Child-centred education and the promise of democratic learning: Pedagogic messages in rural Indian primary schools

Global and national agendas to achieve universal primary education and improve the ‘quality’ of school provision in developing countries have identified the need to reform classroom pedagogy. Since the 1990s, child-centred ideas in particular have been utilised in teacher-training programmes and school reforms across many parts of Africa and Asia with the intention of creating more child-friendly, democratic learning environments. Analysing episodes from classroom observations conducted in a rural Indian primary school, this paper reveals the tensions experienced by one teacher in handing over greater classroom control to pupils. It provides insight into the complex processes of pedagogic interaction, and sheds light on some of the possibilities and conditions for achieving child-centred pedagogic change in such development contexts.     

No shared vision for achieving Education for All: Turkey at risk

Turkey is still far from realizing any of the six EFA goals. Since the Dakar Conference there have been many policy initiatives aiming at improving the quality of Turkish education. The impact and effectiveness of those policy initiatives are yet to be evaluated. The deficit of high quality analytical and empirical research constitutes a major weakness. So does the level of attention on monitoring and evaluation from policymakers. The recent introduction of strategic planning and performance-based budgeting could promote more emphasis on evaluation and monitoring in the coming years. In addition, a transparent, overarching education policy could foster policy dialogue among stakeholders. Overall, this article draws attention to the following critical factors for the EFA success in Turkey: political and economic support for education reform; the need to adopt strategy-oriented sector policies; increased capacity and emphasis on evaluation and accountability of educational policy-making; the need for a new national impetus to improve quality in education.

Working towards inclusion: Reflections from the classroom

This article explores developments towards inclusive education being undertaken in some schools in India. Drawing on data collected through interviews with key professionals working in schools and classroom observations, the study focused on the practices and experiences of professionals involved in these efforts. Findings suggest that these schools had provided access to children who would otherwise have been denied admission to the mainstream due to their disabilities. However, these children remained the ‘included’ children and did not necessarily become a part of the classroom. Thus, evident in these schools were a range of exclusionary practices that continued to exist alongside efforts towards inclusion. I therefore argue that there is not only a need to provide stakeholders with the knowledge and skills for developing inclusive teaching practices, but also a need to challenge existing values, beliefs and attitudes to ensure the full participation of all children in the curriculum and culture of their school setting.     

全民教育视野中的全球幼儿教育——全民教育全球监测报告(2007年)对全球幼儿教育的关注

联合国教科文组织发布的以“增强基础:幼儿保育和教育”为题的2007年全民教育全球监测报告对全球幼儿教育作了分析。该报告根据各国提供的信息,阐述了幼儿保育和教育的重要意义,分析了全球幼儿保育和教育发展的现状、各国幼儿保育和教育计划的发展走势,提出了实现全球幼儿教育目标的建议。     

教育治理：实现全民教育目标的钥匙—对《2009全民教育全球监测报告》的解读

2008年11月联合国教科文组织发布了《2009全民教育全球监测报告》（EFA Global Monitoring Report 2009）,提出全民教育事业任重道远,教育治理是实现全民教育的关键。在国际范围内,历年的监测报告都以特定的主题与视角分析全民教育的发展状况。《2009全民教育全球监测报告》在教育治理方面提出了诸多理念与建议。     

印共(马)执政理念研究:以西孟加拉邦为例

印共(马)长期活跃在印度政坛,多次赢得邦级选举的胜利,并在西孟加拉、特里普拉、喀拉拉等邦单独或与印共(马列)等联合执政,尤其在西孟加拉邦执政长达30年之久。印共(马)成为印度执政时间最长的政党,充分实践了该党的执政理念,也在国际共运史上创造了一个奇迹。研究印共(马)的执政理念,对于深入了解国外无产阶级政党、推进我国的党建工作、提高党的执政能力有着非常重要的参考价值。     

Literacy's verb: Exploring what literacy is and what literacy does

This article considers contemporary policy claims about “what literacy is” and “what literacy does.” First, the article reviews in-depth the ways in which development discourses define literacy, and the claims made in development discourses about the “consequences” of literacy for economic and political development. I then draw on 24 months of ethnographic research in Brazil with 41 highly impoverished literacy students from four literacy programs in two cities in order to demonstrate that there is no predictable “impact” of literacy on development. Instead, I show that the opportunities afforded by literacy depend greatly on the types of literacy and the types of literacy programs made available to students, as well as students’ cultural understandings of literacy and the social, political, and economic contexts within which they attempt to assert new literacy practices. The article concludes that we should not consider literacy as an actor with some “impact”; instead, we should examine how people use literacy in ways that are conditioned by social and cultural forces.     

