''Educational Strategy for Developing Societies: A Study of Educational and Social Factors in Relation to Economic Growth'' is a book by the British peace studies scholar

Adam Curle Charles Thomas William Curle (4 July 1916 – 28 September 2006), better known as Adam Curle, was a British academic, known for his work in social psychology, pedagogy, development studies and peace studies. After holding posts at the Unive ...

, first published in 1963.

Overview

The book is a review of the role of education in economic growth and social and political transformation. Curle described the aim of the book as "to show that an underdeveloped society is literally an underdeveloped ''society'', not merely an underdeveloped ''economy''". The book argues that low levels of education in

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed Industrial sector, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is al ...

are a hindrance to economic growth, and calls for the development of training and education programmes in such societies. Curle argues that sustained economic growth requires investment in

community development The United Nations defines community development as "a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems." It is a broad concept, applied to the practices of civic leaders, activists ...

agricultural extension Agricultural extension is the application of scientific research and new knowledge to agricultural practices through farmer education. The field of 'extension' now encompasses a wider range of communication and learning activities organized for ...

, and training, and the emergence of a new socioeconomic class unburdened by traditional constraints and able to maintain the momentum of development. While Curle generally accepted the conventional wisdom of Western development models here, he also queried the assumption that development was primarily an economic matter, and emphasised the importance of sociological and psychological phenomena. Development, Curle argues, should not be measured in terms of economic growth but rather in social and cultural terms, and

structural functionalism Structural functionalism, or simply functionalism, is "a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability". This approach looks at society through a macro-level o ...

was insufficient to explain complex processes of social change. The replacement of traditional social values by values of equality and

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

, Curle argues, can mitigate the risk of the new class being primarily self-interested. Tom Woodhouse attributed Curle's willingness to rethink dominant accounts of development to his experiences in Africa and Asia and the

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

character of his academic career to that point. Woodhouse also saw in ''Educational Strategy'' hints to the question of the roots of conflict which became more central to Curle's thought in the subsequent years. A second edition was published in 1970, featuring a new introduction in which Curle noted the increase in

illiteracy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...

and international equality in the preceding years, and the inefficacy of aid measures.

Critical reception

R. Cranford Pratt, reviewing the book in the '' Journal of Modern African Studies'', described it as "provocative" but "too general and too short ... unable to deal comprehensively with any of the questions urleraises, and often ... either over-simple or unconvincingly categorical." Reviewing the book in '' African Affairs'', Freda H. Gwilliam concluded it would be "of very great value to anyone who is concerned with diagnosing the needs of developing countries or who is called to play a part in meeting those needs". In his review in ''

International Affairs International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

'', David Blelloch argued that the book was not specific enough to be useful and lacks "a fully integrated conception of development as an evolutionary process for each individual society as a whole".

Notes

References

* * * * * {{refend Economics books Books about education 1963 books