Monthly Archives: June 2010

Methodology Outline

Posted on by
Reply

The research undertaken by Sugata suggests a research method based on the following framework:

1) Identify a target population. A semi-rural location with government and private primary schools in which English is the medium of instruction though the social language (and the language of excluded children) is the local vernacular (in this case, Fanti).

2) The sample includes readily accessible groups of children associated with the formal education system and more illusive, excluded children (below 13 years of age) invited to voluntarily participate within the SOLE and the monitorial classroom. An excluded population would include children who have never attended school or have attended for only a short period of time i.e. less than a single year (in total).

3) Identify selected areas of the curriculum (from which specific learning objectives are derived) as the focus of learning activity for the research period. These objectives will form the basis of the assessment criteria. As they were originally defined by the state, there is no additional requirement to assess their validity.

4) Identify appropriate material (on the internet or downloadable) for the SOLE. Material will also include video (film) and potentially Skype connectivity for real-time interaction with native speakers.

5) Construct two tests for each of the learning objectives. One is administered as a pre-test and post test, the other is a parellel post-test to assess depth of understanding.

6) Administer the pre-test with the sample groups in each of the learning settings.

7)The SOLE is overseen by a local mediator – not a teacher but an adult person favourably disposed toward children and with no detailed or specific knowledge related to the areas of study.

8) In order to avoid clashing with existing school commitments, the student-teacher(s) assigned to the monitorial environment will be (bright and enthusiatic) individuals recently graduated at senior high level (16 years of age). These monitors will be provided with cirriculum materials and instructed on how to use them in the classroom and will be rewarded for the time and effort dedicated to the teaching task. Excluded students will also be extracted from the local community, though numbers will be limited in order not to create or exacerbate behavioural issues within the classroom. A specific schedule will have to be determined and a number of monitors employed in order that a realistic sample population can be assessed.

9) The children work within their assigned (formal, monitorial, SOLE) learning environments for an academic year.

10) Activity is video recorded as part of the behavioural analysis in each of the different environments. Whilst the camera is permenantly resident in the learning space video analysis will only undertaken during specific periods in order to maintain control over the quantity of data.

11) Administer the post tests.

12) Compare the results

It is notable that there is no qualitative nor behavioural aspect to the research undertaken by Sugata. As anticipated, he has adopted a very positivist approach to research, despite the fact that the SOLE is very interpretivist in nature i.e the children derive their own meaning in relation to the learning environment. The justification is that Sugata is primarily interested in outcomes as opposed to the mechanism. However, I suspect the childs interpretation of their specific learning environment will have some relationship with results and should therefore be considered.

Based on the stated approach, the first and principal action is to obtain a copy of the Ghanaian curriculum for a representative age group and identify an agreed set of learning objectives. The problem I foresee is that irrespective of age groups and levels, the monitorial and SOLE classes will have to commence with a year one agenda focused on English language aquisition. The obvious question therefore is whether I am comparing like for like (formal vs informal). This problem could be circumvented by focusing on the learning objectives once the langauge barrier has been overcome. However a great deal of time will be consumed achieving the necessary degree of literacy.

SOLE

Posted on by
Reply

After a meeting with Sugata that did much to clarify the objective and potential scope of my research programme, the principal objective has been amended to the following;

Does the Self-Organised Learning Environment – SOLE (as defined by Mitra) promote deeper learning in children excluded from the education system in the developing world: A comparison of formal and informal education in Ghana, West Africa.

The research effectively represents a comparison of learning outcomes in relation to the following systems: a) formal public and/or private schools. b) monitorial method c) SOLE.

The principal points agreed with Sugata are listed as follows:

1) In relation to Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive process, deeper learning is related to ‘understanding’ as opposed to simple ‘remembering/recalling’

2) On the understanding that the SOLE will be computer based, the development of literacy skills and particularly reading will be a significant outcome. Therefore testing will also be supplemented by an assessment of reading ability.

