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The Third World as a focus of educational research: interdisciplinary studies on the state of the art
crete solutions. The writer cannot escape a responsibility to suggest some, nor can he escape blame for omitting to do so. Further, it appears that these problems beset the developing world alone: the experiences of developed states do not feature anywhere to provide a comparative view, Yet developing countries do not live on an island, Indeed, they have incessantly followed the ~ootsteps of the developed world. Also, in their political, social and economic development they are still under considerable influence from the developed ,countries. What is really missing in this book, then, is an attempt to set educational planning in the larger contexts not just of national development planning, but also of international currents of interest, fashion and pressure. Simon Ndirangu The Third World as a Focus of Educational Research: Interdisciplinary Studies on the State o[ the Art
(Die Dritte Welt als Gegenstand erziehungswissenschaftlicher Forschung: Interdisiplin~ire Studien tiber den Stand der Wissenschaft): ed Dietrich Goldschmidt with the cooperation of Henning Melber: 16th. supplement to the 'Zeitschrift fiir P~idagogik': pp. 384: Beltz Verlag, Weinheim and Basel, 198,1. As the title suggests, this volume largely consists of a collection of essays on Third World educational research which summarise the existing state of research findings, with an emphasis on those of German scholars, and suggest subjects for future investigation. A number of considerations have prompted the publication of this collection. First, it is always useful for students of Third World education to have access to an up-to-date account of the results of scientific investigation, particularly when, as in the present case, it is based on the insights of scholars from a country less encumbered than our own with memories of imperial responsibility. Secondly, this symposium has the practical purpose of exposing the intricate nature of decisions relating to Third World education and emphasising the vital importance of .fundamental as well as applied research, not only for the proper formulation of educational policy in the developing countries themselves, but also for the wise provision of support by other countries and organisations. Thirdly, it is hoped to persuade the West German Government as aid donor to pay more attention to research. The authors are aware of the failure of educational policies pursued hitherto and supported by bilateral and multilateral external aid to live up to the expectations entertained widely and confidently, if naively, twenty years ago of providing a powerful stimulus for development. They are, moreover, conscious of certain adverse results of the educational developments that have actually taken p l a c e - - t h e i r failure by and large to enmesh with the real needs of society and the labour market, their urbanising bias and the consequent aggravation of
the flight from the land and finally their share in the responsibility for the growth of inequality. The argument in the book that a greater use of scholarly research would have saved the Federal German Government from serious mistakes and the unpropitious use of resources as an aid donor is perhaps of less immediate concern to the British reader than the important question of how to inject research findings into the decision-making process of the Third World countries themselves. Not unnaturally, no clear answer to this intricate problem emerges, though the ideas thrown up at a conference of German and African scholars on Mauritius in February, 1980, on Third World educational research recorded in the book were on sound lines. Of the proposals considered, the most important were the promotion of indigenous research in Third World countries with financial support from external sources and the idea of cooperative research involving German and Third World scholars in partnership. The latter suggestion, which received strong support from the Africa side, is of particular significance in view of the present shortage of Third World research manpower, the need to tackle many of the problems of Third World education from the vantage point of a variety of discipIines, as the essays in this book clearly show, and the difficulties that Third World research institutes sometimes have in fielding a multi-disciplinary team. The notion of training courses in the methods of empirical research involving not only Third World scholars, but also teachers, decision-makers and administrators, is an original idea that could have fruitful consequences if it could be realised. Despite these tentative suggestions, however, the communication gap between scholar and policy-maker remains formidable and it is far from clear how it can effectively be bridged. It would be unfair to expect the whole initiative to come from the administrative side and in reading these essays it is hard to escape the feeling that in some cases a more overt acknowledgment of the immense material, financial and professional constraints under which Third World teachers are obliged to work would add cogency to their message. Third World countries have not been helped by pilot reforms introduced selectively with external support, where the scale of provision is far beyond all possibility of generalisation to the system as a whole. There is, on the contrary, an imperative need to devise imaginative procedures for extending educational services, for example, under the slogan of 'universal primary education', without detriment to quality, in a manner that attracts popular recognition and support, without increasing the burden on the economy. Research underlying such ventures and assessing their outcome must be counted among the urgent subjects for applied scientific enquiry. In a brief review it is not possible to comment in detail on the various essays assembled here, nor would I in most cases be competent to do so constructively. Throughout them is a recurring emphasis
