Contesting Global Frames for Local Aims: Policy Perspectives on 21st-Century Education in Haiti, Jamaica, and Albania

• In Event: Roundtable Session 36
  In Roundtable Session: International Perspectives on Education Policy and Inequality

Abstract

Around the world, educational agencies are increasingly adopting the idea of 21st century education as a framework for policy development. This paper compares the experience of educators in three developing and middle income countries: Haiti, Jamaica, and Albania. In each of these contexts, national reforms and curricular frameworks explicitly connected with the global discourse of 21st century education. Yet, despite this convergence, the implementation of these policies and enactment of curricula varied across the countries due to the following factors: (1) lack of teacher preparation; (2) difficult economic contexts; and (3) cultural divergence between global models and local norms and values. This paper provides insights and recommendations to improve the efficacy of 21st century education in diverse country contexts.

Authors

• Meg P. Gardinier, Florida International University

• Medjy Pierre - Louis, Florida International University