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History of NOCIES
The decision to establish a Nordic Comparative and International Education Society was originally taken by a group of Nordic scholars participating in the 14th CESE conferences in Madrid in 1990. On return an interim managment was set up to organise a founding General Assembly. The interim management called for its first meeting in Oslo In January 1991. At the meeting a working group was established with representatives from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. By the end of the year it called for a Nordic comparative conference in May 1992 including a founding General Assembly.
The conference, held by the Educational Research Institute, University of Oslo, and supported by Programme for Education Research (NAVF) gathered about 60 participants from the Nordic countries. The General Assembly decided on the name of the society and its constitution; an Executive Committee was appointed and Thyge Winther-Jensen, University of Copenhagen, was elected as chairperson of the society.
According to the constitution the purpose of the society shall be to promote aims similar to those stated in the statutes of the Comparative Education Society in Europe. In particular the society shall encourage the growth of comparative and international studies by
a) promoting and improving the teaching of comparative education in institutions of higher learning
b) stimulating research in the field
c) facilitating the publication and distribution of comparative and international studies
d) organising conferences and meetings for members and other educationists.
The conference in Oslo resulted in the publication Harbo, T & Winther-Jensen, T. (1993) Vi og de andre (We and the others),Oslo: Ad Notam Gyldendal, describing the history of comparative education in Denmark, Finland, and Norway.
At the 15th CESE conference (Dijon, June 1992) the society was appointed to host the 16th CESE conference. The conference was held at the University of Copenhagen in 1994 and resulted in 1996 in the publication of 25 papers (out of more than hundred) in Thyge Winther-Jensen (ed.)(1996) Challenges to European Education: Cultural Values, National Identities and Global Responsibilities. Frankfurt a. Main: Peter Lang.
Also since 1994 NOCIES has been a paying member of WCCES.
Members of the society have been very active in the field of comparative education, e. g. in organising new courses in comparative education at Nordic universities (University of Copenhagen, University of Oslo, The Danish University of Education, University of Tampere etc.).
In 2004, members of NOICES were the core in the organisation of the 21st CESE conference hosted by the Danish University of Education, Copenhagen. As a result of the conference 21 papers were published in Sprogoe, J. & Winther-jensen, T. (eds.)(2006) Identity, Educaiton and Citizenship - Multiple Interrelations. Frankfurt a. Main: Peter Lang
In addition to that, the society has since its founding hosted a number of smaller seminars with participants from inside and outside Scandinavia. For a period it also published a Newsletter.
Reorganisation of higher education in the Nordic countries has also been a challenge to the society. One of the consequences of this the society was inactive for a few years. In order to meet these challenges members and non-members of the society was called for a new General Assembly in Lund in May 2007. At this General Assembly it was stated Comparative Education is 1) inclusive, i.e. comparative studies, education abroad, international education and development education, 2) an academic and critical discipline with specific research methodologies, 3) and a teaching discipline in higher education institutions. A new Executive Committee was appointed and Mina O’Dowd, LundUniversity, was elected as president of the society.
A former chairperson of NOCIES has been the President of CESE for four years (1996-2000) and the last former chairperson of NOCIES is at present member of the CESE Executive Board. At present also the vice president of NOCIES is a member of the CESE Executive Board.
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