Second volume of 'Learning at the Bottom of the Pyramid'

30 Mars 2022

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Morandi Tuul and Bruno/Hemis
School children in Egypt.

Learning, Marginalization, and Improving the Quality of Education in Low-Income Countries is now available online, as part of the Learning at the Bottom of the Pyramid (LBOP) series. This volume continues the exploration of children’s learning in low-resourced settings worldwide and presents pioneering policy approaches to improve learning and to advance the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4) for inclusive and equitable quality education for all by 2030.

Bringing together the perspectives of researchers, government officials, and field-based practitioners, the book covers a range of topics, from the effects of migration on learning to the potential of educational technologies, and better metrics for financing education. Authors also reflect on their work regarding the opportunities, issues, and barriers to learning faced by those at the bottom of the pyramid in countries including Kenya, India, Mexico, and Cote D’Ivoire.

Learning equity is not only a moral imperative, the book argues, but also one that will have profound educational, economic, and social impacts. To this end, the authors clarify how educationalists, ministries of education, and partners can improve learning in low-income countries, and in poor and marginalized communities, by “raising the floor” and narrowing learning gaps. 

Co-editor of the volume, Daniel Wagner, argues that in the remaining years of the 2030 SDGs, social and economic inequalities will persist, and even increase, unless serious attention is put on learning among the poor. 

“Only by transforming the way learning is understood in contexts at the bottom of the pyramid can we begin to understand how to better promote learning equity for those hardest to reach.”
-Daniel Wagner, UNESCO Chair and Professor of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. 

More about this series 

The book, also co-edited by Nathan Castillo and former IIEP Director Suzanne Grant Lewis, is based on papers presented at the second international conference on LBOP, co-hosted by IIEP-UNESCO and the University of Pennsylvania. 

Stay tuned: On 24 May 2022, IIEP will convene a Strategic Debate, bringing together some of the authors from the book. Registration will open soon. The book will also launch at the upcoming Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) Annual Conference on 20 April.