The Curricular Content Of Primary Education In Developing Countries

There is no evidence to support the claim that developing countries teach more subjects or emphasize different subject matter in primary schools than developed countries do -- so efforts to change or simplify their primary curricula may be strongly resisted.

This study presents policy options for improving the effectiveness of primary schools in developing countries. It examines problems common to most developing countries and presents an array of low-cost policy alternatives that have proved useful in a variety of settings.

Many academicians, politicians, and educators strongly believe that knowledge, organized in school curricula and transmitted through school systems, contributes to the economic strength of nations. How valid is this claim?

This volume brings together eight case studies which describe a variety of initiatives to create more effective schools for children of poverty, especially in the Third World. The initiatives reviewed published and unpublished documents and both qualitative and statistical studies were examined. Countries include Brazil, Burundi, Colombia, Ghana, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the United States. Each initiative was developed independently to address unique challenges and situations but taken as a group, the features of the approaches described in this volume can be viewed as a basis for considering the development of effective schools strategies in other contexts.

What does teaching look like? What practices are most impactful? By directly observing teaching in the classroom, this study trialled new research methods to shed light on these key questions for raising student outcomes around the world.