Desigualdades globales, multipolaridad y compromisos de los organismos supranacionales con el asunto de género y de educación

This paper seeks to identify the emergence of a multi-polar space regarding international development in the last ten years that stands between agendas associated with human rights and basic needs, security, the environmental agenda, and responses to the 2008 financial crisis. In this environment, gender and education, notably issues associated with girls’ access to school, have come to occupy a particular resonant space, signalling both an end to all development ills, and the dissolution of differences between, for example, the state and the private sector, equality oriented NGOs and those linked with profit. The paper discusses how in this process supra-national organisations concerned with education deploy a number of key terms –empowerment , effectiveness and evidence – and how the ambiguities associated with these allow policies concerned with gender and education to signal both a social justice project and processes which sanction or sanitise relations of commodification, exploitation or continued inequalities. The analysis comprises three threads of discussion. In setting the scene I first present a montage of some features of global inequalities associated with gender and education and some of the slippery dimensions of multi-polarity. I then consider some of the ways in which multi-polarity has been deployed in discussions of international relations and radical democracy, and use some of the metaphoric aspects of this notion to characterise the present moment in international development policy. Through this I attempt to theorise approaches to gender, education and international development that I term dispersal. In the third section I outline some of the relationships of supra-national organisations with national and local institutions working on gender and education, and show, using the example of the Department for International Development (DFID) Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) programme how features of dispersal are evident in policy declarations, programme descriptions and framing discourses. The conclusion draws out the implications of this analysis for some of the key global policy declarations being negated in 2015, such as the Sustainable development Goals (SDGs).Este artículo busca identificar la emergencia de un espacio multipolar sobre desarrollo internacional en los últimos diez años que se enmarca entre agendas asociadas con los derechos humanos y las necesidades básicas, seguridad, la agenda medioambiental y respuestas a la crisis financiera de 2008. En este contexto, género y educación, temas notablemente asociados con el acceso de las niñas a la educación, han venido a ocupar un espacio notablemente resonante, señalando ambas un final a todas las enfermedades del desarrollo y la disolución de las diferencias entre, por ejemplo, el estado y el sector privado, ONGs orientadas a la igualdad y aquellas relacionadas con el lucro. El artículo aborda el tema de cómo en este proceso las organizaciones supranacionales involucradas con la educación despliegan un número de términos clave – empoderamiento, efectividad y evidencia- y cómo las ambigüedades asociadas con éstas permiten que se lleven a cabo medidas sobre género y educación para indicar ambos un proyecto de justicia social y procesos que sancionen o saneen las relaciones de comercialización, explotación y continuas desigualdades. El análisis engloba tres hilos de discusión. En la presentación del tema abordo una serie de características de desigualdades globales asociadas con el género y la educación y algunas de las dimensiones resbaladizas de la multipolaridad. A continuación, trato algunas de las formas en que la multipolaridad ha sido debatida en discusiones sobre relaciones internacionales y democracia radical; y uso algunos de los aspectos metafóricos de esta noción para caracterizar el momento presente en política internacional de desarrollo. A través de esto, intento teorizar enfoques de género, educación y desarrollo internacional que yo denomino como disperso. En la tercera sección trazo algunas de las relaciones entre los organismos supranacionales y las instituciones locales que trabajan en el tema de género y educación; y muestro, usando el ejemplo del Programa Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) del Departamento para el Desarrollo Internacional (DFID en sus siglas en inglés) cómo las características de dispersión son evidentes en las declaraciones sobre políticas, descripciones de programas y discursos de encuadre. La conclusión dibuja las implicaciones del análisis para algunas de las declaraciones de política global habiendo sido negadas en 2015, como son los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS)

The Many Meanings of Quality Education: Politics of Targets and Indicators in SDG 4

RLOsThe formulation of the SDG education targets was more inclusive than the processes linked with the MDGs. Key constituencies making representations through the Open Working Group and other consultative processes succeeded in formulating targets that stressed inclusion, quality and equality in all phases of education. However, the development of the global indicators for SDG4, has resulted in metrics that miss many of the values of the targets, most notably with regard to quality and free education and substantive, not simply distributive, meanings of equality. The article analyses why some of these slippages took place, and what potential there may be to mobilise for metrics that better depict the key tenets of the education goal and targets. The analysis thus considers ways forward for exploring measurement of the many meanings of quality and equalities in education, reflecting on numbers as instruments that impose power and hierarchy, and the possibility of using reflections on numbers and indicators for critical dialogue and an enhancement of participation, accountability, and work to change injustices in education

Transforming education for girls in Tanzania: : Baseline research summary report

The data from the baseline study suggests that TEGINT is working in complex local environments in which educational and socio-economic contexts vary considerably. However, girls identify a number of common obstacles to education, and the support given by the school to learning and teaching, progression and exam performance is an important aspect of helping girls to be more aware and articulate about these obstacles and how to overcome them. The generation gap between girls, members of the SMC and VEOs, is an important area for further discussion and work. The relationship between girls’ aspiration and understanding of change and a number of processes associated with school organisation is a key area for further research and action. There appear to be important links between girls’ attainment and capacity to reflect and teachers’ qualifications, outlook, and their work in classroom. There also appears to be an association with the outreach work by SMCs and the presence of women in those organisations. Both areas need further investigation, as do the form of levies charged, and the effects of how schools have worked on aspects of HIV. The findings suggest that working to improve teaching and learning in school is as important as working to support extra-curricular activities like girls’ clubs. The baseline study confirms the importance of further investigation into the form of working in a sustained and strategic way at multiple levels with teachers, parents, VEOs, school management committees, communities and girls themselves to transform the education of girls. It highlights the importance of looking at both in-school and out of school factors to bring about significant change for gender equality

