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

Graduate Programme in Education York North York, Ontario

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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 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 . 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 deal with in researching the Sn Lankan cohort was the fact that they were only scheduled to remain in Canada for one year, f?om

September 1998 to September 1999. This time constraint was al1 the more pressing because of our various hectic schedules (1, for example, continued to teach full-time while studying part-time). In the end, 1 was ody able to schedule one complete set of interviews with these participants. Out of these circumstances 1 was forced to reverse the usual order of research, pressed as I was to inte~ewand draw out the themes fiom a conversation with one participant before moving quickly on to the next. This way of working also constrained me to do my basic research, on Sri Lankan history, culture, and education, 'on the mu,' so that 1 codd have some understanding of the participants' contexts as I hte~ewed them.

Findings fiom the inte~ewswith the participants are placed within historical, sociopolitical and ethnographie contexts. The scope of this project is thus very broad.

Beginning with an overview of the political economy of international education projects, in Chapter Two, 1 move to an historic analysis of schooling and teacher training in Sn

Lanka, and then to a detailed analysis of the World Bank-funded Sri Lankan Teacher

Education and Teacher Deployment Project, under whose mandate the cohort was authorized to study in Canada. In the latter part of my thesis, 1present the themes that arose fiom these inte~ewsand analyze them in terms of David Hough's Ethn~~graphies of Leamine, in which he advances a theory which links the availability of learning resources in comunities to differing types of learning and teaching relationships.

The Sri Lankan cohort's individual learning experiences, within broader national and international contexts, are presented here as a 'work in progress.' At the doctoral leveI, 1look forward to conducting interviews with the cohort in Sri Lanka in order to investigate the long-term effects of their Canadian studies on their perceptions and their work. This present study thus serves as the first part of a longer qualitative research project,

While, at this stage, after hosttwo years of research and thought, it is clear to me that there are still many aspects of this work to be tied together, in the context of laying the groundwork for continuing study, this exercise to date has been very useful to me. I look forward to contuiuing this exploration, and will spend some time in 2001 in Sn

Lanka, in order to meet with the participants and plan out the next stages of my research. CHAPTER 2 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION PROJECTS

Introduction

International education is a term that encompasses a broad range of definitions

which are understood in terms of a variety of conceptual bases. Part One of this chapter

wîlI focus on examining this term, and its various meanings, more closely. In Part Two,

various types of Canadian organizations (or associations to which Canada belongs) -

including local, national, and international non-govemmental organizations, as weil as

national and international governmental agencies -wiil be analyzed in terms of how

their conceptual bases affect their work. Part Three wiil offer a critique of international

education projects. The chapter will end with a conclusion summarizing some of the key

points raised.

Part One: Te-, Forms, and Conceptual Bases

C. Smyth, in his article 'Tnternational Education: Challenges and Responses"

(2 986), quoted in K.B. Leginsky and M.B. Andrew's International Education and

Postsecondary Education: A Framework for Analysis (1 994), defines international education in ternis of

international understanding, cooperation and peace ... considered an indivisible whole based on the principle of friendly relations between people and states having different social and political system [;] [alny one or combination of deliberately designed leamhg activities (such as study abroad, foreign language or area studies, facuity adjor student exchange programs, technical assistance, or interdisciplinary emphasis on international studies), the goal of which is the development of attitudes, howledge, and behavior on matters international and global[;] [and] [tlhe totality of ways in which the educational institutions, ideas or practices of one social group have influenced those of another (C. Smyth, 1986, as cited in Leginse and Andrews, 1994, p. 1).

Smyth's understanding of international education clearly represents a benign, Liberal viewpoint, given his focus on 'education' (in the broadest sense of the term) in an international setting: as the exchange of information and ideas, either fomally or informally, in an effort to Mdcooperation and peace within and among nations.

As Smyth suggests, international education can take many forms. These can include, among others: teaching students îÏom 'other' countrîes, individually or in groups, either in hosting institutions or their home corntries; organizing exchanges of students andior faculty; participating in international projects or associations; organizing or hosting international conferences; hosting international guests; undertaking joint international training ventures with local business and industry, including participation in international networking; training individuals to take overseas job postings; providing tourisrn-related training (Leginsky and Andrews, 1994, p. 2) as well as

'internationaiizing' school curricula in an effort to deal more sensitively with global issues.

As compared to Smyth's equal partner approach, there are other ways too understand international education. As a form of international development, international education can be viewed fkom the positions of both Northern ('donor') and Southem ('recipient') comtries and analyzed in terms of Northem non-govenunental and govenuneentd organizations and agencies and Southern non-governmental or govemmental organizations and agencies. Nurthem organizations and agencies may believe that international education fosters the following types of development in

Southern countries: economic development, modemization, distributive justice, or socio- economic transformation. International education may also be considered to foster global understanding. Southern countries may also operate out of simiIar conceptual bases.

Altematively, in a 'development as economic growth' model, international education is seen as helping to foster the economies of Southern countries. This development model cmitself take different approaches. For example, 'development as modernkation' emphasizes the need "for changes in values, attitudes, beliefs and knowledge of a people, in accordance with the technological demands of a growing

'modem' sector of society." Development as distributive justice, by cornparison, emphasizes the sharing of benefits and advantages between groups and classes of people in developing countries. Development as socio-economic transformation, "emphasizes the transition fiom the dominance of the masses by oppressive forces to empowerment and human awareness" (Mabogunje, 198 1 [cited in Cookson, 19851 quoted in Leginsky and Andrews, 1994, p. 3).

International education may also be seen as a tool for promoting global understanding, either by mobikg al1 corntries to deal with "international issues", such as , "which require global understanding and cooperation", or by encouraging "" or "global education" to promote 'hderstanding and respect for all

peoples, their cultures, civilizations, values.. .and the rights and duties incumbent upon

individuals, social groups, and nations toward each othei' (L,eLeginsky and Andrews, 1994,

P- 4).

International education is also understood by some as a means by which

educational institutions cm acquire or enhance their economic and organizational

capacities. In this context, international education as organization development stresses

how international education programming cmserve the purpose of organizational

development of educational institutions within the host country itself. Its underlying philosophy is that the local institution and its community, rather than the developing counûies themselves may benefit the most from International education programs. These

"can subsidïze other programming and contribute to the growth of an institution"

(Leginsky and Andrews, 1994, p. 6).

International education can be understood to be a 'product' offered by educational institutions or governments to be 'sold7 to (predominmtly Southern) prospective consumers, including immigrants, the children of elites in developing countries, workers in various professions, government agencies, and multinational corporations.

As compared to these liberal viewpoints, however, there is also an emerging neo- liberal perspective, often grounded in neo-Mancian analysis. With the rise of globalization through the power of the World Bank Group and other Washington-based institutions, international education can dso be understood as a fom of cultural and/or economic imperialism and a mechanism for the neo-colonization of Southem countnes, which are forced to serve not their own national interests, but rather the market and manpower needs of international capitalisn (Chossudovlq, 1997).

As Michel Chossudovs~writes in The Globalisation of Poverty: Impacts of IMF and World Bank Reforms (19971, part of the process of globalization is that developing corntries are advanced loans by the World Bank Group and other western lending institutions. Lender institutions impose "conditionalities" on these loans, which involve

''the adoption of a comprehensive program of macro-economic stabilization and structural economic refom" which destroys the abwof developing couutries to control their own economic, social, and cultural interests (Chossudovsky, 1997, p. 52). Failure to meet these conditionalities results in withdrawal of these loans; alternatively, compliance to these extemaUy imposed conditions ofien means cuts in social spending and massive loss of jobs. Debts incurred on the capital and interest mount. In this way,

[qhe movement of the global economy is "regulated" by a 'îvorldwide process of debt collection" which constricts the institutions of the national state and contributes to destroying employment and economic activity. In the developing world, the burden of the external debt bas reached two trillion dollars, entire countries have been destabilised as a consequence of the collapse of national currencies, O ften resulting in the outbreak of social strife, ethnic conflicts and civil war (Chossudovslq, 1997, p. 15).

These westem regdatory bodies (which include the International Monetary Fund, the

International Trade Organization, the World Trade Organization, the World Bank Group, and others) operate "within a capitalist system and [respond] to dominant and econornic or hancial interests" of multinational corporations (Chossudovksy, 1997, p. 16), which benefit because

the intemationlisation of macro-economic policy transfonns [developing] countnes into open economic temtories and national econornies into "reserves" of cheap labour and natural resources (Choussudovsky, 1997, p. 16).

In this context, while new educational initiatives may be promoted by these multinational hmding agencies, ironicaLly their overall economic policies lead to a niminution of educational opportunities for many Thkd World children. In many cases, for example, education in developing corntries is one of the prirnary social services severely affectecl by the adoption of these macro-economic reforms and cutbacks.

Educational seMces often become partiaUy privatized, as the lack of operating fùnds fi-orn local governments

is in part 'compensated' by the extraction of registration and user fees-..[including] Parent Teacher Associations' @TA) levies extracted by local communities to cover expenses previousïy incurred by the Ministry of Education. This process ... Mplies ... the de facto exclusion of large sectors of the population (particularly in mal areas) which are unable to pay the various fees attached to ... educational services (Chossudovsky, 1997, p. 70).

In addition, as Chossudovslq notes, among the "explicit conditions of World Bank hded social-sector adjustrnent loans" is the "(f)reezing [ofl the number of graduates of the teacher training colleges and increasing the number of pupils per teacher"

(Chossudovsky, 1997, p. 71). To summarize briefly, the concept of 'international education' has a mulbiplicity

of meanings.

Canadian Examples of International Education Projects

Canadians are invoIved in a variety of international education projects, both

through private enterprise organkations and corporations, as well as through non-profit

organizations such as unions, churches, professional organizations, and international

associations, to name a few. In this section, 1will introduce five examples, each

supported b y non-profit organizations andor government: the United Way of Greater

Toronto, as an example of the work of a local non-govenimental organization (NGO);the

United Church of Canada's United Mission to Nepal, as an example of the work of a

national NGO; the International Couricil of 's projects in world literacy

as an example of the work of an international FTGO; the Canadian International

Development Agencyl York University URACCAN Project in Nicaragua as an example --. of the involvement of a national government agency; and the World Bank's Second

Educational Plan for Sri Lanka as an example of the involvement of an international

agency's work in international education.

1, Local Non-Govemmental Organization: The United Way of Greater Toronto

In 1998, the United Way of Greater Toronto, a charitable NGO, raised "$60.2

million for social and health service programs, and distributed fun& to more than 200

agencies across Toronto," according to their publication 1998 : The Year in Review (United Way of Greater Toronto, 2000). One of the services which United Way funding provides is English as a Second Language courses at 22 locations, including the Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples, the Riverdale Immimt Women's Centre, the Southeast

Asian Services Centre, SkiIls for Change, and the Canadian Centre for Victims of

Torture.

The Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture, at 196 Jarvis Street, offers a variety of seMces inciuding medical, mental health and social care; legal aid; crisis intervention; volunteer befriending, including interpretation and escort to appointments interpretation seMces and counselling for children and youth. By offerhg English Second Language classes, the centre provides language training for refugees and immigrants to Canada who have suffered tome. The English as a Second Language classes offered here can be said to encompass "international education" at a local level, because they provide English language training for refigees and immigrants to Canada. The conceptual basis underlying Engliçh Second Language work at this service may be integreted to be distributivejustice, since the Centre offers this service through funds provîded by a municipal charity and also because fluency in English heips these immigrants to become more hancially self-sacient. .. 11. National Non-Govenimental Organization: The United Church of Canada's United Mission to Nepal

As a national religious NGO, the United Church of Canada, through its Division of World Outreach, aids in international education and other types of projects through its Global Partnerships. According to its website, the United Church of Canada '%as

partnerships with national chwrches, ecumenical organizations, Christian Councils and

church agencies around the world. Some of these partnerships have evolved fkom

overseas mission work which started in the late 19th century and some fkom recent

contact and collaboration" (United Chuch of Canada, 2000). These Global Partnerships

span the world, including eca,Asia and the Pacific, and the Caribbean and Latin

Amenca. Zn Asia and the Pacifk, the Division of World Outreach had a 1999 budget of

$1,678,940 made up of grants to partners, Global Mission personnel, and ecumenical

coalitions (United Church of Canada, 2000).

As an example of these Global Partnerships, P.V. and Annie Chandy, Canadian

missionaries at the United Mission to Nepal 0,write that in 1950, the Nepalese

government invited the UMN

to initiate projects helping individuals and comUIZities improve their health care and education. Although a Hindu Kingdom, Nepal permits Christian missions but stnctIy forbids conversion. Today UMN is involved in these projects plus environmental management, sex trade worker rescue, family wehess, hydro-electric power, agricultural and micro-economic projects to name some of their many endeavours (Chandy, 1999).

In terms of international education, the UMN runs the Gandaki Boarding School, a

for students £iom the western region of Nepal. Twenty-five percent of

students receive scholarships provided by the UNM and member organizations. As the

Chandys write, these scholarships "favour those students who show the greatest academic potential &om poor, Iow caste families;" girls are targeted for help, "with the aim of eliminatlng the gender bias in Nepal of educating males more so than fernales" (Chandy,

1999). The newest project at the Gandaki Boarding School is the addition of a university

degree program offered through the Ganadaki College of Sciences, which will require the

construction of new buildings for classrooms, computer Iaboratories and administration offices.

Fmding for these and other projects is made possible by donations to the Mission

ând Se~ceFund of the United Church of Canada's Division of World Outreach. In terrns of international education, the work of the United Church is based on their

Christian faith and on such conceptual bases as the ideals of distributive justice and socio-economic transformation (especidy in terms of the UNM's targeting of deserving girls fkom low-caste families for scholarships). m..*. Iutemational Non-Governmental Organization: The International Council for Adult Education

The International Council for Adult Education (ICAE), based in Toronto, is one of the largest international non-govemmental organizations (INGOs) involved in education in the world. It is made up of addt education councils Tom around the world,

Uicluding the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization, the

Asian-South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education, the Canbbean Regional Council for

Adult Education, the Consejo de Educacion de Adultos de America Latina, the European

Association for Adult Education, and the North American Alliance for Popular and Adult

Education. Budd L. Hail, in his chapter Building a Global Learning Netwark: The

International Council for Adult Education, in Adult Education Throu& World

Collaboration (1993), describes the ICAE as

the major international non-govemmental organization in the field of adult education...Lw ]ith members in well over one hundred nations; major regional bodies in Europe, Mca, Asia and the South Pacifk, Latin America and the Arabic speaking states; programs in critical areas of global importance; a respected journal, Convergence; a tradition of holding World Assemblies each four to five years ....a vital network for adult educators and others concemed with leaming in community and global contexts (p. 187).

The International Council for Adult Education (ICAE), based in Toronto, can be considered a 'model' non-govemmental organization. Its history suggests that it understands its development work in terms of social justice. The ICAE grew out of informal discussions among a goup of international participants at the UNESCO Third

International Conference on Adult Education, held in Tokyo in July, 1972. It was decided that the KAE would be "a confederation of national and regional adult education associatiom... with special support for adult education" (Hall, 1993, p. 189). The ICAE was influenced by social-democratic ideals, and drew from social actinst traditions in

Canada and Britain, the liberal and humanistic adult education perspectives of the United

States, the Gandhian tradition in India, as well as the 'folk' high school traditions of

Germany and the Nordic countries (Hall, 1993, p. 195).

Initial support for the organization came fkom Canada, the United States, and the countries of the Commonwealth. Canada played a leading role in the organization fiom the bemgand, according to Hall, 'Canada was chosen as the Eirst headquarters [on

Febmary 14, 19731 because Roby Kidd Iived there" @aU, 1993, p. 193). J. Roby Kidd, executive director of the Canadian Adult Education Association, who was one of the main initiators of informa1 discussions at the UNESCO conference in 1972, helped strengthen the organization through his efforts "to weave...[ together his] various contacts and fiiendships" in the intemational education community (Hail, 1993, p. 196). Kidd later served as fïrst chair of the Adult Education Department in the Graduate Facuky of

Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and continued to be a driving force behind the ICAE. Other key Canadian participants included Ned Corbett, executive director of the Canadian Adult Education Association, and the author hirnself, Budd Hall, who served as Secretary-General of the LCAE fiom 1979 to 1991.

According to Hall, the ICAE has helped not only to reflect, but also to create trends in international education, especially in terms of its recornmendation to UNESCO to declare a Year for International Literacy. The ICAE did so after its members fiom developing corntries "insisted that literacy should have a higher place in the world agenda" (Hall, 1993, p. 205).

The ICAE founded the International Task Force on Literacy VFL) in 1988 in order "to mobilize and provide an umbrella coalition for International Literacy Year"

(Rodney, 1993, p. 234). The ITLF, which was formed as an ad hoc cornmittee, focused on two specific, short-term goals: "building the partnership and accomplishing the tasks" of highhghtiag the International Literacy Year (Rodney, 1993, p. 234). The creation of the ITFL testifïes to the flexibility of non-governmental organizations in responding to

the work of international, govement-sponsored agencies such as the United Nations.

hterestingly, after the end of the International Literacy Year in 1990, and with the

culmination of the work of the ZTFL, the International Council for Adult Education

fonned the International Literacy Support Service (ILSS) to 'respond to the needs of the

grasçroots practitioners and lemers and continue the work of the ITFL &er it dissolved"

(Rodney, 1993, p. 235-236). As a symbol of its cornmitment to empower local Southern

partners to do development work, the ILSS decided to move its offices out of Toronto

and into St. Lucia in 1992.

The International Council for Adult Education can be described as working for

global understanding, the strengthening of adult education prograrns, especially in

developing couutries, and addressing issues of gender equity in education.

iv. National Governent Agency: The Canadian International Development Agency/York University URACCAN Project in Nicaragua

According to an on-line document entitled "CIDA and International

Development," the

assistance provided through Canada's aid program to the developing world is Oficial Development Assistance... for 1998-99, the ODA budget [was] $2.0 billion. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), is the federaI governent agency responsible for about 78% of Canada's aid. EstabLished in 1968, its reports directly to the Minister for International cooperation and Minister responsible for La Francophonie. The other 28% is aesteredby the Department of Finance and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, which have responsibility for specifïc aspects of the aid program, such as our contribution to the World Bank and other international organisations (Canadian International Development Agency, 2000 a).

