Strategic Choices for Education Reform: Objectives

• An improved understanding of the rationale, objectives, and policy options for sector-wide education reform, as well as of the conditions required to launch and sustain reform initiatives;
• An expanded knowledge of a broad range of options to enhance quality, efficiency, equity, and sustainability of education; strengthen social cohesion; and develop the skills needed to assess which options are most likely to work within a given country or local setting;
• A solid conceptual approach to designing education strategies that focus on improving the quality of basic education as an issue in itself and as a necessary condition for addressing quality at other levels of education.

Participants are also given an opportunity to join professional networks to regularly and systematically share global knowledge and evolving international reform experience.

Pedagogical Approach

The pedagogical approach for this course emphasizes experiential learning and makes use of relevant and context-appropriate case studies, simulations, facilitated group work and hands-on research to draw on knowledge and experiences of the participants in the group. Facilitators of the course involve participants in a country exercise as a course-long project. This provides opportunities for participants to practically interpret new learned ideas and concepts, apply simulation models and new tools of diagnostic and decision-making, practice negotiation and consensus-building skills, analyze relevant case studies and formulate their own understanding of appropriate interventions, effectively present and defend their reform plans to the peers and a group of experts – within the context of their own country experience. 

Participants are offered opportunities to reflect on their expectations from the course, summarize and evaluate main concepts learned and findings of their learning journey during every day of the course. Participants are also suggested changes to enrich their learning experiences.

Interactive facilitation of the course is used to encourage self-diagnostic, practical application and collaborative reflection on the course materials, so that participants can construct their understanding of the core ideas of the course through social interaction and control their own learning objectives and environment.