¾ Abstracts for Individual Papers ¾

Aahlin, Unni (University of Oslo)

The influence of external support on Palestinian education

The Israeli occupation has led to the Palestinian people’s dependency on foreign support. The international community is represented in the Palestinian areas through a variety of organizations and institutions, whose points of view have to be considered in educational planning and implementation of programs. Donor agencies often claim that their assistance has been a success by referring to good results and positive evaluations, generally they are less concerned whether their programs are those that are most needed. The result of lack of a complete development perspective may imply partial educational development, impediment of essential innovations and emphasis on improvement rather than transformation of the situation. Re-adjustment and co-ordination of aid to the Palestinian areas is under way, but a question is whether the Palestinian Ministry of Education will have the authority to decide on own budget and get the necessary financial aid. If the Palestinians are to build their economy to compete on a global market, huge changes that make big demands on all levels of the educational system are required. Teachers claim that donors are not interested enough in the effects of their support, which influence on the development of Palestinian education is discussed in this paper.

Abdi, Ali (University of Alberta)

Return to the Source: Cabrals’ existential philosophy and the cultural legitimization of contemporary development education

Cabral’s notion of development via people’s situatedness in a given physical and cosmological environments has been continuously given, albeit generally without due credit, a sort of intellectual presence by the proliferation of academic work that concretely sees the constant interplay between education, culture and social development/human emancipation. This paper attempts to re-introduce the constant relevance of culture and cultural ways of knowing to the possible creation of viable programs of education that can entice, initiate and eventually undertake, through consciously located human agency, highly desirable projects development education. The labeling of any educational program as capable of leading to social development is no longer tenable, for in many zones of the so-called underdeveloped world, educational programs are either qualitatively depreciated, or outright irrelevant. The reasons for these problems range from the continuing presence of a perennially alienating colonial philosophies of education to the current failure of educational globalization as prescribed in the neo-liberal ideology of world management. It is in the context of these educational problems and social development failures, all with centennial proportions, that this work intends to recommend, at least theoretically, the full acculturation of education as a means of existential recasting in the struggle for better life possibilities for the currently increasing world underclass. Beyond Cabral’s work, the paper will also, for analytical and propositional purposes, heavily borrow from the cultural and educational writings of Julius Nyerere, Claude Ake, Frantz Fanon, Thierry Verhelst, Paulo Freire, and other.

Abelson, Michael (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

The Czech Republic, Autonomy and Integration in the European Union.

The creation of the European Union raises the hopes of many for a more peaceful and prosperous future in Europe. At the same time, it raises substantial questions and concerns regarding issues as wide-ranging as the threat of cultural homogenization, overzealous regulation and of central interest in this paper - the potential erosion of autonomy in the formation of national education policy. This paper will examine the issue of autonomy in the context of educational policy in the Czech Republic. While the Czech Republic has not yet been admitted to the EU, it is slated to be among the wave of entries in 2003. The Czech Republic is currently undergoing the interconnected transformative trajectories of postcommunism and Europeanization. Examining the question of national autonomy in the case of a candidate nation offers unique critical opportunities that may not be apparent when looking at pre-existing member states. Are national and local educational autonomies put at risk in the process of inclusion in the European Union? This paper will use the concept of inclusion to critically examine the process of entry in the European Union and its affects on the Czech education system.

Accioly de Amorim, Ana Christina (Harvard University)

The Impact of Parental Participation in Northeastern Brazil

Recent trends and challenges have reshaped the role and organization of the Latin American governments by displacing central responsibility to local government, communities, and parents. This process has shed light on decentralization as well as on the role of the educational stakeholders in the educational reform designs. This paper intends to analyze the role of parents on the educational outcomes considering the Brazilian reality as the background. I will center my arguments on the importance of a clear framework for parents’ participation in the policy design and how this process can help in the students’ outcomes.

The scope of my analysis will include (1) studies about the complex relationship between school and family prior to policy design; (2) analysis of the definition of the parents’ role in the participation process using as reference policies that are currently taking place in Brazil; (3) contemplation of training not only for teachers, but also for parents, and finally; (4) I will question the assumption that the larger the decentralization (without careful definition of Parents’ role) the greater the parents’ participation. The analysis will be based on a literature review and my findings will be preliminary.

Acedo, Clementina (University of Pittsburgh)

Untitled

Global and regional trends in secondary education reform.

This presentation will address the preliminary findings from a study being undertaken in the context of the USAID-funded “Improving Educational Quality” project. The presenter will discuss the global and regional trends of reforms being undertaken (e.g., organizational restructuring, financing arrangements, curricular change, teacher education) in five UNESCO regions: Africa, Arab States, East Asia and the Pacific, (Central/Eastern) Europe, and Latin America.

Adams, Don (University of Pittsburgh), Hwa Geok Kee (University of Pittsburgh), Lin Lin (University of Pittsburgh)

Linking Research, Policy and Strategic Planning to Education Development in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

After providing a brief overview of the changing social and economic context within which Lao education functions, this article describes the use and nonuse of research in national efforts in education policy making and planning, and examines both the processes and the products of decision-making involved in a Lao Government/Asian Development Bank sponsored education sector assessment. The article also suggests ways to improve the effectiveness of Lao policy and planning through building a tradition of use of research and outlines a modified role of international donors in contributing to the development of research capabilities.

Adams, Jennifer (Harvard Graduate School of Education)

Educational Opportunity during the Decentralization Era in China: Is the Right to Education More Dependent on Community and Family Wealth

In China, the decentralization of educational finance has important implications for the equality of educational opportunity. The reform of educational finance was a key component of national educational reforms initiated in 1985, which gradually transferred the responsibility for the generation and distribution of education funds away from the central government to local communities. As a result, schools are expected to raise their own funds, and in turn, increasingly rely upon both community resources and household incomes to finance the provision of education. This raises concerns about both regional inequality in the funding of education and the effect of school fees on the educational decisions of poor families. In this paper, I explore whether educational inequality is rising in China. I use cross-sectional data from two waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey to examine whether the probability of children between the ages of 12-15 in eight provinces enrolling and advancing in school is more dependent on household and community wealth in 1993 than in 1989.

Adeyinka, Augustus (University of Botswana)

The Impact of Western Culture on African Education

Against a background discussion of the concepts of education and culture, this paper examines the principles and practice of the African traditional education system, otherwise known as indigenous education, that is, the type of education prevalent in Africa before the coming of the Christian Missions. Its objectives, content and methods, strengths and weaknesses are compared with those of Western education. The major philosophies of African traditional education, namely, preparationism, functionalism, communalism, wholisticism and perennialism, are highlighted and their values discussed. The paper then focuses on the infiltration of Western culture into Africa; the wholesale acceptance of that culture by the various ethnic groups in Africa; and the impact of Western culture on the existing traditional education system. The point is emphasized that the best approach to the handling of a foreign culture by any society is for that society to pick what is considered good and beneficial in the alien culture and synthesize it with the fine aspects of its own culture. Today, however, the call seems to be in favor of a return to the community-based education system, which has no room for unemployment, as the case is for institutionalized education in present-day Africa. It is in this direction that the author shares the views of Ivan Illich and his fellow dischoolers in Europe and America that the school, as it now operates, should disappear and in its place there should be set up knowledge and skill training centers where adolescents, and even adults, could go and acquire the type and amount of knowledge and skill they need for community service and personal survival in a new world of science and technology. This is the picture of education that one has for the present century.

Aemero, Abebayehu (University at Buffalo)

Constraints on School Principals in Ethiopia

This paper addresses 2 kinds of constraints on school principals since the 1992 Education and Training Policy was adopted and some of the issues that have emerged (e.g. deprofessionalization). One kind of constraint is that principals are no longer required to have specific preparation for the job; both education/training and role definition have shifted. In current practice, principals are elected for two year terms from among the teachers in a school by their colleagues. The second kind of constraint is that principals play multiple roles including teaching classes, assuming administrative responsibilities, and responding to various political interest groups who elected, and decide whether to re-elect him/her.

Afacan, Hakan (Selcuk University), Sakir Berber (Selcuk University, College of Education,), Adem Ogut (Selcuk University, College of Management)

Synthesizing Eastern and Western Culture: Transformation of Turkish University Students in the New Millennium

Turkey has undertaken new objectives such as modernization and westernization of the society after the republic. Cultural changes in Turkish society are dramatic. Under the impact of Eastern and Western cultures, Turkish youth find themselves in a dilemma. In this empirical study we try to find how the values of Turkish University students have transformed in the new millennium.

Affolter, Fritz (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)

Community Mobilization and Leadership Training in Azerbaijan

This paper reports on recent community mobilization and leadership training in Azerbaijan refugee- and IDP (‘internally displaced persons’) communities. In particular, this study assesses (1) major community issues and problem-solving capacity; (2) leadership and decision-making structures; (3) training needs of community leaders. The study findings point to communities’ needs for economic assistance as well as social support. Communities are unable to tackle major socio-economic obstacles due to a lack of funds and/or technical assistance, as well as the capacity to mobilize the community in a way that would lead to effective and transformative community action and learning.

Affolter, Fritz (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)

In Search of Fundamental School Factors that Enhance Student Achievement in Ugandan Primary Schools

46 different components of school environment data collected from 24 urban and rural primary schools by the Uganda IEQ project in 1996 have been compared in order to test the assumption whether there is a universal threshold of inputs that leads to increased student achievement. The components analyzed dealt with the adequacy of school infrastructure, the provision of material services, the adequacy of classroom resources, the availability of learning materials, the appropriateness of teaching staff members, the adequacy of school leadership, the adequacy of classroom management procedures, the qualitative nature of school procedures, the quality of interaction with the community, school business characteristics and school inspection. The author did not find a viable construct of fixed educational quality factors for improving school effectiveness and recommends that policy makers create space for bottom-up research initiatives that bring teachers, parents, students and local communities into the policy and research discourse.

Agarwal-Harding, Seema (ChildScope International, Inc)

Untitled

Dr. Agarwal will present the Childscope, International collaboration with public schools in Howard County, Maryland to introduce language training and multi-cultural education. She will discuss both the content of the programs and the nature and outcomes of the dialogue with schools, parents and school officials that led to this exciting, innovative partnership. She will represent as well the lessons of this experience and what they suggest for educating students for an ever-growing global world, such as that of suburban Washington, D.C., referring especially to the increasingly antagonistic multicultural education environment as illustrated by California’s recent actions.

Agarwal-Harding, Seema (ChildScope International, Inc)

Supporting Learning for All in Maryland and Globally.

An educational initiative starting in Howard County, Maryland seeks to support effective education and community participation strategies that can help public schools reach their equity goals. It promotes children’s learning in a global society, based on a recognition of shared human values across diverse local

and international ethnic communities. The presentation will examine existing State and local policies, and analyze a variety of interventions in Maryland schools which seek to enhance learning by drawing on the increasing population diversity. This analysis will also examine similar initiatives in other regions of the world including India, Ghana and Peru.

Agborsangaya, Ozong

Education and the Child Soldier

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a country in crisis. In this country children are acutely affected by armed conflict and are vulnerable to participation as child soldiers. In June 2000 Creative Associates undertook an activity designed to assist the DRC to formulate a national policy to demobilize and reintegrate child soldiers and to assess the educational needs of demobilized child soldiers. This panel presentation shall focus on sharing conclusions and lessons learned during that activity. Those lessons relate to the dynamics of the conflict and how they relate to the participation of children as soldiers, methods of recruitment, lessons learned regarding demobilizing and reintegration of child soldiers.

Agyemang, Samuel (Harvard University)

Toward a policy framework for guiding the efficient, effective and equitable introduction of computers in developing countries: A Case Study from Ghana

A major problem for research in developing countries concerns the efficient, effective and equitable use of computers in Higher Education. Ghana, my country of origin, is no exception. My intent in this paper, therefore, is review recent literature on the subject on other countries and to propose a framework for the efficient, effective and equitable introduction of computers in Ghana’s Higher institutions. My task in this paper is to review current literature on computer use in other countries, develop a framework and use the framework to propose policies that Ministry of Education can adopt to ensure that computers find their ways into the county’s higher institutions to transform the learning process and to enrich the quality of our graduates.

Akiba, Motoko (Penn State University)

Stress from Academic Competition or Peer Hierarchy in Classroom? Examination of Bullying Based on a Case Study of Japanese Junior High School Students

Based on an in-depth interview, observation, and student diaries of 30 9th grade Japanese students conducted during summer in 2000, the author examined their experiences and perceptions of bullying in a Japanese junior high school. Special attention was paid on the relationship between the pressure of academic competition through standardized high school entrance examinations and the involvement in bullying. However, only a few students reported or perceived the linkage between stress from academic competition and bullying. Rather, bullying is strongly related to the classroom-based status hierarchy based on Japanese peer culture. The students who have low status in the hierarchy or the students who deviate from the norms and the values which support the status hierarchy are more likely to become the targets of bullying. Frustration in academic competition may motivate some students to bully others only indirectly through the statuses of bullies and victims in the hierarchy system.

The author further examined the nature of this status hierarchy among peers in relation to parents’ education level, achievement level, and other student characteristics. How this hierarchy system determines the structure and the dynamics of bullying relationships in a classroom is discussed.

Akukwe, Grace (University of Minnesota)

Sustaining the change efforts of a community school improvement project in Ghana

As participatory processes become the focus of development assistance worldwide, its associated issue of sustainability is evolving as a critical aspect of policy design and implementation. Essentially, the literature on sustainability emphasizes continuance and maintenance of desirable outcomes of development, as well as utilization of local resources without its associated cost-benefits. My presentation is a preamble to a thesis that will focus specifically on the school improvement interventions of the Community School Alliance project in Ghana. My paper examines factors that may infringe on the sustainability of community school improvement efforts based on a working model, a rationale for the model and an overview of my eventual research.

Alcantara, Armando (Mexico’s UNAM Boston College)

University Research in the Developing World: A Search for Global Resonance

This paper deals with some of the key features and dilemmas that university research faces at the beginning of the new millennium. An effort is made to discuss an array of topics going from the realities of research and development (R&D) spending in both the industrialized world and the developing nations, to the difficulties and even concerns for the viability of university R&D in the developing world. The paper also analyzes the possibility that the successful cases of the Asian newly industrialized countries might be replicated by other nations of the Third World. The following are some of the issues to be addressed: a) the influence of the predominant models of the US, France, Britain, Germany and Japan throughout the development of university research at a global scale; b)the possibilities to replicate the newly industrialized nations’ successful cases in linking university, industry and government; c) the experience of university research in the rest of the Asian nations; d)the new realities of African university research; and e) the experience of university research in Latin America. The final section of the paper will explore the conditions under which more effective collaborative efforts would take place.