CIDA's goals are to support international policies and systems related to

education and human resource training "notably for the poor and women; [and] ft]o

strengthen the capacities of public institutions, NGOs and companies to manage and maintain social and economic progress, technologies and technical capitaI investments"

(McNie and Andreae, 1993, p. 81).

As an indication of CIDA'S current priorities in this regard, in September 2000, the federal International Cooperation Minister unveiled a "$2.8 billion five-year plan to bolster and strengthen programrni~g~~in four key areas of "social development in developing coutries-..health and nutrition, basic education, HIV/AIDS and chiid protection" (Canadian International Development Agency, 2000 b). The federal plan,

Social Development Pnorities: A Framework for Action, outlines CIDA's approach "to strengthen its social development programs within its existing policy framework... [by] bringing their share of CIDA7stotal budget fkom approximately 19% to 38% " (Canadian

International Development Agency, 2000 b). According to their announcement, funding for these prograrm is to rise dramatically in the next five years: health and nutrition is expected to double, "i?om just over $152 million a year to $305 million," basic education to quadruple, "fiom $41 million to $164 million a year," HIV/AIDS to quadruple, "fkom

$20 million to $80 million a year," and child protection to quadruple, "fi-om $9 million to

$36 mifion a yeai' (Canadian International Development Agency, 2000 b). Among the Canadian university devefoprnent projects which CIDA funds is the

York -URACCAN Linkage Project at York University's Centre for Research on Latin

Amenca and the Caribbean (CERLAC).

The University of the Autonomous Regions of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua

(URACCAN) was set up in 2992 '30 respond to the particular development needs of the poorest region of Nicaragua -its Caribbean Coast," which is home to an entho- culturally and linguistically diverse population, including "indigenous peoples (the

Mikitu, Mayangna and Rama), the Creole community (descendants of A6ica.n slaves), and Mestizos (descendants of indigenous peop les and Spanish settlers)" (York

University, 1999). According to the URACCAN Linka~e- Proiect website,

Unlike most in Latin America, URACCAN has its origins in the community it seeks to serve, and was created through the efforts of local commmity organizations. URACCAN's teaching programs are designed to enhance the capabilities of the people of the Caribbean Coast, to foster sustainable development (in forestry, fishing, and mining), to improve the quality of health care and of primary and (through nurse and teacher training programs), and to foster commmity development (through a curriculum onented to community needs and involving specialized activities, such as workshops) (York University, 1999).

York University's five-year URACCAN Linkage Project, funded by CIDA and by York University, is intended to assist URACCAN7sinstitutional development plans, which cal1 for

simiificant enhancement of the quality of its faculty, programs and curriculum, establishing of technology-based information and communication centres in each of its three campuses, and development of its community outreach programs (York University, 1999). Expected outcornes of the project for URACCAN include the enhancement of fac* resources and curriculum programs, the strengthening of outreach community development pmjects, the development of a solid research capability, and the upgrading of information and communication systems, by "helping URACCAN develop linkages with an extensive network of Canadian organizations with expertise in international development and other reIevant fields" (York University, 1999).

CERLAC and York University will be providing 21 faculty members with Mater

Degree Programs at York University, English Second Language support for URACCAN faculty through Canadian ESL teachers and a two week-long immersion course offered by specialists fiom the York University English Language Institute, two on-site professional developrnent courses for URACCAN facdty, as well as other forms of support for the various facets of the project. For CERLAC, this project will enhance its role in development education at York University, while York University itself will benefit in at least three ways. York's Faculty of Graduate Shidies "will be better abIe to develop specialized graduate distance education courses," York's facu1ty and students

'%dlbenefit directly fkom exposure to URACCAN faculty studying at York" and York' s graduate students 'Wl have enhanced opportunities to conduct research in Nicaragua and to engage in collaborative work with URACCAN" vork University, 1999).

The York University-URACCAN Linkage Project can be said to foster socio- economic transformation in the area, as it strengthens the Nicaraguan university's efforts to improve the Iives of the poor indigenous popdation of the Caribbean Coast.

v. International Govenunental Agency: The World Bank and the Second Education Project of Sri Lanka

The largest international govemental agency dealing with development aid,

including international education projects, is the World Bank. The World Bank, Iocated

in Washington, DC, (officialIy, the International Bank for Reconstruction and

Development, or IBRD) was "conceived at the United Nations Monetary and Financial

Conference... in July, 1944...[ andl began its operation June 28, 1946" (Holden & Dorlan,

In 1960, the World Bank established the International Development Agency

to provide assistance to poorer developing couutries that cannot meet the IBRD's near-commercial terms. IDA provides credits to the poorest countries -mainly those with an average per capita gross national product in 1997 of $925 or less... IDA credits are made only to governments. The repayment period is of thirty-five to fomyears. Credits carry no interest, but there is a small service charge, currently 0.75 percent. There is also a conmitment charge, which is set annually, wîthin a range of 0-0.5percent of the undisbursed balance... (World Bank, 1998, p. viii).

While other types of non-governmental and govemmental development agencies may declare their intent to support grass-roots movements, social justice, or socio- economic transformation in developing countries, the World Bank Group explicitly States that its aim is to promote capitalist economic investment and rnodemïzation in developing countries, through its member organizations, which include the World Bank, or International Bank for Reconstmction and Development (IBRD), the International

Developrnent Agency (IDA), the International Finance Corporation WC), the

International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and the Multilateral

Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). Thus, The World Bank Annual Re~ort1998

outlines the work of the World Bank Group in the following way: the IBRD and IDA

(which requires its 'borrower governments' to be part of the International Monetary

Fund) "make loans to borrower govements for projects and programs that promate

economic and social progress by heIping raise productivity;" the IFC 'korks closely with

private investors and invests in commercial enterprises in developing countries;" MIGA

"encourages direct foreign investment in developing countries by oEeering insurance

against noncornmercial risk," while the ICS ID promotes "increased flows of international

investment by providing facilities for settling disputes between foreign investors and their

host corntries" (World Bank, 1998, p. viii).

J.B. Holden and J.R. Dorlan, in their chapter "Adult Education and the World

Bank," in Adult Education Through World Collaboration (1993), clah that the World

Bank's goal in providing loans for education in developing countrïes is '20 help reduce poverty, and to finance invesûnents that contribute to economic growth" in such areas "as inûastmcture building, agriculture, training for teachers, and nutrition improvement programs for children and pregnant women" @. 24).

According to HoIden and Dorlen, the World Bank tends to view international education in tems of . "[A]duIt education," Holden and DoIen state, "as an entity or a commody-used term is not an integral part of the World Bank's daily operations" (Holden and Dolen, 2993, p. 37). In another chapter in Adult Education

Through World Collaboration (1993), Paul Belanger, in "Adult Education and the

Changing Role of UNESCO and the UN Organizations," also supports this claim. He writes that the World Bank is inclined '%O hethe issue as a choice between child education and addt literacy, and to retain prirnary formal education as a priority" whereas UNESCO continues to insist "more on the complementarity and the synergy between fomd and non-formal basic education, as welI as on the need for an integral vision of 'fûndamental' education" @elanger, 1993, p. 15).

However, Befanger also points out how WorId Bank economic policies, as enforced by the International Monetary Fund, are detrimental to the ability of governments in developing countries to provide fuiancing for such programs primary education, dong wi& a host of other social services. Belanger writes

With few exceptions, the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to redress the economic situations in developing countries and in some Eastern European countries, has had the effect of cutting substantially the support to public health services, to social programs, and to educational provision, especially outside the area of primary school education. UNICEF and UNESCO have insisted, but with limited results, on the protection of public investrnents in these three areas (Belanger, 1993, p. 14).

The World Bank's view of the role of educatioa within the context of economic globalization is most clearly communicated in its publication Education Sector Strate-

1999. The introduction to Chapter One, "The Context: Education in a Changing World," reads

The world is undergoing changes that make it much more difncult to thive without the skills and tools that a high quality education provides. Education will determine who has the keys to the treasures the world can esh(International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1999, p. 1).

The chapter Lists five "drivers of change." The fïrst is democratization, which %as often been accompanied by decentralization of decision-making" and in which "education will have a key contribution to make in helping citizenries develop the capabilities to be well infomed..."( International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1999, p. 1). Next is market economies, which 'Yeward enterprise, risk-taking, skill, and agilitf' and provide advantages to 'Yhose who can compete best (with literacy, numeracy, and more advanced skills)" (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1999, p. 1). Third is globalization, which will require workers '90 be able to engage in lifelong education, learn new things quickly, perform more non-routine tasks and more cornplex problem solving..." (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1999, p. 1). Fourth is technologicai innovation, which will increase "the importance of Zaiowledge ... replacing raw materials and labor as the input most critical for survival and success" (International

Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1999, p. 2). Last, changing publidprivate roles will see "[g]ovemmen ts... becoming less the direct producers and providers of goods and seMces and more the facilitators and regulators of economic activity" and where education, except for primary and secondary education, will increasingly corne under the control of the private sector, should it find ''public schools inadequate" (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1999, p. 2). These comments suggest the

World Bank's perspective on international development is primarily to aid Ïn the globalization of international capid through a mechanism of strengthening pnvatization in developing coutries.

As stated in The World Bank Annual Report 1998, the educational sector has been second only to agriculture in ternis of the amount of rnoney lent to borrower governments in fiom 1989-98- Agriculture received an annual average of

$553.3 million US, between fiscal years 1989-93, with the amount rising to $876.2 million US in fiscal year 1998; by cornparison, education received an annual average of

$339 million US between fiscal year 1989-93, and $718.2 million US in fiscal year 1998

(World Bank, 1998, p. 3 1).

One such education project, proposed by the Sri Lankan estryof Education to the International Development Agency in 1996, was the Sri Lanka Second General

Education Project, which had the purpose of improving the quality and efficiency of the education system. One aspect of this project forms the basis of this study, and the overall program wil be described and wiIl be analyzed in detail in Chapter 5. Before that, however, 1wish to provide some histoncal and contemporary background, both to Sn

Lanka's education system in general, and its teacher training system in particular. CHAPTER 3 A BRIEF HISTORY OF SCHOOLING IN SRI LANKA

Introduction

The Sri Lankan educational historian U. D. Jayasekera, in Earlv Hîstorv of

Education in Ceylon (1969), writes that "[e]ducation has often been dehed as the whole life of the comunity viewed fkom the standpoint of learning to live that Me" and quotes the philosopher Karl Manheim's assertion that a sociological perspective mut be maintaineci when studying a country's educationd system because of the fact that many underlying influences "shape the thought, ideals, practices and traditions of any nation"

(p. viï).

In every country, education, as a product of that society, is tied to the histories, religions, cultures, and political economies of its peoples, and the case of Sn Lanka is no diffèrent. Here, seventeen million people share an island of only 65,000 square kilometres. Politically independent only since 1948, Sn Lanka's 2,500-year history is marked by a 450-year period of almost continuai colonial exploitation, fkst by the

Portuguese, then the Dutch, and kaily, the British. The two main ethnic groups,

Sinhalese and Tamil, are riven by inter-ethnic as well as intra-ethnic rivalries based on religion, language, class, and caste. More recently, this nvalry bas erupted into a civil war in the north and north-eastern portions of the country, one that has continued since 1983, with many Tamils seeking to establish an independent homeland for themselves.

The Sinhalese, originally Aryans fiom North India who migrated to the island over twenty-five hundred years ago, are predomulantly Buddhist and fom seventy-four

percent of the population. They are divided into two sub-groups, the low-country and the

hi&-country. While the low-country Sinhalese were conquered by the Portuguese in

1560, the high-country Sinhalese in the region of held out against colonial

domination until 1818, when their area was conquered by the British. Afier this time, two

elites competed in Ceylon: the traditional elite of the Kanym aristocracy among the majody of non-Westeraized Sinhalese, and a colonial elite made up of Burghers, as those Sinhalese who intermarried with the Portuguese, Dutch, and later British colonialists came to be called, who formed about five percent of the population.

The Tamils were originally of Dravidian or South Indian stock. Some groups may have preceded the Sinhalese to the island, while later groups took part in various invasions of Sn Lanka fÎom Southern India, including the Chola conquest of the tenth century and the establishment of a Tamil kingdom in the north of the island in the thirteenth (Bullion, 1995, p. 14). This group are referred to as Ceylonese (or J&a)

Tamils and form about ten percent of the overall population of Sn Lanka. In addition, in the 1830's British colonizers imported more Tamils £kom India as indentured labourers to work the coffee plantations. The descendants of this group, now called Lndian (or

Plantation) Tamils, form about eight percent of the population and are mainly employed in the tea plantations.

Muslims also form two sub-groups in Sri Lanka. One group, the Moors, form about eight percent of the population and are descended nom Arab and Indian traders who amved on the island f?om the seventh to the thirteenth centuries. By cornparison, the

Malays, who form less than a third of one percent of the population, are descendants of

Javanese mercenaries brought by the Dutch. The Moors themselves are threatened by a

cleavage dong linguistic and class lines, with the mostly Sinhalese-speaking Southwest

Coast group being urbanized, while the mostly Tamil-speaking East Coast group remains

in rural areas of that region of Sri Lanka (Kyle-Botjue, 1995, p. 16).

'Burghers,' who once formed an elite minority in colonial times, are now reduced

to less than one percent of the population, as are the indigenou Vedda, who live in the

eastem highlands.

What follows is a brief history of organized education in Sri Lanka. Recognizing

that 'education' and 'schoohg' have different connotation, with the former relating to

anything that can be studied or learned, in any setting, informal or formal while the latter

relates specificaily to leaming that takes place in an institution, this bnef history will

focus on the ways religious organizations, colonizing powers, and post-independence govemments of Sn Lanka have used schooling to impart certain kinds of socialization. It

focuses on how schooling has been, and continues to be used, as a tool and a weapon: a tool to benefit those groups which have found favour with those in power and a weapon to be wielded to guarantee economic and social domination over all rivals.' Education in Pre-Colonial Times (3 00 BC-1560 AD)

Buddhist Education

Formai education in Sn Lanka extends back at least two thousand three hundred

years in the Sinhalese Buddhist community and fiom approximately the same time in the

Tamil Hindu col~ll~lunïty~Education, at lest mtil the intrusion of European imperialism,

was tied to local religions, with Buddhist and Hindu monks and pnests serving as

teachers of both religious and secular howledge.

The Mahavamsa, a mytho-historic saga oEBuddhism in Sri Lanka, written by

monks in the sixth century, chronicles the establishment of as the state religion

of the SinhaIese ui the third cenhrry SC. Mahinda, a thera (religious elder), and the son of

the Indiau Emperor Asoka (269-232 BC) and a concubuie, arrived at Minhintde

"accompanied by four theras, a Samanera (novice), and a lay-disciple7'(Ludowyk, 1967, p. 45). There, on 'Ihe fidl moon day of the month of Jettha," Mahinda met and converted the king, Tissa (Devanampiyatissa, or 'beloved of the gods') to Buddhism (Jayasekera,

1969, p. 86). One of King Tissa's fïrst acts after the conversion of the Sinhalese was the donation of a royal park at Mahavihara to the Buddhist sangha (order). Mahavihara was to become a great monastery school and the most powerful religious centre of Buddhism in the country.

Bhikkus (monks) have ofien served as teachers. The two fields of study open to bhilckhus were the vocation of meditation and the vocation of scholarship, with the latter deemed more important (Rahula, 1974, p. 29). From earliest times, the educational institutions reserved for the bhikkhus

(brothers) and bhitddiuni (sisters) were the vihara, the arima, and the parivena (schools of various sizes). Besides offering religious instruction, bhikkhus also taught the Iay population secular subjects, which probably included "Sansluit language and gramrnar, astrology, Vedic texts, political science, Pali language and grammar, Tripitaka [sacred texts]. Perhaps and grammar, medical science, reading, number, logic, prosody and rhetoric" (Jayasekera, 1969, p. 166).

Hindu Education

Regarding Hindu education, J.E. Jayasuriya quotes S. Arasaratnam, who writes:

From an early date, education spread among the people, creating a

literate community which remains so to this day. Temple schools + and improvised classes on the outer verandah of the village schoolmaster's house spread basic education to the rural areas. Toward the end of the meen century, an of Tamil literature was founded at Nallur by the king. This acaderny did usehl work in collecting and preserving ancient classical Tamil works in manuscript form (Arasaratnman, quoted in Jayasuriya, 1981, p. 20).

Hindu education was especially proficient in the areas of astrology and medicine.

Ayurvedic medicine continues to be practiced in Sri Lanka to this day.

Merthe capture of the last Hindu king, Samkili of Jafia, by the Portuguese in

1621, the Hindu system of education went underground, "a little teaching being secretly imparted in some houses or thinnai by ardent Hindus determined not to let the torch of learning entirely die out" (Jayasuirya, 1981, p. 20). Muslim Education

Histoncalfy, the Muslim community in Ceylon maintained ties with both Baghdad and the corntries of that caliphate as weU as the Muslim countries settled along the coasts of the Mediterranean, and of Spain. According to Johnston, "they introduced fiom these countries to Ceylon many original works in Arabic on Mohammedan Law and many translations into Arabic of the most valuable Greek and Roman classics upon medicine, science and literature" (Johnston, quoted in Jayasuriya, 1981, p. 21).

Muslim educational institutions included the maktab, which provided primary education, and the , which provided secondary education. The maktab was a "a primary school often attached to a mosque, the chief business of which ...[ was] to instnict boys (and girls) in.. .the Koran.. .Sometirnes instruction in reading, writing and simple arithmetic was also included in the curriculu~zz"(Keay, quoted in Jayasuriya, 198 1, p. 2 1).

According to Jayasuriya, "[elvery Muslim commuuity in Ceylon is Iikely to have had its own maktab, associated with the local mosque" (Jayasuriya, 198 1, p. 2 1).

