Showing papers in "Compare in 2009"
TL;DR: This article explored the paradoxical role of and demand for English as a tool of decolonization for multilingual populations seeking equitable access to a globalizing economy, and depicted tensions between multilingualism and English across three national cases, at both policy and classroom level.
Abstract: This paper explores tensions in translating multilingual language policy to classroom linguistic practice, and especially the paradoxical role of and demand for English as a tool of decolonization for multilingual populations seeking equitable access to a globalizing economy. We take an ecological and sociolinguistic approach, depicting tensions between multilingualism and English across three national cases, at both policy and classroom level. Despite India's egalitarian Three Language Formula (TLF) of 1968, many Indian children are being educated in a language which is not their mother tongue. Singapore's bilingual education policy with English medium of instruction and mother tongues taught as second languages nevertheless leaves the linguistic capital of multilingual children who speak a pidginized variety of English called ‘Singlish’ out of the equation, since the school medium is standard English. South Africa's Constitution of 1993 embraces multilingualism as a national resource, raising nine major...
121 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined whether the recent growth in low-fee private schools is able to promote Education for All by being accessible to the poor and found that LFP school costs are unaffordable for over half of the sampled children, including the majority of low caste and Muslim families.
Abstract: This paper examines whether the recent growth in ‘low‐fee private’ (LFP) schools is able to promote Education for All by being accessible to the poor. Based primarily on a 13‐village survey of 250 households and visits to 26 private and government schools in rural Uttar Pradesh, India, this paper explores who ‘chooses’ private schooling, in the light of the well‐documented failure of the government school system. In particular, the paper explores the issue of whether private provision is affordable and accessible to poor rural parents. It finds that LFP school costs are unaffordable for over half of the sampled children, including the majority of low caste and Muslim families. It also finds that while LFPs are greatly preferred under current conditions, what parents actually want is a well‐functioning government school system.
111 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the World Bank/IMF (International Monetary Fund), the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and the WTO (World Trade Organisation) as institutions of transnational policy making.
Abstract: This paper focuses on the World Bank/IMF (International Monetary Fund), the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and the WTO (World Trade Organisation) as institutions of transnational policy making. They are all at present making education policies which are decisively shaping current directions and developments in national education systems. The paper reviews the enhanced role of these institutions in producing education policies and investigates the ideological basis as well as the processes through which these policies are made. It is argued that decisions are taken largely through asymmetric, non‐democratic and opaque procedures. It is also argued that the proposed policies purport to serve the principles of relentless economic competition. Taking into account similar policies and initiatives, the paper concludes that we are experiencing not only the transnationalisation of education policy making but also the full submission of education to the pursuits of global economy.
111 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors document convergences and divergences in the mode of institutional regulation of the education systems in five European countries (Belgium, England, France, Hungary and Portugal).
Abstract: Our purpose is to document convergences and divergences in the mode of institutional regulation of the education systems in five European countries (Belgium, England, France, Hungary and Portugal). On the national level, partially convergent policies create, to varying degrees and with different temporal rhythms, variants of a post‐bureaucratic regulation regime which seeks to go beyond the bureaucratic–professional model which remains dominant today, by highlighting either the traits of an ‘evaluative state’ or those of the ‘quasi‐market’ model. However, beyond the influence of these transnational models, path dependencies also exist and, in addition, we witness hybridization of these models with institutional, political and/or ideological constraints specific to each country.
106 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on primary-school aged children who find access through (international) non-government organizations (NGOs) and show that there has been a shift in the priorities of these providers over this period, from supporting a parallel, alternative system of education independent of the state system, towards one aimed at being complementary to the state, with the intention of ultimately supporting children's access to a state-provided education.
