Governing Jordan’s
Education System – The
Humanitarian versus
Development Paradox
Zain Kazmi International Development Studies University of Amsterdam (Student ID. 11181273) January 2017 Zainkazmi89@live.co.uk Supervisor Second Reader Mieke Lopes Cardozo Rosanne Tromp University of Amsterdam University of AmsterdamAcknowledgements The process of writing this thesis has challenged me like nothing before. It has been humbling and at times paralysing but it would not have become a reality without the support and patience of my thesis supervisor, Dr. Mieke Lopes Cardozo. Thank you for always having a calm demeanour and willing to talk through my many problems, you had more belief in me than I had in myself. Thank you Rosanne Tromp for taking the time to be my second reader. This research would not have been possible without Marta Colburn and her willingness to help me whilst in Jordan, I feel very fortunate to have met you! And I reserve a special thanks to my friends, course mates and housemates for their willingness to listen and help me throughout this process and making my time in Amsterdam some of the best. And lastly, I dedicate this thesis to my friends back home, without their unconditional belief in me throughout the years, I am certain I would have never undertaken a Masters.
Abstract Jordan was not in a crisis before 2011 when the war in Syria led to an influx of refugees. This caused a host of problems to Jordan’s education system., which was reforming and developing prior to 2011, but now finds itself in a humanitarian crisis. What has occurred is a collision of perspectives between humanitarian and development assistance – the humanitarian versus the development paradox. While the former focuses on addressing short-term needs, the latter emphasises long-term education planning. Governing education in Jordan is therefore contradicting in nature, resulting in a misbalance between long-term and short-term goals. Jordan is unique in this regard and actors involved in the governance of education struggle to plan an education response when one middle-income country feeds into another. This thesis therefore addresses the question of how education is governed within the context of humanitarian and development aid in Jordan as consequence of the influx Syrians and the war itself. The qualitative nature of this research implied the use of semi-structured in-depth interviews and observations. The perspective of the Ministry of Education in Jordan and their focus to meet immediate needs contrasts and conflicts at times with the international community and the challenges of foreign assistance. The thesis concludes that the governance of Jordan’s education system is complex and operates on varying scales and levels, and that education is used as a tool to mitigate national and international problems. Keywords: Education, humanitarian, development assistance, governance, Jordan
Contents 1. Introduction 6 2. Research Focus, Questions and Location 2.1 Focus 7 2.2 Questions 8 2.3 Location 9 3. Outline of Thesis 9 4. Context 12 4.1 Syria before the Crisis 13 4.2 Five Years On – Post 2011 14 4.3 The Syrian refugee in Jordan 15 4.4 Jordan Response – The Jordan Response Plan 2016-2018 15 4.5 Jordan’s Education System Pre-Syrian Crisis 15 5. Theoretical Framework 19 5.1 Education Governance 19 5.1 1 Education and Globalisation 20 5.1 2 The Knowledge Economy and the case of Jordan 22 5.2 Overseas Development Assistance and Global Governance 25 5.2 1 Post-colonialism 26 5.3 Humanitarian Governance 27 5.3 1 The Rise of Humanitarianism – Foreign Policy and the Problem of Accountability 28 5.3 2 Education in Emergencies. The Relief-Development Transition and the problem of economically sustaining education programmes 29 5.4Conclusion 30 6. Conceptual Scheme 34 7. Methodology 36 7.1 Epistemology & Ontology – Critical Realism 36 7.2 Methods 37 7.2 1 Units of Analysis 37 7.2 2 Data Collection 37 7.2 2 1 In Depth Semi-Structured Interviews 37 7.2 2 2 Observations 38 7.2 3 Sampling 39 7.2 4 Data Analysis 39 7.2 5 Scope and Limitations 40 7.2 6 Ethical Considerations 42 8. Impact of the Syrian refugees on Jordanian society and the challenges the education system faces 43 8.1 Impact of the war on Jordan 43 8.1 1 Economic Impact 44
8.1 2 Geopolitical Impact 45 8.1 3 Social Impact 46 8.1 4 Summary 47 8.2 The challenges facing Jordan’s education system 48 8.2 1 Over-crowding and the problem of double–shift schooling 49 8.2 2 Segregation in the classroom 50 8.2.3 Shortage of qualified teachers 51 8.2 4 Perception of Favouritism and the blaming of Syrians 51 8.2 5 Mitigating Societal Problems 53 8.2 6 Declining Quality of Education 54 8.2 7 Summary 56 8.3 Who’s in control? 57 9. Conflicts of Interests between the Ministry of Education and the International Community 60 9. 1 The Ministry of Education & Their Immediate Needs 60 9.1 1 Development Modalities for a Humanitarian Emergency 61 9.1 2 Financing – Conditions and Earmarking 61 9.1 3 Lack of coordination + Poor Planning = A shift in control 64 9.1 4 Summary 66 9.2 The International Community and the problems of Foreign Assistance 9.2 1 Is this an emergency or a protracted crisis? The problem facing the international community of bi-/multi-lateral donors, UN Agencies and NGO’s 67 9.2 2 The Humanitarian Community and project approvals – Why is it taking so long? 69 9.2 3 Foreign Assistance… An extension of Foreign Policy - The EU and Divided Opinion 69 9.2 3 The EU – It’s not all about Migration! 71 9.2 4 Accountability – Whom is the money really helping? 72 9.2 5 Lack of Co-ordination amongst the International Community 73 9.2 6 Summary 74 10. Conclusion 10.1 Synthesis of Findings 77 10.1 1 Chapter 8: Impacts – How Jordan’s education system was placed in a crisis – Development Assistance to Humanitarian Response 77 10.1 2 Chapter 9: A Clash of Perspectives and Paradigms 79 10.2 Answer to guiding Research Question 81 10.3 Theoretical Reflections 81 10.4 Suggestions for Further Research 84 11. Reference List 87
1. Introduction In Syria, the war has been raging for over 5 years now and the damage to the country has been catastrophic, with the largest flow of mass migration since World War II. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has been and continues to be sympathetic towards the plight of the Syrian refugees, with the Kingdom taking in close to 1.4 million refugees to date (JRP, 2016). Before the Syrian War, Jordan was a relatively stable country in the Middle East with revolutionary consequences from the Arab Spring that differed from those seen in Egypt, Yemen and Libya. The Syrian Government understood the need for a reform in order to end government corruption and increase democratic processes. However, once the war in Syria began, national priorities shifted. On Jordan’s doorstep laid a humanitarian disaster with a war that few predicted would be on-going for six years. Consequently, the government had to mitigate the impact of the influx of Syrians into the country through large-scale humanitarian assistance with support from the international community, consisting of governments, bi/multi-lateral institutions and (inter) non-governmental organisations (I)(NGO’s). The international assistance given to Jordan is and has been vital for many years. Geographically, the Kingdom neighbours Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Israel and is part of a region with weak political, social and economic stability. As a result, due to the recurring security concerns of terrorism in addition to the nearby Syrian War, maintaining Jordan’s stability is of global importance. Therefore, international humanitarian or development contributions are imperative, and will continue to flow into the country. For instance, education needs approximately $854,000,000 (JRP, 2016), being that it’s the third highest sector in need of funds with only security and social protection leading ahead of it. Jordan’s education system has felt the strain of trying to accommodate Syrian refugees. Prior to the influx, the Jordanian Ministry of Education (MoE) was embarking on the second phase of a 10-year national developmental education reform project supported by the World Bank, the Education Reform for the