93
as the intricate connection between education and its surrounding social, economic and historical setting and the exploration of this link is the overriding objective of much of the scientific effort here recorded. The consequent attention paid to the fund.amental objectives and character of the educational process explains a certain preoccupation with the first educational cycle both in its relation to other forms of institutional and non-institutional education and in its role of supplying basic personal and social needs. Though this book was aimed at a German audience, it is of considerable interest and importance for readers elsewhere. Melber's listing and assessment of relevant research is rich (over 700 items) and the quality of insights into human problems of great complexity is high . Also, an attractive piece of modesty widens the book's reach. Appreciating that German is a language not widely read in the Third World, the editors have provided an English summary for each of the papers. While the summaries are perforce only pale shadows of the full articles, they do at least provide ready handles for anglophone scholars to establish useful new contacts with German colleagues who operate also in English. It is very much hoped that these essays will contribute to the intended result of attracting official and unofficial support for research, particularly by Third World scholars. This is a need of which governments other than that of the Federal Republic should also take note. J. Roger Carter
Education of Minorities: Education 1981)
(World
Yearbook
of
Edited by Jacquetta Megarry, Stanley Nisbet and Eric Hoyle Published by Kogan Page Ltd., 1981, Hardback edition £13.95. With the exception of South America, the 19'81 World Yearbook of Education spans the continents in its examination of the education of minorities. Inevitably the coverage given by the twenty-two papers is of varying depth and excellence, but together they provide a range of information and detail of value to anyone interested in minority education and the current trends therein. In all the countries covered it is now appropriate to talk of "multiculturalism" as a major policy objective. In most countries this has gained full, official support, as in the 1968 Bilingual Education Act in the U.S.A., in the official declaration made by President Trudeau in Canada in 1971 and in 1976 in Africa's Lagos Declaration. Earlier intentions of assimilating or integrating minority populations into national cultures have given way to support for cultural pluralism, or, as the Canadians describe it, to the creation of a cultural mosaic within the state. Despite this, popular attitudes to minorities remain ambivalent and, as these articles illustrate, ethnic 94
minorities remain generally disadvantaged. To assist multi-culturalism, Smolicz argues in the opening paper, education must provide opportunities for all to learn a society's shared values and language, opportunities for all to study their mother tongue in its cultural context, should provide individuals with access to an ethnic community's language and culture other than their own and should help to spread understanding and an appreciation of the value of the multicultural nature of society. The extent to which countries actually encourage educalion to fulfil such functions is, however, very varied, as the accounts of national policies in Part Two indicate. ~Firstly, since the concept of a minority is inextricably linked with the idea of comparative power, as Edwards points out, multiculturalism is generally only pursued when it can benefit a ruling group. In China, for example, minority groups are important in government thinking because, although only 6% of the population, they occupy 60% of China's land surface along the national borders and their allegiance is necessary for defence. Allowances for their ethnic identities are nevertheless countered by the widespread dissemination of Mandarin in education and by a long term aim for the assimilation and political integration of minority peoples into a unified, Mandarin-speaking Han state. Likewise in Russia, where legally all are guaranteed an education in the language of their choice, there is a school of thought that talks of "convergence" and the "eventual mingling of the Soviet peoples in one language community". Secondly, even where official policy is strongly supportive, multiculturalism in education may be discouraged because resources are not made available. In African countries the shortage of school places and suitable textbooks, added to the desire to establish "national" languages, runs counter to the whole concept; in Britain there is no national fund to assist with the education of minorities and efforts are left to individual schools or local authorities where minorities are often very heavily concentrated; in the U.S.A., where it has been firmly established that children whose home language is not English should receive bilingual education, there is a poverty of adequate materials, reasonable translations of the English curriculum and trained teachers. Thus multiculturalism, in the limited sense of sustained ethnic identity, generally lacks adequate support from education. In its more radical conception, as an institutionally pluralist society in which control is equally shared between different groups, it receives very little encouragement at all. ,Bilingual education and the relationships between minority and majority languages are reviewed from several different angles in Part Three. In an angry article on Wales, Williams and Roberts declare their surprise that assumptions concerning the deficiencies of minority languages are still current. They see bilingual education as the focus of a struggle
