Angeline M Barrett

Teacher Accountability in Context: Tanzanian Primary School Teachers' Perceptions of Local Community and Education Administration.

Evaluations, tied to specific programmes, need to be complemented by research that is more sensitive to context at the classroom level. A comparative approach may be used as a platform to move into a two‐way conversation with the perspectives of practitioners in ‘developing’ countries and hence scrutinize internationally dominant notions of good teaching that are often assumed in applied research, such as evaluations. This paper draws on findings from a theoretically oriented study of primary school teacher identity in Tanzania, in which explicit comparisons are made with teacher identity in England. The analysis shows how Tanzanian teachers see their social identity and professional responsibilities as being co‐constructed and shared with parents, the local community and education administration. A comparison is made with English constructs of professional responsibility and accountability in order to draw some lessons for the conduct and interpretation of evaluations.

Re-interpreting relevant learning: an evaluative framework for secondary education in a global language

ABSTRACT The 2030 education goal privileges ‘relevant learning outcomes’ as the evaluative space for quality improvement. Whilst the goal was designed for global level monitoring, its influence cuts across different scales. Implementation of the goal involves reinterpreting ‘relevant learning’ at the local level. One way that small scale projects engage in the creative work of reinterpretation is through the design of their evaluative frameworks. We illustrate this with the example of an innovation in Tanzania that aimed to improve language and subject learning amongst lower secondary school students making the transition from using an African language, Kiswahili, to using a global language, English, as the language of instruction. The project developed a framework for evaluating learning processes and outcomes that was grounded in socio-cultural theories of learning. The framework was founded on an understanding of subject learning consistent with the purpose of sustainable development. Sustainable development is understood here as a process of social learning engaged through local responses to issues that have global reach. We conclude that implementing the 2030 education goals as part of a broader ambition towards sustainable development, demands reinterpretation of its targets in a way that makes explicit our underpinning theories of learning.

The power and politics of international comparisons

The power and influence of international comparisons of educational achievement, most especially the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Programme for International Stud...

COMPARE Forum: The Post-2015 Education and Development Agenda.

As the 2015 target date for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approaches, there are a growing number of processes, preparations and debates on what a post-2015 agenda and framework will look like. The United Nations Development Group (UNDG) (as chaired by the United Nations Development Programme) is leading the planning of efforts to catalyse a ‘global conversation’ on post-2015 through a series of some 100 national consultations and 11 global thematic consultations. The aim of these consultations has been to bring together a broad range of stakeholders to review progress on the MDGs and to discuss the options for a new framework. The overall global thematic consultation on education is co-led by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), with support from the Government of Canada, the Government of Germany and the Government of the Republic of Senegal. The education consultations focus on the progress to date as well as the possible scope and shape of education within the post-2015 agenda.The purpose of this special edition of the Compare Forum is to contribute to this debate in relation to ideas about how progress towards greater education quality and equity can be achieved, including how and what goals and targets need to be defined and owned and how governments can be made accountable for them.

Making secondary education relevant for all: reflections on science education in an expanding sub-sector

Abstract This think piece focuses on relevance in secondary science education to propose a research agenda for contexts in sub-Saharan Africa, where enrolments are expanding from a low base. The notion of sustainable work is used to consider what kind of science education is relevant for students who will continue to become science specialists and those who will apply their science knowledge in non-specialist paid and unpaid roles. Drawing on insights from the literature on science and indigenous knowledge, on education for sustainable development and sociolinguistic analysis of science classrooms, it is argued that making connections between informal and formal knowledge is essentially the work of secondary education. Understanding secondary education in these terms highlight its vital contribution to addressing sustainable development, which at its heart recognises the interconnectedness of human and natural systems.

Celebration, reflection and challenge: The BAICE 20th anniversary

This Forum feature is one of a series of initiatives designed to recognise and celebrate the 20 Anniversary of the British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE). It is an honour for both of us to represent the association in this anniversary year and we are pleased to help mark this important milestone with this special edition of the Compare Forum. The anniversary initiatives include a well-attended and well-received Anniversary Symposium on the theme of ‘Sustainability, Peace and Education’, convened by the Centre for Comparative and International Research in Education (CIRE) at the University of Bristol (https://cireblog.wordpress.com/blog/) in May 2018, and a panel discussion based upon the present Compare Forum contributions scheduled for the association’s annual conference to be held at the University of York from September 12–14, 2018 (see https://baice.ac.uk). Michael will also build his 2018 Presidential Address around the history, evolution and ‘reconceptualisation’ of BAICE (Crossley 1999), while engaging with the conference theme and his own related research. In planning the shape and content of the Forum, efforts were made to identify a diverse range of contributors who could reflect upon their personal experience of different times, roles and activities. The following sections thus cover the pre-history of BAICE, its foundation and early days, strengthening of the research dimension, increased opportunities for doctoral and early-career researchers, the growth and development of Compare, the official journal of the Association, and contemporary challenges and priorities for future development. Biographical details for the contributors are included at the end to indicate how and when they have each engaged with and supported the society. Contributors were invited to develop the above themes in ways that document the growth of BAICE and demonstrate how much has both changed and been achieved in those first 20 years – years that, as many of our writers have remarked, have passed so quickly! While there is certainly well justified space for celebration, each of our contributors also critically interrogate a number of contemporary challenges that need to be addressed as BAICE explores new priorities for the future. In the light of our own experience, and the papers presented here, that future will be challenging but secure if the collegial, supportive and friendly culture that has long COMPARE 2018, VOL. 48, NO. 5, 801–820 https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2018.1499219

Education and other sustainable development goals: a shifting agenda for comparative education

