While participation has for decades been a buzzword in development, the term has been imbued with greatly different meanings depending on the perspective of the actor in question. We attempt to clarify these meanings by presenting a tripartite framework. This framework delineates the tenets and strategies of three overarching and complementary perspectives: those perspectives labelled "neoliberal", "liberal", and "progressive". The framework pertains to participation in development generally and to the realm of educational governance specifically, which has long been at the forefront of the theory and practice of participation.