3) The assessment will be based on two related strands of questioning derived from selected areas of the curriculum. The first strand of (known) questions will be directly related to the curriculum i.e standard exam questions. The second strand will represent a set of parellel, related but unknown (to the teacher) questions that will be used to assess the depth of student understanding .i.e. the application of a principle in an unfamiliar context.

4) This alternative set of questions must be sufficiently related to the curriculum that it represents a fair test but sufficiently different to represent a valid assessment of understanding. A theoretical rationale will be required as a basis for the parellel set of questions.

5) On the present assumption that children are particularly stimulated by visual media (a postulate requiring some supporting evidence), it is proposed that the SOLE is supplemented by Skype and films with subtitles, as a vehicle for promoting literacy skills. Moreover, it was suggested that a range of viewing material be provided with choice turned into a classroom activity i.e children are required to read an abstract/reviews before discussing and democratically selecting a preference. Naturally, there will be additional questions related to the viewed material, whilst meaning will be collectively derived based on exchanges in L1 and L2.

6) The use of the word collaborative (as in computer supported collaborative environment) is too emotive and doesn’t accurately reflect student interaction within the SOLE context (tasks are not pre-planned such that activity is evenly distributed amongst participating members). Sugata believes that children will either get the attention and support they need from the group to which they are immediately associated or they will simply move to a different group (an action permissable within the SOLE context). On this basis, there is no requirement for developing further software/applications/scripts specifically for the SOLE.

7) The assessment can be further developed by incorporating behavioural measurement into the research based on video recordings and on/off task analysis.

8) Sugata doesn’t believe that research of child perception related to the value of education in the given context would necessary produce a meaningful result. This is not due to lack of interest but simply a limited awareness of the available options.

9) In view of his experience working with SOLE, Sugata recommends that the age range is limited to children below thirteen years old as they are more receptive to the notion of learning. In general, the inclusion of older children in the given context is likely to result in a greater prevalence of behavioural issues and should therefore be the subject of separate research.

10) The research period should be at least a year in length, in order that the benefits of the SOLE environment have sufficient time to emerge.

11) The monitorial method should closely reflect that witnessed in India (the BBC film). Bright students in the formal system will be required to teach their excluded peers the chosen parts of the curriculum. Obviously careful scheduling and some form of incentive will be required in order to motivate the monitors.

12) The research should be limited to outcomes (cognitive, behavioural, affective). An analysis of the underlying mechanism of learning (particilarly in relation to SOLE) is beyond the scope of the research, though reference to the work of Piaget and Vygotsky in relation to Peer Assisted Learning is appropriate.

Doctors Appointments

Posted on by
Reply

Had my first opportunity to talk to Pauline since she returned from India. She is supportive of my religned proposal (toward a social cultural approach) but like Sugata suggests that a pilot study related to the monitorial method could provide additional material for thesis. Sugata also suggested that if children are making progress within a CSCL environment, they could then be offered the opportunity to focus on a specific areas of learning i.e literacy through a phonics programme taught by the monitorial method.

In view of the significance of context, we have agreed that it is appropriate to assess the perceptions of the children with regards to their needs. The questionnaire format is not deemed appropriate in this context as the form of the questions would evitably be leading. Therefore the objective setting process will be guided by an informal set of focus group interviews asking what knowledge children want to learn and how they want to learn it i.e. a new learning environment (as opposed to school) is to be created, what do you want from it? Drawings could also be used a a means of promoting child voice and determining requirements.

This activity could commence in the relatively near future and will be used to guide the subsequent research process. In terms of short term objectives, I need to research focus group interviews with children and children’s voice.

Task Based Learning (Ellis, R. 2000)

Posted on by
Reply

Objectives
Global: To improve English communication skills using Task Based Learning (as opposed to grammar exercises). The objectives can be defined in terms of the following L2 theories:

Psycho-linguist (positivist approach)
In order to generate a meaningful set of objectives the notion of English communication has to be understood in terms of its component parts (linguistics) i.e semantics, syntax, morphology, phonology. The activities (educational technology) are then designed to promote (deterministic) outcomes in relation to these facets of language (psycho-linguistics). Bodies of research derived from the computational metaphor (Chomsky) include:

1. Interaction/Output hypothesis (Long, 1983): identifying the task dimensions that impact on meaning negotiation. It suggests that the kinds of interaction that promote L2 interaction are likely to be more frequent in tasks that: a) have a required information exchange. b) involve a two-way rather than one-way exchange. c)a closed outcome. d) are not familiar to the participants e)involve human/ethical type problems f) involve the narrative form of discourse g) are context free (the task doesnt provide contextual support for communication) and involve considerable detail.

