Education holds a particular place for theorisations of development formulated since the 1950s. In changing conditions, marked initially by the political economy of the Cold War and decolonisation, and later by globalisation and the political realignments of the post-Cold War era, views on the aims for education, how to systematise school knowledge, organise pedagogy or view school management have been much contested. Particular development theories' assumptions, research methodologies and practices have emphasised certain aspects of education and de-emphasised others. But little attention has been given to views of justice (both implicit and explicit) and how these orient the dynamics of thinking about education and international development.
Six approaches to development theory are explored in this chapter in relation to the ways in which they conceptualise education and social justice. This is a partial selection as it is not possible to explore all the varieties and debates in development theory in one chapter. I have made the selection, partly because these approaches are evident in largely chronological waves from the 1950s and partly because they are those commonly discussed in general reviews of phases of contemporary development theory (Preston, 1996; Munck & O'Hearn, 1999; Rapley, 2002; Gasper, 2004). In discussing them I have tried to draw out how each locates the aims of education and the implications of these for practices advocated in relation to curriculum, pedagogy and management. I also attempt to distil in each approach assumptions about the nature of the person to be educated and the connection between education and social justice. I draw out some of the consequences of these formulations for the preferred forms of research associated with each theory. The consequences of the explanations these offer for global action on education and poverty is then assessed.
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Unterhalter, E. (2009). Social Justice, Development Theory and the Question of Education. In: Cowen, R., Kazamias, A.M. (eds) International Handbook of Comparative Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education, vol 22. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6403-6_50
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