Learning, Pedagogy and the Post-2015 Education and Development Agenda: exploring concepts, practices, measures and actors

Conceptions of teaching and learning in the post-2015 debate: implications for policy, practice and research An agenda for pedagogy and learning post-2015 needs to be underpinned by an informed and in-depth understanding of... [ view full abstract ]

Conceptions of teaching and learning in the post-2015 debate: implications for policy, practice and research

An agenda for pedagogy and learning post-2015 needs to be underpinned by an informed and in-depth understanding of what learning is, what drives it, and what it could be. Yet, compared to questions of inputs or outcomes, there is relatively little attention paid to teaching and learning processes or to their manifestation in the pedagogical contexts of lower-income country classrooms. The panel will address this gap by questioning how we currently theorise and conceptualise learning and teaching, as seen, for example, in policy documents and agency guidebooks, and will consider how these relate to the methodologies used to research, evaluate and monitor them. The presenters will also set out in practical terms what improved teaching and learning processes might look like and the implications of this for policy.

Contributors: Leon Tikly, Michele Schweisfurth and Guy le Fanu

Approaches to measuring learning in the post-2015 agenda With contributions from: Robin Alexander, Amber Gove and Pauline Rose Measurement is powerful. Measures of enrolment can show who lies at the extremes of... [ view full abstract ]

Approaches to measuring learning in the post-2015 agenda

With contributions from: Robin Alexander, Amber Gove and Pauline Rose

Measurement is powerful. Measures of enrolment can show who lies at the extremes of marginalization, not able to access school. Measures of learning outcomes have revealed an alarming proportion of children completing primary education without achieving even basic levels of numeracy and literacy. The scale of the problem raises global expectations on the acquisition of basic proficiency in literacy and numeracy. Experience with MDG and EFA goals suggests that a related target, if clearly communicated, can gain traction if it has measurable indicators attached to it.
But has the global preoccupation with learning outcomes and their measurement become so myopic as to exclude from our gaze what matters most? Learning for establishing sustainable and peaceful societies has a central place post-2015. This is learning that inheres in processes and cannot be reduced to measurable learning outcomes. Is it possible to design global indicators for teaching and learning that do not tyrannize what they are intended to promote? A more realistic approach may be to compromise but not sacrifice the pursuit for robust cross-nationally comparable measures and instead make use of an array of ‘good-enough’ measures. Or is it the case that measures of learning outcomes are too partial to usefully contribute towards building a future, in which all children, including the most marginalized, can participate in learning for sustainable and peaceful societies?

Inter-agency responses to the challenges posed by the post-MDG era This theme will comprise contributions by Yusuf Sayed and Rashid Ahmed, and Ed Barnett, Rachel Hinton and Chris Berry. As international agencies play a key... [ view full abstract ]

Inter-agency responses to the challenges posed by the post-MDG era

This theme will comprise contributions by Yusuf Sayed and Rashid Ahmed, and Ed Barnett, Rachel Hinton and Chris Berry. As international agencies play a key role in the post-2015 education and development agenda, this theme considers their policies as practices of power in a globalized world. It raises several key issues for discussion:
i) How international agencies have influenced and will influence the new education agenda that is evolving
ii) How international agencies construct notions of learning, teachers, teacher education and teaching
iii) How a more coherent vision of a post-2015 agenda can emerge avoiding the pitfalls of two MDG and EFA frameworks as is currently the case

With an increasing emphasis on measuring learning, this theme will also address the political economy of testing, shining the spotlight on who controls the testing market, who stands to gain from an increased focus on assessing learning and what coordination is needed given the multiplicity and competing vision of different international and regional large scale assessments. In this regard, a fundamental issue to be considered is how the Global South can take ownership of the evolving agenda. Yet, at the same time, how can we ensure that it does not become solely an agenda for the South as the strong comment to equity in the SDG Report have direct policy and practice implication for countries in the Global North. It is these issues which this theme raises, seeking to embrace evidence-informed dialogue.

Considerable attention on the part of donors and the international development community has focused on learning as a central component of the emerging post-2015 education and development agenda. This round table will seek to... [ view full abstract ]

Considerable attention on the part of donors and the international development community has focused on learning as a central component of the emerging post-2015 education and development agenda. This round table will seek to explore how learning has been conceptualised and deployed in the post-2015 debate, as well as the questions that have most vexed the debate around how learning can be measured, monitored and targeted on a global scale. The round table will bring together a range of perspectives including those of donors, NGOs and researchers who have each recently contributed to a special issue of International Journal of Educational Development on the same topic of the roundtable. Whilst the special issue will provide a point of reference the aim will be to provide short, focused inputs that will then stimulate debate around three core themes. One theme explores teaching and learning at conceptual and practical levels; one concerns the question of measurement and how it relates to learning and the post-2015 agenda; and a further theme is concerned with international agency responses to the challenges posed by the post- MDG era. Each of these themes is set out in more detail together with the names of the contributors who will be addressing each theme.