Al-Harthi, Hamood (University of Pittsburgh)

Dealing with Globalization in Developing Countries: Educational Reform in the Sultanate of Oman

How can societies around the world deal with the impact of globalization? For example, there has been considerable discussion in developing countries on this issue not only by politicians and academic intellectuals but also by ordinary people. In some of these countries, such as Oman, globalization has been regarded both as the hope of economic and political development and as a threat against the local culture and economy. This paper describes how the Omani government has attempted to prepare the nation for the era of globalization through reforming the public educational system. This reform gives more emphasis to science, mathematics, computer sciences, and English language in order to prepare students to participate in the global economy. This paper examines various obstacles to achieving the goals of this reform: teacher preparation, teacher-student relationships and teaching/learning styles. This paper will also raise questions about the types of educational reforms that might be needed in Oman if one were to consider more than just the economic dimension of globalization. The paper is based on some visits to one of the trial schools where the researcher is going to observe classroom interaction and conduct some interviews with administrator, teachers, and students.

Ali, Mehrunnisa (Ryerson University)

Partnerships between universities in ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ countries

As pressures for globalization have increased on universities in ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ countries, institutional relationships between the two have proliferated and the label for this relationship has changed from “development assistance” to “partnership.” Using the case of a university in Pakistan and two universities in ‘developed’ countries, this paper shows that the change in the label does not lead to a change in the nature of the relationship, primarily because the institutions continue to be fundamentally unequal in terms of producing and disseminating knowledge that has international currency, which is their primary function. The label of partnership is ideologically attractive to both parties because the term is strongly associated with equality, reciprocity, mutual accountability, trust and professional respect. But this label not only misrepresents their relationship, it inhibits the candid discussion of conflicts that arise from their institutional inequality and the problematization of the historical, socio-political and economic factors that lead to these conflicts.

Alvarez, Benjamin (Academy for Educational Development)

Impact of New Technologies on Post-basic Education

New technologies significantly affect the context and process of education, including curriculum, teacher development and student classroom experience. Technologies expand opportunities for communication. However, equipping education facilities is inadequate and wasteful unless the capacity of the teacher and education management to use these tools is also improved. Availability of enhanced technologies also has implications for the curriculum. This presentation will examine global learning strategies in the use of technology in secondary education from two perspectives: i) technology as a tool to facilitate learning and ii) technology skills that all youth need to succeed in the evolving 21st century workplace.

Alves Filho, Eloy (University Federal at Vicosa/Minas Gerais), Arlete Salcides (University Centre FEEVALE)

Schools that represent a possibility of formation of several identities

The current study is among other studies that are concerned with issues that situate themselves between culture, meaning, identity and power. Our main goal was to demonstrate effects of the State-nation and the national culture on the process of identity formation. This was done through analysis that wanted to verify if the ways of intervention used by the educators in the classrooms that alphabetized young people and adults, located in rural areas the state of Minas Gerais, resulted in an eclectic representation of what it is to be from Brazil. And also if they are in favor that the different identities have a turn and the right to speak in order to manifest their personal experiences of belonging to the Brazilian nation, or if only a determined social group that is privileged can manifest itself, distancing themselves from ‘the others’, the non-alphabetized. It was possible to demonstrate that what has been presented by the educators as ‘the truth’ about the ways to ‘be Brazilian’ is the result of practices that impose homogeneic and universal feelings that work as political devices. They represent the difference as a unit, exercising the cultural power that maintain the procedure of exclusion in force.

Amuah, Isaac (The Mitchell Group), George Woode (Mitchell Group)

Meeting the Challenge of achievement diversity in assessing English literacy

One of the assessment challenges in Ghana and in many African countries is the tremendous pupil diversity in presenting levels of academic and cognitive ability. This a becomes particularly problematic when the assessment goal is to measure learning growth over time. How can you, in one single instrument, capture a baseline for children at all levels of ability and still assure that there will be “room to grow” for very high achievers? Dr. Amuah will discuss one solution to this problem and describe discuss a critical component of the test administration procedure training pupils in how to take the tests.

Anderson, Eileen (Harvard Graduate School of Education)

Girls’ Secondary Education and Cultural Change in San Pedro, Belize

San Pedro, Belize is experiencing a boom in secondary education of girls. A unique mix of cultural and psychological factors allows and motivates girls to pursue secondary education en masse. As San Pedro relies more heavily on U.S. tourism dollars, making access to education possible, the girls rely more heavily on U.S. media and narratives in making meaning of and planning their own lives. A new dissatisfaction is occurring with traditional life experiences, both motivating the girls toward education and causing them psychological distress. The effects on this unplanned wave of educated women back on the rapidly developing community are causing profound shifts in the labor force, gender roles, and identity construction. This paper is based on a five-year person-centered ethnographic study following the community and individual school girls via participant-observation, interviews, surveys, and archival research through the rapid changes. It relies on educational, psychological, and anthropological literature and methods to understand secondary education as a mediator between adolescents and their society at a turning point in that society’s history from a more traditional to more modern economy and culture.

Anderson, Eugene (University of Virginia), Judith Brooks-Buck (University of Virginia)

Changing the Rules of the Game: The Transformation of Access and Opportunity in American Higher Education

In an age when the need for post secondary education has intensified, this paper explores the changing political and institutional climate and discriminatory policies and practices that limit access and opportunity. Given the national conservative political climate, institutional responses to growing diversity has resulted in the narrowing rather than the broadening of access to education through policies and practices designed to reduce opportunities for poor ethnic minorities and lower status students.

Anderson, Eugene (University of Virginia), Judith Brooks-Buck (University of Virginia)

The Global Dimensions of Racial and Class Antagonisms among Poor Youth

This paper examines the growing social dislocation and disaffection of poor urban males in the U.S., England, France and Germany. In particular, it analyzes the growing neo-Nazi movement, largely albeit not exclusively situated, among young poor males in America and western Europe. Issues of racism, economic competition, xenophobia, political socialization, among others become paramount. As background, the paper traces the experiences of immigrants to America and Western Europe and how various segments of the society interfaced with them, from a historical as well as contemporary perspective. The social consequences of such growing antagonism portends unique societal challenges for many developed countries. A discussion of these issues and the attempts by governments to curtail such antagonisms conclude the paper.

Anderson, Stephen (University of Toronto)

School Improvement in East Africa

The paper presents a comparative analysis of 6 school improvement projects (SIPs) supported by the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda from 1985 to 2000. The analysis is based on evaluations of the SIPs commissioned by AKF (the presenter was lead researcher for 2 of the evaluations). The cross-case analysis suggests that the chances for improving the quality of education in these settings are greater when change (1) is school-based, (2) school-wide, (3) collaborative amongst key stakeholder groups, (4) focused on teacher development, (5) systemic in addressing school management and organizational conditions impinging on teacher development, and (6) attentive to the sustainability of school improvement processes and outcomes. The paper synthesizes findings about the SIP designs, implementation, and outcomes, as well as key issues related to such things as the investment in local teacher development agents and teacher centers; priorities for teacher development — subject knowledge, instructional skills; capacity building for continuous improvement at the district and school levels; and parent involvement in school development. While the analysis does not conclude that a miraculous solution to improving schools in developing countries has been found, it does open a window on learning that has emerged from a long term work-in-progress.

Anwar, Aamir (University of Pittsburgh)

Finding a place in the Global Village

This paper deals with the metaphorical concept of “Global Village,” a concept often critiqued as vague and fuzzy. Starting with the historical background of this concept, this paper elaborates recent trends in broadening the uses of this metaphor, specifically those due to technological advancements in transportation and telecommunication. We highlight how an international service learning project helps participants understand and clarify the concept of global citizenship. LINCS participants describe how this experience facilitated developing a more concrete concept of a global village, and helped them locate their situation within it. Limitations and boundaries of this concept are also discussed.

Aoki, Aya (The World Bank, HDNED)

The World Bank and Adult Basic Education

The presentation would consist of two parts. First is the summary of adult basic education review paper ‘Including the 900 Million +’ conducted by the World Bank. The paper reviews evidence from 17 countries on the possible effects and various approaches of programs of adult/youth basic education promoting beneficial changes of attitude and behavior. The second part is to introduce the current involvement of the World Bank in the area of adult basic education and to seek advice in the future direction from the symposium audience.

Appiah-Padi, Stephen (Northwestern College)

Study Abroad and the formation of global consciousness: The Effects of Study Abroad on Some International Students’ Perceptions of Global Issues-Human Rights, Development, and Environmental Care

Most research suggest that study abroad endows students with a global perspective- knowledge, attitudes, skills and values- which leads them to a better understanding of the world they live in. A good study abroad program does not only give students a better understanding of the world, it also gives them an orientation to a transformative paradigm so that their understanding of the world would be reflected in their critical approach to understanding global issues. This paper reports and analyzes a study which investigated the levels of awareness and changes in perceptions of some international students enrolled in a major university in Canada. Using the qualitative research approach of in-depth interviewing, the study probed the students’ understanding of three major global issues- human rights, development and environmental care. The three global issues were chosen by the students themselves as issues they thought would be important to them, during the sojourn abroad and also when they return home to their countries. The findings of the research show that though living abroad may enable international students to experience self-transformation in their perceptions of themselves and the world, the nature of the experiences gained during study abroad have wide ranging implications for how they understand global issues like human rights, development and environmental care.

Archer, David (ActionAid)

Mainstreaming Adult Literacy

The World Education Forum in Dakar emphasized the need to mainstream adult literacy into government policies on education. “Adult and continuing education must be greatly expanded and diversified and integrated into the mainstream of national education and poverty reduction strategies.” National EFA plans are supposed to be developed by 2002 “through transparent and democratic processes” with “systematic representation” of national civil society organizations. The Dakar Framework calls for particular emphasis to be placed on “scaling up practical participatory methodologies developed by NGOs”. How can we ensure that diverse NGO experiences with literacy are fed systematically into these national education policy processes? What are best practices for models of government- civil society partnership around adult literacy?

Ardizzone, Leonisa (Teachers College, Columbia University)

Motivation to Action: Youth Peace Builders

Many children in our society live in conditions that result in feelings of hopelessness and despair, leading to harmful behaviors. However, many youth have chosen instead to become positively involved in their communities. This paper explores the influences and motivations of youth living in inner-city neighborhoods who address issues of direct and indirect violence and become peace-builders in non-formal settings. This qualitative study of 45 New York City youth is based on the hypothesis that they encounter a critical consciousness raising experience(s) that leads them to become peace builders. The research incorporates the voices of youth in education reform.

Arimoto, Akira (Hiroshima University)

Higher Education Responses to Growth of Enrollment

This study examines how higher education systems in the six countries have changed their administration in response to enrollment growth. Some countries have not yet reached massification, others are just passing through it, and Japan is in a post-massification stage. Although there are some common responses to enrollment growth, cultural factors are a major determinant of how universities respond.

Arjmand, Reza (Stockholm University)

Religious Hegemony over Education in Post-revolutionary Iran

The religious hegemony outcome of the unity of Islam and the state has bestowed endeavor to Islamize the secular education in post-revolutionary Iran. Being the main representative of Shi’a Islam, Iranian government indoctrinates a state subordinate to the religious leader on education as a part of social structure. The political leader is the highest religious authority and the only education allowed to exist, is the one based on Islamic principles. The close link between education and Islam in post revolutionary Iran, may be traced clearly in the educational policy as defined and practiced by the Ministry of Education: based on Islamic teachings, as well as on rejection of any form of atheism and polytheism, geared to the restoration of Islamic culture and civilization in the face of the inroads of colonial and Western culture. In fact, the four ideological pillars of the Islamic Republic, inseparability of religion and politics, Islamic revival, cultural revolution and creation of the ideologically committed Muslim, has had a direct impact on Iranian education in the post-revolutionary period.

Assie’-Lumumba, N’Dri (Cornell University)

The 1970s Educational Television Program in Côte d’Ivoire: Enduring Impact and Lessons Learned in Light of the Adoption of the New Information and Communication Technologies and Distance Learning in Higher Education

As a step in its national policy of increasing supply of basic education, in 1971-1972, the government of Côte d’Ivoire adopted television as a national medium of instruction in the public primary schools. New textbooks, a new pedagogy, new classroom dynamics including teacher-pupil and pupil-pupil interactions, and criteria of promotion were adopted as an intrinsic part of the television program. While working toward a full coverage of all the primary schools in the country, a few years later, some classes which had not yet been provided with television were required to use the pedagogy and new textbooks that were designed for the use of television. Another aspect of the long-run plans at the time was the projected extension of the use of television to post-primary schools as well. Another important component of the program was the community and national development program—Télé Pour Tous (Television for All)—that targeted the general public but also specific population segments such as rural dwellers, farmers, formally illiterate groups the majority of whom are women. Within a decade, this program failed. However, since the 1990s Côte d’Ivoire has been among African countries that have been exploring the new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as a potentially effective means to respond to the high demand for tertiary education.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze some of the enduring impact and lessons learned from the 1970s television program as a national policy of education. The guiding questions include the rationale, actors and resources involved in this policy: The specific questions include: what were the goal and objectives of the program? who were the actors? who were the intended and actual beneficiaries? what have been the different forms of costs and who has been bearing them? what have the past experience and enduring impacts on the process of education, pedagogy, and academic/cognitive dimensions? what are the lessons learned, if any, and their impact on the new policies of ICTs? Using a policy analysis based on the intended state’s objectives, I will expand on new possible policy formulation and implementation within the framework of educational reform and the emerging political configurations in Côte d’Ivoire since the December 1999 military coup d’etat and subsequent popular resistance.

Astiz, Maria (Pennsylvania State University)

Globalization, Community Participation, and Educational Change: Lessons from Decentralization of Educational Services in Argentina

As a product of globalization, countries around the world implemented educational decentralization policies. During the 1990s, under a democratization rhetoric that placed particular emphasis on the role and participation of the civil society, the Argentine central government transferred some aspects of educational decision-making to the provinces that resulted in differentiated outcomes. This research seeks to answer the following questions: What factors explain the institutional variation and performance of educational decentralization across localities? How do the local institutional histories facilitate or impede the process of educational decentralization? How is the implementation conditioned by the way people participate and the level of participation in each municipality? Finally, What are the implications of these questions for participation and democratization at the school level? These questions will be answered using a mixed methodology that combines content analysis, interviews, and a survey among local organizations. The study will have implications for policy makers worldwide who are trying to involve “the public” through policies of educational decentralization at a moment when “the public” is retreating from the civic and political arena.

