The role of education in development: an educationalist’s response to some recent work in development economics

Abstract

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Knowing and doing vocational education and training reform: Evidence, learning and the policy process

“…He suggests that it is often "in the eye of the beholder" and may in the end be analogous to the difference between deep and surface learning (McGrath, 2010b). However, advocates of policy learning processes argue that differences are evident in the way that policy development processes are supported, facilitating inclusive learning processes, and evident in reformed policies that derive from, respond to and are driven by national contexts (Chakroun, 2010).…”

“…In a recent paper (McGrath, 2010b), one of us wrote of how we as a community needed to think carefully of why we were so marginal to debates about development when compared with economists. Our sense is that the rise of "what works" exacerbates this challenge and reinforces the need for critical reflection on whether we do want to try to influence policy and, if so, how we can best do this in the light of the power of other approaches and disciplines.…”

The post-2015 debate and the place of education in development thinking

“…What appears to be the case is that amongst the "expert" development community, education is not a major focus. As I wrote when reviewing major development books a few years ago (McGrath 2010), education hardly features in mainstream accounts of development and, when it does, the understanding of education is deeply problematic. It is extremely instrumental, seeing education as a means towards greater goals such as gender equality, population control and democracy.…”

Viewpoint: ‘The world is going to university’: higher education and the prospects for sustainable development

“…Brown and Lauder (1996) outline a range of complex and, at times contradictory, interrelations between education and economic development, not least in relation to the functioning of educational markets and the role of education in a shifting economic developmental framework. McGrath (2010) highlights how increasing levels of education can influence population growth as well as enhancing state and governance capacity but at the same time can increase risks of psychological and physical violence, potential ideological indoctrination, and educational inflation. More broadly, education is also deployed as a tool of nationbuilding and citizen formation with a range of intended development outcomes including socio-economic, cultural and political dispositions and practices (Jones, 2012;Staeheli and Hammett, 2013;Zahar, 2012).…”

“…Advocates for the importance of education for development have utilized human capital theory to support their arguments, leading to education being entrenched as a key policy concern for the promotion of economic development and social inclusion around the world (McGrath, 2010). As Brown and Lauder (1996: 1) identify, for policy makers "the quality of a nation's education and training system is seen to hold the key to future economic prosperity", with the quality and productivity of human capital seen as crucial factors in securing competitiveness and advantage in the global economy.…”