(Die Dritte Welt als Gegenstand erziehungswissenschaftlicher Forschung: Interdisiplin~ire Studien tiber den Stand der Wissenschaft): ed Dietrich Goldschmidt with the cooperation of Henning Melber: 16th. supplement to the 'Zeitschrift fiir P~idagogik': pp. 384: Beltz Verlag, Weinheim and Basel, 198,1. As the title suggests, this volume largely consists of a collection of essays on Third World educational research which summarise the existing state of research findings, with an emphasis on those of German scholars, and suggest subjects for future investigation. A number of considerations have prompted the publication of this collection. First, it is always useful for students of Third World education to have access to an up-to-date account of the results of scientific investigation, particularly when, as in the present case, it is based on the insights of scholars from a country less encumbered than our own with memories of imperial responsibility. Secondly, this symposium has the practical purpose of exposing the intricate nature of decisions relating to Third World education and emphasising the vital importance of .fundamental as well as applied research, not only for the proper formulation of educational policy in the developing countries themselves, but also for the wise provision of support by other countries and organisations. Thirdly, it is hoped to persuade the West German Government as aid donor to pay more attention to research. The authors are aware of the failure of educational policies pursued hitherto and supported by bilateral and multilateral external aid to live up to the expectations entertained widely and confidently, if naively, twenty years ago of providing a powerful stimulus for development. They are, moreover, conscious of certain adverse results of the educational developments that have actually taken p l a c e - - t h e i r failure by and large to enmesh with the real needs of society and the labour market, their urbanising bias and the consequent aggravation of
the flight from the land and finally their share in the responsibility for the growth of inequality. The argument in the book that a greater use of scholarly research would have saved the Federal German Government from serious mistakes and the unpropitious use of resources as an aid donor is perhaps of less immediate concern to the British reader than the important question of how to inject research findings into the decision-making process of the Third World countries themselves. Not unnaturally, no clear answer to this intricate problem emerges, though the ideas thrown up at a conference of German and African scholars on Mauritius in February, 1980, on Third World educational research recorded in the book were on sound lines. Of the proposals considered, the most important were the promotion of indigenous research in Third World countries with financial support from external sources and the idea of cooperative research involving German and Third World scholars in partnership. The latter suggestion, which received strong support from the Africa side, is of particular significance in view of the present shortage of Third World research manpower, the need to tackle many of the problems of Third World education from the vantage point of a variety of discipIines, as the essays in this book clearly show, and the difficulties that Third World research institutes sometimes have in fielding a multi-disciplinary team. The notion of training courses in the methods of empirical research involving not only Third World scholars, but also teachers, decision-makers and administrators, is an original idea that could have fruitful consequences if it could be realised. Despite these tentative suggestions, however, the communication gap between scholar and policy-maker remains formidable and it is far from clear how it can effectively be bridged. It would be unfair to expect the whole initiative to come from the administrative side and in reading these essays it is hard to escape the feeling that in some cases a more overt acknowledgment of the immense material, financial and professional constraints under which Third World teachers are obliged to work would add cogency to their message. Third World countries have not been helped by pilot reforms introduced selectively with external support, where the scale of provision is far beyond all possibility of generalisation to the system as a whole. There is, on the contrary, an imperative need to devise imaginative procedures for extending educational services, for example, under the slogan of 'universal primary education', without detriment to quality, in a manner that attracts popular recognition and support, without increasing the burden on the economy. Research underlying such ventures and assessing their outcome must be counted among the urgent subjects for applied scientific enquiry. In a brief review it is not possible to comment in detail on the various essays assembled here, nor would I in most cases be competent to do so constructively. Throughout them is a recurring emphasis
93