The Madrasa, or institution of secondary education, was mainly state supported in the Mushworld. The curriculum probably included "'Grammar, Literature, Logic,

Islamic Law, Principles of Islamic Law (or Jurisprudence), Quranic commentary, Hadith

(or Apostolic Tradition), Mysticism and Religious Philosophy"' (Shalaby, quoted in

Jayasuriya, 1981, pp. 21-22). European Colonization and Education (1 560-1 948)

Gai1 P. Kelly and Phüip G. Altbach, in their text Education and Colonialism

(1978), which draws on studies of British East Hcan, French West Aüïcan, and French

Indochinese administrations, have defhed colonialism and the educational systems imposed by it in the followuig way:

[Tlhe colonial enterprise encompasses the political, social, and economic He of those couutries involved in a situation in which the colonizer rather than the colonized holds power for purposes the colonizer defines. Schools wfVch emerge in colonies reflect the power and the educational needs of the colonizers. While the educationai systems that were established served some of the needs of the indigenous popdation simply as a result of the interaction between those making policy, schools were primarily designed to serve the needs of the colonizers. The aspirations of the colonized were for the most part ignored. Colonial administrators, when they took interest in education at all, were concerned with training literate clerks who could staff the lower ranks of the civil service 0-2)-

This description of colonial education certainly holds true throughout the periods when

Sri Lanka was dominated by three European powers in tum: the Portuguese fiom 1560-

1658, the Dutch fiom 1658-1796,and the British fiom 1796-1948. Throughout this long colonial period, all three colonizing powers sought to exploit Sri Lanka's natural resources and strategic position for the impenal motherlands, to pacw the residents through war and Christianization, and to use schooling as a tool whereby a small percentage of Sinhalese and Tamils were trained in the colonizers' languages and indoctrinated under systems of Western education in order to assume their position as part of a malleable native sub-elite. The Portuguese (1560-1658)

In the sixteenth century, the Portuguese decided that Sri Lanka, which they called

Cilao, ccconveyeda strategic advantage that was necessary for protecting their coastal establishments in India and increasing Lisbon's potential for dominahg Indian Ocean trade" (E-Conflict World Encyclopedia, 2000). Allying themselves with a Sinhalese faction in a palace revolt, the Portuguese established a foothold on the island in 1560, and, by 1619, had annexed the Kingdom of J6a

Generally, according to Keliy and Altbach, while colonial admlliistrators and missionaries might not "always agree on the lines dong which education should develop ... [bloth saw education as a means for accomplishing their own ends. Neither codted with the colonized in detennining the scope and content of schooling" (p. 2).

However, in the case of Sri Lanka, there appears to have been little fiction between the

Portuguese colonial administrators and Roman Catholîc missionaries. In fact, the

Portuguese colonial administrators allowed Franciscan, Jesuit, Domhican and

Augustinian missionaries into Sri Lanka. The Franciscans established three colIeges and, in Ja.&a, twenty-five schooIs. The Jesuits established twelve parish schools in the same city, as well as colleges of higher education in Jafi5a and . For those students who were able to attend those schools, all education was free and instruction was offered in Portuguese and Sinhalese or Tamil. The missionaries converted a large nurnber to

Roman Catholicism (Codrington, 1970, pp. 128-129). Mernbers of this co~llfnunity,who often assumed Portuguese names, served as a colonial elite and continued to exert social influence disproportionate to their numbers into the twentieth century (E-Conflict World

Encyclopedia, 2000).

The Dutch (1658-1796)

The Dutch, becoming interested in the spice trade in the seventeenth century, capitalized on Kandyan resistance to the Portuguese by signing a treaty with King

Rajasinha II of Kandy in 1638. The Dutch captured Tricomalee and Batticdao in 1639 and restored thehem to the , but when and Negombo were captured in 1640 they refused to turn them over. Colombo feu in 1656 and Jaffna, the last

Portuguese stronghold, ùi 1658. By 1765 the Kandyans were forced to sign a peace treaty that gave the Dutch sovereignty over the lowlands (E-Conflict World Encyclopedia,

2000).

As early as 1650 the Dutch East India Company had established sixteen schools on the island. E.F.C. Ludowyk, in his A Short Histow of Ceylon (1967), notes that the

Dutch, "[ilntent as ever to subordinate everything to the profit of the Company... looked at their educational program, in the words of the early Govemor Maatsuyker (1646-501, as

"'works whereby God's glory was promoted and the Company's position is at the same time assured"' (p. 146). Initially, Maatsuyker assumed that the Company and the Dutch

Reformed Church7sinterests would complement each other. However, this was not to be the case, as my investigation of the hktory of teacher training during the Dutch period, presented in the next chapter, rnakes clear. Dutch schools were established to proselytize the population away fiom

Buddhism and Hinduism, as well as Roman Catholicisrn, and towards the Dutch

Reformed Church. Dutch educational efforts towards the Sinhalese, in particular, have been described as a "propaganda which combined Christian conversion wiîh education fiom the point of view of the Company... for the purpose of weaning the rising generation f?om its natual beliefs and traditions, and its loyalty to the [Sinhalese] king" (Pieris,

1973, p. 15).

The Dutch provided both incentives and disincentives in their bid to Mertheir domination of the island. They imposed fines on natives for non-attendance of Dutch-run schools and ensured that social advancement in the colony was tied to adherence to the colonizer's religion, as "employment in the Company's service was restricted to baptized

Christians" (Ludowyk, 1967, p. 146).

Education during the Dutch colonial period was controlled by two bodies: first. the Dutch Reformed Church, through its consistories (or church tribunals) in Colombo,

JaEha, and Galle, as well as the J&a Seminary and Colombo Seminary and New

Seminary; secondly, the Scholarchal Commissions, appointed by the Govemor, which supe~sedthe fifty-five vernacular schools (which taught '7he Catechism and prayers, as well as readïng and writing in the vemacular") and the seventeen Dutch schools for

Europeans (Codrington, 1970, pp. 151, 153).

Dutch education efforts and proselytization were, on the whole, failures. Two of the seminaries which had been established to train Christian converts lasted only a short time: the New Seminary in Colombo closed aera few years; the J&a Seminary after thirty-three. Dutch colonization was, however, more successful in the establishment of the Burghers as a small, but poweful, ethnic group. As Christian converts who intermarried with the Dutch, the Burghers fonned a separate ethnic group which formed part of the elite at least up to the time of Sri Lanka's independence in 1948.

The British (1796-1948)

According to one interpretation of the reasons for the shift of colonial ders of Sri

Lanka, the Dutch, after angering the British by siding with the French during the

American War of Independence, then refused to grant the British permission to dock their sbips at Trincomalee. This provoked a British reaction, and in 1796 they captured

Trincomalee, expelled the Dutch fiom SnLanka, and estabiished the British East India

Company on the island. (E-Contlict World Encyclopedia, 2000).

In 1798, Frederic North was appointed the kst British Governor and

Commander-in-Chief of the island, though the administration continued to be subject to the British East India Company (Codrington, 1970, p. 160). North's period in office was marked by many experiments in the establishment of an executive branch, the British legal system, and education on the island. By 1801, under Governor North, 170 schools had been established, dong with three preparatory (Superior) schools for Sinhalese,

Tamil, and European youth, as well as an Academy at Colombo (Codrïngton, 1970, p.

161; Ludowyk, 1967, p. 147). Governor North's lasting legacy, through the establishment of the three Superior

schools and the Academy, was the maintenance of the native English-speaking cohort

within the colonial elite. A 'laiowledge of English" was required of all admitted into

colonial govenurient service. Thus, graduates of the Superior schools could enter the low

and middle grades of civil administration, whik the graduates of the Academy (later

Royal College) entered the middle and upper grades not reserved for Europeans (Lewin

and Little, 1982, p. 15-16). The estnative graduates of the Superior schools were to be the forefathers of the 'Brown Sahib' or 'European' caste. As Kelly and Altbach note, in describing germaine aspects of colonial administration of the the:

The colonial school was an alien institution, alien in the sense that whatever it taught had little to do with the society and the culture of the cobnizeb, either purposely or ~~~wittingly,and served as a mechanism whereby the schooled would gain a new social place and a new culture rather tiian be prepared to work within the context of indigenous culture Kelly and Altbach, 1978, p. 4).

This is certainly tme of the European caste in Sn ank ka?

Another Iasting effect of this policy was that school achievement became tied, in the Sri Eankan psyche, to "access to wage and salary jobs outside traditional ernployment" (Lewin and Little, 1982, p. 15). Higher education came to be seen as the quickest route by which some members of the indigenous population could gain entry into the colonial elite.

As with the Dutch and the Portuguese before them, and practice for the British colonial powers was an area of sometimes conflicting spheres of influence, civil and ecclesiastical, both in Britain and in the colony. Governor North appointed the

Reverend James Cordiner as htSuperintendent of schools, but the venture failed when the British govenunent "rehsed to spend the L 1,500 necessary for the maintenance of the English schools, and they were discontinued" (Zeylanicus, 1970, p. 102).

As a result of the closure of the 170 English schools which had been established under Governor North, the number of self-professed Protestants fell. For example, the number of Presbyterians dropped nom 342,000 in 1796, to 130,000 in 18 14 (Zeylanicus,

1970, pp. 102- 103). In response to agitation fiom the Evangelicals in England over this failure in Christianization, the British Secretary of State ordered Govemor Maitland

(1 805-1 8 1l), North's successor, to revive the schools. Archdeacon Twistlewon was given charge and seventeen were reopened. By 1829 there were ninety govemment schools, though only four existed in Tamil areas (Zeylanicus, 1970, p. 103). On the other han& b y

1826 Protestant missionaries had established over 200 schools (Zeylanicus, 1970, p. 103).

AU government schools were under the control of a Colonial Chaplain as

'Principal of Schools and King's Visitor' (Wyndham, 1933, p. 40). H.A. Wyndham in his

Native Education: Ceylon, Formosa, the Philippines, French Indo-China and British

Malaysia (1933), offers a British irnperialist's view of government-run and "native" education in Sri Lanka in the early nineteenth century:

Native schoohasters were quite dtfor work, and (worse fauit of dl) were not required to laiow English... They taught nothhg but reading and writing in the vernacular... The schools of the Buddhists pnests were even worse. A dozen dus& infants assembled and, squatting on the ground, chanted a dismal alphabetic chorus, and spent weary days over 360 combinations of letters before being advanced to lists of temples, places of pilgrimage, and so forth (wyndham, 40).

In 1829 the British CoIonial OftZce established a Royal Commission of Eastern

Inquiry -the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission -to assess the colonial administration of the isIand. Their Report of 1833 contained such a wide-ranging and radical set of proposals that according to some, at least, it 'himed the course of the history of Ceylon in the modem direction" (Econaict World Encyclopedia, 2000; Ludowyk, 1967, p. 2 69). Ln education, Colebrooke and Cameron reconullended that the colonial governent should be solely responsible for the management of English schools, wbich wodd receive state patronage, unlike the vernacular schools run by the Christian missionaries.

The colonial govenunent did not implement this recommendation, although it did establish a School Commission in 1834 and open the Colombo Academy in 1836 as a college. However, siuce "opinion on the School Commission was sharply divided on the problem of the medium to be used" in government-run schools, a compromise was reached which "made EngIish the principal but not the sole medium, and maintained vemacular schools as subsidiary to the Englxsh schools" (Wyndham, 1933,4344).

Meanwhile, Christian missionaries, who by 1815 had begun establishing schools in Sri

Lanka "which differed little in substance fkom the Government's" except for the fact that they were private and charged tuition. By 1847 these schools began to offer most, if not all, of their instruction in English (Wyndham, 1933, p. 44). They soon flourished, far outpacing government schools. By 1868, govenunent schools numbered 112 and their total school population was about 7,500. On the other hand, by 1872, the 402 missionary schools had a combined population of 25,000 students @alceman, 1964, 100).

After 1869, with the establishment of the Department of Public Instruction, schools in Sri Lanka were divided into

three types: ...( 1) English schools using no other medium than English; (2) English schools... in which the vernacular was the medium; and (3) Anglo-vernacular schools in which the vernacular was the medium in the lower standards and English was htroduced in the higher (Wyndham, 1933, p. 49).

A recent SnLankan Mùiistry of Education document claims that English-medium schools of the nineteenth century offered "quaiified teachers and better facilities

[and] ...charged fees and catered to the upper classes," while '%ernacular schools imparted f?ee education to the children of the pooi' (Ministry of Education, 1984, p. 9).

By 1880, the colonial govenunent made a number of important decisions affecthg education: it established a Board of Education, dissociated itself fiom the management of English education by concentrating on developing vernacular schools in the interior and leaving the maritime provinces to the grant-in-aid schools. However, as a result of this last decision "[tlhe Missions were unable to cope... adequately with the dernand for higher education" (Wyndham, 1933, pp. 47-48).

That grant-in-aid schools constantly outpaced govemment-nui schools is evident f?om the following table (based on information provided by Wyndham) which lists the number of schools operated by both authoxities fiom 1869 to 1922: GOVERNMENT AND GRANT-IN-AID SCHOOLS 1869 - 1922 Governent Schools Grant-in-aid Schoo 1s 1869 64 21 1872 200 402 1882 421 832 1892 453 1,024 1902 515 1,424 1912 779 1,986 1922 994 2,086

These government and gant-in-aid schools included primary and secondary institutions. As a result of the desire, among many of the British and the European caste to send their children to English-medium secondary schools, b y the end of the nineteenth centirry, there were too many high schools and too few elementary school for these elites, according to Wyndham (p. 49). However, as Kelly and Altbach write, 'Tn British colonies in Alïica and most of Asia, postprimary schooling was not necessady secondary education as the British knew it but rather an extension of primary schooling and was offered to a very small number of people" (Kelly & Aitbach, 1978, p. 8).

The colonial govemment continued to administer . Although the

Colebrooke Commission had recommended that government secondary schools be established in order to enable Sn Lankans to qu- for higher administrative positions,

''@]y 1861 there were only nine [secondary] schools with a total of 672 pupils" and those, rnainly made up of Burghers (Zeylanicus, 1970, p. 98). Tertiary educational institutions included the Colombo Academy, and various Teacher Training Colleges. The Rise of National and its Effects on Education 1927-47

Almost a hundred years after Colebrooke and Cameron £btbegan thek hearings, the Earl of Donoughmore visited Sri Lanka in 1927 as chairman of a royal cornmission which was mandated to report on the constitution in place at the time and to make recommendations for its revision. These recommendations became the basis for the

Donoughmore Constitution, put ixlto effect in 1931.

Interna1 self-government was to be achieved as the "existing Executive Coucil and Legislative Council were to give way to a State Council, possessing legislative and executive fiinctions" (Jayasuriya, 1969, p. 16). This State Council was to be divided into seven Executive Committees (including an Education Cornmittee), each which would elect its own Chairman, and these Chainnen, together with the Chief Secretary, Financial

Secretary, and Legal Secretary (each appointed by the Colonial Office in London) were to fom a Board of Ministers. The three appointed officials, or Officers of State, had no voting rights in the State Council or Board of Ministers. The fïrst national elections to the

State Council were held in 1931 (Jayasuriya, 1969, p. 15).

According to a more recent Sri Lankan Ministry of Education account, this constitution introduced 'Wniversal Adult Franchise and the gant of intemal self- govement...[ and] brought the issue of education to the forefiont" (Ministry of

Education, 1984, p. 9). The fist Chairman of the Executive Cornmittee of Education, Mr.

C.W.W. Kannangara, sought to convert the existing Board of Education, created by

Education ûrdinance No. 1 of 1920 into an advisory board, and transfer policy and regulation making powers to the new Education Committee (Jayasiiirya, 1969, p. 16).

However, a struggle ensued between the existing Board of Education and the new

Executive Committee on Education, one which couid certainly be understood in terms of a conflict between the old colonial order and the nsing nationalist elite in pre- independence Sri Lanka. The Board of Education, made up of officiais and non-officiais appointed by the Govemor, was predominantly Christian and among other measures, had refiised to support the funding of parivenas (Buddhist monastic schools) and the introduction of Sinhalese as a subject in English schook. Because the vested interests in the Board of Education were afhaid of losing their power to the elected representatives of this new and more popdar democratic systern, voting on a draft bill of education was delayed for seven years, during which time the Education Committee, answerable democraticaliy to the Ceylonese electorate, stniggled on with no legal standing.

Education Ordiname No. 3 1, which replaced the Education Ordinaxice of 1920, was findy passed by a vote of the State Council in 1939, signaling a victory for the

Executive Committee of Education.

The Struggle for (1939-44)

Granted legislative power after a seven-year power struggle, the Minister of

Education (Chairman of the Executive Committee for Education) began to push for a package of fw-reaching reforms which were resisted, not just by denominational interests, but also by the more conservative members of the Board of Ministers itself. The most radical proposa1 was for a system of 'fiee' education up to "O" levels (or junior

secondary school).

This proposal was to include denominational schools, which were to continue

receiving gants-in-aid to pay their teachers as Iong as they agreed to abolish all tuition

fees. However, while the payment of teachers' salaries would relieve them of a heavy

financial burden, the proposal also entailed greater state involvement in these schools. To

opt out of the new program would mean loshg out on the maintenance grants they relied

on to survive. Only a very few elite missionary schooIs could afford to survive without

gants-in-aid fiom the govemment (de Silva, 198 1, p. 72).

Ratber than face this difficult decision, denominational schools, dong with their

supporters both on and outside of the Board of Ministers, sought to block these reform

measures. Again, this stniggIe for 'fiee' education can be seen as another battle for the displacement of elites, as had been the earlier struggle over the Executive Cornmittee of

Education. On one hand were massed the rnissionary schools as representatives of the old

British colonial administration and the conservative elements of the anglicized Sri

Lankan elite who were their allies, on the other side were the politicized bbikkhus of the

Vidyalankara parivena fiom the Colombo region, who formed a traditional elite that had been suppressed through years of colonial domination and now sought to regain their position of authow through the popdar support of a SinhaIese Buddhist majoriw that had been largely kept out of the political process..'

This struggle was resolved with the endorsement of 'fiee' education by the State Council in June 1945, an event which has been characterized as "a high water mark in the process of democratîzation of education in Sn Lanka" (Mhistry of Education, 1984, p. 9) and was considered a major victory for the politicized bhikkhus- The struggle revealed clearly the political divisions that were to become more pronounced after independence.

The chief critic of the plan, D.S. Senanayake, who was tu serve as the first Prime

Minister of Ceylon after independence, continued to face opposition fkom politicized bhikkhus on many occasions (de Silva, 1981, p. 72-73).