Abstract: While access to state schooling has grown in many countries in recent years, a hardcore of marginalised children continue to be excluded from this. Some of these children are able to gain access to education through non-state provision. The focus of this paper is on primaryschool aged children who find access through (international) non-government organisations (NGOs). Based on a review of the available literature, the paper shows that there have been fluctuations in attention paid to NGO provision by education researchers since the 1970s. Changes are due in part to the prevailing political and economic environment, as well as to pressure placed on international agencies and national governments to reach education targets. The paper also shows that there has been a shift in the priorities of these providers over this period, from seeing themselves as supporting a parallel, alternative system of education independent of the state system, towards one aimed at being complementary to the state system, with the intention of ultimately supporting children’s access to a state-provided education. The paper highlights that much of the available literature suggests that NGO provision often intends to bring benefits in terms of the alternative forms of pedagogy and accountability it aims to offer. However, as the paper indicates, there is very little systematic, critical analysis of who is gaining access to education offered by alternative providers, or what they are actually getting access to. As such, there is a need for analysis of educational access to pay greater attention to diverse forms of access – both in terms of who provides, and what is provided. Moreover, changes in priorities associated with the effects of the international economic and political agenda, along with the intention of integrating multiple providers of education into a system-wide approach, give rise to the need for an analysis of the implications for NGO-government collaboration to ensure sustainability of educational access to those who would otherwise be excluded.
101 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a more marked tendency is government's encouragement of and active cooperation with the private sector (the market) in running higher education in Asia, leading to revolutionary changes and resulting in growing "privateness" in Asian higher education systems.
Abstract: Under intensified pressures for improving the global competence of university graduates, national governments across different parts of the globe must expand higher education enrollments, and high quality in teaching and research in order to ensure that their higher education systems can compete internationally and globally. How to differentiate their higher education systems from other systems abroad and delineate the way universities’ global competitiveness could be enhanced have become increasingly important issues confronting governments across the globe (Dill and Soo 2005; Merisotis and Sadlak 2005; Mok 2007). In order to improve national competitiveness in the context of growing global pressures, many Asian states have raised the higher education participation rate. Acknowledging the fact that relying upon state financing and provision alone will never satisfy the growing demands for higher education, governments in Asia increasingly allow the market/private sector and other non-state sectors to venture into higher education provision. Thus, diversifying education services and proliferating education providers are becoming popular trends (Mok 2006a). In recent years, a more marked tendency is government’s encouragement of and active cooperation with the private sector (the market) in running higher education in Asia (Lee and Healy 2006; Levy 2006). Such an active private higher education sector has paid for much of its expansion, leading to revolutionary changes and resulting in growing “privateness” in Asian higher education systems (Altbach 2004; Altbach and Levy 2005).
93 citations
TL;DR: The authors report on the findings of two studies of Chinese students studying at English universities to examine the extent to which their experiences reveal evidence of a context that could support personally transformative internationalisation.
Abstract: Much of the ‘internationalisation’ that is currently observed in English universities is driven, whether directly or not, by economic and financial rationales associated with a particular neo‐liberal discourse of globalisation into which higher education has been subsumed. This is particularly true for the recruitment of international students into English universities. We present a case for the recasting of the higher education internationalisation agenda in terms of Sanderson's existential internationalism. Such an agenda promotes inter‐cultural understanding over financial motives and demands a focus on personal engagement with the Cultural Other. We report on the findings of two studies of Chinese students studying at English universities to examine the extent to which their experiences reveal evidence of a context that could support such a personally transformative internationalisation. We find that, far from illustrating the potential for development of genuinely international communities, these stu...
88 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of competitive arenas on schools' logics of action in six local European contexts (London, Paris, Lille, Charleroi, Budapest and Lisbon) is analyzed.
Abstract: This article analyses the impact of competitive arenas on schools' logics of action in six local European contexts (London, Paris, Lille, Charleroi, Budapest and Lisbon). It first examines how competitive processes affect different schools' activities (recruitment, provision of options, promotion, tracking, provision for children with special needs and discipline) and how they are perceived by head teachers, teachers and parents. It then presents four ideal leading orientations (entrepreneurial, monopolistic, tactician and adaptive) developed by schools in response to competition according to their position in the local hierarchy and to their vulnerability to market processes, and it further probes into how these leading orientations are linked to the degree of internal coherence and consensus in schools. The conclusion insists on the importance of taking into account these local processes both to better understand schools as specific organisations and to improve their effectiveness.
78 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the tensions behind these trilingual education policies by comparing the implementation of policies for three minority groups: the Zhuang, the Uyghur and the Yi people, and finds that ethnic minority languages are at a disadvantage compared with Chinese and English.
