Last week, researchers from the ESRC FCDO funded Raising Learning Outcomes programme (RLO) gathered in Nairobi to discuss the implications of a decade’s research produced by global South and North partnerships.
A panel of educational researchers, practitioners and professionals from Kenya discussed with this international group of scholars the priorities for education research and policy. The discussion was deep and at times passionate. Here are some highlights.
The meeting was convened by members of IDS’ Knowledge Impact and Policy cluster who are supporting the RLO in its final phase as part of their portfolio of international research cohort support services. This builds on the Impact Initiative led by IDS and the University of Cambridge’s REAL Centre who supported RLO for six years between 2015-2021.
Disability and inclusion
There was broad agreement that research on disability has made some progress in uncovering the educational challenges faced by disabled children. Evidence has consistently suggested that children with disabilities are more likely to remain out of school. For those in school, there are important learning gains, although children with disabilities are still behind those without in achieving their full learning potential. But what are the root causes of some children with multiple disabilities remaining out of school or dropping out?
These were some of the questions explored during the discussion, as well as the need to examine the experiences of children with multiple disabilities within low resource classrooms, the pedagogical strategies that promote their learning and the forms of support required to enable these children to complete and transition into higher levels of education. While this field has been exploring disabilities within other intersections of disadvantage, the experiences of children with multiple disabilities in challenging contexts, such as living in remote rural and conflict affected areas, remains an area where the audience agreed further evidence is urgently required.
How to promote learning
Evidence from the RLO programme has demonstrated the importance of innovative pedagogical approaches that align to the realities of learners. These approaches tend to incorporate local language and sign language, a flexible curriculum, local materials and knowledges, as well as adaptive pedagogical provision. Additionally, evidence has demonstrated the important role of the teacher, as well as the systems of support and accountability which provides diverse incentives for teacher wellbeing and motivation. Yet, evidence around the use of formative assessments in local language for supporting teaching instruction remains an area where the panel agreed more work needs to be done. This is particularly the case for child refugee and displaced families where assessments are not just required in multiple languages, but also must help understand diverse forms of needs, including academic, psychosocial and emotional.
Teachers’ professional development
Throughout the panel discussion we returned again and again to the issue of investing in teachers. Teachers are at the core of the learning process. There is an agreement that teachers are the single most important agent of change to drive us out of the global learning crisis. Yet, teachers work within systems of education, which set standards, content and approaches. Teachers must navigate such systems, understand their responsibilities towards different stakeholders, and importantly continue to support children’s learning. Supporting teachers’ needs requires well developed and sustained training. There is evidence on the effectiveness of some approaches to support teachers, particularly if these approaches helped to raise learning outcomes. Yet, there is less evidence on the cumulative effect of training over a longer period of time. Understanding the mindset of teachers as agents of change is central for enabling long term effective teaching. This seems to be an important area for further research.
The empowerment of communities and parents
Education research should be more accessible for parents and communities. Past research has shown the importance of sharing findings from citizen-led assessments with parents, in order to raise their awareness of whether their children are learning. Research has also demonstrated that information only campaigns are limiting in terms of the actions that communities can take to change the system. Many researchers and practitioners involved in education generate evidence and make this accessible for parents and communities. However, more work is needed to understand that parents and communities are resourceful for supporting children’s learning. Many parents in the contexts where this evidence is produced may be unable to read or write, yet they are knowledgeable, caring, and have high aspirations for their children. The question is: how to unleash their potential?
Priorities for the future
There was by no means complete consensus on priorities for the future amongst our panellists and audience of education researchers. For implementing agencies there is an emphasis on the need for research on effectiveness of interventions, and scalability. For those working on advocacy, there is a need to translate results for audiences in power and engage with such audiences. For those working in research, there was a strong interest in disability in education research. Broader understandings of learning which includes learning for social transformation is an important area for future work. This area also includes the role of indigenous knowledges in teaching and learning methodologies and the autonomy of schools and local providers. Understanding gender social norms in education is central to capture the current dynamics of achievement over the schooling cycle between boys and girls. The audience agreed that language is key to the delivery of a more equitable educational agenda, particularly when local and dominant languages are supported equally to achieve the knowledge and skills required for full participation in the economy and society.
Diverse methodologies are needed to continue to understand these and other aspects of learning. Insights from this event underscored how meaningful improvements in learning outcomes could take place when learning is understood within the structural barriers experienced within contexts. Thus, there was a strong sense of commitment by all the participants from around the world to continue to work together in partnership to seek ways to engage in research that will promote a more just system of education.
To learn more about the ESRC-FCDO Raising Learning Outcomes programme go to: https://www.ukri.org/what-we-do/browse-our-areas-of-investment-and-support/esrc-fcdo-raising-learning-outcomes-in-education-systems/
Learn about the Impact Initiative for International Development Research, a partnership between IDS and the University of Cambridge’s REAL Centre.
The panel event was chaired by Ricardo Sabates, University of Cambridge, and included – Fridah Kiambati, African Population and Health Research Centre, Polycarp Omondi Otieno, UNICEF, Winny Cherotich, PAL Network, Dianarose Njui, Instill Education.
