Editor: Zaghloul Morsy. Prospects is also available in the following languages: French perspectives

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2 prospects quarterly review of education Editor: Zaghloul Morsy Prospects is also available in the following languages: French perspectives revue trimestrielle de l'éducation (ISSN ), UNESCO Spanish perspectivas revista trimestral de educación (ISSN ), UNESCO Arabic u (ISSN ), UNESCO Russian nepcnektmbbi Bonpocbi o6pa3oeahhm (ISSN ), Moscow Chinese (ISSN ), Beijing Subscription requests for the different editions (see the Order Form at the end of this number) should be sent to the UNESCO national distributor in your country, who will furnish prices in local currency.

3 prospects Vol. II, No. 4, 1992 (84) Landmarks 403 VIEWPOINTS/COiVri?0 VERSIES Education and structural adjustment Jandhyala B. G. Tilak 407 OPEN FILE Monitoring the quality of education worldwide: IL A few national examples of IEA's impact Interests and modes in research utilization: the Finnish IEA experience Kimmo Leimu 425 Hungarian experiences in international student achievement surveys Zoltán Báthory 434 Using evaluation research for policy and practice in Botswana Serara Moahi 441 Dominican Republic: the study on teaching and learning of mathematics Eduardo Luna 448 How Japan makes use of international educational survey research Ryo Watanabe 455 What does Kuwait want to learn from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)? Mansour G. Hussein 463 The IEA project on preschool education: preliminary surveys in Portugal and China David P. Weikart, Shi Hui Zhong and Joaquim Bairrao Ruivo 469 What does the United States want to learn from international comparative studies in education? Jeanne E. Griffith and Elliott A. Medrich 476 TRENDS/CASES Language, interculturalism and human rights: three European cases Norma Tarrow 489 Alternatives in formal education: Colombia's Escuela Nueva programme Rosa Maria Torres 510 Profiles of educators: Plato ( B.C.) Charles Hummel 521 Index to Volume II, ISSN

4 Landmarks Dear Readers and Dear Authors, known to me and unknown, This is the eighty-fourth and last 'ordinary' issue of'your journal which I have edited. Four other issues will follow even though less 'ordinary', completely different in fact - for which I shall claim at least conceptional responsibility. Why, you may wonder, do I adopt this unusual tone? For one reason only: I have reached retirement age, and so I leave you, or will have done so by the time this issue reaches you. What then, you ask, will become of the journal? Do not worry: it will be in excellent hands. In the first place, it will be transferred to Geneva - to the International Bureau of Education (IBE), which, as you know, is an integral part of UNESCO. Next, and most importantly, the new Editor will be Mr Juan Carlos Tedesco, Director of the IBE. In close co-operation with him, we shall do our best to see that the transition is carried out as smoothly and as rapidly as possible. Even non-latin-american readers know Mr Tedesco well. He was good enough to write two articles for the journal - 'Education and Employment: The Case of the Industrial Sector in Argentina' (Vol. I, No. 1, 1979) and 'The Role of the State in Education' (Vol. I, No. 4, 1989). He was also Guest Editor of an 'Open File', Tntercultural Bilingual Education in Latin America', that acquired considerable, renown. As for our readers in Latin America and the Caribbean, I would not insult them by presuming to introduce Mr Tedesco to them. In that region, his publications have become benchmarks, and his work, particularly as Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC), has been highly appreciated by practitioners and decision-makers alike. After twenty-two years given over entirely to Prospects, / should like to thank the some 2,000 specialists who entrusted me with their contributions, and express my regrets to all those whom I did not feel able to publish. My thanks go also to the universities, foundations, research institutes, ministries of education, international governmental and non-govemmental organizations and National Commissions of UNESCO, and of course my colleagues from the whole United Nations family, who have always been unstinting in their co-operation. I wish also to thank all the members of the teams who, in Moscow, Beijing, Santiago, Beirut, Sofia, Bucharest, Pyongyang, Warsaw, Berlin, Rome, Budapest, Belgrade and Bangkok, have always worked hard to translate, print and disseminate the journal - either in complete 'ordinary' editions or in anthologies in their respective languages and countries. It is a source of great satisfaction for UNESCO and personal pride for me. Prospects, Vol. II, No. 4, 1992 (84)

5 Landmarks And I would certainly not wish to leave out my colleagues here at UNESCO Headquarters, who have translated, revised, prepared, composed and printed some tens of thousands of pages, nor José Maria Domínguez and Antoine Khoury, who, in friendship and with great professionalism, have prepared the Spanish and Arabic editions of the journal for many years. Perhaps before all else I should have expressed my gratitude to my assistant and secretary, Miss Hilary Platman, without whom this quarterly - things being what they were - might have become a bi-annual, or even an annual! I shall say nothing on education here. Is not all that I have said uncommissioned all these years enough? I am quite sure that theses and dissertations will be written on the UNESCO Quarterly Review of Education in due course. I would simply add, as a tentative triple metaphor, that education today is (and very likely always has been) simultaneously Sisyphus's rock, Pandora's box and Penelope's web. I do not know of any one myth that could combine these three metaphors into one unlikely whole. But, to lump all metaphors together, if an educator ignites a spark in the mind of a child in southern Morocco, the Andes Cordillera, a remote island in the Pacific, Bosnia or Harlem, it is for me as if he or she is giving hope to all the children of the world, the deprived... and the others. If you think back to your own experience, I am sure you will understand what I am trying to say. Thus, as I take my leave of you, I request readers and authors to send any correspondence as from now to my successor: Mr Juan Carlos Tedesco, Editor, Prospects, International Bureau of Education, Case postale 199, 1211 Geneva 20 (Switzerland). Fax: (41) (22) Z.M.

6 VIEWPOINTS CONTRO VERSIES

7 Education and structural adjustment* Jandhyala B. G. Tilak The attention of national and international policy makers has shifted from long-term goals to shortterm financial and adjustment concerns. The international community is more interested in ensuring the timely payment of debts and interest rates than in seeking to eradicate poverty and in strengthening the human dimension of development. Thus, anti-poverty and human development programs have been pushed aside. Poverty can wait, the banks cannot! - Haq and Kirdar, 1986, pp. xv-xvi Structural adjustment lending... can be seen as Fund (IMF), and as the one that experienced both a sign of deteriorating conditions working against an increase in the growth rate of its average educational development as well as an instrument annual gross domestic product (GDP) per capita which, at least in the short term, makes educational development extremely difficult to put into situation had changed completely. India has had during the period Within a year the effect. -Jones, 1992, p. 168 to resort to 'adjustment' loans, and is battling with the adjustment policies. The new economic The most serious effect that adjustment can have on primary education is to reduce the (central) government's allocation to education in general and to primary education in particular. - Lockheed et al., 1991, p. 35 and the long-term structural adjustment poli Jandhyala B. G. Tilak (India). Senior Fellow and cies of the World Bank. Stabilization policies Head, Educational Finance Unit at the National Institute of Educational Planning, 17 B Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi (India). His publications include Economics of Inequality in Education (Sage, 1987), Educational Finances in South Asia (UNCRD, 1988), Educational Planning at Grassroots (Ashish, 1992), and Education for Development in Asia (Sage, in press). He has also taught at the universities of Delhi and Virginia, and worked at the World Bank. Structural adjustment and economic stabilization India was classified only a couple of years ago in a World Bank study (Kakwani et al, 1990) as a 'non-adjusting country', along with sixteen otfier countries that did not need adjustment measures of the kind suggested by the World Bank (IBRD) and the International Monetary policies of the government are now well known as 'adjustment' policies, with both short-term and long-term implications for almost all sectors of the economy. Adjustment policies being followed in India and other countries include policy changes, involving two types of policies: the short-term stabilization policies of the IMF, * This is a revised version of the paper circulated in the U N E S C O Consultative Meeting of Experts on Education, Adjustment and International Co-operation, held in Paris from 21 to 24 September The author benefited from the discussions held during the meeting in the revision of the paper. The comments of N. V. Varghese are also gratefully acknowledged. Usual disclaimers apply. Prospects, Vol. II, [, No. 4, 1992 (S4)

8 408 Jandhyala B. G. Tilak rely on demand management and include sustainable reductions in budgetary deficits, in the current account of the balance of payments, in inflationary gaps, etc. They include devaluation of the national currency and trade liberalization. They are viewed essentially as shortterm demand-oriented devices to reduce macroeconomic imbalances. They involve cuts in government spending. The most direct consequence is a drastic reduction in public subsidies, across the board, although the reduction need not necessarily be, and most often is not, uniform across all the sectors. In contrast to these short-term policies, the structural adjustment policies and reforms aim at long-term structural reform, including improvement in productivity of resources, improvement in allocation of resources and an increase in economic efficiency; they make the economy more flexible, and thereby expand growth (World Bank, 19882>; Thomas and Chhibber, 1989). Without the adjustment policies, distortions in allocations would take place, and inefficiency at macro level might increase. In theory and in practice, both are related: If you do not solve the problems of stabilization then you cannot by definition start the process of restructuring your economies. If there is widespread excess demand in the system, if inflation is not brought under control, if government deficits keep on growing year after year fanning inflational expectations, in that sort of environment, it is very difficult to assume that you adopt structural policies... (Singh, 1992, p. 108). Adjustment loans are mostly preceded by stabilization policies; they are viewed as a single package. The objectives of the adjustment policies that accompany structural adjustment loans of the World Bank and the IMF have been to stabilize the economy, to improve allocation of resources, and thereby raise the level of output and income, and to achieve higher levels of savings and a more efficient use of investments in order to increase the rate of growth. The policy is, as Emmerji (1987, pp. 3-4) rightly noted, 'non-interventionist in spirit' and 'concentrates on increasing the efficiency of market signals as a guide to an improved allocation of resources'. The World Bank started disbursement of such loans in 1980, and it is reported that as many as eighty countries have so far taken such loans, and have undergone or have been undergoing the process of structural adjustment. Secondgeneration structural adjustment loans are now being designed by the World Bank and by governments of various countries (Fuller and Habte, 1992, p. 12). Thus there are very few developing countries which have not experimented to varying degrees with adjustment policies. In this sense, the whole developing world is in the process of adjustment, and one can simply refer to this as a 'global adjustment' period. The adjustment programmes have been found to have mixed effects on the national economies, as regards both social and economic sectors. With respect to economic growth, only a few countries have been found to have 'done well whilst most have not only not done well but their performance has actually deteriorated, in some cases, quite severely, compared to the pre-reform period' (Sobhan, 1992, p. 72). In general, structural adjustment policies have been found favourable to export growth and the external account; their effect on aggregate investment is almost everywhere negative; their influence on national income and onfinancialflows from overseas is, on balance, neutral; their effects on distribution are also at best neutral; and their effects on the living standards of the poor are adverse (Mosley et al, 1991, pp ). Human development and adjustment are believed to be antithetical. Accordingly, the adverse effects of adjustment policy are believed to be damaging severely the human development sectors such as education. Hence, at this stage, a review of the more than ten years of experience will be very useful for, on the one hand, the countries that are 'potential candidates' for such loans and, on the other, the World Bank and the IMF, in addition to the countries that are currently undergoing the process of adjustment. What are the lessons that India, which has just become an 'adjusting' economy, can learn from international experience? How can

9 Education and structural adjustment 409 human development be protected along with the structural adjustment programmes? This article addresses some of these questions. The discussion is mostly confined to adjustment policies, including structural and sectoral adjustment and stabilization policies, as it is felt that the effects of adjustment policies need special attention. General investment loans for education and/or for other purposes have a variety of other positive and adverse effects, ranging from a positive contribution to economic growth to an increase in donor dependency, some of which are well documented in the literature (Tilak, 1988; Weiler, 1984). These are important, but are not discussed here. Similarly, the adjustment policies discussed in this paper refer mostly to the World Bank/IMF policies, unless otherwise stated; the adjustment-like policies of the other multilateral and bilateral agencies are not specifically referred to here. The following section gives a brief description of the nature of the loans of the two Bretton Woods institutions, the World Bank and the IMF. The next outlines the context of the newly adjusting Indian economy. The following section looks at the research, and country evidence on the effects of adjustment on education, which are then summarized. After that we examine ways of reducing the adverse impact of adjustment policies on education and in thefinalsection we attempt to outline some such measures and to present some alternative models of adjustment. SPECIFIC INVESTMENT LOANS These are the oldest and the most frequently used instrument for the World Bank's support for education, in the form of support for specific programmes, projects, works, goods and services over a period of five to seven years. 2 Such programme- or project-based loans are probably among the more successful, as they can be more easily and better managed than others. SECTOR INVESTMENT LOANS Sector investment loans, the other traditional form of loans, finance a share of a country's sectoral investment programme for a period of three to seven years, leaving the borrowing country more freedom in design of the project and in its appraisal and supervision. While the distinction between the specific and sector investment loans - both of which are generally referred to as orthodox investment strategies of the World Bank - is not obvious, the former seem to focus more narrowly on a given project, while the latter apply broadly to the sector as a whole. The latter focus more on policy and institutional objectives, and also enable the World Bank to exert a strong influence on overall country approaches to the sector in question. The success of sector investment loans requires a higher level of efficiency in managing the programmes and policies at local level, compared to project-/programme-based loans. The World Bank/IMF loans The loans that flow from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are of various types, most with some policy conditionality. 1 They are briefly described below. STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT LOANS The 1980s were a period of economic crisis and adjustment. The short-term stabilization policies, including the austerity measures of the IMF, came into conflict with the long-term policy requirements as viewed by the World Bank. The structural adjustment loans are, in a sense, the World Bank's response to mis conflict. They signify the World Bank's new lending and investment strategies, and aim at correcting fun-

10 410 Jandhyala B. G. Tilak damental long-term weaknesses in borrowing countries; they focus on the macro economy, include non-sector-specific policy reforms, and are not intended to address sectoral concerns. The conditions that are attached to such loans are macroeconomic, such as a reduction in fiscal imbalances and deficits, macroeconomic efficiency, containment of the wage bill, and an employment freeze, besides trade liberalization, currency devaluation, etc. They rarely include conditions relating to social sector reforms. 3 These loans, however, aim at providing finance much more quickly than conventional loans, to assist the economy on a long-term basis. They provide, however, scope for even more intervention by the World Bank in that they address the need perceived by the Bank for comprehensive economic reform across the board. SECTOR ADJUSTMENT LOANS By the mid 1980s the structural adjustment programmes were being heavily criticized for their severe impact on human development sectors (Cornia et al., 1987, 1988), and 'adjustment with a human face' became the slogan of many. The recognition of the inadequacy of structural adjustment loans, and their weaknesses in the form of their adverse impact on social sectors, led to the introduction in 1986 of a fourth type of loan (in education), called a sector adjustment loan, which is more closely tied with implementation of policy conditions, and is contemporaneous with structural adjustment loan-supported macroeconomic programmes. These loans support comprehensive reform of a country's education system. They aim at policy reforms leading to more efficient allocation of resources and financing, including the protection of investment in a particular sector (for example, primary education) and certain items of expenditure (such as textbooks and learning materials). These loans have the same purpose as the structural adjustment loans, but they are confined to a given sector, i.e. education, and thereby address the comprehensive reform of a country's entire education system. While structural adjustment loans do not refer to equity, access, etc., these aspects could be covered by the sectoral adjustment loans. HYBRID LOANS Lastly, by the end of the 1980s, hybrid loans began appearing, combining the investment components of specific or sector investment loans with sector adjustment loans. 4 These loans support investment in a project or a group of projects, usually with conditions on sector-specific reforms. They are essentially designed for poor countries, where deterioration in the already low coverage of the education system must be arrested and improvement in quality urgently attempted; this requires both the broad reforms included in the sector adjustment loans and investment to support implementation of these reforms. 5 Of the various types, it is believed that sector investment loans will be the 'instruments most commonly used for education lending during the 1990s... these will be the instruments most suited to provide the type of assistance required to support the World Conference on Education For All (WCEFA) targets' (Fredriksen, 1990, p. 15); however, sector loans were found to have 'best suited those borrowers least in need of it' Qones, 1992, p. 170), and the shift seems to be in favour of project support. The sector specificity and the World Bank's 'non-intervention' in the identification, design, appraisal and supervision of the project to the country concerned seem to be important advantages of the sector investment loans. In general, structural adjustment loans form the largest chunk of the World Bank/IMF loans and credits. 6 They may, however, have conditions regarding the education sector. Almost all such loans - that is, structural adjustment loans with conditions regarding education policies - are of recent origin (post-1985). The conditions relate to budgetary cost and financing policies; very rarely do they focus on the external efficiency of education and labour market rewards (Stevenson, 1991, p. 15).

11 Education and structural adjustment 411 The Indian context It is generally feared that structural adjustment and stabilization policies will affect employment and poverty unfavourably, as these policies are 'almost opposite to those designed to tackle the problem of poverty' (Emmerji, 1987, p. 4). The poorer and weaker sections of the population, including women and children, bear the brunt of the burden of adjustment policies (ILO, 1987; Afshar and Dennis, 1992). In the case of India, for example, Mundle (1992) estimated that the volume of employment will decline substantially; and while in a normal scenario the rate of unemployment would be about 4 per cent by , owing to the new economic policies it could increase to 5 or 7 per cent, reflecting alternative scenarios of low and high growth. These figures do not include likely retrenchments in the organized sector following the new economic policies. It was also noted that the high-growth scenario would require successful policies regarding the substitution of imports by domestic production and the reduction of the current account deficit. More interestingly, it has been estimated that employment in the organized sector would stagnate at 28 million during the period 1990 to The adjustment policies are also found to be adversely affecting not only employment, but also poverty and the living conditions of the people (Ghose, 1992, p. 95). It is generally felt that such trends are not uncomm o n during periods of stabilization and adjustment, that these trends will be only for a short period, and that in the long run they will be corrected and the situation will improve with respect to poverty, income distribution, and human development in general (Heller et al, 1988). Under conditions of adjustment, it is feared that the share of education in the budgetary resources in India will decline in the near future, and the government's annual budget has already indicated trends in this direction. The cuts may be both in plan and nonplan budgets. A reduction in plan budgets for education, which are already very small, will hamper the growth of the system. A reduction in the non-plan budgets for education will seriously jeopardize the very maintenance of the system. The full implications of adjustment policies for education in India are difficult to predict. As India has had no experience with structural adjustment, it has to learn from others' experiences. What does the international experience look like? International experience: a review A large number of developing countries can be found 'adjusting' their economies, having taken structural adjustment loans from international agencies, the World Bank, the IMF, and other multilateral and bilateral donor organizations. The Bretton Woods institutions, that is, the World Bank and the IMF, play a dominant role among all these organizations. The structural and sectoral adjustment programmes of the World Bank during the last half the 1980s have been heavily focused on Africa. Asia received 40 per cent of all education sector loans during , few of which included policy conditionality. Several of the Asian countries (for example, Thailand and the Republic of Korea), having received structural adjustment loans earlier (in the early 1980s), have later had to resort to traditional investment loans or education sector investment loans without explicit policy conditionalities (as was the case with Bangladesh) (Stevenson, 1991, p. 5). About one-quarter of the World Bank's lending now goes for adjustment (macroeconomic or sector) activities. Between 1970 and 1990 the World Bank invested $ 11 billion on education (Verspoor, 1991). Half of the World Bank loans for education contain policy measures, and in a sense they are education sector adjustment loans (Fuller and Habte, 1992). Structural adjustment has forced governments to reveal their expenditure priorities, and unfortunately many governments have revealed, in practice, a very

12 412 Jandhyala B. G. Tilak low priority for human development activities. They considered 'it was easier or more expedient to reduce expenditure on human development than on other items' (Griffin and Knight, 1990, p. 22). Several surveys of the literature, as well as country evidence - cross-country and country case-studies - clearly suggest that public expenditure on education and enrolment ratios (gross) are negatively related to adjustment policies. The Latin American and African countries that rely extensively on structural adjustment loans from the World Bank and the IMF were to effect significant cuts in public budgets for education during the structural adjustment and readjustment processes. Analysing the data on Latin American countries, Tilak (1989a, 1989è) has shown that, while under normal economic conditions the allocation of resources to education might not be influenced by economic conditions, economic difficulties experienced during painful adjustment and recession periods adversely influence education development. It is further shown that, under these conditions, primary education suffers more than higher education, and that popular sociopolitical pressures result in the quality of education being traded off for quantitative expansion. Public investment in education in current prices declined from US$88 in 1980 to US$67 in 1985 in the region as a whole, and real growth in total expenditure on education was negative, at -0.5 per cent per annum. Between 1970 and 1980, the relative share of higher education in the total (recurrent) expenditure on education increased from 16 to 24 per cent, while for primary education it declined from 57 to 51 per cent. The share of education in GNP declined in ten out of twenty countries in the region between 1980 and 1985, a period characterized by adjustment. In Costa Rica and Venezuela, capital expenditures were disproportionately cut, public expenditure on basic education declined, enrolments in private schools increased while those in public schools declined, and the quality of school education deteriorated, with an increase in the number of repeaters and in pupilteacher ratios (Reimers, 1991a, 199le). In all, Cornia et al. (1987) found that in 65 per cent of the Latin American countries education was vulnerable, while it was 'highly protected' in 30 per cent of cases. In sub-saharan Africa, a similar experience was documented: a decline in total public investment in education in absolute terms, and also as a percentage of total government expenditure (World Bank, 1988a). The decreases could be noted as total external debt increased (Tilak, 1990è). The impact of debt service payments on government expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure was found to be negative and significant in another cross-country study (Psacharopoulos and Steier, 1987). All these factors contributed to declining enrolments. In 1991 the Secretary- General of the United Nations attributed to adjustment policies the significant fall in gross enrolment ratios at the primary level (from 77 per cent in 1980 to 72 per cent in 1987), the more drastic fall for girls, the fall in survival rates in primary schools, the decline in the quality of education, and the increase in the number of illiterates in Africa from million in 1985 to million in 1990: 'The severe resource cuts to the education sector, as well as the adjustment policies of cost-recovery and containment, were largely responsible for these declines' (United Nations, 1991, p. 750; emphasis added). Cornia (1987, pp. 24-6) found, during the adjustment process, a steep decline in educational attainment in six countries (Brazil, Ghana, Jamaica, Peru, the Philippines and Sri Lanka) on which indicators on educational attainment were available, in addition to a decline in access (enrolment ratios) in Chile, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. While no change in enrolment ratios was observed in Ghana and Peru, the Republic of Korea and Zimbabwe, where special targeted programmes were initiated, registered an increase. In one of the best and methodologically most sophisticated studies of its kind on the impact of structural adjustment on living conditions, Kakwani et al. (1990) classified countries into five categories, on the basis of their adoption of adjustment policies: 'intensely adjusting' countries, which have had relatively long

13 Education and structural adjustment 413 experience of adjustment policies and processes, having taken three or more structural adjustment loans by 1989, starting in or before 1985 (twenty-five countries); 'pre-1986 adjusting' countries, which have received fewer than three structural adjustment loans, but were included in the programme before 1985 (eleven countries); 'post-1985 adjusting' countries, which received adjustment loans between 1986 and 1988 (nineteen countries); 'non-adjusting' countries, which do not need IMF/World Bank adjustment measures, and which had an increase in average annual per capita GDP growth during (seventeen countries, of which India was one); and 'non-adjusting' countries, which were 'potential candidates' for World Bank adjustment loans, with a decline in the average annual per capita GDP growth during , and were 'probably the closest to the counter factual non-adjusting countries' (fourteen countries). Some of the results obtained by Kakwani et al. (1990) are worth reporting. In eleven intensely adjusting countries, public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP declined from 3.5 in 1980 to 2.9 in 1986, while in twelve non-adjusting countries the corresponding proportion increased from 10 per cent to 12.1 per cent during the same period. Per capita expenditure on education (in 1980 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars) declined in the intensely adjusting countries from $81.2 in 1980 to $73.2 in 1986, while in the non-adjusting countries it increased from $48.7 to $90.8. The enrolment ratio in primary education declined on average from 94.2 per cent in 1980 to 90.1 per cent in 1985 in twenty-five intensely adjusting countries, while it increased from 89.9 to 98.3 per cent in eighteen non-adjusting countries of the type described above, and marginally increased from 81.3 to 82.6 per cent in another fifteen 'potential candidates'. The rate of growth of enrolments in primary education also declined in the intensely adjusting countries. On the whole, intense adjustment is associated with declines in almost all the indicators on educational development. Lockheed et al. (1991, p. 35) summed up the available evidence, stating that the share of education in total government expenditures declined between 1980 and 1986 in twelve out of thirteen intensely adjusting countries, but in only three out of twelve non-adjusting countries with similar levels of economic development. The decline in the share of education was from 15 to 12 per cent in intensely adjusting countries, and the increase was from 10 to 12 per cent in non-adjusting countries. Furthermore, in nine out of the twelve intensely adjusting countries per capita spending on education declined in constant terms. In an elaborate and comprehensive survey of the literature on the impact of adjustment on education, Noss (1991) presented an impressive review of several individual country experiences as well as a critical review of country and cross-country studies conducted by World Bank staff and others, and in the process evaluated the experience of the World Bank itself. Noss underlines the strong association between adjustment and decline in the educational indicators in several adjusting countries, and also the improvement in educational indicators in non-adjusting countries during comparable periods, but questions the causality factor: whether the declines could be attributed to adjustment policies, and the positive growth to the nonadjustment policies. He argues that it would be difficult to isolate the effect of adjustment, as the countries that adjusted were those that needed to do so owing to severe economic problems. It is possible that the outcomes might have been worse, if not the same, if the countries had not resorted to adjustment. Noss argues that 'although adjustment policies do have certain direct and indirect implications for education, current trends often have their roots in preadjustment mismanagement or economic recession' (Noss, 1991, p. 4). Supporting the findings of Kakwani et al. (1990), Noss (1991, p. 23), however, quotes some more evidence from a World Bank study that while in ten intensely adjusting countries the share of education in the government's discretionary public expenditure declined from 17.6 per cent in 1980 to 16.2 per cent in 1986, during

14 414 Jandhyala B. G. Tilak the same period it increased infivenon-intensely adjusting countries from 10.9 per cent in 1980 (8.7 per cent in 1975) to 12.9 per cent in 1986, and in another five 'other' (non-intensely) adjusting countries it increased from 11.7 per cent to 12.7 per cent. In the other adjusting countries, governments deliberately 'protected' the education sector (see also Cornia et al., 1987). The real rate of growth of public expenditure on education per capita came down, in the intensely adjusting countries, to about 1 per cent per annum during the 1980s from 10.8 per cent in the 1970s, while in the non-adjusting countries it increased from 6.7 per cent in the 1970s to 9.7 per cent in (after declining to 0.3 per cent in ) (Noss, 1991, p. 27). A few other interesting statistics, reported in several World Bank studies and summarized by Noss (1991), on some countries that have undergone or have been undergoing the process of adjustment may be noted: in the Philippines the expenditure per student in tertiary education in 1985 was only 45 per cent of the 1980 level. In Costa Rica the expenditure on primary education per student had declined by 1986 to two-thirds of the 1980 level, while it was up to 90 per cent only in the case of tertiary-level education (p. 28). In Ghana the enrolment ratio in primary education declined from 80 per cent in 1980 to 71 per cent in 1987 (p. 26). Several country-specific studies also came to similar conclusions. 7 On the whole, the impact of adjustment policies on education in Asian countries has not been so severe as it has in African and Latin American countries. Why and how does education suffer under 'adjusting' processes? Public investment in education declines significantly, in absolute and/or relative terms, in the adjusting countries because the debt burden, and correspondingly the debt service payments, increase dramatically; governments are therefore forced to reduce public spending. It is easier to reduce expenditure on education than on other sectors. Hence the axe falls more severely on education, even though it may fall on most other sectors as well. Balancing the balance of payments becomes an important goal of the national economies, and under adjustment programmes currency devaluation becomes an important instrument for achieving this. As Noss (1991, p. 23) has noted, currency devaluation may induce shifts in the allocation of public budgets towards sectors that are more import- or foreign exchangeintensive, and as education does not belong to either category it finds itself starved of public resources. Real expenditure on education may decline, as education is a labour-intensive sector, with as much as 95 per cent of the education budget being allocated for teachers' salaries. Teachers' wages may increase in nominal terms because of the inflationary tendencies of the adjustment programmes, but they do not increase enough to keep pace with the increase in prices. Lastly, incomes and prices are affected by adjustment policies, and the demand for education is influenced by incomes and prices (Behrman and Deolalikar, 1991, p. 292). As incomes and living conditions are seriously affected during the process of adjustment, demand for education may fall. This is more true of the weaker sections of society. Demand for education may fall owing to changes in the labour market - increased levels of unemployment, reduced earnings and earnings differentials, a corresponding increase in the need for participation in the labour market, and the increased cost of education (although opportunity costs may decline) (Woodhall, 1991, pp. 28-9). Effects of adjustment on education Macroeconomic adjustment and education are closely related through the budgetary mechanism. The level of resources available for education may be linked in principle to the success of the macroeconomic reforms, and lack of success m a y lead to further deterioration in spending on education. Economic adjustment and budget restructuring reduce public spending on

15 Education and structural adjustment 415 education; and declining budgets for education may affect the quantity and quality of the graduates of the education system, which will have a negative impact on macroeconomic growth and adjustment (Stevenson, 1991, pp ). Not only the macroeconomic choices, but also the meso and micro choices, were significantly influenced by adjustment policies, and the influence has been, on the whole, negative (see Cornia and Stewart, 1990). To predict the effect of adjustment policies on education is difficult. However, given the international experience, the prospects for education in India appear to be bleak, if not dismal. In general, early evidence of success of structural adjustment policies was confined to middle-income countries, and countries whose own capacities for negotiation and policy analysis were adequate, but this was not so in the poorer and weaker countries, notably the sub-saharan African countries (Jones, 1992, pp ). The adjustment policies that do not explicitly take into account the education sector tend to treat education not as an investment activity in human capital that raises productivity, but as a sector of public spending, and public spending has to be reduced in all sectors, including education. In fact, the adverse impact is found to be 'heavier' on education than on other sectors (Emmerji, 1987, p. 8; Stevenson, 1991, p. 20). T h e isolation and measurement of the effects of adjustment are difficult and problematic (Lourié, 1992), not to speak of differentiation between the effects of World Bank structural adjustment policies and those of IMF stabilization policies, as they are most often presented as a package of reforms. Some of the research reviewed here, 8 however, adopted sophisticated methodologies and attempted to isolate the effects of adjustment on education. It has been found that the adverse effects of adjustment policies on education are likely to be very severe. Decline in public investment, in gross enrolment ratios and in quality of education, particularly at primary level, have been found to be strongly associated with adjustment policies. Adjustment leads to squeezes on public budgets in most sectors, including education. The effect on education may indeed be heavier than on others. Total public expenditure on education in current and, more specifically, in real prices is found to have declined in some countries during adjustment. The declines are more pronounced in terms of per student expenditures. The relative priority given to education in the development framework - expenditure on education as a percentage of GNP, and as a percentage of total government expenditure - has been found to decline in a large number of countries. Within education, it may be easier during the adjustment process to reduce public spending on primary education than to reduce that on higher education, for familiar reasons (see Tilak, 1986, 1990a). Hence basic education and mass education programmes such as literacy programmes may be more severely affected than higher education. Higher education may receive 'protection' from the governments, the bureaucracy and politicians. Further, within education, the capital budgets may be sacrificed in favour of recurrent budgets. Buildings, furniture, equipment and so forth may be traded off in favour of additional teachers. Within the recurrent budgets, because of the pressures of teachers' unions, etc., teachers' wage bills tend to be less affected. Even when fiscal retrenchment is effected, the salaries of teachers and other staff cannot be cut for various reasons - in fact, they may even increase (in current market prices at a rate less than inflation), and schools and colleges may even be opened without the necessary buildings and equipment. The most serious casualty may be quality of education, and investment in those inputs that have a stronger relationship with quality, such as textbooks and other teaching-learning materials. The axe falls on the petty amounts being invested in teaching-learning materials, including classroom materials in primary schools, books and journals in libraries, consumable material in laboratories and other qualityimprovement programmes in secondary schools, colleges and universities. There is reason to believe

16 416 Jandhyala B. G. Tilak that the provision of materials and supplies will drop more than overall budgets, and this will cause more damage to educational development. As Fuller and Habte (1992, p. 4) confirm, efforts to increase recurrent spending on textbooks are 'stymied at times by overall spending ceilings negotiated with IMF or World Bank economists'. Quality of education may deteriorate with an increased number of students per teacher, reduced numbers of books, etc. Dropout and repetition rates may increase. During the process of adjustment, short-duration education and crash courses may be preferred to long-duration education programmes, short-term training programmes to long-term training, untrained teachers to trained teachers, etc. The proportion of young, inexperienced, temporary and untrained teachers may increase. All this will have serious negative effects on the quality of education in the long run. An equally important concern should be equity in education. Given the tendencies of increased cost recovery, equity will also be affected. A n important outcome of the adjustment policies is introduction of more measures for cost recovery. Measures such as students' fees have been introduced even at the primary level (for example in Malawi, and recently in Tanzania), although recent discussions on cost recovery are confined to post-primary levels of education. Student fees and student loans are the two most favoured measures of cost recovery. Some even suggest full cost recovery, particularly at the tertiary level of education. As such measures are introduced, and direct and indirect subsidies in education are subject to cuts, access to education m a y be seriously restricted, and inequities may increase in terms of lower enrolment rates for women (see United Nations, 1989) and other weaker sections of the population. Adjustment policies directly and indirectly contribute to restoration of the market mechanism in general and privatization of education in particular - directly, as adjustment policies specifically include privatization and marketization, and indirectly, through a reduction in government subsidies. As public budgets for education shrink, privatization will increase, with all its ill effects (see Tilak, 1991). Private enrolment and private investment will increase, but the increase will not balance the decrease in public investment, and as a result social investment in education will be less than optimal. Governments and private enterprise feel that this is the best time to sell any argument in favour of privatization. As a result, even ethically and constitutionally illegal institutions - for example, the capitation-fee colleges in India - may find support (Tilak, 1992). There may be forces with vested interests that try to exploit the situation characterized by adjustment policies, and the growth in capitation-fee colleges may be attributed to these forces. Secondly, similar forces also help in the growth of private education institutions that rely mosdy not on private finances, but on those from the public exchequer: this can be described as 'pseudoprivatization' (Tilak, 1991). Voluntary or nongovernmental organizations that rely heavily on government funds also belong to this category. Adjustment policies play a catalytic role in all this. Under restructuring, enrolment rates, school quality and priority for educational investment suffer, and there are obstacles to an increase in internal efficiency. At the same time there is a need for purposeful effort to preserve allocation to education, for the reallocation of resources - including the targeting of public subsidies - and for cost recovery. The role of the private sector will increase. It is not only the human and financial inputs into education and the learning process that are sacrificed: the output of the education system may also be affected, given the high levels of educated unemployment. This may result in a greater 'brain drain' - an outflow of an educated workforce, and an escalation in the qualifications demanded for jobs (Lourié, 1987, p. 170). In all, short-run expediency seems to dominate public policy-making during the adjustment process, and the long-term socio-economic benefits of public investment do not seem to carry any weight.

17 Education and structural adjustment 417 All these effects may be only in the short term. In the long term, economic growth may help education, improving, among other things, efficiency in education. But education is a longterm activity, and perhaps cannot be brought back onto the rails in a short period of time when funds are available, once it has gone off the tracks owing to paucity of funds. Furthermore, the world's experience of these matters is very limited, and the 'long-term results [of adjustment policies] are yet to be observed' (Fuller, 1992, p. 43). Some of the adverse consequences may be due to the fact that policy changes under adjustment are guided by political rather than efficiency considerations (Noss, 1991, p. 3). However, it may be that the cuts inflicted on education budgets would be more severe but for the adjustment policies, as these policies are resorted to because of severe economic problems. In other words, one may argue that the severe economic difficulties may have forced the government to cut its spending on education drastically, that the adjustment policies helped in reducing the cuts and that, 'without some form of adjustment, the situation would have been worse' (Cornia et al., 1987). 9 This is only a hypothesis, still to be empirically checked. However, it may be tenable to argue that while adjustment may not be the cause of the problem, it may not be the solution either. Prospects The most fundamental weakness of the structural adjustment policies is in the underlying assumption that not only short-term macroeconomic stabilization but also, more importantly, long-term structural adjustment of the economy is possible without education; that the education sector can be ignored, or the investments in education can even be reduced during adjustment. This goes against the World Bank's own policies favouring human development in general, and development of education in particular. This structural weakness needs to be corrected. The orthodox adjustment policies cannot succeed. An alternative model of adjustment is needed. First, in large economies, and in sectors where the effects of structural adjustment are mixed and controversial, if not totally adverse, structural reforms should be started on an experimental basis on a small scale, and in a form that is reversible and modifiable, if necessary. The application of large-scale and irreversible reforms is costly. In a situation characterized by economic difficulties there is a tendency towards myopia: the short-term savings become more attractive, and the long-term costs of underinvestment in h u m a n capital, particularly education, are overlooked. It is rarely realized that 'the high estimates of social rates of return to investment in both the quantity and the quality of education suggest that education can be important in achieving structural adjustment and long-run economic growth' (Knight, 1990, p. 71). T h e undesirable consequences of adjustment policies on social sectors could be reduced if a two-pronged effort were made: (a) by the adjusting countries and (b) by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. From the point of view of the adjusting countries, it is necessary, as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) (19926) suggests: that legal and fiscal protection is guaranteed to sectors like education, so that drastic cuts in public expenditure are not inflicted on it; that the political mobilization of groups interested in education take place, so that they become an organized force that is more vocal and powerful 'when the threat of adjustment' is 'seen to be serious'; and that a well-trained bureaucracy is built up in vulnerable areas like education, so that budgets for education are defended competently. Reduction in the severely adverse effects of adjustment policies on social sectors requires structural adjustment policies to include explicitly the protection of social and human development sectors (Haq, 1990; Ribe et al, 1990a, 1990&). In fact, the World Bank seems to have understood this, and has exhibited considerable, though not sufficient, flexibility in its lending

18 418 Jandhyala B. G. Tilak strategies. T h e relationship between macroeconomic adjustment (through a structural adjustment programme) and education seems to have been at least partly taken into account by the World Bank, as reflected in its changing strategies. It appears that over the years the Bank's investment loans have become somewhat flexible in responding to the vastly different situations prevailing in various countries. For example, when structural adjustment loans, which were later regarded as 'experimental and based upon insufficient economic and institutional analysis' (Stevenson, 1991, p. 27), were severely criticized for causing serious damage to the social sectors, sectoral adjustment loan programmes specifically for social sectors were taken up. 10 In a good number of countries, structural adjustment loans were supplemented by education sector lending sectoral adjustment or traditional type of investment loans. However, the World Bank's efforts to protect the education sector started only after the macroeconomic reforms had begun, and these latter resulted in a long decline in education finances. The macroeconomic reforms in the initial years paid little attention to the social sectors. On the whole, a variety of experiments were noted: out of a sample of twenty-one countries, in eight of them structural adjustment programmes were supplemented by education sector loans (sectoral adjustment or traditional investment loans); 11 five countries, including Bangladesh, received only education sector loans, but not structural adjustment loans; and another eight relied on structural adjustment reforms only (Stevenson, 1991, p. 7). Furthermore, when a given situation demanded more than one type of investment loan at the same time, hybrid loans were introduced. When countries were found to be capable of designing their own projects and managing them (including appraisal and supervision), sector investment loans that provide for the transfer of responsibilities to the borrowing country replaced some of the specific investment loans, for which World Bank staff used to be deeply involved in the identification, design, appraisal and supervision of projects. There has been considerable change, but the persistence of the problems, for example in the form of the adverse effects of structural adjustment loans on human development, shows that the change is not adequate. As Jones (1992, p. 171) has observed, the World Bank failed to design new educational approaches to poverty alleviation during the 1970s, and during the 1980s it failed 'to adjust to a sufficient extent [its] theoretical understanding of education and development'. If government spending on education is low, the World Bank should support higher levels of spending though sector loans or sectoral adjustment loans, which are preferable to specific investment project loans. Only then is 'adjustment with a human face' possible. As the World Bank has noted: 'priority social and poverty programmes must be protected at the expense of other alternatives' (World Bank, 1989, p. 18). Adjustment policies should allow an increase in public spending on human development sectors like education. 12 Education, particularly elementary education, should receive a 'protective package' in the adjustment programmes (Sanyal, 1992). This is also reflected in the changing policies of the World Bank in financing education. Since thefirsteducation loan by the World Bank to Tunisia in 1962, nearly 400 projects in about a hundred countries have received loans. Although a late entrant into the World Bank system, education became an important sector of it. The World Bank is the single largest donor of external finance for education (Tilak, 1988), providing one-fifth to one-quarter of the external aid for education in the world. During the initial years, the Bank's investment loans concentrated on secondary education, particularly diversified and vocational and technical education. As much as 84 per cent of the education loans between 1963 and 1968 was for secondary education, with nothing for primary education. It was during thefirsthalf of the 1970s that primary education began to receive attention. But still, secondary education, and then higher education, received larger shares of total education loans. With the beginning of the 1990s, primary education has been given top priority in education lending, with a share of nearly one-

19 Education and structural adjustment 419 quarter. Adult and non-formal education that did not figure in the World Bank projects in the earlier years is also being supported by the World Bank, which is taking 'Education For AH' as an important goal. This is yet another important change in the Bank's policies on financing education. The World Bank's programmes include not only structural adjustment loans for macroeconomic adjustment but also sectoral adjustment loans specific to a sector, as already noted; these include social sector and 'safety net' programmes, which may be more appealing, politically acceptable and feasible, and which in fact protect a particular (social) sector from budget cuts in addition to addressing macroeconomic problems and increasing efficiency at sectoral level (Noss, 1991, p. 7). Sectoral adjustment policies in education clearly favour an increase in enrolments in education (particularly at primary level), quality of education and the allocation of resources to primary education, and the safety net programmes protect the poor under the adverse circumstances created by structural adjustment and external shocks. A proper mix of structural adjustment and social sector adjustment policies, along with programmes such as the 'safety net' ones, is necessary. The adjustment policies, including the sectoral adjustment policies in education, encompass a variety of policy reforms relating to costs, financing, quality, equity, access, and the internal and external efficiency of education. The adjustment policies clearly insist on increased cost recovery in education (higher education in particular), a policy that is difficult to implement in many countries, notably the poor subsanaran African states. Without huge public subsidies, the higher education system m a y collapse in some of the poor countries. What is the optimum mix of public subsidies and cost recovery? This is yet to be identified. It needs to be determined according to prevailing socioeconomic conditions, as well as the education situation in the economy. However, it should be noted that there is no case either theoretically or empirically for the total withdrawal of public subsidies, or for 100 per cent cost recovery in education. Lastly, adjustment policies also clearly involve an increased role for the market and privatization, and a reduced role for the state, while human development in developing countries requires state intervention and support. This tendency is also seriously questioned by many. The World Bank is aware of the problem, and openly admits that markets alone generally do not ensure that people, especially the poorest, receive adequate education, and that 'government intervention is essential for development' (World Bank, 1991). Adjustment policies have yet to reflect this change in outlook. As Mosley et al. (1991, p. 305) argue, structural adjustment policies should embrace, where appropriate, 'policies to expand the economic role of the state'. In conclusion, the World Bank's investment and lending strategies have, as already noted, evolved over the years; they have responded to various changing situations. But the changes do not seem to be adequate. There is a need for more dynamism andflexibilityin the World Bank's policies to match the various existing socio-economic, cultural and political contexts. Notes 1. See, for more detail, Fredriksen (1990), Stevenson (1991) and Jones (1992). Stevenson (1991, pp. 53-5) also presents in tabular form the policy content of the several loans. 2. During the 1950s and 1960s, the World Bank concentrated on project financing. Specific investment loans were its main instrument. Non-project financing or financing for general purposes was little known. 3. Only 2 per cent of all structural adjustment loans between 1979 and 1989 included conditions relating to social sector reforms (Stevenson, 1991, p. 15). 4. Hybrid loans, it appears, do not include the components of structural adjustment loans.

