UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA
College of Education
Descriptive Information
Department:
Educational and Human Sciences
Course Title:
Education and National Development
Course Number: EDS 6365
Course Credit:
3 semester hours
Catalog Description
This course is an introduction to the field of international development education. Specifically,
this course explores the relationship between education and national development by studying
several multinational institutions and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) engaged in
educational planning around the world, as well as current issues in the field.
Required Texts
Chabbott, Colette. (2003). Constructing education for development: international
organization and Education for All. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
Phillips, David and Michele Schweisfurth. (2006). Comparative and international
education: an introduction to theory, method and practice. New York: Continuum International
Publishing Group.
Course Objectives
The objectives of this course are the following:
1. To discuss prevailing definitions, ideas and assumptions about education and
development.
2. To introduce students to the role international, national, and local actors (and
institutions) play in education in less developed countries.
3. To engage students in examining the critical role of education in the development of
nations.
4. To examine and evaluate positions and responses of government and
nongovernmental actors to the challenges of social and economic inequalities.
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Course Requirements
1. Completion of assigned readings and participation in class discussion and activities.
(Objective 1)
This is a graduate level seminar. As such YOU are expected to assume major responsibility for
actively contributing to each class. That is, you are responsible for completing the required
readings in advance of the designated class session. You will be expected to contribute actively
and positively. Active and positive engagement in class is one means of learning new material
and of considering your professional and intellectual position with regard to those ideas and
concepts. Note that you are responsible for assigned material NOT discussed in class.
Evaluation Criteria (20 points)
The following are examples of factors we will consider when evaluating your active and positive
engagement:
 interesting and insightful comments;
 presenting good examples of concepts being discussed;
 building on the comments of others, posing good questions;
 being sensitive to your level of participation and making attempts to increase or decrease
it, if necessary;
 aware of the impact of your comments;
 attending all class meetings; and
 being on time.
2. Fact sheet on an international/multinational/non-governmental organization and its
education agenda and activities.(Objectives 2, 4)
You are expected to identify a non-governmental organization (NGO) involved with education
and development and, pending the instructor’s approval of your organization, create a “fact
sheet” describing the organization and its activities that will be distributed to the class. You
should begin your NGO search, if you do not already have an NGO in mind, with the Chabbott
textbook (Appendix A) or at websites such as WANGO (World Association of NonGovernmental Organizations) at http://www.wango.org/ or the United Nations’ DPI-NGO
(Department of Public Information, Non-Governmental Organizations) at
http://www.un.org/dpi/ngosection/dpingo-directory.asp .
Evaluation Criteria (20 points)
Your fact sheet should provide:
 a brief history of the organization
 a description of its administrative structure
 a description of its major educational activities
 major funders
 major partners
 any international/multinational organizations to which your NGO belongs
 major accomplishments
 future plans
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3. Research paper. (Objectives 3, 4)
You are expected to choose a less-developed country and write a research paper on that
country’s national education system; the International Encyclopedia of Education (reference
book at the library) is a good place to start your research. Additionally, your paper should
provide an in-depth discussion of some specific educational initiative that is being used as a tool
for national development. The country and the educational initiative you write on MUST be
approved by the instructor!
At a minimum your paper must include:
 an overview of the public education system, including
o a description of the national office responsible for education (usually the Ministry
of Education) including its major duties/responsibilities
o the different tracks or types of schools students might be enrolled in (for example,
a three-tiered education system which includes an unskilled laborer tier that exits
students from school early, a polytechnic or skilled laborer tier, and an academic
tier that prepares students for university)
o the number of grades included in primary and secondary education
o demographic data (as available), including the number of students enrolled by
gender and ethnicity, enrollment/participation rates, retention and attrition rates,
graduation rates, etc.
o any testing conducted nationally, including high-stakes/exit testing, academic
achievement testing, intelligence testing, aptitude testing, university entrance
testing, etc.
 a brief description of any private schools/education system, if applicable
 an overview of the public higher education system, similar to your description of the
public education system
 a brief description of any private universities/higher education system, if applicable
 a description of the major organizations participating in education and development in
that country, if applicable (examples of organizations include the World Bank, UNICEF
and/or UNESCO, regional development banks like the Asian Development Bank, and
bilateral agreements with other countries)
 in-depth analysis of an aspect of education that is being used as a tool for national
development. This MUST be approved by the instructor; suitable topics could
include, but are not limited to:
o expanding primary education to rural populations
o efforts to enroll more girls in school
o recently expanded testing requirements as an assessment or accountability
measure
o development of new postsecondary institutions and/or degrees
o efforts to increase enrollment in STEM majors at the secondary or tertiary level
o government-sponsored scholarships for study abroad linked to specific
development initiatives (teacher training, engineering or other science degrees,
etc.)
o inclusion of health initiatives (such as HIV/AIDS prevention) in the general
curriculum
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o bilateral or institutional partnerships intended to increase capacity in the country
being studied
o curriculum or other projects that are being externally funded by organizations
such as UNESCO, UNICEF, USAID, the World Bank, regional development
banks, etc.