Knowledge Economy (ERfKE). The purpose of this reform was to regenerate Jordan’s education system into one that would prepare students to enter the global knowledge economy. Again, this was disrupted and closed in 2016 as key indicators were not being attained due to the influx of Syrians. The Jordanian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOPIC) is clearly aware of the need to stop the suffering of refugees and to maintain Jordan’s development economically, socially and politically. As a measure to achieve said goals, the Jordan Response Plan 2016-2018 was thus produced. The plan is the first response in the six years of the war where the Government of Jordan (GoJ) has merged development and humanitarian assistance needs for a period longer than one year. Prior to 2015, the response was purely humanitarian but became problematic as the war carried on. Hence, the GoJ saw the need to merge both paradigms in order to deliver an efficient response, as sentiment towards Syrians was waning amongst the Jordanian population. 2. Research Focus, Questions and Location 2.1 Focus The primary focus of this research is how Jordan’s education system is governed in the current complex situation it finds itself in, and how the clash between humanitarian aid and development aid is influencing key stakeholders involved in governing Jordan’s education system. Prior to 2011, Jordan’s education system was on the path to reform but was disrupted due to the emerging humanitarian crisis, resulting in the needs of the education system being reprioritised from development to humanitarian. Humanitarian assistance is short-term in nature in comparison with development assistance that is long-term, education has now been placed between these conflicting paradigms which is causing confusion and complexity between the Jordanian Ministry of Education (MoE) and the International Community consisting of bi/multi-lateral donors/institutions, United Nations (UN) agencies and Non-governmental organisations (NGO’s). Furthermore, actors involved in governing Jordan’s education system are
struggling to deliver the response as education is a long-term endeavour but is being delivered in a humanitarian crisis where immediate, reactionary needs must be met first. Therefore, the effectiveness of support from the international community has been weakened due to the prevalence of actors from humanitarian and development silos as they have different mandates and principals with which they operate. They have evolved separately, over different temporal and spatial levels and aligned with different rules and budgets but merge and overlap consistently. It is through the theoretical lenses of Education Governance, Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) in relation to Governance and Humanitarian Governance, that this research will be examined; in order to analyse how the influx of Syrian refugees and the War in Syria is causing Jordan’s education system to be governed in a complex and at times, chaotic manner. 2.2 Questions The main question guiding this research is as follows: How has the Syrian War and the influx of refugees impacted the governance of education within the context of humanitarian and development aid in Jordan? The following sub-questions will help answer the main research question and will be used to structure the findings of this research: • What are the economic, social and geopolitical impacts of the Syrian Crisis on the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan? • What are the main challenges facing Jordan’s education system as a result of the influx of Syrians after 2011? • Who are the key stakeholders involved in governing Jordan’s education system? • What are the challenges the Jordanian Ministry of Education face with key stakeholders that are involved in governing their education system? • What are the challenges of international assistance from key donors on governing Jordan’s education system?
2.3 Research Location The location of this research was based in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, specifically the capital city Amman. Jordan is located in the Middle East bordering Israel and the West Bank to the west, Syria to the north, Iraq to the northeast and Saudi Arabia to the east and south. The Kingdom has a population of 9.5million, growing substantially since 2004 when the population was 5.1 million. The growth in population has predominantly been non-Jordanians who represent one third of the population standing at 2.9 million, with 1.26 million being Syrian. According to latest Department of Statistics (DoS) figures Jordan hosts 636,270 Egyptians, 634,182 Palestinians, 130,911 Iraqis, 31,163 Yemenis, 22,700 Libyans and 197,385 from other nationalities. Nearly half of all non-Jordanians reside in Amman with the capital’s population at 4 million (JordanTimes, 2016). Due to Jordan’s geographical location the Kingdom has seen a large influx of Syrian refugees as a consequence of the ongoing war. Jordan currently hosts about 1.4 million Syrians including a total 629,627 registered refugees according to latest UNHCR figures (JRP, 2016). 3. Outline of Thesis The remainder of this thesis starts with chapter four. Chapter four is the context chapter that outlines the state of the crisis in Syria before the war and post crisis five years on. The context is followed by an overview of the state of Jordan’s education system pre Syrian influx, moreover how the Government of Jordan is responding. The context will therefore lay the background to the state of Jordan’s education system in order to understand the impacts the country and education system have had to withstand. Chapter five is the theoretical framework that guides this research. The three primary concepts guiding this research are: Education Governance, Overseas Development Assistance (ODA), Global Governance and Humanitarian Governance. These concepts overlap but what is unique about this research is
that all three are operating in one context. What subsequently emerges is an analysis of how they merge and more importantly, how at times they are contradictory to one another. Chapter six is the conceptual scheme that visually brings all concepts outlined in the theoretical framework together, followed by an explanation of the constitutive parts of the scheme. Chapter seven is methodology that outlines the epistemology and ontology. This is followed by the methods used to conduct this research. The chapter finishes with sampling, data analysis, scope and limitations and ethical considerations. Chapters eight and nine are the empirical analysis chapters. Chapter eight begins with the contextual background by outlining the economic, geopolitical and social impacts of the influx of Syrians into Jordan, followed by the impacts the influx of Syrians had on Jordan education system as outlined by respondents. The chapter finishes with an overview of the key actors involved in governing Jordan’s education system. Chapter eight provides the contextual knowledge to then analyse how these challenges are perceived through two perspectives in chapter nine. The first perspective is that of the Jordanian Ministry of Education and the challenges they face with key stakeholders involved in governing Jordan’s education system. This is then followed by the perspective of the international community, consisting of bi/multi-lateral donors UN agencies and NGO’s, and the challenges international assistance brings when involved in governing education Jordan. Lastly, chapter 10 is the conclusion that will summarise the answers to the sub questions followed by answering the main question guiding this research. Moreover, after having answered the main research questions a theoretical reflection is provided that discuss the relevant and influence of the theoretical
concepts previously mentioned in chapter five. The chapter finishes by stating the implications this thesis has on further research.