As the 2015 target date for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approaches, there are a growing number of processes, preparations and debates on what a post-2015 agenda and framework will look like. The United Nations Development Group (UNDG) (as chaired by the United Nations Development Programme) is leading the planning of efforts to catalyse a ‘global conversation’ on post-2015 through a series of some 100 national consultations and 11 global thematic consultations. The aim of these consultations has been to bring together a broad range of stakeholders to review progress on the MDGs and to discuss the options for a new framework. The overall global thematic consultation on education is co-led by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), with support from the Government of Canada, the Government of Germany and the Government of the Republic of Senegal. The education consultations focus on the progress to date as well as the possible scope and shape of education within the post-2015 agenda.The purpose of this special edition of the Compare Forum is to contribute to this debate in relation to ideas about how progress towards greater education quality and equity can be achieved, including how and what goals and targets need to be defined and owned and how governments can be made accountable for them.

Book Review - Desire and decline: schooling amid crisis in Tanzania

In this era, increasingly defined by the power of nonstate actors and groups such as al Qaeda and in which experts discuss the declining power of the state, Daniel Byman’s Deadly Connections: States that Sponsor Terrorism is an important reminder of the crucial role that states continue to play in international terrorism. Byman is a well-respected terrorism expert and former RAND Corporation analyst whose sober judgments are both insightful and comprehensive. Deadly Connections challenges many commonly held assumptions about why states choose to sponsor terrorists and how to discourage states from doing so. The author chooses Iran, Syria, Pakistan, and the Taliban’s Afghanistan as case studies. Readers will find Byman’s writing style easy to read, logically organized, and relatively free of insider language and terminology. The main arguments and key findings of the book are straightforward: state sponsorship of terrorism is becoming more important and states sponsor terrorism because they believe it is in their interest, for strategic, political, or ideological reasons, to do so. Discouraging state sponsors of terrorism is very difficult, is best done before it begins, may not succeed, will likely take significant time, and may require a combination of military, economic, and political measures. This is a somber conclusion, one that policymakers will likely not desire to hear but nevertheless should consider before formulating policy. Byman is not attempting to surprise anyone with the layout of his work, nor does he build to any surprising conclusions. Rather, written in a style that is reminiscent of a RAND publication, he clearly lays out his main argument, key findings, and methodology. While not dramatic, this work is useful to anyone interested in state sponsorship of terrorism. The author is comprehensive in his work and recognizes the complexities of the issue and the variety of motivations of both states and terrorist groups and the delicate balance that governs their connections. Support for terrorist groups comes in many forms and may be overt, such as the Taliban’s support to al Qaeda, or rather subtle, such as the provision of occasional diplomatic assistance. Byman categorizes state sponsors of terrorism as strong, weak, lukewarm, antagonistic, passive, and unwilling hosts. This distinction proves rather helpful in both understanding the problem and in formulating a policy to deal with specific state sponsors. Often a state wishes to utilize a terrorist group as a kind of proxy. As Byman declares, “[s]tates sponsor terrorists as their proxies for a variety of reasons. The most important is often strategic interest: terrorists offer another means for states to influence their neighbors, topple a hostile adversary regime, counter US hegemony, or achieve other aims of states.”1 States that use terrorist groups as proxies risk retaliation or suffering similar measures by other groups but may determine that their interest are served despite the risk. The motivations of the terrorist groups that have connections to states also vary widely, but some benefits of the relationship include financing, equipment, training, protection

Review: Lessons from Kilimanjaro: schooling, community, and gender in East Africa

The blossoming of the social sciences in the 1930s, coupled with the post-war events of an increasingly interrelated world, established comparative education as we know it. Academics from China have contributed considerably, although their output was violated under the Japanese invasion and by xenophobic political campaigns. Nineteen of the most recent papers of the Beijing Normal University scholar, Professor Gu Mingyuan, published here, explore three major themes—comparative education, theory and methods; comparative education and educational reform in China; and reflections on education, abroad and at home. A working definition of the discipline emerges which values principles, analyses problems, welcomes new methodologies, and speaks for China and developing countries. Gu freely admits a debt to classical Marxism learned in the Soviet Union, days fondly remembered. His writing points to strengths in Mao Zedong’s calls for the better integration of education and work and in Nikita Kruschev’s productive labour reforms of 1958. Their eventual failure, he believes, resides more in their modes of interpretation and implementation than in any general conception. Throughout his writing, Gu is careful to distinguish between the rational side of Marxism and the rabid sloganeering of the ‘study is useless’ school of the Cultural Revolution. Here he tells a good story against himself. Recently released from the cement mixing and stone cutting of the Cultural Revolution, the rehabilitated academic was sent to Paris for a UNESCO conference in 1974. When asked by an Australian delegate how China tackled youth unemployment, he declared no such problem existed, for surplus urban labour was dispatched to the countryside, the villagers having the resources to utilise it productively. Convinced by his own answer at the time, he would soon feel ashamed of its absurdity. In the last paper, ‘The Internationalisation of Education and Comparative Education’ (with Xue Liyin, 1995), Gu debates the spin-off from comparative education of the sub-disciplines of international education and development education. This fragmentation of a discipline is attributed to localised financial and institutional pressures. Yet Gu assesses the net effect, along with globalisation, as injecting fresh vigour into future research. He divines though that comparative education will continue its separate identity in China, where it remains a recognised source of influence in national policy decisions. A succinct Introduction from Ruth Hayhoe traces the intellectual influences of Gu’s personal and professional life. As is the case with effective commentaries, the notes are attuned to the subject, and add value. They reinforce the reader’s assessment of Gun as an urbane and humane educator with an international voice.