In late February, my family landed at the small Mwanza airport in Tanzania. With our luggage and our toddler, Z, hoisted on my hip, we climbed down the airplane stairs and onto the shuttle bus that would take us to the terminal. The shuttle bus was packed and I remember feeling slightly disappointed that … Continue reading
How do you transform data into a great story?
How do you transform your troves of data into a story that fascinates people and moves them to act? This is an issue with which researchers, analysts, and evaluators grapple on an ongoing basis. Last week, I had the opportunity to learn and reflect on these very matters with colleagues working with data in the … Continue reading
Ready schools in Pakistan: School & classroom factors associated with children’s success in early primary
I am happy to let you all know that I successfully defended my PhD thesis last week. It was an exhilarating experience and an immensely useful discussion with a group of academics whom I truly respect. I will be sharing more of my dissertation findings here in the months ahead, but in the meantime, I would like to share … Continue reading
Why I use the term ‘Majority world’ instead of ‘developing countries’ or ‘Third world’
Edit [August 2019] – I want clarify that I did not come up with the term ‘Majority World’. From what I understand, the term was coined and introduced by Shahidul Alam, and I would like to acknowledge and appreciate him for bringing this term into the discourse over a decade ago. You can read more … Continue reading
Noteworthy ECD resources (v5): Babies and parenting
[This post is part of my Noteworthy Early Childhood Development (ECD) Resources series, which rounds up and highlights key resources on particular topics.] I am often asked by parents of young children for clarification on some of the recommendations made by ‘experts’ on various aspects of parenting infants and toddlers, especially around sleep. As a … Continue reading
Racism and imperialism in the child development discourse: deconstructing ‘developmentally appropriate practice’
[This post is part of a series highlighting particular publications or resources I have written or developed in the past which may be of interest to my blog readers.] One of the most influential approaches to early childhood education in North America is ‘Developmentally Appropriate Practice’ (DAP), articulated by the NAEYC. When I used Foucauldian and other … Continue reading
Community-based participatory research: training manual for community researchers
[This post is part of a series highlighting particular publications or resources I have written or developed in the past which may be of interest to my blog readers.] Many social issues need to be examined through research in order for us to better understand and act for change. These social issues are often best examined at … Continue reading
Primary education in Pakistan: Outcomes on key indicators
Pakistan has signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child and voted in support of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, both of which assert the right of each child to education, with primary education compulsory and available free to all. However, Pakistan is far from achieving universal access to primary education, and primary education quality remains … Continue reading
Education in Pakistan: A historical socio-cultural perspective >> Part 6: Education in Present-Day Pakistan
Today’s post is the final post in a six-part series reviewing the historical and current context of education in Pakistan. These posts include: Introduction Ancient India – Hindu and Buddhist Influences Islamic Influences British Influences A Separate Nation Education in Present-Day Pakistan (this post) Some of the information in this series is drawn from the book, … Continue reading
Education in Pakistan: A historical socio-cultural perspective >> Part 5: A Separate Nation
Today’s post is the fifth in a six-part series reviewing the historical and current context of education in Pakistan. These posts include: Introduction Ancient India – Hindu and Buddhist Influences Islamic Influences British Influences A Separate Nation (this post) Education in Present-Day Pakistan A Separate Nation Over the centuries, India – including present-day Pakistan – has been … Continue reading
Sadaf Shallwani 