4. Context The start of this chapter gives an overview Syria’s educational performance and the profile of the Syrian refugee in Jordan. This is followed by an overview of the GoJ’s planned national response: The Jordan Response Plan 2016-2018. The chapter finishes with an overview of the state of Jordan’s education system prior to the beginning of the Syrian War in 2011. This information will provide the contextual basis to understand the chronology of how Jordan went from a developing middle-income country to a country embroiled in a six-year long humanitarian crisis that has severely impacted Jordanian society and their education system. In other words, the context provided depicts a “before” picture with the resulting impacts in Chapter eight, providing the “after” picture, to show the severity the influx of Syrians and Syrian war itself, have had on Jordan. 4.1 Syria Before the Conflict The Syrian war has left Syria economically, socially and politically in a fragile state. As of February 2016, the World Bank has estimated that the cost of the war and its spill over into neighbouring countries stands at $35billion and continues to rise (World Bank, 2016). The impact of the war on societal and economic levels has been devastating, and for the purpose of this research it is important to understand Syria’s position as a lower middle country previous to 2011. Before the conflict, Syria possessed a stable economy. Macroeconomic indicators showed that inflation was low and growth was strong, with public debt standing at a manageable 31% of GDP at the end of 2009 (Gobat, Kostial, 2016). Whereas, unemployment was averaging at 8% (Butter, 2015) and GDP per capita was at $2,918 in 2010. Between 1997 and 2004 Syria was making progress on several of the Millennium Development Goals, with the 2010 report reflecting progress on access to achieving primary universal education, reducing gender disparities in education, lowering child mortality and improving immunization coverage of children (MDG Progress Report, 2010). Moreover, an increasing number of children and young adults were entering primary, secondary and tertiary education, and this
had an important impact on Jordan’s education system once the war and consequently migration started. Syria’s population was making improvements within education, with indicators showing high literacy rates of 96% for youth and 86% for adults (UNESCO, 2016). In 2011, completion of primary education for both males and females stood at 111%, with a dropout rate of 6.8%. However, secondary education saw an increase of dropout rate to 32%. From the earlier 2000’s Syria’s higher education saw an increase in enrolment that nearly tripled in higher education over a ten-year period between 2001 and 2011 (UNESCO, 2016). 4.2 Five Years On - Post-2011 After five years of an ongoing Syrian war, the ceasefire had broken with migration of Syrians set to continue. The influx of refugees into the five host countries has placed great strain on each of the respective governments of Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, with the lives of refugees having to be halted with host countries trying to meet the basic human needs of refugees. An area that has seen vast underfunding is education, and by the end of 2015 the Syrian Humanitarian Response saw a decrease in funding by 23% (UNICEF, 2015). Few donors are currently willing to provide long-term development funding needed to combat recurrent costs of an expanded education delivery. The lack of funding for the Syrian Humanitarian Response was noted by western Governments and multi-lateral organizations as evidenced during the Supporting Syria & the Region conference, London 2016. The international community pledged $5.9 billion for 2016 alone, with further $5.5 billion pledged for 2017-2020. With regards to education, funding participants of the conference agreed that at least $1.4 billion a year was needed in order to provide quality education to the 1.7 million out-of-school children in Syria and host communities by 2016/17 (SupportingSyria, 2016). The scale of impact on Syrians is clearly evidenced in the previous statements, emphasizing the struggle of many refugees to attain the basic necessities they need to survive. Furthermore, the impact on host communities, especially Jordan,
has been felt across public sectors with the Government of Jordan striving to combat the extra pressure placed on public resources. . 4.3 The Syrian Refugee in Jordan The Government of Jordan estimates an approximate of 1.4 million Syrians in Jordan as of mid- September 2015. UNHCR has registered 628,887 Syrian refugees in the country, out of which, 23.5% are women, 1.2% are men, 26.6% are boys, and 25.1% are girls (JRP, 2016). Five years into the crisis, many refugees have now entered a cycle of asset depletion with their savings diminishing and their debt increasing (JRP, 2016). The Vulnerability Assessment Framework (VAF) is a process of multiple components steered by humanitarian organisations and donors in Jordan to help prioritise needs of refugees and better coordinate a response (UNCHR, 2015). In the first half of 2015, 86% of refugees were living below the Jordanian poverty line of 68 Jordanian Dinar (JOD) per capita per month. Furthermore, according to the VAF, 80 per cent of refugees reported engaging in ‘crisis or emergency’ negative coping strategies including the reduction of food intake and the removal of children from school (VAF, 2015). The number of food insecure families had already increased from 6 per cent in 2014 to 22 per cent in early 2015. If this trend continues, the consequences for refugees in urban areas will be dire, with further debt, poverty, damaging coping mechanisms and a potential movement of refugees from urban areas to the camps (JRP, 2016). Furthermore, nearly 100,000 Syrian children fail to obtain formal education. Many refugee households cannot cover the cost of transportation and education material or increasingly depend on their children to generate income to meet basic household needs (JRP, 2016). Eighty-three per cent of Syrian refugees are living in non-camp settings in urban and rural areas. As of September 2015, there were 519,228 registered refugees residing outside of camps. The highest concentrations are in northern and central Jordan including Amman (28%), Irbid (22.7%), Mafraq (12.2%) and Zarqa (8%). This percentage breakdown has not changed significantly between 2013 and 2015 (VAF, 2015).
4.4 The Response – The Jordan Response Plan 2016-2018 The Jordan Response Plan (JRP) is the Government of Jordan’s plan to meet the immediate needs and long-term development challenges that the countries face. The previous four years saw each Response Plan underfunded by two thirds (JRP, 2016). The 2016 plan is a paradigm shift away from responding to a humanitarian crisis, and towards bridging the gap between development and humanitarian needs of the country (JRP, 2106). This is of most importance when trying to understand the governance of education in Jordan. Both paradigms of humanitarianism and developmentalism are currently in operation in Jordan’s education system with national and international actors, attempting to meet the immediate needs of refugees and Jordanians impacted by the influx. Previous to the Syrian Crisis, Jordan was in the second phase of an education reform project supported by The World Bank. The Education Reform for the Knowledge Economy (ERfKE), ended in 2016 as key targets were not being successfully met due to the strain placed on Jordan’s education system by the overwhelming influx of Syrians. Next is an overview of the state of Jordan’s education system before the crisis, which includes an outline of ERfKE, and a description of the reform abandoned by the Government of Jordan in order to meet the educational needs of refugees. 4.5 Jordan’s Education System Pre-Syrian Crisis - Education Reform for the Knowledge Economy The Education reform for the Knowledge Economy (ERfKE) was a sector-wide reform initiative to change the way Jordan’s children learned. It was a 10-year multi-donor sector program designed to deliver on the 2002 Vision Forum for the Future of Education in Jordan which states: “The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has the quality competitive human resource development systems that provide all people with lifelong learning experiences relevant to their current and future needs in order to respond to and stimulate sustained economic development through an educated population and an educated workforce.” (World Bank, 2009, p5).
