Researching women's literacy in Mali: A case study of dialogue among researchers, practitioners, and policy makers

Comparative Education Review

Volumn 45, Issue 2, 2001, Pages 242-256

  Puchner, Laurel ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0035628841     PISSN: 00104086     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1086/447663     Document Type: Article

References (36)

1. P. A. Haensly, A. E. Lupkowski, and J. F. McNamara, "The Chart Essay: A Strategy for Communicating Research Findings to Policymakers and Practitioners," Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 9 (1987): 63-75; R. E. Slavin, "On Making a Difference," Educational Researcher 19 (April 1990): 30-34.
2. P. A. Haensly, A. E. Lupkowski, and J. F. McNamara, "The Chart Essay: A Strategy for Communicating Research Findings to Policymakers and Practitioners," Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 9 (1987): 63-75; R. E. Slavin, "On Making a Difference," Educational Researcher 19 (April 1990): 30-34.
3. K. C. Barton, M. T. Downey, T. L. Epstein, L. S. Levstik, P. Seixas, S. J. Thornton, and B. A. Van-Sledright, "Research, Instruction, and Public Policy in the History Curriculum: A Symposium," Theory and Research in Social Education 24 (Fall 1996): 391-415; M. T. Hallinan, "Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice," Sociology of Education, extra issue, (1996): 131-34; S. P. Heyneman, "Universal Adult Literacy: Policy Myths and Realities," pp. 27-31; J. Ryan, "Literacy Research, Policy and Practice: The Elusive Triangle," pp. 36-41, both in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 520 of World Literacy in the Year 2000, ed. D. A. Wagner and L. D. Puchner (Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage, 1992); R. J. Shavelson, "Contributions of Educational Research to Policy and Practice: Constructing, Challenging, Changing Cognition," Educational Researcher 17 (October 1988): 4-11; Slavin.
4. K. C. Barton, M. T. Downey, T. L. Epstein, L. S. Levstik, P. Seixas, S. J. Thornton, and B. A. Van-Sledright, "Research, Instruction, and Public Policy in the History Curriculum: A Symposium," Theory and Research in Social Education 24 (Fall 1996): 391-415; M. T. Hallinan, "Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice," Sociology of Education, extra issue, (1996): 131-34; S. P. Heyneman, "Universal Adult Literacy: Policy Myths and Realities," pp. 27-31; J. Ryan, "Literacy Research, Policy and Practice: The Elusive Triangle," pp. 36-41, both in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 520 of World Literacy in the Year 2000, ed. D. A. Wagner and L. D. Puchner (Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage, 1992); R. J. Shavelson, "Contributions of Educational Research to Policy and Practice: Constructing, Challenging, Changing Cognition," Educational Researcher 17 (October 1988): 4-11; Slavin.
5. K. C. Barton, M. T. Downey, T. L. Epstein, L. S. Levstik, P. Seixas, S. J. Thornton, and B. A. Van-Sledright, "Research, Instruction, and Public Policy in the History Curriculum: A Symposium," Theory and Research in Social Education 24 (Fall 1996): 391-415; M. T. Hallinan, "Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice," Sociology of Education, extra issue, (1996): 131-34; S. P. Heyneman, "Universal Adult Literacy: Policy Myths and Realities," pp. 27-31; J. Ryan, "Literacy Research, Policy and Practice: The Elusive Triangle," pp. 36-41, both in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 520 of World Literacy in the Year 2000, ed. D. A. Wagner and L. D. Puchner (Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage, 1992); R. J. Shavelson, "Contributions of Educational Research to Policy and Practice: Constructing, Challenging, Changing Cognition," Educational Researcher 17 (October 1988): 4-11; Slavin.
6. K. C. Barton, M. T. Downey, T. L. Epstein, L. S. Levstik, P. Seixas, S. J. Thornton, and B. A. Van-Sledright, "Research, Instruction, and Public Policy in the History Curriculum: A Symposium," Theory and Research in Social Education 24 (Fall 1996): 391-415; M. T. Hallinan, "Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice," Sociology of Education, extra issue, (1996): 131-34; S. P. Heyneman, "Universal Adult Literacy: Policy Myths and Realities," pp. 27-31; J. Ryan, "Literacy Research, Policy and Practice: The Elusive Triangle," pp. 36-41, both in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 520 of World Literacy in the Year 2000, ed. D. A. Wagner and L. D. Puchner (Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage, 1992); R. J. Shavelson, "Contributions of Educational Research to Policy and Practice: Constructing, Challenging, Changing Cognition," Educational Researcher 17 (October 1988): 4-11; Slavin.
