NN39, October 2007
Best Practice in Education and Training: Hype or Hope?
Best Practice And Actual Practice In Language-In-Education Policy
By Barbara Trudell, SIL International, Nairobi, Kenya
I found this definition in my trusty online dictionary:Best practice: A technique or methodology that, through experience and research, has proven to reliably lead to a desired result.
If this off-the-cuff definition is anywhere close to correct, then presumably the discovery of best practices takes time, resources and a certain belief that their application elsewhere will make a difference. Once the best practice is found, one assumes, implementation will follow. All we lack is the information!
However the sad truth is that, when it comes to language choice in formal education settings, the discovery of best practice often makes little difference to the language policy environment. Issues of power, tradition and the hegemony of European languages carry much more weight than research findings.
Consider: one of the most celebrated experimental programmes in bilingual education in Africa was carried out in Nigeria from 1970-1978. The Ife Primary Education Research Project, directed by renowned scholar Prof. Babs Fafunwa, found clear evidence that using a child's own language - Yoruba in this case - in school brings significant cognitive and academic benefits. Another study, undertaken by the Canadian International Development Agency in Cameroon in the early 1980s, found the same thing. Brilliant! Let?s all get geared up for using children's own languages in the primary classroom. It is not only eminently common-sensical, but we now have research to show that it is 'best practice' too.
But that's not what happened. Parents said: Why should my child learn in our language? It won't get her anywhere. Teachers said: Teaching in the local language is unprofessional. Governments said: This is too expensive! Elites said: Equality of access to education is simply not in our interests.
When it comes to language of instruction questions, 'best practice' has faced a hard slog to acceptance. Such acceptance as does exist has usually been the result of hard pushing by international agencies such as UNESCO, and ceaseless advocacy by national-level organizations who work the system to achieve what they know is right. However the ongoing obstacles - not the practical ones, but the attitudinal ones - are enormous in every case.
These facts belie the naïve idea that people and institutions operate in less-than-effective ways because of a lack of knowledge about more effective alternatives. They don't. Often they operate as they do because it is to their advantage. Applying 'best practices' is quite attractive to those who do not feel themselves well served by the status quo. For the beneficiaries of the system, however, the motivation for change can be negligible - notwithstanding the research.
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