modeling (SEM) utilizing the Partial Least Squares path modeling. The results affirm a positive influence of teachers' perceived USR on their satisfaction with universities. Notably, both HEIs' reputation and image serve as mediating factors in this relationship. Regarding the specific USR constructs, the findings highlight that teachers' overall perception of USRs is constructed based on their engagement with educational, environmental research, and partnership responsibilities within HEIs. This study underscores the importance of cultivating a positive reputation and image when integrating USR into the governance strategies of higher education institutions.

The objectives of research were to develop the new normal administration model according to the principles of good governance for schools under the Office of Primary Educational Service Area in Sakon Nakhon Province. The findings were as follows: I) Components of new normal administration for schools, consisting of 8 components: 1) New Normal Administration Planning 2) New Normal Working Method 3) New Normal Learning Curriculum Administration 4) New Normal Learning Administration 5) New Normal Learning Evaluation 6) New Normal Learning Resource Administration 7) New Normal Collaboration, and 8) Safety. Overall, it is at the most suitable level--the possibility at a high level. II) The new normal administration model consists of 5 components: 1) principles 2) objectives 3) structure 4) administration process and 5) mechanism. As for the components of the administration process, there are 8 sub-components, namely 1) New Normal Learning Resource Administration 2) New Normal Learning Administration 3) New Normal Learning Curriculum Administration 4) New Normal Learning Evaluation 5) New Normal Cooperation 6) New Normal Working Methods 7) Safety, and 8) New Normal Administration Planning. Four external factors affect the administration, including: 1) economic 2) technology, 3) social, and 4) political. III) Every component of the model is suitability possibilities and usefulness is at the highest level. IV) The manual for using the model consists of 3 components: 1) an explanation, 2) an introduction that presents details about the background, importance, objectives, and expected benefits, and 3) details of the model with the results of suitability at the highest level.

Social regulation as a tool is designed to change behavior and ultimately protect the public from some form of harm. In this sense, social work regulation is a tool with the primary goal of public protection. Social work practice regulations vary widely within the United States, and the concept becomes more distorted when examined through an international lens. This manuscript outlines the regulation of social work practice in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Economic Area. Regulation in this context is examined through the framework of governance. Attention is given to the mechanism of regulation that is the regulatory body. The regulation of social work practice in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Economic Area share many similarities and several fundamental differences.

Artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) is a fast-growing field of research. In previous work, we described efforts to explore the possible futures of AIEd by identifying key variables and their future prospects. This paper re-examines our discussions on the governance of data and the role of students and teachers by considering the implications of (1) a recent case related to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and (2) the release of ChatGPT, a generative AI model capable to producing 'human-like' text. These events raise questions for the future of AIEd and the underlying function of assessment, and highlight the importance of active student participation in the integration of AI in education. [This article has been presented in the 5th International Open & Distance Learning Conference-IODL 2022.]

Universities across the globe are considering how to effect meaningful change in their higher education (HE) delivery in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and shifting student learning preferences. This paper reports on a descriptive case- study of whole-of-institution curriculum reform at one regional Australian university, where more traditional 13-week semesters have been replaced with a 6-week immersive block model known as the Southern Cross Model. Based on a synthesis of literature in best practice HE pedagogy and principles, the case study draws on both a review of policy and staff interviews (N = 5) to outline the key changes necessary for successful HE transformation. Analysis revealed themes related to the vital roles of leadership, capacity building, monitoring the transition, staff adoption, and adequate technical systems in implementing a radical, multifaceted institutional transformation. Implications for practice at institutions considering reforming their curriculum model are also discussed. The findings from this case study indicate that an institutional transformation to an immersive block model requires both a considered change in institutional policy and process, as well as the appropriate resourcing of roles, governance committees, technical solutions, and, importantly, communities of practice.

