Debates on literacy inequalities have been powerfully advanced through Jan Blommaert's work, which demonstrates the ways in which discourse forms can lose function as they are moved into different environments. Looking through a south-north lens, Blommaert maps this feature of loss of function against world wide inequalities conceptualised through…

This article reviews literature on social reproduction in education, discusses the decline of the paradigm, and argues for its continuing relevance. It examines reproductive and transformative aspects of cross-linguistic literacy practices involving young people from three diasporic communities in the United States, presenting multi-leveled…

This paper challenges constructions of the "gendered illiterate Indian villager" as a homogenous group of people who are empowered through acquiring literacy. I strive to displace homogeneous representations of gendered "illiterate" subjects through ethnographic accounts of diverse people's realities in different villages in Bihar, India. I argue…

In a context of globalisation and the rapid expansion of low-paid "global" jobs, formal schooling is no longer perceived as contributing to the acquisition of skills that are appropriate or even relevant to active engagement with the new opportunities. Based on empirical material from a village in Bangladesh, this paper explores the role of…

This paper presents a comparative ethnographic analysis of two versions of a grassroots text in Mandinka language, one written by a non-formally educated man, the other a respelling by a formally educated urbanite. The analysis points at a crucial difference in spelling practices and inequality in literacy regimes, i.e., between established…

This paper argues that key aspects of UNESCO's organizational culture are a major impediment to the realization of its important educational agenda. Drawing upon sustained observations over a four-year period, the paper describes the nature and consequences of UNESCO's highly ritualized and "inward-oriented" work activities, especially the weak…

Children with disabilities are one of the many groups of children still not enrolled in primary education in developing countries. However, their educational exclusion and right to education are now receiving more policy attention. This paper reviews some of the key issues and challenges in relation to disability, education and development:…

This paper describes a study on examination room cheating during Lebanese Brevet and Baccalaureat examinations with a focus on "open cheating"--malpractices which are aided and abetted by examination invigilators. Findings suggest that the problem is widespread and is largely attributable to the empathy invigilators feel with candidates. The…

Using data from Birth to Twenty, a cohort of South African urban children, the current paper investigates the relationships between residential and school mobility and a set of educational outcomes. The findings provide some evidence of a positive association between changes in residence and numeracy and literacy scores, and school mobility was…

Respect is a core concept in citizenship debates. South African high school educators often draw upon respect as a key value within citizenship education. Their teaching of this value is often conflated with promotion of the practice of responsible citizenship. The constructions of respect and responsibility in these situations are imbued with…

For more than six decades, UNESCO has dedicated itself to be the international agency leader in literacy, even though other aspects of educational development have received greater attention and resources by the broader international community. Resources for UNESCO's literacy work have not increased, and its programmatic activities have been…

This essay is concerned with organisational learning and, in particular, policy learning. Sometimes, organisations learn; sometimes they do not. Sometimes they use their acquired knowledge, but this is, not always the case. Inside organisations, particular values, rules and incentive systems are developed. In addition, organisations need to…

An expansion in higher education in combination with the recent global economic recession has resulted in a high college graduate unemployment rate in Taiwan. This study investigates how the high unemployment rate and financial constraints caused by economic cutbacks have shaped undergraduates' class choices, job needs, and future income…

In a multilingual context, this study investigates the role on mathematics achievement of the provision of instruction in the home language. It compares characteristics of 5048 Grade 6 learners in 275 Namibian schools. The outcome variable is the standardized SACMEQ mathematics score collected in year 2000. Hierarchical linear modeling is used to…

This paper describes and analyses how Singapore engages in the global war for talent. The paper discusses how Singapore demonstrates a Foucauldian perspective of "governmentality" in trying to mould citizens into a way of thinking that is geared suitably to an engagement in a global talent war. It first examines the social, political and economic…