Global Perspectives on Adult Education and Learning Policy


Book Description

The worldwide appearance and expression of adult education and lifelong learning have changed significantly during the past 20 years. This book explores recent changes in their related national and international policies, how they intersect with developments in higher education and how they may contribute to debates on citizenship and democracy.




Wild Pedagogies


Book Description

This book explores why the concept of wild pedagogy is an essential aspect of education in these times; a re-negotiated education that acknowledges the necessity of listening to voices in a more than human world, and (re)learning how to dwell in a place. As the geological epoch inexorably shifts to the Anthropocene, the authors argue that learning to live in and engage with the world is increasingly crucial in such times of uncertainty. The editors and contributors examine what wild pedagogy can truly become, and how it can be relevant across disciplinary boundaries: offering six touchstones as working tools to help educators forge an onward path. This collaborative work will be of interest to students and scholars of wild pedagogies, alternative education and the Anthropocene, and for all those engaged in re-wilding education.







English Language and Literature


Book Description

English Language and Literature: Cross Cultural Currents is a collection of essays that interrogate the precarious positions of English and African languages in an era in which English is increasingly becoming the dominant language in Africa while at the same time there is a growing resistance against it. Though many Africans take pride in their own cultural heritage that is expressed by their African languages, they require the economic and social benefits of English. The book presents a language dilemma in which both African languages and English enhance, inhibit, and influence each other. The data used by the authors spans a broad spectrum of sources including: fiction, courts, parliamentary Hansards, House of Chiefs, classrooms, internet, roads and bus ranks. Thus, it is reflective of the most and least educated, the most and least influential Africans. The presentations provide broad insights about African symbols, metaphors, imagery and folklores representing undocumented literature that challenge scientific imperialism and deficit theories. The diversity and freshness of the ideas in the book stem from the unique blend of the background of the contributors: English language and literature teachers, teachers of African languages, educationalists, sociologists, historians and politicians. Thus the book is a valuable asset to scholars in linguistics, anthropology and language policy makers.




Introduction to Botswana


Book Description

Botswana is a landlocked country located in southern Africa. It shares borders with South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. The country has a population of approximately 2.3 million people, and the official languages are English and Setswana. Botswana has a unique history, having been one of the poorest countries in the world at independence in 1966, yet achieving significant economic growth over the following decades. The country has a high-income economy and is classified as an upper-middle-income country by the World Bank. Botswana is known for its diamond industry, which has been a major contributor to the country's economic growth. Despite its economic progress, Botswana also faces challenges such as high unemployment, income inequality, and an HIV/AIDS epidemic that affects a significant portion of the population.




Inclusive Education in African Contexts


Book Description

How do we articulate the possibilities, limitations and challenges of inclusive schooling and education in African contexts? This book insists that inclusive education cannot be taken for granted. Inclusion is neither a natural nor a given educational practice. It must be struggled for. Bringing a critical perspective to inclusive schooling and education is imperative. This book adds to current educational debates with an African lens. It engages inclusive education from multiple lenses of curriculum content, classroom pedagogy and instruction, representation, culture, environment and the socio-organization life of schools, the pursuit of equity and social justice and the search for educational relevance. It is opined that Africa cannot be left behind in rethinking educational inclusion in ways that evoke critical questions of power, equity and social difference. The question of leaner’s identity in terms of class, gender, sexuality, (dis)ability, language, ethnicity and race are equally consequential for African schooling and education. When inclusion is understood as wholeness of education, then how schooling and education engage the complete learner – her/his body, mind, soul and spirit, as well as the use of local community and Indigenous knowledges in teaching and learning become relevant. Inclusion stands the risk of liberal educational agendas that simply tinker or toy with schooling and education and hardly embrace the challenge of educational change. What we need is a fundamental structural change that ensures schooling and education embraces difference while grappling with the teaching of Indigeneity, decolonization and resistance.




Education and Development


Book Description

This book develops a new approach to measuring the total returns to human resource development through investment in education. Drawing on microanalytic foundations, it uses regional and worldwide data to estimate the net marginal contributions of education and new knowledge both to economic growth and to wider effects on democratization, human rights, political stability, health, net population growth rates, reduction of poverty, inequality in income distribution, crime, drug use, and the environment. The total impact of education policy changes on endogenous development is then estimated using an interactive model. This new approach is important to industrialized and developing countries alike. The diffusion of knowledge and the adaptation of new techniques has been identified as crucial to the growth process in the new endogenmous growth models, and is of increasing strategic importance in current knowledge-based globalizing economies. Similarly, the non-monetary returns from education are important in improving human welfare. Measurement of these non-market returns is a crucial but much neglected subject. It has proved frustrating, and existing microanalytic measures have proved piecemeal. The new approach developed here offers some comprehensive estimates and simulation techniques for finding more cost-effective policies, and also suggests new hypotheses for further microanalytic testing.




Leapfrogging Inequality


Book Description

Exemplary stories of innovation from around the world In an age of rising inequality, getting a good education increasingly separates the haves from the have nots. In countries like the United States, getting a good education is one of the most promising routes to upper-middle-class status, even more so than family wealth. Experts predict that by 2030, 825 million children will reach adulthood without basic secondary-level skills, and it will take a century for the most marginalized youth to achieve the educational levels that the wealthiest enjoy today. But these figures do not even account for the range of skills and competencies needed to thrive today in work, citizenship, and life. In a world where the ability to manipulate knowledge and information, think critically, and collaboratively solve problems are essential to thrive, access to a quality education is crucial for all young people. In Leapfrogging Inequality, researchers chart a new path for global education by examining the possibility of leapfrogging—harnessing innovation to rapidly accelerate educational progress—to ensure that all young people develop the skills they need for a fast-changing world. Analyzing a catalog of nearly 3,000 global education innovations, the largest such collection to date, researchers explore the potential of current practices to enable such a leap. As part of this analysis, the book presents an evidence-based framework for getting ahead in education, which it grounds in the here-and-now by narrating exemplary stories of innovation from around the world. Together, these stories and resources will inspire educators, investors, leaders of nongovernmental organizations, and policymakers alike to rally around a new vision of educational progress—one that ensures we do not leave yet another generation of young people behind.




Birth of a National Language


Book Description

"Birth of a National Language provides essential reading for those interested in the development, usage and future of Setswana in Botswana. This well-researched study traces the development of Setswana from the earliest known records to its present status as a national language in Botswana. The complex relationships between nation, language, and society is discussed in detail, with reference to both historical and geographical influences. Special emphasis is placed on the linguistic consequences of the great social changes brought about by independence in 1966, and a chapter is devoted to the very dynamic linguistic situation in the capital city, Gaborone. The Gaborone example leads to a more general discussion of recent semantic and lexical changes. The book concludes with an overview of the evolution of Setswana in Botswana, and a discussion of possible future developments based on comparisons with other languages." --cover page [4].