Return to Course List Educ 817 - Education Planning for Developing Countries |
COURSE OVERVIEW
Educational planning theory and techniques as they have evolved over the past four decades will be the focus of this course. Emphasis will be placed on the more recent issues of social equity, participatory planning, and decentralization. Discussions will also include analysis of educational policies and their implications. The level of analysis will include international, national and local levels in developing countries. The course requires completion of several problem sets and a project or extended paper on some aspect of educational planning. The course is for advanced students with international field experience. Knowledge of spreadsheets is helpful although not required.
OBJECTIVES
The course aims to provide you with practical knowledge and tools for contributing to education planning work at local, national and international levels. Participants will acquire a conceptual and historical appreciation of the process of education planning; an understanding of the international, national and sub-national contexts for education planning; and learn to apply the technical tools of sector analysis, scenario building and projections; and strategies/tools for engaging civic society in the planning process. Specific knowledge and tools to be learned include:
COURSE PROCESS AND STRUCTURE
The course will begin with an overview of the evolution of educational planning over the past forty years, looking at the changing role of the state, the impact of globalization, decentralization, and the shift of focus in planning from access to quality.
The central focus for the course will be a laboratory, using Excel to develop and explore a set of analytic and planning tools, now used widely for developing country level education sector plans. We will draw on a recently completed manual for sector analysis and national planning, with an Excel sector model, developed by UNESCO.
The final section of the course will examine the rational and strategies for engaging civic society in the planning and management of education
REQUIREMENTS
There will be a series of brief individual papers, and a small group project which includes the development of a planning model/simulation and a presentation of recommendations.
• A short paper (5 pages) that will describe a plausible and/or imaginary scenario of your future role in working on an educational planning task, in which you describe the context, the requirements needed to complete the task, and the role that you would play.
• For each week over a five week period at the beginning of the course you are to select a journal and article that speaks to your interest(s) in educational planning. You should do a brief critical review of the article and highlight what you have learned.
• Working with a small team (the size of the teams will depend on the number in the class) you will prepare and present an education sector strategy – focusing on basic education, based on the Nagha simulation
As a member of a group task force your will prepare an education sector profile of a country or sub-national region, finding and using data on that country/region.• Building on 4) you will develop a plan for implementing policy for a sub-sector, region or set of institutions, with strategic options, and simulated projections of resource and financing requirements. The plan will be presented to the class at the end of the semester.
GRADING
This course is being offered on a Pass/Fail basis with a letter grade option. Any student wishing a letter grade must submit a written request for that option by the fourth class meeting. To receive a Pass requires that your individual paper and 5 article reviews are completed when due, that you participate fully in class activities and discussions, and that you play a specific role as a team member in preparing an education sector profile and plan.
COURSE REFERENCES
A course text isavailable at Food for Thought bookstore on Main St. in Amherst.
Mohammed, Jennifer and Lochan, Susan.[nd.] Understanding Educational Financing: A Manual for Developing Countries. London: Commonwealth Secretariat.
You should purchse The course Collected Readings from Copy Cat, East Pleasant St. as: ED 817: Education Planning for Developing Countries.
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Farrell, Joseph (1997). ‘A retrospective on educational planning in comparative education. ‘ Comparative Education Review 41(3).
Psacharopolous, G. and Woodhall, M. (1985). Education for Development. Oxford University Press.
Hartwell, A. et.al. (2003). Strategies for Enhancing Basic Education System Performance: the Role, Performance and Contribution of Coordinating Center Tutors to Education Quality.' [Extract] Kampala: Government of Uganda Ministry of Education and Sports.
Ibrahima Bah Layla and Richard Sack [n.d.]. Implementation Matters: Exploring its critical role in transforming policies and investments into results. For American Institutes of Research.
World Bank (2001). ‘Poverty Reduction Strategy: Guidelines and Technical Notes: Education.' From http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/strategies/overview.htm
Crouch, L. & DeStefano, J. (1997). Strategy Development and Project Design. Education Reform Support: Vols 1, 3 and 4. Washington D.C.: Bureau for Africa, USAID.
UNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (2001). EFA Planning Guide: Southeast and East Asia. Bankok.
Hartwell, Ash (2001). ‘The End of Planning: Notes on Public Policy and Education Plans.' Amherst.
Abbot, J. and Ryan, T. ‘Upside Down and Inside Out: A Challenge to Redesign Education Systems to Fit the Needs of a Learning Society.' The American Administrator. Jan. 1998.
I will also provide the class a set of EXCEL Models on CD:
• Annexes to Uganda. Strategies for Enhancing Basic Education System Performance(2003)
• 6A Primary Teacher Supply & Demand to 2015;
• 6B School Profiles and Unit Costs
• 6C Primary Teacher Supply and Demand: w/Senior Teachers
• Folder Ghana: Education Sector Analysis, Strategic Plan and Rolling Plans
• EMIS for Ghana 2002-03. 2003-04, 2004-05
• Fast Track Initiative Spreadsheet Models: Ghana 2005
• Annexes to UNESCO (Asia & Pacific) EFA Planning Manual