20 420 Jandhyala B. G. Tilak 5. Only Mali was reported to have been given a hybrid loan that has a human resource sector component. 6. During the period , the total value of structural adjustment loans was around S 10,442.4 million, compared to 84,324.5 million investment loans/credits, and million education/sector adjustment/hybrid loans (Stevenson, 1991, p. 52). 7. See, for example, Behrman and Deolalikar (1991), Hinchliffe (1989), several other papers in the IDS Bulletin Qanuary 1989), and Carnoy and Samoff (1990). 8. Most of the literature reviewed here is research conducted by the World Bank staff. There is need for more detailed studies from the point of view of the adjusting countries, and for a comparison between the two kinds of research. 9. For the same reason, Squire (1991, p. 182) argues that any analysis of the effects of structural adjustment must compare the outcomes not with the preadjustment period, but with the outcomes that could be expected from alternative policies that would have been economically and politically feasible under such difficult economic conditions. 10. In addition, one may note two important projects/ programmes of the World Bank. First, the Emergency Social Fund, first established in Bolivia in 1986, represents 'one of the first World Bankfunded efforts to address the social costs of adjustment through creating a separate compensatory program, rather than by modifying the implementation of a structural adjustment program in the light of the expected social costs' (Newman et al., 1991, p. 367). It helps to cushion the impact of the adjustment on the poor. Secondly, the Bank's Social Dimensions of Adjustment Project, started in 1987, is yet another major programme that aims to reduce the impact of structural adjustment programmes on the social sectors. However, it could also be integrated into structural adjustment loans, or sectoral adjustment loans. The project, however, concentrates on sub-saharan Africa. 11. For example, Malawi's education sector programme was found to be comprehensive and integrated with the macroeconomic programme (Stevenson, 1991, p. 17). 12. Education sectoral adjustment programmes in eight out of fourteen countries recommended that education's share in the budget be held constant, and in the other six countries that it be increased; most of them suggested quantitative targets as well (Stevenson, 1991, p. 25). References AFSHAR, H.J DENNIS, C. (eds.) Women and Adjustment Policies in the Third World. London, Macmillan. BEHRMAN, J. R.; DEOLALIKAR, A. B The Poor and the Social Sectors during a Period of Macroeconomic Adjustment: Empirical Evidence for Jamaica. World Bank Economic Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp CARNOY, M.; SAMOEE, J Education and Social Transition in the Third World. Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press. CHAPELIER, G.; TABATAI, H Development and Adjustment: Stabilization, Structural Adjustment and UNDP Policy. New York, UNDP. (UNDP Policy Paper.) COLCLOUGH, C.J GREEN, R. H Do Stabilization Policies Stabilize? Editorial, IDS Bulletin, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp CORNIA, G Economic Decline and Human Welfare in the First Half of the 1980s. In: G. Cornia, R. Jolly and F. Stewart (eds.), Adjustment with a Human Face, Vol. I, pp Oxford, Clarendon Press. CORNIA, G.J JOLLY, R.J STEWART, F. (eds.). 1987, Adjustment with a Human Face, Vols. I and II. Oxford, Clarendon Press. CORNIA, G. A.J STEWART, F The Fiscal System, Adjustment, and the Poor. Florence, UNICEF, International Child Development Centre. (INOCENTI Occasional Paper No. 11.) EMMERJI, L On the Nature of Adjustment Policies and Human Development. In: K. Haq and U. Kirdar (eds.), Human Development, Adjustment and Growth, pp Islamabad, North South Roundtable. FREDRIKSEN, B. J Increasing Foreign Aid for Primary Education: The Challenge for Donors. Wash ington, D.C., World Bank. (PHREE Background Paper Series, PHREE/90/30.) FULLER, B Lessons Learned? A Colorful Rainbow of Viewpoints. In: B. Fuller and A. Habte (eds.), Adjusting Educational Policies: Conserving Resources while Raising School Quality, pp Washington, D.C., World Bank. (Discussion Paper No. 132.) FULLER, B.J HABTE, A Education Policy Adjustment: Defining Central Strategy, Assessing Local Effects. In: B. Fuller and A. Habte (eds.), Adjusting Educational Policies: Conserving Resources while Raising School Quality, pp Washington, D.C., World Bank. (Discussion Paper No. 132.) (eds.) Adjusting Educational Policies: Conserving Resources while Raising School Quality. Washington, D.C.; World Bank. (Discussion Paper No. 132.) GHOSE, A. K Economic Restructuring, Employment and Safety Nets: A Note. In: ILO, Social Dimensions of Structural Adjustment, pp New Delhi, ILO-ARTEP.

21 Education and structural adjustment 421 GRIFFIN, K.; KNIGHT, J Human Development: The Case for Renewed Emphasis. In: K. Griffin and J. Knight (eds.), Human Development and the International Development Strategy for the 1990s, pp MOSLEY, P.; HARRINGAN, J.; TOYE, J Aid and London, Macmillan. Power: The World Bank and Policy-based Learning. (eds.) Human Development and the International Development Strategy for the 1990s. London, MUNDLE, S The Employment Effects of Macmillan. HAQ, MAHBUB UL Human Dimension in Development. In: K. Griffin and J. Knight (eds.), Human Structural Adjustment, pp New Delhi, ILO- Development and the International Development Strat ARTEPegy for the 1990s, pp London, Macmillan. HAQ, K.; KIRDAR, U. (eds.) Human Development: The Neglected Dimension. Islamabad, North South Roundtable.. (eds.) Human Development, Adjustment and Growth. Islamabad, North South Roundtable. HELLER, P. S.; BOVENBERG, A. L.; CASTSAMBERS, T.; CHU, K-Y.; SHOME, P The Implications of Fund PSACHAROPOULOS, G.; STEIER, F Foreign Debt and Supported Adjustment Programs for Poverty. Washington, D.C., International Monetary Fund. (Occasional Paper No. 58.) HINCHLIFFE, K Economic Austerity, Structural Adjustment and Education: The Case of Nigeria. IDS Bulletin, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION (ILO) Structural Adjustment: By Whom, for Whom: Employment and Income Aspects of Industrial Restructuring in Vol. 5, No. 3, pp Asia. New Delhi, International Labour Office, Asian Regional Team for Employment Promotion (ILO- ARTEP) a. Social Dimensions of Structural Adjustment. No. 3, pp New Delhi, ILO-ARTEP. RIBE, H.; CARVALHO, S.; LIEBENTHAL, R.; NICHOLAS, P.; Adjustment and Human Resources Development. Geneva, ILO. (Report VI: International Labour Conference, 79th Session.) JONES, P. W World Bank Financing of Education: Lending, Learning and Development. London, Routledge. KAKWANI, N.; MAKONNEN, E.; VAN DER GAAG, J Structural Adjustment and Living Conditions in Developing Countries. Washington, D.C., World Bank. (PRE Working Paper No. WPS 467.) KNIGHT, J Educational Policy Issues in a Period of Stabilization and Structural Adjustment. In: K. Griffin and J. Knight (eds.), Human Development and the International Development Strategy for the 1990s, (25 July). pp London, Macmillan. LF.WIN, K Education in Austerity. Paris, UNESCO- IIEP. LOCKHEED, M. E.; VERSPOOR, A. M.; and associates Improving Primary Education in Developing Coun Education Sector: The Bank's Experience. Washing tries. New York, Oxford University Press. LOURIE, S The Impact of Recession and Adjustment on Education. In: K. Haq and U. Kirdar (eds.), Human Development, Adjustment and Growth, pp Islamabad, North South Roundtable Are Consequences of Adjustment Policies on Education Measurable? Journal of Educational Planning and Administration, Vol. 6, No. 4. London, Routledge. Stabilization and Related Policy Changes in India to In: ILO, Social Dimensions of NEWMAN, J.; JORGENSEN, S.; PRADHAN, M How Did Workers Benefit from Bolivia's Emergency Social Fund? World Bank Economic Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp Noss, A Education and Adjustment: A Review of Literature. Washington, D.C., World Bank. (PRE Working Paper No. WPS 701.) Domestic Spending: An International Comparison. Washington, D.C., World Bank. REIMERS, F. 1991a. The Economic Impact of Economic Stabilization and Adjustment on Education in Latin America. Comparative Education Review, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp b. Adjustment and Education in Latin America. Journal of Educational Planning and Administration, RIBE, H.; CARVALHO, S. 1990a. Adjustment and the Poor: Experience from the Bank's Learning for Structural Reforms. Finance and Development, Vol. 27, ZUCKERMAN, E How Adjustment Programs Can Help the Poor: The World Bank's Experience. Washington, D.C., World Bank. (Discussion Paper No. 71.) SANYAL, B. C Education in a Period of Change and Adjustment: Some International Perspectives. Journal of Educational Planning and Administration, Vol. 6, No. 2. SINGH, M Keynote Address. In: ILO, Social Dimensions of Structural Adjustment, pp New Delhi, ILO-ARTEP. SOBHAN, R Rethinking the Market Reform Paradigm. Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 27, No. 30 SQUIRE, L Introduction: Poverty and Adjustment in the 1980s. World Bank Economic Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp STEVENSON, G Adjustment Lending and the ton, D.C., World Bank, Education and Employment Division. (PHREE Background Paper Series.) THOMAS, V.; CHHIBBER, A. (eds.) Adjustment Lending: How It Has Worked, How It Can Be Improved. Washington, D.C., World Bank.

22 422 Jandhyala B. G. Tilak TILAK, J. B. G Political Economy of Investment in Education in South Asia: A Reply. International Journal of Educational Development, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp Foreign Aid for Education. International Review of Education, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp a. Economic Slowdown and Education Recession in Latin America. IDS Bulletin, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp The Recession and Public Investment in Education in Latin America. Journal of Inter American Studies and World Affairs, Vol. 31, Nos. 1-2, pp a. Political Economy of Education in India. Buffalo, N.Y., State University of New York è. External Debt and Public Investment in Education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Education Finance, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp Privatization of Higher Education. Prospects, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp The Capitation Fee Colleges. University News, No. 30 (December). UNITED NATIONS World Survey on the Role of Women in Development. UN, New York The United Nations on the Social Situation in Africa, A Report of the Secretary-General. (Reproduced in Population and Development Review, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp ) VERSPOOR, A Lending for Learning: 20 Years of World Bank Support for Basic Education. Washington, D.C., World Bank. (PRE Working Paper No. WPS 686.) WEILER, H. N The Political Economy of International Cooperation in Education Development. In: R. M. Garett (ed.), Education and Development, pp London, Croom Helm. WOODHAI.I., M Education and Training under Conditions of Economic Austerity and Restructuring. Paris, UNESCO, Operations Policy and Sector Analysis Division. (Working document.) WORLD BANK. 1988a. Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Policies for Adjustment, Revitalization and Expansion. Washington, D.C., World Bank Adjustment Lending: An Evaluation of Ten Years of Experience. Washington, D.C., World Bank, Country Economics Department. (Policy and Research Report 1.) Sub-Saharan Africa: From Crisis to Sustainable Growth. Washington, D.C., World Bank World Development Report Washington, D.C., World Bank.

23 OPEN FILE Monitoring the quality of education worldwide: II. A few national examples of IEA's impact

24 Interests and modes in research utilization: the Finnish IEA experience Kimmo Leimu Education is a lifelong collection of experiences. S o m e experiences are incidental, without notable purpose, and guided by more or less immediate environmental needs. More purposeful and systematic learning experiences are provided through the programmes of formal schooling, which constitute important societal services benefiting both the individual and society. These benefits are related to the economic, social and cultural functions of education. More specifically, they are related to educating a competent labour force, the perpetuation and recreation of core social institutions, and providing for cultural continuity and enrichment by offering students opportunities to develop personal values, interests, skills and knowledge. In short, education offers important survival skills to both society and the individual. ways of looking at research, I will discuss the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) studies in Finland and suggest how these have helped Finland, which has a small critical mass of educational researchers, sort out educational problems by drawing on a comparative international context. Multidimensional research In economic terms, formal education everywhere constitutes a large and complex social system, an 'industry' which demands considerable human and material resources with the expectation of positive returns in the future. In general, In this article, I will sketch for the reader several dimensions of the research paradigm to formal education is viewed as an 'investment in demonstrate how complicated issues can become. After noting some of the domains and growth, human well-being and sociocultural human capital', as an instrument for economic development. Having established itself as a major societal service to the nation, education can be seen as a dynamicfield of activity which seeks to develop its own goals and modes of work on Kimmo Leimu (Finland). Senior researcher at the a continuous basis, according to need, but always constrained by available resources. Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä (Finland). His main academic interests are in curriculum issues, educational evaluation and Considering the importance and pervasiveness of the education effort, it is evident that educational indicators. He has been involved in comparative multinational studies on educational such a major undertaking cannot be left to chance, achievement since but has to include some means of monitoring Prospects, Vol. II, I, No. 4, 1992 (84)

25 426 Kimmo Leimu and evaluation. This implies a coherent system for obtaining and using feedback information. It is evident that the more open attitude to planning and decision-making brought about by the continuous development efforts in many countries has increased the demand for systematic and reliable information to serve accountability and provide a better understanding of what is meaningful in education. This pursuit is often linked with the more practical goals of judicious decision-making at various levels of the educational system. However, if such monitoring is to be reliable, it cannot be far removed from bona fide research work in the field of education, especially where policy-makers are eager to use such information. Thus the issue of research utilization has both scholarly and practical applications. The study of education has many aims and domains. In a large and complex system, researchers must by necessity work with several levels of operation and specialized expertise, which together determine system definition, problems and communication style. Thus one may focus on system-level issues and regard other societal structures and processes as peripheral to education. Alternatively, one may examine programme-level or local-level issues related to organizational and curriculum concerns. Or, perhaps, one may develop an interest in individual-level interactions involving teaching and learning. For a complete understanding of education, all levels are necessary. Again, the basic purpose of collecting, analysing and interpreting survey data stems from an interest in changing education, whereby one comes to a decision usually by monitoring and evaluating the consequences of previous decisions and resulting practices. Such results are usually needed quickly by policy-makers. On the other hand, information sought by educators may be conclusion-oriented, related to the study of education in more general terms in that it attempts to conceptualize, describe and interpret observations in a theoretical framework (Cronbach and Suppes, 1969; Bassey, 1992). It is also necessary to take into account the various research modes used to communicate feedback to different audiences, and notably within and between various levels of decisionmakers. Without necessarily linking any of the communication modes to particular system operation levels, the following categories have been identified by Bassey (1992): The formal level, which uses public forms of communication intended for large and distant audiences. Here the personal interpretative and interactional element is minimal and spontaneous issues cannot be handled. The informal-interactive level, wherein the information is shared with others (orally and written). Here the choice of participants in the sphere of dissemination, as well as the prevailing professional and interpersonal atmosphere, become important. The personal level, wherein the sphere of shared interests is narrow, perhaps restricted to close colleagues, or to researchers alone. Here again, judgements and conclusions may be very informal, reflective or even speculative, perhaps never achieving any formal status. While some additional dimensions might be useful, the three introduced above will suffice to produce a many-sided framework for structuring the research utilization process. For purposes of simplicity, however, three main forms of utilization are introduced. These distinctions have been made by Lampinen (1985), based on work by Gurvitch (1972) and Weiss (1979, 1980), and completed by the work of Husén and Kogan (1984). Subsequently, other major research perspectives are discussed in additional detail in order to demonstrate both the complexity and the potential in a consideration of the problems and content of comparative international research in education. Three main forms and aims of research usage can be identified: Instrumental utilization considers research results as directly applicable to distinct problems. Essentially, this approach is management-oriented, as its main focus is on solving practical problems which are conceptually straightforward.

26 Interests and modes in research utilization: the Finnish IEA experience 427 Conceptual utilization employs information to categorizing information use can be found in enlighten the researcher by providing a Braybrooke and Lindblom (1963) and better understanding of the problem, thereby affecting the way in which plans and decisions are taken. Stufflebeam (1976). The general message emerging from the above elaboration suggests that the utilization Political utilization employs educational strate of research knowledge is not a straightforward gies for social action. This approach constitutes a rather complicatedfield of application, since issues related to values enter the picture. The utilization process may involve a process of choice among many conflicting points of view, something not uncommon in education. This utilization issue becomes a profoundly human judgement which is selective and may result in what is called tactical or symbolic utilization (Lampinen, 1985, p. 13). The above distinctions represent 'ideal types' which are somewhat accentuated and may not be easily found in everyday life. However, they may be used heuristically in considering various research strategies. One such framework is given in Table 1. Some modes of utilization presented by Havelock et al. (1971), Weiss (1979) and Husén and Kogan (1984) have been inserted loosely into Table 1, although it should be understood that each model is not necessarily amenable to my classification. Thus, for example, it may be noted that neither Havelock's 'linkage model' nor Weiss's 'research-oriented' model can be unambiguously placed in any single cell because as all-encompassing emancipatory strategies they permeate several types of utilization and c o m munication modes. Yet other dimensions for matter which only depends on a simple choice of strategy, or the merits of available information. Any successful endeavour will depend on additional frameworks such as the recognition of problem uniqueness, the extent and quality of knowledge required, and the capability and willingness of persons involved to use the data. Some of these considerations are interrelated to the purposes and problems adopted by the evaluation model, while still others are related to the culture and ethos of the decision-makers who will use the data. Expectations concerning multinational educational research Some examples of those expectations related to various utilization interests are given below. While user needs have been listed, some grouping has been attempted according to the most general type of utilization displayed in Table 1 : policy, conceptual and techno-managerial. In reviewing these perspectives, readers should think in terms of their own country. TABLE 1. Approaches to educational research Information use Formal Communication style employed Interactive Technical/instrumental R&D model Problem-solving model Co-operative sharing model Conceptual/professional Political/emancipatory Enlightenment model Political model Invisible college model (Linkage/percolation model) (Research-oriented model)

27 428 Kimmo Leimit POLICY INTERESTS IN RESEARCH Cultural perspective. What are the undercurrents of education? What is the status and role of formal education in different cultures at different levels of societal development? How can the structures, contents, practices and outcomes of education in Finland be understood in this context? Historical perspective. Empirical descriptions of schooling in a time perspective allow the past to be compared with the present. These concerns also highlight the importance of the historical timing of IEA studies - especially regarding major educational developments in a particular country. International comparison perspective. How can the Finnish system of education be viewed from without and conclusions drawn regarding both its strengths and weaknesses in relation to other educational systems? Futurological perspective. Representing the other end of the historical time-frame, expectations may be extended to the ability of the school system to meet its challenges in the future. They are likely to be related to the nation's survival and developmental needs, as well as the maintenance of its distinctive culture. Accountability perspective. What can be said about the quality or level of educational effort in Finland? Is it acceptable? Where did we go wrong, contrary to aims and expectations? W h a t strategies can be suggested for providing reliable evaluation of progress towards educational goals? What would constitute valid and feasible indicators regarding the status of the educational system? Economic perspective. Is Finnish education effective, efficient and productive in its capacity for providing the trained and educated labour needs of society? What are its public and private costs? Policy perspective. What indications are available to help one to draw conclusions on the effects of current policy on education and its outcomes? What suggestions for policy revision can be derived from research? Administrative perspective. Problems of implementation and leadership require questions about how the educational system functions as a multilevel, co-ordinated organization involving planning, decisionmaking and management. How well are aims and principles communicated across levels? Do decisions at one level matter more than at another? CONCEPTUAL AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH INTERESTS Theoretical perspective. How can education be understood and explained as a complex, multilevel societal system? What concepts are valid in describing its characteristics and processes? What causal relationships are postulated and observed? How are the results interpreted theoretically? What linkages does comparative education have with other disciplines and applications? Structural perspective. What are the effects of inand out-of-school factors in explaining educational phenomena, such as student learning? What importance do certain background conditions (for example, home environment, or administrative practices, curriculum, teachers and school facilities) have on the quality of educational outcomes found among different societal groups? Curriculum perspective. How do social structure and processes in Finnish society affect the level and distribution of educational services and outcomes? What functions does education serve as a social institution, and what short- and long-term effects does it have on the society? Psychological perspective. W h a t are student learning experiences like? W h a t is the prevailing conception of 'a student' as a human being, or 'learning' as a process in the Finnish classroom? What kind of human

28 Interests and modes in research utilization: the Finnish IEA experience 429 relations are prevalent? What attitudes are developed? What are the human costs of performing versus not performing well? Methodological perspective. What research paradigm has been adopted by IEA and why? How does one ensure comparability? What are the operative techniques and related errors in sampling, measurement and analyses? What is the basic nature and quality of the data and what does it represent? TECHNICAL AND MANAGEMENT INTERESTS Timing perspective. How much time is required to carry out systematic project evaluation from start to finish? What complications are added when the multinational dimension is included? At the micro level, what amount of time is required by students taking the tests and answering the questionnaires? These experiences are important when determining the feasibility of the research programme in the school and nation. Resource perspective. W h e n projects have multiple purposes, it may be difficult for national funding agencies to see the overall importance of evaluation research. Funders should be reminded, however, that such efforts need to be seen in the light of the total system operation, because it is reasonable to expect some monitoring information for system-level and curriculum interests. Costs are not high when discounted over several years and pro-rated according to the many outcomes produced, such as international and national reports, curriculum and sampling documents, know-how, experience and the latest technology derived from multilevel research activities. Although the exact value may be difficult to determine, it is safe to say that countries can learn much from such co-operation. Organizing perspective. How does one manage and supervise large-scale survey research, which presumes co-operation from school authorities, teachers, students and parents in a variety of cultural settings? How should researchers organize the many logistical facets of the research process - such as instrumentation, sampling, fieldwork, data analysis, archiving, reporting and dissemination, with the variety of expertise available? Enabling people from different parts of the world to work together to arrive at a consensus of their cultural, conceptualtheoretical and practical viewpoints is a sensitive issue which always requires compromise in the context of cultural interchange. Dissemination perspective. How does one enable research results to become part of the national and international experience concerning education? How does one reach the user with research findings? How should data for policy-making, theoretical conceptualizing and practitioner use be presented, communicated and implemented? How does one organize and document the research data for future use? These matters of dissemination and eventual response are not easily resolved. If a nation is truly to benefit from comparative multinational research, then three main perspectives - policy, conceptual and technical - must ideally be considered prior to starting any project The IEA experience in Finland Finland was one of the founding members of IEA, participating in twelve out offifteen major IEA studies, including thefirstpilot experiment in Throughout, the seat of the Finnish National IEA Centre has been at the Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä. Other Finnish universities have been involved either in project co-ordination (Joensuu), or as separate users of IEA data, mainly for academic work (Turku and Joensuu). Apart from these universities, the main funding agencies have been the Ministry and the National Board of Educa-

29 430 Kimmo Leimu tion, and the Academy of Finland. Together, a widening circle of researchers, administrators, teacher educators and teachers have directly experienced these international co-operative ventures. Thus, one may inquire about the role and concept of IEA studies in Finland: How can me IEA research venture be seen in Finland in the light of the experiences, needs and expectations observed above? Traditionally, when painting a picture of the overall educational effort in Finland, the main professional benefits expected from international comparisons concern the quality of inputs, processes and outcomes of education. In this respect, models which help to explain outcomes within and across countries are valued highly, as these have the potential for revealing system structure and curricular arrangements which have validity in a variety of educational settings. Researchers are especially eager to examine effective patterns across countries and to assess them in the light of their national policy and curriculum implications. When polling Finnish researchers involved in the early IEA activities, two interests were recorded: the technical issue of how to assess educational outcomes, particularly instrument development; and a more general and scholarly interest in contributing towards the success of a co-operative study. It is noteworthy that early Finnish interests did not include the production of substantial national analyses, as it was thought sufficient to rely on the common international reports. In later studies, the need for supplemental national reports became clear. One can view this as thefirststep toward the need for enhanced research utilization. While a formal system of research utilization has not been established in Finland, the basic strategy that has been followed in making use of IEA results has necessarily taken into account the relatively few resources devoted to conducting and following up each individual project. Since it has not been possible to produce comprehensive and timely national reports which would enable formal, visible dissemination across broad levels of the education community, more reliance has been given to what have been termed 'interactive' strategies. Instead of seeking short-lived publicity, an attempt has been made to approach planners, policy-makers and national working groups with IEA results or special analyses tailored to particular decision-making needs. While policy-makers take professional responsibility for developing their own mandate and action plan, researchers are able to judge the relevance of their own data in shedding light on policy problems. This activity between policy-maker and researcher often takes the form of commissioned reports, which are problem-oriented. Such strategies have been applied in Finland to develop principles of testing and evaluation, including the final examination system, the upper secondary school curriculum and, more recently, proposals for mathematics and science education throughout the formal education system. The more research co-operation can be integrated with the development process, the better the possibilities for researchers to contribute to important developments through their work and judgement. A good deal more might be done along these lines in terms of a highly focused interactive enlightenment model discussed earlier. International research co-operation has provided important empirical evidence which has served policy discussion at the national level, asking questions about the state of education in Finland. In fact, IEA studies have often been found to provide the only representative e m pirical data for purposes of system monitoring when an international perspective is required. Even at the national level, much of the general curriculum and policy evaluation work either constitutes or relies on models and approaches received or adapted from the IEA. These influences are examples of open sharing, based on common international collaboration. As the mission of most national-level research shares a strong orientation towards the future, it may be stated that the IEA has helped point Finnish educators to the future. System-level evaluation strategies apply to both general and specific curriculum issues on levels: defining subject-area content and objec-

30 Interests and modes in research utilization: the Finnish IEA experience 431 tives, monitoring implementation, or in obtaining performance profiles. In Finland, initial national interests are often related to such policy and curriculum needs, while further analyses tackle the theoretical issues. This situation is qualified by two considerations: timeliness and general appropriateness of data. Regarding timeliness, with rapid change all around it is possible that the results of long-term research work are hopelessly outdated by the time they are released. This is what happened in Finland to data from the six-subject study collected under the traditional education system but analysed and released only after the introduction of the comprehensive school reforms. While it is understandable that there was little immediate interest in such results, however, access to repeated studies over the years has led educators to realize the unique historical value of previously collected data. Furthermore, one has to judge the appropriate domain and level of application to IEA findings. While, typically, system- and curriculum-level interests have determined the approach and the content of these studies, it is true that IEA data are best suited for exactly these purposes. This is not to say that certain IEA information should not be used (for example, for instructional purposes) or cannot serve individual or school-level needs. In fact, positive examples may be taken from the IEA Written Composition Study, where meaningful instructional support was provided to teachers. In short, there is a wide range of potential research interests in education with the most suitable approaches. Early decisions linking policy to methodology can avoid unnecessary problems after the study is in progress. For researchers, the existence of an 'invisible college' of researchers with like interests, all sharing a common conceptual framework, is of particular importance, as it permits not only comparison of results but actual co-operative wyrk in a practical sense (see Bloom, 1974; Husén, 1979, 1988). Such co-operation may be more or less direct, ranging from formal partnership in special studies to making data available. Much work has been possible using multinational data which allow each participating system to benefit from comparative studies pursued elsewhere. Useful learning has also occurred through more informal exchanges of views, experiences and technical solutions, all of which strengthen the quality of research itself. At this point, one should not underestimate the added importance of subjective experience gained by young researchers when they encounter prominent world-class researchers in the workplace. Views and advice are keenly absorbed, and a good deal of state-of-the-art knowledge is transferred. These contacts are also likely to build a sense of personal growth and enhance motivation. All of the above contributions m a y warrant a place in the above utilization framework. In Finland, research procedures and methodological frameworks have also been used by teachers wishing to know the latest research findings. Together with actual findings, these examples provide teachers with contextual knowledge and understanding useful for professional growth and educational debate. In this connection, professional teacher organizations have proved both interested in and capable of providing opportunities for publicity and debate, particularly in the fields of literature, mathematics and science. Dissemination efforts have benefited from links that have been built between national interest groups by including their m e m bers on IEA national study committees. This may be taken as the second aspect of the Finnish utilization scene, wherein benefits accrue mainly through interactive enlightenment strategies. Of course, it may also happen that professional union interests enter the picture, as it is possible to use study outcomes when arguing for better provisions. In such a case one may recognize the existence of a political role played by teachers organized by discipline (e.g. reading, science or mathematics). Likewise, secondary effects on other researchers have been evident, as judged by adopted principles and academic debates emanating from IEA research. IEA standards have improved awareness of sampling requirements and sharpened conceptual model-building and instrumen-

31 432 Kimmo Leimu tation. In particular, national assessment efforts have benefited from the IEA experience. In terms of academic work, many doctoral dissertations and other graduate research work have been produced using Finnish IEA data. In Finland's eyes, IEA data banks offer information which is timeless, as each data bank represents an empirical snapshot of structural, curriculum and instructional circumstances which have historical value in that they depict educational change. In the research domain, the utilization of IEA models and data has been both direct and indirect, formal and personal. This is afield where several utilization models may be operative at once, ranging from the technical linear model and the problem-solving model found in Table 1 to co-operative sharing. Equally obvious, but having more direct effects on students, were those conceptual models educators learned about through IEA work, which have influenced the development of curriculum and learning materials. Thus, new conceptualizations of learning, as opposed to objectives standards, have found their way into national curriculum guidelines and even served as the theoretical background to widely used sets of learning material. Suggestions for the future In general, comparative education research has provided many rich lessons to Finnish educators by offering opportunities to view one's own system from the outside and, in return, to make openly available to the international community information about Finnish educational efforts. As IEA-type research is planned for the 1990s and beyond, it will be important to consider carefully the full range of needs and potentials surrounding comparative multinational studies. First, it should be possible to delineate the projected costs and strategies needed to both implement and disseminate research. In this regard, project length and complexity are crucial considerations, since it may be difficult to justify long-term research projects, particularly if the pay-back is not immediate. On the other hand, shortfalls in quality standards can no longer be tolerated. As a consequence, two different styles of projects are proposed for the future: quick and efficient, problem-oriented surveys which employ already existing instruments and can serve recurrent follow-up needs using educational indicators; and innovative experimental studies focusing on a set of different cultural and system contexts. It is conceivable that future IEA research might be embedded in a more dynamic context. This could be achieved by making reports more readable and appealing to a variety of audiences. N e w studies would require provisions for national and international follow-up work, which takes the form of intensive secondary analysis. Such activities would benefit from problem-oriented approaches organized around international team effort, with high-level expertise and governmental support. Utilization might also be enhanced through more interactive strategies, using projects which engage researchers to look for c o m m o n cross-national issues relevant to all. As is evident from the variety of expectations mentioned above, IEA-type research calls for insight from experts in many different fields of knowledge. It becomes crucial that teamwork and shared responsibilities receive constant attention during project planning and analyses. The underlying concern here is for improved theoretical sophistication, which should then become evident in the problem definition, hypotheses tested and data analysed. As IEA already hasfirst-class prominence in international comparative education research, special effort should be made to raise the general level of public understanding by stressing quality standards. To sum up, educational research can aid those accountable for schools. Survey researchers have ambitions to capture a useful snapshot of educational effort, which can be used to understand better how education functions. Even as greater decentralization occurs in Finland,

32 Interests and modes in research utilization: the Finnish IEA experience 433 IEA work still may be expected to help educators understand the educational process. This article has offered a multitude of approaches to References research that uponfirst view suggest that education is a very complex domain. However, rather than allow themselves to be overwhelmed by problems, researchers should consider the full BASSEY, M Creating Education through Re search. British Educational Research Journal, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp BLOOM, B. S Implications of the IEA Studies for Curriculum and Instruction. School Review, Vol. 82, potential of survey research - the potential to No. 3, pp see all the pieces of the puzzle which make up BRAYBROOKE, D.; Lindblom, C A Strategy of the educational landscape. Decision: Policy Evaluation as a Social Process. New York, The Free Press. CRONBACH, L. J.; SUPPES, P. (eds.) Research for Tomorrow's Schools. New York, Macmillan. GURVITCH, G The Social Frameworks of Knowledge. New York, Harper & Row. HAVELOCK, R., et al Planning for Innovation through Dissemination and Utilization of Knowledge. Ann Arbor, Mich., Institute for Social Research. HUSÉN, T An International Research Venture in Retrospect: The IEA Surveys. Comparative Education Review, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp Educational Research and Policy Making. In: J. Keeves (ed.), Educational Research, Methodology, and Measurement. Oxford, Pergamon Press. HUSÉN, T.; Kogan, M Educational Research and Policy: How Do They Relate? Oxford, Pergamon Press. LAMPINEN, O Yhteiskuntatieteelisen tutkimuksen hyodyntaminen poliittis-hallinnollisessa paatoksenteossa. Suomen Akatemian julkaisuja. Helsinki, Valtion Painatuskeskus. STUFFLEBEAM, D Evaluating the Context, Input, Process and Product of Education. Paper presented at the International Congress of Physical Education, Jyväskylä, Finland. WEISS, C The Many Meanings of Research Utilization. Public Administration Review, Vol. 39, pp Knowledge Creep and Decision Accretion. Knowledge, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp

33 Hungarian experiences in international student achievement surveys Zoltán Báthory Hungary has been participating in international educational research in close co-operation with the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) since During this period of twenty-four years, IEA studies have become an integral part of educational thinking, practice and research. Hungary enjoyed a rather peculiar situation in Eastern Europe in the 1970s and 1980s. In spite of all the political and ideological constraints, it was able to nurture fairly strong relations with the West in the fields of economy, culture and sciences. Besides, the Hungarians had a high standard of living, so they could travel to the West more freely, compared to the citizens of other 'socialist' countries in the region. Many expressions were coined to characterize this strange political phenomenon: it was Zoltán Báthory (Hungary). Professor of education at the University of Miskolc (Hungary) and Head of the Centre for Evaluation at the National Institute In the mid 1970s, an awkward attempt was made to establish an East European IEA. This for Public Education (Budapest). His fields of interest was an agreement based on the necessity of carrying out a maths survey in the Eastern Euro include issues of teaching and learning (didactics), curriculum and evaluation and research methodology. His most recent published books (in Hungarian) pean context. At the last minute, however, the survey was cancelled because some insisted that, are: Tanítás és tanulás (Teaching and Learning) and as afirststep, the theoretical basis for evaluation had yet to be worked out. Later a Tanulók, iskolák - külonbségek (Students, Schools - Differences). He has also published several articles survey in hisfieldsof interest, in both Hungarian and English. said that Hungary had developed a 'refrigerator socialism', that it was ruled by a 'sloppy dictatorship' and that it had been the 'jolliest barrack in the camp'. IEA activities fitted well into this picture. International co-operation in the field of education was practically unknown in Eastern Europe. Poland made an unsuccessful start with IEA in Data related to science had already been collected but the information had not been sent to IEA. Romania took part in the assessment of French taught as a foreign language which turned out to be laborious and unsuccessful. In Jena (in the former German Democratic Republic), I was once requested by colleagues to provide them with IEA science tests. I answered that there already existed translated German versions and these could be obtained from Frankfurt. The response to my advice was that it would be better for them to translate the Hungarian version into German themselves. was carried out but the results were never widely disseminated. Prospects, Vol. II, I, No. 4, 1992 (84)

34 Hungarian experiences in international student achievement surveys 435 Benefits of international survey participation Hungarian education benefited from international studies in three areas: (1) methodological advances; (2) contact with the West (the socalled 'window effect'); and (3) introduction to system-level analyses. METHODOLOGY IEA studies served as methodological innovations for all kinds of assessment surveys and studies. Since the research methodology of IEA was developed by researchers with an international reputation from around the world, Hungary did not have to invest in its own research effort to develop the new positivist-empirical methodology. This is a fairly serious gain for any small and developing country. In mis sense, IEA has proved an important postgraduate school in evaluation research for the young generation of educational researchers in Hungary and elsewhere in the region. What was brand-new and unusual for people like me twenty years ago has become natural to today's young Hungarian educational researchers. International comparisons, secondly, initiated national surveys and helped to set benchmarks for these studies. Alongside IEA methodology in 1980, 1986, and March 1991, cyclic studies were carried out with the aim of monitoring knowledge and skills in the basicfields of education, such as reading comprehension, mathematics and computer literacy. These surveys and assessments played an invaluable role from the viewpoint of getting people acquainted with and evaluating the mechanism of Hungarian education. Without these surveys, the H u n garian desire to be a part of a greater Europe could only be a dream. THE 'WINDOW EFFECT' International studies, as an aggregate effect, made it possible to avoid the ever-present danger of provincialism in education. IEA opened a 'window' on Western Europe and the wider global world of education in an age of Eastern European isolationism. IEA studies have accumulated a rich fund of background information on curriculum content and on the conditions of education in a sample of countries throughout the world, especially in the developed regions. Because of this wider context, this kind of information is invaluable to Hungary whenever major educational policy decisions are required. In critical situations, it also makes it easier to judge whether a crisis is the result of national policy on education or whetiier it has more to do with worldwide educational problems. SYSTEM-LEVEL ANALYSIS Over a period of more than twenty years, nine IEA surveys were carried out (science, 1970, 1983; mathematics, 1980; reading comprehension, 1971; English as a foreign language, 1971; classroom environment, 1983; written composition, 1986; computers in education, 1991; and reading literacy, 1991). The main results of these studies are grouped below according to content field. Reading comprehension The findings of the Reading Comprehension Study indicated that Hungarian student achievement scores in all tested grades were generally inferior to those of other IEA countries. In rank order by national average, Hungarian students were placed next to the bottom at the Grade 4 and 12 levels while they took eighth place (out of twelve) at the Grade 8 level. Consequendy, instruction in the Hungarian language and communication skills constituted one of the least effective fields of study. Subsequent national

35 436 Zoltàn Báthory reading comprehension studies conducted in 1979, 1980 and 1986 corroborated these earlier findings. The poor achievement results in reading comprehension shocked the Hungarian Ministry of Education. Both professionals and the public reacted sharply. Experts considered mainly changes in teaching methods and, as a result, silent reading was emphasized. It is also believed that the IEA findings contributed to the spread of diverse teaching methods for reading from the late 1970s onward. Until then, only one method of teaching initial reading had been used, in compliance with the central curriculum. Those early research findings, along with other factors, contributed to the considerable innovation of education in Hungarian language and communication skills. Mathematics In the IEA mathematics survey, Grade 8 and 12 student achievement was measured in Unfortunately, owing to a misunderstanding, the Hungarian Grade 12 sample did not correspond to that of other countries, thereby limiting scope for comparisons. T h e rank order of national averages indicates that Hungarian students in Grade 8 are placed well above the international average and, at Grade 12, the top 5 per cent scoresfifth out of twelve. These findings clearly indicated the effectiveness of Hungarian maths education in a period when traditional arithmetic and geometry teaching was being replaced by the new mathematics of the 1970s. Science Thefirst and second international science studies took place in 1970 and 1983 respectively (Comber and Keeves, 1973; Postlethwaite and Wiley, 1991). Both IEA science studies indicated, at least according to the achievement scores posted, that this field of education in Hungary was indeed effective. Hungarian science is comparable with that of Japan on the basis of rank orderings. In 1970, the fourth-graders were placed in the middle rankings while the eighth-graders scored second. In 1983, they were ranked fifth andfirstrespectively out of twenty-three countries. The twelfth-graders scored 7 out of 19 in 1970, while thirteen years later Hungarian upper secondary students did even better. The relatively high achievements of Hungarian students resulted from several factors. The most conspicuous one was the political and professional (academic) concern for making science the premier curriculum. It was widely accepted that the 'building' of socialism needed high technology and scientifically trained labour. Consequently, more teaching time was devoted to science education in the central curriculum and the quality of teaching materials (textbooks, curricula) also surpassed the average of those in other educational branches. At the same time, humanistic and language studies had to accept a marginal position. The balance of the curriculum was wrongly conceived. Overall research findings regarding the level of mathematics and science were substantiated by an international mathematics and science test conducted in 1991 with Hungary by the International Assessment of Educational Progress (the international branch of the Educational Testing Service in the United States). General conclusions Hungary's experience with IEA is a valuable source for restructuring the public education system in the wake of political changes. Some of these experiences could also be adopted in developing ways to influence educational reforms throughout Eastern Europe. First, I would like to focus on the necessity of changing the theoretical framework of education (ideology versus reality). Second, I consider the implications for the operation of the system (the centralization-decentralization trade-off). Finally, I raise the issue of provincialism versus globalism.

