The Progressive Education Fallacy In Developing Countries

This book provides a provocative but carefully argued addition to the theory and practice of education in developing countries. The book provides an ethical and empirical justification for support of formalistic teaching in primary and secondary schools in developing countries. It also refutes the application of progressive education principles to curriculum and pre- and in-service teacher education in such contexts. The central focus of this book is the formalistic teaching prevalent in the classrooms of many developing countries. Formalistic (‘teacher-centred’, ‘traditional’, ‘didactic’, ‘pedagogic’) teaching is appropriate in the many countries with revelatory epistemologies, unpopular and old-fashioned though these methods may seem in some western, especially Anglophone, ones. Formalism has been the object of many failed progressive curriculum and teacher education reforms in developing countries for some 50 years.

Progressive Education, derived mainly from Anglo-American culture, has been the primary frame of reference for student-centered classroom change in developing countries for over 50 years. Yet in many developing countries, strong evidence shows that progressivism has not replaced teacher-centered formalistic classroom practice. Classroom Change in Developing Countries: From Progressive Cage to Formalistic Frame presents a robust case for why formalism should be the primary frame of reference for upgrading classroom teaching in developing countries. Theoretically rich yet grounded in practice, the book draws on case studies from Africa, China and Papua New Guinea to show how culturally intuitive formalistic teaching styles can induce positive classroom change. Synthesising research and evaluation literature on classroom change in developing countries, Guthrie examines some of the methodological flaws in the literature. The book considers the progressive cage, and looks at Confucian influences on teaching in China, progressive reform failures in both Sub-Saharan Africa and Papua New Guinea, as well as offering a critical take on some failings in comparative education. It examines the formalistic frame, addresses methodological issues in culturally grounded research and offers a model of teaching styles for basic classroom research. The book concludes by returning the focus back to teachers and considers the so-called teacher resistance to change. The book will be an essential purchase for academics and research students engaged in the fields of classroom teaching, teacher education and curriculum and will also be of interest to academics, aid officials, and decision-makers in developing countries.

Drawing on state of the art evidence about implementing education quality in low income countries, this book opens up the black box of the classroom and explores how practices of teaching and learning impact on different groups of learners in the global South.

Globalization and Education: Teaching, Learning and Leading in the World Schoolhouse explores the various ways educators’ work is influenced by globalization. This book presents topics and contexts traditionally marginalized in mainstream education research discourses and shows how local and global education issues are intersecting and shaping the ways in which ideas and practices are shared around the world. Each chapter presents an educational issue in an understudied international context, such as Saudi Arabia, Guyana, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, and Nepal. Topics range from how the knowledge industry shapes education in schools to the impact of globalization on school leadership, teaching, and learning. We invite scholars and practitioners to join us in the world schoolhouse, a place where discussion about educational understanding and improvement is not bounded by national borders, school systems or language. This book will both challenge and expand thinking about the complexities of education during a time of globalization and change.

The doctoral journey is fraught with stops and starts, crossroads and blind alleys, surprises and epiphanies. All successful doctoral students navigate a pathway through these events to reach their final destination. Navigating the Doctoral Journey explores examples of these routes in ways that both honour individual stories and highlight the broader issues of uniting emergent research practices with doctoral candidates’ individual reflexive projects. All the doctoral candidates included in this book work with critical topics, theories and methods within the field of education; they face particular challenges – and rewards – when pursuing work that will meet institutional and disciplinary expectations of “good” doctoral-level research. For them, the doctoral process is required to culminate in more than the award of a qualification. Their imperative is to demonstrate mastery of the disciplinary norms, whilst simultaneously challenging dominant models and making authentic contributions to the benefit of broader society. Navigating the Doctoral Journey addresses the isolation and challenges of what it means to conduct critical doctoral research within a highly contested domain of knowledge. This is not a simplistic self-help guide to clearly map a proven route to doctoral success, rather the book provides a range of possible answers to the questions of how candidates experience doctoral studies, what is “critical” about each contributor’s research, and how this affects what each person does as he or she researches.

Since the 1990s, sub-Saharan Africa has experienced unprecedented attempts at reforming teacher and student classroom practices, with a learner-centred pedagogy regarded as an effective antidote to the prevalence of teacher-centred didactic classroom practices. Attempts at reform have been going on all over the continent. In fact, learner-centred pedagogy has been described as one of the most pervasive educational ideas in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere. Research has revealed that the major attempts have largely failed mainly because teachers have not been able to adopt instructional innovations to technical problems. This failure is also related to lack of resources, and poor teacher training programmes which lead to poor teacher quality, among others. This book attempts to explain why pedagogical change has not occurred in spite of the much energy and resources that have been committed to such reforms.The book also takes us inside what the author calls 'the socio-cultural world of African classrooms' to help us understand the reasons teachers dominate classroom life and rely disproportionately on didactic methods of teaching. Its conceptual analyses capture the best of both the sociology and the anthropology of education in contexts of poverty, as well as the politics of education.The book concludes that a socio-cultural approach should be the basis for developing culturally responsive indigenous pedagogies, though these may or may not turn out to be in any way akin to constructivist learner-centred pedagogies.

Understanding Contemporary Education offers an essential exploration of key concepts and issues in education that will allow education studies students, as well as trainee and practising teachers to engage in reflection, not only on work at the classroom level, but on education more broadly. Using detailed examples, the book problematises many popular and taken-for-granted views, allowing the reader to challenge and seriously consider the nature of the education enterprise. In each chapter, a concept is carefully considered, with major features, controversies, and strengths and weaknesses highlighted. Key follow-up questions challenge the reader to reflect on specific issues, and encourage involvement, not just in their own teaching, but in the planning and determination of the total programme of their school, and where possible, that of the nation. The book is divided into seven main parts: The Social Context of Education Education Policy Curriculum Teaching and Learning Leadership in Education Teacher Preparation International Developments in Education. Drawing upon a wide variety of theoretical positions, Understanding Contemporary Education provides an accessible introduction to key themes and concepts in education, challenging readers to fully consider the purpose of education and to reflect intelligently on issues that affect all schools. It is a must-read book for those on education studies courses, as well as trainee and practising teachers.

Relationality and Learning in Oceania: Contextualizing Education for Development critically engages debates in comparative education and international development relating to context, culture, language and indigenous epistemologies. It draws on experiences of a south-north research-practice team in Solomon Islands and Tonga.