Current Issues in Comparative Education (CICE), our student-led journal, has a new International Advisory Board. CICE was established in 1997 by a group of doctoral students in the Comparative and International Education program at TC and has served as a platform for debate and discussion of contemporary matters worldwide for over 20 years. This year, CICE invited seven renowned scholars in the field to serve in the Advisory Board:

• Michelle Bellino, Assistant Professor at the School of Education, University of Michigan
• Regina Cortina, Professor of Education in the International and Comparative Education Program at Teachers College, Columbia University
• Radhika Iyengar, Director of Education and Research Scholar at the Center for Sustainable Development of Columbia University's Earth Institute
• Tavis D. Jules, Associate Professor of Cultural and Educational Policy at Loyola University Chicago
• Paula Louzano, Dean of Diego Portales University School of Education, Chile
• Oren Pizmony-Levy, Associate Professor of International and Comparative Education at Teachers College, Columbia University 
• Keita Takayama, Professor at the Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University, Japan

To learn more about the new Board, we met with Marcella Winter, CICE’s editor-in-chief and doctoral student in International and Comparative Education:

Hi Marcella, thank you for joining us and congratulations on the new International Advisory Board! Can you tell us more about CICE and where you see the journal going?

Hi, I would like to start this conversation by thanking you for the invitation to talk about CICE. As CICE's editor-in-chief this academic year, I have some goals to accomplish. One of them, already accomplished, is to have a new international advisory board, which is the first step in reflecting the diversity we want to promote. To adopt an automatic submissions system, already initiated, is the second project I had in mind for CICE when I started working as the editor-in-chief. We have been working with Columbia Libraries, and soon the new platform will be available, making the publishing process easier for both authors and editors. Last, we will release a call for papers for a Special Issue on decolonization, a topic dear to the editorial team members. Our main goal is to emphasize different ways of knowing and interpreting education. Being attuned to the voices of the Other and the "epistemologies from the South", as the Portuguese sociologist Boaventura de Sousa Santos proposes, is a good way of doing this. 

These improvements will help the journal remain a relevant tool in eliciting traditional and current issues in the field, demonstrating how our community of scholars and practitioners has been working on confronting new and old challenges for schooling and policymaking.

Can you tell me about the advisory board in CICE? What are the roles of an advisory board and the impact it has on a journal?

An advisory board's role varies, depending on the journal and the editor's objective for that publication. In general terms, the board provides inputs and suggestions. For example, they can advise by helping us in the definition of a new issues’ topic or reviewing some of the manuscripts that we have received. Usually composed of prominent scholars in the journal's field, the board brings prestige and promotes the publication in their academic networks. 

It is also important to stress that CICE's advisory board is an international advisory board. This means that the journal commits to making our work more internationalized, to bring multiple perspectives to our published issues and the ways we see the field of International and Comparative Education. 

Why did you decide to put together a new board?

Although the last board had contributed enormously to the development of CICE, we felt it was time for a change. The previous advisory board members were there for so long, and CICE had different editorial boards in the last years. The two boards lost contact with each other, and there was a disconnect between them. Since we were looking for more diversity in our publishing process, having this kind of change would be the first step to start a new phase in CICE.

How would you describe the process through which new members were selected? Were you looking for specific characteristics when selecting the board members?

We wanted more diversity in our international advisory board and also scholars that have just been starting as Associate Professors. After discussions with the CICE's editorial board and our faculty advisor, Professor Regina Cortina, we defined some elements that would be important when selecting the new advisory board. For instance, it was central for us to have a gender balance between the scholars, to have advisors who used diverse research methods and had research interests linked to our field's current debates. 

What was the response from the scholars that are now a part of the board?

Their response was supportive.  One of the scholars wrote “Your journal is one of few academic outlets managed by grad students that is doing pretty well. So keep up good work there!”. It was so nice to see their excitement in becoming a part of CICE. Seeing that prominent researchers in our field were glad to be invited to the board was a great indication of the journal's relevance and that it is recognized for its quality.

How would you describe the new advisory board?

The new advisory board is composed of members in four different continents and from six countries. Their research interests are diverse and range from traditional topics, such as economics in education and teacher training, to more current and pressing matters such as environmental and sustainability education, gender and education, schooling in countries impacted by armed conflict and forced displacement, to name a few. They also represent different research methods and ways of knowing. Despite all this diversity, I would say that they share the goal of making education more accessible and equitable. It has truly been a wonderful learning experience being in communication with each of them and learning about their research and ways they would like to support our learning experience as journal editors. We have learned precious lessons with our international advisory board during the publishing process for our Winter Issue. One of them is that we have the mission to help in developing the work of young scholars. Because of this, it is worth working with the authors that offer an innovative discussion and alternative ways of looking at traditional issues in our field, even if the manuscript needs enhancement in its structure, for instance.

How do you expect this new advisory board to shape the journal in the upcoming years?

The new advisory board will be crucial in making CICE more attuned to the issues in our field. The experts that are now part of our board emphasize in their scholarship the need to foster new perspectives in education, to address not only current issues but also problems that educators, practitioners, families, children, and nations have been facing for a long time. These new developments will also help to reinforce the relevance of CICE and our program at Teachers College as leading forces in discussions related to International and Comparative Education.