It was the King’s commitment to stabilise Jordan’s future economic prosperity by transforming early, basic and secondary education to produce graduates with the skills needed to blossom in the global knowledge economy (World Bank, 2016). The loan was approved by the World Bank in 2003 with the aim of: 1) addressing gaps in government capacity to transform the education system, specifically changing the top-down, hierarchical model of management as opposed to a participatory, outcome-based model; 2) addressing the mismatch between what skills are taught and what is needed in the knowledge economy: and 3) reducing unsafe and overcrowded rooms. Overcrowding stood at 39% of government schools in 2013, with close to 70% of these using double-shifts. This entails two classes being taught in one school day, usually broken into morning and afternoon shifts to accommodate demand. ERfKE achieved most of its intended targets by 2009 when the first phase was completed. The target to transform education programmes and practices for the knowledge economy was assessed at 95% completion with new curricula and teaching methods emphasising knowledge-economy-based education (critical-thinking, student-centred learning, etc). Next, the target to ensure adequate safe schools and learning environments, as well as alleviation of overcrowding was deemed satisfactory. Overcrowding and school underutilization was assessed in a planning survey, showing that 59% of MoE schools were underutilised, and 39% of MoE schools (approximately 101,000 students) experienced overcrowding. This particular component, as time will tell, proved to be the major problem that MoE faced when the influx of Syrians occurred. ERfKE I saw progress made with the reforming Jordan national education system. Whereas, ERfKE II aimed to assist students enrolled in pre-tertiary education in Jordan “with increased levels of skills to participate in the knowledge economy” (World Bank, 2009, p2). The second phase aimed to address specific country and sector issues that stem from economic difficulties that the country faced in 2009. Labour market participation was at 40%, one of the lowest in the Middle East, and had a workforce of 1.4 million. Government employment made
up 30% of the employed population, with the remaining percentage being comprised of small micro-enterprises (4 persons) that represented two thirds of all businesses in the private sector (World Bank, 2009). In 2009, Jordanians felt as though they were still not being prioritised, and a major recurrent political issue related to high volumes of expatriate workers arose. The Jordanian people called on the GoJ to diversify the workforce in order to increase productivity (World Bank, 2009), as the total number of migrant workers ranged from 300,000 to 700,000, accounting for roughly 20% to 30% of the labour force. The above mentioned factors, in conjunction with a high unemployment rate of 14%, mainly amongst under 24-year-olds, showed why ERfKE II was needed to provide further reform to Jordan’s education system (World Bank, 2009). ERfKE II ended in December 2016, with the latest implementation report by the World Bank (2016) stating the main component of the schools’ construction is on track in achieving its targets, by presenting contracts for the agreed construction projects. This component acquired an even higher value once the major influx of Syrians in 2012-13 occurred. To summarise, Jordan was on a path to a long-term national reform that was intended to place the country within the global knowledge economy, through changing the process in which their society learned, and ultimately leading to a more prosperous and economically stable society. However, once the war in Syria started, the results of a mass migration into Jordan, bought a hold to progress that was made during ERfKE I. Hence, the education system went from being one of progress and hope, to one of fragility and ambiguity. Furthermore, actors involved in governing Jordan’s education system were few, and therefore the war in Syria not only bought refugees into the country but a host of humanitarian actors as well. Next, is the theoretical framework that brings together the three guiding concepts of Education Governance, Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) and
Governance, and Humanitarian Governance , provide the theoretical underpinning of this research.
5. Theoretical Framework In this section a theoretical understanding of the concepts that have shaped this research are undertaken. Firstly, the governance of Jordan’s education system is multi-layered with an array of state and non-state actors involved. The context in which Jordan’s education system operates is complex due to the influx of refugees from Syria post-2011 and this has resulted in Jordan needing monetary and technical assistance from the international community. Jordan’s education system can be seen to be governed through three lenses of governance theory; Education Governance, Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) and Governance and Humanitarian Governance. These three concepts are not connected traditionally and therefore need to be merged and understood with a variety of theoretical underpinnings that help shape the theoretical and practical complexity of how Jordan’s education system is governed. 5.1 Education Governance The governance of education today has become a global phenomenon with education polices that have been created and implemented in developed countries becoming widely used in countries that are at varying stages of economic and social development. The globalising of education has seen education policies, systems and mechanisms applied in a variety of states where their development is not at a similar level to states that are implementing the same policies. Education delivered in conflict affected areas is also on the rise as a large proportion of out of school children are in conflict or post-conflict affected countries, and in order for states to meet the Education for All (EFA) goals of quality basic education for all then targeting children affected by conflict is a must. Education strategized and implemented through state control has now become a plethora of actors with expertise in educational planning and implementation with the role of the state still prominent, but with devolved authority to international organisations, intergovernmental organisations and non-governmental organisations (Verger, et al, 2012).