Nowadays, it is not common to come across sectors that can work and succeed without using information technology (IT). IT has now become a part of organizations' management and strategic decision-making mechanisms. Therefore, organizations make serious investments to develop software and system infrastructures and transfer business processes to digital environments such as cloud technologies. So, they gain opportunities of spreading their business activities to wide stakeholders and customers and being business resilient. Here it is essential to provide assurance that an organization evaluates, develops, implements, maintains, disposes of its IT systems and manages life cycle of all information and information technology systems properly on all physical and logical environments. However, the most important matter is that an organization's objectives are met by the management practices of its information systems. While organizations carry out their digital transformation at a dizzying speed, organizations should be protected from material and moral damages such as loss of money, loss of commercial confidential information, loss of reputation by protecting the confidentiality, integrity and accessibility of the information assets they own and also comply with legal legislations such as the protection of personal data and intellectual property rights. In order to achieve this, organizations benefit from one or more frameworks, standards or directives that are suitable for their own structures and needs, separately or by integrating them. However, the most important point in this transformation process is the transition of organizations from IT management understanding to IT governance. In other words, IT has now become a part of the strategic decision-making mechanism by rising from the level of support tool to carry out business processes in organizations. When we search the academic literature, frameworks and standards, it is seen that the key elements of IT governance are structures, processes and relational mechanisms. If these three components are set up correctly and fit the organization, it can be assured that IT aligns with and supports the objectives of the organizations and that effective IT governance is achieved in every kind of organizations. In this research, databases such as Web of Science, IEEE, and SCOPUS are scanned and found articles are reviewed in order to make a literature review on IT Governance Mechanisms and Frameworks. Results are evaluated and discussed. By the way, suggestions for further studies were made and advanced researches were shed light on.

Nowadays, it is not common to come across sectors that can work and succeed without using information technology (IT). IT has now become a part of organizations' management and strategic decision-making mechanisms. Therefore, organizations make serious investments to develop software and system infrastructures and transfer business processes to digital environments such as cloud technologies. So, they get business resilient while they gain opportunities of spreading their business activities to wide stakeholders and customers. Here it is essential to provide assurance that an organization evaluates, develops, implements, maintains, disposes of its IT systems and manages life cycle of all information and information technology systems properly on all physical and logical environments. However, the most important matter is that an organization's objectives are met by the management practices of its information systems. While organizations carry out their digital transformation at a dizzying speed, organizations should be protected from material and moral damages such as loss of money, loss of commercial confidential information, loss of reputation by protecting the confidentiality, integrity and accessibility of the information assets they own and also comply with legal legislations such as the protection of personal data and intellectual property rights. In order to achieve this, organizations benefit from one or more frameworks, standards or directives that are suitable for their own structures and needs, separately or by integrating them. However, the most important point in this transformation process is the transition of organizations from IT management understanding to IT governance. In other words, IT has now become a part of the strategic decision-making mechanism by rising from the level of support tool to carry out business processes in organizations. When we search the academic literature, frameworks and standards, it is seen that the key elements of IT governance are structures, processes and relational mechanisms. If these three components are set up correctly and fit the organization, it can be assured that IT aligns with and supports the objectives of the organizations and that effective IT governance is achieved in every kind of organizations. In this research, databases such as Web of Science, IEEE, and SCOPUS are scanned and found articles are reviewed in order to make a literature review on IT Governance Mechanisms and Frameworks. Results are evaluated and discussed. By the way, suggestions for further studies were made and advanced researches were shed light on.

Public school board members are charged with the responsibility and accountability to provide governance-level advocacy for equity and excellence in public education. This qualitative study examined the perceptions of school board members in three K--8 school districts in the midwestern part of the United States regarding the 50+ year Race-Based Academic Achievement Disparity (RBAAD) in public education. Virtual one-on-one interviews, a virtual focus group, and member checks were used to gather data. Utilizing servant and moral leadership as the theoretical frameworks, the findings revealed that school board members are empowered with governance-level authority and the responsibility to address the RBAAD phenomenon, school board members encounter obstacles that challenge their ability to mitigate the RBAAD phenomenon, and school board members contend that opportunities exist to promote mitigation of the RBAAD. Implications for future research and practice are addressed.

This article examines the power dynamics underpinning performance management at a selected South African university. It specifically employs Michel Foucault's (1977) ideas on Governmentality to interpret the envisioning of performance management in this context at the level of Policy. The study employed a qualitative research methodology to address the questions at hand. Data were generated from one primary source: a discourse analysis of the Performance Management Policy (2013) at a selected university in South Africa. Using Michel Foucault's (1991) theories on governmentality, a discourse analysis of Performance Management Policy documents was conducted with the goal of critically interrogating the kinds of new academic subjectivities being created in South African higher education. The findings show that the Policy on Performance Management at the university in question works towards creating academic subjects which conform with the university's expectations and are consistently self- regulated. Findings also show that management of academics is constantly controlled and regulated by a powerful matrix of governance, comprising the university and the wider global community. This paper recommends that performance management discourses should take into stronger cognizance the matter of academic freedom and autonomy. We further recommend that Policy developers and management teams at universities be conscious of the complex forces of power that shape academic identities so that their policies move away from oppressive discourses. We argue that there is much we can learn from governmentality theory if we hope to build more just and equitable societies going forward.