Education, decolonisation and international development at the Institute of Education (London): a historical analysis

In this article, we review the process of building relationships around education and international development at IOE (Institute of Education), UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society (University College London, UK). The analysis looks at how hierarchies linked to colonialism were inscribed in initial structures, and unevenly and disparately contested by students, staff and a range of interlocutors around the world over one hundred years. The article considers how this history shapes practice in the present and perspectives on the future. In describing and reflecting on processes for change, the article considers some of the questioning, discussion and new forms of relationship that are emerging as part of trying to develop an orientation away from a colonial past. Efforts to decolonise education have raised questions and actions associated with reimagining practice. We reflect on what we have learned and unlearned from our efforts to promote decolonial, socially just alternatives

Editorial

This special issue of the Journal of Higher Education in Africa examines global debates concerned with higher education as a public good, in the context of the lived realities, political and economic constraints as well as opportunities in contemporary Africa. While the articles draw on research and analysis conducted from 2017 to 2019, and were completed before the seismic changes associated with the COVID pandemic, the framing ideas regarding a contextualised understanding of the relationship between higher education and the public good are highly resonant with the processes of the COVID conjuncture. In this Editorial, we distil the key ideas that have shaped this collection of works, describe the research study that connected them, and draw out some of the implications of the findings for thinking about higher education and the public good in the light of the major disruptions of 2020–2021 for higher education in many African countries

Transforming education for girls in Nigeria: : Baseline research summary report

The data from the baseline study suggests that TEGINT is working in complex local environments and that the picture of girls’ education is different in particular locations. However, girls identify a number of key obstacles they encounter, and the support given by the school to learning and teaching, progression and exam performance may be an important aspect of helping girls to be clearer about these obstacles and what to do about them. There appear to be important links between girls’ attainment and capacity to reflect with teachers’ qualifications and in-service training. There also appears to be an association with training of parents and girls’ outcomes, suggesting this may be a key focus area. Both areas need further investigation, as do the form of levies charged, and the effects of how schools have worked on aspects of HIV. Several problems were identified with school committees: a lack of training for many, lack of capacity to monitor administrative records, and very few women - both on the committees and involved in making decisions on issues such as school fees or the content of education. The work of the school committees did not seem to have major effects on girls’ outcomes, but this may be partly because many are dysfunctional and when action does take place it may not be strategic or take into account the needs and rights of girls. The relationship between girls’ aspiration and understanding of change and processes associated with school organisation and management is a key area for further research and action. There were concerning levels of violence reported and little knowledge by school communities, girls or their parents about what steps to take. There appeared to be some association between gender-based violence and the imposition of school fees, as some girls reported being forced to engage in transactional sex for school fees. While early marriage was mentioned by all groups as a matter of concern, more needs to be known about how and why this is practised, and what it tells us about gender relations and schooling. The study confirms the importance of further investigation into working in a sustained and strategic way at multiple levels with teachers, parents, Village Heads, school committees, communities and girls themselves to transform the education of girls. It highlights the importance of looking at both in-school and out-of-school factors to bring about significant change for gender equality

Higher Education, Inequalities, and a Tetralemma: Reflections on Depictions of Neonationalism and the Knowledge Society

In this article, we reflect on debates about the position of the university in contexts of widening intersectional inequalities, neonationalism, and questions regarding the capacity of the knowledge society to adequately address the range of vulnerabilities associated with the Anthropocene. We review a role we proposed for universities after the 2008 financial crisis, considering that, as particularly located institutions with links across a range of systems, they could help resolve a tetralemma, which pulled in four different directions needing to reconcile aspirations for economic growth, equity, democracy, and sustainability. Drawing on research conducted in the subsequent decades, we show that higher education systems and universities have not adequately taken the challenge of providing a space to address the different demands associated with the tetralemma. We consider some of the systemic and institutional changes needed for this to happen and propose three conditions of possibility for continuing the transnational and open idea of a university in hard times

Edukacja, zdolności i sprawiedliwość społeczna

The capability approach, as developed in the work of Amartya Sen, provides a very useful way to think about social justice and its particular component, gender equality in education. The capability approach is concerned with evaluating social policy, including education, without ignoring individual aspirations or dictating social bench marks. Sen’s work on capabilities developed out of a critical engagement with welfare economics. Therefore the article, firstly, introduces the reader to the capability approach’s template, secondly, employs this template to provide arguments for articulating gender equality and equity in education taking a critical stance towards the welfare economics based approach to evaluating social policy in education, thirdly, it also illustrates capabilities approach’s contribution to debates on social justice.The capability approach, as developed in the work of Amartya Sen, provides a very useful way to think about social justice and its particular component, gender equality in education. The capability approach is concerned with evaluating social policy, including education, without ignoring individual aspirations or dictating social bench marks. Sen’s work on capabilities developed out of a critical engagement with welfare economics. Therefore the article, firstly, introduces the reader to the capability approach’s template, secondly, employs this template to provide arguments for articulating gender equality and equity in education taking a critical stance towards the welfare economics based approach to evaluating social policy in education, thirdly, it also illustrates capabilities approach’s contribution to debates on social justice