Awedoba, Albert (University of Ghana/Legon)

Improving Educational Quality/Ghana-Policy Dialogue and Classroom Based Research on Ghana’s School Language Policy

Ghana’s school language policy calls for a Ghanaian language to be the medium of instruction for three years with a transition to English only instruction in Primary 4. In a country where sixty languages are spoken and English is the official language, policy implementation is fraught with problems. The IEQ multi-site case study of six schools reveals the layers of complexity and resistance in attempting to implement the policy. Panelists will discuss findings from classroom observations and achievement tests in the IEQ multi-site case study of six schools that informs the dialogue with policymakers at various levels.

Baba, Masateru (Shinshu University), Koji Shimada (KLT Management, USA), Takashi Waga (University of Tsukuba)

Development of National Grants to Private Sector Higher Education in Japan

The aims of this study are (a) to examine the rationale and methods of national funding to private sector higher education in Japan and (b) to evaluate the effect of such funding. Japan has achieved enrollment expansion of higher education mostly through the private sector. The total percentage of high school students going to universities and colleges has reached 47.6%. Over 75% of Japanese students attend private colleges and universities. What financial policy has the government adopted to achieve mass higher education through the private sector? This study attempted to answer this question from administrative and financial perspectives: (1) mechanism for funding, (2) funding formula, (3) administrative regulation, (4) accountability, and (5) important problems associated with the funding are discussed.

Back, Lucien (UNICEF-Policy and Planning)

Designing and Steering an Evaluation to Maximize Organizational Learning: Balancing Methods, Sensitivities, and Substance

Organizational learning in UNICEF involves not only policy and program staff within the organization, but also decision-makers in governmental and non-governmental partners who share the responsibility of designing and implementing UNOCEF supported policies and programs. This creates a complex environment for the evaluation function. The art is to maintain independence and objectivity and , at the same time, deal with interactive processes to ensure the continued engagement of all partners. This presentation discusses the balancing act to ensure that methods, sensitivities, and substance are all appropriately addressed.

Badur, Gulistan (Illinois State University)

International Students’ Perspectives On Academic & Social/Cultural Adjustment To American Higher Education Systems

Although international students are part of American higher education, their integration into college and social life is limited. Academic and social adjustment is a key issue for international students to succeed and accomplish their goals once they are admitted. Cross-cultural adjustment theories will be used as a framework to understand international students’ adjustment to the American higher educational systems and the stages that they go through during the adjustment period. This study will investigate international students’ perspectives on their adjustment stages and factors that facilitate and inhibit their academic and social adjustment. Data for this study will be gathered through interviews with international students attending a Midwestern university in the US. Findings related to the cross-cultural adjustment process and coping techniques of students will be presented.

Bae, Seong-Geun (Florida State University), George Papagiannis (Florida State University) ,

Alternative schools in South Korea: Alternative to Modern Public Education

Korea’s present public education system came in and developed along with modern industrial society. It has the characteristics of mass education system for training useful human resources fulfill the need of the industrial society. This is the very source of the crisis of modern civilization and depersonalization.

In Korea, entering into the 1990s, the growing public disenchantment with pubic education led to the development of alternative schooling outside the public school system. It appeared more than twenty years after its introduction in the U.S. These alternative practices fundamentally put in question the ideological nature, the value, and world-view that bolster existing public education, and propose endeavors and possibilities for overcoming problems for existing education. Thus, these practices are drastically differentiated from existing education both in a perspective that approaches education, and in a way that manages.

Nonetheless, in 1997, in the name of school reform, the Korean government decided boldly to embrace these unauthorized alternative schools into the public school system. The governmental policy drew in part on the American charter school experience through a process of so-called “policy-borrowing.” The government came to a definite decision that alternative schooling outside the public school system would be solve many problems that plague public schools. What structural and societal conditions led to the creation of a demand for alternative schooling in Korea? What encouraged the Korean government to make such a radical policy judgment?

After examining the practices and substance of recent alternative schooling in Korea, this paper explores the societal conditions for the creation of alternative schooling and traces its policy-formation process. Then, this paper discusses how far the Korean alternative school policy reflected the charter school movement ongoing in the U.S. For America, this paper will act as a window to seeing and sharing school reform and the alternative school movement in Korea, and ultimately, will contribute to the global discussions around alternative schooling.

Bain, Olga (SUNY at Buffalo)

Russia’s Response to the Global Agenda in Demand and Access to Higher Education

This presentation focuses on the recently proposed Russian higher education (HEd) policies as they effect demand for and access to higher education. These policies resonate with the current worldwide higher education agenda driven by the neo-liberal ideologies that emphasize market-like mechanisms for HEd delivery, free choice for individuals, and effective and efficient use of public moneys. The policy addresses the dilemma of reconciliation of educational priorities for national economic competitiveness under the challenges of the global knowledge economy with those of protecting equal individual rights to access HEd. The effect of the policy on the demand and access to HEd is analyzed along the proposed regulation of student flows into vocational paths of HEd, greater integration of the post-secondary educational system and possibilities for life-long learning, and introduction of demand-driven financing in place of a traditional supply-driven scheme. Challenges to the assumptions of a rational economic policy discourse in HEd are further discussed along the following lines:

§ student preferences as reflected in the increase and effective redistribution of student flows from post-secondary vocational (technicum) track to the higher educational (university and university-like) track in the post-Soviet Russia

§ system-level values conflict: selective/elitist (no conflict) vs. selective/demand-driven (conflict-based);

§ equity-eroding and competition-eroding pressures of HEd hierarchy that redirect most benefits to top institutions and skew advantages to the income-privileged population.

By way of conclusion the paper speculates on the prospects of regionally and locally driven HEd policies to reconcile the priorities of various stake-holders.

Bah Lalya, Ibrahim (UNESCO)

Education For All

In Dakar, the international education community has pledged to attain education for all by 2015. However, the lessons learned from the 1990’s suggest that major stumbling blocks still remain on both demand and supply ends. As educational systems attempt to reach the last 20-30% non-schooled children and the adult illiterates, it becomes harder to progress toward EFA: enrolment significantly slow down and the quality of education delivery get poorer. Exploring successful enrolment and retention strategies implemented in the Sub-Saharan sixteen low enrolment countries, the paper supports the need to go beyond conventional approaches to make education available, affordable and desirable, as education deal with the disadvantaged and the hard to reach groups. These approaches include new and innovative strategies as well as indigenous broad based practices utilized with local villagers and with the support of civil society organizations. The paper discusses major advantages and challenges practitioners may have to face in order to mainstream these approaches.

Bakia, Marianne (World Bank)

Economic Analysis of National Computer Projects in Developing Counties

This paper examines what we know about the costs of computer use in K-12 schools, with special attention to costs in developing countries. A brief review of reasons to engage in computer projects is presented followed by a review of research on the effectiveness of computers in K-12 schools. A common methodology for determining the costs of computers, Total Cost of Ownership, is presented, and eight categories of costs (central management, hardware, software, facilities renovation and connectivity, support and maintenance, professional development, total costs and financial models) are examined. Data from projects in developing countries are compared to cost analyses of computer projects in US schools.

Balestino, Raymond (Inter-American Development Bank)

Promoting Community Awareness of Hispanic Children’s Values through a Photography Exhibit

For immigrant families, language differences between the home and school can inhibit important communication about values and expectations among parents, teachers, and children. Furthermore, the disparity between the culture at home and community institutions may constrain the child from developing a positive sense of belonging in the larger community. This paper describes an exhibition entitled "Windows on Our Lives/Nuestras Vidas por una Ventana" that showcased photographs by Hispanic children of what they valued most from home and school. In viewing the photographs, members of the community gained an appreciation of how children perceived their world. The exhibit is a model for strengthening communication, not only between parents and teachers, but among institutions as well.

Balodimas-Bartolomei, Angelyn (Loyola University of Chicago)

The Multicultural Representation of Textbook Illustrations and Photographs: A Study of Elementary and Middle School Foreign Language Textbooks in Greece and Italy.

In the past decade, foreign language instruction has become a required component of most elementary schools in the European Union. In addition, to achieving proficiency in other languages, the need for students to learn about other cultures and peoples has become imperative and is reflected in the officially stated aims of most educational systems. As EU countries aim at achieving intercultural understanding, new textbooks and curricula are being produced to employ an awareness of other social groups and nationalities. However it is still unknown whether textbooks being developed by some member states are more multicultural than those being developed by other member states and if so, the possible causes for this difference. This study will investigate the above question by examining the multicultural representation of photographs and illustrations in various foreign language textbooks from elementary and middle schools in Greece and Italy.

Banya, Kingsley (Florida International University)

NGOs and the Role of Missionary Organizations in Development

Many important NGOs, especially in certain regions in some countries, are mission organization, both Christian and Muslim, although NGO literature tends to ignore this fact. Often mission organizations are simply defined out of the system, as not being proper NGOs; they are said to be primarily concerned with ‘spiritual maters’ as opposed to voluntary development organizations concerned with development construed in social and economic terms. Typologies of NGOs in aid often disregard the mission organizations without even bothering to discuss the matter. This not only reduces the complexity and heterogeneity of the system, it also takes away important parts of its history. The strategic dilemmas facing the mission organizations pose an interesting question, partly because of the missions’ role in Western history and their central historical position in relations between ‘us’ and the ‘others’, but also because they may reveal in a more informative way some of the options that all real value sharing organizations will face in cooperation with the state. Research and empirical data on how these organizations function within the aid development arena are hard to come by. This paper is based on studies on two mission organizations, the Methodist Mission and the Catholic Mission in Sierra Leone, and their role in the humanitarian efforts during and after the war. Searches of archival material, field visits and discussions with staff at field and headquarter level were conducted in both organizations. The paper is also based on collected data about project profiles. Budgets and personnel. Although the paper is country specific, some of the same dilemmas and trends will most probably exist in other countries as well, since mission organizations will face some of the same constraints and possibilities owing to the international, systematic character of the NGO channel.

Banya, Kingsley (Florida International University)

Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: The issue of Relevance

Most African universities were established after 1960. Granting degrees by a metropolitan university established a tradition of much significance in African higher education, since most centers, whether in British, French, or Belgian territories, had the quality of their degrees guaranteed by metropolitan universities. The universities were located in the capital cities of the colonies. There was no institution of higher learning in Portuguese or Spanish Africa. The circumstances under which institutions of higher learning were established forced standards to be equivalent to those of the Western European countries. Because Europeans founded these institutions they viewed the European curricula as appropriate for Africans. Most African higher education recipients felt that a university degree similar to that of Europe was more prestigious than one founded on African educational tradition. Attempts to include African based curricula introduced by European teachers were resented as attempts to dilute the quality and worth of the degree. This view and the Human Capital theory tenets have led to the type of developing process prevalent in West Africa today. To revise the failed development process, this paper argues that the institutions of higher education need to reverse the curricula and definition of development.

Barcikowski, Elizabeth (The Mitchell Group)

The importance in study design when measuring achievement outcome in the context of program evaluation

In this presentation Dr. Barcikowski will discuss the need for using longitudinal repeated measures designs for evaluating the impact of primary school quality improvement programs on pupil achievement outcome. Results using two types of achievement test instruments and two types of impact study designs will be presented from the Government of Ghana/USAID QUIPS Program to demonstrate the advantage of a focus on pupil achievement growth as opposed to static class performance. Audience discussion on some of the challenges faced in m measuring achievement outcome in the context program monitoring and evaluation will be facilitated and questions to the panelists entertained.

Barcikowski, Elizabeth (The Mitchell Group), Grace Banda (Ministry of Education, Malawi) ,

What matters in second language literacy: Results from Malawi and Ghana

In Africa the trend in language policy is to adopt a local language for the medium of instruction in the early primary grades and the second language is introduced as the medium of instruction later in Grade 4 or 5. This approach is well supported by a substantive body of research that suggests that teaching children in a local language gives children an academic advantage in general and facilitates second language acquisition in particular. However, language policy does not necessarily translate into instructional practices that follow policy. Furthermore, local language policy facilitates development of literacy in a second language only when children have reached certain entry levels of second language proficiency. Therefore, local language instruction should be accompanied by a program that facilitates the development of second language interpersonal communication skills. Without such parallel programs, primary schools that implement a local language policy cannot expect to see the professed advantages in second language literacy development. This paper presents results from Malawi and Ghana that show that local language policy does not necessarily translate into a second language literacy advantage and that poor English language proficiency is the major constraint to pupils’ inability to read English with meaning.

Barone, Thomas (Civic Education and Citizenship in Malaysia)

Civic Education and Citizenship In Malaysian Education

My presentation will discuss the literature base and methodology for an upcoming study on the policy directions, teacher and student perceptions of civic education and citizenship education in Malaysia. By focusing initially on policy documents and Ministry of Education interviews, the study will examine what the “official” policy is regarding the content and goals of civic education and citizenship education. The subsequent semi-structured interviews will give voice to Social Studies and Moral Education teachers and students in these classes and focus on how policy is interpreted at the classroom level and how the curriculum reflects societal values and actual democratic practice. This qualitative study will address several needs indicated by the research by focusing on ways in which teachers and students define their roles in civic education and citizenship which has implications for future educational policy. Specifically, how do teachers view their roles in teaching civics and citizenship? How do students interpret the formal curriculum, hidden curriculum, and out of school influences to construct concepts of civic education and citizenship? Do teachers and/or students perceive a conflict between issues of national identity and ethnic identity? Do teachers and students discuss controversial political and/or social issues in class?

Bashshur, Munir (American University of Beirut)

Higher Education as a Political Residue: Illustrations From Recent Histories of Syria and Lebanon

The paper will revisit a situation described 34 years ago by the present writer (Bashshur, Higher Education and Political Development in Syria and Lebanon, CER, Vol.10,(3), Oct. 1966). It was claimed then that “... the contrast between Syria and Lebanon is a contrast between one country with a monolithic structure drifting into extremes and another deriving its strength from a stable interaction of its components.” The present paper will carry the story forward: What happened since then? What role did higher education play in the two disparate lines of development- or was higher education itself a product, or rather a residue, of political events?