Abstract: In recent decades, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has instigated language policies in education ostensibly designed to foster trilingualism in ethnic minority groups. The policies, which, as this paper shows, vary from region to region, encompass the minority group's home language, Chinese, and English. Based on data arising from interviews, documentary analysis and secondary sources, this paper examines the tensions behind these trilingual education policies by comparing the implementation of policies for three minority groups: the Zhuang, the Uyghur and the Yi people. It identifies some of the facilitators and barriers that affect the achievement of trilingualism, and finds that ethnic minority languages are at a disadvantage compared with Chinese and English. The paper concludes by making some suggestions for enhancing the effectiveness of the trilingualism policy.
67 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyse the internal logics of action of schools and show that they are conditioned by the interaction between internal (school narrative identity, principal strategy, school intake and micropolitics) and external factors (position of the school in the local space of competitive interdependence and policy interventions).
Abstract: This paper, based on 14 case studies of schools situated in six local urban spaces (within the urban agglomerations of Budapest, Charleroi, Lille, Lisbon, London and the Creteil/Paris region), will analyse the internal logics of action of these schools and show that they are conditioned by the interaction between internal (school narrative identity, principal strategy, school intake and micropolitics) and external factors (position of the school in the local space of competitive interdependence and policy interventions). First, we will show that there are some convergences across the six local areas in the schools' logics of action. Second, we will focus on various conditions which could affect these schools' logics of action. We will demonstrate that key conditions are the ‘school mix’, related to the position of the school in the local area, and the internal dynamic equilibrium. We will also concentrate on the particular role of the principal. In conclusion, the effects of these results on inequalities will be stressed.
58 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluate the extent to which the development of lifelong learning has progressed and examine whether the Bologna process has facilitated lifelong learning opportunities in a sample of countries.
Abstract: Since 1999, European education ministers have discussed and further implemented the ‘Bologna process’, a wide‐ranging framework for the reform of higher education. Lifelong learning was added as a goal of the process in 2001. This article evaluates the extent to which the development of lifelong learning has progressed and examines whether the Bologna process has facilitated lifelong learning opportunities in a sample of countries. The evaluation of legislative instruments and policy positions of different stakeholders in Germany, France, Italy and the UK shows that countries link quite different strategies to lifelong learning in higher education. Specific national approaches exist which facilitate or restrict its development. Thus far, the impact of the Bologna process on this issue has been modest. The process has mainly had an impact on the discussion regarding lifelong learning, not necessarily whether and how such policies and programmes are implemented.
TL;DR: This article explored the extent to which participation in alternative human values education affects students' conceptions of agency amidst the economic and HIV/AIDS crises in Ndola, Zambia, and found that transformative agency was enabled by alternative schooling that attempted to disrupt the reproductive tendencies of state schooling.
Abstract: This article explores the extent to which participation in alternative human values education affects students' conceptions of agency amidst the economic and HIV/AIDS crises in Ndola, Zambia. Drawing on the concept of transformative agency as developed by critical research in education, this study examines conceptions of agency based on data produced through interviews, focus groups and diaries given to pairs of siblings from lower to middle income families one of whom attended a government secondary school in Ndola and the other an alternative school run by a non‐governmental organization. This study found that transformative agency was enabled by alternative schooling that attempted to disrupt the reproductive tendencies of state schooling. After graduation, however, students were forced to renegotiate their sense of agency vis‐a‐vis the larger structural constraints of Zambian society. As such, the limits and possibilities of alternative pedagogy and school structure towards educational equity are anal...
TL;DR: This article reviewed the current no-fees schools policy and its potential impact on the South African education system and examined whether the amended policy promotes school access for the poor while creatively complementing state resources, arguing that while the policy is a progressive step away from charging fees for basic education, there are a number of policy challenges that require further reflection and research.
Abstract: Public financing of education in the developing world context combines public and private funds, and the utilisation of fees is seen as a way of complementing state resources. In South Africa the new government in 1994 permitted schools to charge fees, a policy that has provoked much controversy. While different aspects of this policy have been well documented, less is known about the decision to review this policy and declare certain schools as no‐fees schools in 2006. This paper addresses this gap by reviewing the current no‐fees schools policy and its potential impact on the South African education system. Specifically it examines whether the amended policy promotes school access for the poor while creatively complementing state resources. It is argued that while the policy is a progressive step away from charging fees for basic education, there are a number of policy challenges that require further reflection and research.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the circumstances that need to be considered in such a policy transfer and possible scenarios for the development of a modern vocational education and training (VET) system.