36 Hungarian experiences in international student achievement surveys 437 IDEOLOGY VERSUS REALITY During the past forty years of Soviet rule in Eastern and Central Europe, Marxist-Leninist ideology imprinted itself on all walks of life; and this applied extensively to education. In contrast to positivist and humanistic paradigms, the Soviet model of educational philosophy came to be called the 'ideological paradigm'. This paradigm, which prevailed east of the Elbe river, was based on the assumption that education could create socialist personalities. Thus, adherents of this philosophy disregarded human and social differences, ignored reality and tended to consider the ideological set of educational aims as absolute. Ideology infiltrated the entire education system: curriculum content, teaching, school organization and training. The centrally designed and approved curriculum played an important role in uniting these school processes. According to the 'ideological paradigm', the output of education should be coherent with educational aims - otherwise it was thought that something was wrong with the process. But the paradigm itself, never wrong, always remained applicable. Consequently, all positive results of IEA studies (especially science) were officially welcomed and thought to complement the dominant paradigm. But what was one to do with the negative outcomes (for instance, reading comprehension)? Luckily, positive and negative results appeared alongside each other in Hungary back in the 1970s when the outcome of the six-subject study was reported. Thus, critical implications about methodology and design could not be raised in one regard (language) but ignored in another (science and maths). Ultimately, Hungarian education policy was forced to acknowledge the negative nonscience achievement results. It is ironic - and paradoxical - that it was probably the negative findings from the IEA studies, rather than the positive ones, that helped to transform educational thinking and re-establish respect for reality. The ruling educational policy had suffered itsfirst blow. In this ideological context, two groups of research findings had far-reaching effects: (a) comparisons involving between-school variations; and (b) home and school effects on learning. Between-school variance in achievement During the 1986 IEA General Assembly meeting in Stockholm, Sixten Marklund, a Swedish researcher, displayed an especially thought-provoking table, based on his secondary analysis of the 1970 science education survey (see Table 1). The data in the table unequivocally indicated that, while the differences measured by percentage of student variance between Swedish schools were rather minor, they were striking in the case of Hungary. How interesting it was, I thought at the time, that education policy had set the aim of creating equal school opportunities in both countries, but, given resources, time and energy, this objective was realized much more in Sweden than in Hungary. TABLE 1. Percentage ratio of between-school variance to overall achievement variance in First IEA Science Study Country 10-year-olds England 19 Finland 28 Hungary 40 Japan 18 Netherlands 23 Scodand 29 Sweden 15 United States 32 Federal Republic of Germany 27 Country average 26 Source: Marklund (1986). 14-year-olds Data indicating differences between schools and classes in science and reading comprehension clearly showed that differences between schools were large in Hungarian schools compared to schools in other developed countries. At the same time, it could also be determined that between-school differences were negligible in Finland and Japan. All this led to the conclu-

37 438 Zoltán Báthory sion that there exist differences across countries in the way school opportunities are distributed. These differences must be determined in part by national educational policy. In any event, large Hungarian achievement differences between schools remained an irritant to the ideological paradigm. Home and school influences on student achievement Regression analysis applied to IEA data helped Hungarian researchers to understand better the influence exerted by home and school factors on various types of achievement across age levels. Generally speaking, analysis of the IEA data revealed that for those children undergoing compulsory schooling, home factors were responsible for a greater part of the student achievement variation than were the schools themselves. Furthermore, the differences found were greater in non-science than in science and mathematics and at lower grade levels. Table 2 presents selected results. By comparing the variations due to these factors as witnessed in Hungary with the variations in European countries, and Sweden in particular, two important conclusions could be drawn. In the case of Hungary, home background influences on reading achievement in the early grades were greater than the variances for many other IEA countries and certainly for Sweden. In brief, Hungarian family influences, such as father's occupation, mother's education, books in the home and the like, influenced student achievement more than in Sweden - a country claiming to comprise a homogeneous society. This finding contradicted official expectations because, according to the ideology of the day, Hungary too had a homogeneous society like Sweden and so the influence of the family should not affect student learning. In a word, why should some Hungarian families influence student learning when all families are of the same social level? In summary, looking at the data, the effects of Hungarian learning conditions on both science and reading were similar to those in Western Europe. Hungarian schools by and large operated in the same way as schools in the highly developed countries. If this was a reason for dissatisfaction, so be it! If there is still a problem raised by these data, it has to do with the failure to offer a good explanation as to how such badly paid Hungarian teachers could have produced such relatively excellent Hungarian students. According to the 1983 science data, Hungarian teachers received an average salary far below the total average earnings in other European countries - in some cases 200 per cent less. TABLE 2. Influence of home versus school on reading and science scores in Sweden and Hungary (percentage explained variance) Home influence School influence Subject Sweden Hungary IEA Average Sweden Hungary IEA Average 9-10-year-olds Science Reading year-olds Science Reading year-olds Science Reading

38 Hungarian experiences in international student achievement surveys 439 To sum up, I want to touch on the importance of paying attention to reality. Empirical research is only one tool in the accomplishment of this aim. However, countries with an ideological paradigm should be aware that empirical research may result in data that oppose the paradigm. Looking back over twenty-four years of participation in comparative international surveys, I can at last understand why IEA was considered as the 'extended arm of imperialism' in the Eastern bloc. From their viewpoint, international empiricism constituted a real danger. CENTRALIZATION VERSUS DECENTRALIZATION East and Central European policy-makers for a long time believed that effectiveness of schooling - educational quality in today's terminology - was closely related to the measure of centralization in educational administration. This opinion used to be shared by some Western IEA theoreticians, w h o backed up their beliefs by pointing to excellent Hungarian achievement in science and mathematics. The examples of Japan and, later, of the Asian 'tigers' also provided convincing evidence. At the same time, however, the progressive Hungarian researchers did their utmost - especially from the early 1980s - to loosen the exaggerated centralism of educational administration by liberalizing its centrally prescribed curricula. In the Education Act of 1985, significant results were attained in this direction. Researchers never considered centralization, at least in its extreme version as it appeared in the region, as an important variable to study. Researchers did agree that school effectiveness was an important outcome to be measured and researched. I do not believe that international surveys proved to be a clinching argument in settling the dispute about how centralization influenced school quality. Both sides had ample evidence. No serious pedagogical arguments were ever put forward to show that the preservation of centralized authority would enhance school effectiveness. In the 1990s, in the midst of changes occurring in East and Central Europe, it is not centralization that is the danger, but, rather, extreme decentralization. I am afraid that many of us misunderstand the West even in this regard as we drift from one extreme to another. Through the Western 'window' opened to us by participation in comparative international studies, it is possible to monitor the relative flexibility of teaching staff with respect to teaching content, and the degree of centralized authority over the curriculum and teacher certification. In some ways, a central administration is needed to regulate minimum standards, especially in times when many Eastern European systems are moving toward major reforms. In Hungary, in 1990, the educational administration broke away entirely from the practice of extreme centralization and began to create the conditions of a balanced curricular regulation similar to that found in many European countries. For example, as part of this process, a national core curriculum was elaborated, and a public examination system was created. The national core curriculum should ensure a common basic level of education, compulsory for every school (Nagy and Szebenyi, 1990). Beyond the core curriculum, schools are free to decide how they want that core and local curriculum taught. PROVINCIALISM VERSUS GLOBALISM In the course of changing the political and social system of Hungary, the questions of what to keep and what to throw away cause much debate. Should Hungary try to merge with greater Europe or seek to emphasize national cultural traditions? The liberals emphasize adjustment to Europe while the conservatives stress national cultural traditions (Báthory, 1992). In addressing these questions, I believe each national system of education automatically perpetuates national traditions. Themselves authoritarian, educational administrations wish to determine the values and content of education; this applies even more to those countries that

39 440 Zoltän Báthory for many decades sat on the sidelines of Europe, with no opportunities for genuine international relations. Participation in international research activities can offer opportunities to become involved in the international network, as past membership of IEA allowed some an early orientation to European educational issues. It will be difficult to convince conservative national political leaders in the former Eastern bloc countries about the direct and indirect benefits of international co-operation. In this respect, it may be advisable to lookfirstfor allies among educational researchers. Beyond the general approach to provincialism versus globalism, there exists a more concrete reason for participating in international research. Measurement instruments elaborated during IEA workshops by a wide range of educational researchers from around the world (different statistical analysis techniques, sampling, test construction, curriculum grids, data m a n agement, etc.) may turn out to represent a truly international world curriculum design. T h e attainments, skills, abilities and attitudes arrived at by nearly every participating country during a study must count for something. Any international achievement test or questionnaire whose content, if it is to be valid, can only be elaborated after a minimum partial consensus arrived at by all countries, does indeed represent a tangible product of international cooperation. These tests and questionnaires provide a c o m m o n orientation for curriculum developers in their quest to find something truly global. Consequently, IEA instruments are worth investing in, even if a system of education cannot or does not wish to participate in the actual survey. References BÁTHORY, Z Some Consequences of the 'Change in Regime' in Hungarian Public Education. Recent Trends in Eastern European Education. Frankfurt am Main, German Institute for International Research. COMBER, L. C; KEEVES, J. P Science Education in Nineteen Countries. Stockholm, Almqvist & Wiksell. MARKLUND, S An Unfinished Audit? IEA, 27th General Assembly Meeting in Stockholm. Stockholm, Swedish National Board of Education. NAGY, J.; SZEBENYI, P Hungarian Reform: Towards a Curriculum for the 1990s. Curriculum Journal, Vol. 1, No. 3. POSTLETHWAITE, T. N.; WILEY, D. E Science Achievement in Twenty-one Countries. Oxford, Pergamon Press.

40 Using evaluation research for policy and practice in Botswana Serara Moahi Over the last two decades it has become increasingly apparent in most countries that there is a need to incorporate empirical research into the process of educational planning on both a long- and a short-term basis. Policy-makers gradually develop national philosophies or guiding principles in education. Next, they set goals and allocate resources to accomplish those goals, though, often, little time is spent thinking about ways to evaluate success. Then the process is repeated. Somewhere in the process, there comes a point where we need to evaluate our efforts and ask ourselves how far these policies and programmes have gone towards achieving our goals. Only from such evaluations can our policies, and the errors in current practice, be revised. tional changes have been so rapid. Even longterm policies have been made obsolete and irrelevant before they could be implemented. Finally, the trend away from quantitative expansion of the educational system to the qualitative dimension - looking at what happens in the classroom - makes evaluation research more important today. The purpose of this article is to share the experience Botswana gained from the research commissioned by the Ministry of Education, and show how research was used as a basis for formulating policy in educational areas formerly untouched by national survey research. The article continues by examining how research covering a certain number of research needs has served policy-makers, planners, testing officers, and Policy planners now recognize the need educational practitioners. for monitoring and feedback because educa- Botswana is a country located in the southern cone of Africa. According to UNESCO, Botswana's per capita GNP was $1,010 annually in 1991, with agriculture and mining as the key Serara Moahi (Botswana). Senior Research and economic sectors. The country had 1.3 million Testing Officer in the Research and Testing Centre inhabitants of in 1990, 25 per cent of them living the Department of Curriculum Development and in urban areas, with a net enrolment ratio in the Evaluation, Ministry of Education (Botswana). Former National Research Co-ordinator for the IEA Reading early grades near 97 per cent. By 1988, public Literacy Study; is currently working on the Criterion expenditure on education equalled 8 per cent Referenced Testing programme in Botswana. of GNP. Prospects, Vol. II, [, No. 4, 1992 (84)

41 442 Serara Moahi Past educational research conducted in Botswana played a significant role in the formulation of current educational policy. For example, current education policy in Botswana, referred to as 'Education for Kagisano', is based on the recommendations of a national commission on education, created by the government in One of the national concerns facing education twenty-five years ago was inscribed in the Education for Kagisano report (Botswana, 1977): Botswana has not, until now, had a comprehensive review of its education system in the 10 years since independence. The numbers of schools and students have increased rapidly - some would say too rapidly - but quantitative growth has had a bad effect upon quality. Little has been done about what happens inside the schools. In 1975, the Education Commission was concerned about the massive expansion of the formal education system, aimed at satisfying the increasing demand for formal schooling but without accompanying improvements in the quality of schooling. The appointed commission deemed it necessary to collect empirical information on some important aspects of the system through a national survey. The main aim of the survey was to evaluate qualitatively the outcomes of instruction at both primary and secondary levels of schooling and, using an input/output model, to relate the outcomes to school inputs such as school facilities and teacher and student background. from the IEA six subject survey (civics, literature, science, reading, English and French as a foreign language) and mathematics were examined and test items from the reading comprehension, mathematics and science tests were given to Botswanan Standard VII (last year of primary), Form III (lower secondary) and Form V (upper secondary) students. The research task before the Education Commission was to utilize decision-taking research to help educators consider ways and priorities for improving the day-to-day operation of school teaching (Cooley andbickel, 1986). The comprehensive evaluation of the Botswanan educational system by the Education Commission not only provided the basis for government policy on education, but also demonstrated a commitment to the use of educational research and evaluation in seeking solutions to educational problems in Botswana. This sentiment is still expressed today, as witnessed by an official government document entitled 'Improving the Quality of Basic Education in Botswana', presented to the Eleventh Conference of Commonwealth Ministers in October 1990 in Barbados. According to the report, efforts toward improving the country's research capacity should include financing worthy research via government and donor funds and the establishment of a computerized data unit within the Ministry of Education, along with a planning and policy unit. Developing data baselines How did the commission proceed? The commission decided to draw upon the experience gained by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) from theirfirstinternational studies in the 1960s and 1970s. Cognitive instruments The 1976 national survey provided the country with baseline data for the school system; these served as a benchmark for checking the effects of implementing national education policy. While no study since 1976 has exactly replicated the original study, intervening studies have always contained common areas of evaluation, allowing for observation of change across time. For example, the 1982 primary education survey used national tests to measure student achieve-

42 Using evaluation research for policy and practice in Botswana 443 ment at Standard VII. This 1982 Primary Education Improvement Project (PEIP) was also intended to provide baseline data on school facilities, teacher and pupil background information and pupil achievement. In designing these questionnaires and tests, some of the questions and test items from the earlier 1976 national testing programme were included to compare changes in student learning and learning conditions over time. This trend analysis of change in student achievement between 1976 and 1982 was thefirst time such data were analysed in Botswana. Keeping in mind the subjective nature and variability of tests drawn up by teachers, prior achievement scores based on grades were never really possible. To sum up, if people do not know where they are going or what they are doing, they will be unable to discover whether they have arrived or what they have accomplished. Common sense tells us that if people do not know the starting point of their journey, they will never know how far they have come. The baseline data obtained from the 1976 and 1982 education surveys did allow educational planners to establish some reference points for measuring school facilities, teacher training, in-service programmes and the like. The international Reading Literacy Study In 1989, the Examination Board of the Ministry of Education in Botswana joined the IEA Reading Literacy Study operating from H a m burg. In the beginning there were close to fifty countries in the study, many of them located in Asia, North Africa and Latin America. The Botswanan Testing Unit was interested in survey research technology - especially in developing tests based on test scaling models that could both guarantee reliability within a country like Botswana and allow educators to compare item difficulty across countries. Botswana was particularly interested in comparing itself with Zimbabwe, the other regional country participating, along with Nigeria, Kenya and selected countries around the world. The international Reading Literacy study was designed to accomplish two tasks: (1) to develop and administer a set of measures by which educational leaders could describe the types and levels of reading literacy attained by various segments of the school population within each nation; and (2) to examine the impact of varying educational policies and programmes, as well as home influences, on reading literacy. Internationally scaled reading comprehension tests in narrative, expository and document reading, along with word recognition in English, were employed in Botswana and other countries. Student and teacher questionnaires were also administered to elicit information about the student home reading environment and school attitudes and activities related to teaching and instruction. On the basis of these test instruments, a testing programme for 9- and 14-year-olds, a sampling plan, a data programme, and a timetable were developed that would allow Botswana to pilot test in 1990 and test several thousand students in Data were subsequently cleaned and data file sets developed at the Ministry's Examination Unit. T h e overall rationale of the study is presented in Figure 1, which shows the kinds of background information (home language, gender, geographical residence, family economic status, etc.), school inputs such as teacher education, experience and reading activities; school policy inputs such as emphasis on homework, reading in class, access to reading materials, etc.; all based on the child's reading literacy. Figure 1 serves as a menu from which any country might choose in order to investigate relations between the various boxes. The value of this reading literacy model lies in its ability to investigate how students of varying backgrounds utilize good teachers and schools to learn how to read in their instructional language. The model allows researchers to examine the wider process of schooling in a

43 444 Serara Moahi BACKGROUND VARIABLES SCHOOL INPUTS SCHOOL/TEACHER POLICIES IV OUTCOMES S Economic status Home literacy resources Home language Pupil gender Urban/rural II Teacher gender Teacher education Teacher training Teacher in-service Teacher experience Instructional time (total) Comprehension instruction Skills instruction Literature emphasis Assessment emphasis Homework (teacher) Homework (student) Composition achievement Composition-reading Document-reading Voluntary reading Instructional time (languages) Instructional time (reading) Teacher readership Reading in class Access to reading materials Frequency of library visits (class) 15 Reading materials in class 33 Frequency of borrowing books 16 Reading materials in school 34 Encouragement to parents 17 School pupil-teacher ratio 35 School reading initiatives Class size Pupil-special teacher ratio 36 Principal's level of engagement 20 Public/private 21 Principal's experience 22 Principal's time in school 23 Unmet remedial demand FIG. 1. Conceptual framework for reading literacy: a menu. national context while focusing on just a few relationships. Data analysis allows researchers to investigate reasons why some children, perhaps children in rural areas or those starting school late, seem to lack motivation or fail to study hard, and thereby perform poorly on reading skills. Instrumentation for the study was carefully developed over two years -first by screening test items from around the world, and next by inspecting and then pilot-testing these items. For example, an item from the word recognition test given to 9-year-olds is offered to show the reader the kind of test administered to children. This non-verbal test measures how fast children can recognize words and is correlated with reading effectiveness as measured by scores on tests of reading passages and graphs (Fig. 2).

44 Using evaluation research for policy and practice in Botswana 445 Boy Fingers 0^ _Ä < 4 JSgfg f ñ FIG. 2. Word recognition test items (after IEA Reading Literacy Study, Hamburg). Stimulating innovation Concerning the concept of school efficiency, the Botswanan Ministry of Education believes the kinds of hypotheses developed using the IEA reading literacy model will prove useful in making its own national report. Furthermore, the findings - both academicfindings and schoollevel indices of resource levels - will also be examined and compared to similar items included in earlier national surveys carried out in Botswana. Returning to the concept of baseline data, it is now clear that the database derived from the 1991 testing in reading literacy can serve as a further database. In fact, surveys are now under way to replicate the 9- and 14-yearold surveys on adjacent age levels for assessment purposes, using the latest test-construction technology. Botswana and other developing nations such as Zimbabwe are now entering a period in which their Ministries of Education are localizing research, in concrete terms through the establishment of research units based within the ministry, and conceptually by internalizing research within their own policy-planning and evaluation units. As Ross and Mahlck (1990, p. 11) stress: # Decision-makers in the 1990s will demand that proposals for change put forward by educational planners should have a reasonable chance to improve educational outcomes and/or improved student flows, and these improvements should be of a magnitude that can be defended in terms of the costs of making the changes. In an earlier citation of the paper presented to the Eleventh Conference of Commonwealth Ministers, Botswana's education sector was shown to consume 16.9 per cent of the total government budget in 1982/83 and 18.3 per cent in 1990/91. The financial context offered by these numbers suggests that while the education sector has only increased slightly over the decade, it is expected to remain very flat for the next five years, as the government finds it more and more difficult to provide additional resources for education. Under tight budgets, the issue of financial accountability stares us in the face each time the education minister presents his budget. There must be convincing evidence showing that scarce government resources spent on education do indeed contribute toward the overall goals of national education. This author continues to argue that new directions in educational planning will present new challenges, such as: the establishment of a clear conceptual education framework; the establishment of linkages between educational system data and the quality of education indices; the development of sound measurement and testing techniques; and the establishment of cost scenarios noting the conditions likely to cause anticipated change. Botswana's Ministry of Education admittedly set a precedent in gathering information to provide feedback for policy adjustments when, in 1976, it undertook the Botswanan IEA Replication Study, followed by the 1981 Primary Education Survey, the 1985 Junior Secondary Survey and, finally, the IEA Reading Literacy Study in It is fifteen years since the publication of the Education for Kagisano policy statement - a statement that still guides educational development in Botswana. Over these years there have been a number of reports in Botswana about the state of education. For exam-

45 446 Serara Moahi pie, many schools have been built and school fees have been abolished to increase access. Teacher-training colleges have increased and university-level primary education departments been set up to improve the status of teacher training. Teacher in-service workshops are taken seriously. New teaching approaches have been introduced to promote learner-centred approaches to education. The school curriculum has been refocused to reflect national goals and a practical skills orientation, including vocational education. Examinations and testing units are being asked to respond to new theories and technologies by emphasizing individual student competence. Added together, each of the above innovations should contribute to better teaching and better learning. Recent research in Botswana is providing information on the status of die education system in the light of ongoing curriculum, instructional and organizational changes in schools. Inferential and descriptive studies on classroom research report that teachers are unlikely to implement innovation enthusiastically unless they are part of the development process and have been allowed to acquire the required skills. Classroom-level studies also suggest that teachers are not encouraging reasoning and discovery learning in Botswanan schools. These findings suggest mat as school systems turn their focus away from books, desks and teacher qualifications as means of altering student learning, the cultural context of the classroom must be taken into account in planning intervention programmes throughout Botswana. Snyder and Ramatswi (1990, p. 15) raise these very important issues in the context of policy formation at the secondary-school level: School improvement initiatives assume that teachers and classrooms are resources to be used (to meet schooling needs). W e rarely think about the dynamics of schools - the pre-existing daily scripts and methods employed by teachers in the engagement of their classroom tasks. We implicitly see the classroom as a simple setting to be changed or modified as directed and not as a complex organization, resiliently enveloped within its material and human constraints. Such classroom research does not give us solutions to the problems facing education in Botswana, though it helps to emphasize relevant issues in the African region which can be included on questionnaires developed for largescale surveys. The role of national education researchers To strengthen education in Botswana, planners should view inputs and outputs in the education system as dependent on the social, cultural, financial and human contexts that shape education systems. Each factor should be built into the general research design, because any policy intended as one form of school system intervention cannot be isolated from the workings, practices and conventions of the other factors. In other words, cost considerations are tied closely to student and teacher attitudes and behaviours, and these in turn are tied to language and custom, etc. If educational planners work more closely with practitioners at all levels, then policy-related issues can be more precisely identified, and appropriate information gathered and analysed. If researchers work well they can help bridge this gap between the planner and the practitioner. In fact, whenever a researcher makes a careful study for the ministry, every opportunity should be made to communicate purposes and rationale to classroom teachers. The benefits to research are twofold: first, the teachers are more likely to support the data-collection efforts, and, second, they may be able to offer some very pragmatic suggestions to improve the study.

46 Using evaluation research for policy and practice in Botswana 447 Subregional co-operation in research Recently there was some talk about offering IEA survey research training to countries in the southern Africa region, as the UNESCO Harare office had indicated that such training was valuable. The intended purpose of this activity was to acquaint African researchers with steps in the survey research process and, more importantly, to see if there was enough support in the region to undertake some form of large-scale cross-national evaluation research. The thinking behind this idea had much to do with trying to initiate regional co-operation whereby Botswana and Zimbabwe, for example, might undertake a comparative study with South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia and Zambia. In a way, this is a good idea because Botswana is more likely to compare its education system to those of its African neighbours rather than to America, Europe or even Asia. The reasons are simple. Well and poorly educated labour from Botswana must eventually compete with similar persons from neighbouring countries in the region. If primary education in Swaziland or Namibia is significantly better at producing educated Standard VII graduates than is Botswana, we would not only like to know this but, more importantly, to know why. If the curricula of neighbouring education systems are somehow better, Botswana shouldfindout why, especially if its neighbours' curriculum programmes are equally priced. In conclusion, international research in education is valuable to Botswana, especially if research comparisons can be made selectively between similar countries such as Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland or developing countries outside Africa. At the same time, Botswana is interested in reviewing those countries where achievement is exceptionally high in order to seek explanations which might be applicable to the Botswanan context. If mat were to happen, the investment in international comparative research would pay for itself many times over. References BOTSWANA, REPUBLIC OF Education for Kagisano. Report of the National Commission on Education. Gabarone. COOLEY, W.; BICKEL, W Decision-oriented Educational Research, pp Boston, Kluwer-Nijhoff. FULLER, B What Investments Raise Achievement in the Third World? In: D. W. Chapman and C. A. Carier (eds.), Improving Educational Quality: A Global Perspective, pp New York, Greenwood Press. Ross, K. N.; MAHLCK, L A New Mission for Educational Planning. In: K. N. Ross and L. Mahlck (eds.), Planning the Quality of Education: The Collection and Use of Data for Informed Decision-making, pp Paris, UNESCO. SNYDER, C. W.; RAMATSWI, P. T. (eds.) Curriculum in the Classroom: Context of Change in Botswana's Secondary School Instruction Programme, Preface. Gabarone, Macmillan. YODER, J. H.; MAUTLE, G The Context of Reform. In: M. Evans and J. H. Yoder (eds.), Patterns of Reform in Primary Education: The Case of Botswana. Gabarone, Macmillan.

47 Dominican Republic: the study on teaching and learning of mathematics Eduardo Luna In the foreword to Improving Primary Education in Developing Countries: A Review of Policy Options, Ann Hamilton, Director of the Department of Population and Human Resources at the World Bank, states: A nation's children are its greatest resource. In only a few decades the prosperity and quality of life of all nations will be determined by today's children and their abilities to solve the problems that face them, their families, communities and countries. Education unlocks these abilities, and investment in children's learning is the most important contribution to a better future. The centrality of children's learning is widely recognized. This 'investment in children' concept has slowly gained acceptance in many developing countries over the last decade. Its recognition by Latin American countries has resulted in significant increases in educational opportunities for primary school children. With school enrolment ratios nearing 100 per cent in many Latin American countries during the 1980s (Lockheed and Verspoor, 1990), it has been suggested most nations in the region have achieved the quantitative goal of enough places in primary schools to serve the relevant school-age population. Information on quality - insufficient or non-existent A less sanguine picture emerges when one looks at the quality of education provided to students once in school. For example, most policy-makers do not know the educational Eduardo Antonio Luna (Dominican Republic). achievement scores in mathematics and lan attained by students spending a few Professor of Mathematics at Barry University, Mi guagami (United States) and at the Pontificia Universidad years in the classroom. Therefore they do not Católica Madre y Maestra, Santiago (Dominican Republic). President of the Inter-American Committee on Mathematics Education and member of the Unfortunately, many Latin American countries know if the quality is better or worse over time. Executive Committee of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction. mine curriculum areas that need still lack national evaluation systems to deter improvement Prospects, Vol. II, [, No. 4, 1992 (84)

48 Dominican Republic: the study on and learning of mathematics systems that can generate innovative and viable programmes to improve instruction and learning in the various curriculum subjects. In fact, it is often left to the teacher alone to determine whether a student should be promoted to the next primary grade. Under this system, how can one be sure whether standards in one school are the same as standards in another? In May 1978, the Government of Venezuela, through FONINVES, a foundation devoted to promoting scientific and technical education, and the Venezuelan National Centre for the Improvement of Science Teaching (CENAMEC), sponsored a conference attended by representatives from nine Latin American countries. The attendees were seeking information about the Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS) organized by the IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement). This conference, endorsed by the Inter-American Committee on Mathematics Education (IACME), led to different national projects, including 'The Teaching and Learning of Mathematics in the Dominican Republic' (TLMDR) - a project I will discuss shortly. In 1980, a group of professors of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), Santiago (Dominican Republic), initiated the T L M D R project. Dominican professors decided to pool their knowledge in different areas to focus on a neglected but important aspect of education - the evaluation of classroom teaching and learning. One reason for interest in classroom mathematics teaching/ learning was the perception that educators did not know how well scientific and technological knowledge appropriate to Latin America was being produced in the classroom. The lack of sufficient Dominican Republic college students interested and competent in the sciences could also be traced to poor teaching of basic sciences and mathematics in primary and secondary schools. In fact, educators had very little reliable information concerning the quantity and quality of mathematics learned by students in the Dominican Republic. Moreover, very little was known about the way teachers taught daily mathematics classes. It was against this background that the IEA International Mathematics Study provided the opportunity to share access to expertise, experience and technological know-how accumulated by IEA since the late 1960s. National expectations for the study were to receive empirical data which could be used to design new strategies to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics in the Dominican Republic. The strategies would be based on information obtained from national samples of both teachers and students interacting with each other in the instructional framework. Comparisons with other education systems, both similar to and different from the Dominican Republic, could show how well students were doing on the basis of 'the international yardstick'. The remainder of this article describes how the mathematics study was carried out, the challenges overcome and the outcomes revealed. This earlier study, carried out in the 1980s, has paved the way for participation in the newer international mathematics and science study now being conducted in over fifty countries by IEA, with an international centre in Vancouver (Canada). Framework of the study Like all international comparative studies, TLMDR was conceived as a broad-based, comparative investigation of the mathematics curriculum as prescribed, taught and learned. For the purposes of the study, the mathematics curriculum was seen to consist of three dimensions: intended (official documents), implemented (classroom teaching) and attained (student achievement gain on a pre- and post-test design). In addition to the curriculum analysis, the design allowed the study of several nonschool factors, such as family influences, since it is always more appropriate to study an education system within its social context.

49 450 Eduardo Luna Methodology Sampling TLMDR mathematics tests were administered at the beginning and end of the school year to a random sample of 5,342 students in the target populations (13- and 17-year-olds). Achievement tests consisted of a forty-item core and four rotated forms of thirty-five items each, from which students answered the core items and one rotated set of questions. The mathematics test items were selected from an item data bank consisting of translated questions developed internationally by IEA. Dominican Republic researchers certified that each item was appropriate for Latin American use in testing arithmetic, algebra, geometry, elementary statistics and measurement. The items were pilot-tested several times, ending with a final selection of 180 items, including 116 from the final set employed in the SIMS international survey. In addition to the mathematics test, a student questionnaire was developed to gather information about parental occupation and education, students' nutritional practices, the occupational expectations of students and attitudes toward school and learning. Similarly, a questionnaire was developed for teachers, requesting information about academic training, teacher workload, instructional materials and practices, opinions about the mathematics process and attitudes toward mathematics. A classroom process questionnaire was developed to gather information about methods and procedures used to teach algebra, geometry, measurement, etc. Finally, a questionnaire was developed which gathered information about the opportunities students had had during their current or previous school year to learn the mathematics needed to answer the test items. When TLMDR was carried out in 1984, there were two mathematics curriculum programmes that lower and upper secondary-school students could study: traditional and reform programmes. The traditional programme had been developed in 1950 and corresponded to mathematics programmes taught in the United States during the 1950s, with an emphasis on arithmetic and measurement, and some sets and statistics also included. The reform programme had been recently introduced and corresponded to the curriculum developed by mathematics experts emphasizing both algorithms and their justification. Students following either programme were eligible to participate in the study. The sampling design for the Dominican replication of the IEA mathematics study was designed to facilitate in-depth national comparisons rather than international comparisons. Local researchers were encouraged to assist in determining substantially relevant strata for the study. In the case of the Dominican Republic, there was an interest in comparing the major urban areas, including the capital, with small towns and rural areas, because, as with most nations, geographic differences are associated with economic development. Second, there was an interest in comparing school types, because these were known to serve different social groups and to employ teachers with different levels of experience and access to school facilities. Consequently, urban schools were differentiated as public primary and intermediate schools; public traditional and reformed high schools; private and semi-official schools; and authorized or not aumorized by the Ministry of Education to offer examinations. Urban schools were also categorized by population (for example, Santo Domingo, Santiago, cities with populations between 50,000 and 100,000, between 15,000 and 50,000, and less than 15,000). In rural areas only one type of school was considered because rural schools are more homogeneous than urban schools. Once schools

50 Dominican Republic: the study on teaching and learning of mathematics 451 had been sampled, students from appropriate grades were sampled in sufficient quantity to permit comparisons between school type and demographic area. In all, 116 schools representing thirty-six sampling strata were drawn. Data collection and analysis At the time T L M D R was initiated, researchers recognized the importance of effective communication with each of the schools in the sample in order to obtain all student and teacher information. This strategy required four site visits to each school in the sample. While this qualitycontrol measure increased the cost of the survey, it was felt necessary since it is almost impossible to establish effective communication when faceto-face contact is lacking. A team of fifteen fourthyear college students, under the supervision of the research team, administered the questionnaires and tests. Data collection proceeded well and all schools submitted their materials to the national centre. At the time, both teachers and students wrote their answers in the questionnaire booklets because in the 1980s multiple-choice test formats were new and it was thought that separate answer sheets might present undesirable complications in retrieving data. Some findings from the study are reported in Table 1, where percentages of correct answers on a post-test score (ninety-three-item test for 5,342 students from schools, 160 classrooms, over 31 school settings of various types) are shown. The national average across all schools is presented along with an international average of the twenty countries that participated in the earlier survey. From Table 1, the reader can see just how well students from each of the school types performed in each of the content areas. All school types in the Dominican Republic were below the international norms, with the private school students performing best among the school types in the country. In fact, the pre-test average score in the private school group was higher than the post-test score in all the other school forms. Activities stemming from the achievement survey A great deal of concern was expressed about the poor performance of the Dominican students in the international achievement test results, and educators wished to understand why this was and what to do about it. A team of mathematics educators from the University of British Columbia was invited to assist in identifying possible causes for underachievement and to help make recommendations for appropriate remedial action. A programme of classroom observations, videotaping of lessons and inter- TABLE 1. Grade 8 percentage correct score by school type and mathematics topic (Dominican Republic) Public lower secondary Public traditional secondary Public modern secondary Private certified secondary Private non-certified secondary Rural secondary National average International average Natural numbers Common fractions Decimals Ratio-proportion Algebra Geometry Statistics Measurement

51 452 Eduardo Luna views with teachers and principals in twelve randomly selected schools representing the various school types was chosen. During a twoweek period all lessons taught to a specific class were observed in each of the twelve schools. The purpose of the classroom observations and teacher interviews was to get a more complete picture of the teaching of mathematics at the Grade 8 level and to supplement and amplify die data obtained through the classroom process questionnaires. The goal was to be able to make explicit the kinds of instruction and learning procedures taking place in various schools, to examine the range of instructional processes and to relate them to the aggregate results obtained from the national survey. Results from the videotaping did provide a context for a better understanding of the nature of classroom instruction across schools. Schooling sessions in the Dominican Republic take place in the morning, afternoon and evening. Students attend one of these sessions and teachers may teach during any or all of the sessions, with a typical teaching load of forty-eight periods (forty-five minutes each) per week. Typical classroom instruction is restricted to copying lecture notes from the blackboard and writing h o m e work exercises in a notebook. Such practice restricts the amount of time available for other instructional activities like guided practice or problem-solving, independent work, etc. Reliance on note-taking based on copying was not monitored for accuracy, with teaching load most often cited by teachers as the reason for little monitoring and feedback. Employing curriculum development and in-service training Results obtained from T L M D R classroom observations led to a decision to attack die problems in two ways: (1) a curriculum development centre for mathematics was needed to prepare high-quality materials appropriate to the Dominican context, which would enable teachers better to instruct pupils in mathematics; (2) it was clear many Dominican teachers needed to upgrade their teaching skills; for this purpose an in-service education programme was implemented. THE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTION To aid me curriculum development centre, a desktop publishing system including Macintosh microcomputers, laser printers and several software packages was acquired for the Dominican centre wim funds provided by the International Development and Research Centre (IDRC) in Ottawa (Canada). This equipment, maintained locally, resulted in the production of low-cost, easy-to-use teaching materials which could be reproduced in large quantity for distribution to teachers. Two mathematics curriculum units of the Grade 8 content on which students scored particularly poorly (Luna et al., 1991) were chosen, and Spanish-language versions of the units were developed, produced in consumable form and distributed to schools. IN-SERVICE PROGRAMMES One Grade 8 mathematics teacher from each of forty-eight schools in the Santiago area was invited to participate in the in-service education programme in the summer of 1987, making use of the two units described in die previous paragraph. Participants were randomly assigned to either a short (three-day) or long (three-week) training session. During the long session, teachers were introduced to teaching models that supported the structure of the lessons developed. They watched presentations and in turn presented lessons which were videotaped. Much time was spent discussing the mathematical content of the lessons, since many teachers lacked an understanding of mathematics. Both groups of teachers were later observed

52 Dominican Republic: the study on and learning of mathematics 453 teaching mathematics in their classroom, and rated on the basis of adjustment to the teacher model and knowledge of lesson content. Likewise, a pre- and post-test on the subjects for the two units were administered to the students of the in-service teachers. In all cases, those teachers attending the longer training programme, and their students, were rated highest. Since the establishment of the Curriculum Development Centre, designed to examine reasons for the uneven achievement performance in the Dominican Republic,financialassistance from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), joint efforts with the University of British Columbia, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and the Latin American Centre for Research and Development of Mathematics Education have been provided so that the curriculum centre can continue to investigate the teaching and learning of mathematics in the Dominican Republic. Looking to the 1990s The following passage, from the preface of a World Bank report, is relevant here: 'There are two ways educational systems can be organized. One is to keep teaching children without any feedback on what students learn. The other is to institute a national assessment system to monitor student learning for feedback and improvement' (Horn et al., 1991). Although most educational systems in the world today follow thefirst approach, the situation is rapidly changing. Many countries, including several in Latin America, have come to realize the potential for measuring student achievement for the purpose of improving school quality. Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico are countries in the vanguard of this movement. Educational programmes in Belize, Brazil (Northeast and Säo Paulo), Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Jamaica have already included proposals to establish educational assessments. Implementing educational assessment is not easy: to be done properly, it requires technical expertise, financial resources and institutional and government commitment. Experience in international comparative education studies by Dominican researchers has proved that the technical experience of IEA, combined with a local commitment to enrich country analysis, can yield viable, low-cost strategies to improve the teaching and learning of school subjects. At present, Latin American countries working on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. National Project Co-ordinators from each of these countries met in Caracas in April 1991, and again in Santo Domingo in February 1992, to discuss the survey framework, instruments and sampling design. A product of these meetings has been the agreement to participate in TIMSS at least at the lower secondary-school level; to complete the questionnaires sent out by the international co-ordinating centre; to participate in the pilot-testing of the open-ended items; and to conduct a pilot study on mathematics and science using the instruments developed. This joint venture represents the first time that a study of this type will be conducted in a large number of Latin American countries. In the past, Latin American participation in IEA studies has been limited, owing to the costs involved in the development of test and questionnaire instruments relevant to Spanish-speaking culture, in collecting and processing data and in analysing and reporting findings. It is hoped that this new co-ordinated effort of Latin American countries to participate in the New Mathematics and Science Study represents renewed regional interest and will be seen as a contribution to the internationalization of this large fiftycountry study of mathematics and science learning.

53 454 Eduardo References HORN, R.; WOLFF, L.; VÊLEZ, E Developing Educational Assessment Systems in Latin America. A Review of Issues and Recent Experience. Washington, D.C., World Bank. LOCKHEED, M. E.; VERSPOOR, A. M. (eds.) Improving Primary Education in Developing Countries: A Review of Policy Options. Washington, D.C., World Bank. LUNA, E.; GONZALEZ, S.; WOLFE, R The Underdevelopment of Educational Achievement: Mathematics Achievement in the Dominican Republic Eighth Grade. Journal of Curriculum Studies, Vbl. 22, No. 4, pp LUNA, E.; GONZALEZ, S.; YUNEN, R Selección de items cognoscitivos utilizados en el estudio, La Enseñanza y el Aprendizaje de la Matemática en la República Dominicana. Santiago, Centro de Investigaciones PUCMM. ROBITAILLE, D.; GARDEN, R The IEA Study of Mathematics II: Contexts and Outcomes of School Mathematics. Oxford, Pergamon Press. SECRETARIA DE ESTADO DE EDUCACIÓN, BELLAS ARTES Y CULTOS (SEEBAC) Diagnóstico del sector educativo en la República Dominicana. Santo Domingo, Editora Educativa Dominicana. WOLFE, R.; LUNA, E.; YUNEN, R.; GONZALEZ, S Informe sobre el muestro utilizado en el estudio, La Enseñanza y el Aprendizaje de la Matemática en la República Dominicana. Santiago, Centro de Investigaciones, PUCMM.

