RISE Working Paper 19/029 - Creative Destruction or Idiot Winds: Schumpeterian Theory Meets the Educational Sector in Developing Countries
This paper is part of the 'Research on Improving Systems of Education' programme
Abstract
The basic theoretical and practical issue facing the Research on Improving Systems of Education programme (RISE) initiative is to imagine and test a national level educational policy intervention that can produce steady productivity gains in the educational sectors of developing countries.
That goal is very ambitious – extending over many learners and educational providers, and drawing on assets and capacities from all three sectors of society – government, voluntary, and commercial sectors. It’s a goal that is animated and guided by different social purposes, measured in different ways. And while the urgency of achieving the varied goals is present and compelling now, it will take many years and much trial and error to achieve them.
The important question is how we can best continue to make progress, and accelerate the rate of learning.
At the outset, one should note that progress has already been made in terms of expanding the accessibility of educational services to children throughout the developing world. But, as RISE researchers have shown, much less progress has been made in improving the quality and impact of those educational services on those the system now reaches. We have achieved a certain scale, but not the quality at a scale that can help to improve the individual and social well-being of the next generation of children growing up in developing societies.
The question before us, then, is what do we know (or more likely, what hypotheses should we entertain) about the methods that can be used to sustain increases in accessibility, while dramatically improving quality and impact.
This research is part of the ‘Research on Improving Systems of Education’ programme
Citation
Moore, M. (2019). Creative Destruction or Idiot Winds: Schumpeterian Theory Meets the Educational Sector in Developing Countriest. RISE Working Paper 19/029
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