In order to understand the complexity of education governance and the relationship between education, humanitarian and development governance, this section will be separated into two parts. Firstly, an analysis of how globalisation has impacted education policy will be discussed, will be followed by how the relation between the two is represented in the growth of knowledge economies via a case study of Jordan and its adoption of a knowledge economy reform package. 5. 1 1 Globalisation, Education and the Supranational Education policy is still the responsibility of the nation state and the focus of education serving national interests is still too one of the main tenants of national education systems. However, today national education policies are being developed through “a combination of political forces, social structures, cultural traditions and economic processes entangled in a matrix of intersecting multi-level, multi-scalar (local, national, regional, global) sites and space” (Yeats, 2001 in Verger et al, 2012). In order to analyse the statement above, an analysis of globalisation on education and how policy is diffused from the supranational level is needed to understand the spread of education policies globally. The effects of globalisation have seen a homogenising effect on education models and systems. The Common World Educational Culture (CWEC) approach implies that the globalisation of national education systems and curricular can be explained by universal models of education, state and society rather than distinct national factors (Dale, 2000). The CWEC approach is based on the work of world institutionalists, of the World Society school, state the institutions of the nation state, and the state itself, are shaped at the supranational level by worldwide models that are “constructed and propagated through global cultural and associational processes” (Meyer et al, 2007, p144). Structural isomorphism is thus used to explain how states with such large discrepancies in resource and traditions are structurally similar in unexpected dimensions of what is called a modern state (Meyer, 2007). World society theory helps give further explanation as to how globalisation is diffusing education policies in regions of the world that are not at the same level of development as those states where the policy was
conceived. For CWEC, the world polity is a reflection of western culture, based on a set of values that penetrate the world over. Where education policies are conceived becomes important as few organisations have the intellectual clout needed to influence governments and their education strategies across the globe. The term supranational is important for the discussion of how globalisation has impacted education. Supranational literally means above nations, which signifies a non-reducible scale or activity from the national, which is fundamental when understanding how globalisation has affected national education systems with the European Union (EU) being a clear example. The EU represents member states but are irreducible to the sum of the interests of the member states that it is comprised of, thus the regional outweighs the national (Dale, 2005). Education is becoming driven by supranational entities, specifically the EU, World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and their policies of lifelong education have been diffused across the world with countries such as Jordan adopting an education policy that was conceived in Western supranational institutions, in order to maintain global economic competitiveness; which is a defining feature of what globalisation has done to education. However, a similar yet differing approach to understanding the effects of globalisation on education is the Globally Structured Education Agenda (GSEA). The GSEA approach has many similarities to the CWEC approach with emphasis put on the influence of supranational forces, policy goals and processes being affected by external forces on national education systems, and that the interpretive framing of education is nationally and supranationally shaped (Dale, 2000). The major difference between the two approaches is the their understanding of the nature of the supranational and globalisation. Where the CWEC approach is based on the presence of supranational set of ideas, values and norms that influence education, the GSEA approach sees globalisation as the constitutive of three parts: political, economic and cultural (Dale, 2000). These three parts are what drive education policies with the GSEA approach bending to
the will of the global economy, education is therefore used as a tool to achieve national priorities and goals. Both approaches conception of education have major differences too. CWEC states that a universal set of norms and values influence nation states and therefore their education systems. What the approach does not account for is the specifics of how these norms, ideas and values affect national education systems. The GSEA approach places education within the larger global economy to maintain a competitive edge whilst also bowing to political pressures, ceding state power to supranational institutions and therefore losing total control over the setting of their education agendas (Dale & Robertson, 2012). Therefore, practical questions of governance help explain the consequences of globalisation; who gets taught what, by whom and under what conditions and structures? (Dale, 2000). The answer to these questions sit within the education system of a nation state, the actors and the structure in which they operate can allow for an analysis on how education is governed in a globalised world, and shows the changing nature of the role of the state nationally and internationally (Dale, 1999). 5. 1 2 Knowledge Economy and the case of Jordan If we are to understand the effects of globalisation as homogenising education attention then turns to the global movement of education policy and its diffusion across states. In the 90’s the buzzword was globalisation, in the 21st century, that word is now Knowledge Economy (KE). Current KE discourse has strong influence from the 1960’s scholars including Peter Drucker (1969) and Daniel Bell (1973). Bell’s conception of knowledge in his work, The Coming of the Post Industrial Age: A Venture in Social Forecasting (1976) was well received by policy-makers in particular as he stipulates that 1) societies evolve from pre-industrial to industrial to post-industrial, 2) labour will move muscle-based to mind-based and, 3) post-industrial societies will produce greater wealth compared with other industrial societies. Bell’s work is important to state in the context of how the KE and educations role within it, has been adopted by states globally. The Knowledge Economy is founded on the recognition of the
knowledge and technology in economic growth” (OECD, 1996), which is embodied in human beings, which is consequently termed, human capital. The term knowledge economy has become a highly powerful discursive word, a word of flexibility and wide ranging as to incorporate a host of sectors within society that can be represented and thus reformed. The World Bank report entitled Knowledge Economies in the Middle East and Africa (2003, pxii) stated “countries that fail to become part of this revolution risk becoming even more marginalised than those left aside in the earlier industrial revolution”. In the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan the education reform package created by the World Bank – The Education Reform for the Knowledge Economy, was intended to increase the strength of Jordan’s human and social capital nationally and within the global knowledge economy. The idea of a knowledge economy as a powerful economic imagery is summarised by Jessop et al (2008, p25) as an “empirical description and quasi-prescriptive benchmarking of central features of already existing economies”. What this means in practice is a compilation of statistical indicators, the creation of benchmarks and league tables all amalgamated together to create a simple set of policy prescriptions that can be applied to multiple sectors, especially education. Education today is becoming a transactional good, with the knowledge economy model being adopted by developing states in order to maintain their competitiveness in the global economy and support the reduction of poverty. The World Bank report, Lifelong Learning in the Knowledge Economy: Challenge for Developing Countries (2003) outlines how education and technological advances have altered educational methods from rote learning to lifelong learning to meet the needs of a globalising world where skills depreciate far quicker than they once did. Lifelong learning therefore enables workers to compete in national and global labour markets. Labour markets in developed countries are increasingly becoming based on knowledge industries where technology and high-skilled workers are in demand and lower-skilled workers in decline (OECD, 2001). Thus, for a developing country to pursue a knowledge economy reform package for an education sector is accepting policy that has been created and endorsed by