Long-term Effects of British Colonial Educationd System

Dr. Swma Jayaweera, a Professor of Education at the University of SnLanka, produced a study entitled Education and Socio-Economic Developrnent in Sri Lanka in

1976, in wtiich she analyzed the colonial roots of the contemporary Sri Lankan educational system. She stated that "many contemporary educational problems have their origins in nineteenth-century so cio-economic and educational policies" and Listed four factors which continued to cast %eir shadows on current developments" (p. 1).

The first factor Jayaweera discusses is that

Education under the British administration was used as an instrument of colonial deto create an dite assimilated to the metropolitan culture and alienated fiom its own environment as well as to train subordinate personnel to assist in administration. The type of education introduced for this purpose was the western literary curriculum which gave access to remuneraiive and prestigious employrnent and thus became the goal of colonial society aspinng to an elite status (Jayaweera, 1976, pp. 1-2). This alienation of the English-educated elite fkom the mass of Sri Lankans (a pattern repeated wherever colonial education took hold) was also noted by a contemporary Sri Lankan historian, Zeylanicus, who writes, 'Tupils of English schools were not required to know anything of their mother-tongue or be acquainted with their country's history or geography. This Western-style education system created a new class of people who became basicaIly British in outlook" (Zeylanicus, 1970, p. 105).

Jayaweera continued:

Consequently, English education became the agent of social and economic mobility, even though mobility was limited to the class- structured education system-..a clear and positive relationship was established between educational achievement and ernployment (Jayaweera, 1976, p.2).

This perception was perpetuated into the post-independence period, with debilitating results. One of the effects of 'fkee' education was a massive increase in the number of students at all levels of the school system. However, while educational opportunities increased in the post-1948 era, employment, especially in the civil se~ce and professions, shrank, creating frustration among disaffected Sinhalese and Tamil youth that was to have major political and social repercussions.

Thirdly, Jayaweera noted that

Colonial educational policy created at the same time a dudistic social structure by providing an elitist English education for a srnaIl minority (which only reached a proportion of 6% of the population in 1946 at the end of British nile), and an infenor fkee "vemacular" education in the local laquages for the majority who formed the broad base of the socio-economic pyramid ...These inequalities were Mercomplicated by the advantages accruing to the small Christian minority (approximately 8%) fiom the near monopoly of the control of English education by Christian missionaries (Jayaweera, 1976, p. 2).

While Jayaweera focused on the Christian minorïty that were aided by missionary education, this schooling system also had long-tem effects on the island's caste system, and especially on the social mobility of Td.Missionary education had the effect of watering domcaste and ethnic divisions by empowering some traditionally weaker groups, such as the karava caste of Sinhalese fishermen. However, missionary schools had the most dramatic effect on the social position of the Tamils. In 1816, the American

Board of Foreign Missions sent missionaries to Jaffna, where they established the first girls7school which was later to becorne the renowned . Roman Catholic missions were also set up in the same region, with impressive results.

Although Ceylonese Tamils formed only ten percent of the nineteenth century population, their fluency in English (as well as the colonial practice of favouring rninorities as a tactic to divide and decolonized peoples) ensured them the opportunity to occupy about 40 percent of all senior administrative, professional, and educational positions throughout the nineteenth century and into the hthalf of the twentieth century. This, in tuni, was to lead to resentment and reaction on the part of the Sinhalese majority, culminating in the passage of the Officia1 Language Act of 1956, which raised

Sinhalese to official status while ignoring Tamil.

Jayaweera's fourth factor was that

Educational development made Little contribution to economic growth. The colonial economy was structurally a dual economy. The plantations which were the channels of nineteenth century economic development were originally almost a foreign enclave and made few . demands on the education system even after local entrepreneurs became participants on a small scale in economic enterprises. The traditional sector of the economy where 60% of the population were employed stagnated through neglect and formed part of the deprived sector of which the 'vemacular' schools were a symbol. The main contribution of the education system was to assist the organization of the infr;istructure of the modern sector by providing the manpower for the administration and social services. This divorce of the education system fkom the economy and the low status of sprang fiom the name of the colonial economy which rewarded administrativejobs and neglected domestic agriculture and industrialization (Jayaweera, 1976, pp. 1-3).

Jayaweera argues that the education system was divorced fiom the Sri L,an.km economy under the British colonial administration. However, it could be argued that the educational system did, in fact, meet the needs of the colonial economy tuned precisely to meet the needs of the British and European caste elites, while ignoring the vast majority of Sinhalese and Tamils who could not speak English and had as Little as possible to do with the British.

The low status in which vocational training was held social effects of the rnissionary schools in Ceylon was enormous. Since independence, successive Sri Lankan govemments have struggled with the dilemma of making education work within a socid system where the demand for a slcilled workforce has been consistently less than the supply. As Jayaweera noted in 1976: Tt is apparent that the economy cannot absorb the output of the education system and that the education system has not produced the skills required by the economy" (p. 11). The social impact of these four factors: the elitism of the British colonial educational system, the notion established by it arnong Sri Lankans that educational achievement would inevitably lead to employrnent, the dualism of the system, and its focus on acadernic rather than vocational and technical training, aIl continued to play a major role in the shaping of educational policy in an independent Sri Lanka.

Education in an Independent Sri Lanka (1948-77)

In the decades following political independence in 1948, the drawbacks of the

British colonial educational system became more and more apparent. It is tme that, after the passage of 'f?eeY education in 1944, a broader base of population was taught at least literacy skills, although it continued to be controlled by Christian missions. However, at the higher levels, schoohg continued to be elitist (with ody about one percent of the entire population attending university), served by an examination system based on British models, and geared to the formation of professional and white-colIar civil servants even as opportunities in these fields were shrinking.

Schooling in modern Sri Lanka, as it was throughout the colonial periods, has continued to be infiuenced by larger social and political forces. This is most apparent when analyzing four major clusters of events, the Officia1 Languages Act of 1956, the

JVP Student Revolt of 1970, the 'standardization' of university admission in 1973 (and its effects in fomenting civif war in the Tamil population), and various proposals for systemic educational reforms fkom 1975 to the present. The largest political party at the tirne of Sri Lanka's independence was the United

National Party (UNP), which, under D.S. Senanayake, formed the htgovemments fiom

1948 to 1956. This party can be characterized as having been consemative, supported b y the Sinhalese elites, secular, and traditionally more conciliatory in its approach to the

Tamil and other minorities. By cornparison, the Sri Lanka Freedom Pa* established in

1951 by S.W.R.D. Banadaranailce, consistently supported nationalization, 'dynamic neutralism' in world &airs, and pro-Buddhist and pro-Sinhalese cultural policies.

As we have seen, in the penod immediately preceding independence, the most important political fi@ in education revolved around a broadening of the education base through the enactment, in 1944, of 'f?ee' education at all levels, including most missionary schools. Through this legislation the state began to play a much greater role in education by directly financing most teachers. The period immediately following independence, fiom 1948 to 1956, was relatively chin tenns of education, ethnic, and language policies. However, with the rise of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which enjoyed its fist period of power fiom 1956 to 1965, the relationship between education, ethnicity, and social and political power became the focus of attention. In the opinion of some, education began to be used as a weapon for sectarianism in Sri Lanka, by which the

Sinhalese Buddhist rnajority sought to gain domination over those minonties (TamiIs and

Christians) which had benefited the most under British rule.

Sinhalese Buddhist grievances of the 1950's codesced around three related issues: education and employment; religion and Sinhalese culture; and language. In education, many Sinhalese called for a reform of the Christian missionary schools througb the introduction of the right to Buddhist religious instruction, and the creation of more independent Buddhist schools. Many Sinhalese Buddhists felt that their children were being denied important positions in the public seMces and armed forces which were held, predominantly, by minorïty Christians and Tamils. In an effort to counteract this, the Sinhalese also called for the implementation of a system of proportional representation in the universities, or 'standardkation,' whereby Sinhalese Buddhists, which formed the majority, would be favoured (Wilson, 1979, p. 14).

Secondly, Sinhalese Buddhist militants cailed for the adoption of Sinhalese as the sole official language of the country. This, it was hoped, wodd have the effect of displacing the majority of English-educated Ceylon Tamils in public service and make it very difficult for their cornpatriots to enter public service in the fbture.

Thirdly, this group of Sinhalese Buddhists also cailed for the nationalization of all schools in Ceylon, in an effort to undercut the power of Christian missionary schools

(Wilson, 1979, pp. 15-16).

Under the British domination, ethnic rivalries between various groups were not reported on. The Sinhalese Tamil Riot of 1915 on the west coast of the island was the only officially published account of public ethnic discord under the colonial administration. To be sure, the threat of sectarianism was apparent as early as 1944, when the language issue hrst surfaced in a discussion of what was to replace English as the oficial language in an independent Ceylon. On the whole, however, the push for independence united Sinhalese, Tamils, and MusIims, at least ternporady. The election of the Sn Lanka Freedom Party in 1956 saw the beginning of chauvinistic language and educational legislation, including the Official Language Act.

The Official Language Act of 1956

The adoption of the Official Language Act of 1956, which declared "the to be the official language of Sri Lanka" and made no reference to Tamil, was the htof a series of laws which were passed to satis@ grievances arnong many

Sinhalese hardliners. It lead to a strong reaction by the Tamil minonty, who feared the loss of lucrative positions, prestigious goverrinent jobs, and, above aiI, 'Wei. very

Ianguage and culture" (De Silva, 1987, p. 239).

Among many sectors of the Sinhalese commmity lay an abiding sense that they were an oppressed minority in the overall South Indian region. This in tuni fostered concerns about what 'parity of status' between Tdand Sinhalese might entail. In addition, economic factors involving universi@ graduates continued to concern them - al1 of which played a role in their support of the legislation. Given that some Suihaiese chose to identify themselves as belonging to a Buddhist 'chosen people', Sinhalese populist politicians continued to play on the menace posed to the Sinhalese cof~lfliunity

(which numbered over seven million in Sn Lanka at the time of the Official Language

Act debates) by a Tamil community in Southern hdia and Sn Lanka, which, when combined, numbered over forty ~nillion.~ The United National Party supported a policy of 'parity of status' which would

see Sinhalese elevated to official status while still allowing for the use of Tamil in the

mainly Tamil North and East provinces. Unfortunately, however, many segments of

Sinhalese society believed 'parity of status' wouId mean "that ail officia1 records without

exception would have to be maintained in both official languages throughout the length

and breadth of the island ...[an d] that such a policy would lead to every Sinhalese child having to lemTamil" (Wilson, 1979, p. 20).

Mere an English education had traditiondy lead to employrnent in the civil service, students graduahg fiom Sinhalese-medium schoo1s rmained at a social disadvantage. Thus, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party could also number, amongst its supporters, ''crowds of young students in the provinces who had an education in

Sinhalese, md now having sat for their GCE [General Certificate of Educationl or school-leaving examinations had nothing to do" (Ludowyk, 1967, p. 291).

This period also witnessed continuing political involvement by radical bhikkhus.

Their powerful effect on the 'fiee' education debate has already been mentioned.

Throughout the 1950's, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party continued to curry their favour during the language debates. However, when the SFLP govemment sought to compromise on the language issue by signing an agreement with the Tamil Federal Party in 1957 that would have provided for the use of Tamil in administrative matters, bhikkhus, supported by the United National Party which had corne to support the Sinhalese-only legislation as a means of political expediency, denounced the pact as a

"betrayal of the Sinhalese Buddhist peopley' (E-Conflict World Encyclopedia, 2000).

The period kom the end of the 1950's through to the 1970's saw increasing social instability caused b y sectarianism, including the adoption of the Official Language Act.

In 1958, in the first nationwide communal riots between Sinhalese and Tamils were sparked by a rumour that a Tamil had killed a Sinhalese. Hundreds of Tamils were killed and 25,000 were forcibly relocated to the Tamil areas in the north under state of emergency decrees (E-Conflict World Encyclopedia, 2000).

In 1959, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was assassinated by a Buddhist extremist. In

1966, when the United National Party tried to win the favour of the Tamil minority by proposing "Tamil Regulations" which wouid have granted 'pardel' status to the Tamil language, communal noting again ensued.

In the 1970 generd election, the Sn Lanka Freedorn Party was retumed to power in a United Front coalition with two Marxist parties, the Communist Party of Sri Lanka

(CPSL) and the Trotskyite Lanka Socialist Party or Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP).

Some of the key features of the United Front's Common Program included the adoption of a reform of the school examination system, a republican constitution, state support for

Buddhism, the nationalization of key industries, and a 'non-aligned' foreign policy

(JVilson,1979, p. 259). A year later, when the SLFP could no longer count on the support of the radical left in the United Front, Prime Minister Sirirnavo Banadaranaike, widow of the former Prime Minister, declared a state of emergency in March, 1971 (which was to last until 1977). This action set the scene for the Student Revolution of the following month.

The United Front govemment sought to change the focus of education £tom academic subjects to vocational training, and to replace the university entrance examination system of General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary ('0')and

Advanced ('A') levels, which were based on British models and had been introduced in

1952 and 1964, respectively. They proposed instead two new nationaI examinations, the

National Certificate of General Education (NCGE) and the Higher National Certificate of

Education (HNCE), which were intended to shift emphasis away fiom recall of information and towards the application of new knowledge, by stressing problem-solving and more directly usefiil skills Gewin and Little, 1982, pp. 24-25). The new examinations were also seen as an attempt to Mprove the education of the majority of shidents who did not progress to the end of the system. Up to 1982, "[o]nly about 10 per cent of an age cohort reachred] upper secondary school and no more than one to two per cent the university" (Lewin and Little, 1982, p- 25).

In Aprïl, 1971, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramura (JVP), a revohtionary party

"which drew the buk of its support fiom students and the unemployed and disadvantageously employed youth under the age of 25 yem" (Wilson, 1979, p. 259) led a Mkstinsurrection against the SLFP govemment which had just declared a state of emergency. By the end of the year, when the rebellion was broken, 18,000 insurgents and their supporters were in prison and at least 1,200 were dead. An analysis of the insurgents suggests that seventy-five percent of them had received some secondary education, nineteen percent had received primary education or none at all, and the rernailiing six percent were GCE A-level and university students

(Obeyesekere, 2974, quoted in Lewin and Little, 1982, p. 23). As a number of observes have pohted ouf these findings suggest that once again, disaf3ected Sinhalese students had played a leading, though violent, role in the political Life of the country.

The United Front faced considerable opposition to its plans to reform education in

1970 and early 1971, but the JVP Student Revolution "focused attention on the education system as a fomenter of insurrection and muted those who had previously opposed reform" (Wilson, 1979, p. 24). In a Ietter to the Cevlon Dailv News in June, 197 1, the

United Front Minister of Education wrote:

In an educational system that was little more than assembly Eue or academic factory, in the socially irrelevant context of education and in the chronic maladjustment between the educational process and the national economy, any person of discernrnent could see the source of tension and ever-widening ripples of discontent sweeping the surface of our society. In the past few years school cumicula and teaching have been geared to the universi@ entrance examinations. From the thethe child enters school the target is set: university.Each year only one percent of the school population enter university. So all the efforts and expenditture are for the benefit of this one percent (Wilson, 2979, p. 24).

In 1972 a new Republican Constitution was proclaimed. It concentrated power into the hands of the fiesident, supported Sinhalese as the official language, and contained no elements of federalism. in the same year the Higher Education Act effectively ended universiSr autonomy, "on the unfounded suspicion that numbers of miversity faculty and undergraduates had been very much involved in the 1971 upnshg"

(Wilson, 1979, p. 134).

In an effort to win back support fiom Sinhalese students, Mrs. Bandaranaike's government introduced a policy of 'standardization' in university admissions. This new policy was to have a cataclysmic effect on Sinhalese-Tamil relations. Indeed, its promulgation has been considered one of the factors which hastened the beginning of civil war in SnLanka.

Until 1960, university admission examinations had been held in English. After

1960, these exams were also conducted in Sinhalese and Tamil and admission was based on merit. In 1973, the United Front introduced 'standardization', which effectively weighed marks in favour of Sinhalese students, especially in the faculties of law, medicine, and engineering. Zn the following year, 'district quotas' were introduced. These also tended to favour SinhaIese and Muslim students over Tamils (BulLion, 2995, p. 22).

The effects of 'standardization' on Tamil University applicants becomes apparent f?om a table in Jayaweera's Education and Social Development (1976), entitled

'Tercentage Distribution of University Students and Population b y Ethnic Origin and

Religion". According to these data, in 1946, Ceylon Tamils, at 10 percent of the population, accounted for 29.4 percent of university students. By contrast, in 1965, at 11 percent of the population the proportion of Ceylon Tamils among all university students had dropped to 19. I (p. 24).

The economic effects of 'standardization' on Tamil youth was significant. It seriously limited their employment opportunities in an already stagnant econornic climate. Once again, as in 1971, well-educated unemployed or underemployed youth - then, Sinhalese; now, Tamil -tmed to radical solutions when faced with a bleak fiiture

(Bullion, 1995, pp. 22-23). Ironically, the very educational policies put in place to assuage radicalized Sinhalese youth had the effect of radicegTamil youth.

Admission to higher education had indeed become a tool and a weapon-

In reaction to the JVP Student Revolt, the United Front's refùsal to devolve power to the Tamil provinces, and the continuing state of emergency (which lasted fiom 1971 to

1976), Tamil politicians formed the Ta& United Front (TUF) (the precursor to the

Tamil Tigers guerilla group), which was to draw much of its support fiom young Tamils.

The death of nine Tamils, "dlegedly kïlled by police" at an International Tamil

Conference in J&a in January 1974 as well as more anti-Tamil rioting, dso proved to be catalysts for the civil war that was to break out in the next decade (BuIlion, 1995, p.

23).

Students sat for the first National Certificate of General Education in 1975, but the examination met with growing disillusionment. Criticism centred around four main issues. First, the NCGE could not be seen as strîctly comparable to the old General

Certificate of Education Ordinary Level exam (GCE O-Levels), because "the NCGE was taken in Grade 9, not Grade 1O, b y non-selective groups fiom the whole ability range following a much broader c~culum"(Lewin and Little, 1982, p. 27).