To illustrate: since 1970 Syria has had an unbroken line of one-man rule, extending for almost 30 years, while Lebanon had its protracted civil war extending for half as many years (1975-1990). During this period priority in Syria was given to consolidating the state apparatus and to building military capabilities leaving social services, including education, to grope on their own without letting them loose of the state’s grip. The number of universities increased from 3 to 4, all public, while the number of students increased by about 4 times. In Lebanon, on the other hand, political sovereignty was all but surrendered to Syria, and a nascent state system of education just beginning to consolidate with a burgeoning public university at its helm was brought to its heels, to be overtaken by a private sector going haywire. As a result the number of universities increased from 5 to more than 20, with the one public university itself broken down into some 20 splinter offshoots. “The stable interaction of the (system’s)components” was shattered under the weight of the political treadmill.

The word “residue” in the title is used instead of product to distinguish between intended and unintended outcomes, and to highlight the marginal role that higher education has played in the two countries, but in different ways.

Beauchamp, Edward (University of Hawaii)

Textbooks and a National Curriculum: The Postwar Japanese Experience”

The American Occupation of Japan was probably the most extensive attempt at social engineering the world has seen. Drastic changes were initiated that were designed to transform Japan from an authoritarian, militaristic, aggressive society into a peace-loving democratic nation based, in large measure, on an American imposed model. Despite All American efforts, however, the Textbook authorization model, if anything, became even more centralized than ever. This paper discusses the unsuccessful attempts by the Japanese left to reform the textbook system - from fighting the “censorship” of the establishment to injecting a more democratic perspective in school textbooks. It concludes with an analysis of the political right to defend Japan’s role in World War II through the efforts of the Japanese Society for Textbook Reform.

Belalcazar, Carolina (University of Pittsburgh)

Redefining drug related incidents in minors through local educational policy and practice in Bogotá, Columbia.

In the last decades, the ineffectiveness of repressive/punitive measures to control illicit drug problems at national and international levels has been increasingly questioned. The search for less repressive alternatives has brought more attention to the role of education and public health programs. The following paper gives consideration to the need of doing research on how educational policy in Colombia can best address drug-related behaviors in minors (use and possession, with some attention to distribution) without necessarily relying on the enforcement of punitive measures. Thus, an exploratory study using open-ended interviews addressed how six schools in Bogotá, Colombia, both private and public, would hypothetically handle drug-related incidents in minors if these would occur in school grounds. Of interest were the decision-making processes of administrative personnel and teachers in handling such incidents, in the context of particular social constructs, drug prevention programs, inter-institutional relations and conduct regulations implemented in the schools.

Benson, Carol (Stockholm University)

Bilingual programming as an affirmative alternative in educational development

Mother tongue or bilingual programs are slowly becoming more popular in post-colonial nations as ministries of education begin setting their own agendas. Although practice and experimentation in bilingual schooling have not been highly systematic, the results in many cases have positive implications for educational development. Valorization of local languages and cultures, higher self-confidence on the part of students, increased parental involvement, and even a possible improvement in girls’ school participation are some indicators that bilingual programming is an affirmative alternative in educational development.

Bhikha, Sharma

Untitled

The purpose of this paper is to critically explore and analyze how teachers understand, interpret and implement the assessment policy. In South Africa, we are finding out that putting ideas into practice is a more complex process than anticipated in the policymaker process. Teachers are expected to make fundamental shifts in their understandings of policies, including new frameworks on assessments. Although teachers often claim enthusiasm for new reform policies, on closer examination, the actual classroom changes are modest. In this paper I explore the reasons for this lack of resonance between policy goals and outcomes from the point of view of practitioners.

Bies, Angela (University of Minnesota)

Accountability and International Relief: Alternative Self-Regulation Approaches

Although nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are primarily regulated as a function of government, resource constraints, legal or constitutional limitations, and policy considerations have limited the scope and quality of governmental oversight leaving many regulatory issues unattended. This void has been filled by monitoring, oversight, and advocacy groups which have taken on the role of educating NGOs about accountability practices, implementing “watchdog” or monitoring systems, ascribing codes of ethics or “best practices”, and informing the public about the operations of both individual NGOs and the NGO sector. This paper illustrates inadequacies of accreditation models, professional codes of ethics, and voluntary industry “watchdog” organizations to ensure organizational accountability through an examination of the actions of an international relief accreditation agency in response to a public relations crisis centering on allegations of unethical fundraising and public information practices of four international child welfare organizations. This paper discusses the nature of ethical guidelines to today’s philanthropy and makes recommendations for strengthening voluntary self-regulation models. Although debate about the efficacy and appropriateness of various nonprofit regulatory and accountability approaches is current and relevant in various national settings and across national borders, the discussion is limited to the self-regulatory environment in the U.S. context.

Biraimah, Karen (University of Central Florida)

Challenges and Rewards of Fulbright-Hays Group Study Abroad Programs: Teachers in Malaysia and Peru

Enormous amounts of money and time are invested in developing and implementing the Fulbright-Hays Group Study Abroad Program. A program funded by the U.S. Government, and designed to help U.S. teachers develop area study curricula. This paper will examine the longitudinal effectiveness of two programs that operated in Malaysia and Singapore in 1994 and in Peru in 2000, with a specific focus on the pedagogical outcomes of teacher participation in short-term study abroad projects. In particular, this paper will ask whether programs such as Fulbright-Hays have longitudinal effectiveness in positively changing teacher perspectives and methodologies related to global/international education and to knowledge base acquisition.

Birk, Nancy (Kent State University)

Appraisal Decisions in Archival Collections: Trashing Files

The most difficult job of an archivist is deciding what is worth keeping and what ought to be thrown away. The study of popular and material culture could justify saving absolutely everything, yet archivists have space demands and researchers time constraints. Not everything has intrinsic or historical value. This paper will examine how such decisions are made, discuss how a collection is built and maintained, and explore the role of the archivist in working with an ever expanding collection such as the Records of the Comparative and International Education Society.

Bjork, Christopher (Colgate University)

Educational Decentralization in Indonesia: A View from the Ground Level

Launched on a national scale in 1994, the Local Content Curriculum (LCC) required all elementary and junior high schools in Indonesia to allocate twenty percent of instruction to locally designed matter. The Ministry of Education and Culture directed schools to tailor instruction to the unique environment of their immediate communities. The LCC represented a significant departure from previous education policy not only in terms of curricular content, but also in the roles and responsibilities assigned to educators. For the first time, local educators were asked to perform as leaders rather than followers.

How are teachers and administrators responding to the newly created opportunities designed to increase their autonomy? Is this policy producing the outcomes that literature on decentralization suggests will occur (increased efficiency, a redistribution of authority, more sensitivity to local culture)? Drawing on fourteen months of fieldwork conducted in the MOEC and six East Javanese junior high school questions, I address these questions. The ethnographic approach highlights the realities of the daily lives of Indonesian educators and underlines the heavy influence the political system has exerted—and continues to exert—on the field of education.

Blaeser, Marilyn (CIDA)

Integrating HIV/AIDS Prevention and Gender Equity Within Basic Education

What has the donor community learned from its work on mainstreaming gender equity that can be applied to work in HIV/AIDS prevention? To what extent can programming on basic education identify ways of involving young people

themselves in addressing the challenges that HIV/AIDS poses? In this presentation Blaeser, a Senior Policy Analyst with the Canadian International Development Agency provides a framework for examining the responses of the donor community to HIV/AIDS prevention with youth in educational settings.

Boakari, Francis (Federal University of Piaui, Brazil)

Teachers and black students in Brazilian classrooms: What they teach about multicultural education

Brazil’s failure to recognize and work with the realities of a multicultural society, especially as this relates to blacks, seems to be her main problem. Social inequalities, as demonstrated through data from the official institute of research, closely follow racial lines. In the formal educational sector, similar differentiated performance levels are also evident, especially when students are compared along racial/ethnic group lines. Using the contributions of McLaren (1995) and other critical theorists about multicultural schooling, I try to discuss how multiculturalism in the school-place could be understood and implemented in the Brazilian context. I narrate some recent research experiences, cite some interviews with students and teachers, describe some classroom settings and incidents in order to argue that multiculturalism in the classroom is much more of a pedagogical attitude, political choice and didactical alternative than a national guideline of what to do and in which contexts. Contrary to what is expected in the National Parameters for the Curriculum, a national curriculum guideline, pedagogical approaches are political options which teachers make. How exactly does this fact come alive in the classroom interactions between students-teachers, students-students, teachers-parents?

Boakari, Francis (Federal University of Piaui, Brazil)

The Role of Brazilian scholars in Environmental Issues

This environment has always been a major issue in Brazilian development, mainly because of the Amazon rain forest that and the major rivers that run through the country. This presentation will critically examine the role of scholars in the politics of Brazilian Environmental Issues.

Borg, Carmel (University of Malta), Peter Mayo (University of Malta)

Gramsci and the Unitarian School: Paradoxes and Possibilities

The first presentation, drawing on English and Italian texts, will deal with Gramsci’s controversial writings on the School, particularly the piece containing his advocacy of a Unitarian School, which has hitherto lent itself to different interpretations, including very conservative interpretations. This presentation aims to provide an alternative interpretation of Gramsci’s writings on the school, one which is consistent with Gramsci’s broader vision of social transformation and the process of ‘intellectual and moral’ reform on which this vision is contingent. It underlines, through textual evidence, the misinterpretations in the best known conservative readings of Gramsci. It is argued, again through textual evidence, that what Gramsci seems to be doing, in the piece on the ‘Unitarian School’, is highlighting the qualities which the ‘old school’ managed to instill and which, he felt, one should not overlook when restructuring the schooling system, if such restructuring is to be carried out with the interests of subaltern groups in mind. Critically appropriating elements of the old in order to create that which is new constitutes a recurring theme in Gramsci’s writings. But the old humanistic school, in its entirety, has to be replaced since it no longer serves present realities. It will be argued that, before rushing to advocate a conservative schooling for a radical politics (Entwistle, 1979), one should read Gramsci’s piece carefully and accurately, paying due attention to his choice of words. Following Mario Alighiero Manacorda’s essay in Italian, the paper argues that what Gramsci has provided, in the piece on the ‘Unitarian School,’ is an “epitaph” which celebrates what the humanistic school was and what it cannot be any longer, since the social reality has changed (Manacorda, in Gramsci, 1972, p. XX1X). The presentation ends with the raising of a set of questions concerning the relevance of this piece by Gramsci to the contemporary situation concerning schooling in various contexts.

Bokhorst-Heng, Wendy (American University)

Education in a Global Island: Singapore

The lyrics of Simon and Garfunkle’s song, “I am a rock, I am an island” suggest that an island is somehow unconnected, autonomous, isolated, and detached from the rest of the world, the rest of humanity and civilization, and from all global responsibility and external influence. However, for the small island-state of Singapore, nothing is further from the truth. Indeed, its leaders constantly frame the nation’s identity as embedded in the tensions arising from its local-global interactions. Citizens are always reminded of the nation’s intricate connections with the world, and how, while this creates a world of opportunity, it also increases the nation’s vulnerability. As one leader once put it, ‘an international ripple’ in the global economy’ translates into a ‘tidal wave’ for Singapore. And so all national policy, from economics to education, is created with full cognizance of the nation’s global context. In this paper, I will be looking specifically at how Singapore’s local-global interactions have shaped the nation’s education and language policies. The ideology and practice surrounding these policies in many ways can be seen as an exercise in balancing the often competing national-global identities of this global island.

Borden, Allison (Harvard Graduate School of Education)

Looking through the window or walking through the door? Instructional management in public primary schools in Paraguay

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Paraguay finds itself unprepared to meet its democratic, educational, and economic goals. Under the 1992 and 1993 education reform initiatives, principals are now expected to take on an instructional leadership role as currently understood in more developed countries. This study examines how models based on research conducted in developed countries perform in a developing country.

The paper will present the findings from a study of a national, random sample of 300 primary schools designed to address three research questions: How are principal’s instructional management and overall school effectiveness related? Is this relationship different for urban and rural schools? Is this relationship different for education center schools and their associated schools? Data were collected from teachers, principals, and parents’ councils using self-administered questionnaires. Hypothesized models of the relationships among the variables will be fit using LISREL.

We have much to gain, and little or nothing to lose, if we are better able to understand the work of principals in developing countries. Researchers and policy-makers in such contexts who continue to overlook the principal’s role in implementing reform initiatives do so at their own peril.

Bosch, Andrea (Education Development Center, Inc.)

IRI as Tool for Promoting Equity

Evaluations of achievement since the early applications of IRI have shown that it has the capacity to uniformly increase quality and significantly decrease equity gaps between rural and urban learners and between girls and boys. These studies are consistent across three continents and vastly different subject matter and student age. Research conducted through the USAID ABEL project has also shown that IRI scripts can be crafted to introduce positive role models for girls in a way that presents not only good prototypes, but also demonstrates and requires more equitable participation and interaction. This session reviews this information and presents some of the potential for using a medium such as radio to create stronger and more influential role models around the world.

Boubkir, Abdechafi (University Abdelmalik Saadi), Abdenour Boukamhi (University Abdelmalik Saadi) ,

Educational Reforms in Morocco: New Directions, New Initiatives, But Are They Feasible?

During the last few decades, Moroccans from different walks of life (educators, politicians, parents etc) have criticized the Moroccan educational system for inadequate funding, poorly trained teachers, rigid pedagogies, and over regulated management. They have noticed that the education sector does not meet the needs of the Moroccan population and its desire for economic development. There have been many efforts at reform, starting in the early eighties, but these have failed to bring about real change. However, in 1999 the late king Hassan II formed the Special Commission for the Reform of Education and Training made up of representatives from parliament, teachers’ unions and education specialists. This commission created the National Charter for Education and Training which outlines needed reforms and a path to achieve those reforms. The Charter was accepted by the monarchy and sent to parliament to be enacted through legislation. This paper discusses the main objectives of the National Charter and explores the current climate for reform in Morocco. In so doing, the paper systematically examines the new directions and initiatives that are being formulated thanks to the National Charter for

Education and Training, analyzing their feasibility in light of the current constraints facing reform efforts.

Boyle, Helen (Education Development Center, Inc.)

