Dependence and Interdependence in Education (RLE Edu A)

Book excerpt: This volume provides an international perspective on educational dependency in considering both theories and actual developments throughout the world. Some less developed countries, in expanding their education systems, have emulated Western academic-style systems and have increased their dependence on Western models in various respects including examination validation. Others have deliberately avoided this path and have experimented with systems more ‘relevant’ to development, often in a radical way. At a theoretical level, Marxist and neo-Marxist development theorists argue that education systems dependent on the West are evidence of economic dependency and confirmation of Marxist development theories; while others argue that the evidence suggests an interdependent world and that dependency theories do not apply in education.