2. Cognitive approach (Skehan, 1998): focused on language production (fluency, accuracy and complexity). Variables can be divided into two broad groups: a) task features. b) task implementation.

3. Communicative effectiveness (Yule, 1997): examining task processes that contribute to communication in L2 whilst also recognising the contribution of the learner that arises from the task. Yule proposes a theory of communicative effectiveness (for referential tasks of the Same-Different kind) based on the following dimensions: a) identification of referent b) role-taking. Yule bases his study of communication effectiveness on an outcomes.

The psycho-linguistic approach to learning however leaves the nature of the learner, the world and their relations unexplored (Lave and Wenger, 1991).

Socio-cultural (interpretivist approach)
The task meaning is context specific. The participants always co-construct the activity they engage in, in accordance with their own socio-history and locally determined goals. According to socio-cultural theory, learners first succeed in performing a new function with the assistance of another person and then internalise this function in order to they can perform it unassisted. A task can be prescribed but the outcome will be founded on a negotiated agreement amongst the participating individuals i.e a non-deterministic outcome. In the socio-cultural tradition the focus is on how the participants achieve intersubjectivity with regard to goals and procedures and on how they collaborate to scaffold each others attempt to perform functions that lie outside their individual abilities.

There is however an inherent weakness in both approaches related to their inability to show a direct relationship between task and L2 acquisition, resulting from a lack of longitudinal analysis. Ellis argues that in order to develop a meaningful and effective task you have to borrow from each tradition, using parts of psycho-linguistic theory to produce outcomes (based on a probabalistic assumption) and socio-cultural theory in recognition of the outcomes that were not anticipated but resulted from meaningful group negotiation. This approach still suggests that objectives and outcomes that shape the task design process are based on psycho-linguistic assumptions tied to a social-cultural caviat. If this is the case the question remains what are the lingistic aspects that are significant to excluded Ghanaian students (relative to L2 acquisition/improvement) and what tasks can be used to illustrate and promote them. Refer back to the elementary curriculum.

Objective Specification

Posted on by
Reply

Curriculum Definition

In line with a rational approach to specification and development of the curriculum, the Tyler model recognises objectives at three separate levels: 1) Global, 2) Educational, 3) Instructional.

– Global objectives represent the high level, broad set of institutional objectives. The purpose of global objectives is to provide a vision for all stakeholders in the education system.
– Educational objectives are used by teachers in there classroom planning activities. Consistent with Tylers description of educational objectives, each of the objectives describes student behaviour (to read, to interpret) and some content topic (types of social data, facts, hypotheses) on which behaviour will be performed.
– Instructional objectives are used to focus teaching and testing on narrow, day by day slices of learning in specific areas of content.
Blooms taxonomy provides a structured means of contextualising objectives in terms of types of knowledge and cognitive processes.

Knowledge Dimension

Factual: knowledge of discrete, isolated content elements (bits of information)
Conceptual: knowledge of classifications and categories, principles and generalisations, theories, models and structures.
Procedural: knowledge of how to do something. Includes knowledge of skills and algorithms, techniques and methods as well as knowledge of criteria used to determine when to do what within specific subject domains and disciplines.
Meta-cognition: knowledge about the cognition process as well as awareness of one’s own thought processes.