Effective school leadership calls for the sharing of leadership responsibility in the area of supervision of instruction and other related activities of an educational institution. Such leadership styles and practices ensure high curriculum coverage and tend to offer better learning opportunities for students. This study employed a concurrent mixed- method design to explore the influence of Colleges of Education (CoE) authorities' leadership styles and practices on school effectiveness of the two teacher education colleges in the Upper East Region of Ghana. The study comprised second-year and third-year students, tutors and leadership of the colleges. A sample size of three hundred and eight (308) was utilised. A simple random sampling technique was used to draw both second year students and tutors. A cluster sampling technique was also used to cluster the population of the third- year students and a simple random sampling technique was then subsequently used to draw the students who were out in the field for their internship. Intensity case sampling technique was used in sampling school leadership. Two instruments namely an in-depth interview guide and a questionnaire were used to elicit responses to address the research question. The interview guide gathered responses from college leadership and the questionnaire was administered to both students and staff. The study revealed that college authorities use human-centred approaches in the management and governance architecture of the colleges, delegate responsibility to subordinates and adopt participatory decision-making mechanisms that bring on board internal publics to the decision-making table. The study largely disconfirmed Douglas Mc Gregor theory X assumptions. The study recommends that college authorities should continue to engage students and staff in the governance and management of their respective colleges and also expand the frontiers of the existing collaborations among internal publics of the colleges. In light of the foregone, authorities should continue to utilise democratic, shared and transformational leadership styles.

Data collection, use, leveraging, and sharing as a business practice and advantage has proliferated over the past decade. Along with this proliferation of data collection is the increase in regulatory activity which continues to morph exponentially around the globe. Adding to this complexity are the increasing business disruptions, productivity and revenue losses, settlements, fines, and penalties which can amount to over $15 million, with many penalties now being ascribed to the organization's leadership, to include the Board of Directors (BoD), the CEO and members of the senior leadership team (SLT). Thus, boards of directors can no longer ignore and in fact must embrace data privacy as a critical part of doing business in the digital world. In fact, not embracing data privacy as a critical part of their strategy, not only puts their stakeholders and stockholders at risk, but also places the future success of their organization in jeopardy. Additionally, increasingly through legal, regulatory, and normative occurrences, Boards are being pressured into taking a more active role in the data privacy activities in their organizations. Therefore, it behooves the BoD to be proactive vice reactive toward their data privacy endeavors.

As school board meetings are integral sites of local education policymaking, scholars must consider how structural racism manifests in these spaces across various district contexts. We examine how racialized institutional logics undergird the interactions between majority-Black district leadership and a local Black community during school board meetings. Through an ethnographic case study of school board meetings over the 2019-2020 school year, we find that racialized pressures led predominantly Black school board members and district administrators to uphold policies and practices that limited two-way authentic interactions with their Black constituents. In conclusion, we argue that racial representation in educational politics may be important, but is not sufficient unless accompanied by changes to policies and practices that privilege Whiteness and reproduce racism.

Prior researches have highlighted challenges and variations arising from the requirements of research ethics committees and ethics governance systems across diverse research fields. This emphasizes the need to investigate how universities convey and implement research ethical practices. Research ethics plays a pivotal role in guiding the integration of ethical principles throughout all stages of research starting from its inception and planning to its completion and the dissemination of results. These practices encompass a range of considerations, reviews, guidelines, and processes aimed at safeguarding the rights, dignity, health, safety, and privacy of research participants. Using the content analysis technique, this paper aims to analyse research ethical practices information on universities' websites from "three developed countries and developing countries respectively using the isomorphism conception." The findings suggest that the coercive, normative, and mimetic isomorphic pressures explain the research ethics governance practices. The ethical practices information was disclosed more on university websites of the developed countries. Suggestions to improve the university's research ethics governance system for the post-COVID-19 era were provided in the paper.

Third Mission (TM) drives universities to a purpose beyond their traditional role, especially in local socioeconomic and innovation ecosystems. To investigate the issue, we consider an exploratory and comparative study of two different governance systems of public universities (Southeast Brazil-region 1 and Texas-US-region 2). The comparison took into account data from international universities' rankings performance to address TM and the structure of financial sources to address financial decentralization. The available evidence seems to suggest a positive association between the level of financial decentralization and the capability of the system of HE to deliver TM outputs. Universities under decentralized governance structures, which permit more autonomy to manage their resources, presented better results in most selected TM indicators. These findings reinforce the general belief that the governance arrangements that allow exploring synergies within local business ecosystems are more appropriate for ensuring organizational changes in the direction of entrepreneurial action.