7. K. C. Barton, M. T. Downey, T. L. Epstein, L. S. Levstik, P. Seixas, S. J. Thornton, and B. A. Van-Sledright, "Research, Instruction, and Public Policy in the History Curriculum: A Symposium," Theory and Research in Social Education 24 (Fall 1996): 391-415; M. T. Hallinan, "Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice," Sociology of Education, extra issue, (1996): 131-34; S. P. Heyneman, "Universal Adult Literacy: Policy Myths and Realities," pp. 27-31; J. Ryan, "Literacy Research, Policy and Practice: The Elusive Triangle," pp. 36-41, both in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 520 of World Literacy in the Year 2000, ed. D. A. Wagner and L. D. Puchner (Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage, 1992); R. J. Shavelson, "Contributions of Educational Research to Policy and Practice: Constructing, Challenging, Changing Cognition," Educational Researcher 17 (October 1988): 4-11; Slavin.
8. K. C. Barton, M. T. Downey, T. L. Epstein, L. S. Levstik, P. Seixas, S. J. Thornton, and B. A. Van-Sledright, "Research, Instruction, and Public Policy in the History Curriculum: A Symposium," Theory and Research in Social Education 24 (Fall 1996): 391-415; M. T. Hallinan, "Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice," Sociology of Education, extra issue, (1996): 131-34; S. P. Heyneman, "Universal Adult Literacy: Policy Myths and Realities," pp. 27-31; J. Ryan, "Literacy Research, Policy and Practice: The Elusive Triangle," pp. 36-41, both in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 520 of World Literacy in the Year 2000, ed. D. A. Wagner and L. D. Puchner (Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage, 1992); R. J. Shavelson, "Contributions of Educational Research to Policy and Practice: Constructing, Challenging, Changing Cognition," Educational Researcher 17 (October 1988): 4-11; Slavin.
9. Mark B. Ginsburg and Jorge M. Gorostiaga, "Relationships between Theorists/Researchers and Policy Makers/Practitioners? Rethinking the Two Cultures Thesis and the Possibility of Dialogue," in this issue.
10. Ibid.
11. Barton et al.; Hallinan; Heyneman; Ryan; Shavelson; Slavin.
12. Heyneman; Ryan, pp. 37-40; Shavelson.
13. Barton et al., pp. 393-97.
14. E. R. Hines, "Policy Research in Higher Education: Data, Decisions, Dilemmas, and Disconnect," Mid-Western Educational Researcher 12 (1999): 2-6; Heyneman.
15. Heyneman, p. 31.; Kilemi Mwiria, "Major Issues in Educational Research," Kenya Journal of Education 4 (1989): 177-93; Ryan.
16. Heyneman, p. 31.; Kilemi Mwiria, "Major Issues in Educational Research," Kenya Journal of Education 4 (1989): 177-93; Ryan.
17. Haensly, Lupkowski, and McNamara (n. 1 above); Hallinan.
18. Shavelson, p. 4.
19. Ginsburg and Gorostiaga; Mwiria, pp. 184-85; R. Husen, "Research Paradigms in Education," Interchange 19 (1988): 2-13.
20. Ginsburg and Gorostiaga; Mwiria, pp. 184-85; R. Husen, "Research Paradigms in Education," Interchange 19 (1988): 2-13.
21. Ginsburg and Gorostiaga (n. 3 above).
22. Ibid.
23. Husen; Mwiria; Ryan, p. 38.
24. L. D. Puchner, "The Socioeconomic Impact of Literacy Program Participation on Women in Rural Mali" (doctoral diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1998).
25. Names of organizations, individuals, and most places have been changed to protect anonymity.
26. Although most of the initial arrangements were worked out in negotiations involving my boss, members of the U.S.-based Aid Africa education office, and me, I did have one meeting with the Aid Africa field director for Mali, Paul Simmons (not his real name), before beginning the research. Paul was an American based in Mali, but our meeting was held in New York while he happened to be visiting the United States. At that meeting, which took place in February 1994, Paul and I discussed some of the areas in which he thought I could help them. We also discussed the feasibility of my study.
27. Aid Africa had development programs in the Biaka district in the following domains: child survival, natural resources management (agriculture and environment), small business/credit/savings, promotion of women, and education (support to the formal school system, a village school program, and adult functional literacy). Although there were a few other organizations who carried out projects in the district (including a Swiss organization that dug wells), Aid Africa was the most visibly active organization in the area.
28. Bamako-initiated projects on which my spouse and I worked included development of an evaluation of the Aid Africa Village School project (in collaboration with the Malian National Pedagogical Institute) and development of a system of statistical indicators for determining the impact of Aid Africa programs in Biaka.
29. Remarks about the texts that accompany the baby book, submitted by Laurel Puchner to Solo Diarra, January 1995; translated from the French.
30. Recently, in September 2000, I did try to contact Solo Diarra in the Aid Africa office in Biaka in an effort to restart some dialogue by asking for an update on the literacy program. I obtained confirmation that he had received the e-mail that I sent via a third party, but as of this writing I have not received a reply.
31. N. K. Duke and S. W. Beck, "Education Should Consider Alternative Formats for the Dissertation," Educational Researcher 28 (April 1999): 31-36.
32. Ibid., p. 32.
33. D. Krathwohl, "A Slice of Advice," Educational Researcher 23, no. 1 (1994): 29-32, 42, as cited in Duke and Beck, p. 34.
34. See Ginsburg and Gorostiaga (n. 3 above).
35. Excision is the total or partial removal of women's external genitals.
36. Ginsburg and Gorostiaga.