Cognitive Dimension
Remember: retrieving relevant knowledge from the long-term memory. The cognitive processes (and associated examples) include:
– Recognition: recognise the dates of important events
– Recall: recall the dates of important events

Understand: construct meaning from instructional messages, including oral, written and graphic communication. The cognitive processes (and associated examples) include:
– Interpretation: paraphrasing important speeches and documents
– Exemplification: examples of various artistic painting styles
– Classification: classify observed or described cases of mental disorders
– Summarisation: write a short summary of the events portrayed on video tape
– Inference: when learning a foreign language, infer grammatical principles from examples
– Comparison: compare historical events to contemporary situations
– Explanation: explain the causes of important 18th century events in France

Apply: Carry out or use a procedure in a given situation. The cognitive processes (and associated examples) include:
– Execution: divide one whole number by another whole number, both with multiple digits
– Implementation: determine in which situations Newtons second law is appropriate

Analyze: Break material into constituent parts and determine how parts relate to one another and to overall structure or purpose. The cognitive processes (and associated examples) include:
– Differentiation: distinguish between the relevant and irrelevant numbers in a mathematical word problem
– Organisation: structure evidence in an historical description into evidence for and against a particular historical explanation
– Attribution: determine the point of view of the author of an essay in terms of her political perspective

Evaluate: Make judgements based on criteria and standards.
– Check: determine whether a scientists conclusions follow from observed data
– Critique: judge which of two methods is the best way to solve a given problem

Create: Put elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganise elements into a pattern or structure
– Generation: generate hypotheses to account for an observed phenomena
– Plan: plan a research paper on a given historical topic
– Produce: build habitats for certain species for certain purposes

The aim of the taxonomy is provide a framework for classifying educational objectives in terms of the knowledge forms (objective noun) and cognitive processes (objective verb). In a similar manner classroom activities and related assessment criteria are also classified. Having located the appropriate cell for each aspect of the learning process (objective, activity, assessment criteria), it is possible to make a judgment of task cognitive complexity (from remember up to create) and objective alignment.

In terms of the PhD activity, it is necessary to break down the learning requirements in a similar fashion. This will require the analysis of objectives within the Ghanaian curriculum. On the basis that some form of educational technology will be employed within the learning process, a psycho-linguistic analysis will be required in order to identify what aspect of the chosen activity (film, computer based media, music) actually triggers the learning i.e. questions related to a film that stimulates remembering and understanding. The learning activity itself is located within the cognitive/knowledge framework i.e. remembering factual knowledge and understanding conceptual knowledge. What is important to note, in terms of the alignment process is the nature of the relationship between cognitive processes and knowledge types. The following combinations promote learning retention (activities related to the past); remembering factual knowledge, understanding conceptual knowledge, applying procedural knowledge. The subsequent combinations promote learning transfer (activities that promote knowledge to a new future context): analysing, evaluating and creating any form of knowledge.

It is important to note, that rote learning is only related to the lower level of cognitive function (remembering). Where as progressive techniques require higher-level cognitive processes leading to meaningful learning.

In terms of English learning at the elementary level for excluded children with a familiarity of the second language, it is the intention to develop a level of meaningful learning based on remembering and understanding. This may be related to the theories of Chomsky and Pinker, suggesting that individuals have an instinct for language acquisition. It is therefore proposed to develop/design an environment that promotes a top-down approach to learning, placing the individual within a language-saturated environment as opposed to a bottom-up approach that focuses on the inculcation of language fundamentals i.e. phonics, grammar. The aim is to focus on improving overall communication skills rather than focus on the specifics of the language. The complication here is related to the assessment process that in all likelihood is focused on the specifics. Where objectives can not be reconciled, it is suggested that students who have enjoyed the media related strategy be offered the opportunity to learn the fundamentals (in a PAL format) in order to achieve certification.

In this context it is worth noting that in countries like Egypt with a large numbers of tourists, many poor children have learned one or more foreign languages simply as a consequence of exposure and presumably peer support as opposed to any formal learning.

Literature Review Structure

Posted on by
Reply

Having spent many months collecting and organising my literature review it is time to make a start. The principal sections are listed as follows:

1) Context: Political, Social and Economic landscape. What are the charactistics of poverty in Ghana
2) Poverty and Education: Establishing the formal connection made by the UN/EFA. Describing the emergence of private schools in Ghana. Identifying the group of children excluded from education and the reasons for there omission.
3) Education Policy Development: How has the formal education structure and curriculum developed in Ghana since the arrival of the first foreign traders in the 16th century. Reference is made to the use of the Monitorial system in the early 19th century (Graham, 1971)
4) African Culture: What is the nature of traditional education. How does if differ from the formal structure and was is the impact of learning in a second language, in this case English.
5) PAL Intervention: What is the theoretical basis of peer tutoring and what are the potential benefits in the given context.