Abstract: In the realm of reconfiguring Chinese vocational education and training (VET) the country is collaborating with Germany which provides guidance and support for the development of a dual system in China. The article outlines the circumstances that need to be considered in such a policy transfer and possible scenarios for the development of a modern VET system. The VET systems in both countries are explained and compared before the authors examine implications for a policy transfer.
TL;DR: The authors posits the integrative paradigm shift as a method in this dynamic episode in which knowledge paradigms of those excluded and epistemologically disenfranchised move centre stage, acquire agency and demand a new synthesis, signalling an era in which modernization now proceeds but without Western values.
Abstract: As the world settles in to the reality of globalization, it becomes clear that many incongruous facets of human existence have been forced together into a giant tumbler – economy, information systems, finance and people – giving rise to contradictory but also generative responses. Previously excluded and excised ‘objects’ are now occupying intimate spaces with those who had believed that their subject position was ordained by God. Questions around co‐existence and co‐determination, knowledge and citizenship, culture and science, and cognitive justice are being asked at the most penetrating levels. This paper posits the integrative paradigm shift as a method in this dynamic episode in which knowledge paradigms of those excluded and epistemologically disenfranchised move centre stage, acquire agency and demand a new synthesis, signalling an era in which modernization now proceeds but without Western values. New theories of freedom, understandings of context, diversity, difference and co‐operative contempora...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluate the impact of public-private partnerships to improve access for poor and disadvantaged groups in Ghana and draw lessons for policy and practice for improving access for marginalized groups.
Abstract: Growing private-sector participation in basic education service delivery in many developing countries has led to calls for greater partnership arrangements with the public sector to improve access for poor and disadvantaged groups. In Ghana there is some interest in forging closer public-private partnerships to improve access for children who have been out of mainstream education or have difficulty accessing public schools. By examining three examples of non-state provision that have had links with the public sector to improve access, this paper evaluates the impact of such partnerships to draw lessons for policy and practice. An important conclusion the paper draws is that for public-private partnerships that serve the needs of disadvantaged groups to work, it is important that they take into account both the diversity and context-specific educational access needs of the groups concerned
TL;DR: This paper examined the relationship between teachers' classroom discipline techniques and students' individual and communal responsibility in Australian, Chinese, and Israeli classrooms, and found that teachers who utilize more inclusive disciplinary techniques have students who take more responsiblity for their own behavior and for the behavior of their peers.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teachers' classroom discipline techniques and students' individual and communal responsibility in Australian, Chinese, and Israeli classrooms. The sample comprised 5521 students in grades 7–12 and 748 teachers. The participating Australian, Chinese, and Israeli schools included both larger and smaller schools, situated in a range of socioeconomic and geographic areas. Results showed that teachers who utilize more inclusive disciplinary techniques have students who take more responsiblity for their own behavior and for the behavior of their peers. In general students appeared to act responsibly in class in all three settings, and their self‐reported levels of responsibility were generally validated by their teachers' perceptions. Implications for educators and further research are discussed.
TL;DR: This paper conducted an initial attempt to determine and compare the levels of the intercultural sensitivity of three samples of student teachers in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore using the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) and found that the majority of participants tended to see the world from an ethnocentric perspective and tended to simplify or polarize cultural differences.
Abstract: This study represents an initial attempt to determine and compare the levels of the intercultural sensitivity of three samples of student teachers in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore using the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) A total of 317 student teachers participated in the study Across the three samples, the majority of participants tended to see the world from an ethnocentric perspective and tended to simplify or polarize cultural differences They also had a tendency to emphasize commonality and universal norms, and showed difficulties in comprehending and accommodating complex cultural differences Based on the results, the study offers recommendations for the development of a suitable intercultural training programme to achieve greater intercultural sensitivity for future teachers in each of the three cities
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyse the role of private input into public schooling and whether this practice affects access (and the constitutional right) to basic education, and the effects of decentralised school finance policy and its outcomes.
