188 Current Issues in Comparative Education of CARICOM have been able to “[devise] ingenious ways to survive globalization” (p. 49). Other Works Cited Carney, S. (2009). Negotiating policy in an age of globalization: Exploring educational “poliyscapes” in Denmark, Nepal, and China. Comparative Education Review, 53(1), 63-88. Steiner-Khamsi, G. & Stolpe, I. (2006). Educational import in Mongolia: Local encounters with global forces. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. – Reviewed by Landis G. Fryer, Loyola University Chicago Tertiary Education in Small States: Planning in the Context of Globalization, edited by Michaela Martin and Mark Bray. Paris, France: International Institute for Educational Planning. & UNESCO, 2011. ISBN-13: 978-9280313581. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to tertiary education in small states encountering the effects of globalization. The book is organized into four sections. The first outlines concepts and goals related to research of small states. The second section provides a series of studies of the ways small states have initiated and reformed tertiary education at regional and national levels. All of the case studies in the second section illustrate ways that small states have developed and conducted their work in tertiary education in the global context, noting challenges and successes of specific, contextual strategies. The third section examines how a select set of small states have designed effective policies related to technology, funding, and quality assurance issues. The fourth section draws conclusions based on the research discussed throughout the text. A key point that is made early on in the work is that small states are not just “scaled down versions of larger ones” (p. 25). This enables us to rethink our understanding of the challenges that small states face, but it also asks us to consider the lessons we can learn from the strategies and development processes that small states undergo. With this in mind, the authors offer the rationale for considering tertiary education as the book’s focus, noting UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning‘s (IIEP) concern with the unique features and of small states. The IIEP began a specific project on tertiary education in small states because they see a strong link between tertiary education and efforts by small states to build human capital and expand resources. The main challenge that had been identified then by IIEP was funding for tertiary education in small states. An important outcome of the IIEP project was the Policy Forum in 2009 and UNESCO’s conference on higher education in 2009, which enabled representatives from an array of small states to discuss institutional strategies and supports. This edited collection contributes to previous research agendas of IIEP and UNESCO. The authors spend some time defining key terms in order to place conceptual boundaries around tertiary education in order to distinguish it from higher education. Drawing on Henchy (1990), they argue that tertiary education is a level of advanced learning, beyond secondary, that adults seek at institutions such as universities, colleges, institutes, or advanced schools that are distinct from the structure of primary and secondary education. In addition, tertiary education includes full-time and part-time programs that are both part of universities and other professional trainings. Current Issues in Comparative Education 189 Thus, in contrast to higher education, tertiary is defined as not just limited to a connection with a university. Next the authors argue that one ought to employ quantifiable indicators when defining ”small state.” For example, they consider population size and other indicators of smallness such as geographic area and size of economy. In doing this they follow a tendency in the literature on small states that use population size as a defining marker of smallness. A final comment on definitions relate to globalization. The authors take a broad definition of globalization that emphasizes a “shrinking world,” “interconnectedness,” “integration,” “consciousness about the global condition” (p. 30). This characterization of globalization suggests they see small states as both the receivers of globalization without much attention to the processes or agents of globalization. The three chapters in the first section focus on the conceptual literature on small states, the expansion of tertiary education and its implications, and the necessity to strengthen educational research capacity. First, in Bray’s chapter, readers will find emphases that commonly recur throughout the scholarship on small states: economic challenges such as narrow resource base, lack of economies of scale, relative openness, infrastructural costs, remoteness, natural disasters, and international capital markets. Bray considers more than just economic challenges to include the changing perceptions of the role of interconnections between national, regional, and international institutions. Second, Martin makes two contributions as he points to the increased social demand for tertiary education and as he emphasizes the impact of a globalized economy offering new demands for advanced skills. Third, Crossley argues the need to strengthen educational research capacity in light of globalization and the rise of the knowledge economy. The priorities of a research agenda are connected to the effects of globalization; effects such as an “increased pace of social and technological change, knowledge and knowledge-generation” (p. 102) are seen as necessary for national economic competitiveness. In section two, case studies involving the development and challenges of tertiary education are offered. The Universities of the West Indies, Fiji, Saint Lucia, Malta, Oman and Armenia are discussed. In these chapters, it is clear that the tension between regionalism and nationalism persists. In addition, it is clear that the call for regional cooperation and integration in conjunction with national development will be a feature of developing tertiary education across various small states, specifically the Pacific Island countries. The chapters in section three provide insight into growth and improvement of distance education in small island developing states (SIDS), and offers policy lessons for building and funding sustainable tertiary education systems. These essays acknowledge that small states’ governments need to assess the value-added for supporting tertiary education. Once again, the chapters in this third section stress the importance for regional cooperation as a key strategy for developing and funding tertiary education. Additionally, this section argues there is a need for improved quality assurance frameworks in order to enhance coordination and international partnerships. Two relevant critiques emerge after reading this book. First, oftentimes, the scholarship in this book falls back on taken for granted assumptions and definitions of globalization as if it were an inevitable, economic process, but in the conclusion we become aware of the fact that regional movements and coordination are more likely agents or carriers of globalization. The authors situate the tertiary education phenomena in the context of regional movements and regional communities. While each of the case studies in the second and third sections of the book highlight local dilemmas and challenges in the face of globalization, they merely mention the presence of 190 Current Issues in Comparative Education regional coordination and its persistent tension with national agendas. Perhaps, then, researchers have a responsibility to move past grand narratives of globalization by focusing more intently on the historical, political and socio-cultural dynamics underlying regionalization and its local impact. A second critique is that greater connection across the use of these cases would guide researchers toward understanding the rationale for tertiary education. While Martin and Bray conclude by demonstrating similarities, differences and variation across small states’ strategies in addressing the challenges of tertiary education, more effort to provide specific, concrete strategies that can be tested could be a useful pathway for researchers to pursue. With that said, select essays such as Martin’s (2011) outline a clear quality assurance framework. But, testing these frameworks and developing research to evaluate the strategies, and specifically the quality assurance frameworks, are still needed. As an attempt to advance academic thinking about smallness, this work falls short from offering a new theoretical contribution. Nevertheless, this book will be useful for introductory graduate courses in comparative education, international education researchers. In addition, policy-makers and program evaluators working on projects related to small states, tertiary education, or within international organizations may find these chapters of interest. Other Works Cited Bacchus, M. K. (2008). The education challenges facing small nation states in the increasingly completive global economy of the twenty-first century. Comparative Education, 44(2), 127-145. Commonwealth Secretariat (2009). Small states: Economic review and basic statistics, Volume 13. London, UK: The Commonwealth Secretariat. – Reviewed by Sophia Rodriguez, Loyola University Chicago