the major western governments and institutions, notably the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Knowledge economies are now producing learners that are proponents of wealth production under the assumption that education is a driver for economic growth, development and improved competitiveness under globalised market conditions (Patrick, 2013). Education is thus being shaped in accordance with what are perceived to be current economic imperatives, fuelling neoliberalism as an objective truth through the power and influence of major international institutions and organisations. To conclude, education is becoming a commoditised good that is transactional. The OECD definition of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA), is the “promotion of economic development”, and as globalisation is homogenising education based on the production of wealth, increasing human capital is a primary source of economic development. Education policies that are being shaped by knowledge economy theory can be seen as continuing the global neoliberal trend with education reforms in developing countries which brings us back to the opening quote in this section - “a combination of political forces, social structures, cultural traditions and economic processes entangled in a matrix of intersecting multi-level, multi-scalar (local, national, regional, global) sites and space” (Yeats, 2001 in Verger et al, 2012). It is clear that through the influence of major international institutions and their agenda setting, it has led to the diffusion of education policies that come backed from western ideology that is shaped at the supranational level, which is clearly evidenced through ERfKE. The CWEC approach is important for this research as it gives an explanation to a “world culture” that penetrates the national level without direct involvement from the supranational. It is the responsibility of the Jordanian Government to implement reform and shape their education system based on western models, as this is the foundation for a knowledge economy society. Education therefore penetrates into other areas of public policy; for example, if education is producing citizens for the knowledge economy, then strategies in economic policy needs to accommodate graduates from this pedagogy, creating a knock-on
affect throughout society ultimately continuing the diffusion education policy. This is an example of how the “culture” penetrates the national without direct involvement from the supranational. The GSEA approach helps explain the practicality of how the supranational influences national education systems through economic, social and (geo) political factors and the use of league tables, statistical indicators and conditionality attached to education development aid. Through the economic imagery of the knowledge economy developing states adopt reforms in education as it is powerfully logical and can be easily reasoned. 5.2 Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) and Global Governance Davis defines global governance as a “variety of state and non-state actors engaged in wide-ranging processes of policy making across numerous issue areas that transcend national boarders” (Davis, 2012, p272). Globalisation has seen political control move beyond borders that does not require a higher authority to maintain order and set laws, there is not a world government that resembles anything remotely near constitutional or formal which results in a range of institutions converging together to resolves issues in time and space (Davis, 2012). Bi/Multi-lateral Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) is of huge importance when discussing Global Governance as it provides developing states funds to stimulate economy, improve state infrastructure and reduce national deficits to name but a few. However, as with all transactions both parties must agree on what they gain and surrender, what follows is a discussion on the motivations and limitations of ODA and governance. Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) can have a positive impact on democratic governance and technical assistance provided by donor countries can too increase recipient state institution efficiency. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines ODA as “those flows to countries and territories on the DAC List of ODA Recipients and multilateral development institutions which are: i. Provided by official agencies, including state and local governments, or by their executive agencies; and
ii. Each transaction of which: a) Is administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries as its main objective” (OECD, 2008). What is important in this definition is the promotion of economic development and welfare as scholars are sceptical and some argue that ODA may weaken institutional capacity rather than strengthen it and decrease welfare (Krasner, Weinstein, 2014). Dreher et al (2011) highlight that political motivations of donors might explicitly try to prolong poor functionality in order to maintain leverage over the recipient, which usually maintained through conditionality. Studies on ODA and governance have proven to be inconsistent as scholars such as Knack’s (2004) study on foreign aid promoting democracy found little impact on installing improved governance by state institutions. What is agreed upon is that the aid-governance relationship is conditional and dependent of donor motivation and the capabilities of target states to achieve the intended outcomes (Krasner, Weinstein, 2014). However if donors care more about using development assistance as means to secure cooperation and control over geopolitical issues then the perspective of post-colonialism needs to be addressed. 5.2 1 Post-Colonialism Donor motivation leads into the next theoretical domain that sits within development assistance: post-colonialism. Edward Said (1978) elaborates in his Orientalism an understanding of colonialism/imperialism and the epistemological and cultural attitude towards the ‘Orient’ as the basis for dominating and ruling territory. There is separation between West and East and power is controlled through the degradation of knowledge when institutionalised by the ruling elite. Said’s colonialism is not predominantly driven by political-economic motivations to attain hegemony but rather through the imbedding of cultural practices and process can hegemony be attained. An empire of mind was therefore created through complex beliefs, discourses and customs to reinforce control during colonialism (Dirk, 2001).
Today, development assistance has seen a birth of experts and professionals from western, developed states support or impart knowledge to developing nations through a global western development policy of intellectual and moral culture of subordination. Chomsky (2008) elaborates this point by outlining a new humanitarianism has emerged where by Western states can justify resorting to intervention through exaggerated rhetoric about noble humanitarian interventions. A shift in focus away from narrow-minded macroeconomic programmes of structural adjustment has moved into today’s evolution of development assistance co-operation and partnership with the aim of changing the behaviours and attitudes of people (Duffield, 2001). Governance of this societal change has become a complex web of state and non-state actors, with the merging of development and security in conflicted affected states seen as a response to underdevelopment as a major cause of conflict. Therefore attacking the root causes of conflict is deemed necessary for stable peace and sustainable development, which is evidenced in the changing nature of how education aid is governed today. 5. 3 Humanitarian Governance The international community has developed the International Humanitarian order through a self-conscience effort, which is impressive considering its two family members that have taken greater precedence within the international arena: the international security and international economic orders (Barnett, 2013). Humanitarian governance resembles global governance in ways such as the concern with how states and people foster collaboration through the creation of institutions in order to create more desirable and positive outcomes for society, however humanitarian governance specifies its goal to save lives (Barnett, 2013), with the defining feature of humanitarianism being immediate response differing from development responses that are traditionally longer-term. Humanitarian governance is defined by Fassin (2007, p100) as “the administration of human collectivities in the name of a higher moral principle that sees the preservation of life and the alleviation of suffering as the highest value of action.” This definition incorporates many practices as diverse as emergency aid,
security, peacebuilding, development and so on. However, what often gets overlooked when discussing humanitarian governance is the element of control. Governance is about rule, whether it is humanitarian, development or global, and as Barnett (2013) states, “to rule is to control”. The dynamics of control in relation to humanitarian governance raises the question about the purpose of humanitarianism and whether aid is delivered to control rather support interventions. 5.3 1 The Rise of Humanitarianism – Foreign Policy and the problem of Accountability The rise of humanitarianism has grown and has been noticed since the end of the Cold War. There are many explanations for this increase in humanitarianism with Chomsky (2011) citing geopolitics as an explanation with growth in humanitarianism down to states treating it as part of their foreign policy. Political economy explanations suggest that globalisation and the growth of markets may have caused individuals to stretch their sense of obligation and have convinced themselves that they are morally and causally linked to the suffering of others (Haskell, 1985). The sense of obligation that actors may feel in the field of humanitarian aid leads discussions on accountability. When discussing accountability the aforementioned explanations all have a similar trait, which is that accountability measures that are being institutionalised in humanitarian governance “are upward and not downward forms of accountability” (Barnett, 2013, p390). What can be seen to cause this trend in accountability is the architecture of the humanitarian sector as there are increasingly more elements of market mechanisms with NGO’s now competing for resources and contracts, with competition leading to survival of the fittest usually resulting in organisations surviving if they can mobilise the most funds rather than saving the most lives. If the reality for an aid organisation is to raise funds in order to save lives, then a top down trajectory of accountability is inevitable – aid organisations are not pleasing their ‘consumers’ rather their ‘shareholders’ (Barnett, 2013).