54 How Japan makes use of international educational survey research Ryo Watanabe This article attempts to explain, with some illustrative examples, the reasons why Japan has participated in the international co-operative studies sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), and to present a variety of impacts that have both influenced educational practices in general and advanced the educational research community in Japan. The article goes on to describe how interpretation of international data and research experiences gained from participation in IEA studies has been useful in improving Japanese education, and how these results have been shared with other countries. Japanese educators want to see how successful they are in helping youth become useful and productive adults. Setting high standards is not enough. Society must also be able to compare its overall standards with those of other nations as well as to review patterns found within its national boundaries. National or individual science standards should not imply just one average score, but rather various measures of cognitive learning (creative and critical thinking, factual recall and problem-solving) and attitudes toward school and learning. These patterns found in Japan and other countries can help Japanese educators find better ways of providing a balanced education. Pattern differences may also be used by other nations seeking to learn how to improve their own systems, with countries borrowing freely from each other in the market-place of pedagogical ideas. This sharing is what international surveys are all about. Ryo Watanabe (Japan). Chief, Section for International Co-operation in Education at the National Institute for Educational Research (NIER), Tokyo; formerly educational technology specialist at the UNESCO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. Author of several books including International Comparison of Computers in Education: Results of IEA Computers in Education Study (in Japanese) and Teachers' View Towards Instructional Ma terials and Their Use, and author of a chapter on Japan in R. M. Thomas and T. N. Postlethwaite's Schooling in East Asia. The IEA and Japan Japan joined the IEA in 1961, and the National Institute for Educational Research (NIER), one of the national educational research institutes established by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, has since then been the member Prospects, Vol. II, I, No. 4, 1992 (84)

55 456 Ryo Watanabe institution representing Japan. Immediately after joining IEA, Japan was involved in the First International Mathematics Study (FIMS), conducted in the early 1960s. When the research design wasfirst announced, NIER decided to participate in FIMS, with due recognition of the remarkable opportunity that IEA was offering to the international research community, and with the expectation that F I M S would contribute to the identification of the weaknesses and strengths of Japanese mathematics education. This decision was also made with the earnest hope and the confidence that concrete and valuable data would be made available for the improvement of education in Japan within an international context. Improvement of mathematics education and its modernization was an urgent concern for Japan at that time. Although the findings of experimental studies on mathematics education conducted outside Japan had been introduced, it was not clear to what extent they could be generalized to the Japanese educational context. Therefore, it was expected that FIMS would make it possible better to understand the way in which social background and pedagogical practices affected the learning of mathematics, including student achievement and teaching and learning practices. Objective data drawn nationally from thousands of students and hundreds of schools, and measuring daily practices and classroom observations, would, it was reasoned, provide ways to improve mathematics education. A number of nationwide, large-scale achievement surveys covering mathematics achievement had already been conducted in Japan, but FIMS had three significant differences: first, it was conducted internationally and it attempted to measure student achievement adjusted for content area studied and not studied; second, it examined a very broad and comprehensive curriculum content; and, third, it employed a variety of conditional factors thought to influence mathematics performance. National project leaders thought it especially important to measure student attitudes toward mathematics and achievement. Japanese data derived from this early mathematics survey, along with those from other surveys, made teachers pay more attention to the ways in which students learn, and not just to the content of mathematics. Since the 1960s, Japan has participated in several projects among the studies sponsored by IEA, recognizing the benefits to Japanese education. These included the First International Science Study (FISS) conducted in the early 1970s, the Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS) conducted in the late 1970s, the Second International Science Study (SISS) conducted in the early 1980s, and now the Computers in Education Study (COMPED) and Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) currently under way. Data from the Mathematics and Science Study collected over time reveal certain trends, showing the improvement in student achievement from decade to decade. The Computers in Education Study was planned as a two-stage study, starting in 1987, with data collection from school principals and teachers in Currently, the project has entered stage 2, with data collection in mid-1992 among students as well as school principals and teachers. TIMSS started in 1991, with data collection scheduled for early Why Japan participates in international studies Participation in international studies has brought about both visible and intangible impacts on education policies, curriculum and educational practice, and the methods of educational research in Japan. International studies sponsored by IEA are primarily intended for the collection of necessary and important data to improve individual education systems. Each country can, therefore, decide whether or not to take part in any study on the basis of the expected benefit from such participation. International and national options may also be added to the major survey, and these additions provide extra value

56 How Japan makes use of international educational survey research 457 to countries by allowing them to tailor survey designs to their own needs. In the Second Science Study, a practical skills test was included as an international option. Japan administered this kind of test for thefirst time, together with a few other countries, in order to compare the achievement of students performing, reasoning and investigating in a practical setting with that of students carrying out paper and pencil tests. As stated in its mission statement, IEA's mission is 'the conduct of comparative studies focusing on educational policies and practices in order to enhance learning within and across systems of education' (Hayes, 1991). This statement may, of course, be applicable not only to IEA studies but also to international comparative studies initiated by other organizations. However, IEA studies are unique in their planning and implementation, as they are co-operatively designed and implemented by the participating countries, and their data are analysed cross-nationally and made available to identify the characteristics of a given education system. One major benefit from Japan's participation in international studies has to do with the identification and testing of a set of core measures thought to affect learning (for example, school resources, teaching practices, curriculum organization and student and teacher attitudes). Early on, these measures are agreed upon by all participating countries as relevant to their own system of education. When one looks at the results for each country, interesting patterns reveal themselves and researchers can start trying to explain why, for example, teacher in-service training affects students in one country but not in another. Another benefit is that Japanese researchers who participate in the planning and carrying out of the studies, including data analysis, improve their own skills as well as observe how others from around the world benefit from the research process. Involvement in the process of determining a common framework for research, clarifying issues and problems and identifying a sampling design is a unique and valuable opportunity for researchers to discover the trends of education in the world in general and the scientific situation in individual countries. Through information exchange and the relation of experiences among the world community of researchers, people learn from each other, which leads to a better understanding of educational research practice. N e w ideas and information on education that work in one country can be debated and adapted in another if appropriate. In studies such as mathematics and science achievement, IEA divides the curriculum into three categories, namely: intended curriculum, referring to the curriculum plan at the macro level, which may be laid down in official documents or which may exist as a shared conception of the main curriculum content; implemented curriculum, which is the one actually taught in the classroom, or the content, time allocations, instructional strategies, etc., that the teacher realizes in his/her lessons; and achieved curriculum, which is the outcome of student learning, or the cognitive skills and attitudes of students that result from teaching and learning. These three curricula are interlocked, but each can be measured separately. In IEA studies, the above three curricula are separately treated and analysed in relation to such factors as students' attitudes and behaviour, which are often correlated with them. Before participation in the IEA, this kind of approach had not been tried in Japan, and few research studies had been undertaken, on the one hand, to examine the correlations between the scientific attitudes, perceptions and knowledge students on the one hand and their level of achievement, on the other. Now that mese innovations have been incorporated in the design of IEA studies, a longitudinal study on qualitative changes in scientific attitudes and science learning among elementary and secondary school children has been implemented in Japan. The results of international studies, which involve the participation of culturally diverse countries, each with their o w n education system and practices, are sometimes very useful in the process of revising the curriculum and improving teaching methods. Apart from the difficulty generally encountered, owing to the conservative nature of education, in introducing

57 458 Ryo Watanabe changes or innovations in content and methods, voluminous data obtained from a comprehensive survey may not be easy to analyse and interpret. In order to develop concrete proposals for the improvement of education using largescale surveys, it is necessary to focus on a few key educational factors which are important in one's own country. Researchers can then carefully home in on a few points known to be important and utilize data from the survey over several years in order to answer research questions that arise from year to year. Similarly, when surveys are carried out over several decades, it is possible to examine trends. Impact on curriculum and teaching methods In Japan, the school curriculum is prescribed as courses of study for elementary, lower secondary, and upper secondary schools, and is used to plan classroom instruction. The courses of study are regularly revised, almost every ten years since the end of the 1940s. The elementary curriculum was most recently revised and put into operation in April 1992; the dates for the lower secondary and upper secondary curricula are 1993 and 1994 respectively. Revisions of these courses of study are based on discussions among educational personnel and subject specialists, the results of which were finally published by the Ministry of Education and implemented by teachers. In the process of deciding the content and emphases of the revised courses of study, die results of research, including IEA studies, are taken into consideration, reflected upon and where relevant acted upon. As for science education, Japan has been criticized for providing students with a too narrow teacher-centred, recall-based style of instruction. Some say that students lack the skills and attitudes to tackle inquiry learning. Such criticisms are supported by results from a survey of science achievement conducted by the Ministry of Education as well as by the IEA science studies. The IEA Second Science Study revealed that scores for practical skills tests were lower than those for paper and pencil tests (Keeves, 1992). Teachers also indicated they spent less time on experiments and observation as children progressed through the grades. In brief, Japanese students may suffer from deficiencies in investigating and inquiry skills, in spite of their high content-of-knowledge scores. In view of these findings and others, Japanese educators have looked into the development of skills and attitudes among students in order to be able to nurture the kinds of individuals required in the twenty-first century - individuals who, endowed with a broad-based humanity, can respond to the demands of a changing society. In the revision of the Japanese courses of study, it was decided to emphasize observation and experiments, especially in lower and upper secondary schools, and to attempt to develop and foster spontaneous inquiry activities and scientific thinking skills. The teaching content of science education prescribed in the old courses of study tended to emphasize the pure sciences. For example, the IEA Second Science Study demonstrated, using analyses of test items, that students did poorly on items with direct relevance to daily life. An other potential problem arising from an overabstract approach suggests that, while it is wise to allow all students who have the ability in science or who are interested in science to pursue physics, chemistry and biology, the opposite may not be true. For those students who are not good at science and mathematics, perhaps study content ramer than rigorous abstract principles and rules should be adapted. For this group of students, it might be better to let them develop their scientific talents - scientific point of view, good judgement, and decision-making skills - through an understanding of natural phenomena based closely on their daily life. In order to make this possible, it was considered necessary to incorporate practical subjects into the curriculum at the national level, thus providing content relevant to daily life.

58 How Japan makes use of international educational survey research 459 While considering the impact of international studies, one cannot ignore the impact on parents and teachers as well as that on the curriculum. Japanese parents should be satisfied that, according to the IEA test results, their children do well by international standards. From the perspective of curriculum specialists and researchers, there are still a number of problems to be resolved in trying to improve achievement in mathematics and science. However, international comparisons, regardless of overall achievement level, still point out areas of weakness and can be used to address educational problems. Japanese teachers were also relieved to hear that their students do well on international tests. These teachers, who see themselves as responsible for student performance, are now using the results of the national report to diagnose problems in teaching and learning in order to improve instruction. Some teachers are even using the correct response rates of Japanese stu- Hungary Israel wmmítm) ^7777i ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ V /7/77777?///////////77A Practical total (69) Science achievement (72) Performing (76) Reasoning (57) Investigating (86) Practical total (70) Science achievement (62) Performing (81 ) Reasoning (48) Investigating (87) Japan ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ W/7777/7 Practical total (50) Science achievement (61 ) Performing (63) Reasoning (34) Investigating (28) Republic of Korea ^ ^^^^^^^^^^M >A Practical total (65) Science achievement (60) Performing (70) Reasoning (65) Investigating (70) Singapore y ?/////////////a Practical total (55) Science achievement (55) Performing (64) Reasoning (42) Investigating (79) United States WS//77777/77//////////A i i i i i i 1 i i Practical total (51) Science achievement (55) Performing (61) Reasoning (39) Investigating (68) Percentage correct score FIG. 1. Performance on practical skills test (14-year-olds, ) (after Keeves, 1992).

59 460 Ryo Watanabe dents for each test item to identify the level of their own students' performance in comparison with the overall standard of Japanese students, regarding both knowledge of and liking for mathematics and science. Furthermore, some very active teachers make use of IEA results in applying new and varied teaching methods to replace chalk-and-talk instruction. Urgent future issues Apart from mathematics and science studies, IEA initiated the Computers in Education Study (COMPED), because as computers come to be widely used in schools, the nature of mathematics and science and other instruction will change. When this study was proposed in the middle of 1980, the number of computers in Japanese schools was limited. Findings from a nationwide survey conducted by the Ministry of Education in March 1987 showed that only 6.5, 22.8 and 86.3 per cent of public elementary, lower and upper secondary schools respectively were equipped with at least one computer. Owing to the low diffusion rate of computers at that time, especially in elementary and lower secondary schools, there was an argument among Japanese educators, some deeming that it was not beneficial for Japan to participate in the study for the present. There was also an argument that computers needed to be introduced and used in schools, and this would have to be realized in the very near future. Since so little information was available, Japan was keen to learn from the experiences of other countries in regard to the kinds of problems faced in introducing computers and using them for teaching and learning. As a result, Japanfinally decided to join the COMPED study, with the expectation that valuable comparative information would be forthcoming, since some other countries in the study had already attained widespread adoption of computers in schools. In the old courses of study, computers were not treated as part of the teaching content, except in the curriculum of vocational upper secondary schools. But in the process of curriculum revision, it gradually became clear that computers must be introduced into schools at all levels. A decision was then taken to equip all public elementary, lower and upper secondary schools with computers by 1994 with budgetary support from both national and local governments. As a result, computers are rapidly being installed and, as of March 1992, 30.9, 58.9, and 97.8 per cent of public elementary, lower and upper secondary schools respectively had at least one computer. Although planners are aware that much needs to be learned about the extent and use of computers for learning in schools, useful information from the IEA COMPED study will be forthcoming soon. These results are expected to provide the basis for the establishment of guidelines for the effective use of computers in schools. Finally, data collected from teachers in 1989 and again in 1992 will provide information about changes in attitudes and availability of computer hardware and software over the years. One implication that can be drawn from the current study has to do with the positioning of computers in schools. According to the findings, those countries, like the United States, that have relatively long experience of computers in schools tend to place them in ordinary classrooms and make constant use of them. In contrast, Japanese data show that computers tend to be kept in special rooms. This may occur because Japanese schools tend to arrange c o m puters in computer laboratories away from the classroom. If computers are to be fully used and integrated into the teaching and learning process, they will need to be judiciously located. In the current computer study, a functional information technology test assessing the students' knowledge of computers was included for international testing. During the piloting of that test, Japanese teachers pointed out that computer teaching had never been included in the curriculum syllabus and therefore it would be difficult or impossible - even unfair - to ask Japanese children to take such tests. However,

60 How Japan makes use of international educational survey research 461 drawing on the IEA international paradigm and past results from the computer study, as well as noting that the mathematics and science surveys included items that had not been taught, researchers were quick to point out that the uncharted nature of computer use in schools demanded that some form of testing be carried out. Besides, it was revealed that some children learn about computers outside school. After some discussion, teachers and other concerned personnel agreed that the results of such testing could be used to identify the direction of future computer teaching/learning developments, as well as to help formulate future guidelines for computer education in Japan. Joint efforts for the promotion of international co-operation NIER has been involved in the activities of international co-operation and exchange in various forms apart from the IEA. The relationship between NIER and UNESCO is worthy of special mention, as the co-operation between these two organizations has existed for twenty-five years. NIER started its UNESCO-NIER Regional Programme for Educational Research in Asia and the Pacific in 1967 at the request of UNESCO, and has been collaborating with U N E S C O since then in the building and strengthening of the research capabilities of countries, especially in the region of Asia and the Pacific. In collaboration with the UNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (PROAP) in Bangkok, NIER has been organizing two or three regional seminars and workshops every year in order to provide opportunities for joint comparative studies, the sharing of experiences and information concerning critical issues in education, and the joint preparation of possible strategies for solving educational problems. NIER has, therefore, collaborated with other countries in the mutual strengthening of educational research capabilities for more than a quarter of a century, not only with the countries participating in IEA projects, but also with other countries, especially those in the region of Asia and the Pacific. NIER, by taking advantage of opportunities for organizing regional activities, has also shared experiences and information gained from participation in IEA research projects with other countries participating in the UNESCO-NIER regional activities. At the same time, because of the high achievement level attained by Japanese students in IEA studies, other Asian-Pacific policy-makers are keen to learn more about Japanese successes in curriculum, teaching, and other educational areas which many see as a prerequisite to their national development. As for the building and enhancement of research capabilities, IEA, in connection with its projects, has also provided training opportunities for countries that are participating in a study for the first time or those not familiar with large-scale research. In this respect, over the years NIER has had the opportunity to organize training and studies, and to accumulate know-how in the implementation of large-scale survey research, which it has shared with countries in the Asia-Pacific region (NIER, 1990). It is evident that there are many advantages to be gained by countries that participate in international studies. However, it is equally true that many problems and difficulties accompany such research, as it is difficult to develop a common research framework or design that covers diverse cultural backgrounds and educational systems, and also asks the relevant research questions applicable to all countries at a given time. However, participation in international research certainly facilitates the process of mutual understanding - a process requiring compromise solutions. Furthermore, education is a very complex process of human endeavour, and so it is too optimistic to expect miracle prescriptions or quick remedies to solve educational problems around the world in one study, even when that study is undertaken internationally and has comprehensive coverage and scope. Under these circumstances, it can be said that sincerity and enthusiasm on the part of

61 462 Ryo Watanabe policy-makers, educators and educational researchers in the everlasting pursuit of clues for the improvement of education are the key to the successful implementation of international studies. A good example has been set by the implementation of IEA's research projects, and this is the most significant effect of such studies. In other words, IEA activities, being international and co-operative efforts for the enhancement of learning, with the aim of preparing young people for the future, are of lasting value to countries which, like Japan, participate in international research. References HAYES, W. A. (ed.) IEA Guidebook 1991: Activities, Institutions and People. The Hague, International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). KEEVES, J Learning Science in a Changing World. The Hague, IEA/Flinders University of South Australia. NIER Tomorrow's Tools Today: The State of Educational Computing in Asia and the Pacific. Tokyo, National Institute for Educational Research (NIER).

62 What does Kuwait want to learn from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)? Mansour G. Hussein Because schooling affects society as a whole, the educational process is easily criticized, often harshly, by both teachers and parents, by those directly involved with schooling as well as those who have little direct contact with schools. The reason why so many criticize educational processes has to do with individuals viewing the issues from varying vantage-points. If parents find out that one of their children lags behind in school studies, the teacher and school officials are most often blamed. If teachers feel the burden of educational shortfalls, their frustration is directed at the whole educational system, or at parents and students. When students do poorly, they often blame themselves, which leads to lower self-esteem. The educational process is criticized in both developing and developed countries because education is a basic factor in the planning process. When nation-building goes slowly, the school system is felt to have failed society. In brief, education is blamed when national scores are low or students fail to learn skills needed in the labour market. While society certainly has the right to criticize the education system, only international comparisons among similar education systems can offer solid evidence of schooling's failure or success in a society. Large-scale student surveys yield results which can be used to diagnose educational weaknesses so that they can be corrected and the system improved. Non-evaluated programmes Over the last thirty years, Kuwait and the Gulf Mansour G. Hussein (Kuwait). Assistant Under- Co-operation Council states (Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emir Secretary for Student Affairs at the Ministry of Education (Kuwait). His particular academic interests are in mathematics teaching and curriculum ates) have carried out many educational and development. Author of a series of mathematics textbooks with teachers' guides. tinued until today, while others were scientific programmes. Some of them have con abandoned Prospects, Vol. II, [, No. 4, 1992 (84)

63 464 Mansour G. Hussein soon after implementation. Those which lasted did not necessarily do so as a result of scientific evaluation. Their continuation depended on personal expert opinions, or limited feedback from educators who were using their own judgement, though sometimes without statistical backup. On the other hand, those education projects and experiments that were terminated often did not receive scientific scrutiny beyond the advice of a few experts and educational authorities. One such project was a mathematics programme presented to the Arab countries by UNESCO, starting in 1970/71 and ending two years later in 1972/73. The author witnessed the implementation of this project from beginning to end. It involved the use of textbooks in Grades 10, 11 and 12, each text being introduced on an experimental basis in thefirstyear and then being made compulsory the following year. This project was never formally evaluated. Rather, evaluation relied on individual opinions and feedback from teachers, without any systematic survey. Another education project concerns the introduction in 1981 of an English-language programme to replace a traditional English-language programme used in the 1970s throughout the Gulf region. No formal evaluation was ever carried out to assess the effectiveness of either programme other than a quick poll of teachers. Starting in me 1980s, the State of Kuwait and the Gulf Co-operation Council states started implementation of a unified mathematics and science programme under the sponsorship of the Arab Bureau for Educational Research for the Gulf States. The headquarters of the Arab Bureau is located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Educational Research Centre for the Gulf States is located in Kuwait. The main interest of the Educational Research Centre is to develop all aspects of education in the Gulf region. In 1981, a mathematical programme was initiated in the first grade of elementary school. Thefirst mathematics text was experimentally introduced in two elementary schools in each Gulf state, followed the next year by a general introduction of the new curriculum and tests to all Grade 1 classes. The process was continued through to the ninth grade. Similar plans are in progress for mathematics classes up to the twelfth grade. The same procedure was followed with both the unified texts in mathematics and science. If questions were ever to be asked about the criteria used to introduce a given text, the answer would be the following: 'The steering committee for the textbook project believes that the text is suitable for introduction.' The steering committee consists of: the Chairman, usually a professor from Kuwait University or the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training; a member of the Curriculum and School Textbook Department; and one or two instructional supervisors. The c o m mittee members usually visit schools experimenting with the text, perhaps twice or three times per year. The committee attends some classes and, depending on the impression it receives during these visits, may conclude that the book can be introduced more widely to the whole grade level. This is the way the evaluation system for mathematics and science has worked in the State of Kuwait and other Gulf Arab states - an education system that relies heavily on the personal judgement of school experts. The need for evaluating how well schools teach mathematics and science Educational planners in the ministries of education throughout the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council present curricula to schools with the sincere belief that such curricula both develop and reflect the most advanced educational trends in the subject-matter. Here the following kinds of questions are raised: Are there comparative studies (for example, control and experimental schools) which indicate to what extent the implementa-

64 What does Kuwait want to learn from the International Mathematics and Science Study 465 S)? tion of curricula and textbooks follows the given planning schedule? To what extent do students comprehend the content of these curricula? To what extent are the aims and goals of the new curricula achieved? Mathematics and science curricula may be viewed as comprising three components: The intended curriculum: the curriculum that is defined by the Ministry of Education and found in the textbooks and teacher syllabus. The implemented curriculum: the curriculum that is taught by teachers in their classrooms and influenced by personal point of view, knowledge and experience. The attained curriculum: the curriculum that is assimilated by students according to their attitudes toward the subject, and individual study habits which can be measured using student testing. If the curriculum assimilated by students can be tested, then it can be judged in comparison to how well teachers cover the intended curriculum. Relating intended curriculum to implemented and attained curriculum can only be evaluated through an extensive monitoring and evaluation design which the educational systems of Kuwait and the Gulf Co-operation Council states desperately need. Monitoring and improving teachers' methods All educators agree that successful learning depends on effective teaching methods. If effective methods of teaching were applied by all teachers, taking into account students' sociological and psychological learning needs, then teachers unquestionably would be able to raise student standards. This applies to education across the board. If educators canfind out what teaching methods are followed by teachers, it becomes possible to develop methods which are more suitable to some students than to others. Comparison of teaching methods by student characteristics (ability, previous subject profile, motivation, learning style, etc.) can lead to refinements in the way mathematics and science are taught and learned in the Gulf states. Without scientific evaluation studies, which currentiy are not well developed in the Gulf Co-operation Council states, it will remain difficult to assess student learning and teacher instruction. Without such assessment, improvement in schooling is less likely to take hold. Using student achievement scores to monitor curriculum success Education officials usually consider the grades (either numeric or letter scores) students obtain in their examinations as a clear indication of the success or failure of the school curriculum, teaching instruction and student learning. Usually it is very important for school officials to set high standards in marking students, even though it is taken for granted that the high percentage does not mean much by itself. If one class attains a 70 per cent pass rate, and another class a 90 per cent pass rate, the class with the higher pass rate can probably be seen to have come closer to achieving the planned aims of the curriculum than the class with the lower average. In fact, it is probable that most of the students in the 90 per cent class have received high grades while the majority of the students in the 70 per cent class received low grades. But beyond these aggregate examination score percentages obtained for each student, there is a great need for psychometric evaluation to determine student achievement levels for each mathematics and science topic or concept. Furthermore, student assessment by mathematics and science skills and thinking skills needs to be measured. Subscores in algebra, geometry, c o m putation and statistics, which can be equated to the curriculum programme, are required. Sei-

65 466 Mansour G. Hussein ence topics and skills such as observation, measurement, problem-solving, data interpretation and formulation of generalizations must be obtained. The aggregate percentage score for each student now obtained is of limited value in evaluating the success or failure of the curriculum, even though the score has some value for determining student placement in further education. What does Kuwait expect from its participation in IEA's Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)? Before trying to answer what Kuwait expects from comparative international educational research, it may be helpful to shed some light on the education and evaluation systems in K u wait, so that the reader can visualize the reasons behind Kuwait's decision to participate in international survey research. The education system in Kuwait is considered to be centralized in its planning but decentralized in its implementation. The Ministry of Education determines management regulations inside and outside schools. The ministry also develops curricula, selects the authors to write textbooks, prints these textbooks and gives them to students free of charge. The Ministry of Education plans for inservice teacher training. It also evaluates different aspects of the educational system, including instruction and school processes as well as the organizational structure of the delivery system itself. Kuwait follows an educational model with years, which implies four years each of primary, intermediate and secondary schooling. In addition, two years of non-compulsory kindergarten attendance is almost universal. The system for evaluating student achievement in Kuwait for the purposes of promotion from one grade to another requires a minimum score of 50 per cent on each subject taught. These total scores are attained through daily quizzes and monthly exams, in addition to the grade obtained by students during their final examination. No students are promoted from one class to the next unless they get 50 per cent of the total grade in all subjects studied. If they fail to obtain at least 50 per cent in two of the subjects they study, they will be given another chance two months later to achieve 50 per cent overall. On the second attempt, if they are unable to get the 50 per cent minimum in the subjects failed on the first try, they will repeat the same class the following year. If any student failed to obtain the 50 per cent minimum in more than two subjects, they would normally not be given the previously mentioned chance. They would be considered a failure and required to repeat the same class. Table 1 indicates the subjects that are required from each student at every stage of the educational cycle. At the end of every school year, standardized examinations are administered to all students in intermediate and secondary schools. In the primary grades, the examinations are left completely to the teacher's discretion without any external interference. In both the intermediate and secondary cycle, the headteacher prepares thefinal examination in consultation with the school instructional supervisor, who visits the school several times each year. The final examination for twelfth graders (the end of the secondary-school cycle) is prepared by the Ministry of Education in secret. The ministry also plans the examination schedule without notifying teachers in advance. It then forms special committees, made up of teachers, who mark the examination papers by number (because of the importance of these examinations for future student success). If any student receives 60 per cent or more average across all subjects, he/she will be eligible to attend Ku wait University or one of the colleges of the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training. If any student gets 80 per cent or higher average across all subjects, he/she becomes eligible to compete for a full scholarship to attend one of the foreign universities for five or six years. Such scholarships are usually in the United States, the United Kingdom or in

66 What does Kuwait want to learn from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study 467 (TIMSS)? TABLE 1. School subjects taught in Kuwait Secondary (year) Subjects Primary Intermediate Science Arts Science Arts Islamic education Arabic English French Mathematics Science Physics Chemistry Biology Geology Social science 1 Geography History Sociology Philosophy Fine arts Physical education Music Home economics 2 1. Fourth-year primary. 2. Girls only. another Arab country. The above description offers the reader some idea of how important the final examination is in determining the future of Kuwaiti students. Having sketched the education system and the methods of evaluation used to promote students in Kuwait and the Gulf states, we can now return to our earlier question: What does Kuwait expect from participation in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study being carried out by the IEA? It is most important for Kuwait to discover to what extent the country is mastering curriculum content reflecting international developments in science and mathematics. Researchers also want to find out the extent to which Kuwait or the Gulf countries are achieving the planned educational and scientific goals proposed by the ministry, when examined in the context of the combined goals of educational systems around the world. Since Kuwait is a good representative of the Gulf countries, an international study - such as the one in mathematics and science - is of great value and importance, not only for Kuwait but also for other countries in the region. In this context, the international study in mathematics and science provides comparisons between countries in the Gulf region and those elsewhere in the Arab world and beyond to Europe and Asia. Therefore, it has great potential for determining curriculum impact on Arab mathematics and science learning during the coming years. The international study completes first testing of 9- and 13-year-olds in 1994 and tests these same age-groups again four years later in The design of the study enables comparisons to be made over two time periods, allowing 9- and 13-year-old trend analyses. The performance of Kuwaiti students, who are not unrepresentative of other Gulf Arab students, may be poor when compared internationally. If this turns out to be true, Kuwait wishes to know why in order to have an indication of where reforms are needed. Making selective comparisons with over fifty countries

67 468 Mansour G. Hussein around the world allows Kuwait to see precisely where its students fit on an international scale. But, more importantly, participation will allow educators to examine national efficiency in student performance. Those countries which perform well may offer insights as to why that is so, and other countries are free to assess whether such programmes would work in their own countries. In addition, analyses of cognitive profiles for students in Kuwait can show how students perform at various cognitive levels (for example, recall, application of mathematics and science), leading to guidelines for reforming mathematical objectives in the Gulf states. In summary, participation by Kuwait in international comparative survey testing in mathematics and science can address the following questions: Are students in Kuwait taught the same curricula as the students in other countries participating in the study? Do students in Kuwait learn mathematics to a level that could be considered of a reasonably high international standard? Are there any marked differences in performance between Kuwaiti students and students from other comparable countries in the study? In the light of thefinalquestion, it is especially important to note several key long-term generalizable benefits that Kuwaiti education has received from participation: Promotion of assessment research through new survey technologies and methodologies related to sampling, test construction, curriculum analyses, statistical analysis, etc. Monitoring the achievement of students of tiiree cohorts. Supplying a framework and procedures for writing test items for future local studies. Providing a framework for interpreting and analysing the results andfindings of similar studies in the region in the future. From these known benefits, and from many others that will become apparent during the course of the study, Kuwait values highly participation in international educational survey research.

68 The IE A project on preschool education Preliminary surveys in Portugal and China David P. Weikart, Shi Hui Zhong and Joaquim Bairrao Ruivo Early childhood experience plays a crucial role in the development of young children's later school success, social responsibility and work productivity. Research studies in some countries have found that young children living in poverty who participate in high-quality preschool programmes are significantly more likely to graduate from high school and get a job and significantly less likely to commit crimes. Although governments and parents today generally recognize the value of preschool services, includ- ing kindergarten programmes, unfortunately, to date, only a limited number of societies have invested heavily in high-quality early childhood programmes. But as more and more mothers with preschool-aged children enter the workforce, and as parents increasingly recognize preschool's impact on children's social, cognitive and physical development, early childhood care and education services take on added value. Worldwide, parents are beginning to ask governments to help provide early childhood services. David P. Weikart (United States). President and founder of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation (Ypsilanti, Michigan) specializing in early childhood education. Author of How Nations Joaquim Bairrao Ruivo (Portugal). Professor in the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto (Portugal). Why study preschool children? Serve Young Children: Profiles of Child Care and Why should government officials be concerned Education in 14 Countries and Challenging the whether preschool-aged children attend early Potential: Programs for Talented Disadvantaged childhood programmes such as those provided Youth. by child-care centres or kindergartens? The answer is simple: such attendance can provide Shi Hui Zhong (People's Republic of China). the boost in cognitive and social skills that the Professor and Head of the division conducting national surveys on early childhood education for Chi next generation needs to guarantee its success na's National Institute of Educational Research. in later life. It appears that both advantaged and disadvantaged children benefit from such programmes and that the advantages compound over the life of each individual. With growing recognition of the value of preschool services, Prospects, Vol. II, [, No. 4, 1992 (84)

69 470 David P. Weikart, Shi Hui Zhong and Joaquim Bairrao Ruivo middle-class families will make sacrifices to pay for these services should governments not provide them free or at low cost. Other families, even though they may value such services highly, will not be so fortunate. In this sense, we need to debate how best to serve socio-economic strata, and this debate will require empirical findings from actual studies. As the social demand for preschooling grows, most government agencies are searching for information to guide them in developing new cost-effective services as well as in improving current ones. Guiding information about such programme characteristics as group size and adult/child ratio (structural characteristics) is available, but there is little information about the process characteristics of programmes (the interactional processes among children and adults). Consequently, it is difficult to make any policy recommendations on how to improve services to enhance children's readiness to enter the formal school system. Educators and educational researchers in various countries have likewise been quick to endorse comparative international preprimary research. They are interested in recording the availability of early childhood services and die possible effects of services on children's future schooling. Countries involved with the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) in such research at the present time are Belgium, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Nigeria, and the United States. The researchers from these countries see a cross-national study of preprimary schooling as valuable for educational planners because it allows researchers to explore the experiences of preschoolers under varying national and cultural conditions. Whereas process understandings are not always possible to arrive at by a study of any single system, a study over many systems reveals certain behavioural consistencies under varying cultural norms. Thus, 'world of preschoolers' serves as a natural laboratory to disentangle relationships influencing child development and learning. For this reason, the education field is very interested in carrying out international comparisons of how preprimary care/education services are provided to young children in various countries and what effects they have on socializing young children into their national cultures. The IEA Preprimary Project The IEA study just referred to is known as the IEA Preprimary Project, and it is being carried out in conjunction with the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation in Ypsilanti, Michigan. So far, eleven of the countries involved have undertaken Phase 1 of the project, a descriptive survey (in 1988) using household survey techniques to gather information from families about their use of early childhood care and education services. In 1991, samples of the early childhood settings identified in the 1988 survey were selected, and now, in Phase 2 of the project, observations and interview questionnaires are being used to investigate the quality of young children's experiences in these preschool environments in sixteen countries. In addition, a subsample of children from each type of setting has been assessed in terms of their cognitive, physical and social development. In years to come, in Phase 3, these same children will be reassessed using direct assessment, examination of school records and information from parents and teachers to follow their developmental progress over time. Phase 2: the study design Phase 2 of the IEA Preprimary Project, which is being carried out in sixteen countries around the world, is guided by an ecological approach that views the development of young children as the product of interactions between the child

70 The IEA project on preschool education: 471 preliminary surveys i: n Portugal and China and the socialization settings of the immediate environment. Young children participate in a variety of settings that are significant for their development: preschools, child-care centres, daycare homes and their own homes. These settings are in turn affected by certain aspects of the broader social and cultural environment. The Phase 2 study evaluates the effects of different socialization settings on a child's development by exploring the relationships among: the structural features of settings; the socialization processes occurring within settings; various features of the child's social and cultural background; and the child's developmental status. Phase 2 data collection includes gathering site background information about each child's country, city and neighbourhood, as well as family background information from a family interview (including information on parental expectations for the child). Teacher interviews provide similar information, as do questionnaires administered to the administrators of each preschool setting. Observations of adult-child and child-child interactions are recorded and, finally, cognitive, linguistic, social competence and physical development measures are administered to subsets of children. Data-collection instruments are summarized below: Observations of the following, conducted at both in-home and out-of-home settings: children's activities; adult behaviours; and adults' organization of children's time. Assessment of children's developmental status in the following areas: language skills; cognitive skills; social skills; and fine-motor skills. Interviews and questionnaires to gather the following information: structural characteristics of settings; family background data; teacher/caregiver/parent expectations for children; and national-level information. In their 1988 household survey, IEA preprimary researchers contacted over 15,000 families with 4-year-old children to collect information about their use of early childhood care/education services. In each of the eleven countries conducting that survey, project staff located a national probability sample of families. In the present phase of the IEA Preprimary Project - the observational study - participating countries are investigating the types of settings that were identified by families in the household survey. Project staff have conducted observations in these settings, have interviewed families and teachers/ caregivers and have administered the developmental status measures to children from each identified setting. Each country is studying from two to five types of settings, and a minimum of 100 children will be observed/assessed in each. The children selected for observation/assessment in the current phase of the project will in a later phase be followed and assessed again, at age 7. Current issues in preprimary child care Three issues predominate in the early childhood field worldwide: availability, sponsorship and quality of services. If government planners can collect data on current supply and demand and determine how well programmes are working, they may be able to determine the best mix of private and public agency support for early childhood services and take steps to improve the overall quality of services. AVAILABILITY There are several factors worldwide affecting the supply and demand of early childhood services. In rich and poor countries alike, where mothers with small children must enter the workforce, out-of-home settings to care for children are inadequate. In those countries where the needs/resources gap stems primarily from low economic development, rising demographics and limited capital, any large-scale early childhood programmes will be difficult to implement, regardless of sponsorship. Previously, in many of these countries, extended family members could care for children in the home, but this

71 472 David P. Weikart, Shi Hui Zhong and Joaquim Bairrao Ruivo type of care is often unavailable now. Traditional ways of caring for the young have broken down while alternative systems have not been created. Governmental programmes are few in number for cost reasons, and private programmes are few in number because of families' inability to pay for them. Over the next decade, the balance between public and private providers will shift as early childhood services gain in importance and incentives for private settings increase. SPONSORSHIP In many countries, preprimary provisions fall under a wide variety of agencies - health, public welfare, social services, public assistance or religious. In most countries either the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Social Affairs assumes major sponsorship. In countries in which the Ministry of Education sponsors the early childhood services, kindergarten programmes employing thematic and activity approaches to learning seem to predominate. When the Ministry of Social Affairs serves as the sponsor, the focus is more often on child care with learning through play. The different views of the purpose of early childhood services (education versus care) affect much of the way in which programmes are organized and supervised, since funding, staffing, curriculum, ancillary services and links to other systems can vary dramatically. The presence of multiple agencies as sponsors for early childhood services in many countries has led to problems regarding standardization and quality control. QUALITY IN DELIVERY OF SERVICES Improving the quality of early childhood services requires training and certifying staff and personnel, providing parents with valid information, developing curriculum programmes appropriate to children and merging child development theory with day-to-day activities carried out in preschool settings. If it is true that the younger the pupil being taught, the more likely it is that teachers have inadequate training, salary and status, then the public's belief that the care of young children requires little if any special preparation on the part of the teacher must be altered dramatically. This means that programmes to educate policy-makers, parents and the public at large are necessary. Early childhood professionals and practitioners need to continue to combine information from child development research studies with information about the daily practices in early childhood settings. For example, new findings about physical development need to be considered when planning the purchase and use of playground equipment, and newfindings about cognitive and language development need to be considered when planning the daily pre-literacy and pre-numeracy activities for young children. Another issue involves how to balance group size with programme costs to provide high-quality programmes efficiently. These three issues - availability, sponsorship and quality - represent commonalities noted in thefirst phase (1988) of the IEA Preprimary Project from information gathered in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America, in rich and poor countries alike. These issues serve as predictors of future concerns facing the child-care field. We now turn to two case-studies to show how these issues are translated into national policies in Portugal and China. The Portuguese case-study: expanding kindergarten coverage Portugal is one of the countries conducting a national study within the cross-national preprimary project. Under the leadership of the co-authors of this article, faculty and advanced students in the psychology and education departments at the University of Porto, as well as

72 The IEA project on preschool education: 473 preliminary surveys i: n Portugal and China other national researchers, participated in the study. In Portugal the type of early childhood service typically used by families with 4-yearolds is a kindergarten programme sponsored by either the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Work and Social Security. In Ministry of Education kindergartens there is an 'educational' programme, which operates for approximately six hours per day, with a forty-five-day summer break. Usually, however, only 60 per cent of spaces in these kindergartens are occupied by children. There are children where there are no kindergartens, and there are kindergartens where there are not enough children. In Ministry of Work and Social Security kindergartens there is a 'social welfare' programme, which operates for about ten to twelve hours per day, with a one-month break that coincides with the national holiday period. Both ministries' kindergartens include both public and private programmes; the Ministry of Work and Social Security programmes also include other types, such as factory-operated programmes. Because of this involvement of two ministries, the country's establishment of new kindergarten programmes requires much co-ordination. In the 1988 household survey that was part of the IEA Preprimary Project, Portuguese researchers interviewed 581 families about their use of early childhood services. They found that approximately 30 per cent of parents typically provided the sole care for their 4-year-old children during the week, while the remaining 70 per cent of parents typically enrolled their children in one or more extraparental early childhood settings during the week (these included some settings other than kindergartens). Those children enrolled in extraparental settings spent an average of forty to forty-five hours per week in these settings. The researchers asked all the families what type of care/education arrangements they would like to have for their 4-year-old children if they had a choice. Eighty-one per cent of the parents who were the sole caretakers for their children stated that they would like their children to attend kindergartens, while 95 per cent of the parents whose children attended some extraparental setting other than kindergarten stated that kindergarten would be theirfirstchoice. At the outset of Portugal's participation in the IEA study, the Portuguese Ministry of Education had announced its plans to expand the rate of kindergarten coverage and to devise programmes better suited to the particular characteristics and needs of specific regions of the country (better suited, for example, to the density of population or the nature of parental employment in urban versus rural areas). The findings of the study confirm that parents would value this expansion and improvement of services, since it would increase the likelihood that they could enrol their children in kindergarten programmes. The Chinese case-study: encouraging prompt results Chinese early childhood educators see their role in the modernization of the country as providing appropriate environments for young children that will lay a solid foundation for an overall improved quality of life. One of the co-authors of this article and her staff from the Central Institute of Educational Research in Beijing carried out the Chinese national study within the IEA Preprimary Project with the support of the Ministry of Education and the International Development Research Council, and with technical support from the University of Hong Kong. The Chinese household survey contacted 24,000 families in ten provinces in China - 12,000 families with 4-year-old children and 12,000 with 6-year-old children. China's interest in preprimary education follows a long tradition of looking at ways to understand how young children learn, which dates back to the eleventh century B.C. In the early twentieth century, Tao ingzhi and Chen Heqin influenced both the theory and practice of early childhood education in China. Their

