Ebenezer Abayomi Adeyege
Joined: Sep 13, 2003
Posts: 10
Poster Rank:
Soft-spoken
User is
Offline
Province/State: Kaduna
City: Kaduna
|
Educational Research and Educational Policy Making
February 13, 2004 @ 06:29 AM
|
|
It is generally recognized that there is inadequate educational research in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is also generally recognized that politicians, policy makers and decision makers pay little attention to the research work that has been done.
On the other hand, researchers may pay little attention to the real needs or development goals of their communities and societies, paying more attention to the agendas set by international publications. This state of affairs is understandable when the promotion of academics is linked to publication in international journals rather than its effect in the education systems of their own countries.
In addition to the requirement to publish or perish, much research is funded by donors. This again skews the focus as well as the objectives of research. The research agendas may be heavily influenced, and even established, by the donor agencies. The need to link research to developmental needs and goals on the one hand, and the need for politicians, policy makers and decision makers to commission as well as to utilize research work on the other hand, are of critical importance to development and progress. This is particularly true in the face of the rapid globalization of economies, the more frequent movement of people, and the rapid cultural interchanges taking place today.
Education is recognized as the essential foundation for modern development.
However, education cannot play this role unless it is of the highest quality possible, and unless it is relevant to the development path society has decided upon. Qualitative research can play a critically important role in improving the quality and relevance of research on education. Within this context, governments need to invest judiciously in research. Researchers also need to ensure that their work can bring about higher levels of development.
Finally there is need to build bridges between researchers and policy makers by making research work available and accessible to decision makers, by including development goals as equally legitimate goals for researchers, by making more opportunities and resources available to researchers, and by developing platforms for dialogue between research and development. This Newsletter covers a few aspects of educational research and is intended as the beginning of a dialogue aimed at bridging the gulf between educational researchers and educational decision makers.
|
Author
Post