Evaluation Criteria (40 points)
The intent of the final paper is to provide students with in-depth knowledge of how nations use
education as a tool for national development. Grading criteria will include:
 thoroughness of educational system description
 inclusion of an appropriate topic for in-depth research
 quality, quantity and variety of academic resources cited in paper
 ability to explain how chosen topic is intended to facilitate national development with the
country being studied
 relation of paper topic to class discussions and materials
4. Research paper presentation. (Objectives 1, 3, 4)
By the end of the course, every student will conduct a brief (30 minute) class presentation based
on his/her research paper.
Evaluation Criteria (20 points)
You will be assessed on the quality of your
 analysis/assessment of your chosen country and topic
 handouts, power point and/or other visual aids
 ability to relate your research to topics/ideas covered in class and in the readings
 overall oral presentation (interactivity, engagement, professionalism, etc).
Translation of points
A=100 to 90 B=89 to 80
C=79 to 70
D=69 to 60
F=59 or less
Reasonable accommodation policy
Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him or her from fully
demonstrating his or her abilities should contact me as soon as possible so we can discuss
accommodations necessary to ensure full participation and facilitate the educational experience.
Student Code
Make sure that you understand that the Student Code is applicable at the graduate level. Issues of
academic integrity and honor must guide your studies. For a copy of the Code please see the
UCF web page.
Turnitin.com
In this course we will utilize turnitin.com, an automated system which instructors can use to
quickly and easily compare each student's assignment with billions of web sites, as well as an
enormous database of student papers that grows with each submission. Accordingly, you will be
expected to submit all assignments in both hard copy and electronic format. After the assignment
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is processed, as an instructor I receive a report from turnitin.com that states if and how another
author’s work was used in the assignment. For a more detailed look at this process, visit
http://www.turnitin.com.
The course ID is:
The password is:
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Course Schedule
Date
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Topic
Introduction and Syllabus Review
Terms and Definitions, including
 comparative education
 international education
 national development
 education vs. schooling vs. training
A Brief History of International
Development
Country choice for final paper due
Education and Development
The Bretton Woods Institutions
 International Monetary Fund
 World Bank
Multinational Organizations, including
 United Nations organizations
 Regional Development Banks
 OECD
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
NGO choice for Fact Sheet due
Bilateral Aid
 USAID
 DFID
 CIDA
 JICA
 CFAD
Educational Issue choice for final paper due
International Position Statements on
Education
Elementary Education and Development
Secondary Education and Development
Tertiary Education and Development
Adult Basic Education and Development
Fact Sheet due
Comparative (Multinational) Research
 TIMMS
 PIRLS
Paper Presentations
Paper Presentations
Final Papers due
Final Papers returned
Readings
Syllabus
Phillips and Schweisfurth Ch. 1-3
Chabbott Ch. 1
Chabbott Ch. 2-3
UN Declaration of Human Rights
Phillips and Schweisfurth Ch. 4-6
Chabbott Ch. 4
IMF Website
World Bank Website
Chabbott, Ch. 5-7
UN Website (especially UNESCO and
UNICEF)
Websites for IADB, AsDB, CDB, AfDB and
others
Articles TBD
Articles TBD
USA, UK, Canadian, Japanese and Chinese
government agency websites
Phillips and Schweisfurth Ch. 8
Chabbott Ch. 7
Education for All
Millennium Development Goals
Articles TBD
Articles TBD
Articles TBD
Articles TBD
Phillips and Schweisfurth Ch. 7, 9
International Association for the Evaluation
of Educational Achievement (IEA) Website
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Additional Readings/Resources
Authors
Philip Altbach
Robert (Bob) Arnove
Martin Carnoy
Stephen Heyneman
Ivan Illich
Noel McGinn
Fernando Reimers
Val Rust
Joel Samoff
Nelly Stromquist
Books
Altbach, Philip and G. Kelly. (Eds.) (1986). New approaches to comparative education.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Altbach, Philip, R. Arnove and G. Kelly. (Eds.). (1992). Emergent issues in education:
comparative perspectives. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Boli, J. & G.M. Thomas. (Eds.). (1999). Constructing World Culture. International
Nongovernmental Organizations since 1875. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Burbules, Nicholas and C. A. Torres. (Eds.). (2000). Globalization and education:
critical perspectives. New York: Routledge.
Carnoy, M. (1974). Education as Cultural Imperialism. New York, NY: Longman
Escobar, Arturo. (1995). Encountering development: the making and unmaking of the
Third World. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Fagerlind, R. and Saha, F. (1989). Education & national development: a comparative
perspective. Oxford, UK: Pergamon.