Abstract: Through an analysis of quantitative and qualitative data on school funding in South Africa, this paper aims to analyse the user fee policy option in public schooling in South Africa. Debate is ongoing about the role of private input into public schooling and whether this practice affects access (and the constitutional right) to basic education, and the effects of decentralised school finance policy and its outcomes. A central question is whether school fees have led to greater equality and equity in the schooling system or whether they contribute to greater inequity. Differentiation in the public schooling system is often caused by the presence of private contributions which are used to employ extra educators and lower educator ratios‐significant quality differentials. Using empirical data and a disaggregated methodology, this paper illustrates how key equity indicators are affected by the presence of private contributions. Further, it is suggested that while non‐state provision of education is limited in...
TL;DR: For example, basic education is often regarded in international agreements and national constitutions as being a state responsibility, and increasingly expected to be fee-free for government provision as discussed by the authors. But this is not always the case.
Abstract: Basic education is often regarded in international agreements and national constitutions as being a state responsibility, and increasingly expected to be fee‐free for government provision. At the s...
TL;DR: This article found that cross-national differences exist in the association between single motherhood and literacy achievement, and that economic deprivation and parental involvement moderate the relationship between family structure and student literacy achievement.
Abstract: Using data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the size of the literacy achievement gap between 15‐year‐old students from two‐parent and those from single‐mother households were compared across 18 industrialized nations. This study found that cross‐national differences exist in the association between single motherhood and literacy achievement. The research findings also indicate that economic deprivation and parental involvement moderate the association between family structure and student literacy achievement.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the level of school expectation for various types of parental involvement in the US and South Korea and the relationship among school characteristics, expectations for parental involvement, and 8th grade students' mathematics achievement.
Abstract: While schools play a major role in promoting parental involvement in schooling in many countries, few comparative studies examined the level of school expectation for parental involvement and its effect on student achievement. Using the TIMSS 1999 dataset, this study examined the level of school expectation for various types of parental involvement in the US and South Korea and the relationship among school characteristics, expectations for parental involvement, and 8th grade students' mathematics achievement. The study showed that teacher collaboration and school disorder problems were two school factors associated with the level of school expectations for parental involvement in both countries. The study also found that school expectations for parental involvement were significantly associated with higher student achievement in mathematics in the US but not in South Korea. Policy implications for US schools and South Korean schools are discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the Joyful Learning program, an example of a pedagogic reform implemented in rural primary schools in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, and explore what it means to introduce child-centred pedagic principles in low-income, rural Indian contexts.
Abstract: Efforts to improve the ‘quality’ of education for all in government primary schools in India have seen a shift towards child‐centred teaching. This paper examines the ‘Joyful Learning’ programme, an example of a pedagogic reform implemented in rural primary schools in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Through an empirical analysis of teachers’ pedagogic discourses, I explore what it means to introduce child‐centred pedagogic principles in low‐income, rural Indian contexts. Of particular interest to this paper is how new forms of pedagogic control in child‐centred approaches might be understood and mediated by teachers. The analysis reveals how the social controls of knowledge acquisition can remain unchallenged, and hidden, by the rhetoric of this child‐centred pedagogy. The discussions reflect on the need for more complex and contextual considerations of pedagogy in attempts to achieve ‘quality’ universal education.
TL;DR: This paper explored how parents are involved in their daughters' decision-making around their higher education path and concluded that parents' involvement differs according to the gender of the parent, and that there was little relationship between the parents' educational background and the nature of their involvement in their daughter's educational choices.
Abstract: This article attempts to explore how parents are involved in their daughters’ decision‐making around their higher education path. It draws on qualitative research that investigated the process through which young women from the UK and Saudi Arabia reached a decision about a subject or an institution for higher educational study. The paper demonstrates different forms of parents’ involvement (emotional, financial, providing information) in their daughters’ higher educational choices in relation to parents’ prior level of education. It concludes that parents’ involvement differs according to the gender of the parent. It suggests little relationship between the parents’ educational background and the nature of their involvement in their daughters’ educational choices. The article shows some similarities in the nature of parents’ involvement in young women’s decision‐making process between the UK groups and the Saudi groups, though decisions were made within two different cultural contexts.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a discussion on higher education in three East African countries with a common history in the establishment of higher education, mapping their emerging PPP pattern on to the global patterns of public-private differentiation.