Progress towards EFA in Tanzania

Positive developments are identified, notably a strong policy and planning environment linked to overall strategy for growth and poverty reduction, leading to vigorous commitment to achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Abolition of school fees, and a measure of compulsion, resulted in significant gains in school enrolment, including almost equal rates of enrolment for boys and girls since 2000. Poverty is mainly rural and the system struggles to supply education to very poor people. The needs of Tanzania’s sizeable number of children living with disability have been identified and policy is in place, but there is little provision as yet. In responding to HIV/AIDS, more action is essential. Increased enrolment rates have been blamed for a serious negative effect on quality. Modernized curriculum and pedagogy have been prescribed, but realization of these improvements will require a seismic shift in teacher training, support and the provision of education resources.

Who are the custodians of Pacific ‘post-2015’ education futures? Policy discourses,education for all and the millennium development goals

This article discusses influences of Education for All (EFA) and the education Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on education policies in the Pacific sub-region in the context of ongoing ‘post-2015 development agenda’ deliberations, focusing on Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. It is based on doctoral work undertaken as a component of an Australian Research Council Linkage grant, partially supported by the former Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and continuing postdoctoral research.Pacific postcolonial nations’ engagement with EFA and the MDGs was compared through a critical discourse analysis of multi-scalar education policy formation processes. The research identified paradoxical influences of global approaches, and multi-level processes. While such frameworks at once facilitated educational debate and legitimized broader education policy participation, they also supported a status quo in mainstream donor and state dominance of educational development agendas. There is some evidence of wider national participation in the emerging ‘post-2015′ policy processes, but the extent of its influence on multi-level policy deliberations globally and regionally is yet to be seen. Many of the education issues currently being raised in both nations, and regionally, have endured since colonial occupation and independence. This article focuses on educational relevance and gender issues in education, and positions them in relation to the concept of ownership within post-colonial political dynamics and multilevel discursive contexts for participation, which I interpret as being of continued importance to understanding these enduring education concerns.     

Education for All in India: assessing progress towards Dakar goals

About 60 years ago India established a policy of providing free and compulsory education to all children and began transforming the elite education system inherited from its colonial past into a mass education program. The task became a race against a rapidly growing population, which outstripped the pace at which children could be enrolled and educated in schools. Notwithstanding this demographic challenge, the system grew in size and the number of children participating in school grew many-fold. The struggle to reach the long cherished goal of universal elementary education continues even today. The present paper highlights two decades of EFA progress, paying particular attention to quantitative trends since 2001, and the policies framed and the strategies implemented to achieve greater equity and quality in the provision of basic education.

Financing access and participation in primary education: Is there a ‘fast-track’ for fragile states?

Despite moves to ‘fast-track’ progress towards universal primary education, few fragile states have been able to access Fast Track Initiative (FTI) funding facilities. Weak systems and capacity have made these countries a high-risk proposition for donor investment. The absence of credible education sector plans has meant that the majority of fragile states are not eligible for endorsement to receive financial resources via the FTI. The analysis presented in this paper suggests that the FTI has struggled to identify suitable channels for resourcing education in these difficult development environments. Importantly, it finds that procedural and governance issues in particular have presented obstacles that have stymied the promotion of wider access to education in fragile states under the FTI umbrella.     

Hard-pressed to achieve the EFA goals by 2015 in the Philippines

The Philippines has experienced a setback in its progress towards EFA 2015 Goals. In particular, a decline in primary and secondary education performance indicators and a widening gap between boys’ and girls’ performance were noted. While the present policy environment in the country has been conducive to education reforms, a lack of political will, discontinuity in education leadership and an inability to capitalize on proven educational innovations and major programmes/projects are likely to further undermine EFA progress. The country must immediately introduce efficient and effective measures to arrest this trend. The government must also return to social marketing among all stakeholders, emphasizing the long-term benefits of basic education.

试论思想政治教育的价值

文章论述了思想政治教育价值的内涵、特征及具体体现,并讨论了当前思想政治教育价值的实现条件。     

迈向教育公平的革命性理念——联合国教科文组织“全民教育”政策的话语实践分析

保障人的基本受教育权利,促进教育公平是UNESCO多年来一贯的追求。本研究借助福柯的话语实践理论,运用N-Vivo 8.0对UNESCO的全民教育政策文本进行处理,发现全民教育一方面延续了UNESCO追求教育公平的努力,另一方面又具有更为强烈的革命气质。这种革命气质促使全民教育与终身教育在信息时代不断走向融合。     

社会主义的自由观

社会主义就其物质生产方式、意识形态等多个方面的领域表现来说都是较人类以往所历经的各种剥削社会所完全不同的社会形态。由此,它对于其社会成员的思想政治教育也较以往的任何一种以谎言、偏见和狭隘为基本特征的适应剥削制度的思想教育充分体现出了新颖、进步和全面的崭新内涵。但是,剥削制度和由它所产生的副产品——剥削阶级,从来没有甘心自己的失败,具体体现就是他们在思想政治教育的领域中时刻在以各种形式和手段进行攻击、渗透和误导,社会主义的自由观教育是经常被西方敌对势力攻击的对象,也是我们在教育过程中的薄弱环节,笔者想就自由在马列主义中的基本理论展开,提出自己的一些看法和见解,以供广大同行讨论、商榷。