Fanon, Frantz. (1963). The wretched of the earth. New York: Grove Press.
Freire, P. (1973). Education for critical consciousness. New York: Continuum.
Freire, P. (1994). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.
Giroux, H. A. (1983). Theory & resistance in education: a pedagogy for the opposition.
London, UK: Heinemann Educational Books.
Goldman, Michael. (2005). Imperial nature: the World Bank and struggles for social
justice in the age of globalization. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Harvey, David. (2003). The new imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Landes, David. (1998). The wealth and poverty of nations: why some are so rich and
some are so poor. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Memmi, Albert. (1965). The colonizer and the colonized. Boston: Beacon Press.
Reimers, Fernando and Noel McGinn. (1997). Informed dialogue: using research to
shape education policy around the world. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Rist, Gilbert. (1997). The history of development: from Western origins to global faith.
New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Sachs, Jeffrey. (2005). The end of poverty: economic possibilities for our time. New
York: Penguin Press.
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Sachs, Jeffrey. (2008). Common wealth: economics for a crowded planet. New York:
Penguin Press.
Sachs, Wolfgang (Ed). (1999). The development dictionary: a guide to knowledge as
power. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Sen, Amartya. (1999). Development as freedom. New York: Anchor Books.
Stiglitz, Joseph. (2002). Globalization and its discontents. New York: W. W. Norton &
Company.
Stiglitz, Joseph. (2006). Making globalization work. New York: W. W. Norton &
Company.
Stromquist, Nelly. (2002). Education in a globalized world: the connectivity of economic
power, technology and knowledge. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Stromquist, N. P. and Basil, M. (eds.). (1999). Politics of educational innovations in
developing countries: an analysis of knowledge and power. London, UK: Routledge.
Stromquist, Nelly and Karen Monkman. (2000). Globalization and education: integration
and contestation across cultures. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Torres, C. A. & Puiggrós, A. (Eds.). (1997). Latin American Education: Comparative
Perspectives. Colorado and Oxford: Westview Press.
World Bank. (2000). Higher education in developing countries: peril and promise.
Washington, DC: World Bank.
any edition of the World Bank’s annual World Development Report
Articles
Altbach, Philip, R. Hopper, G. Psacharopoulos, D. Bloom and H. Rosovsky. (2004).
Moderated discussion: the Task Force on Higher Education and Society. Comparative Education
Review, 48 (1), 70-88.
Carnoy, M. (1995). Structural adjustment and the changing face of education.
International Labour Review 134 (6), 653-673.
Chabott, C. (1998). Constructing educational consensus: international development
professionals and the World Conference on Education for All. International Journal of
Educational Development 18 (3), 207-218.
De Gregorio, J. and Lee, J. W. (1999). Education and Income Distribution: New
Evidence from Cross-country Data. In HIID Development Discussion Papers, July, no. 714.
Epstein, E. H. (February, 1983). Currents Left and Right: Ideology in Comparative
Education. Comparative Education Review 27 (1), 3-29.
Jones, Phillip. (2006) Elusive mandate: UNICEF and educational development.
International Journal of Educational Development 26 (6), 591-604.
Hayhoe, Ruth. (1995). Comparative reflections on the transition to mass higher education
in East Asia. Comparative Education Review, 39 (3), 322-355.
Heyneman, Stephen. (1999). The sad story of UNESCO’s education statistics.
International Journal of Educational Development 19 (1), 65-74.
Heyneman, Stephen. (2003). The history and problems in the making of education policy
at the World Bank 1960-2000. International Journal of Educational Development, 23 (3), 315337.
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McGinn, Noel. (1996). Education, democratization and globalization: a challenge for
comparative education. Comparative Education Review, 40 (4), 341-357.
Psacharopoulos, George and H. A. Patrinos. (2004). Returns to investment in education: a
further update. Education Economics, 12 (2), 111-134.
Reimers, Fernando. (1991). The impact of economic stabilization and adjustment on
education in Latin America. Comparative Education Review, 35 (2), 319-353.
Selvaratnam, Viswanathan. (1988). Ethnicity, inequality and higher education in
Malaysia. Comparative Education Review, 32 (2), 173-196.
Stromquist, Nelly. (1990). Women and illiteracy: the interplay of gender subordination
and poverty. Comparative Education Review, 34 (1), 95-111.
Wilson, David. (1994). Comparative and international education: fraternal or Siamese
twins? A preliminary genealogy of our twin fields. Comparative Education Review, 38 (4), 449486.
Wohluter, C. C. (1997). Classification of national education systems: a multivariate
approach. Comparative Education Review, 41 (2), 161-177.
any article from the Comparative Education Review
White Papers/Position Statements
Education for All (http://www.unesco.org/en/efa/)
Millennium Development Goals (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/)
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/)
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