"Learning How To Teach" Critical Reflections

I have had the chance to read a rather lengthy report regarding the status of unqualified primary school teachers in Sub-Saharan Africa, entitled "Learning How to Teach: The Uplifting of Unqualified Primary Teachers in Sub-Saharan Africa," by Herman Kruijer, published by Education International, 2010. An extremely insightful analysis and case study of several nations, some crucial issues regarding teacher training and teacher quality were touched upon by the authors. I have critically reflected on some of the major themes, including the use of contract teachers, geographic disparities in educational administration, and the style and quality of training, itself. I have applied these themes to broader aspects of teacher and educational quality in the developing world, drawing personal experience and outside research into the fold. Below are my insights.

"An Educational Decoupling….Advancing Problems"

Geographic Disparities

According to Herman Kruijer and Education International, in a survey of educational progress in Sub Saharan Africa, although there has been progress with the EFA Goals and the MDG Goals, the biggest challenge lies with inequality in educational attainment within nations. 

"Disparities within the countries based on wealth, gender, race, language or ethnic group hinders progress towards (Universal Primary Education. In Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Mali and Niger, children from the richest 20% are from three to about four times more likely to attend school than children from the poorest quintile."  (19) 

Thus, we see an educational decoupling that mirrors the socio-economic decoupling of these nations. What is not explained in the report is where, geographically, these richest 20% of children are located. More than likely, in my humble estimation, they are in the national capital, commercial capital, or at the very least regional capitals of these nations. Thus, we witness the "dual-track" development of the poorest nations; tiny geographic slices of these countries witnessing a boom, advancements in living conditions, access to material wealth and goods, while the vast majority of citizens outside of the major economic and political hubs are living lives of complete material stagnation, regardless of the economic policies dreamed up in the bubble capital zones. 

The general growth in educational enrollment has also resulted in large class sizes becoming the norm in most areas of these nations, urban and rural. Inclusivity has brought with it increased downward pressures on educational quality, already severely deficient beforehand. 

The Learning Curve, Comments and Critiques

An important contribution to the debate on international educational development was recently published by publisher Pearson, entitled, "The Learning Curve" (http://thelearningcurve.pearson.com/). I had some time to digest and comment on some of the main themes of this report. The results are published below. Enjoy.

"Moreover, education remains an art, and much of what engenders quality is difficult to quantify." 

The art of education and the ambiguity of solid connections between inputs and outputs in the world's schooling systems leads us towards the necessity of focusing on the cultural factors that have been so discredited by the world's developmental economists in explaining success and failure amongst nations. As we look  to improve the schooling systems of the developing world, cultural sensitivity is more than needed; cultural sensitivity must be a core element of the changes themselves. Not an excuse, but a foundation for instructional activities, incentive programs, and management strengthening. None of these crucial factors can be imposed by proxy; they must be continually woven from the fabric of local cultures and societies. 

"The Underlying Moral Cause" of successful schooling systems (South Korea and Finland's Parallels)-Korea's ethic of education was shaped in response to the war, and this has continued; however, in many African nations, schooling systems are seen as foreign inventions/interventions, especially in rural areas, and thus are prone to community disconnect; if these values propelling the worth of education are not ingrained into societies, the pressure on both teachers and students will not result in improvements in learning outcomes

In Finland, the moral purpose of education is an "act of social justice" that the society deeply cares about-equality and access are deep societal norms; in the developing world, we have a completely different outlook that has been shaped by both capitalist intervention and the carving out of elite urban enclaves-the movement away from equality and towards inequality. 

Lant Pritchett on Education Innovations

Lant Pritchett in an interesting talk on the failures of the educational systems in both the developed and developing worlds. Ending his talk, Pritchett notes, "How to make a disfunctional system into a functional one is an enormous challenge," thus framing the central challenge of human development in the 21st century.
Pritchett frames his argument around an interesting analogy of "Starfish" and "Spiders," centralized and decentralized educational systems that have historically grown and been transplanted from the developed to the developing world. The big issue, according to Pritchett, is that "Spiders," which rely on strong state capacity, centralization, and strong social cohesion, have only been successful in developing nations with these elusive social and structural characteristics. For the majority of developing world states, the result of this transplantation has been "Dead Spiders," characterized by "...no thinking at the center." Thus, without centralized thinking, without the "Functional, driving force at the center driving towards legitimate goals for students' learning," and in lacking periphery capacities for development, the schooling systems of the developing world have been an unequivocal failure.
Pritchett notes quite saliently and accurately that the educational systems in many nations are driving themselves, instead, on "mimicry." They look like vibrant, living spiders, but, in fact, they are almost completely innocuous and often times functionally dead.
"No amount of "expansion" with these "dysfunctional spiders will lead children to be ready for the 21st century." 

"An Educational Decoupling….Advancing Problems"

"An Educational Decoupling….Advancing Problems"

Geographic Disparities

According to Herman Kruijer and Education International, in a survey of educational progress in Sub Saharan Africa (2010), although there has been progress with the EFA Goals and the MDG Goals, the biggest challenge lies with inequality in educational attainment within nations. 

