Shoko YAMADA (Professor, Graduate School of International Development, Nagoya University)As a professor of education and development, Professor Yamada has conducted extensive research on educational policy-making and implementation in the Global South, with a particular focus on Africa. One of her consistent research focuses is the formation and the social and personal values of skills and knowledge among youths. Since the mid-2010s, she has been leading the Skills and Knowledge for Youths (SKY) research project, which assesses the skills of industrial workers using the evaluation tools developed uniquely by the project. She has also analyzed the discourse around global agendas, such as SDGs and MDGs, and how national governments and stakeholders in education and skills development adopt them. She edited a special issue titled “Skills for Development Revisited” with Simon McGrath for the International Journal of Educational Development, Vol. 102, 2023. Her recent books include "Knowledge, School, and Social Structure in Africa" (edited with Akira Takada and Shose Kessi, Langaa Publishing, 2021), and "Post-Education-for-All and Sustainable Development Paradigm: Structural Changes with Diversifying Actors and Norms" (Emerald, 2016).