Secondly, [clhanges in the name of the examinations and the lower Ievels of achievement represented by them made it even more difficult to argue that they were intemationally accepted qualincation.. .[in response] arrangements were made for children of wealthy families to sit the NCGE and simuftaneously to work for the London and Cambridge overseas 'O' to be taken in Madras or Singapore (Lewin and Little, 1982, p. 28).

While the Sri Ldm'O' levels 'kere not automatically recognized by the UK in the

1970's... for historical reasons, they carried some credibility domestically -and probably internationally -not shared by the NCGE and the HNCE" (Lewin and Little, 1982, p.28). There was a dramatic rise in the number of private tutorial schools, where classes were held on evenings and weekends, as students crammed for both Sri Lankan and

British sets of examinations.

Thirdly, reaction grew not just in urban areas, but arnong the rural population as well, that "the NCGE was 'selhg students short"' (Lewin and Little, 1982, p. 28). While it has been found that The overall numbers progressing to upper secondary school almost doubled when the NGCE was introduced" evidence suggests that this disproportionately favoured "urban well-esbblished schools" (Lewin and Little, 1982, p. 28).

Finally, pre-vocational studies, a mainstay of the reform package, fell into disrepute as urban parents argued that they were kelevant to their children's future studies and rural parents became more cynical "of programmes based on skills which they felt the community already possessed" (Lewin and Little, 1982, p. ~9)~~

The United National Party returned to power in 1977, after a seven-year hiatus caused b y the election of the United Front and the imposition of martial law. One of their first acts was to do away with the NCGE and remto the local Sri Lankan GCE '0' and

'A' levels exams. The re-introduction of these exams was seen by the business cornuni@ and the conservative establishment which supported the UNP, as a return to educational standards that were c'internationally comparable and a key to the promotion of cc'competentelites"' (Lewin and Little, 1982, p. 29).

The UNP goveniment aïs0 made pre-vocational studies optional, retunied the school entry age Erom six years to five, and retunied the 'O' levels examinations to Grade

10 fkom Grade 9, as it had been before 1972. The net effect of these refonns was that higher education was made even more elitist. The Sri Lankan examination system was now said to be accepted intemationally, but the chance to sit the London and Cambridge exams in order to gain admission to British universities was a luxiiry which continued to be available to only a minuscule minority. In 1978, for example, 75,000 Sri Lankan students sat for the local GCE 'A' levels; only 1,000 sat for the London 'A' levels, derit was decided to allow them to be held in Sn Lanka again. Of these, only a small proportion were successful (Lewin and Little, 1982, p. 30).

Educational Refonns (1980-2000)

The Govemment appointed an Education Refoms Cornmittee in 1977, which published its report in 1982 (Ranaweera, 1994, p. 5720). Education reforms announced in

1981 proposed some of the changes first initiated by the United Front governrnent and later reversed by the UNP. These proposals included the reorganization of 9,500 schools into 1,000 'clusters' 'Yo function as the srnallest administrative uni& in the system"

(Lewin and LittIe, 1982, p. 33). Excluded in this cluster plan were the largest, best-

attended schools which served the urban elite and would be allowed to remain as 'Unitary

Schools' and thus 'breserve existing patterns of organisation and considerable

independence" (Lewin and Little, 1982, p. 33). This laid the govemment open to charges

of favouning the iraditional elites which continued to form the base of their support. A

system of continuous assessment, to take the place of traditional final examinations, was

also proposed (Ranaweera, 1994, p. 5720).

In 1991 the govemrnent appointed yet another advisory body, the National

Education Commission (NEC), which drew attention to 'cthe need for diversimg the products of the system in close collaboration with employers and making it a multilayered and more eficient human resource developrnent system" (Ranaweera, 1994, p. 5720). The NEC'S report, Refonns in General Education, published in 1997, reveals very clearly its pro-capitalist bias. Part of its introduction reads:

In the past, under a state-domiriated economy many educated youths were accommodated in occupations in the state sector. This situation has changed with current changes of economic policy. Sn Lanka is committed to build a strong national economy with the private sector as the principal engine of growth. This means that the future employment opportunities are in the pnvate sector (National Education Commission, 1997, p. i).

The reforms suggested by this report will be studied in greater detail in Chapter 5. Conclusion

From the many historical and socio-cdtural details drawn fiom this brief in Sri Lanka, a five key patterns emerge.

WhiIe native teachers in ancient Sri Lanka, who often served in both religious and secular capacities, strove to instmct the population, anything more than a primary level of education was available only to a small minority of people at that tirne. In tum, these students were either intent on pursuing religious studies thefxlselves, or on serving as courtiers, both of which can be considered to have been elites. With the advent of colonial domination, beghming in the sixteenth century under the Portuguese, continuhg through the Dutch, and ending with the British over four hundred and fifty years later, education (in terms of fomal schooling) became intentionally separated fÏom native society. Under colonialism, western-style schooling was bifurcated in two ways, both dong a secdar-religious axis, and dong a European-native axis. Responsibility for education was divided between colonial. secular and religious authonties, both of whom offered instruction which was noticeably different for Europeans than for native children.

Religious groups provided native instruction, either in the vernacular or in the European language of the colonizers. However, these missionary schools offered ody primary education of the most basic kind, stressing Christian conversion over any practical social skills-training. Throughout the colonial period, secondary education, when it was offered to natives at dl, can be considered to have been of a 'post-primary' kind. Tertiary education was open to only a tiny fiaction of Europeanized natives, often the issue of marriages between the colonizers and the colonized. The best that this European caste

could hope for, in te- of social advancement, was minor govemment positions.

On the other hand, European children were admitted into schools which had

better-trained teaches, were better-equipped, and which offered them the chance to

advance in their society either as professionals or as civil administrators. The primary

schools the children of the colonizers attended were often run directly by the govemment,

as were secondary and tertiary level schools. The curriculum was much closer to that

offered in the home-countries of the colonizers, to the extent that European students in

Ceylon were eligible to wrïte, and sometimes passed, entrance examinations to

universities in the home-countnes.

Colonial education, rather than drawing native students closer to their

communities, instead drew them fkther and fürther apart. Separated from the social

realties of their own peoples, ignorant of thek own languages and histories, proficient in

the history, languages and fiterature of their foreign dominators, the few natives who

managed to advance to the highest levels of colonial education ended by fonning the

nucleus of an exclusive caste, not Portuguese, nor Dutch, nor British, but yet again, also

neither Sinhalese nor Tamil nor Muslim.

Thus, the hrst pattern to emerge fÎom the history of Sri Lankan education is that

forma1 schooling, and especially higher education, was the prerogative only of the elites

fÏom ancient times at least through to the end of British domination in the middle of the twentieth century. As weil, colonial education, especidy higher education, was intentionally

organized in such as way as to have little to do with the day-to-ciay economic and social

rdties of the masses. Thus, the second pattern to emerge is that, for almost five hundred

years, higher education in Sri Lanka was cut-off f?om aecting, in any meaninrzfill way,

the economic and social life of the vast majority of the population. Even as Sinhalese and

Tamil and Muslim families might believe that advancement in colonial schools wodd

insure their children positions within the civil service, as early as the end of the

nineteenth century, colonial education was already producing graduates that were surplus to the needs of the administration. The manifold increase in the number of school positions opened up since the establishment of 'fkee' education (which is shown by the

fact that, between 1953 and 1967, GCE 'O' levels graduates increased four fold, GCE

'A' levels graduates twelve fold, and university graduates six fold), combined with a lack of civil service and professional jobs, lead to the formation of generations of disadvantaged unemployed or under-employed educated youth, in both the Sinhalese and

Tamil communities (Jayaweera, 1976, p.9). Many of these turned to violence as a way out of futures which they often perceived to be only dead-end, with catacIysmic results.

Thus, many Sinhalese students supported the JlrP Student Revolt of 1971, while many

Tamil students supported the Tamil Tigers at the beginning of their armed campaign.

However, a third pattern to emerge is that the attainment of higher education has continued to be seen as a vehicle for social mobilïty long derthis has ceased to be true.

Conversely, the disdain with which many Sri Lankans have continued to view practical vocations, and its deleterious effect on various govemments' efforts to develop and expand vocational training to meet the actud socio-economic needs of an increasingly industrialized country, foms a fourth pattern in Sri Lankan educational history.

Finally, a social cleavage continues to exist between the entrenched (often

Western-trained) social elites, found in Colombo and other urban areas, and the rural masses. This division has found expression in the formation of rival political parties, parties which have been quick, once they have formed the national government, to jettison the Iegislation of their predecessors. In tems of education, this has rneant a series of star& and stops in a broad area of educationd reform. T'us, the fifth and last pattern to emerge from the history of education in Sri Lanka, especiaIly in the recent past, has been the inability of consecutive goveniments to provide an enduring and consistent master-plan for educational reforms in Sri Lanka

To recapitulate, five patterns emerge fiom out- study of Sn Lânkan education: for thousands of years, education, and especially higher education, was reserved for the elites; during over four hundred and fi* years of coIonia.1 nile it was intentionally divorced fiom the social and economic realties of the country; it was considered, by the vast majority of the population, to be the main vehicle for social mobility, Iong after this ceased to be the actual case; it emphasized the liberal arts rather than practical vocationaI training, to the detriment of the Sri Lankan economy; and, since political independence, its reform has been haphazard and piece-meal. CHAPTER 4 A BREF HISTORY OF TEACHER TRAINING IN SRI LANKA

Introduction

In the previous chapter 1 offered a briefistory of education in Sri Lanka, with a particular focus on how colonial relations and socioeconomic factors Gduenced educational policy. Generally speaking, fiom about 300 BC, by which time both Buddhist and Hindu teachers had begun to serve their respective communities, through to most of

Sri Lanka's 450-year period of colonial exploitation beginning in the sixteenth century, education in the country has tended to serve the needs of a tiny elite of society, made up of the court, civil servants and the professions. Be-g with the final penod of British control, as groups within Sn Lankan stmggled to democratize their educational system after achieving self-de shortly before independence in 1948, various governments have sought to deal with the lingering social impact of this last colonial educational system.

They have had to contend with its elitism, the popular notion it established that educationd achievement would inevitably lead to social mobility, and its divorce fkom the economic needs of the vast majority of Sri Lankans. An additional legacy was the dual schooling system, one run by the governent and the other by missionaries, while a separate system of schooling continued to exist dongside, run by Buddhist or Hindu organizations. This dualism favoured the Christian minority, which made up only eight percent of the population, with better-trained teachers and facilities. Whde these issues were addressed in the previous chapter, in the present one they will be examined again, within the fiamework of teacher training prograrns.

Teachers and Teaching in Pre-Colonial Sn Lanka

Buddhism was introduced to the island in the third century BC. Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka devoted themselves "primarily to study, seconddyto meditation" (Rahula,

1974, p.30). Educational institutions reserved for the bhikkus and bhikkhuni (Buddhist brothers and sisters) were of three =es: the vihara, the arma, and the [or m.The pirivana

originally, was a bhikkhu's cell, and later a dwelling place of bhikkhus, larger than a vihara. where they came to leam, examine, and discuss the Dhamma In the course of time the term assurned the more specific rneaning of monastic school. The pirivenq therefore, was an forming part of a monastic establishment and providing a higher education than that nonnally given in the village pansala school @on Peter, 1978, p. 179).

Besides religious instruction, bhikkhus also taught the lay population secuiar subjects. The same cmbe said of Muslim imams, who taught in maktabs (prïmary schools) connected to mosques and madrosas (secondary schools). %du education seems to have been a shared venture, with pnests offering religious instruction in the temples and village schooimasters secular instruction on the verandahs of their homes

(Jayasuriya, 1969, pp. 20-22).

While very much a social elite, teachers in ancient Sinhalese and Tamil cornrnunities continued to be part of the native communities. However, with the conquest of the island by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, the nexus of religion and education, and the social role of the teacher, were to change drastically.

The Portuguese Regime

As Kelly and Altbach make clear, both the colonial govemment and Christian missionaries imposed a 'nativizedYsystem of Western education on colonized societies.

Under the Portuguese, the secular and ecclesiatical authorities worked together to ensure the submission and Christianïzation of the Sinhalese and Tamil populations.

The Portuguese established a colonial presence on the island of Sri Lanka in 1560, which spread to include the Kingdom of JafTna by 1619. The teachg of Chnstianity was carried out by the Roman Catholic Church, which worked to convert both Sinhalese and

Tamils. Four religïous orders envangelized the island: the Franciscans came in 1543, followed by the Jesuits in 1602 and the Augustinians and Dorninicans in 1606. These religious communities offered both religious and secular instruction. Religion classes were held in the churches, while secular education was held in another building (Don

Peter, 1978, p. 139; 26).

The religious orders provided education up to the tertiary level. The Franciscans founded the College of St. Anthony in Colombo in 1565; the Jesuits established a College at Colombo in 1606 and in Ja&a in 1622. While these institutions did not offer universiw-level instmction, they did provide courses in religion, Portuguese, Latin, and music. Students at these colleges who wished to could proceed to Holy Orders. @on

Peter, 1978, p. l56;lS 1). W?de the Porîuguese colonial governent sought financial and military gain on

the island, the Roman Catholic colIeges sought to trais native instnictors and priests to

mount a cultural assault on the local population. As Don Peter (1978) makes clear, "it

was especially in the colleges that young men who were to be the collaborators of the

missionaries or teachers of religion were being educated" (p. 157).

Thus, the role of native teachers who had graduated fiom these Roman Catholic

Colleges was to aid the colonizer to convert their countrymen and women. Secular or an

instructor tied to the missionaries. Where tbis instructor Mered fiom a Buddhist or

%du priest, however, was that the Christianized teacher, while a native, also served as a

representative of the new colonial order, enjoying a superior social position supported by

the European colonial administration.

The Dutch Regime

The Dutch gained access to Sri Lankan by providing military assistance to the

Kandyan resistance to the Portuguese in 1638. Within thïrty years, colonial control of most of the island had passed to them. The Dutch East India Company helped facilitate the proselytization of the island by Dutch Reformed missionaries, who established Dutch schools for Europeans and three seminaries, the JafXha Seminary (1690), and the

Serninary (1708) and New Seminary (1747) at Colombo. These seminaries were established to raise the quality of teachers and catechists on the island CWyndharn, 1933, p. 29). In 1703, the Chamber of Seventeen, the controbg body of the Dutch East India

resolved that six Dutch youth should be selected, three to be attached to each of the seminaries, and that they should lemthe vernacular and qualifjr to become 'Proponents' or assistants in the work of evangelization and of the training of native catechists and teachers. The plan did not work in the manner contemplated, because Europeans were not available for the purpose and the proponents were soon al1 natives (Wyndham, 1933, p. 29).

What is most iniriguing about this quotation is that it shows that origindy, only Dutch students were considered to be trained as assistants in the work of evangelization. It is only after it becarne clear that "Europeans were not available" (and Wydham does no t venture a reason for this) that native students were allowed admission into these Dutch

Reformed Seminaries. While the exact cause for the dearth of Dutch candidates is not explaùied, the chief probabiiity is that the Dutch colonizers preferred to see their sons

ûained in the mercantile or administrative fields, rather than the religious. It should also be noted that, even while the possibiiity of higher education was opened to natives, this educaîion aimed to make the native graduates adjuncts to the colonizing power.

The Seminary at Colombo, the leading educationai institution under the Dutch, continued the practice fist set by the Portuguese colonizers of offering a Western curriculum. During the Dutch regime, this included courses in 'Dutch composition and grmar, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Divine Attributes and Perfections, and Theology"

(Wyndham, 1933, p.29). However, Dutch attempts to establish normal schools for teachers failed. One opened in Colombo in 1747, but was absorbed into the seminary there, while another, founded in Ja%a in 1723, was soon closed, "and its six pupils

transferred to Colombo" (Wydham, 1933, p. 31).

Kelly and Altbach note, in the introduction to their Education and Colonialism

(1 W8),that colonial education O ften witnessed a stnrggle between secular and religious authorities. While neither "consulted with the colonized in determinhg the scope and content of their schooling," they O fien feu out between thenselves because they

did not always agree on the lines dong which education should develop. Missionaries did not necessarily emphasize the vocational training that govemment anministrators urged them to. They preferred, instead, to stress moral education (p. 2).

This ideological stniggle occwred among the Dutch colonizers in Ceylon in 1760, when

Govemor Schreuder, acting in response to cornplaints by Dutch East India Company officiais, secularized the Colombo Seminary through three key changes. First, all descendants of Europeans were to be excluded Erom it -it was, in future, to have an entirely native student population. Second, reversing its original intent, the Seminary was

'30 train students to become schoolmasters and catechists and only exceptionally proponents and preachers" CNyndham, 1933, p. 3 1). Finally, it was to enlarge its curriculum in order to train twelve Tamils and twelve Sinhalese for the public service, as headman, Moodelairs (native bureaucrats), interpeters, and so forth (Wydham, 1933, p.

3 1). Even with these changes, however, the Dutch seminaries failed: the New Semùiary closed shortly after its founding, and the Jafina Seminary by 1723. The British Regime

During the fhtthree years of British occupation under the British East Tndia

Company, ''the salaries of the schoolmasters of the old Dutch schools remained unpaid

and the schools fell into decay" (Wyndham, 1933, p. 39). Once the first British Govemor

of Ceylon, M.North, had aniveci, he focused much of his attention on education in the

new British colony. However, as noted in the previous chapter, fiinds kom England were

cut 'While the Colombo Seminary was restored and opened to Sinhalese, Tamils, and

Europeans "it did litele towards training schoohast ers suitable for native schools, " choosing to focus, instead, on producing native translators for colonial government se~ce(Wyndham, 1933, p. 39).

The Colebroke-Cameron Commission's report, published in 1833, found al1 govemment schools extremely defective and inefficient, and proposed

to place the goveniment schools under a Commission with sub- committees at Kandy, Galie, and Ja£fna, and composed, as the Dutch Committees had been, of the clergy of the established Church, the local government agents and some of the principal civil and judicial functionaries. Its duties were to arrange for the inspection of the schools and for the appointment of masters. The latter were al1 to have a competent knowledge of English and the Colombo Serninary should provide for them. It also recommended The establishment of a college at Colombo in order to 'afford to native youths the means of qualwg themselves for the different branches of the public senrice' (Wyndham, 1933, p. 4 1).