Combining the old and the new: the role of the Quranic kuttab in Morocco’s emerging early childhood education sector

Quranic kuttabs are traditional Islamic schools, many of which serve a preschool population of children from ages 3 to 6. These institutions are very popular due to their ability to emphasize both traditional values and religious education and at the same time prepare preschoolers for primary school. At present, kuttabs, which are generally run by communities, community groups and private charitable organizations, make up a large portion of Morocco’s pre-primary educational institutions. Under Morocco’s new educational charter, there is an emphasis on more fully developing an early childhood education sector within the Ministry of Education. Thus, in the current context f Moroccan education, the Ministry of Education is increasingly looking to the kuttab as means through which to expand the provision of early childhood education. This paper, based on ten months of ethnographic fieldwork in a small town in Morocco, explores differing concepts of what is perceived as appropriate early childhood education in the Moroccan context, according to parents, Quranic school teachers, community members and education experts. In so doing, the paper also analyzes and discusses the policy and learning implications for the Moroccan pre-primary sector and Quranic kuttabs if these schools are more solidly drawn into the orbit of the Ministry of Education.

Braslavsky, Cecilia (International Bureau of Education)

Quantum leaps and quality deficits in Education: Addressing the Relevance Gap

One of the main current educational trends is the coexistence of an increase in school enrolment rates and a perception that educational quality is declining. During the past three decades great efforts have been invested in trying to reinvent and to reshape the institutional aspects of the education system and schools. The hypothesis to be presented is that this strategy has unwillingly contributed to that coexistence. Currently many countries are rediscovering the importance of educational contents and methods, and a new era of curriculum reform is being ushered in. The presentation will focus on the presentation of some of the main characteristics, risks and challenges.

Breslar, Zoey (self-employed)

Harnessing the potential of Information technologies in Education: A Framework, and the Cases of Mali and Ghana

This paper is based on a Masters monograph from Stanford University that used last year’s CIES paper, Ghanaian Schools Connect to the Internet: The Importance of Awareness, Access, and Applicability, as a springboard. This study takes as its premises that information technologies (IT) are essential to African development and that education systems are responsible for developing countries’ human capacity to maximize those technologies. It uses literature, policy documents, interviews, and the author’s experience to create a framework to examine the ability of education systems in Mali and Ghana to develop the capacity to harness the potential of information technologies for African-empowered development. The condition of education and telecommunications in each country is examined in light of five conditions that indicate the existing and potential resources and intent of the systems: awareness, access, applicability, African adaptability, and importance of advocates. Evidence of these indicators is synthesized and analyzed to draw conclusions about why Malian and Ghanaian education systems can or cannot build the stipulated capacity under current conditions. A model is then recommended for how to proceed, based on the information and analysis provided.

Briks, Hilda (University of Toronto and Heriot Watt University)

Learning environments for creative thinking and innovation-A cross-cultural perspective

Thinkers such as Edward de Bono or Alvin Toffler predict that the current information age is the precursor to an age of creative thinking and innovation. The advent of modern communication technology has placed information at the disposal of a vast number of people. The issue is no longer how much information people have access to but how they combine information to develop innovative solutions to current problems. More than ever before, educators are being asked to not only impart information but also to encourage and teach students to think creatively in a cross-disciplinary environment. The emergence of entrepreneurship studies, the establishment of incubators and R&D facilities jointly operated by the university and the private sector underline the importance of establishing new organizational programs and structures designed to foster creative thinking. These programs and organizational structures have been instituted in universities around the globe. In this presentation, I will examine what educators can learn from these experiments in creative thinking and innovation.

Brock-Utne, Birgit (University of Oslo)

The International Spread of English: A Comparative Perspective of Tanzania and Norway

The paper examines the way the English language is used in the intellectual recolonization process in Tanzania. More than 95 percent of the population speaks and understands Kiswahili, the national language and language of primary education. Plans to introduce Kiswahili in secondary and tertiary education have been shelved, however, as the status of English has increased. In Norway, Norwegian is the language of instruction in primary, secondary, and tertiary education. But even here the spread of English has been rapid during recent years, particularly at the university level. This paper describes, compares, and seeks explanations from these case studies.

Brown, Kara (Indiana University)

Grassroots & Globalization: The Survival of Voro in Estonia

In this paper, I investigate how southern Estonian schools have become entangled in larger debates over “language planning,” the strategies devised over the past eleven years to revive Voro (a regional language) and promote its legal status and cultural prestige in relation to Estonian (the state language). Specifically, I examine the ideological underpinnings of acceptance of and resistance to the Voro-language movement in southern Estonian schools and the ways these ideologies are historically rooted in Estonian and European political economies. Furthermore, I address how language policy influences local language practices, attitudes toward the use of Voro in public schools, and regional and national identities.

Brown, Katherine (Loyola University)

The Elusiveness and True Empowerment through Adult Education: A study of the ideals and the realities of three folk high schools in Finland

This paper uses archival and historical research on three folk high schools in Finland to illuminate the tension between meeting the folk high school ideal of enlightening students in personal, cultural, and political realms through dialogue within a democratic environment and the reality of leaders’ tendency to overly-influence the development of students. The idea that the schools were closer to their founding missions in the early years of their histories is contested in this work. The folk high school model is a useful one in discussions of adult education reform, but one must be aware of the obstacles to attainment of the ideal.

Bryant, Shannon (Tufts University), Lucilla Halperin (Tufts University) ,

Photographic Style and Content: What they may reveal about Interpersonal Relationships and School Adaptation

This paper presents initial findings of a study of interpersonal relationships and school adaptation of Hispanic immigrant schoolchildren. Measures of family cohesiveness and the child’s approach to others were inferred from students’ narratives and photographs of people at home and school. These measures were analyzed in relation to children’s school adaptation as reported by teachers through interviews and the Teacher-Child Rating Scale. Discussion of results focuses on the use of this visual research methodology to better understand children’s daily lives and how they perceive their transitions at home and school as they grow biculturally.

Buchert, Lene (UNESCO)

Development Partner Co-operation in the Support of Education for All

This presentation focuses on the rationale and strategies for international support to Education for All, taking its point of departure in the Dakar Framework for Action. It will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of proposed strategies, their interrelationship, and their operationalization in different contexts.

Buckwalter, Patrick (Indiana University)

Development and Language of Instruction: China’s “Great Development of the West” and Mother-Tongue Education for Ethnic Minorities

In this paper I consider the prospects for mother-tongue education for ethnic minorities in western China in light of the recent initiative known as the “Great Development of the West”. I begin by exploring the challenges that mother-tongue education for minorities has faced historically, including challenges related to script differences, inadequate funding, and the quest for national unity. Next, I describe the “Great Development of the West” and the educational policies that accompany it. Finally, I discuss the promise of development and economic prosperity in relation to existing challenges facing mother-tongue education, and consider future challenges.

Bundy, Donald (World Bank, Human Development Network)

A FRESH Start for HIV/AIDS and the Education System : A Preventive View

This year, the World Bank has assured $500 million for HIV/AIDS programs in Africa. Mitigating the impact of AIDS on the education sector is part of this multi-sectoral activity. The World Bank is a partner with WHO, UNESCO, UNICEF, USAID and others in efforts to Focus Resources on Effective School Health. The aim of the FRESH partnership is to promote better education outcomes for the poor through better health and nutrition, particularly mitigation of the effects of HIV/AIDS on children, teachers and the education system. The partnership was launched at the World Education Forum in Dakar (April, 2000) and is on track this year to support 12 countries in Africa with $39 million through Bank projects. The presentation will focus on the content of the FRESH approach, and its application to specific countries in Africa.

Burde, Dana (Columbia University)

Transferring Civil Society? Post-war PTAs in Bosnia and Herzegovina

In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), many international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) conduct programs that aim “to enhance civil society” or work toward “democracy” by administering transferred education programs. The definitions of civil society, or democracy, that they adhere to generally remain vague notions that shrink or grow according to the need or sense of urgency of the international organization. Based on the analysis of a case study of preschool parent/teacher associations transferred from the US and fostered by a US INGO in BiH, this presentation argues that parent participation evolves differently from the way international NGOs envision. The parents interviewed in this study do not understand their actions as political, and they feel relatively unempowered. This does not mean that these associations are not sites of political struggle or activity, but participants do not see them as such.

Burnett, Greg (University of New England)

Technologies and Discourses of Colonialism in Education in the Republic of Kirbati.

The present secondary education system in Kiribati is little changed from its establishment and growth through the colonial years and is marked by a heavy emphasis on English language and an academic Western curriculum with the aim of placing students in white collar civil service employment. There appears to be little desire for change with most educational stakeholders seeming to give consent to the system. This paper critiques the dominate voices in the educational and colonial past of Kiribati with a view of exposing the legitimizing technologies and discursive practices that the post colonial conditions of education. The act of exposing ‘how they did it’ in turn aids in imagining of more just educational futures in Kiribati. The paper present a post colonial discourse analysis of a number of key texts from the educational and colonial past in Kiribati. Examined are the ways in with dominant voices perceived themselves and the Gilbertese ‘other,’ the power differential between the tow and their tendency to silence other voices and ways of talking about education. Educational discourse in Kiribati has no claim on objectivity but merely creates a ‘reality’ that serves in the overall colonizing agenda of dominate groups and subsumes other ways of thinking about education in Kiribati, both in the past and now.

Cafoglu, Zuhal (Gazi University Turkiye)

Educational policies in terms of globalization

It is vital that educational policies be designed in accord with the new paradigms. In the globalizing world, this plays an influential role in determining the status of the country in question. How far has Türkiye, as a country in an effort to adjust itself to the medium where the effects of globalization is intensively felt, been able to go? How much successful have the policies followed to date been? And in what respect have they contributed to the development of the country? Could have they been better? Educational policies and alternative polices to them will be evaluated with a global perspective.

Calvo Ponton, Beatriz (Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez)

Globalization and its local expressions in the field school supervision in the Northern Border of Mexico

This paper refers to a research on school supervision in elementary education, done in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, a city located in the border with El Paso, Texas. This locality serves as the “front door” through which globalization “enters” into Mexico and Latin America. It is also distinguished by its multicultural character, since numerous groups of people from all Mexican territory arrive daily. This fact reflects in the diversity and heterogeneity of public schools student population.

I analyze school supervision within the frame of the Mexican Education System decentralization, a strategy closely associated to globalization. I understand globalization as a hegemonic historically contextualized policy, which expresses itself in concrete social subjects and in everyday specific local spaces and practices, generating tensions and resistance, since it affects daily life patterns.

Based on empirical data, I intend in this presentation to pose three challenges: 1) rescuing supervisors as potential social actors, capable of innovating and transforming pedagogic practices in order to make knowledge meaningful and useful, given the strategic position they occupy in the institutional education hierarchy and given the additional autonomy acquired by decentralization; 2) searching new ways of supervision committed with children’s rights, equity, justice, diversity, multiculturality, identities, and with exerting influence in decision makers in order to design supervision official policy that encourages participatory and collective education and school practices; and 3) reactivating schools as public spaces, capable of claiming those pedagogic values, and fighting against exclusion, given the homogeneized education tendencies of globalization which do not recognize diversity and heterogeneity.

Camp Yeakey, Carol (University of Virginia)

Standards, Meritocracy and the Influence of Globalization in American Education and Society

Rapid developments in the globalization of knowledge poses complex challenges to shifts in societal values from a production based to technologically based economy intensifying the importance of lower and post secondary education in the new millennium. Educational access and opportunity are driven by social and institutional policies and practices of advancement based upon achievement or ability. The assumptions undergirding educational standards and reform in American Education and Society raise critical questions regarding the politics of social development and educational opportunity for poor ethnic minorities of color.

Camp Yeakey, Carol (University of Virginia)

Small Hands: Global Dimensions of Child Labor and Exploitation

This paper examines the various forms of child labor and the global calls to abolish all forms of exploitative child labor. It also describes in critical detail the conditions under which children are employed and exploited for economic gain. Through the lens of political economy, critical perspectives on exploitation will examine those mechanisms that compete with attempts to abolish child labor and the degree to which the perceived economic necessity of child labor is viewed by many as an impediment to its abolition.

Capper, Joanne (World Bank), Juan Navarro (IADB) ,

Case Studies of Teacher Training and Technology

This session will report on the findings from six case studies of technology and teacher training - most of which are operating in developing-country contexts. The collection of studies was configured to represent a range of technologies, approaches and geographic regions. Two categories of uses of technology and teacher training were studied, although in several cases, the categories overlap: 1) cases in which technology is used to train teachers, and 2) cases in which teachers are trained to use technology with their students. Studies were conducted in Armenia, Brazil, China, Guinea, Singapore and South Africa, as well as one study of a computer application designed to support curriculum development in science, and pilot tested in several Southern African countries. A study conducted by the IADB of Costa Rica will also be presented and discussed. Video footage of some of the projects will be shown.

Cardenas, Ana (Harvard University)

Early Childhood Development Programs and Community-based Initiatives: Overcoming the current challenge of Mexican Families.

A significant resonance of NAFTA has been the enlargement of Mexico’s industrial sector and consequently radical social, cultural and demographical changes. Because the demand for female workers is constantly increasing and families have greater economic needs, women are becoming more active in the labor force. Unfortunately, the double role of women as “mother and employee” influences the presence of multiple problems in their children. Furthermore, mothers are not being able to respond in an optimal way to the developmental challenges of their children. Throughout this presentation, affirmative alternatives for working parents such as early childhood development programs and other community-based initiatives will be addressed.

Carlson, Sam (World Links for Development Organization), Harry Patrinos (Education Sector, World Bank)

Linking Schools for Development in the Third World: The World Links Approach

World Links bridges the digital divide, linking thousands of teachers and students in developing countries around the world. In countries where libraries and textbooks are rare, World Links provides access to information and experts. A program initiated by the World Bank and now an independent NGO, World Links currently operates in eighteen developing countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East, and involves approximately 100,000 students. These students are collaborating with thousands of students in over twenty-five partner countries on a range of topics including environment, HIV/AIDS, gender equity, cultural heritage, biology and literature. The panel presentation will cover the latest evaluation results from two year’s of program implementation in 12 developing countries (undertaken by SRI International of Menlo Park, CA) and make some provocative statements about both the global digital divide and the specific areas for additional operational research.”

Carnes, Amanda (Harvard GSE)

Refugee Children

While living in Germany, I became interested in the situation of political asylum seekers. I propose to research and write about refugee children in hopes of being part of a larger panel. I would not limit myself to the Kosovar experience; I’ve also considered the children under Pinochet’s rule in Chile. When I think about the war in Bosnia and Milosevic’s systematic ethnic expulsion I remember the children. From March 1999 to August 1999, 800,000 Kosovar Albanians left the country and 500,000 were internally displaced. In a campaign that was the most comprehensive since WW II what has become of the children? How many have immigrated to neighboring countries? How have these host countries received and integrated them? As for the children that did return home, I ask: how did NATO, humanitarian agencies and international organizations ensure that home was a place of peace and security? What was “home” like upon return? For the children that lost families were there any rehabilitation efforts? How does a country address education after years of war and destruction? What steps have been taken by relief efforts, i.e. ICRC, in the aftermath of the war? How are these children now?