School Effectiveness

Posted on by
Reply

Returning to an interesting and very relevant book that I referenced as part of my climate study in Colombia: School Management and Effectiveness in Developing Countries by Harber and Davies.

The book opens with a description of the dimensions of context within which schools in the developing world are required to operate. The principal aspects of each dimension is described as follows (and will provide a suitable model for the description of context in relation to Ghana):

Demographic Context
– Increasing birth leading proportional growth in the school population
– High drop out rate and the school schedule does suit the needs of the students
– Rural to Urban migration

Economic Context
– Low expenditure per student
– Fragile economies exposed to global markets
– High levels of debt
– Falling GDP per capita
– Decreasing consumption
– Falling public expenditure
– Structural Adjustment Programme demands

Resource Context
– Overcrowded classrooms
– Few material resources
– Poorly maintained school
– Underpaid and demotivated teachers

Violence Context
– High civilian casualties (dead and wounded)
– Destruction of education property and facilities
– Gangs and guns remain a threat even when the war has ended

Health Context
– Hunger and malnourishment are commonplace
– The poor are more vulnerable to disease
– Climate change and drought are effecting increasing numbers of poor

Cultural Context
– Different set of values

Harber and Davies then turn their attention to the notion of school effectiveness itself and describe the difficult of establishing a consistent set of criteria in relation to the developing world. Through a meta-analysis of school research they conclude that there is no definitive answer, however the following consistent set of factors have been identified:
1) The effect of educational processes on student achievement are larger in developing countries. In effect, the school a pupil attends makes more of a difference to their eventual academic attainment compared to home background than in industrialised nations. This does not mean that background curcumstances are diminished in importance.
2) The factors associated with school effectiveness are probably different from those in industrialised nations
3) The factors differ within countries labelled as developing.
4) Factors generate significant findings for goals of economic growth. Benavot study over 25 years (linking education to GDP) indicated a positive relationship with the number of instructional hours across all subjects but a negative effect on practical education. Furthermore and contrary to popular wisdom, there was no effect associated with maths and a language whilst a positive impact was identified in relation to music and art. Whilst it is important not to jump to conclusions in relation to policy, it provides a warning with regard to an ill-considered allocation of resources to maths, english and vocational courses.

In conclusion, effectiveness can only be understood in relation to a clear set of context related goals (why is education necessary) and a matching assessment mechanism. The significance of the assessment mechanism is that once understood, schools can set themselves up to satisfy those goals alone i.e. good test results, whilst ignoring the broader significance of education. According to Harber and Davies therefore effectiveness management evolves from two interlocking variables; goals and culture. Consequently, effectiveness programmes linked to comparisons based on examination success are doomed to failure on the basis that they ignore all other possible goals of school and student learning. This is particularly the case in the Africa where an traditional style of education runs in parellel to the formal system.

Aid for Moyo

Posted on by
Reply

Read Moyos critique of aid and aid culture a few weeks back. Whilst no doubt her opinions have some validity and strike a strangely populist chord, a senior position at Goldman Sachs hardly indears her to the audience. Of course, this gave her a priveleged insight into the workings of international finance but has also engendered a certain myopia with regards to market shortcomings and its true potential to address the endemic problems associated with poverty and underdevelopment.

The principal focus of the discourse is the slow and inexorable rise of aid culture since the inception of the Bretton Woods institutions in the immediate aftermath of WW2. The end of the war represented a perfect opportunity to reshape the world order and in particular, the global finance system under the auspices of the Western victors; leading to the creation of the IMF (manage global finance) and the World Bank (investment in reconstruction). In concise chronological terms, Moyo has tracked the development of the aid business as follows:

1950’s – Cold war development. Not aid in its true sense; finance from either side of the iron curtain simply being used to buy the support of developing nations in a strategic battle for ideological supremacy.