as the intricate connection between education and its surrounding social, economic and historical setting and the exploration of this link is the overriding objective of much of the scientific effort here recorded. The consequent attention paid to the fund.amental objectives and character of the educational process explains a certain preoccupation with the first educational cycle both in its relation to other forms of institutional and non-institutional education and in its role of supplying basic personal and social needs. Though this book was aimed at a German audience, it is of considerable interest and importance for readers elsewhere. Melber's listing and assessment of relevant research is rich (over 700 items) and the quality of insights into human problems of great complexity is high . Also, an attractive piece of modesty widens the book's reach. Appreciating that German is a language not widely read in the Third World, the editors have provided an English summary for each of the papers. While the summaries are perforce only pale shadows of the full articles, they do at least provide ready handles for anglophone scholars to establish useful new contacts with German colleagues who operate also in English. It is very much hoped that these essays will contribute to the intended result of attracting official and unofficial support for research, particularly by Third World scholars. This is a need of which governments other than that of the Federal Republic should also take note. J. Roger Carter
Education of Minorities: Education 1981)
(World
Yearbook
of
Edited by Jacquetta Megarry, Stanley Nisbet and Eric Hoyle Published by Kogan Page Ltd., 1981, Hardback edition £13.95. With the exception of South America, the 19'81 World Yearbook of Education spans the continents in its examination of the education of minorities. Inevitably the coverage given by the twenty-two papers is of varying depth and excellence, but together they provide a range of information and detail of value to anyone interested in minority education and the current trends therein. In all the countries covered it is now appropriate to talk of "multiculturalism" as a major policy objective. In most countries this has gained full, official support, as in the 1968 Bilingual Education Act in the U.S.A., in the official declaration made by President Trudeau in Canada in 1971 and in 1976 in Africa's Lagos Declaration. Earlier intentions of assimilating or integrating minority populations into national cultures have given way to support for cultural pluralism, or, as the Canadians describe it, to the creation of a cultural mosaic within the state. Despite this, popular attitudes to minorities remain ambivalent and, as these articles illustrate, ethnic 94
minorities remain generally disadvantaged. To assist multi-culturalism, Smolicz argues in the opening paper, education must provide opportunities for all to learn a society's shared values and language, opportunities for all to study their mother tongue in its cultural context, should provide individuals with access to an ethnic community's language and culture other than their own and should help to spread understanding and an appreciation of the value of the multicultural nature of society. The extent to which countries actually encourage educalion to fulfil such functions is, however, very varied, as the accounts of national policies in Part Two indicate. ~Firstly, since the concept of a minority is inextricably linked with the idea of comparative power, as Edwards points out, multiculturalism is generally only pursued when it can benefit a ruling group. In China, for example, minority groups are important in government thinking because, although only 6% of the population, they occupy 60% of China's land surface along the national borders and their allegiance is necessary for defence. Allowances for their ethnic identities are nevertheless countered by the widespread dissemination of Mandarin in education and by a long term aim for the assimilation and political integration of minority peoples into a unified, Mandarin-speaking Han state. Likewise in Russia, where legally all are guaranteed an education in the language of their choice, there is a school of thought that talks of "convergence" and the "eventual mingling of the Soviet peoples in one language community". Secondly, even where official policy is strongly supportive, multiculturalism in education may be discouraged because resources are not made available. In African countries the shortage of school places and suitable textbooks, added to the desire to establish "national" languages, runs counter to the whole concept; in Britain there is no national fund to assist with the education of minorities and efforts are left to individual schools or local authorities where minorities are often very heavily concentrated; in the U.S.A., where it has been firmly established that children whose home language is not English should receive bilingual education, there is a poverty of adequate materials, reasonable translations of the English curriculum and trained teachers. Thus multiculturalism, in the limited sense of sustained ethnic identity, generally lacks adequate support from education. In its more radical conception, as an institutionally pluralist society in which control is equally shared between different groups, it receives very little encouragement at all. ,Bilingual education and the relationships between minority and majority languages are reviewed from several different angles in Part Three. In an angry article on Wales, Williams and Roberts declare their surprise that assumptions concerning the deficiencies of minority languages are still current. They see bilingual education as the focus of a struggle