How private schools are serving the poorest: Pauline Dixon at TEDxGlasgow
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Seminal research in the slums and shanty towns of Asia and Africa shows not only the numbers of low-cost private schools around the world but why, how and by whom they are run and patronised. Dr. Pauline Dixon looks at parental choice, the comparison between government and low-cost private schools as well as innovative initiatives that are currently underway in India and Ghana such as vouchers and chains of private schools. The talk also considers what the wider world can learn from this market success story. More About Pauline... Dr. Pauline Dixon is a senior lecturer in International Development and Education at Newcastle University in the North East of England. She is Research Director of the E.G. West Centre at the university and Degree Programme Director of the Masters in International Development and Education. She lectures in economics, education policy and quantitative methods. Dr Dixon's research in India, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, China, and Tunisia, investigates education for the poorest living in slums and shanty towns. She is also researching education in conflict zones focusing on Liberia, South Sudan and Sierra Leone as well as considering the advantages chains of private unaided schools have owing to their economies of scale. She works as an advisor and external researcher with the English-based international charity Absolute Return for Kids (ARK) in Delhi, India. She has helped to set up an education voucher programme as well as introduce improvements in quality to both government and private schools operating in the slum of Shahdara, East Delhi, through the use of synthetic phonics. Dr Dixon gained her PhD from Newcastle in 2003 which looked at the regulations private schools in the slums of Hyderabad, India, abide by from an Austrian economic perspective. The thesis described and analysed a case study of private schools catering for low-income families. The research was carried out in order to examine the regulatory regime under which private schools exist. Dr Dixon was International Research Coordinator on the John Templeton Project from 2003-2005, the Orient Global Project from 2007-2009 and is about to commence research, again funded by the John Templeton Foundation, concerning 'Education in Difficult Places' and conflict zones. This project will run until 2013. She is also interested in gifted and talented children living in slum areas in developing countries. Dr Dixon delivers keynote speeches and presentations around the world including at Capitol Hill, Washington D.C., USA, at Brown University, USA, as well as in Europe including Zurich, Liechtenstein, Durham, Glasgow, London, and Vienna. She has also presented the research findings to government officials in India and Africa. She is considered an expert in her field and has more than 35 publications in academic journals, monographs and book chapters. These include, most recently, more quantitative papers in the Journal of School Choice , School Effectiveness and School Improvement, Oxford Review of Education and Educational Management, Administration and Leadership. In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)
Comments
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Step into the light, Pauline! Step into the light! hehehe
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Nice body. Wow.
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This is such an idyllic way of looking at a much larger systemic problem. The irony is that Pauline Dixon's colleague for this research, James Tooley, has founded low-cost private schools in Ghana that are actually NOT affordable to the targeted population long-term and can cause significant financial instability. They also derive their schools in highly saturated education areas. So while we want to propose this will assist in Education for All, the students at least in Ghana, are actually already enrolled in schools and now just have more options, not necessarily increasing access. I'd love to see these models in the northern, marginalized regions in Ghana where students have zero access versus just saturating a market near Accra.
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"Teachers in government schools don't teach".... you would think that that's kind of a minimal requirement. :)
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Governments want to provide 'free' schools so the children are 'educated' to understand the need for government.
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Conclusion: Freedom works!
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One problem with governments "helping" these unrecognized private schools, with vouchers, is that they are forcing regulations upon them as a precondition for getting support.
The politicians want to control the curriculum and the way everything is taught. In essence these private schools won't no longer be autonomous and not even private anymore.
Most importantly, it will raise the costs. -
+xaxie1 how are they unfair? usually they are just as cheap or slightly more expensive than public schools, and as she says, often have better facilities. Your comment makes no sense in light of the facts presented in this video.
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What this fails to take into account is that students who cannot afford to got to private schools and are in the public system may also be more likely themselves to preform worse because there circumstances are more difficult. The situation of government run schools should also be improved, ant the conditions of students in them, if a teacher is preforming badly they should be trained to be responsible enough to deal with it.
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very interesting talk. I wonder though if the voucher initiative may be disturbing what it set out to support? song at the end was a bit patronizing.
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Read Pauline's Learning 2030 Blog entry, "Are Private School's the Developing World's Solution?" over at wgsi[dot]org/paulineblog!
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Standardized testing / Study by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Although South Korea is also a contender for top spot. If you split the school system into private and public, then public schools don't have any clout, because the rich people who are donating (bribing) politicians send their kids to private schools. If you get rid of public schools, you will return to the days where most people never learn to read, which would kill the economy.
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on what basis is it "the best in the world"?
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Finland got rid of their private schools and they have one of the best education systems in the world.
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No it doesn't debunk the argument. that's what IM saying. What are the educational outcomes that are being weighed here ? How do we know that the same outcomes are achieved ? Could you not, instead of arguing from the ideological agenda of Hayek and Friedman, argue that the state based system was not run adequately enough ? Seems plausible to suggest she has not critically analysed state investment and her ideology has guided her research rather than the results informing her opinion.
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Social sciences aren't physics, there are no this kind of "good reasons" for anything. So we look at incentives. And paying for something directly, while being able to move to a different provider, creates really good ones. That's why governments can have just as dedicated workers as the private sector, but they never match its efficiency in anything.
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Screw vouchers, don't distort the market, they will only increase prices. Don't interfere and be amazed.
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If the government cannot provide a good service then that does not mean that governmet schools will always fail. Dont you also see the problem with user pays systems in which those who can afford the education do better overall means that within a capitalist environment the quality of the education received will increase with the amount of money payed. If the gap between those who earn more and less is too great - this means that they receive a worse education . Hence why you have government
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There is no good reason to suggest that government schools cannot be accountable. If you want something you have to pay for it - why ? Why do you have to pay for something in order to receive accountability in return ?
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Private schools may be able to educate , i dont think that should be challenged. However does that really mean that the quality of private schools is better ? what are the criteria set out for a good education ? Government is there to pick up the slack and provide the services necessary.
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