The nature of market mechanisms that are now operating in the humanitarian field is creating a phenomenon of short-termism that is causing great challenges to the current situation in Jordan. The war in Syria is in its sixth year with many humanitarian actors involved still, but as one respondent mentioned, planning must now become long-term, as the war does not look like it will end soon. The Government of Jordan and specifically the Ministry of Education is targeting longer-term planning but with humanitarian assistance and immediate response still needed, longer term planning and funding thus becomes contradictory. 5.3 2 Education in Emergencies - The Relief-Development Transition and the problem of economically sustaining education programmes The challenge facing practitioners in the field of education in emergences is transitioning from humanitarian relief to development assistance - the relief-development gap (Medenhall, 2014). A sustainable transition from humanitarian relief to development assistance is the basis to relive this gap, but more often than not, the element of sustainability is poorly executed. Grace Nkansa and David Chapman (2006) created a “synthesis model of sustainability” that consolidates different perspectives of educational sustainability within a development context in a stable African country. Their economic model of sustainability; which focuses on economic self-sufficiency of a project once funding ends, is of relevance to this research as this phenomenon occurs often in a crisis setting, which Jordan is in. Finances therefore become a very important factor when discussing educational sustainability. Fundraising for a crisis gains traction after the initial crisis has occurred and usually comes with conditions if received from donors (Nkansa, Chapman, 2006). The implications for the organisation receiving funds is that they have little control over how the money is spent, which is contradictory when in a crisis situation as funds provided should go to where the need is greatest. What is troublesome then is that organisations such a Ministries of Education, must take the funds as alternatives are lacking. This impacts how education is governed in a crisis setting, as the lead organisation delivering the response cannot fully co-ordinate actors due to ambiguity over the length of funding.
The lead organisation planning the education response becomes increasing difficult as a crisis brings with it opportunities for new humanitarian actors to establish themselves. Money is there to be gained from donor agencies creating competition between humanitarian organisations. Ministries that need to approve educational project proposals take their time, as they need to assess a projects impact within their education system due to the long-term nature of education. In other words if a donor organisation states they want to build 10 new schools then there needs to be clear planning as where best to place those schools because once erect, they will be there for a substantial period time. Ministries therefore see donors synonymous with risk – will the money last long enough to build the 10 schools that were promised? (Nkansa and Chapman, 2006). As a result planning stays, inevitably, in an ambiguous state increasing the relief-development gap. The following quote from a World Bank official during an interview undertaken by Nkansa and Chapman (2006) for their research on the relief-development transition, accurately describes the problem of educational sustainability within the humanitarian-development transition in a conflicted-affected or post-conflict context, “At worst, [from a lack of sustainability] you get empty hulls of school buildings, buildings that have fallen apart right after they have been rehabilitated because there is no ownership. You get frustrated teachers, officials, students and parents because of raised expectations. If [education] is not sustainable, the legitimacy of the state, which is usually pretty tenuous anyway, is undermined and things collapse, and that usually results in a return to conflict (Interview, World Bank representative, August 30, 2007)”. Jordan may not be in a post-conflict setting but what is apparent are the traits of one. Jordan may not be in conflict now, but if the war in Syria continues combined with increasing tensions and animosity towards Syrians, conflict may not be far away. 5.4 Conclusion
The three concepts of Education Governance, ODA and Governance and Humanitarian Governance are three separate paradigms that are traditionally not compiled together. They are connected through theoretical linkages but because of the context in which Jordan is in, they operate together because that is what is demanded of in Jordan and actors have to adapt to the environment they are in, with few alternatives in how they govern Jordan’s education system. Education Governance entails the diffusion of educational policies defined and created by supranational entities including the OECD and the World Bank, and diffusing neoliberal educational policies, specifically the concept of the knowledge economy across states to improve their societies through reforms in education. The result is a society that opts for critical thinking over rote-learning, life-long learning over vocational skills, all of which leads to improved economic performance that allows for integration into the global knowledge economy (World Bank, 2003) But it comes at a cost with added conditions through stringent regulation by creditors who may stipulate that terms of agreement have not been met which results in funds being withheld, creating a dependency on creditors, manifesting into an education system that is based on neoliberal, capitalist and economic principals of scarcity and debt. The purpose of ERfKE was to improve economic performance and harness Jordan’s strong human capital, creating entrepreneurial citizens who can be taxed based on the belief that a knowledge economy society produces citizens with higher earning potential. Jordan is a perfect example of the how the words ‘knowledge economy’ have become such a powerful economic imagery, as stated by Jessop (2008). Education governance then sits within the conflicting paradigms of humanitarian governance and ODA and governance. Humanitarianism is short term and with immediate needs of a crisis or disaster needing to be met in order to transition into a longer-term development strategy. What is apparent, and how development aid links to education, is the influences of post-colonialism and neoliberalism. Influences of neoliberalism are evident through Jordan accepting the World Bank’s education reform package, being judged by supranational entities on their educational performance, being competitors in global education
league tables and devolving power away from the state. This is how the West has defused western models of education into countries such as Jordan and creates a hierarchy of control via market-led developmental reform that would ultimately incorporate Jordan into the global (neoliberal) knowledge economy. Post-colonial influences can be seen with how knowledge is transferred by the influx of international education experts that have been sent to Jordan to impart, again, western educational practices and systems, and in most cases this knowledge is believed to true as it has been conceived in supranational institutions that dominate and are regarded as the leaders in producing new knowledge on education. It is not the purpose of this research to analyse whether neoliberal an/or post-colonial influences are good or bad, right or wrong, but rather that they are apparent and to what degree, which will be discussed in the empirical chapters of eight and nine. Humanitarianism has and still is being influenced by market forces as more and more organizations are competing for contracts in crisis situations. This impacts education greatly in an emergency context, as relief is immediate with education now fitting within this sphere. This is problematic as education is longer term in nature and must be planned accordingly. Mixing humanitarianism with education results in a conflict of interest, mainly in relation to the length of commitment and for what purpose, however it must be stated that education in emergency situations holds many benefits and should not be left to later stages of development. The humanitarian sector saw the introduction of a rights-based approach to their already tried and tested set of principals of neutrality and impartiality as the average length of displacement is 20 years, education thus became an important pillar in humanitarian interventions as it can provide children with physical, psychosocial and cognitive protection from trauma they may have experienced (Mooney & Paul, 2010). The inner workings of the humanitarian sector as outlined above have has many contrasting elements, even if the end result is the same; to save lives, but why and how humanitarian organisations respond to crises differ greatly. Lastly, the purpose of using both concepts of humanitarian and development governance is
to give a meta-theoretical understanding of the foundational principals that each concepts holds. These underlying principals are therefore supposed to provide a lens to interpret how best to resolve the problems Jordan’s education system faces, rather than focusing on the problems themselves. Next, is the conceptual scheme that visually brings the three guiding concepts together.
