Robert Pinet

BETWEEN WORLDS: SRI LANKAN TEACHER-EDUCATORS AT YORKUNLVERSITY ROBERT PINET Supervisors Name: Dr. Harry Srnalier Supervisoxy Cornmittee: Dr. Don Dippo A Thesis submitted to the Facuity of Graduate Studies in partial fûifïhent of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education Graduate Programme in Education York University North York, Ontario September 2000 National Library Bibliothèque nationale I*I of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON KlAON4 Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exchive permettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire¶prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microfoxm, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de rnicrofiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otheMrise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. BETWEEN WORLDS: SRI LANKAN TEACHEIR- EDUCATORS AT YORK UNIVERSITY by ROBERT PINET a thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of York University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF EDUCATION Permission has been granted to the LIBRARY OF YORK UNIVERSITY to lend or sel1 copies of this thesis, to the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA Co microfilm this thesis and CO îend or seIl copies of the film, and to UNIVERSITY MlCROFlLMS to publish an abstract of this thesis. The author reserves other publication rights. and neither the thesis nor extensive exlracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's written permission. This thesis places the experiences of 13 Sri Lankan teacher educators and educational administrators attending a Master of Education program kom 1998 to 1999 as part of the World Bank-fiuzded SnLankan Teacher Education and Teacher Deploymentnrork University Project within various contexts, in order to better understand how these individuals' perspectives changed regarding student-teacher relations, classroom practices, assessment, and c~culiun.A sociopolitical context is offéred with a chapter on the political economy of international education projects. A historical context foUows, with chapters on the history of schoohg and teacher training in Sri Lanka. The data-themes collected fiorn qualitative interviews which were carried out by the author with ail of the participants are then analyzed using David Hough's Ethnomaphies of Learninq (1997) as a theoretical model. In the conclusion, the author summarizes his fïndings in tems of these three contexts and speculates as to the long- tenn effects of the Teacher Education and Teacher Deplopent Project on the participants and the Sri Lankan educational system as a whole. 1acknowledge, with appreciation, the support 1have received in the course of wnting this thesis fiom the following: God, "fiom whom dl blessings flow." The thirteen Sri Lankan teacher-educators and administrators who made up the Teacher Education and Teacher DeploymentNork University Project, and who graciously alIowed thernselves to be interviewed. Their curiosity, intelligence, tenacity and sense of humour in dealing with the many challenges they faced, their sense of wonder, and their pro fessionalism constantly impressed me. Dr. Jean Handscombe, for being there at the "birth" of the idea for this thesis, for providing me with a lot of information and for always kding the tirne to talk. Members of my Cornmittee, including Dr. Don Dippo, Dr. Celia Haig-Brown, and Dr. Marcel Martel, for their engagement with the text and collegiality towards me. And finally, Dr. Hamy Srnaller, my Thesis Director, for his constant support, his patience towards me when 1tried to run too fast, and his insisteme that 1strive to "unpack" concepts and communicate more clearly. TABLE OF CONTICENTS Abstract.......................................................... iv Acknowledgements.................................................. v Table of Contents................................................... vi 1. Introduction .................................................... 1 2 . The Political Economy of International Education Programs ................ 6 3. A Brief History of Schooling in Sn Lanka ............................ -27 4. A Brief History of Teacher Training in Sri Lanka ...................... 67 5. World Bank Sponsored Education Projects in Sri Lanka .................. -90 The Sri Lankan Teacher Education and Teacher Deployment/ York University Project ........................................ 99 The Sri Lankan Cohoa at York University: Biographical Sketches....... -104 Program of Study and Cross-Cultural Activities at York University for the Sri Lankan Cohort ............................... -111 6. Methodology. ............................................... -114 7. Fhdings and Analysis............................................ 122 8 . Conclusion..................................................... 172 Endnotes 1 began working at the York University English Language Institute PLI)over four years ago and have taught a variety of courses there, in programs devoted to general and academic English. My students, fkom countries around the world, ranged in age £tom their teens to their Mes.Most of them stayed for one or two terms, although a few progressed through the six levels offered and successfully wrote their English-proficiency test, which rneant they could apply as fùll time students in one of the faculties of York University. It was at YUELf that 1 fird met Dr. Jean Kandscombe, who had been seconded from the Facdty of Education to serve as Acting Director, and is now Director of the Institute. In discussions with her in September 1998, at the tirne that 1 began my kst course in the Master of Education degree program at York, she asked me to consider tutoring seven members of a Sri Lankan cohort who had also enrolled in the same Facdty of Education course 1was to be attending. 1agreed. The Sri Lankan cobort as a whole was made up of thirteen Sri Lankan teacher educators and educational administrators who had been selected to receive bursaries in order to pursue graduate studies at York University, as part of a multimillion dollar program of educational reform in their country. 1was immediately impressed by their serioumess, perceptiveness, humoiir. and the effort they were making to adapt to studying in a university run entirely in English, in the middle of a foreign country with a strange, cold climate. In January 1999, having completed an initial tutorhg assignment with them, and while discussing the possibility of continuing to instnict the group in Academic English, I suddenly redized that 1 wanted to write my thesis about them, though 1 was not sure what area of their experience I wanted to investigate. At first I considered doing quantitative research into whether or not the Sn Lankan cohort had been affected by the fact that they had not been required to pass the TOEFL English proficiency test before being accepted into York University. 1thought about studying whether English tutorhg had aected îheir language proficiency, as well as whether or not their York University professors had modified their individual course requirements to accommodate the cohoa7sdi£Fering abilities in English. Mer a month or so of investigating this issue, 1 decided instead, to explore the possibility of doing some kind of qualitative analysis of the cohort's experiences at York University. As an English Second Language teacher I had dealt with immigrants or overseas students ail my professional life and had always been curious about the different kinds of social and educational strategies such students employed in their efforts to adapt to western society, and especially Canadian educational settings, with their multicultural environment. Working with the Sri Lankan cohort had given me the chance to begin to compare our different assumptions about learning and teaching relationships within the context of our very different cultural backgrounds (with the group composed of Sinhalese, Tamils, and Mushand my heritage being Franco-American). In February 1998,I organized a piiot inte~ewwith a group of four members of the cohort. From the themes discussed by the participants, 1Mer developed the broad outlines of my study -giving attention to how this group of overseas educators had begun, in the course of their graduate studies in Canada, to change their perspectives on a number of issues related to education, including teacher-student relationships, classroom practices, assesment, and curriculum, At fïrst 1 was concerned about playing two roles with the group, that of tutor and of qualitative researcher, but 1 very soon came to understand that these individuals were entnisting me with their experiences and insights through their interviews because of the fact that we had already built up a professional relationship. Thus, 1came to see the two kinds ofrelationships we were engaged in (professional and scholarly) as complementary. One of the disadvantages 1had to

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