This article examines the different roles the State/government plays in coordinating the Chilean higher education system. It proposes a conceptual and analytical framework based on a multi-governance approach, which considers multi-level, multi-actor and multi-agenda dimensions. This framework is used to study the different roles played by the State in higher education governance in Chile, especially after the 2018 legislative reforms. The results show an increase in the State's influence on system coordination and that the State/government has strengthened its role as regulator, evaluator and funder of higher education. Similarly, from a multi-level dimension perspective, the results show that the governance of higher education in Chile is highly centralised. At the same time, despite centralising decision-making, the Chilean higher education system is seen as highly complex from a multistakeholder and multi-agency perspective. Lastly, we suggest using this conceptual approach to provide valuable insights for the study of the complexity of governance in higher education systems in other Latin American contexts.

This paper explores the concept of the university remote metropolitan branch campus (RMBC). Drawing on approaches used to frame international branch campuses, it proposes a first definition for an RMBC, distinguishing it from a wider group of domestic 'Satellite Campuses' that includes multi-campus universities within regions. Using interviews with 10 RMBC directors in London, it explores motivations for their creation and approaches used to organise and resource these ventures, as well as to attract and teach students. It concludes that the dominant reasons for creating RMBCs relate to financial diversification, reputation, reach and business engagement, but that in some cases the repositioning of an RMBC has been strategically reactive in response to external changes in its operating environment. Whilst there is evidence for a range of organisational models amongst London-based RMBCs, there are key commonalities around the students attracted, the programmes offered and approaches to teaching and learning. RMBCs in London are growing and thriving, but face challenges from market entrants and uncertain future UK Government policy.

The use of algorithms and automation of public services is not new, but in recent years there has been a step change in processing power and a decrease in the price of these technologies, which means we are seeing more widespread use. These advances are reframing our perception of what matters in ways that impact the ethical dimensions of day-to-day life. In turn, these changes challenge long-standing assumptions about public service ethics and how it is taught. In this multidisciplinary authored paper, we argue that public service leaders must be attentive to ethical questions that converge around adopting "data-driven" techniques, including algorithmic decision-making. Algorithmic and technology focused ethics question assumptions about the current deficits within public service ethics pedagogy in public service programs and university programs and the future direction of the discipline. To do so raises longstanding but neglected questions about the public services' role in the state and recovering what Rohr refers to as the 'ethics of the office.' This, we argue, will have implications for teaching public service ethics.

This paper presents a systematic framework of the most needed Vocational Education and Training (VET) reforms in The Azores, a Portuguese outermost region. Our report is based on a participatory research approach involving the perspectives of five different groups of stakeholders. Our data was collected in 18 virtual world-café sessions (n = 164 participants--58 trainees; 21 trainers; 42 institutional representatives; 21 unemployed people registered at local public employment agencies; and 22 businesspersons; M age = 45.20; 60.37 women). Based on content analysis, we identified three main priorities to restructure vocational training policies: (a) VET perception and valorization, comprising strategies to disseminate a more positive social representation of VET in the region; (b) horizontal coordination between stakeholders, including effective ways of coordinating and sharing information; and (c) vertical coordination in terms of VET improvements of "curricula," funding models, and investments in the sector's human capital. Our correspondence analysis did not show significant differences regarding the prevalence of the three priorities across the five groups of stakeholders. We interpret and contextualize our results according to relevant publicly available data about the region, and an integrated governance lens to inform policy design in outermost territories.

European education and training policies have gained momentum with the debt crisis and soaring youth unemployment. In 2013, the 'European Alliance for Apprenticeships' was launched. In Germany, a role model for apprenticeship training in Europe, a national 'Alliance for Initial and Further Training' was signed just one year later. Both Alliances represent a new, experimentalist governance mode, in which a novel steering entity orchestrates stakeholder cooperation. What explains the parallel evolvement of alliances for apprenticeships in Germany and at the EU level? Studying developments around the Alliances in the last two decades, we trace and critically discuss four theorised drivers: (1) German-driven VET governance reforms with a strong influence of German best practices, (2) EU-driven cooperation that influences German VET policies, (3) cross-fertilising reforms and (4) externally driven, parallel reforms in response to governance mega-challenges. Our analysis supports a prevalence of the fourth driver: increasingly complex policy problems push both the EU and Germany to implement policy innovations such as the Alliances for apprenticeship training. In an experimentalist setting that often entails a governance by (seemingly neutral) numbers, benchmarking and learning, this also gives leeway to Germany to present itself as a pioneer of the EU's focus on dual training.