1960’s – Period of modernisation. Finance provided for large scale industrialisation projects. However, bad planning and mismanagement led to excessive levels of waste and debt(Ayittey).

1970’s – Robert McNamara becomes head of the World Bank and turns the institutional focus on the battle against poverty based on large-scale aid packages. Attempts to alleviate the suffering of the developing world are however severely undermined by oil shocks leading to high interest payments on development loans for heavily indebted poor countries. Financial problems are exacerbated by the lost freedom dividend of the post colonial era, many leaders (even those of the independence movements) turning their backs on the principals of liberation and imposing the one party autocratic state (often leading to tyranny), stand-up Mobutu, Mugabe, Amin, Taylor, Conte, Al Bashir, Mubarak, the list goes on.

1980’s – Referred to as the lost age of development. Debt crisis led to Structural Adjustment Programmes, loans being offered to indebted nations on the basis that they restructure their economies in line with free market principles; deregulation, private ownership and investment, removal of state support and subsidises, reduction of the deficit etc.

1990’s – Focus on governance and democracy as a platform for national development. Moyo suggests that this decade was a period of donor fatigue

2000’s – Decade of glamour aid focussed on debt relief.

The problems with aid as defined by Moyo are listed as follows:

1) Erosion of social capital: The focus of society moves away from production (assuming that is the raison d’etre of society). As aid is made available the economic and social environment become increasingly politicised in an attempt to secure the largest portion of the aid budget.

2) Aid inhibits middle class growth: In the absence of growth based on production and tangible business assets, the nation remains economically weak, undermining the potential for concentrated wealth and reinvestment amongst the middle classes. Instead, all available wealth (including aid receipts) is concentrated amongst the non-productive political elite (Ayitteys vampire state)

3) Foments Conflict – Power means access to the state wealth through the political strutures supported by aid. Such incentives encourage national strongmen to foment and promote conflict as a means of gaining access to the highest positions of power.

4) Promotes corruption – Aid money is fungible and readily transferred into private bank accounts. Moyo estimates that $10bn of aid money disappears from the African continent in a single year.

4) Economic Fallout – Moyo suggests that contrary to popular belief developing nations are overwhelmed with foreign aid, lacking the administrative capabilty to absorb such amounts within a fragile economy. This excess of liquidilty creates high local inflation reducing the incentives to save (creating a consumer culture) and pushing up prices both locally and in relation to export produce.

5) Public Services – Aid money negates the need to create a credible institutional structure based on a transparent system of tax collection. This is despite the size and gross inefficiencies associated with a public sector in developing nations.

In contrast to a system undermined by aid and a mentality of dependency in perpetuity, Moyo proposes a solution to poverty founded on market principles and centred in the commercial bond market. From a political perspective an Asian model of benign dictatorship is preferred, Moyo recommends strong, short term, autocratic governance as a vehicle for developing credible institutions and a business friendly environment. This demonstration of compliance to the Washington Consensus will improve credit ratings, lower interest rates in relation to sustainable loans and produce growth. Moyo also recognises the need for reform of the WTO and world trade rules in order to protect fragile markets from asymmetrical competition from large industrial blocs (US,EU,BRIC).

Irrespective of the financial crisis (for which Goldman Sachs is under investigation) and the all-to-real weaknesses of global capitalism, I would suggest that Moyos essay is neither an original nor detailed account of poverty and the market approach to deliverance. I can only presume it got so much attention because she is African with a rational, digestable, western perspective on African problems. However, her account lacks the depth of an authentic scientific research and only considers membership of the Washington Concensus in terms of its potential benefits.

In short, Moyo fails to address the risks associated with global capital, particular for the weak and vulnerable nations for which she is concerned. This despite reference to the SAPs designed to create just the kind of business friendly environment proposed. This very instrument wrought devastation across the entire developing world in the 1980’s from which it is still recovering (Easterley). Whilst Moyo recognises a number of hurdles to authentic market entry i.e WTO, she fails to highlight the lack of political will to change the asymmetrical relationship, afterall for capitalism to truly succeed someone, somewhere has to be exploited. In this context, Easterley’s conclusion appears to be correct; you can not impose capitalism on a sovereign nation (or continent) and presume that it will adhere.