6. Conceptual Scheme The conceptual scheme brings together the three concepts outlined in the theoretical framework. The most outer circle is meta-paradigm of neoliberalism, with all else encapsulated in this worldview. It is influencing the remaining inner circles starting with education policies of Educational for All and the Knowledge Economy. They have been heavily influenced by neoliberalism and with Jordan
adopting a global knowledge economy reform package for their education system. Finally, the last two most inner circles represent how Jordan’s education system is operating within the context of humanitarianism as a result of the Syrian crisis, whilst also trying maintain develop their education system, as was the case pre-2011. The result is a clash between humanitarianism and developmentalism when trying to come together to govern Jordan’s education system, consequently leaving Jordan’s education system in a perpetual state of flux.
7. Methodology Chapter seven outlines the methodology used to undertake this research. Initially the epistemological and ontological perspective is provided followed by the methods used to attain data once in the field finishing with the scope and limitations of this research. 7.1 Epistemology & Ontology – Critical Realism On an ontological level critical realism articulates that there is an objective reality that exists independently of thoughts, with the origin the cause of knowledge acquisition. However, critical realism also contends that explanation of reality is negotiated through the combination of language, sense and social context. Therefore stating multiple versions of reality exists. Jessop, et al (2015) state that critical realism is based in method of retroduction; which asks: what must this world be like for x to happen? Therefore for critical realists: “science involves a continuing spiral movement from knowledge of manifest (empirical) phenomena to knowledge of the underlying structures and causal mechanisms that generate them” (Jessop, et al, 2015, p9). On an epistemological level critical realism supports a critical constructivist approach (Bryman, 2012). A critical constructivist approach will help identify and analyse the underlying ideas that actors within the educational governance structures in Jordan that are determining behaviour and actions. Due to the ontological and epistemological perspective of critical realism taken in this research a qualitative research strategy was applied. A deductive view of the relationship between theory and research will be needed as Bhaskar (1979, p6) acknowledged as critical realists we must “avoid any commitment to the content of specific theories and recognize the conditional nature of all its results”. For this reason, initial theories must be treated as just that: initial theories. The initial theory facilitates a deeper analysis that can support, elaborate, or deny that theory to help build a new and more accurate explanation of reality (Fletcher, 2016).
7.2 Methods 7.2 1 Units of Analysis The overall aim of this study was to analyse how the governance of education in Jordan after the influx of Syrians post 2011 placed the country and its education system into a humanitarian crisis, when prior to 2011 the education system was going through a period of developmental reform. As a result the education system is caught between the two paradigms of developmentalism and humanitarianism. Therefore the units of analysis are how key actors involved in the governance of education perceive the problem the education system faces and their motivations. The actors considered are the Jordanian Ministry of Education, the international community with a focus on key bi/multilateral donors, the United Nations and INGO’s. 7.2 2 Data Collection The data collection methods were of a predominantly qualitative nature. These qualitative methods include semi-structured interviews and observations, secondary data was also gathered from reports from international organisations including the World Bank, the European Union, and United Nations agencies. The benefit of using secondary data in this particular study is that it enables to compare insider perspectives with data and statements obtained by researchers of the subject itself (Lewis et al, 2007). Observations and a focus group discussion were undertaken in tandem with the semi-structured interviews. The use of triangulation helped sure reliability of the findings through the use of multiple sources of data (Bryman, 2012). 7.2 2 1 Semi-Structured Interviews A total of 19 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with respondents from a variety of national and international organisations during the period between June 24th and September 1st 2016. The focus of the interviews was to
gain respondents perception of the current economic, geopolitical and social impacts of the Syrian refugees in Jordan and how the education system is responding in relation to these impacts. The semi-structured interviews then
went further to understand the motivations of key actors for their involvement and who holds influence in the governance of Jordan’s education system. Interviews were held with key bi/multi-lateral donors including USAID and the European Union. Respondents from United Nations agencies including UNICEF, UNESCO, UNRWA, UNHCR alongside national NGO’s and senior consultants in the field of education were also interviewed. The purpose of using semi-structured interviews was so to keep an open mind on the topic of this research and allow for the main concepts to emerge (Bryman, 2012). Furthermore, the use of semi-structured allows for rich and detailed data to emerge from the interviewee’s point of view. This was fundamental in trying to understand the complexity of education governance as this topic is intertwined with different themes including geopolitics, (macro) economics, migration and social cohesion to name but a few. An interview guide was created for all interviews to keep focus on the key areas that needed to be discussed. All respondents were highly knowledgeable on the subject matter of governance as a proportion of actors were directly involved and influential in shaping strategic decisions that were enforced to respond to the education crisis. The interviews were highly valuable and very rich in data. There was a willingness from respondents to talk openly and at times very frankly about the intricacies of how Jordan education system is governed and motives behind involvement, especially those of bi/multi-lateral donors. Once my time in the field was coming to an end I conducted an extra two interviews with key respondents to discuss my findings in order to validate them and confirm my perception of how and why Jordan’s education system is governed in the way it is. 7.2 2 2 Observations I undertook one observation of an Education Sector Working Group meeting that operates monthly, I was kindly invited by the UNICEF co-ordinator that chairs
these monthly meetings. This was a very valuable experience as there are multiple levels of co-ordination amongst actors involved with Jordan’s education system. I undertook a simple observation which defined by Bryman refers to a “situation in which the observer has no control over the behavior or sign in question, and plays an unobserved, passive, and nonintrusive role in the research situation’”(Bryman, 2012, p325). I was a silent observer as to not disrupt the path the meeting needed to take and therefore did not participate as my position as an observer was to not alter or change the behavior of those in attendance. 7.2 3 Sampling This research had one broad unit of observation – actors involved at the strategic level who either worked within or had prior experience within Jordan’s education system. Purposive sampling was used as the selection of participants was based of their experience and role within the education system. The guiding question of this research drove me to select respondents from the field of education but within it, also from humanitarian and developmental organisations along with the Ministry of Education. Snowball sampling then occurred once in the field. A local contact with connections in the field of education in Amman introduced me to experienced educationalist operating Amman. That respondent then suggested others for me to contact and the pattern followed until I left Jordan. Snowball sampling was an effective method as my initial respondents were senior executives and well known within Jordan’s education system. Without these initial contacts I would not have been able to reach key decision makers and thus reducing the validity of the data gathered. 7.2 4 Data Analysis Before starting the coding exercise, all the data obtained from interviews, focus groups and observations were transcribed into textual documents. As suggested by Bryman (2012) the transcription of the interviews and focus group discussions was done while still in the field in Jordan. Transcribing in the field
