The World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES) was first conceptualized by Joseph Katz of the University of British Columbia and a handful of other comparative education scholars in the 1960s. It was formally established in 1970 during the first World Congress held in Ottawa, Canada as the World Council of Comparative Education, and a year later the name was changed to its present status.

 

The WCCES serves as an umbrella organization comprised of comparative education societies and UNESCO. Beginning with only five comparative education society members in 1970, the Council has grown to 36 constituent member societies in2007 and 47 in 2015. Most members are national comparative education societies, but some are organized around global regions (e.g., Australian and New Zealand Comparative and International Education Society) and languages (e.g., Association Francophone d'éducation Comparée). 

 

The Council has retained its original organizational structure and overall purpose since it was first organized in 1970. The WCCES leadership is comprised of five officers, namely the President, Secretary-General, Treasurer, and two Vice Presidents. Member societies have single representation within WCCES on the Executive Committee. UNESCO has also traditionally had representation on the Executive Committee. Additional leadership roles have been formed over the years, including the organization of standing committees around various themes related to specific Council-sponsored projects and activities (e.g.,publications, finances, and special projects). The Historian role was added inthe 1990s, with Vandra Masemann serving as the Council’s first Historian. A WCCES historical archive was established and originally housed by Kent State University until 2014, when the WCCES Archive was transferred to the University of Pittsburgh.

 

At best, the Council has maintained a loosely-coupled organizational structure, where the traditional physical home or Secretariat of the Council has been at the same location as where the Secretary-General resided. The first Secretariat was housed at the University of Ottawa, Canada, and afterwards at several different locations, including the UNESCO International Bureau of Education in Geneva, Switzerland; Institute of Education at the University College London,UK; and Comparative Education Research Centre at the University of HongKong. 

 

World Congresses are generally held once every three years, and rotate locations. Fifteen congresses have been held since the original meeting in Ottawa. In August 2022, the 16th World Congress will be held at Beijing Normal University in China.

No.	Year	Place	Theme
1	1970	Ottawa, Canada	Education and the Formation of the Teaching Profession;  Educational Aid to Developing Countries
2	1974	Geneva, Switzerland	Efficiencies and  Inefficiencies in Secondary Schools
3	1977	London, United Kingdom	Unity and Diversity  in Education
4	1980	Tokyo, Japan	Tradition and Innovation in Education
5	1984	Paris, France	Dependence and  Interdependence in Education: The Role of Comparative Education
6	1987	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Education, Crisis and Change
7	1989	Montreal, Canada	Development, Communication and Language
8	1992	Prague, Czechoslovakia	Education and  Democracy
9	1996	Sydney, Australia	Tradition, Modernity and Postmodernity
10	1998	Cape Town, South Africa	Education, Equity and Transformation
11	2001	Chungbuk, Republic of Korea	New Challenges, New  Paradigms: Moving Education into the 21st Century
12	2004	Havana, Cuba	Education and  Social Justice
13	2007	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina	Living Together: Education and Intercultural Dialogue
14	2010	Istanbul, Turkey	Bordering, Re-Bordering and New Possibilities in Education and Society
15	2013	Buenos  Aires, Argentina	New  Times, New Voices
16	2022	Beijing,  China	Dialectics of Education: Comparative Perspectives.

WCCES Past Presidents and President 

Presidents	Time
Joseph Katz	1970-1974
Brian Holmes	1974-1977
Masunori Hiratsuka	1977-1980
Erwin H. Epstein	1980-1983
Michel Debeauvais	1983-1987
Vandera Masemann	1987-1991
Wolfgang Mitter	1991-1996
David N. Wilson	1996-2001
Anne Hickling- Hudson	2001-2004
Mark Bray	2004-2007
Crain Soudien	2007-2010
Wing On Lee	2010-2013
Carlos Alberto Torres	2013-

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