Switching sides: the battle between globalised pedagogy and national identity in the development of an Early Literacy Programme in Cambodia

Courtney, Jane and Gravelle, Margaret (2010) Switching sides: the battle between globalised pedagogy and national identity in the development of an Early Literacy Programme in Cambodia. In: Education and Citizenship in a Globalising World, 19-20 Nov 2010, Institute of Education, London, UK.

Abstract

In 2006 a bi-lateral donor working with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) in Cambodia identified the need for improving the quality of literacy. The bilateral donor outsourced the contract to a team of British consultants to design and lead an early literacy project working alongside Khmer national consultants. This paper begins by discussing and analysing how globalised perceptions of pedagogy and culture were enshrined in the development of training and classroom materials for both teacher and pupils. By examining the perceptions and assumptions made by all parties and analysing the discourse that took place in the development process it is possible to identify how national education and identity comes into conflict with what was identified as a ‘global pedagogy’. As more agencies become involved and agendas change, the conflict between issues of national identity and global pedagogy become increasingly blurred leaving the authors the task of unpacking the relative importance of these concepts on the impact of the project.

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