12 Sep 2013
The Post-2015 Debates and the Challenges for the International Education and Development Research Community
By Simon McGrath, University of Nottingham. As the end date for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approaches so the focus on goals, visions and policies for development after 2015 becomes ever heightened. However, there has been relatively little engagement by the educational research community in these debates. A former UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, Burnett,... Read More
10 Sep 2013
Post-1990; Post-2000; Post-2015 – Education and Skills – North & South
By Kenneth King, NORRAG. The 12th UKFIET International Conference on Education and Development opens today covering the topic of education and Development Post 2015. NORRAG is involved in organizing one of the sessions on development goals and development assistance. NORRAG NEWS 49 will be on the theme of ‘Education and Development in the Post-2015... Read More
09 Sep 2013
Education Aid and the “Transformative Shifts” Called for by the Post-2015 Agenda
By Birger Fredriksen, Consultant, formerly World Bank. The report of the High-level Panel (HLP) on the Post-2015 Development Agenda concludes that this agenda needs to be driven by five big, transformative shifts: (i) Leave no one behind; (ii) Put sustainable development at the core; (iii) Transform economies for jobs and inclusive growth; (iv) Build peace... Read More
04 Sep 2013
Lifelong Learning in a Learning Society – Making it Happen by Building Partnerships
By Manzoor Ahmed, BRAC University. An old idea highlighted by the Faure Commission in the 1970s, has gained new relevance in the context of the knowledge economy and the information society. In a typical human life cycle in today’s world, the traditional apportioning of time for building the foundation of knowledge and competencies, and... Read More
02 Sep 2013
Is the Proposed Post-2015 Skills Target Unmeasurable?
By Trey Menefee, University of Hong Kong. On the one hand, the skills community should be delighted that the Post-2015 High Level Panel (HLP) of Eminent Persons has suggested a skills target. Specifically, they suggested an “increase the number of young and adult women and men with the skills, including technical and vocational, needed for... Read More
28 Aug 2013
Undoing Myths about Teacher Education Effects and Protecting New Teachers as they Begin to Teach
By Beatrice Avalos-Bevan, University of Chile. In different geographical contexts one often finds sweeping statements about teachers that are not always entirely valid or that misrepresent situations that would require more careful analysis based on evidence. I have been worried for some time about headlines in policy documents or media reports prefaced with the... Read More
23 Aug 2013
Education, Knowledge and Evidence in the Post-2015 High-Level Panel Report: Utopian, Poetic or Technocratic? All Three! (Part 3)
[read part 1 and part 2 of this blog post here] PART III: Data for whom and by whom: a technocratic revolution? By Michel Carton, NORRAG. Quality education and training – or rather good learning processes that lead to standardized learning outcomes if we follow the rising post-2015 doxa and the World Bank’s and cos... Read More
22 Aug 2013
Education, Knowledge and Evidence in the Post-2015 High-Level Panel Report: Utopian, Poetic or Technocratic? All Three! (Part 2)
[read part 1 of this blog post here] PART II: Education and Training: on the change curve or the mainstream one? By Michel Carton, NORRAG. What does this mean for education and training? Noting the frequency of the following words enables some assumptions to be made: Education 22 Schools 3 (mostly primary) (Il)Literacy 1 Non-formal... Read More
21 Aug 2013
Education, Knowledge and Evidence in the Post-2015 High-Level Panel Report: Utopian, Poetic or Technocratic? All Three! (Part 1)
PART I: From Utopia and Poesy to Reality By Michel Carton, NORRAG. [note: all page numbers refer to pages in the HLP report] “The powerful in today’s world can no longer expect to set the rules and go unchallenged.” (p.4) “It is also unrealistic to think we can help another one billion people to lift... Read More
19 Aug 2013
Ban Ki-moon, Post-2015 and Education. Can you fix it? Yes we can!
By NORRAG. The long expected MDG/post-2015 report of the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) has now been released. A life of dignity for all: accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and advancing the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015 will be a main input to the Special event... Read More