International research article prize awarded to Lincoln Bishop colleagues

Colleagues from Lincoln Bishop University have been awarded a 2025 ENITS Scholarship Prize from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, for the paper Knowing Education in Thailand like a Global Expert Organisation: Politics, Context and Data. 

Chulalongkorn University is the oldest and top-ranking university in Thailand, and this annual competition is dedicated to international research on Thai studies and the Thai region.

Led by Dr Steve Puttick (University of Oxford), and in collaboration with colleagues at Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University (Dr Waewalee Waewchimplee) and Chulalongkorn University (Dr Chawin Pongpajon), colleagues from Lincoln Bishop University including Dr Nick Gee, Wayne Dyble, Ami Montgomery, and Professor Chris Atkin’s research critically analyses the ways in which global expert organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) produce understandings of the Thai education system. 

By critically analysing a corpus of reports from 1999 to 2024, the paper argues that these reports produce distinctive ways of knowing that are de-politicised, de-contextualised, and heavily shaped by large scale international comparative data. 

Practical recommendations for enhancing reflexivity in the production of global expert organisation reports are offered, including naming underlying assumptions, situating claims in local contexts, critically reflecting on classifications and categories, and communicating uncertainty more openly to support more just and contextually grounded forms of global education governance.

Lincoln Bishop University has long-standing relationships with Thailand, including contributing to development of Thai education policy through Professor Atkin’s national review for the British Embassy and Thai Ministry of Education. 

This latest paper represents Lincoln Bishop University’s expanding body of research on Thai education, which the research group are developing through international collaborations exploring policy and initial teacher education. 

Wayne Dyble, Head of International at Lincoln Bishop, said: “We would like to take this opportunity to dedicate this work to the memory of our friend and colleague, Professor Chris Atkin, whose longstanding commitment to international education and Thai policy development continues to inspire research both nationally and overseas.”

Colleagues from the authoring team will present the paper in full at the Chulalongkorn University award ceremony in Bangkok in November 2025.