This course focuses on early childhood development research, policies, and practices in low and middle-income countries. The first part of the course reviews the evidence for investing in young children from economic, health, and education perspectives. The second part of the course discusses current issues related to designing, implementing, and evaluating quality, contextually-appropriate early childhood interventions.

This course focuses on education policy in low and middle-income countries. The first part examines global policy frameworks and international institutions/actors that shape education reform efforts. The second part covers the contexts, processes, and tools for national education policy planning. The third part analyzes a series of current cross-national education policy issues.

This course focuses on the intersection of global education policy and international development. Drawing on diverse disciplinary perspectives – including policy sciences, international relations, and development studies – students will explore the role of global governance institutions and international development policy in facilitating or constraining progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. Through course assignments and in-class discussions with development practitioners, students will examine how actors and institutions influence the global governance of education and its implementation in low- and middle-income countries. By the end of the course, students will have deepened their understanding of the history, current status, and future directions of international cooperation in education and acquired analytical skills to contribute to the global education policy field.

This course covers the broad arena of international educational development practice by introducing students to a variety of tools used in international educational development work. Coursework is built around the project cycle and will acquaint you with current approaches to development and accompanying tools employed by a variety of international development organizations. Specifically, you will gain skills to determine how to gather adequate information, interpret information and put this information into clear and helpful frameworks for formulating recommendations for action. To learn these skills, you will work in small groups on a technical proposal throughout the semester. Throughout the semester, we will seek a more nuanced understanding of the general context and the role of institutions in global development work, while being aware of local realities and ethical issues that make development as contested locally as it is at national and global levels.

This course will introduce students to the study of comparative politics as it applies to the field of education. Why do different political systems produce varying kinds of education policy? What role do elected legislatures and executives, political parties, bureaucrats, interest groups and other actors play in the policymaking process in different countries and in different political settings? What are current cross-national issues and responses related to education? The course is divided into two parts. In the first part, we will study theories of the policymaking process and the political and economic contexts for education. We will explore how political institutions, culture, and interest groups vary across countries to analyze how such variation might affect countries’ education policy choices. In the second part, we will study a series of current cross-national issues to better understand the relationship between politics and education in comparative perspective. The focus is not on particular countries, but on the comparative analysis of the political factors that shape education policies and practices in various nations. We will discuss the methodological issues related to conducting cross-national comparisons as well as some practical strategies for conducting international fieldwork in politics and education.

This training covers the evidence and tools to support learning through play to strengthen the impact of programs on children’s development, learning, and well-being. After reviewing the theory and research around playful learning, participants learn techniques to incorporate play-based pedagogy into home, community, and classroom settings and across the key phases of the program cycle. The module can be delivered as a stand-alone course or incorporated into training on related topics (e.g., early childhood development, pre-primary education, education in conflict and crisis, socio-emotional learning).