As Wyndham points out in a footnote, these refonns to their Seminary were a repetition of those carried out by the Dutch a century before (Wyndham, 1933, p. 41). The new

School Commission proposed by the Colebroke Commission started work in 1834 and founded the Colombo Academy in 1836.

The Colombo Academy provided teacher training for Europeans, Sinhalese, and

Tamils, while, on the missionary side, the Church Missionary Society provided

instruction, including teacher training, to young Sinhalese at their Christian Institution of

Cotte. The elitist nature of the Academy is condoned in the following statement by

Wyndham (1933), who Wntes:

Its policy appears to have been based on the principle that the higher education of the few has usually preceded the elementary education of the many, and that the best way to introduce a new system into a country is to begin by training a small section of the population very carefirlly under the best possible irduences (p. 41).

Wnting in 1933, and supportive of Imperia1 education, Wyndham however fails to mention that colonial education continue& even in his day, to serve only the needs "of the few" (that is, the British and colonial elite) while ignoring the educationai needs of the maj ority of the native population, who remained marginalized under the colonial rule.

Faced with the fact that the vast majonty of Sinhalese and Tamil natives continued to attend native, rather than British schools, the Commission, in 1843,

"reclassified elementary schools &O English medium schools, mixed medium schools, and vernacular schools" CWyndham, 1933, p. 41). Later, faced with the popularity of missionary schools, the Commission began offering 'grants-in-aid' to missionary schools, thus officially establishing a dualist educational system -one goveniment, and one missionary, while Sinhaiese and Tamil schools, which continued to cater to a vast majority of the native population, remained unregulated and unsupported by the British. This inability (andlor unwillingness) of the colonial educational system to provide qualified teachers in sufficient numbers continued to p1ague SnLanka throughout the period of British de,and after. Each generation of educational administrators, and each commission empowered to recommend reforms of the educational system, both ddg and after the British, returned again and again to this perpetual problem, with little positive results-

The Central School Commission continued in charge of education for nearly twenty five years, beginning in 1843. However, in 1867, a Cornmittee of the Legislative

Assembly of Ceylon proposed that the School Commission be replaced by a Deparbnent of Education under a Director responsible to the colonial Govemor, who wodd ensure that colonial education wodd become more practical. The Commission also found that

"[tlhe training of teachers also was as bad as ever" (Wyndham, 1933, p. 46).

In the early 18801s,Sir Walter SendaII, the htDirector of Public Instruction,

'persuaded the Govemment to open a Normal English College with a Vernacular

Department" (Wyndharn, 1933, p. 50) in order to train teachers for work in the three types of English elementary schools available. SendalI established an educational se~ce whose key features have been incorporated (with slight modifications) b y the present

Ministry of Education. He

created an education se~cegraded according to the certificate which teachers earned after passing through its three years ' course. After appointment to schooIs they were encouraged b y bonuses on the results of their annual inspections, by salary increments, and by a promotion to a higher certificate as rewards for good senrice Unfortunately, the educational service Sir Walter put into place proved to be too

centralized, and foundered. It narrowed the recniiting of students to the Western

Province. The highlanders of Kandy objected to their schools being offered to teachers

fiom the 'lowlandy mantirne provinces, but refûsed to corne to the college to be trained

thernselves. Residents of the southern province were also adamantly opposed to travehg

to the Normal Engliçh College to receive teacher training. As a result, the College was

closed in 1886, and "the whole burden of training teachers for the grant-in-aid schools

was placed on the missionary bodies which managed them and which kept establishments

for the purpose in Colombo, Kandy, Galle, and J&a" Graduates of these programs

were awarded "second-class certificates which could be converted into first-class after

five years' satisfactory servicey'(wyndham, 193 3, p. 52).

According to the Sinhalese educational historian J.E. Jayasuriya (1 98 1), fiom

1869 to 1900, the policy of the British colonial govemment towards school funding

was to assist a few good Enghsh schools (English high schools were at one time encouraged by liberal grants) run by the missions (later by others as well), and to discourage a wider diffllsion of English education, so that English education would be the preserve of the wealthier socio-economic classes. The government did indeed succeed in restricting English education, but not as much as it would have liked. More received an EngLish education than the government had use for, much to the undisguised embarrassrnent of the government (p. 3 16).

The colonial goveniment's decision, in 1880, to abandon the management of

English education and leave it to grant-in-aid schools, wMe it concentrated on developing vemacular schools in the interior, had long-te= negative effects on teacher training. The missions were unable to cope with the demand for higher education, especially in the English medium. By the end of the First World War, the requirement that a teaching staff must be proportionate to the number of children in attendance, in both govemrnent and gant-in-aid schools, "resulted in its being strong in numbers but poor in quality;" as well, the governent found it diacult to keep abreast with the growth of vernacular schools owing to a serious shortage of teachers (Wyndham, 1933, p.

62).Village schools, offering classes only in the vernacular and controlled by religious bodies, did not at al1 require teachers trained in the colonial educationd system. Thus, the system of teacher training was geared to the continuation of a system which supported a colonial society where "[a]n educated and professional elite formed the apex...[ and] in which surplus clerical skiIls and poverty and backwardness were already causing concem to discerning observers" by the end of British control (Jayaweera, 1976, p. 3).

In 1904, yet another Commission of investigation tried to deal with four problems whicb it characterized as having been continually present in Sn Lanka since the theof the Dutch (and which, 1 would argue, continue to the present):

the question of compulsion... the problem of the medium through which the children should be educated... the difficulties arising fiom a lack of quaedteachers ...[ and] whether the education given in Ceylon was sufliciently related to the opportunities which were open to pupils after they left school (Wyndham, 1933, p. 55)-

This concern about the poor qualitty of teachers did not abate even after the end of the First World War, though teachers' wages were increased by requiring managers of schools to provide a percentage of their pay, the requirement that the staff of a school be

proportionate to its student population resulted in staffs which were often "strong in

numbers but poor in qualitf (Wyndham, 1933, p. 62).

Between 1902 and 1922 both govemment and gant-in-aid (missionary) schools

increased rapidly. Government schools increased by 8 1 percent during this period, while

missionary schools increased 69 percent (Wyndham, 1933, p. 57). Needless to say, this

exacerbated the lack of adequately trained teaching staff. Unqualified teachers - often youth who had, themselves, just graduated fkom second- schoo1 -continued to be hired to fill the breach. The Ceylon University College was established in Colombo in

1921, aith the aim, according to the historian S.A. Pakeman (1964), of supplying 'Young

Ceylonese with the requisite qualifications not only for the Civil Service, but also to government departments such as the Police and the Survey." However, after graduation many took employrnent as teachers, primarily "because they had failed to get places in one of these govemmental activities" - a comment that confïrms the low regard in which the profession of teaching was held at this time. As another indication of why this might be so, Pakeman states that these graduates, upon entering schools as graduate teachers, started "at high or even higher salaries than trained teachers" (p. 105). This probably served as a disincentive for those individuds a-uly committed to the profession of teaching.

This situation continued for the next twenty years: teachers with a University degree (with or without professional teacher training) were still considered to have greater professional status and continued to eam higher wages than trained teachers even

into 1939. Jayasuriya (1 98 1) relates how the 2 1,570 teachers active in Ceylonese schools

in 1939 were categorized according to "academic andhr professional preparation" (p. 9).

Thus, teachers in Category 1 had "a university degree with or without professional

training," Category II teachers '%ad undergone a two or three year course in teacher

training coileges; [or were] teachers with their London Intermediate qualification in Arts

or Science," Category III teachers '%ad obtained a general teaching certincate by passing

an extemal examination; [or] had obtained a special teaching certificate in subjects Zike

Art and Music," and Category IV teachers "had passed no higher examination than the

London Matriculation examination or the Cambridge Senior examination or the Senior

School certificate examination" (Jayasuriya, 198 1, p -9). In other words, Category N

teachers were those who had only completed senior secondary schools.

Jayasuirya offers the following table showing the distribution of the various

categories of teachers across the Sn Lankan educationd system in 1939, which included

Enghsh-medium schools, bilingual schools (where English and either Sinhalese or Tamil

were offered), Vernacular schools (which offered classes only in Sinhalese or Tamil,

without English), and all other schools (primarily village schools) not coming under the jurisdiction of the British colonial authority: TEACHER CATEGORIES

English Bilingual Vemacdar AU other

Category I Category 11 Category ID Category N

Analyzing this chart reveals that English schools were able to obtain a higher proportion (46.5%) of Category 1and II teachers than any other type of school, followed b y Bilingual schools at 44 percent. In contrasf 30.3 percent of teachers in Vernacular schools fell under Category 11 (no Category 1 teachers were found), and Category 1 and II teachers made up only 33 -5 percent of teachers in all other schools. Teachers with the highest educational or professional training gravitated to the more prestigious schools - those offering English exclusively or in combination with a native language. In the same way, those schools offering no English-medium education of any kind (vernacular and al1 other schools) were top-heavy with the least-qualified categories of teachers. Category III and N teachers made up 69.7 percent of al1 Vernacular school teachers and 66.5 percent of teachers in al1 other types of schools.

By 1939, about a decade before independence, the colonial govenunent of Ceylon offered a variety of teacher training institutions. The English Training College, while primarily concerned with preparing teachers for Enghsh schools, also had a section which prepared teachers for Sinhalese schools. Nine Sinhalese training schools and ten

Tamil Training S chools, "managed b y denominational bodies" prepared teachers for eac h of these mediums. Rural Training Centres prepared teachers "for nual scheme schools"

(Jayasuiya, 1981, p. 1 1). it is interesting to note that the Sinhalese obtained special favour in being granted the chance to train at the only English teacher training institute

(th,presumably, being fit to serve in Anglo-Sinhalese schools), whereas this privilege was not granted to Tamil students. What is almost more surprishg is the number of Tamil

Training Schools that were available. The demand for trained Tamil-medium teachers was so great that theù Training Schools outnumbered Sinhalese-medium schools, even at a time when Tamils (including Jafka and India.Tamils) comprised less than twenty percent of the total Sn Lankan population. Two hypotheses may be advanced as to why this was so. On one hand, it may be that the Tamil population, while a minority in the country, were more willing to adapt, and advance, in the colonial system of education than theïr more numerous SinhaIese counterparts. On the other, it could be that the colonial govemment intentionally made more resources avdable to the Tamil minority as part of their effort to divide and conquer the native Sri Lankan population.

Jayasuriya (1981) writes of teacher training institutions of the time that

Admission to dl teacher training institutes was generaily on the basis of a written examination &or interview, and admission was open to persons who had passed the London Matriculation examination or the Cambridge Senior examination or the Secondary School Certifxate. No facilities existed for giving a professional training to unive- graduates (p. 1 1). This lack of professional teacher training for university graduates was one of the chief concerns of the Govenimeent at the end of British de.The Kamagara Commission of

1943, "expressed the opinion that 'almost all the teachers of the firture should be trained"' (Jayasuriya, 1969, p. 139). While the Executive Cornmittee for Education recommended that the reforms put forward by this Commission be adopted, the

Government did not act.

Teacher Training in an Independent Sri Lanka (1 948- 1996)

Rather than continue to provide a chronological history of teacher training in Sri

Lanka, 1 will, instead, now focus on providing the history of some of the major programs of teacher education in Sri Lanka as of 1996. For the purposes of this presentation, it is important to note that Sri Lanka's teacher training system is officially divided into two sections, in-se~ceand pre-service teacher education programs. In-senrice training programs are provided for teachers who are already worbg in the school system, but who have had no training to date. These in-se~ceteacher education programs include long-tenu institutional, long-term non-institutional, and short-tem non-institutional programs. By cornparison, pre-service programs are for those individuals who have received their GCE 'O'or 'At Levels, or have graduated fiom university, but are not, as yef working as teachers in the school system. Pre-se~ceteacher education programs are all considered long-term institutional. AU of these programs "are carried out by the

Universities, Teachers Colleges, Colleges of Education, Open University and by several other departmats which corne under the umbrella of the National Institute of Education

(NIE)" (Commonwealth Secretariat, 1993, p. 48).

In-Service Teacher Education

As noted above, there are a number of 'in-service7 programs available for

individuah already teaching in schools. A brief description of these programs follows here.

1. The htDiploma in Education courses, a Ml-time one year course of professional training for graduate teachers, were introduced in 1944 under the British regime at the Govenunent Training College. This program was transferred to the new

Department of Education in the in 1949, and remains active to this day. This program's curriculum includes courses in Principles of Education, Educational

Psychology, Comparative Education, Methodo Iogy or English Methodology, as well as

Educational Administration, Cumculum and Guidance, and Social Education. Candidates are required to achieve a satisfactory standard in a written examination, essays, and teaching practice (Jayasuriya, 1969, pp. 143-44).

2. In 1992, the Universities of Colombo, and JaBa began fidl time programs Iasting one year and part-tùne degree programs lasting two years, both leadhg to a Postgraduate in Education. By 1996, the part-the courses had been phased out, so that these programs becarne restricted to "[glraduate teachers with at least one year's teaching expenence in schools" who were "admitted to fiill-the courses, on the basis of an entrance exarnination" (Commonwedth Secretariat, 1993, p. 50).

3. The Jayasuriya Commission on Education first recommended the establishment of a Bachelor of Education degree program in 1961, in order to ensure that professionally trained teachers would be made available for the national school system. The

Commission even went so far as to develop a four-year calendar, which allowed time for course work, examinaîions, and teaching practice. In 1963, a report from the British

Home Office on higher education (the Robbins Report) also came out in favour of this proposal (Jayasuriya, 1969, p. 147).

As a result, the first Bachelor of Education degree program was initiated in 1964-

An in-service three year program continues to be O ffered in both part-time and distance education mode through the National hstitute of Education, as well as a four year pre- service program at the (National Institute for Educational

Research 1997, 158).

4. Twenty Teachers Colleges existed in Sn Lanka by the end of British rule in 1948: one English, nine Sinhalese, and ten Tamil. In 1960, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party govemment, through the ccAssistedSchools and Training Colleges Act" abolished the missionary school system in place since the nineteenth century, in an effort to disempower the srnail Christian minority that had found favour under successive colonial administrations. As well, it wrested control of the ten Teachers Training Colleges remaining fkom Buddhist and Tamil religious organizations (Jayasuirya, 1981, p. 141).

By this action, the Government succeeded in officially secularizing al1 levels of education in the country, including teacher education institutes.

By 1993, the sixteen Teachers' Colleges in place were providing two year teacher

training programs in nineteen different subject areas. Non-graduate teachers with GCE

Ordinary and Advanced Level qualifications and at lest one year's teaching experience

were selected "on the basis of in-service seniority," and, "[olnce selected*-.[were] given

two years' M-pay study leave" (Commonwealth Secretariat, 1993, p. 49).

5. The National Institute for Education (ME) is responsible to the Minister of the Ministry

of Education and Higher Education for "curriculum development for initial and

continuhg education and teacher education programs, for the delivery of selected

teacher education programs (generally through the distance education mode) and for the

provision of professional development programs for teacher educators and managers in

NCOEs mional Coileges of Education]" (International Development Agency, 1996, p.

62). One of the NIE'S deparûnents is the Department of English Education, which

"conducts a one year Ml-time Diploma in English Language Teaching for non-graduate

trained teachers" (in other words, for those individuals who have completed their GCE

Ordinary bels and have already received some form of teacher training)

(Commonwealth Secretariat 1993,49). This program is offered in the distance education

mode, by which students are provided with printed course materials and attend contact

sessions "during week-ends and school vacations using the available facilities of schools

and Teachers' Coileges" (Ministry of Education, 1984, p. 26). 6. The Department of Distance Education provides a three year program of courses

for untrained non-graduate teachers and (graduate) trainee teachers. This program has

"five major components: printed material (in modules) and other media; written

assignrnents; contact sessions; local resource centres; practical teaching"

(Commonwealth Secretariat, 1993, p.49). Both continuous assessrnent and a final written

examination are used to assess student progress. A Trained Teachers' Certificate is

awarded to those individuals who successfully complete the program.

7. The Ministry of Education established the Open University in May 1980, "Yo

enable those over 18 years to pursue courses leadïng to a First or Post-graduate Degree or

a Diploma or a Certincate or other awards" in the distance education mode (Minïstry of

Education, 1984, p. 19). The University of the Air conducts a Distance Education course

for graduate teachers leading to a Diploma in Education. This correspondence course

'Wlising printed material and other media..[is] supported by contact sessions held

periodically at regional centres" (Commonwealth Secretariat, 1993, p. 50).

8. Short-term non-institutional, or , teacher training courses,

offered primarily through the National hstitute of Education, as well as some

Universities, are "conducted at regional level by expenenced practising teachers designated as 'master teachers' or in-se~ceadvisers" and are offered in sessions ranging from one day to three months (Commonwealth Secretariat, 1993, p. 50)- Pre-Service Teacher Education

In addition to these many in-service programs avdable for practicing teachers, there are also a number of pre-service programs for candidates aspirîng to teach.

1. In 1984, the Govemment laid plans for transforming eight of the existïng 25

Teachers' Colleges of the time into National Colleges of Education (NCOEs). These

NCOEs "were to conduct residential pre-service teacher education courses" and were to

have residential facifities for 500 sîudents and ...offer a two year course in the following areas: ...Teaching of Humanities.. .Teaching of Science and Mathematics... Teaching of Engiish as an International Language.. .Teaching of Life Skiils and Technical Subjects. Institutional training will be followed by one-year 's internship at selected schools (Ministry of Education, 1984, p. 26).

By 1985, six Colleges were opened, "one each for Science, Mathematics, English,

Physical Education and Religion" while the following year saw the establishment of another Coliege ...for Science, Mathematics, Primary Education and Home Science

(Commonwealth Secretariat, 1993, p. 52).

However, by 1992 these NCOEs continued to operate well below projected student enrobent. According to govemment sources, these colleges were not operating at full capacity because "both construction and renovations undertaken in the Colleges

[were] still being completed[;] in ail seven Colleges of Education only 700 students were admited, as against the stipdated figure of 1750" (Commonwealth Secretariat, 1993, pp.