73 474 David P. Weihart, Shi Hui Zhong and Joaquim Bairrao Ruivo work resulted in the creation of kindergartens to serve the children of workers and peasants and in the development of a set of guidelines for the operation of early childhood programmes; these include, for example, the belief that both kindergarten and family should take responsibility for the child's education and that play and games are the major approach for teaching children in kindergartens. The household survey in China was important because researchers gathered data directly from parents as well as from early childhood settings. Thus, the data collection included families whose children were not attending early childhood settings as well as ones whose children were attending settings. With the household survey data, the researchers were able to look at the lack of services as well as the concerns about services currently being offered. The household survey revealed that, in urban areas, 75 per cent of 4-year-old children typically attended an early childhood setting or were cared for by someone other than a parent during the week. Nearly all of the urban children who were receiving extraparental care/education attended an organized group setting such as a kindergarten. In rural areas, only 25 per cent of 4-year-olds attended a setting or were cared for by others. As in the urban areas, when children did receive extraparental care/education, the most frequently used setting was an organized group. Since approximately 80 per cent of China's population lives in rural areas, this results in a 45 per cent rate of extraparental care for 4-year-olds nationally. In China, a variety of organizations/agencies sponsor organized group settings, and the major sponsors are different for urban and for rural areas. Table 1 presents the percentage of organized group settings sponsored by various organizations/agencies. The findings indicate that in urban areas the major sponsor is state enterprise, while in the rural areas the major sponsors are boards of education for rural towns and village councils for rural villages. In China, increasing the number of organized group settings in the different types of urban and rural areas has been set as a goal. TABLE 1. Percentage of early childhood organized group settings sponsored by various organizations/ agencies in urban and rural areas Sponsor Urban Rural town Rural village Board of education Collective enterprise Government institution Neighbourhood Private School/university State enterprise Village council Clearly, in order to meet this goal, it will be necessary to involve actively the many different sponsors of these settings. One set of questions in the household survey asked directors of organized settings about equipment and materials present in their settings. Table 2 shows the percentage of urban and rural settings with various types of equipment and materials. The data reveal that most group settings have simple educational toys and that approximately half of the settings have materials to make toys. A much smaller percentage of settings have other types of equipment and materials, especially in rural areas. Some types of equipment (for example, a sandbox) are fairly inexpensive, while other types of materials (big blocks) may require greater expenditure. However, in both urban and rural areas, more settings have big blocks than have sandboxes. Also, materials for children to use to make toys are usually quite inexpensive, but only about half of the TABLE 2. Percentage of urban and rural early childhood organized group settings having various equipment and materials Item Simple educational toys Materials for making toys Balance beam Big blocks Rocking horses Sandbox Urban Rural

74 The IEA project on preschool education: preliminary surveys in Portugal and China 475 settings have these items. These findings raise the question of what early childhood staff understand about the use of equipment and materials in teaching young children. Another set of questions in the household survey asked parents about their methods of dealing with various behaviours exhibited by their children. When the researchers compiled the findings for these questions and shared the data with officials in the appropriate government agencies, the decision was made to develop a parent education programme and to require the parents of young children to participate in this educational venture. In summary, China has so far used the findings from Phase 1 of the IEA Preprimary Project in three different ways. First, it found that there were fewer organized group settings available than it had expected, especially in rural areas, and it has therefore set a goal of increasing the number of such settings by working with the various sponsoring organizations/ agencies. Second, because of the findings about equipment and materials, teacher-training institutions will provide additional training to directors and staff in early childhood settings about the use of equipment and materials in the teaching of young children. Finally, government officials have developed a parent education programme to provide parents with child-rearing information and techniques. examined. As the social demand for preschool servicesrises,national policy-makers and planners will have at their disposal a potent force to reshape the future generation of citizens. Bibliography OLMSTED, P.; WEIKART, D How Nations Serve Young Children: Profiles of Child Care and Education in 14 Countries. Ypsilanti, Mich., High/Scope Press. SECRETARIADO NACIONAL DE REBILITAÇAO Experiencias novadoras no campo da integraçâo. Um projecto de educaçâo-integraçâo na comunicade. Lisbon. We have provided some general information about the IEA Preprimary Project and described two case-studies that convey the impact of the findings from thefirst phase of the study. Data collection for the second phase of the study is now under way. This includes observations in early childhood settings, interviews and assessment of children's developmental status. The findings from the study (Phase 2) will allow for the comparison of the quality of children's experiences across various types of settings (kindergartens, day-care homes) as well as across various countries. In addition, the relationships among such variables as teacherchild interactions, family characteristics, cultural setting and child developmental status will be

75 What does the United States want to learn from international comparative studies in education? Jeanne E. Griffith and Elliott A. Medrich Why do the IEA's activities interest the United States? While surveys of international achievement have always been of some interest within the American education community, these studies are now attracting considerable attention among more general audiences of policy-makers. There are several reasons why this is so. First, Americans have come to understand that important changes are occurring in the market-place and in the workplace, and that the kinds of changes taking place will have a significant impact on the rising generation - and on the schools they attend. A strong connection between education and economic competitive Jeanne E. Griffith (United States). Associate Commissioner for Data Development, National Center for cern about the balance of trade, the quality of ness has arisen over the last decade out of con Education Statistics, US Department of Education. workers and the educational composition of the Formerly Senior Analyst in Social Legislation at the workforce. US Library of Congress and Demographer at the Office of Statistical Policy, US Office of Management and Budget. sion on Excellence in Education gave special As early as 1983, the National Commis urgency to the matter of schooling and international competition in their landmark report, A Elliott A. Medrich (United States). Currently working at Management Planning Research Associates, Nation at Risk (US Department of Education, Inc., in Berkeley, California. Author or co-author of 1983). In January 1990, seven years after the works on education statistics and primary and secondary education policy, including The Serious National Commission's report, President Bush and the nation's governors highlighted the larger Business of Growing Up: A Study of Children's international context within which American Lives Outside School and, with Jeanne E. Griffith, International Science and Mathematics Assessments: What Have We Learned? Education, 1990, p. education must be viewed (US Department of 1): Prospects, Vol. II [, No. 4, 1992 (84)

76 What does the United States want to learn from international comparative studies in education? 477 Our people must be as knowledgeable, as well trained, as competent, and as inventive as those in any other nation. All our people, not just a few, must be able to think for a living, adapt to changing environments, and to understand the world around them. They must understand and accept the responsibilities and obligations of citizenship. They must continually learn and develop new skills throughout their lives. This concern with the economic implications of educational performance was not felt by the United States alone. Along the same lines, a report of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) articulated the reasons why the United States, like all other countries, will need a well-educated labour force, capable of adjusting to the demands of a society in which technology and information hold the key to competitiveness (OECD, 1989, p. 5):... our societies are going through a period of rapid and far-reaching change. The signs of this are manifold... Technological progress, international trade, the speed of communications, world competition... these are just some aspects of me change which is posing crucial questions for our societies, structures and habits... The analyses undertaken in the OECD, as elsewhere, in order to assess the effect of structural changes on economic performance, all point to the decisive and fundamental importance of education systems. It is they that hold the key to possible progress and that determine each country's medium and longterm prospects in world competition. innovation for this country, in which educational policy is highly decentralized. In conjunction with the goals, both the President and the governors have recognized that measuring and evaluating student success in the classroom requires both national and international perspectives. Their interest in international policies, practices and outcomes has increased dramatically, and they now seek information on state performance in an international context. This represents a distinctly new and expanded view of the American educational system. Fourth, it is becoming clear to American policy-makers that international achievement studies can give information on a great variety of issues, and that it may be appropriate to abandon the insular view of schooling that has heretofore left the United States on the periphery of the international education community. In this regard, a committee of the National Research Council wrote (Bradburn and Gilford, 1990, p. 4):... comparative research on education... increases the range of experience necessary to improve the measurement of educational achievement; it enhances confidence in the generalizability of studies that explain the factors important in educational achievement; it increases the probability of dissemination of new ideas to improve the design or management of schools and classrooms; and it increases the research capacity of the United States as well as that of other countries. Finally, it provides an opportunity to chronicle practices and policies worthy of note in their own right. Second, international achievement comparisons now receive widespread coverage in the American press, and the results have become the subject of intense public debate and discussion. When survey results are released, articles assessing the performance of American students compared with students from other nations appear on the front pages of newspapers throughout the country. Third, international achievement comparisons are now associated with America's national education goals. In 1990, the President and the nation's fifty state governors adopted a set of six national education goals. This was a major International assessments provide access to information across different countries and cultures about a wide variety of education policies, programmes and practices that can help us improve our own educational system. The surveys represent important opportunities to think about and examine many aspects of schooling in the United States by means of comparison. Fifth andfinally,international achievement studies are now valued for far more than test scores. Increasingly, policy-makers are interested in the contextual detail that accompanies these surveys. Information on the cognitive, social,

77 478 Jeanne E. Griffith and Elliott A. Medrich economic and public goals of other education systems; descriptions of curriculum and teaching methods; descriptions of the ways students (and teachers) use time in and outside school; analyses of parent and student attitudes toward education; motivation to learn and perform well; explorations of how countries deal with students of varying ability levels; and comparisons of the socio-economic context of education systems - these topics are representative of the kinds of comparative education studies that are attracting increasing attention. Taken together, these factors have elevated international achievement assessments to a level of high salience in American policy-making circles. In the future, they will surely influence how the United States thinks about curriculum and teaching practice in American schools. For that reason, it is essential that the studies be conducted to the highest level of quality, so that the data can effectively support the policy process. While the United States has been a willing participant in many previous international assessments - those sponsored by both the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and the International Assessment of Educational Progress (IAEP) - growing interest in the results of these studies and the data associated with them places new burdens on those who organize, conduct and administer these projects. This paper reviews some concerns that have been raised about prior assessments, discusses how the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is addressing these issues, and suggests some long-range questions that could profitably become part of the international education research agenda in the future. Data quality: a persistent problem Given the level of attention directed at international achievement assessments in the United States, the issue of data quality is especially important. Policy-makers in the Office of the President, the US Congress and the offices of the nation's governors are all sensitive to charges of poor quality. Policy-makers frequently voice concern about what we really know and what may be an artefact of a poorly designed study or a study designed for other purposes. Apparently minor flaws in some studies are used to reject robust findings across many studies. If the findings of these studies are to play a role in the American educational policy debate, it is essential that the research adhere to rigorous statistical standards. In this regard, we focus here on matters of sampling and data collection which, from our point of view, should be a central concern among those who organize and manage the international assessments. International achievement surveys are based on samples; hence the data are susceptible to both sampling and non-sampling errors which affect the accuracy of the results. Sampling errors are of special import because the international survey results are based on samples of students, not on surveys of entire student populations. In reviewing the previous IEA studies, three data-quality issues with significant implications for data analysis require special attention: response rates, comparability of samples and non-sampling error. RESPONSE RATES The response rate is the ratio of those who actually participated in the survey to those selected to participate. While there is no formal statistical basis for defining the adequacy of response rates, a high response rate increases the likelihood that the data truly reflect achievement among the target population. A low response rate makes it less likely that the findings are accurate estimations of student performance. At the least, high levels of non-response may have a significant impact on how findings are interpreted. At the US National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), domestic surveys and surveys like those conducted by the IEA must achieve response rates of at least 85 per cent (the standard by which NCES evaluates

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79 480 Jeanne E. Griffith and Elliott A. Medrich the quality of its own surveys). Non-response begins to matter a great deal as the assessments receive substantial exposure and as the performance of students from different countries is compared. Lower response rates invariably reduce confidence in survey results that are reported. In the absence of any other information describing non-response bias, a high response rate is crucial because there is no other way of knowing if non-response is proportionately distributed across the sample population. Table 1 summarizes ourfindings about the adequacy of response rates in prior assessments of mathematics and science. Based on an 85 per cent standard, few countries achieve the level of adequacy that NCES would require before it published and disseminated data from similar types of studies. This is not a criticism of the quality of work of other countries; in fact, the United States meets the standard only one time. Since studies of non-response were not published by the IEA, the impact of these sampling issues on the results of these surveys is not known. In fact, many countries, including the United States, have had real difficulty in achieving high response rates, thereby raising questions about sample representativeness. In our view, the entire set of questions surrounding sampling and data collection should represent a priority for the IEA, as future international assessments will surely receive even more attention than these earlier studies in the United States and in other countries. Hence the accuracy of estimates is a real concern. SAMPLE COMPARABILITY If the performance of populations on the international assessments is to be compared, there is an expectation on the part of users of our information that the samples from country to country will capture approximately the same range of students. In fact, achieving sample comparability has been an elusive goal. One aspect of comparability relates to agelevel and grade-level comparisons. These represent very different ways of designing and collecting international survey data. In the broadest sense, age-level comparisons describe entire population cohorts, while grade-level comparisons describe in-school population cohorts. Age-level comparisons can provide cohort profiles, without regard to whether or not the population surveyed consists of students in-school or out-of-school, although more frequently they are drawn only from the in-school populations. The IEA studies historically have sampled agegroups in the pre-secondary-level surveys, but not in the secondary-level surveys. At the presecondary level almost everyone in the focal agegroups is in school (and can be sampled without difficulty), but at the secondary level, in systems with lower school retention rates, large numbers of students eligible to attend school are not enrolled. Hence, at the secondary level, age-level testing poses a complicated and costly design, sampling and survey administration problem. Grade-level comparisons are limited to students attending school, and to students at specified levels of schooling. Their strength is that they offer the opportunity to relate classroom characteristics (for example, classroom processes and teacher practice) to student performance in ways that would not be possible with an age-based sample. However, since students in different systems start school at different ages, gradelevel testing controls for years of education, but not for differences in the ages (and consequent maturation) of students at a particular grade level. A 13-year-old may be at one grade level in one system, and at another grade level in another system (and may not have been exposed to the same number of years' schooling, or the same curriculum as a 13-year-old from another system). Samples of students in the 'last year of compulsory schooling' are particularly problematic, for they do not even control for years of education. For example, in some systems, by the last year of secondary school students may have had thirteen years of education; in other systems they may have had twelve years, or fewer. Grade-level comparisons, however, permit descriptions of how students are faring at different points in their educational careers, as defined by the system.

80 What does the United States want to learn from international comparative studies in education? 481 Other educational policies that interfere with simple international comparability are related to treatment of students of varying ability levels. This can stem from cognitive abilities, socioeconomic disadvantage, immigration or language proficiency. Whatever the sources of variability, countries handle such students in different ways - with streaming or tracking, with special classes or total immersion. When regions, schools or classes are sampled, the potential for systematic exclusion arises, with potentially severe consequences for sample comparability. Recognizing that these distinctions define analytical parameters and the types of description that can be achieved, all participating educational systems must strive to assure representative samples of the same student populations. This becomes complicated, however, because from country to country major differences exist in age/grade relationships, in the handling of students of varying ability and in the schooling of immigrant students or students who speak second languages. The international assessments should be able to support accurate inferences about a cohort, and samples could, with some difficulty, be designed to ensure that they capture the range of individual, school and classroom variation in each educational system. Design questions associated with sample comparability are important in terms of deriving samples that are analytically equivalent across participating educational systems. Under any circumstances, the objective should be to seek accurate comparisons of achievement between systems and across populations, without regard to different national policies that may affect the selection and retention of students in school. Where inherent educational policy differences disallow strict comparability, information must be included in reports and analyses to permit the reader to make informed inferences about the statistics provided. NON-SAMPLING ERROR Non-sampling errors pose a particularly daunting dilemma in the international arena. Nonsampling errors are the result of many factors which are difficult to control and describe, but among them are these: inability to obtain complete and correct information from and about participants and non-participants; participant non-response to questions; mistakes in recording or coding data once it has been collected; and errors in collecting, processing, sampling and estimating data. In international studies, the special problem of differences in meaning is introduced when test instruments are translated into different languages, and this can be an important source of non-sampling error. Subtle differences in national procedures in test administration or the handling of missing data can also lead to substantial non-sampling error. N o n- sampling errors are difficult to estimate, but they may result in bias and non-reliability of the data themselves. While efforts may be made to compensate for non-response, without special analyses it is not possible to know with certainty that non-sampling errors, and the impact they may have on the data, have been adequately taken into account. Strategies to improve data quality: the TIMSS response As policy-makers are referring to international studies to a greater extent, useful studies of the future will need to respond to the requirements for higher quality information associated with public decision-making. Information is attaining a 'high stakes' quality because it is being used not only for academic research (although that use remains highly important and stimulative), but also for setting national and subnational policies and practices in m a n y countries. If cross-national comparisons are to be scientifically credible, at least seven questions concerning the data must be addressed (Medrich and Griffith, 1992): 1. To what extent do the samples meet the study design requirements?

81 482 Jeanne E. Griffith and Elliott A. Medrich 2. Are there differences among countries in how the eligible survey populations are defined? Did each participating entity follow identical procedures? 3. How are modifications to the sample handled? For instance, w h e n countries legitimately sample target populations that are not thoroughly comparable with those of other nations participating in the research, are these non-comparable circumstances articulated and justified, and their implications discussed? 4. Are the response rates adequate on a country-by-country, stratum-by-stratum basis? 5. Do the characteristics of those declining to participate (or excluded from testing) differ substantially from country to country? Within countries, does this affect the degree to which the sample that is achieved represents the eligible 'target' population? 6. Do the age distributions of test samples differ substantially among participating educational systems, and, if so, what are the analytical implications? 7. How have issues of non-sampling error been addressed? These questions pertain both to sample design procedures and to the adequacy of the datacollection outcomes. Institutions collecting international survey data have recognized the significance of these issues, and issues that will affect data quality in TIMSS are being addressed in a deliberate manner. Of special importance, TIMSS is working with more adequate resources, and with considerably more participation of education ministries. This will facilitate the entire planning process for the policy uses of the data. At the same time, continued involvement of highly skilled researchers assures creative developments to stimulate future policy debates that cannot yet be anticipated. Furthermore, a Sampling and Methodology Committee of the TIMSS Co-ordinating Committee and an Operations Committee are designing materials that should assure carefully refereed samples and adequate oversight of the data-collection process (Griffith et al., 1991). The IEA Reading Literacy Study provides evidence of progress on data quality issues that is worth mentioning here, as these procedures are to be replicated in TIMSS. First, the sampling manuals and data-collection instructions were considerably more precise and easier to follow than had been the case in prior studies. Strong data collection requires procedures that all can apply and that enable reconciliation of 'exceptional' circumstances that may arise. Second, involvement of education ministries facilitated the process of drawing and executing samples. The impact of increasing government involvement was certainly evident in the United States. At the fourth-grade level, school and student response rates were 87 per cent, while at the ninth-grade level they were 86 per cent. The final data-quality test for the Reading Literacy Study and for TIMSS, however, will be determined by comparability of the samples across participating educational systems; by the nature of discussions of field execution problems; by careful questionnaire and test design to minimize non-sampling error; and by disclosure and discussion of sampling issues that affect how data are interpreted. Beyond student performance rankings: an agenda for the future Cross-national surveys of student achievement are only one way of evaluating the product of the educational enterprise. While the objectives of these assessments have been many and varied, the American press, policy-makers and, consequently, most Americans focus rather singlemindedly on how students score on the performance tests and how the United States ranks against other countries - as though the surveys represent a kind of intellectual Olympics. But as the scores from various studies have begun to appear somewhat redundant, policy-makers have started to ask questions about the systems - educational and otherwise - that produce these relatively poor perform-

82 What does the United States want to learn from international comparative studies in education? 483 anees. Under what circumstances do United States students perform more or less poorly? What are the effects of curricular differences among countries? How does motivation to learn and to perform affect our measures of student performance? Do student, parent and teacher expectations have a major effect on student outcomes? What are the effects of parental support on educational performance? What about other social effects, such as health, income, housing and peer influences - what are their effects on educational performance? One of the more important contributions of the international achievement surveys is that they can help us learn more about the correlates of achievement associated with excellent school performance. In our estimation, the focus of future studies should not be: 'Who's number one?'; the point should be: 'What makes a difference?' and what can we learn from different educational structures and institutional practices that could support efforts in this country to improve the performance of students and improve the quality of the schools? In that spirit, w e identify some general issues w e feel are appropriate for the international agenda. They go beyond questions associated with the current set of achievement assessments. Our intention is to describe issues which we feel are important to policy-makers in the United States and which are amenable to consideration in the international forum. On the basis of the discussion in the preceding sections of this article, we begin by specifying conditions which international education research should strive to achieve: Research should be focused, well designed and administered in a way that assures a high level of quality. International studies are expensive, whether they are large and complex as in the IEA tradition, or small and experimental as in numerous comparative studies documented in the professional literature. In the current environment of tight budgets we can ill afford to support research that does not meet reasonable technical standards that enable accurate cross-national comparisons. Project participants should be identified early on, so that there is ample time to structure the work to the satisfaction of both those undertaking the research and those who will use the results. Research objectives should be realistic and carefully bounded - purposeful, and not so ambitious as to become unmanageable and, therefore, less likely to produce credible and useful results. In other words, a great deal of effort needs to be invested 'at the front end'. Taking these three conditions as operating principles, there are at least six kinds of studies for the long-term research agenda that represent areas of exceptional substantive interest in the United States and, we believe, cross-nationally: curriculum research; studies of classroom practice at different stages of the educational process; studies of societal support for and interest in education; studies of adult educational achievement to reflect the entire educational experience; large-scale longitudinal studies aimed at illuminating transitions and contextual factors in education; and studies of special subjects such as foreign language proficiency and schooling in student non-native languages. We briefly describe some of the questions associated with each subject area below. CURRICULUM STUDIES We believe that it would be useful to undertake broader curriculum studies than those associated with opportunity-to-learn variables, which we recognize as one of the cornerstones and most important contributions of the IEA programme. These variables on opportunity-to-learn have historically focused on a particular set of test items or the targeted subject of a test. From the perspective of national policy-makers, there is a real need for information about the time students spend being exposed to the full panoply of particular subjects at each educational level, and the substance of the curriculum - this as a way of understanding differences in curricular priorities. Such information reflects dif-

83 484 Jeanne E. Griffith and Elliott A. Medrich ferences in educational goals and approaches. We need better data so that we can understand how our curriculum compares with the curriculum of other educational systems, and consider what these different priorities yield in terms of student outcomes. CLASSROOM PRACTICE As noted in the IEA's classroom environment study (Anderson et al., 1989), educational systems organize for learning in different ways. Descriptions of schools and classrooms - including, for example, analyses of management practice, classroom instructional processes and student and teacher time use, and staff training and in-service training - offer especially useful information that can be applied in policy settings across educational systems. While educational practice is in part the product of systemspecific social, cultural and economic circumstances, there are many opportunities to share and borrow strategically. The OECD International Education Indicators Project (INES) represents one effort to develop these broader contextual elements and to provide comparably based, descriptive measures of school and classroom organization. SOCIETAL SUPPORT FOR EDUCATION A recent publication of the US National Center for Education Statistics (US Department of Education, 1991, p. 23) notes:... we need a much better understanding of the conditions of families with young children, and of children's readiness to learn as they enter the formal educational system.... If the public is to understand not only educational performance but also the environment in which schools and colleges pursue their mission, it is essential that we have a much better understanding of [family support for learning, community and cultural support, andfinancial support]. It is clear from small-scale case-studies like those of Stevenson et al. (1986) that the purpose of education, schooling and culture is viewed in very different ways from country to country. This, in turn, seems to have a great deal to do with students' attitudes toward education, how hard they work at school, teachers' expectations for students from widely varying backgrounds, the level of national support for education and so forth. The INES Project is attempting to describe attitudes and expectations towards schools and schooling among parents, teachers, the general public, students and employers crossnationally. This may yield a productive approach to understanding the role of education in the larger social order, and help distinguish the national education 'psyche' across countries and cultures. Ultimately, effective research may require intensive case-studies. STUDIES OF ADULT EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT In many countries that participate in international achievement surveys, significant proportions of the adult population achieve some level of post-secondary education. Parallel to studies of adult literacy, it would be useful to explore the overall levels of achievement, attainment and work- and life-related skills attained by adult populations. This is one way of exploring the relationship of various aspects of educational experiences to such outcomes in different countries. In an international context, studies of adult educational achievement can inform policymakers who want to compare the return on investment associated with commitments to postsecondary education. LARGE-SCALE LONGITUDINAL STUDIES Longitudinal studies of cohorts of youth contribute to our understanding of factors associated with more or less successful transitions between phases of schooling; of relationships between students' experiences inside and outside of school and their educational and other

84 What does the United States want to learn from international comparative studies in education? 485 performance; of the effects of various behaviours on educational commitment, involvement and attainment; of the relationships between students, parents and teachers; and of the influences on and effects of motivation and engagement in education. A longitudinal perspective in such studies would contribute greatly towards our understanding of how these relationships react to varying educational systems and institutional practices with a broader variety of situations on which to draw inferences. SPECIAL LANGUAGE-RELATED STUDIES studies in education can have a powerful impact on the ways in which American educators think about education policy, on the organization and curriculum of schools and classrooms and on the connections between schools and families. But to inform the policy process it is essential that cross-national data be high-quality and comparable. While the stage is set for integrating data from comparative studies into future debates, technical difficulties inherent in cross-national research must be satisfactorily addressed, and the studies must respond to the needs of many audiences with many different interests. Changes in the international economy and immigration policies are creating new challenges for the schools. For example, second-language studies should receive more attention. There are two types of studies of second languages that are needed. Thefirst should address how well schools are preparing students to live and work in a multilingual world. Will there be sufficient numbers of young people trained in the languages of emerging nations? The second is how well nations are dealing with the increasing numbers of students for whom the national tongue is a second language. Both are issues of real significance, and we know too little of the crossnational experience. We note that the IEA intends to introduce a language-testing cycle, and yielding valuable comparative data will be a challenge for these assessments. There are many ways in which international education assessments can help us better understand the role of schooling in society, and the effectiveness of schools as institutions with broad social functions. These initiatives deserve a special place in future programmes. Perhaps the important point is that the historic testing areas ought not to be the sole focus of the IEA effort. In the demanding, competitive environment of the new century, educational policy-makers in the United States will need to evaluate the quality and outcomes of schooling against both national and international criteria. Comparative References ANDERSON, L.; RYAN, D.; SHAPIRO, B The IEA Classroom Environment Study. Oxford, Pergamon Press. BRADBURN, N.; GILFORD, D. (eds.) A Framework and Principles for International Comparative Studies in Education. Washington, D.C., National Academy Press. GRIFFITH, J. E.; OWEN, E.; PEAK, L.; MEDRICH, E National Education Goals and the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Statistical Association, Atlanta, Ga., August MEDRICH, E. A.; GRIFFITH, J. E International Mathematics and Science Assessments: What Have We Learned? Washington, D.C., US National Center for Education Statistics. ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DE VELOPMENT (OECD) Education and the Economy in a Changing Society. Paris, OECD. STEVENSON, H. W.; AZUMA, H.; HAKUTA, K Child Development and Education in Japan. New York, W. H. Freeman & Co. US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION National Goals for Education. Washington, D.C., Superintendent of Documents.. NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS, SPECIAL STUDY PANEL ON EDUCATION INDICATORS Education Counts: An Indicator System to Monitor the Nation's Educational Health. Washington, D.C, Superintendent of Documents.. NATIONAL COMMISSION ON ECELLENCE IN EDUCA TION A Nation at Risk. Washington, D.C, US National Center for Education Statistics.

85 TRENDS/CASES

86 Language, interculturalism and human rights Three European cases Norma Tarrow In the closing years of the twentieth century, all across the globe, nations and their educational systems are having to recognize and respond to the increased heterogeneity of their societies. A variety of terms have been used to describe these responses - for example, multicultural, intercultural, bilingual, development and human rights education, ethnic studies, anti-racist and prejudice reduction education. This plethora of terminology is redundant and/or confusing. In addition, programmes are often developed without a strong theoretical underpinning and are oversimplified in their presentation - frequently ignoring more significant and broader issues. Yet, taxonomic frameworks for analysis do exist in thefield of multicultural/intercultural education 1 and recent work has postulated an oscillation model to account for its history (Gundara and Jones, 1991). This article is based on a developmental paradigm viewing societies as moving sequentially and (in spite of occasional regressions) invariantly through three major stages. As the opposing forces of supra-national amalgamation and ethno-linguistic separation rivet attention on both Eastern and Western Europe, more attention is belatedly being paid to territorial (indigenous) groups, several of whom are actively engaged in linguistic and cultural revitalization, often pitting these subordinate groups against the dominant or majority groups in the nation-state. 2 Progressing from paradigm to practice, in the fields of language retrieval, interculturalism and human rights, the model will be applied to three indigenous groups - the Welsh in the United Kingdom and the Basques Norma Tarrow (United States). Professor of Education at California State University. Her research and the Catalans in Spain. interests include human rights and intercultural education specializing in the education of indigenous minority groups. She is the editor of Human Rights and Education and the author (with Sara W. Lundsteen) of Guiding Young Children's Learning: A Comprehensive Approach to Early Childhood Education and Activities and Resources for Guiding Young Children's Learning. She has also The paradigm The reality of multicultural societies is being authored chapters in several recent volumes in her met with approaches which appear to be based fields of competence. on three different ideologies: assimilation, ac- Prospecls, Vol. II, [, No. 4, 1992 (84)

87 490 Norma Tarrozv commodation and 'interculturation'. 3 The first, in its pure form, envisions a monocultural society and implies non-recognition or non-acceptance of the reality and permanence of multiculturalism until forced to do so (usually by some traumatic events), as well as the nonequality of dominant and subordinate groups. The second, in its early phase, is still based on the non-equality of dominant and subordinate groups with compensatory programmes to accommodate (to some degree) to the needs and values of the latter. Since the goal, however, is still one of assimilating (or at best, integrating) members of the subordinate groups into the dominant society, these compensatory programmes can be viewed only as a transitional phase between assimilation and accommodation. As the vision of a monocultural society is reluctantly relinquished and replaced with a cultural-pluralist perspective, the ideology progresses to one of accommodation. This cultural-pluralist view of society and its accommodation ideology permit (in addition to the transmission of the language and culture of the dominant group) attention to the language and culture of the subordinate groups. Thus, at this level, there is a proliferation of minority language and culture programmes - ethnic studies, bilingual education, alternative religious studies, etc. All of these programmes are directed at and for the members of minority groups, permitting the maintenance of separate identities and (ideally) shared participation in the dominant society: a kind of balancing act between the competing goals of cultural diversity and social cohesion that constitutes the 'pluralist dilemma' referred to by Bullivant (1981). Responses based on the concept of shared participation are designed to equalize access and include affirmative action and equal opportunity programmes. The last phase of this level, which serves as a transition to the next, calls for legitimizing the language and culture of the subordinate groups on the part of all members of society. Thus, schools develop and implement multicultural education programmes requiring the delicate balancing of the goals of cohesion, equality and diversity - each of which, carried to its extreme, is incompatible with the others (Schools Council, 1982). Multicultural education programmes introduce all students to some of the more visible aspects of the group identification of all component groups - history, traditions, language, heroes and heroines, etc. It remains for the third level, however, based on the ideology of interculturation, to achieve (or at least have as a goal) a truly intercultural perspective. In the educational environment, proponents of this viewpoint have become champions of such programmes as prejudice reduction, anti-racist education and human rights education. It is at this level that concepts of interaction, interdependence, interchange and reciprocity emerge and that programmes are directed at all members of the society. In the school, 'all members of society' signifies all children, teachers, administrators, etc., and the aforementioned concepts have relevance both for content and for the structure and environment of the school itself. Building upon the understanding of the characteristics of different individual cultures (provided by multicultural education), education at this level advances to a consideration of the quality of the interaction between cultures and nations, an appreciation of the mutual enrichment provided by interchange, an understanding of the concepts of reciprocity and interdependence, and, tjirough related processes such as co-operative learning and conflict resolution, to education for international comprehension, peace and human rights. This article is based on the assumption that arriving at the ideology of interculturation is a developmental process - that societies move sequentially through each of these various phases in the same way that a child sits, crawls, stands and walks. Just as one doesn't expect the child to run before standing and walking, it is unrealistic to expect societies to implement intercultural approaches if they have not yet adopted a cultural-pluralist perspective, with its implied legitimization of the language and culture of other groups. And just as a toddler often takes a step or two and then retreats to crawling for several weeks before daring to take a few more steps, special cases in various societies or specific events may propel a jump to a later phase, but usually

88 Language, interculturalism and human rights: 491 three European cases this is short-lived unless this point has been arrived at from an ideology that has matured steadily and developmentally through each of the preceding phases. The paradigm appears to be applicable to a number of different countries, at times with minor modifications. Some societies seem to move smoothly through its various stages; others seem to 'get stuck' or fixated at certain points along the way before they move on to the next phase or make a jump to a later phase in response to specific situations; while still others appear occasionally to take a long step backwards! The model seems to be applicable in the United States as it responds to its treasure of native population, settlers, long-standing and recent immigrants and the variety of languages and cultures that have drawn from and enriched it. Educational response to the increasing pluralization of society in the early years of the twentieth century was frankly assimilationist. In the 1940s and 1950s the intergroup education movement added a focus on tolerance and mutual understanding, while the 1960s introduced a sequence of educational responses based on the valuing of cultural pluralism. First, ethnic studies programmes (geared primarily to members of various ethnic and racial groups) focused on famous personalities, cultural traditions and ethnic pride. Later, bilingual education programmes added an emphasis on the rights of different ethnic groups to be educated in their primary language. Recognizing the need for all children to understand cultures other than their own, multicultural education programmes became the byword of the 1970s. Early programmes took the 'Holidays and Heroes' or 'Tacos on Tuesday' approach, but more recently there has been an emphasis on more general, universally appropriate concepts of intercultural and anti-racist education (United Kingdom), prejudice reduction (United States) and h u m a n rights education (Canada, Australia and Council of Europe) programmes, with more radical theorists claiming that none of these will be effective without structural changes in the power relationships between dominant and subordinate groups. Spain and the United Kingdom present interesting challenges to the paradigm. They each have within their borders indigenous groups with their own languages and cultures, who are a majority in their respective regions, and whose languages and cultures have only recently been, to some degree, revitalized. Moving from paradigm to practice, this paper represents a preliminary attempt to apply the proposed model to Catalonia and the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) and to approach the task in reference to Wales. All three have had to learn how to crawl (to return to the child development analogy) after having been gagged by a national policy that totally repressed their languages and cultures in an unremitting policy of assimilation. The premise of this paper is that, in societies subjected to such attempts at cultural and linguistic genocide, the intensive efforts required to reverse that situation will preclude awareness and attention to the needs and rights of 'others' as long as the indigenous language and culture are still perceived as vulnerable, and policy-makers and practitioners are more concerned with the 'self than the 'other'. The three regions CATALONIA AND THE BASQUE AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITY (BAC) Catalonia and the BAC are the two most industrialized areas of the Spanish state. During the period of major industrial expansion (which coincided with the Franco era of harsh repression of Catalan and Basque language and culture), massive immigration from other parts of Spain was encouraged by the central government. These people, who are members of the dominant group in the nation-state, are, in effect, a minority (both in number and in their perception of access to the power structure) within the Catalan and Basque regions - even though they speak the national language and are citizens of Spain. They crammed into what had been small towns encircling Barcelona and Bilbao, creating entirely Castilian-speaking com-

89 492 Norma Tarrow munities enjoying almost full employment in the 1950s and 1960s. Thus, both regions and, in particular, these 'immigrant' communities are hard hit by the present unemployment rate of approximately 20 per cent (one of the highest in Europe). The Basque region is even more affected since the threat of terrorist activity has deterred any new industry or investments in the region. Spain also has a long-standing gypsy minority, with its own culture, which has resisted all attempts at assimilation and has a significant presence in both regions. Spain's new role as a country of immigration has brought minority groups from other Western nations as well as from Third World countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East (as an outcome of the world economic crisis and political chaos). Their presence is just beginning to be acknowledged - particularly in the belts surrounding Barcelona and Bilbao. The ideology of the newly democratized Spanish state has become one of accommodation of the languages and cultures of indigenous minorities, with delegation of the authority to do so to the autonomous governments. Thus, these until recently oppressed subordinate groups are now in a somewhat ambiguous position. While they function as dominant groups in their regions, they are still constrained by parameters established by the state, operating very much like minorities in relation to the central government. WALES The heyday of Welsh industrialization in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries quadrupled the population of Wales, and drastically altered its character. Here, too, large numbers of the dominant national group came to the newly industrialized areas of Glamorgan and Gwent. W h e n the slate, coal and steel industries of the south closed down, many of these English and English-speaking immigrants chose to remain. After a hiatus of several decades, immigration has begun again. The settled immigrants are now being joined by others from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Arab nations and China (as well as Chinese from Hong Kong). Labour Force Surveys, completed between census polls, indicate that they constitute 1.2 per cent of the total population (of Wales) and a much greater percentage in the areas of Swansea and Cardiff, as well as Bangor in the north - although their presence has not been widely acknowledged. Language CATALONIA Catalonia's widely shared language and culture played a critical role in fostering the movement for autonomy, which (except for a small contingent of extremists) has been largely viewed in linguistic and cultural forms. For centuries, Catalan, closely related to other Romance languages, was the language of the intellectual and commercial community, whose nineteenth-century literary revival sparked the movement for autonomy. In fact, Catalonia represents an example of reverse diglossia, a bilingual situation where the minority language is the prestige language. The Catalan language evolved from the popular Latin of Roman settlers who, starting in the second century, substituted Latin for the indigenous languages (except in the western Pyrenees where Euskara, the Basque language, remained unchanged). In the tenth century, Latin disintegrated into the Romance languages. After the Arab conquest and the Christian reconquest, several languages crystallized and were reduced to Galician, Castilian and Catalan. Catalan was firmly planted in Catalonia and its conquered areas. From the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries, Catalan and Castilian vied for prominence and inspired literary movements, but Castilian steadily advanced while Catalan influence lessened. When Aragon lost political power in the fourteenth century, Catalan literature and official use waned and continued to wane under the unification begun by King Ferdinand and

90 Language, intercultui three Eui ;m and human rights: 493 ean cases Queen Isabella. The eighteenth century saw the repression of all languages except Castilian. Catalan underwent a nineteenth-century renaissance, a brief revival under the Second Republic, and forty years of total repression in the twentieth century. During this period, the use of Catalan in schools, newspapers, religious services, media, business and public administration was officially banned. After years of maintaining the language and culture in semi-secrecy, it became a voluntary subject and, with the restoration of the Generalität (Catalonian national legislature) in 1977, a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools. Today, the Institute of Catalan Studies is charged with ensuring the vitality of the language. Within Catalonia, there are two main varieties of the language (eastern and western) plus Aráñese (spoken in the Valley of Arañes). Siguan estimates that about 50 per cent of Catalonia's 6 million residents speak Catalan as a mother tongue and another 30 per cent speak or understand it (Siguan, 1989). THE BASQUE AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITY Euskara is an ancient and non-indo-european language, with a paucity of written literature, whose speakers tended to be located in the rural and less educated segment of the population. Although maintained through the Middle Ages and the early years of Spanish unification, it did not expand. Considered archaic, and handicapped by its diglossic situation in relation to Castilian, it had begun to disappear by the nineteenth century, when it underwent a literary spurt not nearly as extensive or popular as the Catalan renaissance. Basque nationalism has leaned heavily on a shared ethnic background with strong expression of the desire for complete political independence, and the Basque language as its badge of nationhood. The Franco regime's concerted programme of cultural repression, intended to crush the nationalist spirit, focused particularly on the language. Thus the last 100 years have witnessed an attempt to revive the language, followed by a period of severe repression, a second clandestine revival movement and, since the granting of autonomy in 1978, the compulsory learning of Euskara at all levels of the educational system. The Academy of the Basque Language has, to some degree, overcome the fragmentation resulting from the variants and dialects of the language by developing a standardized and unified Euskara Batua. The total number of Euskara-speaking persons has remained fairly constant, but, since the population of the Basque provinces has more than tripled in the past 100 years the net effect is a sharp decline in the proportion of the population of the region that speaks the language (Clark, 1981). Siguan estimates that about 25 per cent of the 2 million people in the BAC speak Euskara (Siguan, 1989). WALES Welsh belongs to the Brythonic branch of Celtic, which began to separate into independent languages in the middle of the sixth century. By the Middle Welsh period ( ) a standardized language had been developed by bardic poets and was used by gentry. The process of language shift began with the Act of Union of England and Wales in 1536, from which time Welsh was restricted to the family, the community and religion - primarily amongst the rural poor. Although Welsh was banned from public life, translation of the Bible in 1588 guaranteed the survival of the language. Circulating and chapel Sunday schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, respectively, provided instruction in the Welsh language but the inferior status of the language was accepted, even by its speakers. In the nineteenth century there were strenuous efforts to eliminate the language, aided by large-scale immigration and emigration. The 1847 Report of the Commissioners says: 'The Welsh language is a vast drawback to Wales, and a manifold barrier to the moral progress and commercial prosperity of the people.... It dissevers the people from intercourse which would greatly advance their civilization, and bars the access of improving knowledge to their minds.' By the end of the century, demands for the use

91 494 Norma Tarrow of Welsh began to surface, with the Welsh Language Act of 1967 ultimately giving English and Welsh equal validity within Wales. In terms of numbers of Welsh speakers, at the beginning of the twentieth century there were 977,400 (almost 45 per cent according to the 1911 census). By 1981 this had dropped to 500,000 ( 19 per cent). The decision to speak Welsh within families appears to cut across social class and is related primarily to the perceived usefulness of the language (Edwards, 1991). Thus, all three regions are currently absorbed in efforts to achieve reverse language shift (RLS), defined by Fishman (1991, p. 81) as 'an attempt on the part of authorities that are recognized by the users and supporters of threatened languages to adopt policies and to engage in efforts calculated to reverse the cumulative processes of attrition that would otherwise lead to their contextually weak language-in-culture becoming weaker, while its competitor, a strong language-in-culture, becomes even stronger.' Status of the indigenous languages CATALONIA AND THE BASQUE AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITY It has been little more than a decade since the normalization of language and culture in Catalonia and the Basque region has been seriously under way. In that brief period, what has been accomplished? The autonomous languages are now co-official with Castilian in the relevant regions, a major accomplishment in the light of modern history. For Siguan (1989), this implies that the regional language is the appropriate language of the educational system. He also points out the following: The laws in both (Spanish) regions state that, at the end of compulsory education, students will be able to use both languages with facility. If the child's mother tongue is one of the two official languages, parents have the right to insist on education in their own language. Separation into two different education systems has been explicitly rejected. Teachers are expected to know the official languages; this has required a gradual acquisition of the regional language for much of the teaching force. Teacher training has been directed at the goal of being able to teach in the regional language. At university level, the right of members of the university community to use either of the two languages has been confirmed. In analysing the process of normalization, this observer notes that the presence of Catalan is increasingly being felt in every aspect of life. For those familiar with Spanish, Catalan is not difficult to read, and thus a great deal of printed matter is disseminated monolingually - in Catalan only. Understanding and speaking the language can be accomplished with relative ease - thus many public events are conducted only in Catalan. The prestige of the language is high, its value in the society is evident and thus, although there has been some resistance, for the most part people are willing to learn and use it, or have their children learn it as a means of getting ahead. Most Catalans know the language, and its use as mother tongue has always been high and is growing, even in the non-catalan segment of society. What Woolard (1986) calls the 'politics of persuasion' seems to have paid off. Catalonia's goal of having Catalan as the official language, with Spanish as a complementary second language, is clear, progress in that direction is evident and its realization is a reasonable expectation. The Basque situation is quite different and the language is still quite vulnerable. There has been success in terms of language spread. More people know the language but, other than in heavily Basque-speaking rural areas, its presence is not felt in the shops, on the streets, in recreational activities, etc. Euskara is a difficult language to learn and knowledge of Spanish

