Education and Development: Lessons from the Third World

David R. Hutchinson is a professor in the Teacher Education Program at
the Arctic College in Fort Smith, N.W.T.

Education and Development is a solid compilation of international
critical educational writing and research. The text is divided into five
areas: educational policy, planning, and administration; cultural
integration; social equality; nonformal education; and higher education.
In short, much of the research focuses on the impact of Western
schooling on peoples in developing countries, including among its
diverse subjects/participants women, street children, and Native
peoples. As the authors reveal, it is evident that the imposition of
Western educational models does not necessarily further the evolution of
a unique national identity, nor does it render society more just and
equitable. What is significant about this text, however, is that it goes
beyond ideology critique and into the realm of practical, emancipatory
community-based educational development recommendations (particularly in
the concluding section, “Lessons Learned”). Any educator who is
interested in exploring liberatory models of curriculum and instruction
would find this body of research invaluable.