Education and International Development

Catalog description

Educational development is central to the policies of every country in the world, and to children, youth and adults everywhere, as the participants in educational systems and agents of change for broader economic and social development. With increased globalization, population migration, and information exchange, there is increasing interest in the differing ways that learning education is organized and experienced around the world. High GNP countries like the U.S. are interested in understanding how they sometimes fail to serve students when compared with other high GNP countries, while many developing countries are struggling to put into place educational systems that assure a basic education for all. Much of this may be usefully understood in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (for more detail on the SDGs, see http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/). Both access to schooling and the quality of learning are central to these goals. This course will explore, compare and contrast education and international development models, as they affect the lives and development of children, youth and adults, with an emphasis on poor and developing countries. The course will work from primary and secondary materials on theories, research, and applications used to promote human development and basic education. Some programs are carried out by multinational/bilateral agencies such as World Bank, Unicef, UNESCO, and USAID, while others are undertaken by intermediary organizations (such as NGOs and universities) and local organizations or individual specialists. Issues include a range of social, economic and ethno-political dimensions in the provision of quality education.