92 Language, interculturalism and human rights: 495 three European cases does not help one to read it. Thus, although great efforts are made to disseminate information in Euskara, it is always accompanied by a translation in Spanish (or, often, in English). This bilingual situation (while obviously necessary) reduces the need to achieve full competency in Euskara. If the Basques are striving for the same goal as the Catalans - a unilingual society with bilingual (Spanish) functionalism - it appears unlikely that this will be accomplished. If they are willing to work with each succeeding generation to achieve second-language competency in Euskara, it seems reasonable that they will be able to ensure the survival and transmission of their unique and historic language and culture. Growth in the number of pupils studying subjects in Welsh. Increase in the number of subjects taught in Welsh to CSE, O and A levels of secondary education. Setting up of an examination system for Welshlanguage proficiency. Production of a range of textbooks and learning materials. Setting up of resource centres for support of Welsh-language instruction (Thomas, 1986). The Education Reform Act (1988) for England and Wales requires the Secretary of State for Education to establish the National Curriculum by specifying appropriate attainment targets, programmes of study and assessment arrangements for each of the foundation subjects. Welsh language has been recognized as a foundation subject and each of the four key stages of compulsory schooling must offer either Welsh or Welsh Second Language. Thus an additional accomplishment is the development and phased implementation of the National Curriculum attainment targets, programmes of study and assessment arrangements for Welsh and Welsh Second Language (Welsh Office, 1990). It remains for the yet-to-be-released 1991 census results to indicate whether the decline in numbers of Welsh speakers (continuing even to the 1981 census) has been slowed or reversed. There has been some evidence that, for the first time, in the under-5 age-group, there has been an increase in the number of Welsh speakers. WALES Assessment of progress in the revitalization of Welsh language and culture must take into account that, in contrast to Catalonia and the BAC, there is no overall national or regional language policy. Policies of individual local education authorities range from highly anglicized Gwent, which only recently opened its first Welshmedium secondary school, to Dyfed's controversial language policy. Five major accomplishments include: In brief, therefore, although, as noted, their levels and type of normalization are different, Euskara, Catalan and Welsh are no longer on the 'endangered species list' of minority languages. As their languages and cultures have been strengthened, the Basques, the Catalans and the Welsh have developed a more secure sense of the 'self - the prerequisite to a positive concept of the 'other'. The Basques and the Catalans, both minorities in Spain, and the Welsh, a minority in the United Kingdom, are not and do not function as minorities within their regions. Of the three, Catalonia is by far in the strongest position and, thus, presumably most open to responding to the needs of subordinate groups in the region. Thefirst and crucial step is, of course, the recognition of the existence of these communities, their linguistic, cultural and religious differences and their problems in their adopted lands. Interculturalism According to the paradigm, early responses to the needs of subordinate groups tend to take the form of compensatory programmes. These are usually designed to assimilate the child into

93 496 Norma Tarrow the majority culture - often by focusing on needed language skills, and often at the expense of his or her own language and culture. As already noted, compensatory programmes may be seen as a transition between the ideology of assimilation and the next level of accommodation, when minority language and culture programmes legitimize and possibly safeguard the linguistic and cultural heritage of subordinate groups. Gypsies MINORITY POPULATIONS Estimates of the gypsy population of Catalonia indicate that there are about 2,000 families comprising 13,000 to 15,000 individuals, of whom about 6,000 are school-age children. Forty per cent live in the province of Barcelona, with 15 per cent in Lleida, 20 per cent in Girona and 25 per cent in Tarragona. Department of Education policy permits schools to restrict admission of gypsy children to no more than 5 per cent of their population. According to the only gypsy in the European Parliament, access for gypsy children to normal schools is restricted by the opposition of school administrators to their admission (Ramirez Heredia, as cited in Capella, 1987). In the Basque Autonomous Community, there seems to have been no interest until recendy in ascertaining the demographics of the gypsy population. On the basis of interviews with a sample of the gypsy population, Grupo Pass (1987a, 1987e) estimates that there are approximately 7,000 gypsies in the B A C. Currently three studies (in Álava, Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya) have receivedfinancial support from the regional government, as they attempt to find out how many reside in the BAC, where they are and what their needs are. One of these has been carried out by a dedicated group of young teachers in the Escuela Puente Gitana of Guipúzcoa. They can account for over 300 children in forty-eight different schools and estimate that there are at least another 100 schoolage children not attending school, according to reports of such children by sixteen different schools and nine municipalities (Seminario Escolarización, 1989). Although Wales also has a gypsy population, centred in Merthyr Tydfil, information about its size and educational provisions has not readily been available. Immigrants from the dominant culture The arrival of more than 2 million non-catalans in Catalonia between 1950 and 1975 created extremely serious problems, ranging from the erection of shanty towns to meet immediate housing needs to vastly overstretched education and health services. Formerly tranquil towns on the outskirts of Barcelona now have populations in which the vast majority is non- Catalan, comprising almost half of the total population of the province. The majority of these people represent a monolingual Castilian working class from the impoverished agricultural regions of Andalucia. According to Strubell, the compulsory use of Catalan by authorities was built up by politicians into a perceived confrontation between Catalan- and Spanish-speaking populations - which is precisely what the government strived to avoid. 'There being no racial, religious, or other unsurmountable differences between immigrant population and host population, the Paîsos Catalans are therefore an open society. The cultural differences can, in time (and in theory) be overcome' (Strubell, 1984, p. 103). According to García-González (1986), the same immigration wave ( ) brought some 200,000 persons to the Basque region. He points out that there has not been a serious global study of the situation of these immigrants, because of either a lack of sensitivity or unwillingness to acknowledge problems. Seventy per cent are working class, with low-level education and qualifications. They live in industrial belts, are subemployed or unemployed, ethnically bifurcated, socially rejected and subject to ethnocentric prejudice, linguistic and cultural difficulties and social conflict - without any special measures being taken to promote or preserve

94 Language, intercultur three Eur im and human rights: 497 ean cases ethnocultural pluralism and diversity. Their children represent 27.5 per cent of the population (varying according to municipalities). García- González recommends an in-depth study and creation of special services for bothfirst- and second-generation immigrants, as well as programmes to foster comprehension and respect for different cultures and value systems. Specific information on the numbers of English settled in Wales has not been available. It is evident, however, that the urban, industrialized areas of all three regions have been heavily infiltrated by immigrants from other parts of the nation. Since these people are speakers of the dominant language, in each case they have contributed to the diminution of indigenous language and culture. Foreign immigrants Territorially based minorities in Europe (such as the Basques and the Welsh) have long been oppressed by the nation-states in which they are located. Their response to oppression has often been one of nationalistic antagonism, which may easily become a chauvinistic parochialism. However, the fact of the territorial base makes their position significantly different from those minorities without one. Few doubt that they belong; their feeling of oppression is based on other factors, principally linguistic, cultural, religious and economic. For the other minorities, who share these oppressions, a further one is added. This is the widely held view that these minorities not only do not belong but should not be in Europe (Jones and Kimberly, 1986, p. 22). The Basques, the Catalans and the Welsh have been through a difficult period. No one, however, ever doubted that they 'belonged'. This oppression is, however, the lot of a relatively new group in all three regions. It must be realized that, until relatively recently, Spain was traditionally a country of emigration. In the mid 1970s, however, Spain began experiencing a fair amount of immigration, primarily from Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Portugal. This was induced by several factors, including the restrictions on immigration by other Western European nations, Canada and the United States; political and economic events; the cessation of internal rural-urban migration; and, until 1985, very loose border controls. Government statistics for 1986 indicate a foreign resident population of 293,208 - mainly from the United States and Western European countries. A different picture is provided by the IOE study (Caritas Española, 1987), which is the most complete work on foreign immigrants in Spain, as well as the work cited by most investigators in the field. They estimate, on the basis of extrapolation of data, that the actual foreign resident population is closer to 720,000, with about 73 per cent (526,000) from Third World countries and at least half of these undocumented (Bier, 1988). However, neither of these figures can be accorded credibility, since the research group responsible for the Caritas study (Colectivo IOE) has acknowledged a statistical error which would lower the estimate of foreign immigrants to approximately 360,000 (La Serna, 1989). In July 1985, the Law on the Rights and Liberties of Foreigners was implemented in Spain. While stabilizing the rights of legal immigrants with permission to work, its effect was also to reinforce the marginalization and insecurity of the undocumented immigrants. Not only are the data on a national level questionable, but there are no available data breaking down the immigrant population by provinces or regions. Thus, it is difficult to estimate how many of these have found their way to Catalonia or the BAC. In the BAC there do appear to be at least 5,000 Portuguese, an indeterminate number of gypsies (many also Portuguese), an Arab population (primarily in Bilbao) and a sizeable Filipino community. Catalonia reportedly houses 45,000 Arab Muslim immigrants from North Africa (primarily Moroccans), Central Africa, the Middle East and South East Asia (Losada, 1988). The Moroccan immigration dates largely from the 1960s and was primarily a consequence of the ending of immigration by the French government in 1967, economic development in Spain and the consequent availability of jobs.

95 498 Norma Tarrow The Middle Eastern (primarily Palestinian, Iranian and Iraqi) and Central African immigrants are much more recent arrivals. The immigration of the former (often for political motives) began in 1968 and until 1972 comprised primarily single men, with an influx of family groups starting in 1986 (Caritas Española, 1987; Losada, 1988). The most recent immigrant group to arrive is a colony of black Central Africans working as agricultural labourers in the Maresme district. Thefirst wave of this group was also made up of single m e n (immigrating for economic motives) who created little stir. As wives and young children have begun to appear in the communities involved, however, there has been some discriminatory community reaction. This received a great deal of coverage, being reported on radio, television and in the press, with the United Nations Association of Spain condemning the occurrences in Santa Coloma de Farners as racist (El Pais, 1989). Information as to the extent of 'foreign inmigration' 4 to Wales and its character, obtained from the literature as well as personal interviews, indicates that most of those concerned with education believe in-migration virtually ceased with the onset of industrial decline in the 1960s and 1970s, are convinced that the children of those who came to Wales at that time are now thoroughly integrated into Welsh society and, unless directly involved in schools receiving these children, are unaware of the existence of pockets of recent immigrants in need of special assistance. Estimates of populations of different ethnic groups obtained from the Office of Population and Census Statistics indicate that the largest numbers of these immigrants to Wales come from India, Pakistan and Arab nations. The Glamorgan Racial Equality Council reports an ethnic minority population of about 6 per cent in Cardiff, primarily from the Indian subcontinent. The next highest group are descendants of seamen from Arab nations and China. While this group is a long-established population with no language needs, racism is still a significant factor in their education experience. They evidence the highest level of unemployment and the lowest levels of school achievement. The group that does have language needs includes the more recent Somali immigrants (Austin, 1992). During an interview, Dr Austin stated emphatically: 'I am fully supportive of Welsh language but wish the Local Education Authorities (LEAs) would support other community languages. There are more Urdu language speakers in Cardiff than Welsh language speakers!' In Gwent, the Racial Equality Council reports that 85 per cent of the immigrant population is Muslim. Since the census merely asked country of origin, the language needs of many second generation, non-english-speaking immigrants who indicate the United Kingdom as country of origin have been overlooked by official census statistics (Mineur, 1992). EDUCATIONAL POLICIES Educational responses in the autonomous c o m munities should (at least in theory) be bound by international agreements, as well as by national and regional legislation. As members of the Council of Europe, the United Kingdom and Spain have a responsibility to carry out the recommendations and directives of its various component organizations. For more than two decades the Council of Europe has pioneered in the area of intercultural education - first concerning itself with the problems of nomads, migrants and minority language groups and, recently (recognizing the significant role of teachers), with the training of teachers in the content, processes and perspective of intercultural education. Box 1 summarizes major recommendations and directives in these areas. In practice, the step between the signing of these agreements and the implementation of programmes appropriate for carrying them out seems to be missing. The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs generally brings agreements with educational implications to the attention of the Ministry of Education, where efforts may be made to implement them, to some extent, in regions directly under their authority. In the autonomous Basque and Catalan regions, how-

96 Language, interculturalism and human rights: 499 three European cases Box 1. International agreements: language and culture of minorities (accommodation level) 1961: Recommendation 285 on the Rights of National Minorities. Adopted by the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe (28 April): 'Persons belonging to a national minority shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group and as far as compatible with public order, to enjoy their own culture, to use their own language, to establish their own schools and receive teaching in the language of their choice or to profess and practise their own religion.' 1975: Resolution 13 Containing Recommendations on the Social Situation of Nomads in Europe. Adopted by the Committee of Ministers (22 May): 'Recommends that all member states take measures to implement policies delineated and inform the Secretary General of the Council of Europe of such actions taken to: 1. Stop any form of discrimination against nomads. 2. Counteract prejudice by giving the settled population better information about the origins, ways of life, living conditions and aspirations of nomads. 3. Include nomads in the preparation and implementation of measures concerning them. 4. Safeguard the cultural heritage and identity of nomads. 5. Promote schooling by the most suitable methods designed to integrate children of nomads into the normal educational system.' 1976: Recommendation of the Council of Ministers of Education of the Council of Europe. Adopted by the Council of Ministers (9 February): 'With the collaboration of home country, efforts should be made to teach children in their maternal language and culture.' 1977: Directive of the Council of Europe (legally binding on member states): 'Member states should take measures, in collaboration with country of origin, to teach language and culture of that country to children of migrant workers.' 1981: Recommendation 928 on the Educational and Cultural Problems of Minority Languages and Dialects in Europe. Adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (7 October): 'Recommends gradual adoption of children's mother tongues for their education.' 1983: Resolution on Measures Favouring the Languages of Cultural Minorities. Adopted by the Parliament of Europe (14 March): 'Calls for measures to protect minority languages.' / 988: Resolution 192 on Regional or Minority Languages in Europe. Adopted by the Standing Conference of local and regional authorities of Europe (16 March): 'Defines minority languages as "languages belonging to the European cultural heritage that are traditionally spoken within a territory by nations of the state who form a group numerically smaller than the rest of the state's population and different from the language or languages spoken by the rest of the state's population". Calls for agreement on measures to promote the use of regional or minority languages in education, public services, media, cultural facilities and activities, economic and social life. Parties are expected to submit a report every two years to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.'

97 500 Norma Tarrow ever, there appears to be little awareness of these agreements on the part of educational administrators and, thus, little or no planned efforts at developing related curriculum, materials or necessary teacher training. In Wales, also, there appears to be little awareness of the terms of these international agreements, although the United Kingdom is officially committed to their implementation. In terms of national legislation in Spain, the 1970 Law of Education (Article 51) left an open door in respect to creation of special transition schools for marginalized children, and a number of these were created from 1971 to In 1978 an agreement was reached between the national Ministry of Education and Science and the National Gypsy Secretariat for the creation of such schools (escuelas puente) and thus a significant number were established between 1979 and The theory was that these were to serve as a bridge (puente) over a one- or two-year period, preparing gypsy children to enter the regular school system. In practice, this was not the case, as very few children made the transfer. On the national level, in 1983, a Royal Decree on Compensatory Education provided the basis for resources directed at compensatory education for disadvantaged groups within the regular school system. With its passage, the escuelas puente began to be phased out, although some still exist. By 1986, 83 per cent of gypsy children in the Ministry of Education and Science (MEC) territory were in regular schools (Diaz, 1987). And, in the educational territories administered by the autonomous c o m m u nities, thirty-two escuelas puente disappeared (Cuadernos de Pedagogía, 1988). By , the Department of Compensatory Education was co-ordinating the work of schools in M E C territory with a budget of 770 million pesetas (Martinez, 1987). Under the auspices and financing of the European Community, a study was undertaken to determine the educational problems of the Portuguese colony (many of them gypsies) estimated at 70,000, with 14,000 school-age children. The goal is to develop bilateral agreements for the education of these children in their country of residence (in this instance, Spain) with support from the home country for classes in home language and culture. Support is also being provided by the Ministry of Education and Science for compensatory programmes for gypsy children initiated by the autonomous communities. In the United Kingdom, the policies of the 1970s and 1980s represented a gradual acceptance of cultural pluralism, culminating in the Swann Report. Its main recommendations were disregarded, however, with the move to the right. Under the new National Curriculum 'the lack of importance attached to community languages and the emphasis given to standard written and spoken English seem likely to operate towards an uncompromising assimilation of children who are, or could become, bilingual to the dominant language' (Gundara and Jones, 1991, p. 23). Lynch (1989) points out that the major problem facing pluralist societies is inadequate accommodation of social to cultural systems. Some focus on the language issue, some with a 'trinkets and tokens' approach and others through the human rights dimension. Few have tried a co-ordinated global set of initiatives to achieve systematic and deliberate change towards agreedon goals with a national covenant of acceptable norms and values (as per the international agreements). Lynch sees the United Kingdom as hampered by archaic values and structures, an outdated Parliament, a system of 'public schools' (which are not public), exclusive universities, a socially narrow judiciary, a socially and intellectually skewed civil service and fatuous snobbery, and calls for a national Charter of Human Rights and Liberties. As an example of the situation in Wales, Swansea has at least two schools with recent immigrants accounting for almost half of the student population. This rapidly altered character of the school and city has taken place within the last ten years. Problems of racial prejudice are bubbling under the surface and, under the principle of parental choice, many parents have moved their children to a nearby church school. There are no efforts being made for community education. Teachers are having to deal with

98 Language, interculturalism and human rights: 501 three European cases many more learning difficulties, behaviour problems and non-english-speaking children, plus the revolution of the National Curriculum. A National Foundation for Educational Research survey indicated the existence of languages other than Welsh and English in Welsh schools. However, 'none of the responding LEAs had conducted language surveys of their schools and awareness of linguistic diversity appeared low' (Bourne, 1990, p. 177). They concluded that although the number of immigrants is small, it is considerably larger than believed, that little thought has been given to the place of these other languages, and that none of the Welsh LEAs claimed to have provided any in-service training on linguistic diversity or 'on supporting bilingual pupils' learning in the mainstream where their stronger languages were other than Welsh or English' (Bourne, 1990, p. 178). The Gwent Racial Equality Council has been seeking equity through the courts on the basis of the 1976 Race Relations Act (which has limited impact in the field of education) and an amendment of a 1936 Public Order, as well as section 11 of the 1966 Local Government Act. It is also basing claims on the European documents (for example, the Convention of 1950 and the Directive on Minority Languages of 1977), which, it believes, are not being implemented in the United Kingdom, although that country is a signatory to these agreements (Mineur, 1992). In his review of the development of multicultural education, Verne (1987) notes that, in the early phase, the question is simply one of integrating minorities into the majority. Often this takes the form of intensified teaching of the official language (or languages, in the case of the autonomous regions) - better known as compensatory education. As the majority begins to tolerate or accept the domestic use of the minorities' own language and culture, and even begins to consider mother-tongue instruction at school and some attention to the minority culture, programmes such as bilingual and bicultural education or ethnic studies begin to appear. Both of these represent the accommodation level, and we next consider how programmes in Catalonia, the BAC and Wales adhere to the sequence within that level proposed by the model (that is, compensatory-minority language and culture-multicultural programming). Catalonia EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES In terms of compensatory programmes, Catalonia took the lead in Spain, in 1982, by creating a special section (Junta de Promoció Educativa d'escoles d'acció Especial) to deal with problems of marginalization of all kinds and, in January 1983, this group presented a report on the educational situation of gypsy children to the Council of Education of the Generalität, describing the current status and suggesting that high priority be given to needed improvements. Since then there have been attempts to introduce several programmes at the accommodation level, providing resources and materials related to minority languages and culture. Several projects supported by the European Community involve Catalonia. In Barcelona, gypsy groups are participants in a plan to co-ordinate social services (Interface, 1992a) and, in Gerona, in a vocational training programme (Interface, 1992c). The resources and results of several other European Community projects based in Madrid may also affect the lives of gypsies in the autonomous regions. There is, in Catalonia, some recognition of the need to teach all children about other cultures - primarily on the part of people involved in compensatory education programmes, the press, etc. This recognition has not, however, been converted into action, except on the basis of individual initiative. A group of about ten faculty from the Education Institute (ICE) and Department of Anthropology of the Autonomous University of Barcelona have begun to include workshops about minority cultures in their reciclatge programmes (in-service) for teachers in thefield. They have been able to arrange for released time for teachers who have gypsy children in their classes for a one-day workshop,

99 502 Norma Tarrow with the municipality paying for a substitute. In terms of pre-service programmes, questionnaires distributed by this investigator to third-year (graduating) students and interviews with the Director of the magisterio of the University of Barcelona indicated that there is nothing in the present teacher-preparation curriculum to prepare future teachers for the reality of teaching in the multicultural classrooms of this region. In collaboration with a colleague at this institution, a pre-service intercultural education model was developed and presented at a national conference of magisterios (Cueva and Tarrow, 1989). The majority of educators who responded to a questionnaire on the need for intercultural education (as well as those interviewed) tended to focus only on the provision of compensatory programmes to assimilate the immigrants into Catalan language and culture - rather than efforts to help them preserve their own languages and cultures. Although there are several programmes of the latter type being offered, they are certainly not the norm, but, perhaps, a step towards an ideology of accommodation. Basque Autonomous Community Authorities in the Basque region appear to have been so focused on the problems of their own vulnerable language and culture that they have only recently begun to attend to the needs of other minorities. They have just dipped a toe into the waters of compensatory programming with several programmes beginning in September In some of these cases the government appears to play a reactive role - recognizing the problem and providing some support after the initiative has been taken by non-official agencies or groups. Interviews, questionnaires, examination of curriculum guides, texts, etc. reveal no attempt to teach non-minority children (or educate teachers) about minority cultures. Educational responses in reference to minority groups are still largely based on an assimilation ideology, with some new (compensatory) programmes representing the transition to accommodation. It appears that the next step may be a long time in coming. Wales The major barrier to effective policies is the widely held belief that there is little representation in Wales of groups other than English, Welsh and long-standing assimilated ethnic minorities, and that multicultural policies are not called for in schools with little minority representation. When faced with numbers of immigrant children, the approach appears to be one of providing some form of compensatory programming with the aim of rapidly assimilating these youngsters into the host society. The most common technique is for a support teacher to go into the classroom and work with small groups. If extra funds are available, the priority seems to be to hire a home-school worker. School heads in Swansea indicate that Welsh-medium schools receive 10 per cent extra in their budgets to cover the costs of teaching all subjects in Welsh, while schools with large numbers of minority children are entitled to no extra funding to deal with language and cultural differences. Programmes initiated by university faculty working with these schools deal with the customs and traditions of various religions. Efforts are also made to maintain communication with the head of the local mosque. Individual teachers have utilized drama, art and writing activities to bring in the culture of their students. In Gwent, community-based mosque schools in Urdu, Arabic and Bengali are serving about 350 youngsters, whose needs are not being met by the state system. A recent survey indicated that forty schools in Gwent are receiving funds for English as a Second Language (ESL) programmes, thus confirming the extent of the language needs of immigrant populations (Mineur, 1992). In Glamorgan, community languages have no place in the curriculum offered in the mainstream schools. Any work done in this area is done by community groups themselves and through their own resources (Austin, 1992). As for multicultural education, Dr Austin claims that Cardiff is 'extremely backward'. There are only one or two schools with a positive regard for the celebration of diversity. Several projects (supported by the Euro-

100 Language, intercultur three Eut sm and human rights: 503 iean cases pean Community) aimed at improving the opportunities of gypsy children are under way in the United Kingdom and may directly or indirectly affect the gypsy community of Wales. These include teacher training (Interface, 1992a), access to secondary education and vocational training, and development of intercultural teaching materials and distance learning (Interface, 19926). Information packs directed at students and teachers and parent-teacher networking programmes are also being implemented (Interface, 1992c). In summary, in all three regions the formerly oppressed subordinate group has, in effect, become the dominant group. There has been some awakening to the needs of the other groups, and to educational responses that attend to their cultural, linguistic and religious differences. Catalonia, from a more secure position in terms of the recuperation of its own language and culture, has made more progress in this area and is beginning to develop some programmes with a multicultural emphasis. The BAC is just entering the transition phase with compensatory programming focused primarily on assimilation of subordinate groups. In Wales, there appears to be a need to recognize the existence of these minority groups before educational planning, policies and practices can meet their needs. What, then, is being done at the third level - from a truly intercultural perspective and in the areas of prejudice reduction, and education for international understanding, peace and human rights? Human rights Saunders (1980) describes a situation in which each minority (and majority) will have sufficiently strong feelings of identity not to be intimidated by the proximity of other cultures. This is the premise of an 'interculturation' ideology. At this level, onefindsintercultural education and education for peace, human rights and international understanding - each of which tends to overlap the others and has stronger bases in different societies. Intercultural education is no longer directed solely to minority groups but to the community at large. It builds upon the knowledge and attitudes conveyed by multicultural education (the traditions, languages, values and norms of the different cultures comprising society) and moves to the level of interaction and interchange between cultures. In the process it also deals with such concepts as discrimination and stereotyping, requiring that all members of the c o m m u nity examine their own attitudes, beliefs and behaviour in relation to other cultures. Included in the field of intercultural education are such programmes as prejudice reduction (in the United States) and anti-racist education (in the United Kingdom). Clearly, then, intercultural education goes beyond the subject-matter taught to the types of learning processes used, the structure and total climate of the school (Buergenthal and Torney, 1976). It is understood that trust, openness and mutual respect must be the accepted rule between administrators and teachers and between teachers and students. 'Intercultural education concerns all children, all teachers, the whole school community and the whole of school life, all the subjects taught and all parents and partners in education...' (Rey, 1986, p. 14). It must imply the denunciation of all onesidedness (however sincere); if not, the concept is effectively invalidated, giving way to paternalism, ethnocentricity and even racism. Implications for both pre- and in-service training of teachers were recognized by the Council of Europe in its Recommendation R (84) 18 (see Box 2). It is important that training should prepare teachers to welcome and understand pupils, families and colleagues from other parts of the world, to respect the diversity of languages, lifestyles, ambitions, behaviour patterns and religions, and to cope with conflicts which break out and overcome them so as to ensure the cultural enrichment of all. Teacher training is the real key to intercultural education. (Rey, 1986, p. 37)

101 504 Norma Tarrow Human rights education may be defined as the conscious effort, both through specific content as well as process, to develop in students an awareness of their rights (and responsibilities), to sensitize them to the rights of others, and to encourage responsible action to secure the rights of all. For those countries that 'subscribe to international agreements dedicated to guaranteeing human rights and to democratic government, teaching human rights is a moral and legal imperative' (Tarrow, 1988, p. 1). Education in thisfieldis seen as the best guarantee and ultimate sanction of human rights (Ray and Tarrow, 1987, p. 3). The objectives for education for human rights, peace and international understanding have been anticipating universal acceptance and implementation probably since the dawn of civilization, but certainly since the adoption of UNESCO's Recommendation Concerning Education for International Understanding, C o-o p eration and Peace and Education Relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in 1974 (see Box 2). Each of these movements tends to deal with a broad spectrum of global issues including Third World development, East-West relations, the international economic order, the arms trade, resource depletion, terrorism, regional violence, environmental issues, hunger and human rights. All place an emphasis on educational process as well as content - encouraging students to examine their own attitudes and values, building a sense of trust, co-operation and openness, developing multiple perspectives, dealing with conflict resolution and fostering the active involvement of students. And all are based on the premise that this type of education begins not at the high-school level but in earliest childhood - pervading both the curriculum and the climate of the schools. Interestingly enough, although there appears to be very little interest in multicultural or intercultural education (in all three regions, to some degree), there does seem to be some interest in thefields of international comprehension, human rights and/or peace education - although most of the initiative seems to be coming from outside the formal educational system. The organizations dedicated to Third World issues are very concerned about the rights of people in Africa, in the Middle East and in Latin America, and in getting this concern across to schoolchildren. They claim no interest, however, in the rights of people from Africa, the Middle East or Latin America who are right in the community and in the schools or in educational programmes dealing with issues raised by their presence in the community. In Catalonia there are numerous organizations committed to each of these themes, some producing or disseminating materials to schools and some working direcdy with schoolchildren and/or teachers to raise awareness (and funds) for developing nations, but they are not adapting these materials to sensitize students and teachers to the needs of Third World children in their classes. Although there is feverish activ- Box 2. International agreements: intercultural and human rights education (interculturation level) 1974: Recommendation Concerning Education for International Understanding, Co-operation and Peace and Education Relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; UNESCO. Adopted by the General Conference (19 November): 'Objectives include: an international dimension at all levels of education, understanding and respect for all peoples, awareness of increasing global interdependence, ability to communicate with others, awareness of duties towards one another, understanding of the necessity for international solidarity and co-operation, readiness to participate in solving community, national, and world problems. National policy, planning and administration should take the necessary steps to carry out concerted programmes of action from an interdisciplinary, problem-oriented perspective.

102 Language, interculturalism and human rights: 505 three European cases Special attention should be paid to the development of attitudes in preschool and to the preparation of parents. Teacher training should include preparation for their role relevant to the objectives, as well as opportunities for study abroad and international exchanges.' 1978: Resolution (78) 41 on the Teaching of Human Rights. Adopted by the Committee of Ministers (25 October): 'Recommends that governments of member states take whatever measures are appropriate "to ensure that the teaching of Human Rights and fundamental freedoms is given an appropriate place in curricula of teaching and training, initial and in-service, at all levels".' 1984: Recommendation No. R (84) 18 on the Training of Teachers in Education for Intercultural Understanding! Migration; Council of Europe. Adopted by Committee of Ministers (25 September): 'Considering population movements irreversible and generally positive, the presence of millions of schoolchildren from foreign cultural communities, and the essential role of the teacher, the training of teachers should equip them to adopt an intercultural approach. Recommends that the governments of member states encourage development of materials to support an intercultural approach, include preparation for teaching the host language more effectively, and make the intercultural dimension a feature of initial and in-service teacher training.' / 985: Recommendation No. R (85) 7 on Teaching and Learning about Human Rights in Schools; Council of Europe. Adopted by the Committee of Ministers (14 May): 'Recommends that the governments of member states (within the context of their national education systems and their legislative basis) encourage teaching and learning about human rights in line with the following suggestions: 1. Human rights in the school curriculum As part of social and political education involving intercultural and international understanding. Based on concepts acquired from the earliest ages. With more abstract concepts introduced in secondary-school subjects such as history, geography, moral and religious education, language and literature, current affairs and economics. Using international agreements as a point of reference, with teachers careful to avoid imposing personal convictions. 2. Skills Intellectual skills, including written and oral expression, ability to listen and discuss, defend one's opinions (including those involving judgement - such as using multiple sources, analysis, and identification of bias, stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination). Social skills, including recognizing and accepting differences, resolving conflict, taking responsibility, understanding the means of protection of human rights at all levels. 3. Knowledge Including topics such as categories of human rights, various forms of injustice, people, movements and key events, international declarations and conventions. Emphasizing the positive. Providing opportunities for involvement in human rights issues and expression of feelings. 4. Climate of the school A democratic setting where participation is encouraged, views expressed openly, interactions based on fairness and justice. 5. Teacher training in the content and processes of human rights teaching.'

103 506 Norma Tarrow ity and publicity surrounding the unification of Europe in 1993, there is very little emphasis on this theme in the schools. It is treated in some of the texts used in upper-grade social studies classes, and the subject of human rights does appear at several places in the social studies curriculum (depending on which text a teacher selects). Most schools mention human rights, but although it is in the official national curriculum, very few schools actually do any in-depth study. At present, approximately twenty schools in Catalonia belong to the Associated Schools network, several of which are actively involved in human rights issues. A number of curriculum resources are available (primarily at the secondary level) but there is a big leap from the production of materials to their dissemination - and an even further one to their actual implementation in the classroom. None of the organizations has prioritized workshops for teachers to provide either or both the content knowledge and/or the didactic skills and methodology that would allow diem to feel comfortable introducing these diemes in the classroom. The majority of the teachers interviewed were unaware of the existence of most of these materials. In addition, one must realize mat teacher training in Spain prepares future teachers to follow a text rigidly. There is little or no emphasis on the kinds of processes inherent in human rights education - an open classroom, active co-operative learning, teaching of multiple perspectives, etc. Thus, it appears that education in these fields is limited to a relatively small number of teachers who, due to their own personal system of values and interest, are motivated to search out and introduce young people to these themes. In me somewhat insulated Basque region, education for international comprehension has not been as significant as it is in other parts of the world. A number of organizations outside me formal educational system are the 'movers' in thefields of human rights and peace education. The Association for Human Rights of Euskadi, Gernika Gogoratuz (Remember Guernica), the educational resource centre of Irun and Educators for Peace are some of the major groups. The Basque government tends to subsidize many such activities. Some mu nicipal governments have also supported particular programmes. As party to the National Curriculum, teachers in Wales will be able to compensate for its nationalist tone and introduce themes of international co-operation, peace and human rights within the context of cross-curricular themes. Development Education Centres, the Early Years Trainers Anti-Racist Network, the Human Rights Education Network and major conferences promoted by the National Children's Bureau and the Commonwealth Institute all appear to be continuing the work begun before implementation of the National Curriculum;. The participation of educators from Wales in mese activities needs to be encouraged. The Curriculum Council of Wales has produced a resource guide for teachers on the theme of 'Community Understanding'. It is aimed at fostering active citizenship and understanding of human rights with a focus on conflict resolution, appreciation of cultural diversity and equity in the distribution of resources. The National Curriculum Council has produced material on 'Education for Citizenship' and the Northern Ireland Council for Educational Development has produced a guide on 'Education for Mutual Understanding' - all of which are also available to teachers in Wales. Troyna and Hatcher (1991) optimistically note that the National Curriculum contains statements endorsing multicultural education and racial equality and mat there is still space for teachers to continue to develop anti-racist work. They caution, however, that mese themes appear to be 'afterthoughts', that there may be a resulting innovation overload on teachers and that the precedence of parental choice over the statutory duty of LEAs and their schools not to discriminate can lead to a whiteflightbacklash. Conclusion This article has provided examples of present policies and practices in Catalonia, the Basque Autonomous Community and Wales in refer-

104 Language, interculturalism and human rights: 507 three European cases ence to a tri-level model of intercultural education. In analysing progress through the developmental stages of the model, we have taken into account the unique characteristics of these three cultures - which have, in a relatively short period of time, been transformed from oppressed subordinate groups within the nation to their somewhat ambiguous status as perceived dominant groups in their respective regions. Following a lengthy period of linguistic and cultural repression based on an assimilation ideology, each has instituted assertive policies to recoup its o w n language and cultural heritage. Legislation, educational programmes, teacher preparation and curriculum materials have been utilized in implementing these policies, within the parameters imposed by national legislation and directives. Evaluation studies have been utilized to justify intensification of efforts in these areas. It is clear that there has not been unanimous approval of language normalization programmes in any of the three regions, although protests have not escalated and there is an appreciable change in attitude on the part of Castilian-speaking residents, particularly in Catalonia, and English-speaking residents in Wales. The difference in the linguistic situation in Catalonia, the BAC and Wales can be traced to a number of historical, socio-economic, geographic and political factors, in addition to the characteristics of the three languages. It is not simply a situation of the Catalans being 'ahead' of the Basques and the Welsh. It appears that Catalonia can reasonably expect to reach its goal of Catalan as the official language of the schools and society, with Spanish as a second language linking it to the rest of the nation and the outside world. The Basques may need to establish functional bilingualism in a bilingual society as their ultimate goal. Without widespread mothertongue usage, this would mean repeating the normalization process with each generation. The Welsh emphasis on language shift through programmes aimed at young mothers and preschool children and strong support of Welsh youth groups and cultural activities, as well as Welshmedium instruction at all levels, may ultimately result in a bilingual society. As for the languages and cultures of subordinate or minority groups in Catalonia, the Basque region and Wales, relatively little has been done on an official basis. It may be a case of short memories, insensitivity, 'pecking order' or insecurity and defensiveness in regard to their own language and culture, but whatever the reason, the same assimilation ideology previously employed by the central government (and so odious to all three societies) has been pursued in relation to other cultural groups. C o m pensatory programmes tend to afford a feeling of self-righteousness, of 'doing something' for 'them', but the ultimate goal is usually assimilation into the dominant culture. Legitimation of other cultures and languages is in its infancy in Catalonia and has yet to be conceived in the Basque region and Wales. Multicultural and intercultural education appear to be non-existent in all three. National legislation guided by fears of being 'swamped' by immigrants is as difficult to reconcile with interculturalism as is regional policy that permits public schools to refuse admittance to citizens who are members of particular minority groups. Lynch eloquently presents a rather pessimistic view: As long as the task is seen as the socialization of immigrants - or even ethnic minorities - to the dominant culture, and the perpetuation of an inherently unequal social hierarchy, the prospects for the development of an appropriate multicultural and intercultural education addressed to issues of educational equality in a culturally diverse society, desirous of the human rights of individuals and groups, committed to freedom from discrimination, and recognizing the issues of power and access to rewards and resources involved, remain relatively bleak. (Lynch, 1986, p. 148) Yet, in all three regions there is some attention to programmes concerned with human rights, peace, development issues, etc. These are far more prevalent in Catalonia than in the BAC or Wales. Again, this may be understood in terms of the very different backgrounds of these three regions - Catalonia is further along and more secure in restoring its own language and culture than the Basque region or Wales. But it is also

105 508 Norma Tarrow much easier to deal with and be charitable to Africans and Asians 'out there' than it is to deal with and extend equality to African and Asian immigrants 'right here'. To do so would mean opening one's own culture to change resulting from interaction and reciprocity. It would require viewing such change as an enrichment rather than a problem and a willingness to make structural changes assuring equality of access and opportunity and shared power. The international agreements and recommendations cited are standard-setting. They were enrichment of each culture by the other. Thus, the term 'interculturation' is used in this article to refer to the interaction between members of dominant and subordinate groups. 4. A term considered more appropriate by the Welsh authorities in reference to people from other parts of the United Kingdom. References not intended as a description of what exists, but AUSTIN, R Glamorgan Racial Equality Council, rather as goals to be reached. To reach them personal interview. requires taking the ideas they express much more seriously than appears to be the case at present; using them as a basis for educational programmes and policies; capitalizing on some of the outstanding programmes already in existence to serve as training models; and assuring a significant place in pre- and in-service teacher education for current and future teachers to examine BANKS, J Multiethnic Education. Newton, Mass., Allyn & Bacon. BIER, A. G Mass Media and the Foreign Immigrant in Spain. Unpublished manuscript. BOURNE, J Moving into the Mainstream. Windsor, National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER)/ Nelson. BUERGENTHAL, T.; TORNEY, J International Human Rights and International Education. Washington, their own beliefs and attitudes, build their own D.C., United States National Commission for UNESCO. knowledge about other cultures, and provide BULLIVANT, B The Pluralist Dilemma in Education. opportunities for them to have the practical North Sydney, Allen & Unwin. experiences that will permit them to advance from policies and practices based on assimilation CAPELLA, D Nuevo golpe a la integración en Cataluña. El País, 29 September, p. 3. or accommodation models to the interac CARITAS ESPAÑOLA Los inmigrantes en España. tion and interchange implicit at the level of (Documentación social: revista de estudios sociales y interculturation. de sociología aplicada, No. 66.) CLARK, R. P Language and Politics in Spain's Basque Provinces. Western European Politics, p CUADERNOS DE PEDAGOGÍA 'Enseñanza con gitanos' (special number), No. 156, pp CUEVA, M. J.; TARROW, N. B Una propuesta para incluir educación intercultural en la formación del profesorado de EGB. Paper presented at the Fourth Notes National Conference of Magisterios, Soria, Spain, May Lynch (1986) reviews a number of these paradigms. 2. The words 'dominant' and 'subordinate' are used, rather than 'majority' and 'minority', as it is access to power, rather than number of people, that is the relevant factor. 3. Watson (1979) uses the terms 'assimilation', 'adjustment' and 'integration'. Banks (1988) uses 'acculturation' for the third category. However, 'acculturation', in some societies, means just the opposite of what is intended here - the socializing of an individual into the norms and values of the dominant group rather than the process of interchange and DÍAZ, C Las minorías. El Pais, 29 September, p. 1. EDWARDS, V The Welsh Speech Community. In: S. Alladinea and V. Edwards (eds.), Multilingualism in the British Isles: The Older Mother Tongues and Europe. London, Longman. EL PAÍS Condena al racismo. 31 January, p. 19. FISHMAN, J Reversing Language Shift. Clevedon, Multilingual Matters. GARCÍA-GONZALEZ, J. A Inmigración e integración. In: Department of Labour, Sanitation and Social Security, Psicosociologia del adolescente Vasco. Vitoria,

106 Language, interculturalis: three Europe and human rights: 509 i cases Central Publications Service of the Basque Government. GRUPO PASS. 1987a. La comunidad gitana de Donostialdea. Orinoco Artes Gráficas La comunidad gitana del gran Bilbao. Orinoco Artes Gráficas. GUNDARA, J.; JONES, C Nation States, Diversity and Interculturalism: Issues for British Education. In: M. Alladin and K. Bacchus (eds.), Education, Politics TROYNA, B.; HATCHER, R British Schools for and State in Multicultural Societies. Needham Heights, British Citizens? Oxford Review of Education, Vol. 17, Ginn Press. No. 3, pp INTERFACE. 1992a. No. 4. Clichy (France), Gypsy Research Centre, Université René Descartes. Critical Analysis. In: Centre for Educational Research VERNE, E Multicultural Education Policies: A No. 5. Clichy (France), Gypsy Research and Innovation (ed.), Multicultural Education, pp. 26- Centre, Université René Descartes. 63. Paris, Organization for Economic Co-operation. 1992c. No. 6. Clichy (France), Gypsy Research and Development. Centre, Université René Descartes. WATSON, K Educational Policies in Multicultural JONES C; KIMBERLY, K Intercultural Education: Concept, Context, Curriculum Practice. Strasbourg, Council of Europe. LA SERNA, J Muchos menos 'ilegales'. El Pais, 12 March. LOSADA, T La inmigración árabo-musulmana en los últimos veinte años. Paper presented at the Arab- Catalan Congress on Immigration, Barcelona, September LYNCH, J Multicultural Education Approaches and Paradigms. Nottingham, University of Nottingham School of Education Cultural Pluralism, Structural Pluralism and the United Kingdom. Paper presented at joint seminar of the Commission for Racial Equality and the Runnymede Trust, 9 October MARTINEZ, C El papel del intelectual gitan. El País, 29 September, p. 3. MINEUR, J Gwent Racial Equality Council, personal interview. RAY, D.; TARROW, N Human Rights and Education: An Overview. In: N. B. Tarrow (ed.), Human Rights and Education, pp Oxford, Pergamon. REY., M Training Teachers in Intercultural Education. Strasbourg, Council of Europe. SAUNDERS, M The School Curriculum for Ethnic Minority Pupils: A Contribution to a Debate. International Review of Education, No. 26, pp SCHOOLS COUNCIL Multicultural Education. London, Schools Council. SEMINARIO ESCOI.ARIZACIÓN.,1989. Situación y problemática de la escolarización de niños/as de la minoría étnica gitana de Guipúzcoa. Unpublished manuscript. SIGUAN, M Lenguas y educación en el ámbito del Estado Español. Paper presented at the First Congress of the Basque Public Schools, Bilbao. STRUBELL, M Language and Identity in Catalonia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, No. 47, pp TARROW, N. B The Autonomous Basque Community of Spain: Language, Culture and Education. In: C. Brock and W. Tulasiewicz (eds.), Cultural Identity and Educational Policy, pp London, Croom Helm. THOMAS, B Schools in Ethnic Minorities: Wales. Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Vol. 7, Nos. 2 and 3, pp Societies. Comparative Education, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp WELSH OFFICE Welsh in the National Curriculum. Cardiff, Welsh Office Statistics of Education in Wales. Cardiff, Welsh Office. (Schools, No. 5.) WOOLARD, K The Politics of Language Status Planning: 'Normalization' in Catalonia. In: N. S. Schweda-Nicholson (ed.), Languages in the International Perspective, pp Norwood, N.J., Ablex.