Carroll, Katherine (Loyola University, Chicago), Erwin Epstein (Loyola University of Chicago) ,

Understanding Ancestors: Foundations of Comparative Thought

In this era of globalization, comparativists convey insight for making complex policy decisions. However, definitions and goals of the field have been contested between theorists espousing postmodern “heterotopias” and interpretive epistemologies, and those who maintain earlier conceptual foundations of what is often derogatorily referred to as essentialist metanarratives of reason and progress. Since theory informs method, wide variations exist in choices of research methodologies and their applications. We examine representative positions in these theoretical directions, and explore both their epistemological histories and some current uses in and outside of our field. We also discuss the prospect of developing consensus to create an inclusive theoretical and methodological framework for the field — a “federation of ideas.”

Caruso, Marcelo (Humbolt University)

Disciplines, Biopolitics, and Compulsory Mass Schooling: The Bavarian Experience, 1860-1920

Michel Foucault’s later formulation of the conceptual pair biopolitics/regulation introduced a new consideration of the productivity of power in modern societies. Regulative power was based on living organisms as such; in that respect, it was different from the model of disciplines developed in the era of epistemological mechanism and political absolutism. The paper will examine late 19th-century teaching in Bavarian elementary schools as a space for the government of children where the state refused a merely mechanical definition of the teachers’ work and concentrated on interventions which followed the biopolitical model, or regulation of living groups, in order to achieve a modern form of the moral regulation of the population. Thus, while the paper clearly focuses on the Bavarian case, the different types of pedagogical intervention that are examined should be discussed in a comparative perspective.

Castillo, Laura (American University), Mary Josiah (American University)

Development and Education in the Caribbean: A Comparative Analysis of Development and Educational Paths in Barbados and the Dominican Republic

The purpose of this study is to critically analyze the development and educational paths of two Caribbean nation-states: Barbados and the Dominican Republic. More specifically, the paper traces and compares the historical social, political, and economic development strategies and their implications on educational structures, policies, and outcomes. Current development strategies and educational indicators will be assessed. Specific attention is paid to gender and socio-economic class differences in terms of social, political, economic, and educational outcomes.

Castillo, Melissa (SUNY Buffalo)

Cost Sharing and Equity: An Inquiry and Critique of the Classical Neo-Liberal Link

There are two motivating forces or rationales behind cost sharing The first is the sheer need for revenue as higher educational enrollments (and costs) expand far more rapidly than governmental revenues (exacerbated by other equally or more compelling social priorities.) The second is the theoretical argument, made by neo-liberal economists and many policy makers, that cost sharing or shifting some portion of higher education costs to parents and students will in fact improve social equity. This paper will analyze conditions under which cost sharing as a policy would be likely to result in a more (or less) equitable system of higher education finance.

Castro, Vanessa (Academy for Educational Development)

Nicaraguan social sector

Vanessa Castro is the BASE II Project Senior Evaluation Advisor. Dr. Castro specialized in Qualitative analysis at

Harvard University. Over the past twenty years, she has participated in a wide range of research and monitoring projects for the Nicaraguan social sector. She regularly contributes to international education reviews and publications focusing on education. For the past two years, Dr. Castro has led the BASE research

team conducting annual education survey of Escuelas Modelo (Model Schools). Her research has demonstrated a positive correlation between student achievement, parental involvement in the student’s academic needs and access to modern didactic materials, particularly in multigrade rural schools.

Chan, Elaine (OISE/University of Toronto)

Ethnic identity in transition: Comparing ethnic identity in the 1970s and the year 2000.

Ethnic identity in transition: Comparing ethnic identity in the 1970s and the year 2000. Cultural and linguistic diversity are among dominating features describing the Canadian population. Despite the importance of multiculturalism and multilingualism in Canada, there exists little research examining the experiences of first generation Canadians. In this study, I examined the ethnic identity of first generation Chinese Canadians. I use Clandinin & Connelly’s(2000) concept of the three-dimensional narrative inquiry space to compare ways in which first generation Chinese Canadians viewed their sense of ethnic identity in the 1970s and in the year 2000. I conducted interviews with Chinese Canadian adults to gain an understanding of the social context of ethnic identity during the 1970s in Canada, and engaged in classroom participant observation with Grade 8 students and their teachers to learn about ways in which Chinese Canadian students in the year 2000 view their sense of ethnic identity. Research on ethnic identity (Cummins; Kouritzin; Wong-Fillmore), experience (Dewey), and narrative inquiry (Connelly & Clandinin) form the theoretical framework for my research. I build on the idea of identity as emergent (Ricouer,1992) and constantly shifting according to the situation (Bateson,1989). Knowledge about the experiences of first generation Chinese Canadians may contribute to the field of Curriculum Studies by enhancing the ability of educators to meet the needs of students of ethnic minority background.

Chandler, DJ (University of South Florida)

Before Our Eyes: Ecological Literacy, GMOs and Shifts in Consciousness

This presentation will draw on current eco-feminist, anthropological and feminist political ecology theories to interrogate specific agricultural and environmental issues pertinent to women and development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Burgeoning literature exists to support the pervasiveness of over twenty years of “participatory” effort specifically targeting women, food and health as well as the long-term failure of many such attempts. Maybe the rhetoric has changed, but so have the stakes. The focus of this paper will examine the controversial “New Green Revolution” or genetically modified (GMOs) crop seeds touted by Norman Borlaug as the scientific solution to end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries by 2025.

Chang, Carolyn (George Washington University)

From Classroom to Playground: Do Teachers’ Efforts at Building Tolerance Carry Into Their Students’ World of Play?

During the 1998-1999 school year, I conducted an ethnographic study in a new bilingual/bicultural school that brought together Arab and Jewish first graders in northern Israel. In this unique school setting, the teachers created a context where these children, long separated by historical and geographical divides, could learn together and play together. Despite the teachers’ efforts, however, there were a number of occasions where cultural divides were strongly enforced by the children themselves. This presentation will provide contrasting images of those moments when cultural barriers were crossed and those moments when barriers were further erected so as to maintain borders between the Arab and Jewish students.

Chan-Tiberghien, Jennifer (Stanford University School of Education)

Socializing States in the World Community: The Teaching of International Human Rights Norms by Nongovernmental Organizations

Despite the increasing attention by social scientists on the impact of international human rights norms on states, little research has looked at the teaching of those norms at the state level. Traditional analyses of human rights education have either focused on top-down approaches within school settings or bottom-up approaches in various target communities. Few studies have looked at the socialization of the state itself. While states learn to become a member of the larger human rights community by attending UN conferences and ratifying international instruments, the bulk of the teaching and learning actually go on at the domestic level. I argue not only that nongovernmental organizations are the main actors behind this process, but that through socializing the state, nongovernmental organizations actually (re)define domestic human rights education agenda. I use a constructivist approach and focus on the impact of international women’s human rights norms on a hard case: Japan. Few expected Japan, a non-Western country with allegedly weak human rights tradition, to define violence against women as a state concern. Yet within less than a decade, issues such as sexual harassment have become part of legitimate state policy, educational curricula, company codes of conduct, and required training programs for bureaucrats, academics, and judges alike. I examine the mechanisms through which nongovernmental organizations conduct human rights education, targeting various state actors.

Chapman, David (University of Minnesota)

Synthesizing lessons from 200 evaluations: What do they tell us that we don’t know from other sources?

While the success of individual profects is often influenced by idiosyncratic or unique contextual factors, a review of findings across multiple evaluations can provide important lessons, both about what interventions tend to be most successful and about the process of evaluating international development assistance projects. This presentation reports on the process and utility of a recent review of approximately 200 evaluations of UNICEF education profects conducted between 1994-2000.

Chapman, David (University of Minnesota)

Achievement as the outcome of choice: How much achievement is enough?

A widely recognized, but perplexing, aspect of educational reform is that many individual components of the educational process appear to each make only a small change in the overall outcomes of education. In particular, few interventions result in big jumps in student achievement, even though that is the outcome of greatest interest to many planners. This session examines one program that has strong evidence of its positive impact on achievement. But that impact came at a very high cost. How much achievement is enough to justify the investment, especially when large changes in achievement are seldom seen?

Chen, Peiying (University of Southern California), Magdalena Sanchez (University of Southern California), Christina Vogt (University of Southern California), Faith Womack (University of Southern California),

Internet Activism: A New Genre of the Women’s Movement

With the advance of technology, Internet information exchange has become key in organizing a new genre of social movement. This may be crucial for women because in most countries, the women’s movement has not achieved equality of opportunity according to the guidelines of the Beijing 1995 conference. Several hundred web sites related to women have flourished in the last decade; however, it is unknown at this point to what extent these sites are capable of inducing change for women’s equality. Therefore, we will investigate the efficacy of Internet as a tool for social activism in three ways: Is the flow of information being exchanged online effective in provoking action? If so, what past and present initiatives have been successfully launched? Finally, how do these web-based organizations remain afloat and retain members for sustained action? A questionnaire and follow-up interviews will be conducted to explore the effectiveness of Internet activism.

Cheng, Baoyan (University of Maryland)

The Different Learning Processes of Chinese and American University Students

Having experienced both Chinese and American university classrooms, the author found that Chinese University classroom is characterized by silence, quietness and memorization, while American university classroom is characterized by openness, liveliness and discussion. Starting fro m t his difference in learning process, the author carried out an assiduous literature research as well as interviews with both Chinese and American students, attempting to uncover the profound cultural reasons for the superficial differences in class environment. . The culture al reasons are as follows: Chinese culture is hieroglyphic culture. Shaped by their solid and self contained Chinese characters, Chinese students are likely to accumulate their knowledge by memorization. Whereas American culture is alphabetical culture, and influenced by the mobility of their language American students are ready to give away their opinions by discussions. Chinese culture is shame-socialized culture. Chinese professors don’t like students to question, because they would lose face if they cant come up with an answer; Chinese students are reluctant to speak out their opinions before they could come up with an answer that might impress people. Whereas American culture is non shame socialized culture, and class learning is more an intellectual inquiry than a matter of maintaining face. The Chinese examination system has been the only door leading to a position at the government, and those who want to be successful in exams have to memorize certain authoritative answers. There is no much critizuque or reflexivity going through this process. Whereas, there is not as much pressure imposed upon American students from the American examination system, and they can afford to value their critical thinking and independence in the classroom. It is hard to say which learning process is better, but it is for sure that an appropriate combination of memorization and discussion will b be the best.

Cheung, Kw (University of Hong Kong)

The Emergence of Regulated Individualism: A Case Study of an Education Journal in China

Based on the theory of pedagogic discourse developed by Bernstein, this paper proposes a framework to analyze the relationship between the production of intellectual discourse and the Chinese State. The framework will then be tested by being applied to analyze a group of selected papers from the most influential journal (Jiaoyu Yanjiao, Educational Research) in China. Essentially, the paper argues that the reform policy in China introduced by the Chinese Government in 1978 had necessitated a fundamental shift in what constituted the core elements of the dominant ideological positions of the State. This involves certain elements of autonomy introduced to the intellectual field. But the exercise of the newly granted freedom is conditional. This fundamental shift led to a shift in the modality of controlling the intellectual field exercised by the State and has an effect upon the ways in which educational theories are produced and reported in the journal. From the journal, we have chosen the domain of

moral education to discuss this fundamental shift.

Chhetri, Nalini (Pennsylvania State University)

The (in)effectiveness of educational policies in developing countries for children at risk

International standards and national laws have been created to address the needs of children at risk such as street children and child laborers in developing countries. In seeking to address this problem, governments and the non-governmental sectors have been involved in making policies and implementing programs that address the needs of these children. One of which has been to ensure universal access to education. However, such public policies have not been able to bring about significant improvements in the lives of these children. Using the case of India and Nepal, this paper argues that the problem of implementing public policies has not only been stymied by inadequately designed policies and programs but, also, by public apathy and indifference towards such children.

Chilora, Henry (Malawa Institute of Education), Shirley Miske (Miske Witte and Associates)

Improving Educational Quality/Malawi-Contributing to the Language Policy Debate by Investigating Mother Tongue Instruction and Achievement.

As in Ghana, language policy implementation and efficacy are high priority topics amongst Malawian educators and policymakers. With over sixteen local languages, Chichewa is the national language. English is an official language. Government policy deems instruction for standards 1-4 should be in local languages, and in English after standard 4. Panelists will describe research findings regarding how teachers implement the policy and its impact. Results from longitudinal research (involving approximately 2000 pupils from 200 classrooms) offer math and literacy comparisons of children whose first language is Chichewa with children whom Chichewa is a second language and English is a third.

Christina, Rachel (University of Indiana)

The Palestinian Child Development Institute: Negotiating between vision and reality

The Palestinian Child Development Institute engages in teacher training, community development, and political advocacy for the early childhood sector in the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem. The practical details of the Institute’s programs grow out of perceived grassroots needs, as assessed by regular communication with teachers and with organizations that deliver services. Parents and children, however, are less directly represented in program design, and government and donor input is often seen as impeding the organization’s work. The Institute’s focus on children’s rights and progressive vision of appropriate child development complicate need definition and ownership at all levels, and respect for tradition and innovation are often in tension as the organization attempts to influence policy and practice for the sector.

Chung, Yue (The Chinese University of Hong Kong), Fan Hung (Chinese University of Hong Kong) ,

Teacher supply in Hong Kong: Teacher training, educational qualifications, and growth

In the primary and secondary education of Hong Kong, the supply of teachers has been growing gradually in the past two decades to match with the increasing demand for teachers during the period. However, there have been concerns on the quality of teachers supplied, specifically in terms of the proportion of teachers having university degrees and/or teacher training, the modes of teacher training undertaken, and the teacher training institutions attended. These concerns have recently become keen as the Hong Kong SAR government has placed high policy priority on education reform in the coming decade. Quality of teaching force is regarded as a key to the success of educational reform. However, the supply of quality teachers is affected by various socio-economic forces interacting with global economy. This paper will examine the growth of teachers by educational qualification and teacher training, the profile of teacher trainees and applicants for teacher training by mode and institution of training, and the comparison of teacher supply with the real economic growth over the last two decades. The paper will also discuss the impact of these teacher characteristics on initiative in teaching workforce, including teacher salary schedule, class size reduction, and continuing professional development of teachers.

