This paper critically examines the role played by international actors from the Global North and South in designing education programmes for conflict and crisis contexts. Practitioner discussions and the literature highlight the tensions faced by humanitarian and development actors yet the perspectives and political economy landscape of Education Programme Designers, who play an influential role in education systems, remains under-researched. The research question framing the discussion: What are the influences and perspectives of education programme designers in contexts of conflict and crisis and how do they interact with injustices? This research sets the scene on Education Programme Designers’ ecosystem to better understand their influences, looking at the factors that drive education interventions and how practitioners balance the global, technical obligations imposed by donors and moral drive towards equity, social justice and localisation. The research employs Paulson & Shanks’ (2023) ‘Injustices Model’ as a lens through which to analyse the historic, structural, epistemic and neo-colonial injustices and challenges in and through education programming and how practitioners balance global power dynamics and local knowledge. Drawing on the experience of carrying out Q-Methodological qualitative interviews with 30 Education Programme Designers (INGO, private sector and independent actors), this paper explores their perspectives, revealing four viewpoints. Building on concepts of education actors as ‘implicated’ in injustices, the research reverses the white gaze, exploring the way Q-Methodology provides opportunities for critical reflection on the ‘balancing act’ involved in education programme design in conflict and crisis.