107 Alternatives in formal education Colombia's Escuela Nueva programme Rosa María Torres The Escuela Nueva (EN) or New School programme of Colombia has become a standard reference in the educational publications of international organizations. Among the main organizations, UNESCO, the World Bank and UNICEF have lent their support to the programme, promoting it and recommending it as a model experiment. UNESCO has described it as 'an experience of unquestionable international value', while the World Bank has stated that the lessons to be drawn from it deserve to be widely disseminated among educational planners and policy-makers in the developing world. Study and observer missions have travelled to Colombia to find out more about it. Several countries are interested in replicating it, both in and outside the region. 1 What is it that makes EN so special? Broadly speaking: the very fact that EN is an innovation and an alternative within the formal education system; the long period over which it has evolved and matured; the systematic approach adopted; the emphasis placed on the curriculum and teaching component as the linchpin of the whole system; and the tangible results that the programme is producing. We shall go on to examine these five points, including both their strengths and weaknesses, and conclude with some considerations about the programme's potential for replication in other contexts. Escuela Nueva: an alternative within formal education It is often thought - even in Latin America itself - that EN is a non-formal education programme or even a non-governmental programme, like other programmes singled out by international organizations as successful models of basic Rosa Maria Torres (Ecuador). Teacher, linguist education (such as the BRAC rural primary and educational journalist. Researcher, adviser on various programmes and author of numerous publications on education. Director of Research at the is neither of these. Perhaps its greatest merit education programme in Bangladesh). But EN Instituto Fronesis in Quito. Currently working as and most promising aspect is that it is not, in educational adviser for UNICEF, New York. fact, an alternative to formal or state education 'raspeas, Vol. II, I, No. 4, 1992 (84)

108 Alternatives in formal education: Colombia's Escuela Nueva programme 511 but an alternative within the formal and public education system. In education, there is a tendency to see non-formal education as 'alternative'. It is thought to have a number of virtues in contrast to the perceived flaws in formal education. This has given rise to the well-known list of opposites: inflexible/flexible, vertical/horizontal, monologue/ dialogue, irrelevant/relevant, uncritical/critical, authoritarian/participatory, divorced from reality/rooted in real life, set apart from the community/integrated with the community, etc. Formal education, nowadays impugned throughout the world for its poor quality and inefficiency, is considered by many to have had its day, while non-formal education is thriving, expanding and becoming increasingly diversified. Neither, however, has a monopoly of merits or flaws. Within formal education there have been significant changes. Colombia's Escuela Nueva is one indication, among others, that such change is possible, and that there are alternatives not only to formal education but within it. Escuela Nueva: from local project to national policy 'Pilot projects' have lost their credibility, since so many so-called 'pilot' projects have failed to be anything more than local experiments that began and ended without achieving the expected wider extension or impact. Meanwhile, there has been a proliferation of one-off, massive-scale programmes or programmes that have rushed ahead without going through a testing, maturing and development process. From this point of view, EN has proved an exceptional experience. That it has risen from the ranks of micro experiment to a feature of national education policy is one of its outstanding merits and one of the major reasons for its popularity. The beginnings of EN date back to the early 1960s, with the introduction of the Unitary School system, promoted at the time by UNESCO and adopted in several Latin American and Third World countries. The first Unitary Rural School in Colombia was set up in Pamplona in the department (administrative district) of Santander. The teacher in charge of the school at the time was to be the EN National Co-ordinator. By the mid 1960s, the small school had blossomed out into 150 pilot schools. In 1967, the Colombian Government decided to extend the Unitary School methodology to all the single-teacher schools in the country. In 1975, the Escuela Nueva programme was founded on the basis of this experience. Between 1975 and 1978, with the support of the Agency for International Development (USAID), the EN programme was implemented in 500 schools in three departments. Between 1982 and 1986 the programme expanded to the Pacific Coast. In 1985, by which time there were 8,000 EN schools across the country, the Colombian Government decided to adopt EN as a strategy to achieve universal rural primary education. A period of rapid expansion ensued from 1987 onwards, with the introduction of the programme in 17,984 schools by In 1991, some 20,000 of the 27,000 rural schools in the country were involved in the programme, with an estimated coverage of one million children, the goal for 1992 being 28,000 schools. It has thus taken some two decades, following at least one decade of experience accumulated beforehand, to complete the process that has built up that initial local project into the present nationwide, internationally recognized programme. Escuela Nueva: a system approach EN is not - as is often thought - a methodology. It is an integrated system combining four c o m ponents: curriculum, training, administration and

109 512 Rosa María Torres community. None of these components stands on its own. Their interrelationship is what makes the model both coherent and feasible. THE CURRICULUM COMPONENT Considerable emphasis is placed on curriculumrelated issues in the EN programme. Key features are the active method employed, the learning materials known as 'learning guides', the work or study corners, the school library, the school or student government andflexible promotion. The EN curriculum is geared to rural areas and to multigrade teaching. One or two teachers are in charge of all grades in primary education, which in Colombia lasts forfiveyears. The children study in small groups using the guides, supplied by the state free of charge. The guides are divided by subject-matter (mathematics, natural science, social studies and language) and by grade (from the second to thefifth grade, there being no guides for thefirst grade). They are designed for self-instruction, with graded activities and exercises and detailed instructions about how to do them, so that the pupils can work to a large extent on their own, helping one another. The aim is to save time and to place less of a burden on the teacher, to lessen the need for highly qualified teaching staff and to enable pupils to progress at their own pace. Teachers are trained to adapt the content of the guides to the specific characteristics of the children and the local environment, and also to the community's needs and parents' expectations. The work corners are arranged by field of study and comprise objects collected or made by the children themselves or provided by the parents and the community. Each school has a small library, which is central to the learning process and is part of a strategy to encourage reading in the children, the teacher and the community. The libraries now have a stock of about seventy books, including reference books by subject, more general reference works (encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases), works of literature and collections of books on community-related topics. EN attaches great importance to the school government, a student council responsible for organizing the children's school activities, its purpose being to involve the children as responsible partners in school management, initiate them in civic and democratic behaviour, and foster attitudes of co-operation, comradeship and solidarity as well as developing their potential for leadership, decision-making, public speaking, teamwork and so on. The school government, comprising a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Committee Leaders and Assistants for each grade, is elected by the pupils according to strictly democratic procedures, and is renewed periodically to enable different children to gain experience of leadership. Assessment and grade promotion differ substantially from the conventional school system. Assessment is part of the learning process, its main function being to make teachers and pupils aware of areas needing reinforcement. Promotion to successive objectives or grades is flexible, not automatic. Each child is moved on to the next grade when he or she achieves the educational objectives set, which can take more (or less) time than a normal academic year. This means that it is the school thatfitsin with the timetable and needs of the children and their families, and not the reverse. Any children temporarily absent from school can resume their studies without having to drop out. The actual learning environment extends beyond the classroom. EN schools have a vegetable patch and a garden, and sports grounds and community facilities form part of the wider school environment. The interior design provides adequate space for the work corners, library, kitchen, dining-room and washroom facilities. Teachers are often housed on the school premises. The natural environment is the main object of study and provides most of the resources for teaching and learning. TEACHER TRAINING In the EN approach, teachers begin to work as facilitators in relation to their pupils - guiding,

110 Alternatives in formal education: Colombia's Escuela Nueva programme 513 directing and evaluating learning - and as community leaders and organizers. Both roles involve major changes of attitude. For this reason, changes of attitude-pedagogical and social - play a key part in EN teacher training. Initial training (for new teachers) is provided through three sequentially designed workshops, each of one week's duration: initiation, methodology and organization and use of the library. After the first and the second workshops there is a six-month and a three-month interval, respectively, to give teachers time to put what they have learnt into practice in their schools. Attendance at thefirst workshop is a prerequisite for inclusion of the school in the EN programme and for a teacher to start working with it. A basic EN principle is to reproduce in teacher training not only educational content but also methods and real-life situations that the teachers themselves will encounter in their classrooms and in their relations with their pupils. In-service training takes place through what are known as 'Rural Micro-Centres', where teachers can exchange, update and upgrade their knowledge and experience on an ongoing basis; they are organized on the initiative of the teachers themselves and operate with groups of ten to fifteen teachers from neighbouring areas. THE ADMINISTRATIVE COMPONENT The administrative component is the part that has received least attention in current literature produced by and concerning EN. It is obviously a crucial and complex area, involving political and institutional factors that go beyond strictly administrative considerations. Administration 'has more to do with giving direction than with controlling' (Ministry of Education-UNICEF, 1990), which means that administrative officials, too, have to familiarize themselves with the programme's objectives and components, and especially with its pedagogical aspects. E N is designed as a decentralized programme. At the centre of the structure, a coordinator and a small team (of ten persons in 1991, most of them involved with EN in leadership positions since its inception) are responsible for co-ordinating and designing policies and technical strategies, and evaluating programme implementation. At the departmental level, the structure comprises a representative committee, a co-ordinator and a team of multiplier agents. From 1987 onwards - when the Plan for the Universalization of Rural Primary Education was launched and the EN expansion process began - a series of changes were introduced in the administrative structure, with e m phasis on decentralization as a strategy. Two new structures were established - a committee on universalization at the national and departmental levels, and the educational units - for purposes of decentralization and institutional support (Ministry of Education-UNICEF, 1990). THE SCHOOL-COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIP The EN school is expected to operate as an information centre and focal point for c o m m u nity integration. The school-community relationship is basically one of mutual benefit, with parents and the community joining in school activities, and the school promoting activities to foster local development and improve the quality of life of the population. In order to enable teachers to gain a better understanding of the community and local conditions EN recommends the use of a series of tools: the family record (information about the families connected with the school), the agricultural calendar (information about the agricultural activities of the area and the corresponding seasons), the neighbourhood map and the district monograph, all of them designed with the participation of the children, their parents and the community. Under the teacher's guidance, all these tools are key resources for the planning of educational activities. There are various ways in which E N attempts to involve parents in their children's learning activities and stimulate the children's interest in learning more about their parents and

111 514 Rosa María Torres their lives. The library, the school premises and the cultural and recreational activities are always open to community participation. Achievement Days - days when academic results are announced and the school government reports on its activities - are used as an opportunity for sharing school and community activities. Demonstration Schools, organized and located in each department in which the programme operates, are a full-scale EN institution. They are schools in which these four components can be 'seen' to be working in exemplary conditions. For this reason, a visit to a Demonstration School is a key element in the strategy of teacher motivation and training. Escuela Nueva: a pedagogical innovation Educational innovations often give prominence to organizational features and neglect the pedagogical aspects. Many innovative experiences of national and international renown are recognized as such for the changes they introduce in administrative management, planning and evaluation, new services provided, infrastructure, spatial organization and the introduction of new curriculum content. Yet teaching and learning methods, the cornerstone of any educational change, are often overlooked. The central role of pedagogical innovation in the programme is one of EN's most remarkable features. EN has drawn on and combined various features of progressive educational theory and practice, basing its programme on the philosophy of the Unitary School (itself derived from the Active School), some of whose principles were the preservation of the complete primary school approach through multigrade teaching, individualized instruction enabling pupils to advance at their own pace, active learning, educational materials designed to enable the teacher to work with several groups at once, and automatic promotion. EN's methodology focuses on learning by doing, linking theory and practice, individual and group work, study and play, guidance and self-instruction. The learning activities develop in children an ability to think for themselves, and to analyse, investigate and apply what they have learnt. The study corners, the library, work in small groups, the use of self-instructional materials, the student government, the teachertraining workshops and the rural micro centres have all been designed to foster active learning, not only by the pupils but also by the teachers. The conventional duties of the teacher-instructor are shared out among the learning guides (contents and methods), the library (an additional reference source), the study corners (observation and experiment areas), the group of pupils (who work together and help one another) and the school government (where pupils learn for themselves the values and attitudes for democratic life in society). In teacher training, pride of place is given to teaching methods and to motivation and the capacity to innovate. The micro centres are designed in effect to meet criteria considered crucial to any teacher-training strategy - the need for continuing and in-service training, based on contact and teamwork among teachers, the pooling of experience and critical analysis by teachers of their own teaching practices. EN's slogan, 'More and better primary education for children in rural areas', sums up this attempt to reconcile quantity with quality. It is a matter not just of providing children in rural areas with greater access to education, but of offering them a better education. The endeavour to depart from conventional teaching/ learning practice - top-down, authoritarian, rote and passive learning - and the attainment of higher levels of achievement than in conventional schools have been crucial, constant elements in EN's development.

112 Alternatives in formal education: Colombia's Escuela Nueva programme 515 Escuela Nueva: a programme that gets results In the final analysis, the merits of a programme are assessed not on its philosophy or stated objectives, but on its results. Recent evaluations (Psacharopoulos et al., 1992) have found that EN pupils have higher achievement scores than their counterparts in conventional rural schools (except in fifth-grade mathematics), as well as significant achievements in terms of self-esteem, creativity and civic behaviour such as a sense of co-operation, responsibility and solidarity. E N has increased community participation in school-related activities and has reduced the probable drop-out rate among children completing the fifth grade (though not the third grade). Another study (Rojas and Castillo, 1988) found that EN has had a significant impact on adult education, agricultural extension, athletic competitions, health campaigns and community celebrations. EN has changed the face of rural education in Colombia. It is proving that it is possible not only to take schooling into rural areas and substantially improve its quality, but also to design an educational model specifically tailored to the rural context, without forfeiting quality and efficiency. Moreover, EN seems to be showing that the traditional disadvantages of rural areas can be perceived and turned to account as positive factors - ample space, contact with nature, natural resources, linkages with the community, the central role played by the school and the teacher in community life, the climate of co-operation to which the multigrade school lends itself, the particular pace of rural life, etc. Weaknesses of Escuela Nueva As in the case of other internationally acclaimed innovative experiences, there is a tendency to present EN as a problem-free venture, or at any rate to minimize any problems there might be. Recognizing contradictions and weaknesses seems to be viewed as being inconsistent with 'success'. In fact, there is nothing to be gained from idealizing these programmes, either for the programmes themselves - which, on the contrary, lose their credibility - or for those hoping to draw inspiration from them as a model to be followed. It is a well-known fact that there are always considerable discrepancies between a model and its implementation. It is to the credit of EN and its co-ordinating team that they are always willing to acknowledge such discrepancies and are constantly at pains to identify and remedy them. A study trip to see EN operating in the field in 1991 gave me first-hand experience of the magnitude of both the programme's strengths and its weaknesses (Torres, 1991). So far I have referred to the former; I shall now review the latter. There is room for improvement in all the components and elements described. The programme's co-ordinating team itself is not satisfied with the guides, the teacher training, the school government and the school-community relationship. T h e guides require thorough revision (three revisions have been carried out to date) as regards both content and methods, especially in mathematics and grammar. Many of the contents and activities do not appear to be geared to the actual circumstances and needs of a rural child. Furthermore, not many teachers have been making use of the adaptation mechanism built into the guides, highly thought-provoking and interesting though it is. There is still some way to go in terms of instructional design, which is still too formal and inflexible for the requirements of do-it-yourself learning materials such as these. There are still shortcomings in teacher training as regards both coverage and quality. The rural micro centre strategy is not yet fully understood or established in all areas. School governments are not always set up or, where they are, not always as planned. An unduly controlling or paternalistic approach by teachers and adherence to form and ritual - so deeply in-

113 516 Rosa María Torres grained in the classroom culture - often prevail, thus defeating the objective of school government. T h e active stimulation of the school-community relationship depends to a great extent on the teachers, and to that extent their characteristics, training and personal motivation determine the quality of that relationship, which in fact often replicates the familiar models of the conventional school. T h e teaching of reading and writing - basic skills and the factor which largely determines the children's academic future - is still one of EN's main shortcomings in terms of curriculum and pedagogy. The guides, as has been said, are designed for use from the second grade onwards, leaving teachers free to choose the literacy methods and techniques they deem most appropriate. 2 This is clearly an open invitation to a conventional teaching approach and to the outdated methods that prevail in thisfield. One of the major challenges facing EN is to come forward with new ideas for the teaching of reading and writing, drawing on knowledge and experience gained in the region in recent years. The new teacher-pupil relationship proposed by EN has yet to be completely accepted and applied by all teachers. While there are some teachers who have fully grasped their new teaching role, there are others of the old school who continue to apply the frontal teaching approaches, demonstrating in fact that it is possible for a progressive educational philosophy to coexist alongside conservative, outmoded educational practice. In such cases, EN principles and strategies (active teaching methods, student government,flexible promotion, etc.) are accepted in theory while the teaching practices questioned by these principles and strategies may be kept intact. In other words, we can see precisely why EN has survived and continued to exist and even to progress, but also how it can get bogged down and grow stale and bureaucratized, drained of its substance and innovative force. EN requires its teachers and its schools to perform two main functions: a teaching function and a community function. It is certainly not easy to strike a balance between the two, and what seems to be happening is that the Demonstration Schools are placing more emphasis on the community role than on teaching. In fact, what the Demonstration Schools should show is that it is possible both to provide education efficiently without forfeiting its c o m m u nity and social base, and to establish a close school-community relationship without forfeiting the quality of the teaching process. They should show that it is possible to have good teachers who, without neglecting their primary teaching role, are also prepared to become good community leaders. One of the conflictual aspects glossed over in the literature about EN is the institutional question and, in particular, the relationship with the Ministry of Education, characterized by mistrust and conflict of various kinds and never fully clarified. Faced with anything from open boycott to passive resistance, EN has often had to swim against the tide or operate on the fringes of the system, falling back of necessity or by choice on the support of international organizations and private organizations in Colombia itself. Its precarious situation and lack of institutional legitimacy as part of the state structure are, in effect, weakening the programme's capacity for consolidation and expansion. A long evolutionary process such as the one EN has witnessed can be conducive to development and progress, but it can also cause a programme to stagnate and grow stale unless steps are taken to rejuvenate it continually. The ageing of Escuela Nueva is a recurrent concern among those directly involved in the programme and is increasingly emphasized in connection with its present growth phase. Expansion has, in fact, brought with it both an aggravation of old problems and a series of new ones. As stated (Ministry of Education- UNICEF, 1990), the 'cost of going for scale' has included 'inevitable sacrifices in terms of effectiveness and efficiency' and has resulted in 'a reduction in the number of days spent on training workshops or, in some places, a failure to provide the study guides in time for the training sessions. One consequence of these problems is, of course, a weakening of experiential learning in teachers' training, added to teacher apa-

114 Alternatives in formal education: Colombia's Escuela Nueva programme 517 thy and criticism of the programme'. The new administrative structure that has emerged as a result of the programme's expansion has led to conflict with the technical teams, who have not always been consulted, and has caused a sharp rise in the number of administrative officials, with training demands that the programme is unable to meet. Elsewhere, the absence of any such machinery for local management has led to situations of inefficiency and uncertainty as regards the expansion and follow-up of the programme. Another factor to be borne in mind is the proliferation of Demonstration Schools during the expansion phase. Although such schools are considered to be one of the strategies needed to maintain quality, their introduction on a massive scale appears to be having the opposite effect. Introducing demonstration on a grand scale may well entail discrediting excellence and losing out on quality. Is Escuela Nueva a model that can be replicated? Replicability is a topical subject. In the world strategy of 'Education for All', in which access and quality go hand in hand (at least in theory), the combination of innovation and replicability has taken on great importance. Innovative experiences are expected to be capable not only of expansion, but also offlexibility and adaptability to other contexts. In this perspective, EN is seen internationally as a highly attractive and promising experiment. We have a few comments on this. In the first place, the specific nature of EN as we know it and as it has been developed in Colombia must be borne in mind. It is a formal, public, rural primary education programme basically geared to the problems of multigrade teaching. These characteristics, which are the model's specific hallmarks, must not be overlooked when considering possible adaptations or variants. Nor must it be forgotten that EN is a system organized on the basis of four interlocking components - curriculum, training, administration and community - and not an assortment of separate elements. It is important that these two considerations are borne in mind by those who might have a superficial understanding of what the programme entails and are looking for a magic formula, and might therefore be tempted to apply a 'carbon copy' of this experience to any other type or level of education, or to pluck out of it one or other of its features (learning guides, teacher training, school government,flexible promotion, etc.) in the mistaken belief that, in so doing, they can replicate the model and introduce substantive changes in the system. There are a number of factors which are intrinsically bound up with the historical development and distinctive character of EN, some of them unique and not readily available or replicable in other contexts. To begin with, the 'rural school' is a concept that means many different things in different places. The type of 'rural schools' that EN in Colombia is talking about is schools that are well endowed with infrastructure and equipment. They usually have solidly built school buildings, with plenty of space and pleasant surroundings, and are properly equipped with furniture and other fittings. Many of them have accommodation for the teacher. They may have a kitchen, a dining-room, washrooms, running water, electricity and even television. In short, they are rural schools that are privileged in comparison to those usually found in Third World countries, including Latin American countries. 3 Colombia is a linguistically homogeneous country. This means that the EN programme is at an incomparable advantage in having to cope with only one language: Spanish. This factor alone greatly simplifies the task - curriculum design, methods, teacher training, production of materials, teaching and learning - and has left its mark on each and every part of the programme. Any attempt to introduce a similar model in bilingual or multilingual situations such as those prevailing in rural areas in many Third

115 518 Rosa María Torres World countries means venturing into entirely new territory. According to a recent study on EN carried out by the World Bank (Psacharopoulos et al., 1992), most EN teachers have secondary or university education. In addition, as compared with conventional rural schools in Colombia itself, there are more EN teachers living on the school premises. Both factors - teachers' previous level of education and teachers living in - have a positive impact on pupil achievement (a university education was associated with better cognitive outcomes, and teachers' residing on the school premises was also related to better scores in creativity and civic behaviour). EN has come into being through a long and very distinctive process. This point is emphasized in the programme literature: In Escuela Nueva, the necessary technical conditions have been met, since the programme has been designed and put to the test over a period of fifteen years.... Furthermore, the present government has fulfilled the necessary political conditions. In addition, adequate financial conditions have been assured through the allocation of government funds, a loan from the World Bank and the co-operation of UNICEF, which has lent its support to maintain the quality of the Escuela Nueva programme as it expands. (Ministry of Education-UNICEF, 1990) What countries can offer such a combination of technical, political and financial circumstances? With regard to the technical conditions, we shall mention only one crucial, outstanding component of EN: the learning guides. As the World Bank has acknowledged, developing good textbooks calls for highly specialized technical competence that is not easy to come by: 'translating curriculum specifications into good textbooks requires considerable expertise. Textbooks must have the appropriate content and reading level; be consistent in approach, method and exposition; be properly sequenced; motivate the students; and,finally, be readily taught by less qualified teachers, yet allow good teachers to expand upon them' (Neumann, 1980). 'Throughout the world, few individuals possess the sort of expertise required for writing good textbooks' (Lockheed and Verspoor, 1991). How many programmes can avail themselves of such human and technical expertise? In addition to government funds channelled through the Ministry of Education, EN has been receiving regular financial support from various international agencies - USAID, IDB, UNICEF and the World Bank - and from a number of private organizations in Colombia. The estimated cost of EN is between 5 and 10 per cent higher than that of conventional schools (Schiefelbein, 1991), while teacher training costs at least three times more (Psacharopoulos et al.j 1992). Can similar financial support be expected in other countries? Is it realistic to think in terms of long-term processes that go beyond the urgent, short-term concerns of governments and international organizations in the educationalfield? Can EN itself expect sustained support to enable it to continue to expand while improving its quality? In a world where policies and programmes are swept in on a tide of fashionable international thinking and come to an end with national governments, EN stands out as an exceptional innovative experience that has succeeded in holding its own for nearly two decades. How has EN been able to survive the changes of government and administration and the political and administrative instability characteristic of Latin America? Perhaps for want of a more thorough analysis, EN's success has been attributed to 'a mixture of advertisement, strategic support, academic standing of the developers and simple luck' (Schiefelbein, 1991). The 'luck' factor no doubt covers a wide range of unpredictable, inexplicable and non-reproducible factors. Various studies conducted worldwide have shown that one of the characteristics of successful programmes and effective schools is the part played in them by specific individuals with drive, vision, leadership qualities, charisma, perseverance, etc. To some extent this is true of EN as well. The initial team has remained relatively stable and cohesive. Individuals in key positions and in the right place at the right time

116 Alternatives in formal education: Colombia's Escuela Nueva programme 519 have had a decisive impact on the programme's development, not only nationally but also at the intermediate and local levels. As has been pointed out: 'Today, even though Escuela Nueva has been institutionalized in die whole country, the support it receives in some of the provinces largely depends on the personal preferences of local administrators' (Psacharopoulos et al., 1992, p. 19). Ten years elapsed between EN's official establishment as a programme in 1975 and its adoption as a national education policy in 1985, when it began its expansion phase. There have been three stages in this process (Ministry of Education-UNICEF, 1990): learning to be effective ( ), learning to be efficient ( ), and learning to expand (1987 to the present day). Even with the time and planning that went into the programme's development and the technical, political andfinancial support it received, there is every indication that EN was not equipped to cope with its present rapid expansion, at least not without jeopardizing its quality and the consolidation of its achievements. If this is what happens with so carefully prepared and monitored a programme as EN, what can be expected of precarious, newly launched programmes that are required to expand and even achieve universal implementation without having gone through the stages and met the requirements essential to their very survival? The pressure that such programmes are under today from governments and international organizations to cater for record numbers, show good results and become successful models may well be helping to undermine any possibility of change and of tangible, steady progress in the educational field. There is a great deal that other countries and Colombia itself can still learn from EN, from both its potential and its weaknesses. There is also a great deal that can be done to consolidate and improve the programme, while protecting it from the hazards of fashion and the risks inherent in any model and strengthening its domestic, national role for the very purpose of reinforcing its external, international role. The fact is that EN is clearly pointing a way, setting an example that is not necessarily reproducible but undoubtedly encouraging and inspiring. The radical change required in education today takes second place to the need to broaden access and may consequently be confined to cosmetic changes or piecemeal reforms. While achieving universal education is the major task ahead, universalizing it without changing it amounts to delivering more of the same, with more of the same in terms of drop-out, repetition, academic underachievement, wastage of resources, a decline in professional standards, demoralization and inefficiency. Transforming formal education is, without a doubt, the great challenge. Schooling must be made less formal and more flexible, relevant, useful, creative, enjoyable, responsive to pupils' intelligence and personal inquiry, respectful of diversity, attentive to children's needs, responsive to teachers' needs, open to participation by parents and the community and accountable to society for the results achieved. This is precisely what EN is endeavouring to do. And this is why it is worth supporting the programme, understanding it better and learning from it. Notes 1. In Latin America, Chile, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala are now actively engaged in trying out this system, under UNICEF auspices. 2. Several attempts have been made in the past (proposals for new methodologies, guides, etc.), but, for various reasons, none has materialized. 3. Under a plan for the promotion of education in rural areas and less densely populated centres, and with resources funded by the World Bank, Colombia undertook to improve the physical infrastructure of the country's rural primary schools in the late 1970s and early 1980s; this included rebuilding classrooms, supplying drinking water and providing sanitary installations and desks and chairs for pupils and teachers (Ministry of Education-UNICEF, 1990).

117 520 Rosa María Torres References LOCKHEED, M.; VERSPOOR, A Improving Primary Education in Developing Countries. Washington, D.C., Oxford University Press/World Bank. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION-UNICEF El Programa de Escuela Nueva. Más y mejor educación primaria para los niños de las zonas rurales. Bogotá. NEUMANN, P. H Publishing for Schools: Textbooks and the Less Developed Countries. Washington, D.C., World Bank. (Staff Working Paper 398.) PSACHAROPOULOS, G.; ROJAS, C; VÊLEZ, E Achievement Evaluation of Colombia's Escuela Nueva. Washington, D.C., World Bank. ROJAS, C; CASTILLO, Z Evaluación del programa Escuela Nueva en Colombia. Bogotá, Instituto SER. SCHIEFELBEIN, E In Search of the School of the I Century: Is the Colombian Escuela Nueva the Right Pathfinder? Santiago, UNESCO-UNICEF. TORRES, R. M Escuela Nueva: una innovación desde el Estado. Quito, Instituto Fronesis.

118 Profiles of educators Plato ( B.C.) Charles Hummel Plato was born in 428 B.C., towards the end of that extraordinary period in human history when the foundations of spiritual life were being formulated by Lao Tse (at the turn of the sixth century), Confucius ( ), Buddha (c ) and Socrates ( ) and the Upanishads were being written (at the turn of thefifth century). He was born to a family that belonged to the top ranks of the Athenian aristocracy. His father was a descendant of Codrus, last king of Athens. The brother of one of his mother's ancestors was Solon, the great Athenian statesman and law-maker, and one of Plato's uncles, Critias, was to become a member of the Council of Thirty. Plato was thus predestined to play an active role in Athenian politics. In his seventh Letter he explains why he chose not to take that path. Instead, he formulated the most significant political theory of ancient times and with it founded the science of politics. Plato was born soon after the death of Pericles, who had been a friend of the family and who had carried Athens to the heights of its power, prosperity and culture. Sophocles and Euripides were among the great playwrights of the time who delighted the public, and the young Plato must certainly have met them. But Plato was also destined to witness the decline ofthat Athens to which he was so dearly attached. As a young man he endured, probably as a soldier, the defeat of his city in the Peloponnesian War and experienced the ensuing decline of the Athenian democracy. The twilight of the Classical Age of Greece was approaching and with it the demise of the independent Greek city-states, which were supplanted by the Alexandrian empire. Plato lived in the period of transition between Classical Greece and the Hellenistic era that opened a new chapter in the history of the West. Plato's life As a child, Plato undoubtedly received the education that was commonly given to boys of his Charles Hummel (Switzerland). Studied philosophy at the Universities of Basle (with Karl Jaspers), age. He attended a private school in Athens Rome and Zurich. Permanent Delegate of Switzerland to UNESCO, Member of the Execu no public schools at that time). There he stud accompanied by a slave, or 'tutor' (there were tive Board of UNESCO. Member and President of ied reading, writing and arithmetic, following the Council of the IBE (International Bureau of which he committed to memory a considerable Education). Representative of Switzerland on the part of the corpus of Greek poetry, above all Council for Cultural Co-operation (Strasbourg). Ambassador to Ireland, Author o/nicolas the works of Homer, whom the Greeks considered the educator par excellence. He also learned de Cuse, Education Today for the World of Tomorrow and many articles on philosophical and the songs of the lyrical poets and to play the educational topics. lyre, two skills that, as he put it in his Protagoras, Prospects. Vol. II, [, No. 4, 1992 (84)

119 522 Charles Hummel 'familiarize the minds of children with the rhythms and melodies' by which 'they become more civilized, more balanced, and better adjusted' {Protagoras, 326b). 1 Naturally, Plato also attended the gymnasium, for physical training: for 'they are sent to a trainer, so that a good mind may have a good body to serve it, and no one be forced by physical weakness to play the coward in war...' (Protagoras, 326b-c). It may be added that Plato's sister did not go to school; she received her education, as was customary at the time, exclusively at home. The decisive event in Plato's life was his meeting with Socrates. At the age of 20, this rich young aristocrat became the most faithful disciple of Socrates, son of a stonemason and a midwife. Plato stood by Socrates to the end, when his master was condemned to death and executed by the Athenian democracy (399 B.C.). It was a traumatic experience that marked Plato for life and reinforced his low opinion of democracy. The pages Plato wrote as Socrates's defence (The Apology) and on the last hours of Socrates's life are among the most moving in world literature. After Socrates's death Plato left Athens on a long voyage that took himfirstto Megara, where he visited Euclid (the philosopher, not the mathematician), and then almost certainly to Egypt and Cyrene, on the coast of presentday Libya. He also travelled to Magna Graecia, in southern Italy, where he frequented Pythagorean circles, spending time notably with Archytas in Tarentum. From there he went to Sicily to the court of Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse, who was fond of surrounding himself with the company of famous men in order to boost his own prestige. There Plato argued his view that kings should be philosophers and should devote their lives to the service of the highest moral values rather than to their personal aggrandizement and interests, but to no avail. After twelve years of travel Plato returned to Athens, where he founded his Academy. During his stay in Syracuse, Plato had formed a friendship with Dionysius's brotherin-law Dion, who struck him as being a potential philosopher. When Dionysius the Elder died, Dion recalled Plato to Syracuse to tutor the young Dionysius. Once again Plato thought he would be able to have his ideas on the role of education and philosophy in politics put into practice. Accordingly, he went again to Syracuse, where he was very well received, and set himself to the task of educating Dionysius II, teaching him mathematics, which he regarded as the royal road to philosophy. Plutarch, in his biography of Dion, relates how the entire court at Syracuse took up geometry, covering every room in the tyrant's castle with sawdust, upon which they drew triangles, circles and other forms. The young Dionysius, however, was not a very bright pupil and tired quickly of the lessons of his demanding tutor. Furthermore, he was jealous of Dion, whom he sent into exile. Plato returned to Athens and the Academy. In 361 B.C. he succumbed for the third time to the temptation to go to Syracuse, but with no happier results: once again he encountered humiliation. It was only with the help of Archytas that he managed to get back to Athens, where in 348 B.C. he died, at the age of 80. Plato's works The works of Plato have reached us virtually intact. They consist of twenty-eight Dialogues and thirteen others of variously uncertain authorship. There are also thirteen Letters, three of which (VI, VII and VIII) are generally recognized as having been written by Plato. Plato's Dialogues cover a wide range of subjects: duty, courage, virtue, justice, love, beauty, science, nature, rhetoric and the harmony of words with Being and with Ideas; the nature of humankind, wisdom, kingship, legislation, etc. With the single important exception of Laws - Plato's last work and the one in which he set out in detail his ideas on education policy - Socrates is, directly or indirectly, cast as one of the protagonists of the Dialogues. It is the only time a disciple has ever identified himself so closely with his master as to put his own words into his

120 Profiles of educators: Plato ( B.C.) 523 master's mouth. It is extremely difficult to draw the demarcation line between the ideas of Socrates and those of Plato. Philologists have attempted to do so by sorting Plato's Dialogues into several groups., ranging from the more Socratic to those that clearly depart from the thought of the real Socrates and are considered to be distincdy Platonic. We cannot enter into the philological subtleties in this article and shall treat the Socrates who appears so true to life in Plato's Dialogues as part of the latter's 'profile'. In fact, it is as teacher that Plato most resembles his master. Socrates appears in the works of Plato as the archetypal teacher, even though he insists that he is not one. Accordingly, the object of most if not all of Plato's Dialogues is essentially educational: his whole work was written in the service of paideia. Plato was an extremely serious, moralizing and austere thinker who disapproved of the most innocent pleasures, even the reflex of laughter (The Republic, 388e and Laws, 732c). He was also a writer of exceptional literary skill, who drew his characters with a fine economy of detail in the manner of the great Chinese painters, creating in a few sentences a true-to-life atmosphere, and his works contain countless examples of superb subtlety and aflairfor irony. On the other hand, his Dialogues contain long passages of laborious and sometimes formalistic, punctilious and, it must be admitted, frankly tiresome dialectics. Plato's writings have had a determining influence on all aspects of Western philosophy (and even perhaps on all aspects of its culture). In fact the European philosophical tradition can be characterized as a long series of dialogues with Plato or, as the great American philosopher A. N. Whitehead put it, as 'a series of footnotes to Plato'. Plato's philosophy In order to understand Plato and to plumb the depths of his thought one must keep closely in mind the fact that his philosophy is not in any sense a doctrine. Plato did not set up a philosophical system in the manner of Hegel, for example. The distinguishing feature of Plato's philosophy is the progression or process by which his ideas are formed - his so-called dialectical method, which does not involve solitary, hence unilateral, reflection, but is rather a collective exercise by which friends, as in The Symposium, or adversaries, as in Gorgias, move forward in argument. Moreover, Plato's Dialogues, which often deal with the clarification of a concept - such as beauty, duty, love, justice or pleasure - do not usually come to afinal conclusion on the subject or end on universal agreement. The initial question is left open. Thus Protagoras concludes with the following statement, 'Well, we will talk of these matters [which we have just been discussing] at some future meeting...' (Protagoras, 36le). Plato sums up his approach in his seventh Letter. One statement at any rate I can make in regard to all who have written or who may write with a claim to knowledge of the subject to which I devote myself [philosophy]... Such writers can in my opinion have no real acquaintance with the subject. I certainly have composed no work in regard to it, nor shall I ever do so in future, for there is no way of putting it in words like other studies. Acquaintance with it must come rather after a long period of attendance on instruction in the subject itself and of close companionship, when, suddenly, like a blaze kindled by a leaping spark, it is generated in the soul and at once becomes self-sustaining. (341b-d) Attentive readers of Plato's Dialogues will find that they are participants in this sudden, visionlike dawning of knowledge. However, we must qualify this passage (which is rather discouraging for commentators on Plato!) with the observation that towards the end of the philosopher's life a touch of dogmatism crept into his work, which gives the sudden impression that one is attending an ex cathedra lecture by the Academy professor. Plato was relentless in his analysis of the conditions and limitations to the acquisition of knowledge imposed by a world that was elusive

121 524 Charles Hummel because it was in constant movement. He believed that all human beings, with the exception of true philosophers, lived in a world of appearances. This is why the Socrates of his Dialogues incessantly demonstrates to his interlocutors how much their claims to knowledge are illusory because based on unfounded opinions or on prejudices. In Laches, to cite but one example, two prominent generals are obliged to admit that they do not know the meaning of courage. On the one hand, led by his certainty of the absolute, he explored the human condition as it related to the supreme values of beauty, truth and goodness. On the other hand, haunted by his experience of the decline of Athens and convinced that all change carried within itself the seeds of corruption, he looked to permanence as the sole guarantor of absolute values. He considered that he had discovered in the concept of 'Ideas' the incorruptible reality he regarded as the foundation of being, and he illustrated that concept by his fascinating and celebrated myth of the cave {The Republic, 514a- 517a). It is only through a proper education and through the pursuit of philosophy that human beings can free themselves from the chains of their senses, desires, ambitions (such as wealth and power) and passions and that they can accede, progressively, passing from one level of enlightenment to the next, to true knowledge and, ultimately, to the vision of the Agathon, the Final Good. Plato's thought is centred on the human being and, more particularly, on the ethical problems the human being has to face. The questions of right, justice and the individual's place in society, that is in the polis, the Greek city-state, are among the ethical questions that concern him to the highest degree. Plato, like his pupil Aristotle after him, considered the human being a political animal. He devoted two of his most important works, The Republic and Laws, to politics, of which ethics is an essential dimension. In the course of his examination of the human being, Plato developed a new 'science' of the soul. His psychology (another discipline he fathered) may seem to the modern reader to be somewhat naive and elementary. Nevertheless, it has some interesting features. For example, on the subject of young Charmides's headache, in the dialogue of the same name, Socrates states that 'all good and evil, whether in the body or in the whole man, originates... in the soul' (Charmides, 156e). The care of the soul is essential for a person's future. It is no accident that Socrates asks young Hippocrates, who intends to entrust his education to Protagoras the Sophist: 'Do you understand that you are going to entrust the care of your soul to a man who is, in our own words, a Sophist, though I should be surprised if you know just what a Sophist is. And yet if you don't know that, you don't know to whom you are entrusting your soul, nor whether he represents something good or bad' (Protagoras, 312c). Lastly, with his theses concerning the immortality of the soul, Plato also broached the area of religion. Plato's anti-sophism The ideal Platonic educator or teacher is the antithesis of the Sophist. The passages in Plato's works in which Socrates criticizes or disputes with the Sophists are legion. It was, as Karl Jaspers puts it, the battle of philosophy against non-philosophy. T h e Sophists in Plato's time were itinerant teachers of higher education. They rented rooms and there gave lessons for an often quite substantial fee to the scions of the aristocracy, who normally completed their elementary studies in private schools at or about the age of 16. Plato himself almost certainly attended the courses of eminent Sophists such as Gorgias and Protagoras. The Sophists taught the widest range of subjects; but they were best known as teachers of rhetoric, the art of manipulating the masses. The oratorical art, explains Gorgias in the dialogue which bears his name, is 'The power to convince by your words the judges in court, the senators in Council, the people in the Assem-