Ciminillo, Cara (University of Pittsburgh)

Feeding the mind, body and soul: Learning in situated, authentic, reflective, and collaborative environments.

We understand that international service-learning experiences can be a provocative method for alternative educational practices that can promote greater international understanding and social justice. Taking this into account, this paper presents the strengths and challenges of an alternative educational framework that provides four essential design elements: situated learning, authenticity, collaboration, and reflection. Together, these parts create a synergy that can move a learning experience from one of transference to transformation. It creates space for participants to risk engaging with not only the mind, but also with the body and soul.

Clair, Nancy (Educational Development Center), Lawrence Kanyike (Educational Development Center) ,

Enhancing Dialogue Among Researchers, Policymakers, and Community Members in Uganda: Complexities, Possibilities, and Persistent Questions

Participatory Action Research (PAR) is one possible solution to the lack of dialogue between researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. PAR involves communication, investigation, and action, and includes local people in the research process. Findings from an interpretive study of PAR in the context of the Improving Educational Quality project in Uganda are discussed in terms of three interrelated themes: power, dependence, and resource distribution. While there are enormous dilemmas of using participatory approaches and enhancing dialogue among education stakeholders, there is evidence that some stakeholders were able to collaborate in new ways to improve the quality of their local primary schools.

Clark, Paul (McGill University)

Postmodern Ethnography and the Notion of Self

Ethnography has been used for many years as a method of qualitative anthropological research. While historically ethnography retained an omnipotent quality that seemed to eliminate the researcher from the field context, it is now widely accepted that the researcher must be included in both the research and analytical aspects of the ethnography. This raises the question of exactly how much of a role the researcher plays in the process of ethnography. Where precisely does the author end and the subject begin? Is it still possible to consider the two as separate entities or must not they now be considered different informants in the same process of constructing knowledge?

This session highlights the author’s very personal struggle with the issue of “presence” in observational

and interview settings. It questions at what point deconstruction must end and the search for meaning begin and whether or not deconstruction assists or undermines the conclusions of an investigation. This paper also examines other complex issues of qualitative deconstruction and asks the question: Can there be any separation between the researcher and the researched?

Clayton, Thomas (University of Kentucky)

Language Choice in a Nation Under Transition: The Struggle Between English and French in Cambodia

Cambodia offers an unusual case study for the international spread of English. As a result of the political, economic, and development transitions the country is currently undergoing, English has increased dramatically in status in the last decade, essentially displacing French as the international language of choice. At the descriptive level, this presentation charts the spread of English into Cambodia, alongside French efforts to contest this spread in favor of their own language. At the theoretical level, this presentation extrapolates from the case study to make a comment in the ongoing debate among language policy scholars about English language spread.

Cleghorn, Ailie (Concord University)

Cross National Dimensions of the Teacher-Learner

This paper will build on the theme of last year’s conference “What do we know? What can we contribute?” with a cross-national comparison of teachers’ views of the nature of science and of science education for children. The data stem from a questionnaire that was administered to pre-service teachers in the UK, in Quebec, Canada and in Zimbabwe. The analysis suggests that teachers’ stated views of the nature of science are quite conventional and ‘scientistic’, and inclined towards reliance on standard text materials, however their attitudes towards science for children favor a teaching approach that is culturally-appropriate with an emphasis on hands-on practice. Teacher interviews and classroom observations suggest that such contradictions find their way into what actually happens in the classroom.

Clements, Margaret (Indiana University)

Planning for Affirmative Student Loans for Higher Education: A Transformative Possibility

As higher education loan programs are more pervasively used to finance higher education, this paper examines the comparative issue of intergenerational transfers. By placing student loan policies in a culturally sensitive comparative context, issues of resonance and resistance to global systemic policy solutions are considered. Internationally, as student loan programs are increasingly initiated to shift the cost of higher education from society to the student and his/her family, an in depth focus on the various cultural configurations of the family unit and what these configurations mean in terms of intergenerational transfers is judicious. For students from historically underrepresented groups, failure to evaluate these cultural notions sometimes prove insurmountable for successful program implementation.

Clemons, Andrea (University of Southern California)

Decentralized education in Senegal: Is ‘Faire Faire’ fair for Education actors in community based education?

The persistent internal and external political pressure on certain countries to decentralize their educational systems is endorsed by researchers and reformers despite the surprising lack of consideration for local decentralization processes in these countries. By adding to the mere 5% of all recorded studies that have even considered local decentralization processes (Rhoten, 2000; Cohen & Peterson, 1996), this research explores not only what is intended by “decentralized” education in one of these countries, but also how it is perceived by decentralization actors and why its outcomes are different from its intentions in a specific school setting. The primary purpose of this study are 1) to identify how education decentralization is occurring in the context of Senegal’s experiment with community-based basic education; 2) to define the education policy expectations and perceptions of government, non-government, and community actors in the Ecole Communautaire de Base (ECB) project, and 3) to discuss the factors operating as significant helps or hindrances to the success of the ECB experiment. The research involves education actors at all levels of national and local government, of national and international financial and technical assistance, and of school operation: teachers, supervisors, and coordinators. Respectively, it aims to examine their day-to-day lived experiences with “decentralization” in Senegalese education.

Clothey, Rebecca (University of Pittsburgh)

Are China’s Higher Education Reforms Marginalizing the Minority Nationalities?

Improving quality is one of the central education goals of the People’s Republic of China. As part of its impetus toward economic development, China holds excellence in higher education as a top priority. Currently particular attention is being paid to ethnic minority areas, where educational quality is said to have lagged behind other parts of the country. Despite measures taken to raise the education level of Chinese minorities since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, some minority groups still lag behind the majority Han Chinese population. While there are variances in education levels among minority groups in China, minority children still tend to have higher dropout rates from school than do Han children, and their illiteracy rates are also generally higher. The education gap is particularly apparent at the tertiary level. On the whole, the proportion of minority higher education students has been below the proportion of minorities in the general population. China’s official state policy emphasizes that the improvement of minority conditions is fundamental to the overall continued stability and improvement of economic conditions in the entire nation and many policies have been implemented to encourage the enrollment of minorities in higher education as a result. This paper discusses the educational policies implemented by the Chinese government to increase enrollments of minorities in higher education. It also looks at the impact certain external factors have on these policies, including the marketization of China’s higher education system and the relationship of particular minority groups with the central government.

Cockley, Suzanne (University of Virginia)

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The independent / dependent self may be created and sustained through discourse, particularly literacy discourse. Certain aspects of literacy discourse seem to promote the development of an independent self, while other aspects related to communication would seem to promote dependence among individuals. The development of independent and dependent selves may also be related to economic trends as they affect the larger community. For example, does capitalism tend to encourage independent selves? This presentation examines these connections in the context of the Appalachian region, contrasting historical representations of Appalachian selves to current trends in self-representation in light of economic factors.

Collier, Edmond (National Security Education Program)

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Dr. Ed Collier, the Deputy Director of NSEP will discuss in broad terms how the NSEP differs from other the international education opportunities, and how the program uniquely facilitates NSEP alumni to enter government service. In addition, he will describe NSEP’s agenda focusing on models for change in international education. This effort comprises research that will provide the field of international education with data and insights into key strategies for internationalizing higher education while also improving the quality of programmatic efforts.

Colvin, Shane (University of Oslo)

Leadership in Higher Education

Leading a Lithuanian Organization Through Change

Case Study: Kaunas University of Technology

It has been over ten years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, yet the former Soviet Republic of Lithuania remains a country still plagued with the turbulent changes that have followed independence. Like most of their counterparts in Eastern Europe, Lithuania still toils with a seemingly endless barrage of unprecedented social, economic, political and cultural changes. Lithuania continues still striving to overcome their original ordeal of transforming from a closed Soviet regime, to feverishly adopting a distinct open democratic way of life. Suddenly, they must take on the copious task of assimilating into a convergent global world, which is governed by competitive multilateral organizations that are driven by highly evolved technologies. Whilst, Lithuania remains a country economically troubled, politically unsettled, and culturally uncertain as to what the new millennium will bring to them.

This report is merely the genesis of my thesis that intends to probe those in leadership who stands at the helm of an organization that journey through these storms of change. I have chosen one Lithuanian higher education institute, Kaunas University of Technology, in particular, their Faculty of Social Science. This faculty epitomizes the struggle through transition, since the subject of Social Sciences under the Soviets were non existent or used only to support the state ideology. Ultimately, my aim is to understand their motives, aims and convictions during the development of the organization since independence. Moreover, my aims are to examine the university’s organizational frames i.e. structural, human resource, political, and symbolic. Finally, inquiring into the leadership traits, style, and contingency that are perhaps evident when the organization is met with these climactic changes.

Contreras, Manuel (Inter-American Development Bank)

Educational Decentralization in Bolivia: Trends and Problems

This paper will trace the evolution of educational decentralization in Bolivia in the nineties in the context of the Education Reform and the Popular Participation processes currently underway. It will highlight the peculiarities of the Bolivian experience and attempt to assess the evolution of decentralization in the education sector under the frameworks developed by Espínola (1999), Hanson (1997), and Winkler and Gershberg (2000). It will address issues of education finance, parental participation, school autonomy and capacity building at the local level to address education issues. Ultimately, the paper seeks to provide a background to the decentralization process in Bolivia and place it comparative perspective to other processes in the region by the use of the frameworks outlined above. It will do this by a review of the secondary literature and unpublished studies. These will be complemented by interviews with key decision-makers both at the central and local level. The paper will conclude with an assessment of accomplishments and an identification of bottlenecks and problems currently encountered. As the decentralization process is work-in-progress, the paper will discuss possible solutions to the problems identified and make concrete policy recommendations.

Cordova, Victor (University of Pittsburgh), Barbara Wein

The Role of Education in the Construction of Peace and Social Transformation of El Salvador: What is the Education El Salvador Needs?

There are two distinct perspectives in the realm of El Salvador’s educational reform today, stemming from different point of views on the nature of education and the relation of education to the individual and to the community. On the one hand, educational reform is influenced by the experiences of popular education and community participation. But at the same time, the government has adopted a neoliberal model of economic development and structural adjustment policies that is ideologically in opposition to the tenets of popular education. The intent of this paper is to examine how these two forces are interacting or conflicting within the educational changes taking place in El Salvador today. In many ways, this dichotomy is not only about two different educational approaches but rather, two different objectives or reasons for education. One emphasizes the individual and her/his worth in the economic structure, and the other emphasizes the individual as a functioning member of a community. The main focus of the paper is on basic education, and particularly on the examination of the most important governmental program in education: EDUCO.

Cornbleth, Catherine (University at Buffalo)

Climates of Constraint/Restraint on US Curriculum and Teaching

This paper draws on Cornbleth’s research and others to outline and illustrate five patterns or climates of constraint/restraint on US curriculum and teaching for meaningful learning and critical thinking that incorporate diverse students and perspectives: a bureaucratic climate with an administrative emphasis on law and order; a conservative climate intent on maintaining the status quo; a threatening climate of external curriculum challenges and self-censorship; a climate of perceived pupil pathologies and pedagogical pessimism; and a competitive climate dominated by student testing and public school ranking.

Correa, Hector (University of Pittsburgh)

Toward a Game Theoretic Theory of Education

The point of departure of the paper is the fact that a basic component of educational processes is the interaction between teachers and students. Game Theory is an instrument for the study of all types of interactions. A brief description of the work that has been done applying Game Theory to education will be the main content of the paper. This description will include some elementary examples of applications of Game Theory to educational problems.

Costa, Vincent (University of Pittsburgh)

Modeling Change in Indonesian Secondary Schools

In 1999 the Ministry of National Education in Indonesia embarked on a new program for senior secondary school development. The Learning Systems Institute (FSU) supported this effort through the Package 2 Consultancy: Teacher Management and School Development for the ADB. Loan #1360-INO. To initiate this program the consultant team investigated eight schools experiencing improvements in student achievement and reputation. Based on these experiences, they prepared a school development model (change model). Contrary to the “model school” concept, this approach attempts to introduce a “change model” that all schools can implement regardless of their current state of development or the environment in which the school is located. The change model is based on the participation of all stakeholders through open communication and shared decision-making. The eight participating schools served as case studies and joined the consulting team in regional and national seminars to promote the program. A significant output of the consultancy is a “Training Manual for School Development.” This effort comes at a time when the Ministry is moving toward decentralizing its administrative responsibilities to the provinces. The establishing of school-based management approaches to school development (change model) will be addressed in light of the countries decentralization efforts.

Costante, Gina (George Washington University)

Turning the Digital Divide into Digital Dividends: Devising a Policy for the Strategic and Humane Use of Computer Technology in Educating India’s Marginalized, Urban Children.

With her vastly diverse population, India is a land of contradictions. Globalization has only added to this dichotomy placing India at an intriguing crossroad. With billions of rupees in revenues from her vibrant IT industry, one wonders why India has not risen in the ranks of the new knowledge economy as a global powerbroker? Such an infusion of investment could provide India with a substantial opportunity for overall economic and social development. But how can she nurture this upward growth with such a disproportionately large, poor population? Dr. Sugata Mitra of New Delhi has proposed one solution with his innovative “hole in the wall” experiment

Cowles, Spencer (University of Virginia)

Educating for Identity & Resistance: Situated Learning among the Old Order Mennonites

Through a series of court battles in the late 1960’s, the Old Order Mennonite Community of Virginia won the right to complete control over the education of their young people. This paper looks at how the aims and the administration of formal schooling have been used by this intentional minority group to foster a sustained and robust identity in direct opposition to the prevailing values of the majority culture. It also examines the ways in which formal schooling complements, but does not subsume, the primary form of education among the Old Order Mennonites which is firmly situated within the community.

Cross, Michael (Johannesburg School of Education), Lavelle Nomdo (Gauteng Education Department)

Organizational Restructuring and Education Policy Delivery: The Case of South African Provincial Education Programs

Education Reform in the post - apartheid South Africa has been dominated by a focus on the production of a massive body of highly sophisticated and politically sound policy documents. However, the production of these documents has not always culminated in successful policy implementation at a provincial level. Further, when the new education provincial departments were established, much effort was, as a matter of priority, concentrated on the amalgamation of previous racially segregated departments and education structures and the promulgation of enabling legislation as part of an initial nation-wide program of departmental transformation. Now provincial departments are being challenged to focus on policy implementation under the buzzword “delivery”. This particular paper will focus on the main layers of decision making and practice (from central provincial structures to schools) with particular reference to issues of policy implementation. It explores possible opportunities and examines the limits and constraints faced by these departments in planning and managing education policy for clear and realistic implementation strategies. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: (I) to generate debate about how education departments could position themselves in order to enhance their role in policy implementation and (ii) to promote the use of policy research and analysis as tools in the practical contexts of provincial departments.