Abstract: Arguments in the international literature suggest that public–private partnership (PPP) can positively transform [higher] education as it leads to increased access, competition, efficiency and quality. But there are those who disagree and question whether PPP can deliver any one or all of these. This article does two things. First, it presents a discussion on higher education in three East African countries with a common history in the establishment of higher education, mapping their emerging PPP pattern on to the global patterns of public–private differentiation. Second, it analyses perceptions by key stakeholders: university students, lecturers and administrators on East Africa's experience with public–private mix in higher education based on theories of public–private differentiation.
TL;DR: In this article, the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and faith-based organisations (FBOs) in the provision of primary education by supplementing governmental efforts is discussed, and the collaborating work among the government, NGOs and FBOs has made progress towards achieving Education for All (EFA) in Sierra Leone.
Abstract: Sierra Leone, one of the world's poorest countries, experienced a civil war from 1991 to 2002. The government's capacity to provide educational services remains weak, and still over 30% of children in the country are hard to reach and do not have access to primary education. This paper discusses the role of non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) and faith‐based organisations (FBOs) in the provision of primary education by supplementing governmental efforts. Through the exploration of forms of services delivered by NGOs and FBOs, this paper argues that the collaborating work among the government, NGOs, and FBOs has made progress towards achieving Education for All (EFA) in Sierra Leone. This study is based on the author's field research, which involved observation of schools, interviews with teachers, government officials, and those engaged in NGOs and FBOs, and questionnaires completed by pupils, parents, and teachers.
TL;DR: Hershock and Hawkins as discussed by the authors described formal education as a "formal education" and described the curriculum as "a set of rules for formal education" in the United States.
Abstract: edited by Peter D. Hershock, Mark Mason and John N. Hawkins, Hong Kong, Springer, 2007, 348 pp., $38.00 (paperback) ISBN 962‐8093‐40‐1 In Democracy and Education, John Dewey described formal educat...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the nature and potential of the provision of primary schooling in India by non-government organizations and explored the contributions of one NGO programme which has sought to increase access for socially and economically marginalised children by establishing and providing support for small, rural, multigrade schools.
Abstract: In addition to the proliferation of private, fee-paying schools in India, NGOs play an important role in providing educational services, especially in un-served and under-served communities. This paper uses qualitative research to critically examine the nature and potential of NGO provision of primary schooling in India. In particular, it explores the contributions of one NGO programme which has sought to increase access for socially and economically marginalised children by establishing and providing support for small, rural, multigrade schools. The paper argues that NGO programmes like these have had positive impacts in terms of both access and quality because, firstly, the programmes are small-scale and locally-rooted, and secondly, their organisation allows for greater flexibility and room for innovation in areas such as curriculum design, teacher education, and school networking than is commonly possible within government schools.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored how private schools have been developing to meet rapidly growing demand for secondary education of different types in Malawi, and developed policy-relevant insights based on evidence using illustrative case studies.
Abstract: The study was concerned with the range of public and private provision of secondary education and how it is configured in terms of key dimensions of participation, staffing, curriculum, management and costs. It sought to explore how private schools have been developing to meet rapidly growing demand for secondary education of different types in Malawi, and to develop policy‐relevant insights based on evidence using illustrative case studies. The evidence showed that private schools are playing a pivotal role in supplementing government efforts in secondary school provisioning. However, lack of control and regulatory mechanisms has meant that the quality of the education offered in both Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSSs) and private schools is very low. The development of secondary schooling policy in Malawi revolves around the striking of proper balances in the quality of education provided by CDSSs and the lower‐end private schools. The tug of war in the contribution towards increased secondary scho...
TL;DR: The authors explores issues emerging from the authors' experiences of collaborative research in Ghana, by researchers from a Ghanaian and a British university, by bringing together personal accounts of the different authors in which their identities shift and are reconstructed in the process of the research.
Abstract: This paper explores issues emerging from the authors’ experiences of collaborative research in Ghana, by researchers from a Ghanaian and a British university. The text emerges from discussions between partners and in retrospective reflection on the research process. It is constructed by bringing together personal accounts of the different authors in which their identities shift and are reconstructed in the process of the research. Multiple perspectives across gender, nationality and institutional context create three fault lines to disturb the research process: the initiation of the research, the methodological engagement of the team with each other and the subjects, and the way these are played out in practical issues. The paper explores the problems created by the instabilities created but suggests that they open up spaces for decolonizing research.