Mind the gap: global quality norms, national policy interpretations and local praxis in Timor-Leste

Abstract

Increasingly, the imperative for improving educational quality in schooling systems throughout the developing world is harnessed to a particular set of teaching and learning practices, such as child-centred, child-friendly or learner-centred pedagogy (LCP). Such was the case in Timor-Leste where, after independence, LCP was heavily promoted as a panacea for an education system that was perceived to be irrelevant, outmoded and of poor quality. While LCP was readily adopted into policy discourse, less support and attention were given to the substantive incorporation of LCP into teacher practice. When strategically borrowed in such a fashion, the paper suggests little promise remains for LCP to meaningfully improve student learning processes or outcomes in Timorese classrooms.

Keywords:

• quality education
• curriculum reform
• primary education
• Timor-Leste
• learner-centred pedagogy

Notes

1. A total of four constructs regarding the qualities of an ‘effective’ teacher were included in the survey instrument (Tait, Entwistle, and McCune 1998; Brown, Lake, and Matters 2008). Additionally, three constructs related to personal teaching efficacy in the areas of delivery, student engagement and classroom management were included, based on an adaptation of items from the CSC Teacher Efficacy Scale (Friedman and Kass 2002) and the OSTES Scale (Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk-Hoy 2001). Teachers were asked to respond to all statements on a four-point Likert-type scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. All scales and constructs were tested for reliability, validity and internal consistency using statistical analysis. The results suggested that the validity and reliability of these constructs were not robust enough to allow for quantitative comparison and analysis. Thus, survey data is used mainly for qualitative purposes, with percentages reported in this article indicating the number of teachers who either agreed or strongly agreed with particular items within a scale/construct.

2. An unstructured observational technique known as Global Scan was chosen to allow for documentation of classroom activity and teacher/student action, while simultaneously annotating the researcher’s own perceptions of the events occurring in situ (Zepeda 2009). At the completion of the observations, a post-hoc collation and analysis of teacher actions across all 42 sites was done, using a Ministry of Education (Timor-Leste) developed observation schedule (ME 2009). This was done to provide a broad overview of trends and patterns of practice. The process facilitated exploration of whether dominant modes of teacher practice aligned themselves with expected actions and behaviours articulated in government policy documents.

3. Some of these data are referred to and utilised in this paper, including quotations from interviews and observation notes and are referenced from the authors’ respective studies.

4. Twenty hours of video footage were transcribed and coded to show language variety and language function, similar to the classroom metastudies from African classrooms (Ferguson 2003). From the ensuing data, quantitative comparisons could be made about the way languages and functions were patterned across these classrooms.

5. Numerous pragmatic and political challenges have resulted from Portuguese being the language of instruction in education. See Quinn (2007), Taylor-Leech (2008) or Taylor-Leech (2009) for accounts of these issues.

6. In 2013, the Ministry of Education in Timor-Leste began a new curriculum reform process, involving international and a significant number of national advisors, including teachers, to revise the content and pedagogy for Grades 1–6. It was a response to the failures of the 2005 curriculum. It maintains a focus on LCP, but it remains to be seen how these changes impact on teachers’ beliefs and practices.

7. It is important to note this framework was never formalised into a decree law and, in 2013, work on a new framework that addresses the actual needs of Timorese students and teachers began in tandem with the curriculum revision process.