Cross, Michael (Johannesburg School of Education), Sepi Rouhani

Curriculum reform in South African Basis Education: A Paradigm Shift?

One of the most significant developments in the post-apartheid South Africa was a departure from apartheid education through an outcomes-based curriculum reform. Like in many other developing countries, curriculum reform in South Africa has resulted in several structural and policy tensions within the system. These tensions include: symbolism vis-à-vis action, curriculum framework vis-à-vis curriculum practice in schools; expected outcomes vis-à-vis the capacity of teachers to translate them into reality; and budget concerns vis-à-vis commitment to values such as equity, redress and massification. While highlighting how these tensions have played themselves out, the paper concentrates on how government and stakeholders have addressed the challenges posed by these tensions. From a conceptual point of view, the paper argues that the tensions that dominated the post-apartheid curriculum reform have resulted in a significant paradigm shift focused on reclaiming knowledge and cognition in the classroom as expressed in the new revisionism in curriculum debate.

Cross, Michael (Johannesburg School of Education), Trevor Sehoole (School of Education, University of Witwatersrand), Lavelle Nomdo (Gauteng Education Department)

No easy road: Transforming higher education in South Africa

This paper reviews the process of educational reform in higher education in post-apartheid South Africa. The failure in transforming the system higher education led to the appointment of the TaskTeam of Council for Higher Education on “Size and Shape of Higher Education” by the Minister of Education. In this regard, this development, if successful, will represent the most significant step towards overhauling the higher education system as a whole. The paper addresses four key issues. First, it explores key conceptual issues, central for understanding the complexities of the policy process in higher education in South Africa. Second, it examines the contexts, particularly the changing macro-economic policy frameworks, which underpin attempts at systemic and institutional reform in higher education. Third, it reviews critical moments of the policy process since the establishment of a new political dispensation. Fourth, it deals with the efforts made towards implementing the policy program defined by legislation. This paper argues that the difficulties in finding the right levers for transforming higher education must be understood with reference to the peculiarities of the policy process determined by the South African transitions.

Culcer, Casandra (Bowling Green State University)

Heidelberg-The Dynamics of German Academic Traditions Within the New Global Context.

This paper summarizes a one month experience in one of the most prestigious German universities. As a doctoral student in Higher Education Administration at BGSU, during the last summer I fulfilled an optional program requirement called “Global Awareness.” The International Relations Office of Ruprecht-Karls Universitaet in Heidelberg accepted me for a short period of independent research. I was seeking to understand the institutional culture, structure, policies, as well as the specific aspects of student life in Heidelberg. I learned about the six-century long history of this university, about the role it has been playing in the academic World as a source of excellent scholarship and progress of knowledge. I also tried to understand the directions in which various types of activities performed by the institution tend to develop in the future. In this respect I conducted a series of interviews with administrators, researchers, students, and faculty, I consulted the documentation offered by my hosts and I took part in various cultural and social activities organized mainly for the international guests of the institution. This paper is just an actual snapshot of “The Living Spirit,” to whom this university is dedicated.

Cummings, William (Graduate School of Education and Human Development)

Recent BESO supported research projects of the Ethiopian Ministry of Education: a summary.”

This paper will describe and review the research that the BESO project has supported over the last two years in Ethiopia. One project deals with a novel approach to researching the progress of girls and girl performance and attendance in schools. The other project attempts to make use of the recent development and use of achievement tests and results at the fourth and eighth grade levels. The results of both these research initiatives will contribute to the policy dialogue about improvements, especially with regard to how local communities can contribute once it understands the meanings and implications of the research findings.

Curdt Christiansen, Xiao Lan (McGill University)

The Effect of Globalization on Language Preference of Immigrant Parents in Quebec

The global economy affects all levels of society and education. This paper examines some of the effects of globalization, and explores how English as an international language affects people’s attitude and choices of school in a Francophone province in Canada.

This study took place in a Chinese Heritage language school (weekend school or community school) in Montreal, Quebec. A randomly selected group of parents were interviewed with regard to their preference of school ( English or French) for their children. The result indicates an overall attraction to the English school if the language law in Quebec province (Bill 101) would permit a free choice. Issues addressed in this paper are political constraints in Quebec, globalization effects on language use, and literacy practices adopted, encouraged and valued by families.

This paper presents some preliminary data from a larger research project that focuses on how immigrant children acquire the social practices that surround their mother tongue and the two official languages in Canada, English and French.

Dall, Frank (Unicef)

An assessment of progress made in girls education in the Mideast since Jomtien. 2. The Catastrophic effects of the Al Aqsa Intifida on the Palestinian Education Reform Process.

The ten years since Jomtien have seen modest but real gains in girls’ and women’s education in the 20 Arab States which comprise the Middle East and North Africa Region. Despite persistent regional conflicts, economic stagnation, prevailing social barriers and the channeling of national resources mainly toward military expenditure, today, Arab women are entering schools in larger numbers and are more literate. Recent assessments in 9 MENA countries of primary level achievement levels, in key skills areas like mathematics, Arabic and life skills, suggest that Arab girls at this level are beginning to out-perform boys.

2. The well intended but ill-conceived Oslo Peace Accords have succeeded in balkanizing the West Bank, Gaza and Jericho into unmanageable and difficult to access and administer “enclaves”. Constant harassment, and actions taken by the Israeli and Palestinian authorities have only heightened frustrations and aggravated an already potentially explosive situation to a point where in October 2000 the Palestinian population took to the streets to actively demonstrate against conditions which had brought their economy to a standstill and threatened to isolate already struggling communities. The education reforms which were initiated by the National Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Education in 1994,are an unnoticed casualty of the current conflict. Children and youth are being killed, schools destroyed or closed, teachers arrested, homes demolished and communities thrown into mayhem and confusion. Donor support, the mainstay of the Palestinian social reform process... successfully underway for the last six years, is now threatened. Despite war-like conditions, the MOE has decreed that schools remain open, children continue to attend and teachers, teach. Can a flawed and ill-conceived peace provide the confidence and stability needed to maintain the reforms needed to build a healthy well educated and productive Palestinian society? Or is an autonomous Palestinian State a flawed conclusion?

Daun, Holger (Stockholm University) Ivan Ivic (UNESCO), Dragan Popadic (Belgrade University), Lidija Kolouh-Westin (Belgrade University), Diana Plut (Belgrade University), Ana Pecikan (Belgrade University)

Education and Democracy - Curricula and Student Attitudes in Four Countries: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Yugoslavia, Mozambique and South Africa

Attitudes towards democracy differ between countries in certain aspects due to cultural and historical differences. In other aspects there are unexpected similarities. Students seem to make a differences between micro (their own life world) and macro (the national power structure) when they evaluate items of democracy. Curricula in history and language filter the perspective on democracy through a typical country-specific filter. These are some of the findings from a study in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Yugoslavia, Mozambique and South Africa. The study was conducted by research teams in the participating countries. Students and teachers filled in questionnaires and content analysis of curricula was conducted.

Daun, Holger (Stockholm University)

Policy-making, Critical Analysis or Both: What Role for Educational Research?

During the past two decades, new trends have emerged in the relationships between the realm of educational research, on the one hand, and decision-makers and economic interests, on the other. Educational researchers have become involved in studying concepts defined by policy-makers. This presentation discusses how the concept of “lifelong learning,” originally developed in the context of socialization research, has been distorted to focus only on workforce preparation. In this context, educational researchers are being asked to work in relation to this narrower notion of lifelong learning rather than a broader set of concerns about human development.

David-Gnahoui, Emmanuel (Loyola University)

Education and Democratization: A Complexity Theory Analysis of Educational Reform in Benin

My presentation is a search for an answer to the question, “Can education be the engine of democratization in developing/transitional societies?’ It is based on a study of the primary school reform—La réforme de l’école de qualité fondamentale—currently implemented in Benin. The tool to conduct my study is complexity theory that claims that change (planned or otherwise) unfolds in non-linear ways, that paradoxes and contradictions abound and that creative solutions arise out of interaction under conditions of uncertainty, diversity and instability. My study applies the norms of complexity theory to analyze the educational reform in a developing country, Benin. In doing so, I compare complexity theory analysis accounting for a more complex mode based on social interaction, moral purpose, collaborative engagement, development of social and intellectual capital, and “the grammar of schooling,” to the logic of change based on traditional cost benefit, technical feasibility, and such other “objective” methods.

de Almeida Neto, Antonio (Brazilian Ministry of Education Fundescola Project)

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Representatives from the Brazilian Ministry of Education, including Technical Coordinator Antonio Augusto de Almeida Neto, will detail the School Development Plan (PDE) process, under which the school and its community of parents, teachers and local leaders meet to identify and prioritize the problems at the school, establish specific school improvement objectives, and to agree on an action plan. In exchange for this increase in autonomy, schools are required to meet the goals of their plan, and if successful, are permitted to compete for a second round of funding. Project managers will present findings from a preliminary study of student outcomes and community demand for PDE schools as well as describe the challenges to empowering schools and their communities to succeed.

de Clerq, Francine (University of Witwatersrand)

Educational Governance in South Africa: the challenge of improved policy implementation and school support

This paper examines the formidable challenges and pressures that the educational bureaucracy, as the main policy implementation actor, faces in asserting its power and control as well as in negotiating the implementation of problematic educational reforms. After going through a period of reorganization which saw the decentralization of some educational powers and a series of capacity building programs throughout the system, the educational bureaucracy is now being made to account for its poor record of policy implementation, delivery and school support. These economic, managerial and financial pressures require the educational bureaucracy to become more cost effective and focused on educational outcomes and delivery performance.

This paper argues that the educational bureaucracy responded by going through an internal systemic change process to revisit the appropriate combination of centralization and decentralization of powers and to develop accountability systems that combine monitoring, development and support. However, in the process of tightening its control, monitoring and coordination, the bureaucracy runs the danger of preventing the lower levels of the system from using their policy and administrative creativity and professional expertise to improve the policy development and school improvement process.

de Wilde, Johan (UNESCO)

Ecuador

The case of Ecuador illustrates the seize of the challenge of quality basic Education For All. Though access to formal basic education is a reality for 90% of the Ecuadorian children, net enrolment in rural areas lays below 80%. Even more worrisome is the fact that of this last group only a small minority attains basic competency levels in mathematics, language and life skills. I’ll briefly illustrate and analyze these results. Furthermore the MLA project indicates some of the associated factors that explain significant part of the variation in test-results. I’ll present these findings and indicate to what extent they reinforced and contradicted generally accepted cause-effect schemes used by academics and decision-makers in Ecuadorian education. Related to this I’ll share how these findings were translated into policy recommendations and how these were accepted by policymakers and other stakeholders. To end with I’ll present lessons learned, related to the research design and the utility of the findings; and the conditions in which they can do what they are meant for: contributing to quality improvement.

Defrin, Alyssa (Harvard University)

Girls’ Education in The Gambia: Is Participatory Research A Viable Approach?

In light of its political instability and socioeconomic circumstances, issues of girls’ access to basic education in The Gambia have only begun to surface over the last decade. This paper will examine an initiative that applied participatory research methods to understand why families do not send their girls to school in The Gambia. In this context, a participatory approach to research promotes the involvement of community members, which is critical to direct social change, reflect individual needs and contribute to the amelioration of gender inequalities. A look at the application of participatory research as a framework for project design will highlight the challenges faced as well as the positive and negative effects. While it is still premature to conclude assessments of the influence of participatory research in girls’ education, the outcomes thus far do lend insight into developing strategies for further reform of girls’ education.

Delgadillo, Gabriela (University of Massachusetts at Amherst)

This is not a matter of ‘to be or not to be’, this is a matter of desire. Do we want to be postmodern?

The problem is not if we are or we are/not postmodern. But rather whether postmodernism has any space in our desire. Postmodernism threatens predictability, control and hegemony; therefore it is not a comfortable discourse. Why would anyone voluntarily choose to move into the terrain of uncertainty? I will present multiple responses to these questions, as exemplified by Latino women who are graduate students in the U.S. These women who are expected to validate their practice by the academic discourse need to play the game of the ‘scientific knowledge’. While they grasp the hegemonic truth, they become aware of its uselessness.

Dembek, Bettina (Harvard University Graduate School)

Affirmative Alternative For Increasing Educational Achievement Of Rural Aborigines In Australia

Rural Aborigines in Australia have a particularly low level of educational attainment, compared to non-indigenous and urban indigenous populations. In this paper, I will identify the origin of these inequalities and the innovative effort in Gunbalanya, an Aboriginal community in the north of Australia. I will examine the secondary school girls involvement in a nationwide program Link Elite Athlete Program (LEAP) that linked schools to the athletes competing in Sydney Paralympics 2000. The aim was to improve attendance and educational attainment by relating the school subjects to a real life learning experience. Mathematical, organizational and salesmanship skills taught in the classroom were applied to the practical problem of raising funds for a field trip to Sydney, to watch the Paralympics. This project also provided opportunities for interactions with white Australians which broadened the students’ bicultural experiences. I will explore the effectiveness of this project in increasing student attendance and attainment, and assess the value of linking curriculum to practical situations in Aboriginal communities.

Dembele, Martial (Bureautique Nouvelle Generation)

Challenges Involved in Making Teachers Full Partners in Their Own Professional Development: The Case of Guinea’s School Improvement Small Grants Program

Guinea is among the rare countries that have taken seriously research-based recommendations for effective teacher professional development. In effect, since 1994, Guinea has been implementing a World Bank funded competitive small grants program that helps teacher teams design and carry their own school improvement and professional development projects. This program (known by its French acronym PPSE) has expanded rapidly from a small experimental program in one region to a national program. In any context, let alone in one that is characterized by scarcity of resources, low average general education level of elementary teachers, a history of top down in service teacher education programs, centralized educational management, etc., the implementation of such a bottom up program involves dealing with formidable challenges, both foreseen and unforeseen. The proposed paper will discuss the main challenges that PPSE leadership has had to deal with so far and how.

Demerath, Peter (The Ohio State University)

Educational Implications of Emerging Subjectivities and Social Forms in Manus, Papua New Guinea