My main criticism however is at the profound level of African identity and culture, a theme that despite her heritage, Moyo almost completely ignores. African thought and values are not a development of the European Enlightment project nor western notions of liberalism and freedom. Whilst there is evidence to suggest that African society is fragmenting (presumably as a result of market forces), its authentic identity is founded on notions and symbols of solidarity, unity and a communal lifestyle. It seems that Africa chooses equality over freedom (though it doesnt mean they dont want freedom), operating on a different social paradigm to western industrial cultures.

This does not negate the basic principles of trade and profit, market places thrive in Africa no less than anywhere else. I believe its simply a rejection of western style corporate capitalism; it fails in Africa principally and somewhat prosaically, because Africans dont want it. Imposing this particular brand of market freedom on an unwilling society can only undermine social identity and stability, exaggerating existing problems of poverty. Ironically, Moyo appears to have fallen into the colonial mindset; knowing whats best for the continent, rather than letting it decide for itself.

Study in Rural Kenya

Posted on by
Reply

Getting back to education in the developing world, Daley et al as part of educational studies in rural Kenya investigated the effect of background and classroom correlates on child achievement and behaviour. The measure and procedures are listed as follows: 1) Social Economic Status (SES). 2) Standardised test scores from school in seven subjects. 3) Cognitive tests including the Verbal Meaning Test (similar to the Peabody Picture Vocab test – Dunn & Dunn, 1981), 4. An arithmetic test adapted from the WISC-R. It is important to note that the cognotive test were underaken in the local vernacular. 4a) Behavioural test including on-task observation and 4b) a teacher rating of student behaviour, items include emotion, task persistence, social competence etc. 5) Classroom quality meaasures including assessment of the teacher in terms of organisational skills and teacher interest. The lessons were also vidoetaped and teacher performance was assessed in terms of tone, emotion and behaviour.

Results suggest that cognitive and behavioural outcomes were more closely linked to school quality than background variables, a finding consistent with other research (Heyneman & Loxley, 1983). Of the four teacher qualitilies measured only classroom organisation was a consistent predictor of outcomes, the remainder producng inconsistent results i.e teacher interest and experience were found to be inverse predictors. This study also found no relationship with outcomes and class size, although higher levels of off-task behaviour were observed and deemed to have a negative, indirect impact over a longer timescale.

From a practical view point, this study points to the range of tools that could be employed as part of the classroom characterisation process within the peer learning environment. This include: 1) background factors (SES) 2) parents education 3) cognitive ability 4) literacy and arithmetic ability 5) behaviour 6) teacher performance. This approach should be supplemented by a interpretist tool in order to obtain teacher and student opinions of education in general and the peer learning environment specifically.

The study highlights the potential significance of background SES influences when attempting to characterise a classroom in the developing world. The different question is whether SES represents a positivist or an interpretivist vector.

In terms of the learning tools that could be employed in the research, Pauline introduced me to the most relevant aspects of the Jolly phonics package including a teaching manual that can form the basis of the monitor training programme. The basic format is 42 days in duration, a single hour per day for each of the phonemic sounds. The learning framework is based on monitor modelling, reinforcement and blending strategies as a means of familiarising the student with individual and sounds and word pronunciation. The approach is a mixture of direct teaching and peer tutoring focussed on large (teacher) textbook and an associated (student)workbook. Whilst there is a lot of associated material, it would appear that the teaching approach remains consistent i.e once the framework is understood and the sounds have been learned, the monitor should be able to progress relatively unaided. Depending on the extent of the learning goals, Pauline has also recommended Read, Write Inc materials (developed by Ruth Mishkin) as a means of practicing elementary reading and comprehension skills.

Naturally, it would be very handy to find a similar tool for teaching arithmetic. Pauline has recommended Maths Makes Sense which in itself was also recommended by Mishkin.