Between research and action, rethinking the role of actors in improving the quality of education
IIEP's Quality Management Support Program participated in the KIX Knowledge Sharing Program Symposium in Addis Ababa from October 4-6, 2022 on educational research and innovation. This gathering of specialists met under the theme "Reinventing Education for Better Impact on Learning Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa". The purpose of such an event was primarily to bring visibility to research and to promote discussion among national policy makers, researchers, and practitioners on evidence and research on improving learning outcomes. The IIEP program was able to present a summary of research on its innovative approach and the first results of its diagnostic work on the quality of education in countries. The aim was to present the program's methodological approach as an innovation in the field of monitoring the quality of education.
An innovative methodology focused on the role of actors
The IIEP's program is based on an angle of analysis that has been little used until now, that of the role of actors. The question underlying its approach is the following: How do the actors in education systems steer the quality of education in basic education? The program states that it is possible to identify actions in the daily lives of actors at all levels of the education system that make it possible to achieve quality education for all. This hypothesis leads to questions about what the actors in the education system actually do in their workplaces to improve the quality of education, but also about the difficulties they encounter in their work routines that prevent them from achieving their objectives.
New ways of working and collaborating
By acting on and based on the actual practices of the actors, the proposed approach aims to inscribe new working and collaboration methods in education systems in the long term. Helping stakeholders to diagnose and regulate their practices at all levels is the central issue on which the action-research of the IIEP's quality management support program intends to add value in order to provide access for all to inclusive, quality education.
