University of Auckland

Graduate Student, Development Studies

Other Affiliations: Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, Education

Thesis Title: Participation, Local Culture and Quality Education in rural Peru

About

‘Participation’, ‘local culture’ and ‘quality education’ have been extensively used within the development arena but often with different meanings ascribed to them. Understanding the contextual use of such terms within a particular context is crucial to unraveling the power relations that exist in local reality, and identifying whether these relationships are effective or obstructive to sustainable development practice. There are strong pressures to homogenize and shape indigenous cultures and practices according to global precepts as well as strong forces to make education a mechanical process or an efficient investment, which often comes at the expenses of considering education as a human right, fostering joy of learning and strengthening freedom according to cultural diversity.
This study seeks to clarify the understandings of these three concepts and their effects in and on the Educational Project in Rural Areas in Peru (PEAR). It aims to reveal the understandings of participation within the hierarchy of the World Bank, the Ministry of Education of Peru and the grassroots educational participants, and discusses the practical effects of these understandings and their influence on the progress of the PEAR project. This research also discusses the motives and the understandings informing the inclusion of local culture in the curriculum as part of PEAR, and analyses the main difficulties associated with the incorporation of local culture. Finally it reveals insights into the meanings of quality education upheld by the hierarchy of those involved in the project and discusses these issues within the context of providing quality education in rural primary schools within the PEAR. The findings were found to support the study’s three hypotheses namely: that the lack of understanding of local Quechua culture hinders the participation of community members within PEAR; that the incorporation of local culture into the curriculum is constrained by the impact of the globalization of the western education model; and that the World Bank’s understanding of quality education as Human Capital is shaping educational practice in PEAR.

Keywords: Participation, Quechua, Quality Education, Multigrade School, Peru, World Bank.

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