Abstract
The Theory and Practice of Development Education is a long-overdue ‘go-to’ guide to development education (DE). Douglas Bourn has written a comprehensive, yet concise and coherent, synthesis of DE’s history, theory and practice—featuring examples from Europe, North America, Australia and Japan. Though not flawless, it is essential reading for people in the DE field and should also appeal particularly to those working in international education, transformative pedagogy and globalization. Indeed, it is a valuable book for anyone interested in teaching and learning about progress in international development.
This compact volume is ambitious in scope, seeking to amplify within the academic arena the relevance of DE as a pedagogy for global social justice. Treating pedagogy as more than a mere set of supposedly apolitical methods for teaching and learning, the author draws from critical pedagogy, post-colonialism and transformative learning theory to propose a ‘new pedagogical framework’ for DE based on four principles: ‘Global outlook; Recognition of power and inequality in the world; Belief in social justice and equity; [and] Commitment to reflection, dialogue and transformation’ (p. 102). Although Bourn does not discuss the concepts in these principles as rigorously as I would have liked—not, for instance, clearly differentiating between equity and equality—his novel contribution is to tie together a range of diverse theoretical perspectives and tailor them to a pedagogy of DE.
The 13 chapters are grouped into four parts: history, terminology and structures; theory of development education; the practice of development education and pedagogy for global learning. This structure offers a sensible route through the text, leading the reader along a logical path. After a brief introduction, Part I provides a potted history of DE and its terminological family tree—from which have branched a dizzying array of ‘adjectival educations’ (such as global citizenship education)—before discussing various definitions of DE and its identity and status at the periphery of mainstream education systems.
Part II broaches the absence of a coherent body of theory in DE. The author navigates fairly clearly, albeit cursorily, through the murky sea of theoretical undercurrents that gives rise to DE by anchoring the discussion in the work of two prominent theorists—Vanessa Andreotti d’Oliveria and Annette Scheunpflug. The post-colonial epistemological pluralism that Andreotti d’Oliveria advocates becomes the basis of Bourn’s pedagogical framework, to which he adds influences from Freirean critical pedagogy to Foucauldian power. The section is very ably executed, though thin in places; for example, the short passage on transformative learning is limited to Jack Mezirow’s theory and shies away from tensions between theorists, restricting recognition of Mezirow’s critics to a few lines and sidestepping Stephen Brookfield’s ‘valid points’ (p. 96). The ‘potential [pedagogical] model’ Bourn advocates certainly ‘has relevance’ (p. 96) for DE but could have greater relevance, potential and practical applicability by, say, incorporating Ann Curry-Stevens’ transformative ‘Pedagogy for the Privileged’ (2007), which fuses ideas from Freire, Foucault and Mezirow.
In Part III, Bourn relates his framework to DE practices that aim to foster understanding of international development, globalization, global social justice and the impacts of DE projects. There are interesting examples from various educational contexts including the DE work of non-governmental organizations such as Oxfam. I found this part the most engaging of the book and its contextual specificity counterbalanced the first two parts which sometimes lost me in more abstract discussions around terminology and theory.
The focus on practice in relation to theory continues in Part IV, with Chapter 11 honing in very helpfully on Andreotti d’Oliveria’s ‘Open Space for Dialogue and Enquiry’ and ‘Through Other Eyes’ web-based pedagogical resources. More space should have been given to these examples, which start to straddle a wide theory–practice divide in the literature. Similarly, Chapter 12 needed more than five pages to crystallize the relationship between DE and global learning and feels too abbreviated, as does the book overall; this tendency is highlighted in the conclusion which summarizes, in three pages, the volume’s material.
To sum up, this is a surprisingly slim book that tries to cover a lot between its covers; Bourn writes with deftness and authority, although he sometimes skims over material without unpacking it thoroughly. Thus, academics and postgraduate students—particularly those familiar with DE—whom the book is mainly aimed at, may occasionally be dissatisfied as Bourn seems to cater to a broader readership. However, this is a minor criticism of a vital and very readable resource that is the first of its kind in connecting DE theory and practice so closely. Indeed, it is a veiled compliment that the main shortcoming of the book is that it is too short; I wish it were longer and went into more depth.
Bourn successfully constructs a pedagogical framework for DE—a significant achievement that is embellished by his acknowledgement of the significance of informal contributors to it. Bourn’s reference to the inputs from the students from the Development Education Research Centre at the University College London is unusual and commendable. Following in Freire’s footsteps, it helps narrow the power–knowledge gap between senior experts and students by recognizing the value of the latter’s ‘lower-status’ contribution to what is a collaborative process of knowledge production. All too often, academics and practitioners ‘talk the talk’ but do not ‘walk the walk’ when it comes to challenging entrenched power relations, including those imprinted in the politics of academic publishing. Similarly, the rare attention Bourn pays to DE, and DE theorists and practitioners, in the global South is a step in the right direction.
Despite its shortcomings, The Theory and Practice of Development Education is an excellent resource that amounts to an indispensable handbook of DE for students, academics and educators alike.