JICE special issue on 'The Politics of Post-Crisis Challenges in Education' Spotlight on Education and Youth Activism in the Philippines
Continuing our mini-series introducing the Journal of International Cooperation in Education , this episode focuses on a recent special issue on the theme of 'The Politics of Post-Crisis Challenges Confronting Education', edited by Latika Gupta and Edward Vickers. The theme is taken from that of the 2023 conference of the Comparartive Education Society of Asia, which was held in Hiroshima, Japan.
Edward Vickers begins by briefly discussing this theme of 'crisis', and the way in which the special issue tackles it. He provides an overview of the articles in the issue, which include an edited transcript of a panel discussion at the CESA conference in which he, Fazal Rizvi, Maren Elfert, Audrey Bryan and Nishara Fernando discussed 'international organisations, crisis narratives and education policy debate'.
The discussion then turns to this episode's featured article by Chris Millora, on 'informal learning and youth social action in the Philippines'. Joining the conversation with Ed and Chris is Mark Maca, who has extensively researched the history and politics of education in the contemporary Philippines.
Among the issues Ed, Chris and Mark discuss is whether, or in what sense, the Philippines today should be seen as a society 'in crisis'. To the extent that it should be, they interrogate the nature of that crisis and its educational implications. Mark, whose work focuses primarily on formal schooling, explains the role of the school curriculum in teaching about citizenship and recent changes in this respect. He reflects on the significance of formal schooling in moulding Filipino citizens.
Chris focuses in his article not on formal but on informal learning about citizenship. He explains what he means by 'informal' learning, and why he sees it as important. The data for his paper comes from case studies of two youth activist groups in the Filipino region of Iloilo: Youth4Health, which seeks to raise HIV awareness, and Buligag Youth, which works to enhance youth involvement in local governance and politics. Chris discusses who these young people were: their social and educational backgrounds, and their reasons for engaging in activism. He reflects on how their activism influences their experience of citizenship, and briefly discusses how they have moved on from activism, and whether any have become involved in formal politics.
Further reading:
Gupta L, Vickers E (2025), "Editorial: The politics of post-crisis challenges confronting education". Journal of International Cooperation in Education, Vol. 27 No. 3 pp. 225–230, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-11-2025-069
Millora C (2025), "Young people “learning to become” active citizens: informal learning and youth social action in the Philippines". Journal of International Cooperation in Education, Vol. 27 No. 3 pp. 231–245, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-02-2024-0007
Vickers E, Bryan A, Elfert M, Fernando N, Rizvi F (2025), "Discussion: Crisis? What crisis? International organisations, crisis narratives and education policy debate". Journal of International Cooperation in Education, Vol. 27 No. 3 pp. 309–328, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JICE-11-2025-070