"Disparities within the countries based on wealth, gender, race, language or ethnic group hinders progress towards (Universal Primary Education. In Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Mali and Niger, children from the richest 20% are from three to about four times more likely to attend school than children from the poorest quintile."  (19) 

Thus, we see an educational decoupling that mirrors the socio-economic decoupling of these nations. What is not explained in the report is where, geographically, these richest 20% of children are located. More than likely, in my humble estimation, they are in the national capital, commercial capital, or at the very least regional capitals of these nations. Subsequently, we witness the "dual-track" development of the poorest nations; tiny geographic slices of these countries witnessing a boom, advancements in living conditions, access to material wealth and goods, while the vast majority of citizens outside of the major economic and political hubs are living lives of complete material stagnation, regardless of the economic policies dreamed up in the bubble capital zones. 

The general growth in educational enrollment has also resulted in large class sizes becoming the norm in most areas of these nations, urban and rural. Inclusivity has brought with it increased downward pressures on educational quality, already severely deficient beforehand. 

Incentives Matter, But How They Are Measured Matters More

Having recently completed a dissertation on the subject area of teacher incentives and localization of schooling curricula, I have been a dedicated proponent for the area of incentives for some time. A succinct new report from one of the preeminent scholars in the field, Karthik Muralidharan for JPAL/USAID India very clearly restates the relevant literature (most of it being his own) and makes the continued case for a focus on incentives in improving primary schooling outcomes in the developing world. However, as I will detail, the discussion must be furthered, and innovation must be included in the assessment stage of incentives, to truly bind together these advances in educational quality. http://www.povertyactionlab.org/doc/early-grade-reading-workshop-session-3): 

Simple Yet Effective: Yet One More

I have written previously on this website about the power of simple educational inputs in increasing schooling outputs. Thus, previous reports have been consolidated into a full primary school intervention targeting providing reading glasses to the 10 percent of primary school children who cannot see correctly. Such a simple idea, requiring the simplest of solutions; if children cannot see, they cannot learn; and if 10% of children cannot see, we are automatically forfeiting 10% of our young populations' futures.
However, as is the case with all aspects of educational quality which have been examined on this website, incentives and and their proper understanding and integration into policy design is absolutely critical. Though the intervention was shown to be incredibly efficient in raising educational outcomes for the targeted children, equivalent in some cases to an additional one half year of school, adoption of the glasses by communities, parents, and children was hindered because proper insight was not given into the role of incentives and internalization of change theory.

According to the intervention, "Visualizing Development: Eyeglasses and Academic Performance in China," (Glewwe, Park, and Zhao, 2012), eyeglasses as an educational intervention are easy and efficient, as has "...immediate gains," and are, perhaps most crucially, have the ability to create positive change even in larger, failing macro-climates which commonly impede other interventions. However, community norms, expectations of the necessity of future eyeglass purchases, and parents' simple perceptions of eyeglasses means that even when provided for free, 30% of needy children did not accept the lenses.
However, what about the role of incentives and change theory in the adoption of new technology? The authors have not analyzed the basic human fundamentals behind change itself; the status quo, even when detrimental to youth, is much easier to maintain than to change. Thus, incentives for change must be examined; these incentives can be either monetary or non-monetary in nature. Parents, the obvious gatekeepers in such interventions, must be educated and incentivized to induce needed change for such beneficial and simple interventions as the Gansu Eyeglass Project.
http://www.povertyactionlab.org/publication/better-vision-education

GyanShala

Standardization  and Localization are not Incompatible: The Gyan Shala Schools, India and “Simplifying Education”

Standardization can be construed as synonymous with a stifling of innovation, a lack of autonomy, and a derailment of the process of creating relevance for schooling materials. However, standardization can  also be an extremely effective way of utilizing untrained teachers and bringing quality into historically marginalized classrooms.

The work of Gyan Shala, an NGO based in Ahmedabad, India, does this just, and the results have been fantastic; outputs have greatly exceeded both governmental and private schools in the area, illuminating the value of simplicity and of effective scaffolding for inexperienced teachers. In the push for localization of materials, which I have highlighted as a positive force for educational development, we must also counter our beliefs with the necessity for ease of implementation (hitherou remedied, in my own analysis, by the deployment of individualized incentives). We must always be careful of becoming too complex with our answers and solutions,; the simplest solution can often unleash the most positive of ramifications.

Gyan Shala, “provides remarkable performance at uncommonly low cost…from a radically-engineered teaching methodology that focuses on learning processes…a standardized curriculum and lesson plans, which are supplemented by extensive learning aids and continuous monitoring of classroom processes for regular staff feedback.” (Emerging Markets, Emerging Models, 2009; 58). The key concepts and takeaways from this model (from my own analysis), are as follows:

·      Monitoring and Feedback:  providing teachers with actual oversight and recommendations on a weekly basis is an incredibly necessary tool that is simply not done, even in the developed world; weekly monitoring has enormous potential for both reinforcing positive processes and mitigating unproductive processes, if those who are performing the monitoring have the proper incentives to provide unbiased and productive feedback that can further enhance learning outcomes; this will also, obviously have positive spillover effects for teacher attendance

·      Standardization: Ease and simplicity are the fundamental concepts that can be taken away from this model; understanding classroom practice demands understanding change theory and individual incentives for classroom practices; teachers will do what is easy and manageable, and providing validated models and scaffolding can bring immense advantages and subsequent ensuring of follow-through

·      Extensive Use of Learning Aids: this is a core component of the success of this project, and the one area that will make duplication exceedingly challenging for the public sector; however, as is the challenge with localization of materials and subsequent innovation has shown, this is not insurmountable given proper governmental oversight and involvement