122 Profiles of educators: Plato ( B.C.) 525 bly, or in any other gathering of a citizen body' (Gorgias, 452e). The eminent Protagoras asserts with great pride: 'From me [the student] will learn... the proper care of his personal affairs, so that he may best manage his own household, and also of the State's affairs, so as to become a real power in the city, both as speaker and man of action' (Protagoras, 319a). Plato's grand indictment of the Sophists is contained in the dialogue of the same name. His critique is presented as a sort of counterpoint to an authoritative lecture on Being, highlighting the abyss that divides true philosophy from non-philosophy. Here is the hardly complimentary portrait he draws of the Sophist: 'The hired hunter of rich young men,... a sort of merchant of knowledge about the soul,... A retail dealer in the same wares,... an athlete in debate,... a controversialist', one who instils in young people the opinion that he is, personally and in all matters, the wisest of men; he is a magician and a mimic who has appropriated the 'shadow play of words' as an art (Sophist, 23Id, 232b and 268c). On the other hand, 'the philosopher, whose thoughts constantly dwell upon the nature of reality, is difficult to see because his region is so bright, for the eye of the vulgar soul cannot endure to keep its gaze fixed on the divine' (Sophist, 254a-b). These passages on the Sophists show that Plato demanded a deep sense of moral responsibility on the part of the true teacher, on whom lay responsibility for the sound health and fate of his pupil's soul. It was his duty to protect his disciples against false knowledge and guide them on the path to truth and virtue. He must never be a mere peddler of materials for study and of recipes for winning disputes, nor yet for promoting a career. Is it not a terrible historical irony that by democratic vote the citizens of Athens sentenced Socrates to death on the charge that he was, of all things, a Sophist and that he was corrupting the city's youth? The Socratic teaching method Socrates is presented as the archetypal educator. This is already apparent in Laches, which is about two eminent generals who are looking for a tutor for their sons; and Werner Jaeger, in his Paideia, a classic work on education in the ancient world, calls Socrates the most influential teacher in all European history. Only Socrates asserts the contrary, as, for example, in The Apology: '[Some people are saying] that I try to educate people and charge a fee, [but] there is no truth in that either... I think that it is a fine thing if a man is qualified to teach, as in the case of Gorgias of Leontini and Prodicos of Ceos and Hippias of Elis' (The Apology, 19c and e). What is the cause of this apparent contradiction? Socrates refuses to be taken for a teacher of the Sophist sort. He believed that in order to be qualified to teach one must know the subject taught. One must know how to make shoes before teaching another the shoemaking art, and to be able to train a physician one must be acquainted with the various diseases and their cures. As a true philosopher, Socrates makes no claim to know anything; indeed, he is conscious of all that he does not know and, consequently, is always searching for knowledge, whereas the others - both the Sophists and the people in the street with whom he converses and whom he 'examines' - live in the illusion mat they possess knowledge. In fact, exposing that illusion is thefirststep in the process of learning to live a good life, represented as a harmonious relationship between a person and his or her final destiny, which is moral and political in nature. In the prologue to The Symposium there is a delightful episode that serves as a good illustration of the Socratic method. Socrates is late in arriving because, as he occasionally did, he has paused on the way, caught up in his own thoughts ( The Symposium, 174c). Agathon, the host, invites Socrates to sit next to him because 'I want to share this great thought that's just

123 526 Charles Hummel Struck you in the porch next door.' At which Socrates replies to Agathon: 'I only wish that wisdom were the kind of thing one could share by sitting next to someone - if it flowed, for instance, from the one that was full to the one that was empty, like the water in two cups finding its level through a piece of worsted' (The Symposium, 175d). The Socratic method is to be distinguished, therefore, from the traditional method of teaching, in which teachers seek to transmit their knowledge to their pupils, who are expected to assimilate it, on the whole passively. The Socratic method is an interactive method in which teacher and pupil cooperate in the pursuit of knowledge through dialogue. A series of questions and answers involve the two parties in the same cognitive pursuit (Plato occasionally uses images taken from the hunt). This is yet another reason - a methodological one - why Socrates does not want to be described as one who possessed knowledge. This dialectical method runs through the entire work of Plato. The reader is drawn into the discussion as an active observer. Plato the educator takes his readers, entangled in their desires and illusions, and leads them, patiently and through a critique suffused with irony, to the point of reflection and independence. In The Apology, Socrates insists that he has been entrusted with his teaching role by Apollo himself: 'God appointed me... to the duty of leading a philosophical life, examining myself and others' (The Apology, 28e). As to whether he would renounce his role of 'examiner' should he be acquitted, he declares: Gentlemen... I owe a greater obedience to God than to you, and so long as I draw breath and have m y faculties, I shall never stop practising philosophy and exhorting you and elucidating the truth for everyone that I meet. I shall go on saying, in my usual way, 'My very good friend, you are an Athenian and belong to a city which is the greatest and most famous in the world for its wisdom and strength. Are you not ashamed that you give your attention to acquiring as much money as possible, and similarly with reputation and honour, and give no attention or thought to truth and understanding and the perfection of your soul?' (The Apology, 29d and e) Accordingly, in Plato's mind, philosophy and education are one and the same discipline. The Socratic method of teaching has often been characterized as a 'maieutic' method, or one in which the teacher assumes the role of a midwife. A deciphering of this method is contained in Meno. There, Plato's Socrates argues that 'mere is no such thing as teaching, only recollection' (Meno, 82a) and maintains that teachers should play the role of midwife in order to deliver their pupils of the knowledge they unconsciously possess. To illustrate this original method, Socrates conducts an educational experiment: by questioning a young slave, he leads him to self-discovery of the solution to a relatively complicated problem in geometry (Meno, 82b-85b). From this experiment Socrates concludes as follows: So a man who does not know has in himself true opinions on a subject without having knowledge... This knowledge will not come from teaching but from questioning. H e will recover it for himself... And the spontaneous recovery of knowledge that is in him is recollection... If then there are going to exist in him, both while he is and while he is not a man, true opinions which can be aroused by questioning and turned into knowledge, may we say that his soul has been forever in a state of knowledge? Clearly he always either is or is not a man. (Meno, 85c and d, 86a) Maieutics is based on a concept of the immortality of the soul and of metempsychosis, which of course goes beyond the thought of the historical Socrates. This doctrine of knowledge acquired before birth is also developed in Phaedo (72b et seq.), while the maieutic method described in detail, but less speculatively, in Tlieaetetus (148e- 151d) is perhaps that of the historical Socrates.

124 Profiles of educators: Plato ( B.C.) 527 The Academy When Plato founded the Academy around 385 B.C. he was just over 40 years old. He set up his establishment on gardened premises not far from Athens. The Academy is often described as the first university in history - which is not exactly true. It resembled the medieval universitas more than the modern university. It was a centre of study and research, but nothing is known of the details of its organization. It was more of a scientific community than a school. The Academy was probably modelled after the Pythagorean communities Plato had visited in Magna Graecia. Legally, it was established in the form of a thiasos, or religious confraternity. It was dedicated to the Muses. Teachers and pupils lived there in a community atmosphere that was enhanced by a dialectical method of teaching, in which doctrinal presentations are followed by discussion. Plato remained head of the Academy for die rest of his life. This meant that for some forty years he was the driving force and principal teacher of this intellectual centre of ancient Greece. The Academy remained open until A.D. 529, that is, for almost 900 years after Plato's death. According to an old tradition, there was an inscription over the portal of the Academy proclaiming that a knowledge of geometry was a requirement for entry. Plato probably developed a passion for mathematics during his encounters with the Pythagoreans - especially Archytas of Tarentum, who was a brilliant mathematician. Plato, himself a seasoned mathematician, invited other scholars accomplished in this discipline to teach at the Academy. These included Eudoxas, who was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer and physician. Science also had its place at the Academy. This fact tends to be forgotten, so firmly implanted in tradition is Plato's image as the great master of ethics and metaphysics. Timaeus, his great dialogue concerning Nature, testifies to the scientific work done at the Academy and the encyclopedic scope of the scientific knowledge it housed. An amusing fragment of a comedy by Epicrates has survived, in which one of the characters tells what he had heard while passing by the Academy garden: 'They were trying to define the differences between the life processes of animals and the growth of trees and vegetables. Among other matters they were trying to determine to what species pumpkins belonged...'. Politics, the main subject of the Academy, was studied and taught on a regular basis. The Academy owned a collection of the written constitutions of a large number of states. Politicians, statesmen and specialists in constitutional law were educated at the Academy; and the long list of its disciples who were called upon to act as political and legal consultants in the Greek states is a good indicator of the extent of its influence. Plato's dream was to educate in his Academy those 'philosopher kings' about whom he wrote so copiously in his two works, The Republic and The Statesman, which, together with Laws, contained the cream of the results of the Academy's studies and research in political science. Philosophy, of course, took pride of place in the Academy's curriculum. The founding of the Academy opened a new period in Plato's thought. It marked his departure from the philosophical approach of Socrates. The Pythagorean doctrines began to rival the example of his former and still venerated master as his source of inspiration. This shift was already noticeable in Meno (as mentioned above) and in Gorgias, and became more pronounced right up to Laws. With the exception of this last (posthumous) work, Socrates remained a central character of Plato's Dialogues. However, his works became more doctrinal in tone. This, it would seem, was not only a natural consequence of his daily life as a teacher at the Academy but also the sign of a conscious affirmation of his philosophical conclusions. The educational issues with which he dealt also changed in emphasis. They hadfirst been primarily didactic, if not methodological in emphasis, strongly inspired by the personality

125 528 Charles Hummel of Socrates - the educator - but with the Academy the emphasis became almost exclusively social and political. The focus of interest moved towards educational policy. Educational policy in the ideal state Plato developed his concept of educational policy in his two largest works, The Republic and Laws. In The Republic Plato developed his concept of the ideal state, which embodied justice. It was a sort of Utopia. (For Plato, however, the world of ideas, because permanent, is more 'real' than the world of facts, which is in a state of constant flux!) Rousseau believed that 'Plato's The Republic... is the best treatise on education ever written' (Emile, Book I). In Laws Plato drew up a highly detailed system of laws for a proposed colonial city-state. While the themes of these two Dialogues would seem to be almost identical, there are considerable differences between them. The differences, however, do not touch upon educational issues. The Republic is a pure theory of the ideal state, whereas Laws is a practical application to a hypothetical concrete case. In The Republic the inhabitants are divided into three distinct classes: slaves, who are the subjects of special provisions in Laws, craftsmen and merchants (generally alien, without rights of citizenship) and, lastly, 'guardians', who are responsible for the security and administration of the state. The guardian class is itself divided into two groups: the 'auxiliaries' and the 'perfect' guardians, or regents - thefirst,in principle the youngest, having responsibility for internal and external security (including the police and the army), while the second group, the 'sages', watch over the smooth functioning and harmony of the state. At the head of the state is a 'philosopher-king' (such as Archytas of Tarentum) - an idea that is taken up again in The Statesman but abandoned in Laws, in which a 'nocturnal council' assumes the responsibilities of the highest authority. The ideal society for Plato is as immutable as a Doric temple; for, in an ideal state, change can bring about only decadence and corruption (Laws, 797d). Society must therefore be protected from all that could upset the civic order and induce change. The guardians must devote themselves entirely to the service of the state. They may not possess material riches (which give rise to jealousy and conflict); they may not indulge in frivolities (which could compromise their integrity); nor may they entertain private ambitions. All they have must be held in common: room, board, wives and children. One of the tasks of education in the Platonic state is to preserve the status quo. All innovation is taboo. Contrary to most modern educational principles, education must stand guard against all change and all forms of subversion. Despite his extreme conservatism, however, Plato had some highly innovative ideas. For example, he espoused equality of the sexes at a time when women, with the exception of courtesans, were relegated to the household. In the Platonic state girls, like boys, do their gymnastics in the nude and are expected to go to war clad in the same armour as the men. They share the boys' education, with no discrimination between them. Moreover, Plato prescribes compulsory education for all, that is, for all m e m bers of the guardian class. This idea, however, was not to receive application until much later, at the time of the French Revolution. Compulsory schooling goes far beyond an elementary education; yet Plato has very little to say about the education of craftsworkers and merchants, which consists of no more than a simple apprenticeship, and slaves receive no mention at all. Plato, indeed, was thefirstto formulate a complete education system, covering every aspect from its administration to a detailed curriculum. In Laws Plato describes how education should be organized and administered. The whole education system should be headed by a 'Supervisor of Education', 'far the most impor-

126 Profiles of educators: Plato ( B.C.) 529 tant of the highest offices in the State', who would supervise all aspects of education for children of both sexes. He should be 'a man of not less than 50 years, and the father of a legitimate family, preferably of both sexes' (Laws, 765d and e). He will have working under him 'superintendents of gymnasiums and schools in charge of their seemly maintenance as well as of the education given and the... supervision of attendances and accommodation for children of both sexes, together with judges of performers contending in both musical and athletic competitions' (Laws, 764c and d). These competitions are important because the careers of the guardians are determined by their results. The education of the guardians - a lifelong education that stretches from before birth to retirement age - is described in detail in The Republic (especially Books II-V and VII) and in Laws (especially Books I, II and VII). In Laws, however, the programme of studies is abbreviated. Having abandoned the idea of the philosopher-king, Plato did not dwell any further on the teaching of philosophy, as he had done in The Republic. After introducing the concept of 'guardians', he goes on to say: 'But the rearing of these men and their education, how shall we manage that? And will the consideration of this topic advance us in any way toward discerning what is the object of our entire enquiry - the origin of justice and injustice in a State...?' (The Republic, 376c-d). The object of Platonic education is therefore moral and political; it is not an apprenticeship for know-how but an education in life skills. Since the health and beauty of both body and mind are essential goals of Platonic education (see Laws, 788c), education, in keeping with Greek custom, is divided into two parts: gymnastics and music (= culture). Physical education begins before birth. Pregnant women are advised to walk around and move about as much as possible, for 'every sort of shaking and stirring [communicates] health and beauty, to say nothing of robustness' to the unborn infant (Laws, 789d). Preschool education is the responsibility of parents (whereas in The Republic children are raised collectively and do not know who their parents are!), who are enjoined to treat them with measured discipline, for 'while spoiling of children makes their tempers fretful, peevish and easily upset by mere trifles, the contrary treatment, the severe and unqualified tyranny which makes its victims spiritless, servile, and sullen, renders them unfit for the intercourse of domestic and civic life' (Laws, 791c). The teaching of culture begins very early on, through the stories parents tell their children. Plato attaches the greatest importance to the content of these stories, for first impressions shape the still malleable minds of children and determine their character. Consequently, such stories must pass the censors' scrutiny. Plato places a strong and oft-repeated stress on censorship, not sparing even Homer. Next to stories, games should contribute to the education of children. 'He who is to be good at anything as a man must practise that thing from early childhood, in play as well as in earnest... Thus, if a boy is to be a good... builder, he should play... at building toy houses...' (Laws, 643b). From the ages of 3 to 6 children should play together under the supervision of women assigned to that task. Children enter school at the age of 6. They first learn to read, write and count. 'For reading and writing three years or so, from the age of 10, are a fair allowance of a boy's time, and if the handling of the lyre is begun at 13, the three following years are long enough to spend on it. No boy, no parent shall be permitted to extend or curtail this period from fondness or distaste for the subjects...' (Laws, 809e-810a). Together with this literary and musical education, students of the Platonic state engage in all sorts of sports, including horse-riding and weapons training. The balance between culture and gymnastics should be maintained as perfectly as possible (The Republic, 411c et seq.). At the age of 18, at the end of this basic education period during which they will have undergone many contests and examinations of all sorts, young people - both boys and girls - are required to devote themselves exclusively for a period of two to three years to physical

127 530 Charles Hummel and military training, as the traditional ephebe did. At the age of 21 pupils selected on the basis of their past performance go on to higher studies. It is here that Plato's curriculum differs fundamentally from the tradition of employing Sophists for the purpose. It is this level of studies, which leads to philosophy and, at the same time, to the highest offices in the state, that concerned Plato the most. In fact, they formed the subject of the teaching at his Academy. Education, then, was compulsory until the age of 20. Plato recommended that 'all this study... must be presented... not in the form of compulsory instruction... because... a free soul ought not to pursue any study slavishly'. Moreover 'nothing that is learned under compulsion stays with the mind' (The Republic, 536d-e). These higher studies, which stretch over a period of ten years, consist of a systematic assemblage and arrangement of the knowledge acquired in past studies: 'They will be required to gather the studies which they disconnectedly pursued as children in their former education into a comprehensive survey of their affinities with one another and with the nature of things' (The Republic, 537c). This is essential for an understanding of dialectics, 'for he who can view things in their connection is a dialectician' (The Republic, 537c). It is probably also at this stage that Laws would be studied as a manual of politics, social sciences and comparative law (Laws, 811c-d). Special stress is next placed on the study of the four disciplines that prepare the student for philosophy: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and harmony. These disciplines lift the soul to the level of the immutable. Mathematics - arithmetic and geometry - liberate the mind from sensation, familiarize it with the world of pure thought and turn the soul towards the heights of the world of ideas. 'Geometry is the knowledge of the eternally existent' (The Republic, 527b). It is through geometry that one learns how to manipulate concepts (The Republic, ). Astronomy initiates the soul to the order and immutable harmony of the cosmos. Harmony, a sister science of astronomy's, focuses on the search for and knowledge of the laws of, and the order in, the world of sound. The influence of the Pythagoreans here is obvious. Plato repeated with insistence that we must 'prevent our fosterlings from attempting to learn anything that does not conduce to the end we have in view' (The Republic, 530e). At the age of 30, and not before, Plato's students finally begin to study philosophy or dialectics. After pursuing this course for five years they must then 'return once again to the cave' and serve for fifteen years in the army and the civil service, where they are constantly put to the test. 'At the age of 50 those who have... approved [sic] themselves altogether the best in every task and form of knowledge' will be able to behold the good; 'and when they have thus beheld the good itself they shall use it as a pattern for the right ordering of the State' (The Republic, 540a). They will then devote the rest of their lives alternately to philosophy and public life. When they retire, these state officials will have the leisure time to devote themselves entirely to the delights of philosophy - this being their sole reward. Plato's polis is essentially an educational community. It is created by education. It can survive only on condition that all its citizens receive an education that enables them to make rational political decisions. It is up to education to preserve the state intact and to defend it against all harmful innovations. The aim of education is not personal growth but service of the state, which is the guarantor of the happiness of its citizens for as long as they allow it to be the embodiment of justice. Note 1. Quotations are from The Collected Dialogues of Plato, edited by E. Hamilton and H. Cairns, Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press, The line numbers, as is customary, are those established by the Stephanus edition (1578).

128 Profiles of educators: Plato ( B.C.) 531 Select bibliography BLATTNER, F. Geschichte der Pädagogik. Heidelberg, Quelle & Meyer, BRUN, J. L'Académie. In: Encyclopédie de la Pléiade, Histoire de la philosophie, Vol. I. Paris, Gallimard, Platon et l'académie. 10th éd. Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, ('Que sais-je' collection.) CASTLE, E. B. Ancient Education and Today. 2nd éd. London, Penguin, CROSS, R. C; WOOZLEY, A. D. Plato's Republic. A Philosophical Commentary. London, Macmillan, FERBER, R. Platos Idee des Guten. Sankt Augustin, Academia Verlag Richarz, GAUSS, H. Handkommentar ZU den Dialogen Piatos. Bern, Herbert Lang, vols. GIGON, O. Sokrates. Bern, A. Francke, GRUBE, G. M. A. Plato's Republic. Indianapolis, Hackett, GUILLERMIT, L. Platon par lui-même. Combas, Éditions de l'éclat, JAEGER, W. Paideia. Die Formung des griechischen Menschen. 4th ed. Berlin, Walter de Gruyter, vols. JEANNIERE, A. Lire Platon. Aubier, MARCUSE, L. Plato und Dionys. Berlin, Blanvalet, MARROU, H.-I. Histoire de l'éducation dans l'antiquité. 7th ed. Paris, Seuil, NIETZSCHE, F. Introduction à la lecture des Dialogues de Platon. Combas, Éditions de l'éclat, PICHT, G. Piatons Dialoge 'Nomoi' und 'Symposion'. Stuttgart, Klett-Cotta, PIETRI, C. Les origines de la 'pédagogie'. Grèce et Rome. In: Histoire mondiale de l'éducation, Vol. I. Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, PLATON. Säntliche Werke. With an introduction by Olof Gigon; trans. R. Rufener. Zürich, Artemis, POPPER, K. R. The Open Society and Its Enemies. Vol. I: Plato. 5th ed. London, Routledge, RUGGIERO, G. DE. Lafilosofíagreca. 6th ed. Bari, Laterza, vols. VLASTOS, G. Socrates. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, WAHL, J. Platon. In: Encyclopédie de la Pléiade, Histoire de la philosophie, Vol. I. Paris, Gallimard, WYLLER, E. A. Der späte Platon. Hamburg, Felix Meiner, 1970.

129 Volume TT 1QQ2 Index No. 1, 1992 (81), pp No (82) pp 123_251 V U1U111C ^Y^VJ.A 3 LWL, No 3) 1992 (g3)j pp No. 4, 1992 (84), pp ADAMS, Arvil V.; MIDDLETON, John; ZIDERMAN, Adrian. The World Bank's policy paper on vocational and technical education and training, 127. AGUERRONDO, Inés. Educational reform in Latin America: a survey of four decades, 353. BAIRRAO RUIVO, Joaquim; WEIKART, David P.; SHI HUI ZHONG. The IEA project on preschool education: preliminary surveys in Portugal and China, 469. BARRIER, Emilie; M U N C K, Ingrid. Analysing educational outcomes using international data, 334. BÁTHORY, Zoltán. Hungarian experiences in international student achievement surveys, 434. BECCHI, Egle. Pluralistic education in Western Europe on the threshold of 1993, 216. BORSTEL, Federico von. A theoretical framework for productive education, 265. BRUNNER, José Joaquín. The new educational pluralism in Latin America, 213. D U B R E U C Q, Francine. Profiles of educators: Jean- Ovide Decroly ( ), 379. F O S T E R, Philip. Vocational education and training: a major shift in World Bank policy, 149. FUENLABRADA, Irma; TABOADA, Eva. Curriculum and educational research: innovation proposed for basic education, 93. GRIFFITH, Jeanne E.; MEDRICH, Elliott A. What does the United States want to learn from international comparative studies in education? 476. HEPBURN, Mary A. Multiculturalism and social cohesion in a democratic society: is the United States experience a model or an example? 80. HUMMEL, Charles. Profiles of educators: Plato ( B.C.) 521. HUSSEIN, Mansour G. What does Kuwait want to learn from the Third Internationa] Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)? 463. IRWIN, Colin. Integrated education: from theory to practice in divided societies, 67. JOLIBERT, Bernard. Profiles of educators: Condorcet ( ), 241. KOZAKIEWICZ, Mikolaj. The difficult road to educational pluralism in Central and Eastern Europe, 207. LAWSON, Max. Profiles of educators: N. F. S. Grundtvig ( ), 113. LEIMU, Kimmo. Interests and modes in research utilization: the Finnish IEA experience, 425. LOLEY, William. Introduction, Managing international survey research, 289. LUNA, Eduardo. Dominican Republic: the study on teaching and learning of mathematics, 448. MACKEY, William F. Mother tongues, other tongues and link languages: what they mean in a changing world, 41. MACLEAN, Rupert. Innovations and reforms in schooling in Asia's developing countries, 366. MEDRICH, Elliott A.; GRIFFITH, Jeanne E. What does the United States want to learn from international comparative studies in education? 476. MIDDLETON, J.; ADAMS, Arvil V.; ZIDERMAN, Adrian. The World Bank's policy paper on vocational and technical education and training, 127. MITTER, Wolfgang. Multicultural education: basic considerations in an interdisciplinary approach, 31. MOAHI, Serara. Using evaluation research for policy and practice in Botswana, 441. Prospects, Vol. II, r, No. 4, 1992 (84)

130 534 Index MoATASSiME, Ahmed. Cultural pluralism and education in the Maghreb, 171. MOURA CASTRO, Claudio de. Training policies in the World Bank: putting the act together, 141. MULUSA, Thomas. Pluralistic education in subsanaran Africa: an overview, 159. MUNCK, Ingrid; BARRIER, Emilie. Analysing educational outcomes using international data, 334. PELGRUM, Willem J. International research on computers in education, 341. PLOMP, Tjeerd. Conceptualizing a comparative educational research framework, 278. PRETORIUS, Fanie. Comparative education: perspectives in a changing South Africa, 102. Ross, Kenneth N. Sample design for international studies of educational achievement, 305. ROY SINGH, Raja. Changing education for a changing world, 7. ROLCKER, Tobias. Multicultural education, curricula and strategies for their reform, 53. RWOMIRE, Apollo. Education and development: African perspectives, 227. SÁRKÁNY, Mihály. Modernization, cultural pluralism and identity: an approach from cultural anthropology, 21. SHI HUI ZHONG; WEIKART, David P.; BAIRRAO RUIVO, Joaquim. The IEA project on preschool education: preliminary surveys in Portugal and China, 469. SCHLEICHER, Andreas; UMAR, Jahja. Data management in educational survey research, 317. SCHMIDT, William H. TIMSS curriculum analysis: topic trace mapping, 326. SHUKLA, Sureshachandra. Pluralism and education in India: problems and possibilities, 195. TABOADA, Eva; FUENLABRADA, Irma. Curriculum and educational research: innovation proposed for basic education, 93. TARROW, Norma. Language, interculturalism and human rights: three European cases, 489. TILAK, Jandhyala B. G. Education and structural adjustment, 407. TORRES, Rosa Maria. Alternatives in formal education: Colombia's Escuela Nueva programme, 510. UMAR, Jahja; SCHLEICHER, Andreas. Data management in educational survey research, 317. WATANABE, Ryo. How Japan makes use of international educational survey research, 455. WEIKART, David P.; SHI HUI ZHONG; BAIRRAO RUIVO, Joaquim. The IEA project on preschool education: preliminary surveys in Portugal and China, 469. WILEY, David E.; WOLFE, Richard G. Major survey design issues for the IEA Third International Mathematics and Science Study, 297. WOLFE, Richard G.; WILEY, David E. Major survey design issues for the IEA Third International Mathematics and Science Study, 297. ZIDERMAN, Adrian; ADAMS, Arvil V.; MIDDLETON, J. The World Bank's policy paper on vocational and technical education and training, 127.

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132 Announcing an important new book jointly published by UNESCO Paris and Advent Books New York HIGHER EDUCATION IN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE: Toward the 21st Century Edited by Zaghloul Morsy and Philip G Altbach Editor, PROSPECTS Professor and Director UNESCO's Quarterly Comparative Education Center Review of Education State University of New York, Paris Buffalo ISBN $37.50 Published January 15, 1993 A unique volume not only for the range of topics discussed but also in the diversity of the authors and the fresh perspectives they bring. UNESCO's "invisible college" of scholars around the world was instrumental in permitting the editors to reach beyond the usual confines of Western scholarship. Further, UNESCO's translation facilities allowed them to reach out to authors writing in Arabic, French, Spanish and Russian as well as in English. Contents Preface by Philip G Allbach. Introduction by Zaghloul Morsy Part 1: Situation, Challenges and Prospects The Idea of the University: Changing Roles, Current Crisis and Future Challenges: Torsten Husénl Patterns in Higher Education Development: Toward the Year 2000: Philip Altbachl Autonomy and Accountability in Higher Education: Orlando Albornoz! Open Universities: A Comparative Approach: Tony Kaye & Greville Rumble! Privatization of Higher Education: Janhyala B G Tilakl University, Research, Development: Abdallah Larouil Universities and National Development: Issues and Problems in Developing Countries: Lawrence J Sahal Rethinking the Financing of Post-Compulsory Education: Jean-Claude Eicher & Thierry Chevaillier. Part 2: Case Studies French-Speaking Universities in Sub-Saharan Africa: François Orivell Latin America: Higher Education in a Lost Decade: Simon Schwartzman! The Problems of Higher Education in the Arab States: Raj i Abou- Chacral Higher Education and Development: The Experience of Four Newly Industrializing Countries in Asia: Jasbir Sarjit Singh! The Development of Higher Education in Eastern and Central Europe in the Aftermath of Recent Changes: Jan Sadlakl 'Soviet' Higher Education in a Changing Political, Social and Economic Context: Stanislav Merkurievl Changing Higher Education Policy: Three Western Models: Osmo Kivinen & Risto Rinne! Higher Education in the United States in the Year 2000: D. Bruce Johnstone! Promoting Higher Education's Contribution to the Developing European Community: Hywel Ceri Jones. INDE Order from Advent Books, Inc. 141 East 44th Street, New York, NY 10017, U.S.A.

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134 IRELAND: TDC Publishers, 28 Hardwicke Street, DUBLIN 1, tel.: , , fax: ; Educational Company of Ireland Ltd, P.O. Box 43A, Walkinstown, DUBLIN 12. ISRAEL: Steimatzky Ltd, 11 Hakishon Street, P.O. Box 1444, BNEIBRAK 51114, fax: (9723) ; R.O.Y. International, 41 Mishmar Hayarden Street, TEL Aviv (postaladdress: P.O. Box 13056, TEL AVTV 61130), tel.: (9723) , fax: (9723) ITALY: LICOSA (Librería Commissionaria Sansoni S.p.A.), via Benedetto Fortini, 120/10 (ang. via Chiantigiana), FIRENZE, tel.: /16, fax: ; via Bartolini 29, MILANO; PAO Bookshop, via delle Terme di Caracalla, ROMA, tel.: , fax: ; ILO Bookshop, Corso Unità d'ltalia 125, TORINO, tel.: (011) , fax: (011) JAMAICA: University of the West Indies Bookshop, Mona, KINGSTON 7, tel.: (809) , ext and JAPAN: Eastern Book Service Inc., 37-3 Hongo 3-chome, Bunkyo-ku, TOKYO 113, tel.: (033) , fax: (8133) JORDAN: Jordan Distribution Agency, P.O. Box 375, AMMAN, tel.: , fax: (9626) ; Jordan Book Centre Co. Ltd, P.O. Box 301, Al-Jubeiha, AMMAN, tel.: , , fax: (9626) KENYA: Africa Book Services Ltd, Quran House, Mfangano Street, P.O. Box 45245, NAIROBI; Inter-Africa Book Distributors Ltd, Kencom House, 1st Floor, Moi Avenue, P.O. Box 73580, NAIROBI. KOREA, REPUBLIC OF: Korean National Commission for UNESCO, P.O. Box Central 64, SEOUL, tel.: /47 54, fax: (822) KUWAIT: The Kuwait Bookshop Co. Ltd, AI Muthanna Complex, Fahed El-Salem Street, P.O. Box 2942, Safat 13030, KUWAIT, tel.: (965) , , fax: (965) LESOTHO: Mazenod Book Centre, P.O. Box 39, MAZENOD 160. LIBERIA: National Bookstore, Mechlin and Carey Streets, P.O. Box 590, MONROVIA; Cole & Yancy Bookshops Ltd, P.O. Box 286, MONROVIA. MALAWI: Malawi Book Service, Head Office, P.O. Box 30044, Chichiri, BLANTYRE 3. MALAYSIA: University of Malaya Co-operative Bookshop, P.O. Box 1127, Jalan Pantai Bahru, KUALA LUMPUR, fax: (603) ; Mawaddah Enterprise Sdr. Brd., 75, Jalan Kapitän Tarn Yeong, Seremban 7000, N. SEMBILAN, tel.: (606) , fax: (606) MALDIVES: Asrafee Bookshop, 1/49 Orchid Magu, MALE. MALTA: L. Sapienza & Sons Ltd, 26 Republic Street, VALLETTA. MAURITIUS: Nalanda Co. Ltd, 30 Bourbon Street, PORT- LOUIS. MEICO: Librería 'El Correo de la UNESCO' S.A., Guanajuato n. 72, Col. Roma, C.P , Deleg. Cuauhtemoc, MÉICO D.F., tel.: , fax: (525) ; Librería Secur, Av. Carlos Pellicer Cámara s/n, Zona CICOM, VILLAHERMOSA, Tabasco, tel.: (93) , fax: (52931) MOZAMBIQUE: Instituto National do Livro e do Disco (INLD), Avenida 24 de Julho, n. 1927, r/c, and n. 1921, 1. andar, MAPUTO. MYANMAR: Trade Corporation No. (9), Merchant Street, RANGOON. NEPAL: Sajha Prakashan, Pulchowk, KATHMANDU. NETHERLANDS: Roodvelt Import b.v., Brouwersgracht 288, 1013 HG AMSTERDAM, tel.: (020) , fax: (020) ; SDU Uitgeverij Plantijnstraat, Externe Fondsen, Postbus 20014, 2500 EA 's GRAVENHAGE, tel.: (070) , fax: (070) For periodicals: Faxon-Europe, Postbus 197, 1000 AD AMSTERDAM. NETHERLANDS ANTILLES: Van Dorp-Eddine N.V., P.O. Box 3001, WILLEMSTAD, Curaçao. N E W ZEALAND: GP Legislation Services, 10 Mulgrove Street, P.O. Box 12418, Thorndon, WELLINGTON, tel.: , fax: (644) Retail bookshops: Housing Corporation Bldg, 25 Rutland Street, P.O. Box 5513 Wellesley Street, AUCKLAND, tel.: (09) , fax: (649) ; 147 Hereford Street, Private Bag, CHRISTCHURCH, tel.: (03) , fax: (643) ; Cargill House, 123 Princes Street, P.O. Box 1104, DUNEDIN, tel.: (03) , fax: (6424) ; 33 King Street, P.O. Bax 857, HAMILTON, tel.: (07) , fax: (6471) ; Broadway Ave., P.O. Box 138, PALMERSTON NORTH. NIGERIA: Obafemi Awolowo University, ILE IFE; The University Bookshop of Ibadan, P.O. Box 286, IBADAN; The University Bookshop of Nsukka; The University Bookshop of Lagos; The Ahmadu Bello University Bookshop of Zaria. NORWAY: Akademika A/S, Universitetsbokhandel, P.O. Box 84, Blindem 0314, OSLO 3, tel.: , fax: ; Narvesen Info Center, P.O. Box 6125, Etterstad, N-0602 OSLO 6, tel.: , fax: PAKISTAN: Mira Book Agency, 65 Shahrah Quaid-E- Azam, P.O. Box 729, LAHORE 54000, tel.: 66839, telex: 4886 UBPLK; UNESCO Publications Centre, Regional Office for Book Development in Asia and the Pacific, P.O. Box 2034A, ISLAMABAD, tel.: /9, fax: (9251) , Sub-agent: Tayyab M.S. Commercial Services, P.O. Box 16006, A-2/3 Usman Ghani Road, Manzoor Colony, KARACHI PHILIPPINES: International Book Center (Philippines), Suite 1703, Cityland 10, Condominium Tower 1, Ayala Ave., corner H.V. Delà Costa Ext., Makati, METRO MANILA, tel.: , fax: (632) POLAND: ORPAN-Import, Pake Kultury, WARSZAWA; Ars Polona-Ruch, Krakowskie Przedmiescie 7, WARSZAWA. QATAR: UNESCO Regional Office in the Arab States of the Gulf, P.O. Box 3945, DOHA, tel.: /08, fax: (974) RUSSIAN FEDERATION: Mezhdunarodnaja Kniga, Ul. Dimitrova 39, MOSKVA SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES: Young Workers' Creative Organization, Blue Caribbean Building, 2nd Floor, Room 12, KINGSTOWN. SAUDI ARABIA: Dar Al-Watan for Publishing and Information, Olaya Main Street, Ibrahim Bin Sulaym Building, P.O. Box 3310, RIYADH, fax: (9661) SEYCHELLES: National Bookshop, P.O. Box 48, MAHÉ. SINGAPORE: Chopmen Publishers, 865 Mountbatten Road, No /29, Katong Shopping Centre, SINGAPORE 1543, fax: (65)

135 SLOVAKIA: Alk Verlag, Hurbanovo nam. 6, BRATISLAVA. SLOVENIA: Cancarjeva Zalozba, Kopicarjeva 2, P.O. Box 201-IV, LJUBLJANA. SOMALIA: Modern Book Shop and General, P.O. Box 951, MOGADISCIO. SOUTH AFRICA: Van Schaik Bookstore (Pty) Ltd, P.O. Box 2355, BELLVILLE SRI LANKA: Lake House Bookshop, 100 Sir Chittampalam Gardiner Mawata, P.O. Box 244, COLOMBO 2. SURINAME: Suriname National Commission for UNESCO, P.O. Box 3017, PARAMARIBO, tel.: (597) , , fax: (597) (attn. UNESCO Nat. Com.). SWEDEN: Fritzes Informations Center, Utbildningsdepartementet, Ministry of Education and Science, S STOCKHOLM {postaladdress: S ), tel.: , fax: For periodicals: Wennergren-Williams Informationsservice, Box 1305, S SOLNA, tel.: , fax: ; Tidskriftscentralen, Subscription Services, Norrtullsgatan 15, S STOCKHOLM, tel.: , fax: SWITZERLAND: ADECO, Case postale 465, CH-1211 GENÈVE 19, tel.: , fax: ; Europa Verlag, Rämistrasse 5, CH-8024 ZÜRICH, tel.: ; United Nations Bookshop (counter service only), Palais des Nations, CH-1211 GENÈVE 10, tel.: , fax: (4122) For periodicals: Naville S.A., 7, rue Lévrier, CH-1201 GENÈVE. THAILAND: UNESCO Principal Regional Office in Asia and the Pacific (PROAP), Prakanong Post Office, Box 967, BANGKOK 10110, tel.: , fax: (662) ; Suksapan Panit, Mansion 9, Rajdamnern Avenue, BANGKOK 14, tel.: , , fax: (662) ; Nibondh & Co. Ltd, 40^2 Charoen Krung Road, Siyaeg Phaya Sri, P.O. Box 402, BANGKOK G.P.O., tel.: , fax: ; SuksitSiam Company, Fuang Nakhon Road, opp. Wat Rajbopith, BANGKOK 10200, fax: (662) TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Trinidad and Tobago National Commission for UNESCO, Ministry of Education, 8 Elizabeth Street, St Clair, PORT OF SPAIN, tel./fax: (1'809) TURKEY: Haset Kitapevi A.S., Istiklâl Caddesi No. 469, Posta Kutusu 219, Beyoglu, ISTANBUL. UGANDA: Uganda Bookshop, P.O. Box 7145, KAMPALA. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Al Mutanabbi Bookshop, Madina Zaid, Building n 4387, doot 14 to 16, ABU DHABI, tel.: , fax: (9712) ; The British Council Book Shop, near Rashid Hospital, DUBAI, tel.: UNITED KINGDOM: HMSO Publications Centre, P.O. Box 276, LONDON SW8 5DT, fax: ; telephone orders only: ; general inquiries: (queuing system in operation). HMSO bookshops: 49 High Holborn, LONDON WC1V 6HB, tel (counter service only); 71 Lothian Road, EDINBURGH EH3 9AZ, tel ; 16 Arthur Street, BELFAST BT1 4GD, tel ; 9-21 Princess Street, Albert Square, MANCHESTER M60 8AS, tel ; 258 Broad Street, BIRMINGHAM Bl 2HE, tel ; Southey House, Wine Street, BRISTOL BS1 2BQ, tel For scientific maps: McCarta Ltd, 15 Highbury Place, LONDON N5 1QP; GeoPubs (Geoscience Publications Services), 14 Orleston Mews, Highbury, LONDON N7 8LL, tel.: , fax: , and4<) Halfway Avenue, LUTON LU4 8RA. UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA: Dar es Salaam Bookshop, P.O. Box 9030, DAR ES SALAAM. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: UNIPUB, 4611-F Assembly Drive, LANHAM, M D , tel. tollfree: , fax: (301) ; United Nations Bookshop, N E W YORK, NY 10017, tel.: (212) , fax: (212) VENEZUELA: Oficina de la UNESCO en Caracas, 7. a avenida entre 7. a y 8. a transversales de Altamira, CARACAS, tel.: (2) , fax: (582) (postal address: Apartado 68394, Altamira, CARACAS 1062-A); Librería del Este, Av. Francisco de Miranda 52, Edificio Galipán, Apartado 60337, CARACAS 1060-A; Editorial Ateneo de Caracas, Apartado 662, CARACAS 10010; Fundación Kuai-Mare del Libro Venezolano, Calle Hípica con Avenida La Guairita, Edificio Kuai-Mare, Las Mercedes, CARACAS, tel.: (02) , , fax: (582) YUGOSLAVIA: Nolit, Terazije 13/VIII, BEOGRAD. ZAMBIA: National Educational Distribution Co. of Zambia Ltd, P.O. Box 2664, LUSAKA. ZIMBABWE: Textbook Sales (Pvt) Ltd, 67 Union Avenue, HARARE; Grassroots Books (Pvt) Ltd, Box A267, HARARE. A complete list of all the national distributors can be obtained on request from: Promotion and Sales Division, UNESCO Publishing, UNESCO, 7, place de Fontenoy, PARIS 07 SP, France, fax: (1) , telex: Paris. UNESCO BOOK COUPONS can be used to purchase all books and periodicals of an educational, scientific or cultural character. For full information, please write to: UNESCO Coupon Office, UNESCO, 7, place de Fontenoy, PARIS 07 SP (France).