2. The Department of Distance Education also offers pre-senrice programs. These were started in 198 1 as the Distance Education Unit under the Ministry of Education and

origindy included courses in Primq Education and Mathematics and Science

Combined Course (Commonwealth Secretariat, 1993, p. 52). In 1984, the Mathematics

and Science Combined Course was separated into two distinct courses. Distance

Education is now operated by the National Institution of Education.

Conclusion

Teachers, at least since the arriva1 of Buddhism on the isIand in third century BC, have always occupied a position of respect in Sn Lanka, and traditionally combined religious and secular duties. While this practice continued during the 450 years of

European domination, it was increasingly carried out by European missionary and secular instnictors who sought to evangelize and propagandize their European or Europeanized students. However, among the vast majorïty of Sinhalese and Tamils who remained unfamiliar with the colonizers' Ianguages or who did not attend missionary schools, village teachers continued to serve as preservers of local traditional history, folkIore, religion, and .

Even in the latter part of British colonial nile, teachers were trained to serve only the needs of a tiny minority of Sinhalese, Tamil, and Muslim students. While the enactment of 'fkee' education legislation in 1944 lead to the rapid spread of schooiing in

Sri Lanka, the masses of new students who were now able to attend school f?om adergarten to junior secondary without having to pay tuition fees put extreme pressure on an outdated system of teacher training -one that had served the needs of a small colonial elite, but feu fa-short of being able to provide the necessary training for the teachers to fill the thousands of new positions that quickly became available.

Successive Sri Lankan govements have either struggled with, or ignored, the problems besetting teacher education. Since the 1980s, the govemment has grappled with establishg a nationwide coordinated and standardized system of teacher education and teacher deployment while continuhg to deal with an increasulg nurnber of primary-to- secondary school dropouts, unequal distribution of educational resources between rural and urban areas, and many other difficulties. In the next chapter, 1will analyze how two

Worfd Bank-bded educational projects proposed to deal with these issues. WORLD BANK-SPONSORED EDUCATION PROJECTS IN SRI LANKA

Introduction

In this chapter 1WU analyze two SnLankan education projects hdedby World

Bank loans, the Teacher Education and Teacher Deployment (TETD)Project and the

Second General Education Project. 1 will then review- how a Canadian Consoaium, made

up of representatives of the Faculties of Education of both York University and Simon

Fraser University, successfidly bid to provide graduate programs in education to the -

TETD Project and organized a five-week orientation program for Sri Lankan cmdidatzs

in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Finally, I will provide an overview of the year-long program at

York which was subsequently rnounted, including bnef anonymous biographies of the

thirteen candidates selected by York University and a synopsis of the program of study

and cultural activities in which the Sri Lankan cohort participated fiom Septernber 1998

to September 1999.

The World Bank and Education

By 1998, education was the second-highest sector (after agriculture) financed by

World Bank loans to borrowers in South Asia In that year, $718.2 million US was expended, a significant increase fkom the $499.8 million US just two years previous

(World Bank, 1998, p. 3 1). Within this context of loans, the World Bank, through the

International Development Agency, was responsible for formulating and fùlancing two major educational proposals for SnLanka between 1995 and 1997, the Sri Lanka Teacher

Education and Teacher Deployment Project and the Second General Education Project.

Following is an overview of these projects.

Sn Lanka Teacher Education and Teacher Deployment Project (WOrld Bank Project ID: LKPA42266)

The process by which the Sn Lankan Teacher Education and Teacher

Deployment (TETD) Project came into affect is marked by a senes of important dates. It was first appraised by the World Bank's International Development Agency (IDA) in

October, 1995. Subsequently, negotiations between the DAand the Sri Lankan govemment were completed in Aprill996, and an IDA StaEAppraisal Report (SAR)

(No. 1582-CE) was published the following month. The Project officially began in

August 1996, and the project's Imr>lementation Pa~erswere published in October 1996

(International Development Agency, 1996, p. i).

The Implementation Papers listed six major issues affecthg teacher deployment and teacher education in Sri Lanka: (1) teacher demand, supply and deployment; (2) structure and governance of teacher education; (3) quaIity and effectiveness of teacher education programs; (4) staffing and stfldevelopment; (5) facilities and equipment; and

(6) cost and hancing (International Development Agency, 1996, pp. 1-3). 1will outline some of the major problems identified by World Bank officials for each issue, and some of the solutions proposed in the Project. (1) Teacher Demand, Supply and Deployment

The major problern identified was the large numbers of untrained teachers who had been appointed to teaching positions in an effort by previous Sn Ladcan govemments to deal with the massive number of unemployed or under-employed hi& school graduates. As a result, by 1993 "some 48 percent of all teachers in Sri Lanka were unqualif'ed"(International Development Agency, 1996, p.1). As well, teachers have tended to seek assignment in urban, rather than less favorable rural areas, thus creating a surplus of teachers in the former, and a dearth of teachers in the latter schools.

Accordingly, the TETD Project plmed to rationalize teacher deployment by:

(i)adjusting the present Governent formula... used for staff recruitment and allocation, to allocate teachers equitably according to school needs; (ii) monitoring teacher allocations and linking them to budget allocations; (iii) measures, including incentives, to fâcipate teacher assignrnent in less favorable areas; and (iv) moving to a fully-trained teacher force, by training existing teachers and recruiting only teachers (International Development Agency, 1996, p. 9).

(2) Structure and Governance of Teacher Education

According to the World Bank, the major issue concerning the structure of teacher education was the fact that four different types of institutions -in-senrice Teachers'

Training Colleges, pre-service Colleges of Education, the National Institute of Education, and universities -have been operating according to their own agendas and offvring mering curricula- As a result, they suggest that this situation has contributed to a mis- match between teacher demand and trained teacher supply, a lack of teachers in certain discipline areas, and the weighting of teachers in urban areas, as mentioned above.

The Project called for the restructuring of teacher education into a national system, by

(i)establishing a National Authority on Teacher Education (NATE), to plan, coordinate and upgrade teacher-education programs; (ii) strengthening the office of the Commissioner of Teacher Education... and (iii) rationaking teacher training institutions into three types -Universities, NIE, and 14 National Colleges of Education.. .together with Teacher Centers.. .for teacher upgrading, while distributhg teacher training resources more equîtably among regions (hternational Development Agency, 1996, pp. 9-10).

(3) Quality and Effectiveness of Teacher Education Programs

The International Development Agency considered the quality and effectiveness of teacher education programs in Sri Lanka poor because the "plethora of training programs offered by teacher education institutions" resulted in their being litîle relationship among the programs and "ody limited scope for progression fiom one level of award to another and between institutions" (International Development Agency, 1996, p.2). Another problem then claimed was that many courses offered were not related to

"the needs of the schools and communitf' (International Development Agency, 1996, p.2). En 1994, the National Institute of Education (NIE) was responsible for training 80 percent of the 66,930 participants involved in (in-service) teacher training that year, largely through the distance education program. The IDA highlighted the high concentration of in-service trainees in Sri Lanka as "one of the key factors linked to the declining quality" (International Development Agency, 1996, p.2) of teachers in the country. The Project proposed reducing the number of institutions offe~gteacher

education "fkom 31 to 19," to be made up of 14 NCOs (National Colleges of Education),

the NIE (National Institute of Education) and 4 universities (Tnternational Developrnent

Agency, 1996, p. IO). These institutions would be "distributeci equitably, to increase cost

effectiveness and double the present pre-service output at the NCOs to about 3025 and to

750 at the university level" (International Development Agency, 1996, p. IO). As well, the

Project advocated updating materials, consolidating programs, and "increasing the

content relationship between the school and teacher education curricula" (International

Developrnent Agency, 1996, p. 10).

(4) Staffing and Staff Development

Staffng and staff development was another major issue, identified especiaIly in

terrns of what the IDA termed "major inequalities in the stafhng of teacher training

institutions," the lack of identity teacher educators felt as a professional group, as well as

the lack of oppoaunities for professional development (International Development

Agency, 1996, p. 2). The Project proposed that teacher educators and administrators '%e

trained, improving quality through upgradùig staff qualifications and skills"

(International Development Agency, 1 996, p. 10). By their projection, up to 170,000

teachers would have their contxnuing education supported as a result of this proposal.

(5) Facilities and Equipment

The IDA descnbed the general standard of teacher training institutions as low, and that the type and quantity of equipment suppiied to institutions "fell well short of what would normally be expected fkom teacher education programs" (International

Development Agency, 1996, p. 2). The Project called for the "rehabilitation and

extension of existing institutions, construction and equipping of five new NCOEs

mational ColIeges of Education), and development of 8 1 TCs (Teacher Centres) for

teacher upgrading programs" (International Development Agency, 1996, p. 10).

(6) Cost and Financing

The IDA did a cost analysis of the various types of teacher training institutions in

Sri Lanka and found that Teacher Training Colleges, which received 48 percent of the

government's total bding, and the Colleges of Education, which received another 28

percent, accounted for only 11 percent of trainees. By contrast, the National Institute of

Education, which received 24 percent of the funding, dealt with 8 1 percent of the

trainees, on a part tirne basis through the distance education mode. Understandably the

IDA found that one of the main reasons for the high unit cost of Teacher Training

Colleges was that the these colleges had to pay their traùiees, who were on leave ffom

their teaching positions (International Development Agency, 1996, p.2).

The breadth of these proposals illustrate the massive scale of the Teacher

Education and Teacher Deployment Project, as does its proposed budget, which was

"estimated at US79.3 million" (World Bank, 1996). Thus, the Sri Lankan cohort of

thirteen participants who came to York University to take Master of Education courses on

govemment scholarship were only one srnall part of this massive, long-tenn educationd reform project. SnLanka - Second General Education Project (World Bank Project KD: LKPA10525)

The Second General Education Project (prepared in July 1996 and presented to the Board of the World Bank in July 2997), proposed to irnprove the overall quality of the education system at both the elementary and secondary, by:

(i)improv[ingJ the qualîty of education by standardizing the structure of primary and secondary education system through-out the country by increasing equitable access and availability of suitable facilities, equipment and education materiais; (ii) standard[izing] management procedures and upgrad[hgJ the principals and administrators at all levels of the system in these skills; (iii) develop[ing] a unit cost fïnancing of education to increase equity, rationalize expenditures and increase the sustainability of education programs; and (iv) for all of the above develop appropriate policies to facilitate management of the system through appropriate studies, axlalysis and monitoring activities (World Bank, 1997).

Specific support to meet the objectives included: the supply of ccpriority classrooms, science laboratories, multipurpose rooms, libraries and educational facilities," a book development study of the content, curriculum links, and supply of textbooks, as well as an increase in the supply and quality of library books, the

"strengthening of the educational management through the rationalization of services between the center and the provinces," the strengthening of education sector financing, the assesment of higher education programs to make them more responsive to labor needs; and "fellowships and studies to complement the above identified prionties"

(World Bank, 1997). Project costs were estimated to be "about US50 million" (WorId

Bank, 1997), and bilateral and multilateral participation was sought for the project. This document is best read in conjunction with the Sri Lankan National Education

Commission's 1997 report, Refonns in General Education. In an effort to pin-point the deficiencies in the overall education system, the President of Sri Lanka appointed a

National Education Commission (NEC)in 1991 to advise her on the formulation of a

National Education Policy. The NEC '%oilected data and information regarding the education system through public hearings, memoranda received fkom professionals including teachers, and their organizations, parents, and the general public" (National

Education Commission, 1997, p. ii).

Using this data the NEC published a document entitled "Towards a National

Education Policy"; subsequently, the Minister of Education requested that the NEC prepare a practical document which could be the basis for the National Education Policy.

This document was presented to the President of Sri Lanka, who appointed a Task Force chaired by the Minister of Education and Higher Education. The Minister then appointed

13 Technical Committees to carry out this work, In 1997, the National Education

Commission published Reforms in General Education "on the basis of the proposals made by the Technical Committees" (National Education Commission, 1997, p. ii).

These proposals were broadly grouped under five areas: "i. Extending educational opportunity; ii. Improvement in quality of education; iii. Technical and practical skills in education; iv. Teacher education; v. Management of education and resource provision"

(National Education Commission, 1997, p. ii). (It should be noted that two of the Sri

Lankan participants in the York Facdty of Education project took part in one of the activities mentioned in this Report, specifically, the Coileges of Education Syllabus

Review Cornmittees in Mathematics and Science.)

Some of the teacher education projects in this report parallel those found in the

World Bank's Teacher Education and Teacher Deployment Project, including the

establishment of the National Authority on Teacher Education and the limiting of

recognized teacher training institutes to Colleges of Education, the NIE and universities.

New projects included: (a) the goal of training all untraïned teachers in the se~ceby the

year 2000, (b) the improvement of hfkastructure facilities at the universities of Colombo,

Peradeniya, J&a and the Open University as part of a plan to offer Bachelor of

Education and Post-graduate Diploma in Education courses at these institutions, (c) the

establishment of a Teacher Educators' Service for the purpose of "attracting and retaining.. .a cadre of pro fessionals" to serve as lecturers and administrators in Teacher

Training Institutes (ie, the three types of teacher training institutions recognized by the government), and (d) the establishment of 84 Teachers' Centres where al1 trained teachers would "under go periodical in-service education programs" (National Education

Commission, 1997, p. 22).

In siimmary, given the mammùth scale of both of these education reform projects

(with estimated costs of approximately $180 million US, largely funded through loans b y the WorId Bank) projects which aim to transform all levels of the Sri Lankan education system including prùnary, secondary, tertiary, and teacher training systems, in terms of curriculum, teacher training stafkg, and infi.astructure, one could only imagine what their overall effects might beywere they ever to be completed. However, it is within the context of these projects, that the expenences, goals, interests, and aspirations of the thirteen Sri Lankan participants who came to York University for one year to study in the

Master of Education degree program must borne in mind.

The SnLdan Teacher Education and Teacher Depioymentl York University Project

In 1997, the Sri Lankan Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE), wishing to 'upgrade' a group of 30 teacher educators by providing them with scholarships to attend overseas graduate degree programs in Education, sought tenders fkom universities around the world. This was in iine with the SnMan goveniment's plans for staff training and development, listed in Working Paper D7 of the Teacher

Education and Teacher Deplovment Proiect Implementation Papers (1996). This document included plans to upgrade "about 50 teacher educators in selected institutions in OECD countries for which higher degree courses, especially in pedagogy and subject content are not available within the region" (International Development Agency, 1996, p.

95).

According to a Canadian participant in the project, nine füil tenders were submitted. From these, three were accepted, Australia's University of Wollongong and

Canada's Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and York University in Toronto, which bid together as a "Canadian Consortium" (Canadian participant, 2000). In Jdy 1997, officiais fiom the Faculties of Education of Simon Fraser and York

University (including the Coordinator of Research, Policy and International Development for York's faculty) traveled to Sri Lanka to meet with Ministry of Education and Higher

Education officiais, including the Codssioner of Teacher Education, over their joint proposal. In the following month, this commissioner traveled to Canada to consult with both Faculties of Education.

In December 1977, the Canadian Consortium submitted a report b'outliriing a proposed five-week Orientation Program in Sri Lanka" to be provided by thern "from

February 23 - March 28, 1998" (Canadian Consortium, 1997, p. 1). This report listed the objectives and program components of the five-w eek program, including schedule and facfities, assessment, and criteria for acceptance of graduate students by Simon Fraser and York Universities. The Consortium proposed that participants would "develop an understanding of what it means to study at the graduate level in a Masters or Doctoral program with a focus on Teacher Education," lem about strategies for dealing with cross-cultural differences, improve their English skills and be introduced to a "number of teaching techniques and learning strategies" which they could "expect to experience while attending university in Canada" (Canadian Consortium, 1997, p. 1). The program would also serve "as a screening process to select the initial group of individuals to enter graduate study in Canada" (Canadia.Consortium, 1997, p. 2).

Program components of the orientation program included language, cultural, and academic aspects. The language component focused essentially on acquiring and utilizing academic English, the cultural cornponent introduced the participants to lifé in a

Canadian miversity and the academic component dealt with Canadian university

standards and expectations, methods of assessment, instructional techniques, and such

issues as the influence of leaming styles and contextual experiences on teaching

(Canadian Consortium, 1997,3).

Under "Schedule and FacZties" the Consortium stipulated that "[tlhere wilI be 35

hours of in-class instruction per week, with an additional 15-20 hours per week built in

for one-on-one assistance, interviews, small group work and individual assignnients,

research and reading" (Canadian Consortium, 2997, p. 3). Socio-cultural activities were

also promised, and the proposal included a list of the facilities which would be required

to nin the program in Sn Lanka.

The proposa1 also included the assessment procedures which would be carried out

both prior to, and during, the five week orientation program. English language

competency would be assessed, aIong with "academic preparedness and openness to new

ideas." Participants would be asked to submit a sample of academic wrïting and a short

statement of intent. During the program, they would be guided through the preparation of

a c'portfolio of work designed to show progress, provide evidence of skills and indicate

areas of strength." This portfolio was to consist of samples of essays, a weekly log of reflections, an outline and a self-critique of an oral presentation given during orientation, and other pieces selected by the participant which the participant thought would "indicate strengths or significant evidence of learning" (Canadian Consortium, 1997, p.3). Finally, a statement would be required at the end of the program indicating how the participant would change his or her initial statement of expectation, given the experiences and leaming that the participant had gained over the course of the program. Towards the end of the program, students wodd complete, again under supervision, application forms for the programs of their choice at York and Simon Fraser University, as weil as a cbculum vitae and any relevant samples of their work 'Wat indicate[d] a sustained interest in an education-reIated topic" (Canadian Consortium, 1997, p.4).

The criteria used by Simon Fraser and York Universities for acceptance of graduate students fiom among the participants was detailed in the last section of their orientation proposal, and is here quoted in full:

The selection will be made taking into consideration:

an acceptable level of oral and WenEnglish - evidenceJLom the Portjiolio and a checkdist designed to be used &y aCI iearching sfafl TOEFL preparation courses andlor TOEFL scores will be an asset, but not the sole, or most significant criteria in assessrnent of adequate laquage proficiency.

a realistic statement of what they can achieve in a year abroad, what challenges they will face and what strategies they are prepared to use to overcorne those challenges - evidencefiorn theirfinal written statement and an interview with each participant

a focused and coherent statement of research interest which is relevant to the overall reform intent of the project - evidence from the research statement and conrments from the staff mentber who heïped each participant develop und refine the statement

clear indication of opemess to consider new ideas and experiment with Ullfamiliar techniques - evidencefiom the portfolio and observation during the program aethities by teaching team staff (Canadian Consoaium, 1997, p. 4).

In Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education placed newspaper

advertisements announcing scholarships for this long-term overseas study tour. The

Ministry applied the "Criteria for Selection of Candidates for Staff Development" found

in the hplementation Pa~ers,which stated that any person applylng for a scholarship to follow Master's Degree programs must be a holder of a Bachelor's Degree, be less than

45 years of age, hold a Post Graduate Diploma in Education or a ktcIms Trained

Teachers' Certincate, and have more than five years' experience as a teacher educator, among other requirements. A woxhg laiowledge of Englïsh was aIso essential

@ternational Development Agency, 1996, pp. 90-91).

The Sri Lankan Ministry of Education se1ected thirty candidates to take part in the

Orientation Program which, because of delays caused by negotiations between the

Canadian Consortiufll and the Ministry of Education and HÏgher Education, was held fiom March 26 to April27, 1998 at the National hstitute of Education in Maharagam, a suburb of Colombo, the . The staff, which rotated, included two officials fkom York University, two fhm Simon Fraser University, and a Sri Lankan teacher living in Canada.

Based on a journal kept by one of the Sri Lankan participants, classes were generally held from 8:30 am. to 6:30 p.m. every Monday to Thmday and f?om 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Friday. The curriculum included academic English, analysis of articles and discussions on constructivism and other theories of education, Iliformation about the

Canadian university system, and the creation and maintenance of individual Portfolios.

Each participant's portfolio was made up of six language components of notes for oral presentations or compositions, a reflective journal of their experiences in the Orientation

Program, and an Action Plan in which they pinpointed one pedagogical problem in their schools and laid out a plan to rect* it,

On the basis of this five-week program in Sn Lanka, the Canadian faculty chose meen participants. Following mernegotiations with the Sn Lankan governrnent, thiaeen participants were accepted into York University's Master of Education program and two into Simon Fraser University's of Education program. The remaining fifieen participants were accepted into Australia' s University of Wollongong Master of

Education degree program.

The Sri Lankan Cohort at York University: Biographical Sketches

The Sri Lankan cohort accepted to York University was made up of thirteen participants who represented weU the diversiw of Sri Lanka. Seven of the participants were female, six male. All were married and had children. Nine participants identified themselves culixrally as Sinhalese, and one as Tamil. Three Muslims, while ethnically

Tamil, insisted on being identified as Muslim. In terms of religious affiliation, eight were

Buddhist, one Christian, one Hindu, and three were Muslim.

Profes~ionally~eight of the participants were teacher educators in various pre- service Coileges of Education, two were teacher educators at in-service Teachers'

Training Colleges, one was a principal in a Teachers' Training College, and two were

educational administrators, one in the National Institute of Education and one in the

Ministry of Education and Higher Education. The participants' professional Lives

included Çom five to twenty-one years of secondary school teaching experience and five

to thirteen years of teacher education experience. Among thern, subject-areas ranged

fkom Science, Biology, and Math to Educationd Psychobgy, Principles of Education,

and Guidance and Counseling, as well as English as a Second Laquage and Physical

Education.

Geographically, these participants lived in the centre and southern part of the

island. Seven of the participants were working in the central highlands region: four in and

around Kandy and three located in and around Nuwara Eliya. By cornparison, two were

located near Colombo on the west coast, two were located on the south coast at Matara,

and two were located on the east coast in Batticaloa

Individual Biographies

-PM

A teacher educator at a teachers' training college in the central highlands district near Kandy, PM, a Sinhalese female, earned a Specialist Teacher

Training certificate in Physical Education, a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma in Education

Çom the University of Peradeneya, and a Diploma in Teacher Education and Curriculum Development fkom Sirnon Fraser University in Vancouver. She expressed particular

interest in the way sports insu a process of socialization and also in how technology can

be applied to Physicd Education courses and assessments.

-DJ

DJ, a Sinhalese female, taught for ten years as a Mathematics teacher in primary

schools and has taught for fifteen years as a teacher educator in mathematics, first as a

visiting Iecturer for mathematical concepts at the Open University and then for the

National Institute of Education's Bachelor Of Education program. %or to coming to

Canada she was a lecturer in mathematics at a college of education near Kandy, and expressed an interest in tr-yhgto mgto change the attitude of primary teacher trainees in Mathematics, who often fear the subject.

-EL

A lecturer in English at a college of education in the Southem Province, EL, a

Sinhalese female, received a Specialist certificate in English, a Bachelor of Arts general degree, and a Diploma in English for Specific Purposes. Her twenty-seven years of teaching experience included six years in her present post. Her interests lay in changing

Pruiiary teacher trainees' attitudes towards Math.

-LI

LI, a Sinhaiese fernale, began her teaching career in Science 1987 after receiving her first university degree. In 1997 she completed her Master of Philosophy degree. At the time of the project, she was the project officer in charge of the teaching practicum for the both the Bachelor of Education and post-graduate Diploma in Education programs at the National Institute of Education. She was a member of a team of writers involved in writing a UNESCO manual of for primary teachers and was involved with developing a new science curriculum for colleges of education. She worked as a counterpart of the Canadian consultants for one year in preparing this new climcduxn. She expressed interest in improving the quality of the teaching practice supervision program by developing an assessment form that could be used as a guidance tool as well as a evaluation tool, and hoped to work on this issue with fifteen regional tutors in the Western Province on a pilot project.

-DF

DF, a Sinhalese female, received a Bachelor of Science degree and taught secondary school physics and biology. She has served as a lecturer in science and mathematics at a teacher training college in the Central Province, and was especially interested in teacher training assessment techniques.

-NB

Head and Academic Coordinator of the Science section, and lecturer in biology, environmental studies and measurernent and evaluation at a college of education near

Nuwara Eliya, (the only bilingual teacher-training institution in Sri Lanka) NB, a

Sinhalese female, received a Bachelor of Biological Science honours degree in 1977, a post-graduate Diploma in Education fiom the Open University in 1988, and a Masters in

Education in 1995. She also participated in a Sn Lankan Science Syllabus Reform Commîttee which involved a participant fiom a Canadian University. Her research plans included working with five teacher trainees fkom dareas, to make and demonstrate twenty low-cost science educational ai&, in order to teach Science in junior secondary level.

-Il3

IB, a Mulsim female, was an assistant director in the Ministry of Education and

Higher Education, involved in the over-all administration of Tamil-medium Colleges of

Education, including curriculum planning. These colleges included three Tamil-medium

Hindu school and two Tamilmedium Muslim schools, one for male and one for female students. She was interested in appIying complexity theory to her experiences as an administrator of teacher education issues. She had earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in

Economics and a post-pduate Diploma in Education fiom the University of CoIornbo, as weU as a Diploma in Education Management fiom the National Institute of Education.

-PB

PB, a Sinhalese male, began his teaching career as an assistant English teacher at the age of eighteen and trained as a Specialist Üi Physical Education. He received a BA degree in Sinhala, Economics and Buddhist Culture and a Post-Graduate degree in

Education, both fkom the . He also received a Master of

Education degree fiom the Open University. He has served as a lecturer in principles of education, psychology, and guidance and counseling at a college of education near

Nuwara Eliya since 1991. Besides teaching, he was also a coordinatùig officer and vice- president, academic ofthe CoLlege. His field of interest was training prîmary science and math teachers.

-BK

Since 1990, BK, a Sinhalese male, has served as a lecturer in principles of education and at a teacher training college in the Central

Province which specializes in aesthetics. He was interested in developing teacher practicum evaluations that have validity, reliability, practicaiity, and uniformïty.

WY

WY, a Sinhalese male, served as a teacher of pure mathematics to Advanced

Level students for six years and as a master teacher for appiied mathematics before being appointed a Lecturer in Science and Mathematics at a college of education in the

Southem Province in 1987. He also served as section head in mathematics of that college for twelve years. He received his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Diploma in

Education.

-NS

A Science Lecturer at a college of education in the Eastern Province since 1992, with seven years' experience teaching pure mathematics to Advanced Level students, NS, a Muslim male, received a Bachelor of Science degree fkom the Eastern University of Sri

Lanka. He was very conscious of the need to refom the present examination system found in SnLanka and was dso interested in establishing a Science room with equipment so that 'practicals' could be carried out at his school. -OT

Mer an eight-year career at Kulmanai Zaharia (Muslim) College as a biology

graduate teacher, and then a researcher, chief examiner, and marking examiner for the

General Certificate of Education Advanced Level Zoology for the Kuhanai Educational

District, OT, a Muslim male, became a Lecturer in biology and science methodology at a

teachers' training college in the Eastern Province in 1994. He received his Bachelor of

Science in Biology, with a combination of zoology, botany and chemistry from the

Eastern University of Sn Lanka i;l 1984, a post-graduate Diploma in Education at the

Open University in 1992, and took a six-month management course in educationd

administration at the National Institute of Education in 1993. His major areas of interest

included science methodology, biology, and human anatomy and he stated an interest in

gaining further knowledge about how to use the natural environment as a learning

resource. NJ A vice-president in charge of teacher education at a teacher training college in the

Central Province which trains in-service teachers working in the tea plantation schools,

NJ, a Tamil male, earned a B.S. degree fkom the University of Peradeaiya, a postgraduate

diploma fhm the National hstitute of Education, and also completed the fist year of a

Master of Arts degree in Tamil Literature and Linguistics. Mer a career as a science teacher and assistant Iecturer in zoology, NJ became a founding rnember of the only al1

Tamil-medium teacher training institute in the country. He was a member of the science curricular steering cornmittee and has taken part in study tours to Thailand and Taiwan.

He has also participated in literacy campaigns arnong the tea plantation workers. NJ is also a published writer, with two colIections of poetry to his credit.

Program of Study and Cross-Cultural Activities at York University for the Sri Lankan Cohort

The thirteen members of the Sri Lankan cohort to York University's Master of

Education program, amived in Toronto in August 1998 and were housed in on-campus residences. During the 1998/99 academic year, they enrolled in eight half-courses.

The Est of courses, taken by some or all of the participants, included Assessment,

Qualitative Research, Play, Language and Leaniing, Critical Multiculturalism,

Curriculum, Literacy and Social Context, Issues in Digital Technology, Environmental

Education, Science and Technology, and Mathematics Pedagogy. In addition, the Facdly of Education also offered two cohort-specific courses for this group: Thinking About

Teaching, and a section of Advanced Research Topics to help the participants with their

Major Research Paper proposals (Canadian participant, 2000). The Faculty, with the assistance of the York University English Language Institute, also offered three semesters of Academic English tutorials, as well as a tutonai for the Assessment course.

The Coordinator of Research, Policy and International Development at the

Faculty of Education, worked intimately with the participants in a nurnber of academic and persona1 ways -as a counselor reIated to their adjustments to life in Canada away hmtheir fandies, and in providing them with a broad range of intellectual, cultural, and

interpersonal extracurricular expenences while at York University. For example a

welcome lunch for a group of York faculty colleagues to hfroduce them to their Sn

Lankan 'partners.' These faculty members were to be available to their partners for

academic co11sultations throughout the school year. Other activities, organized with

faculty or through the York University English Language Institute, included a pot-luck

lunch at a faculty member's house in a conservation area north of Toronto, a Christmas

concert at Roy Thompson Hall to hear the Toronto Children's Choir, a Christmas party at

the Faculty dean's house, an audience with the President of York University, and a final

farewell party at the home of the Project Coordinator. Field trips to local points of interest

were also organized, to such places as the Royal Ontario Museum, the Ontario Science

Centre, the CN Tower and Black Creek Pioneer Village. Trips Merafkld included a

day trip to St. Jacobs, another to Niagara, weekend trips to Ottawa and Montreal, two

residential events out of the city on developing student leadership and multiculturalisrn,

organized by a fellow-student who also happened to be a teacher for the

Board, a weekend of canoeing in Algonquin Park, and one of cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing at MonoCLi£f's Centre. As well, most participants in the

Sri Lankan cohort visited local high schools to gather research. They also took part in at least one local teachers' conference, while one participant attended a teachers' conference in StCatherines, Ontaio. Participants also organized their own outings and trips. Two visited New York City and one Califomia while studying at York University (Canadian Participant, 2000)-

The participants retumed to Sn Lanka in August and September, 1999, having completed their course requùements. They aiI returned to their jobs as teachers or administrators, but also had the additional reçponsibility of working on their research projects and writing their Major Research Papers (MRF). Between December 1999 and

February 2000, four faculty members, who had been asked to serve as Major Research

Paper advisors to three or four students each, each visited Sri Lanka for about two weeks to offer support and direction to their research work and manuscnpts.

Al1 thkteen of the Sn Lankan participants completed their Major Research Papers by March 2000 and sent them to their cornmittees at York University. Subsequently, ail the participants graduated at a special ceremony held at the Canadian Embassy in

Colombo in early July 2000, with one of the key members of the Canadian Consortium in attendance.

In the following chapter, I wilI discuss the research methodology I used after deciding to açk the Sn Lankan cohort to participate in a qualitative research project dealing with their expenences while at York University. METHODOLOGY

Mer deciding to do qualitative research about the SnLankan cohort at York

University, 1 arranged to conduct a pilot interview with a group of four participants on

Febmary 16, 1999. My journal entry for Febnrary 4, 1999, shows me w-orrying about whether or not any members of the Sri Lankan cohort would ailow themselves to be interviewed. About two weeks before the pilot interview, one participant came up to me to ask, nervously, what issues 1wouid be interviewing them about. I tried to reassure hi. by letting him lmow that 1wanted to focus on language and cross-cultural issues and that all the participants' comments would be kept in the strictest coddentiality. He did not seem reassured.

This highlighted for me one of my chief concems: that the participants rnight not feel cornfortable confiding in me as a qualitative researcher for a nurnber of reasons, not the least of which was that 1 was also their English tutor and an employee of York

University. 1tried to resolve this problem, and any doubts the participants voiced, by stressing the fact that my work as a researcher required me to keep any information or opinions 1received fiom them private. Whatever the case, the stress of this pre-interview period brought home to me the suggestion 1 had found in much of the literature on qualitative research, waming neophytes not to do qualitative research in their own 'back yard'. I did what 1 could to help the participants overcome their initial anxiety and, in the process, 1 came to vaiue the fact that 1 had been involved with the participants for over a semester, because it gave us time to get to know each other better and to build up tmt.

1 conducted my fhst group interview with four of the participants on February 16,

1999.1 had chosen these four -one Sinhalese Buddhist male, one Tamil Muslim male,

and two Sinhalese Buddhist females -in order to balance gender, ethnicity, and

religions. Before al1 the participants showed up at the residence apartment, 1 sat with

another of the Sri Lankan students, who had agreed to host the people being inte~ewed

in the residence apartment he shared with three other men. The living room was quite

bare: a small sofa and two other red covered chairs, a plain table on which a block of

incense stood inside an incense-holder made of a soft drink can whose top had been cut

off. Two other similar tables stood in either corner, and on a wall hung a calendar fiom a

south Indian W featuring a mode1 dressed in a dark sari. We discussed his experiences

in Canada up to then, and he confided that Living and studying with colleagues who were

Sinhalese, Tamil, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and Christian was a new and strange experience for him. This participant's comments highlighted the fact that, while an outsider might view this group as homogeneously 'Sri Lankan,' the participants themselves rnight be more cornfortable in identifj4ng themselves according to their diverse ethnic, religious, social, and political backgrounds. This suggested that the group's identity was not fixed, but rather that the rnembers of the cohort shified identities according to the context of their discussions and the situations in which they found themselves in Canada, both amongst each other (possibly in cliques) and in relation to

Canadian students and teachers. During the pilot group interview (which lasted about two hours), 1 found myself

trying to steer the conversation towards the topics 1 wanted - the possible effects of the

lack of TOEFL testing - but the conversation redy took off when the participants began

discussing the courses they had been taking in their winter term. They became animated

when discussing some of the practical and philosophical ramifications of their studies,

especially in terms of the course in Mathematics pedagogy they were taking. They

discussed. They intejected. They reflected on their experiences. They looked to the

fùture and saw new possibilities. Thus, the participants themselves had helped me clan@ what rny topic might become.

The next day I transcribed the audiotaped interview and began drawïng out the themes fÏom the transcript - the participants' professional backgrounds, the definition of a Sri Lankan 'Master Teacher' and the requUrements for becoming one, what they considered to be some of the benefits of attending York Universie, the process they fiad gone through before being selected to come to Canada, whether or not they believed that the York teachers they had studied with so far had adapted their courses in any way to aid them, their reactions to the Mathematics pedagogy course, and what they had found to be the best methods for improving their English.

1revised my plans for my future interview questions in order to focus on the themes that had most excited these participants: what they felt they were learning about as teachers, and how they believed it would impact on their pedagogical practices once they returned to Sri Lanka. My research proposal, which included the Interview Protocols (Appendix A) and Informed Consent Form (Appendix B) was accepted by the Ethics

Review Committee.

While 1 kept, generally, a certain set of interview questions, 1 also tried to stay spontaneous enough to follow leads that the participants might provide about their professional concems and interests, as well as some of the more personal aspects about their adjusting to living and studying in a foreign country. The initial group inte~avand two subsequent individual inte~ewstook place between February 16 and April6, 1999.

Merthese initial interviews, 1 organized an independent reading course in the

Intersession term on the Political Economy of International Educational Development

Projects, in order to famiiiarize myself with some of the overall contexts. These readings helped me put the SnLankan participants' expenences into a broader, international context, and reflect on the relationship between the various 'macro' and 'micro' piayers in international education, the issues for the developing countries, and questions of nco- colonialism.

After finishing the reading course, 1 completed the remaining seven individual inte~ewsin fifteen days in August, twice inte~ewingdifferent people during the momuig and the aflemoon of the same day. These interviews, which tended to last fiom one to one-and-a-half hours, took place in a room at the Faculty of Education offices in the Ross Building at York University. 1believe that this marathon session of inte~ews helped me to develop skills as a quantitative researcher. My questions became more specific. 1 was more conscious of, and intrigued by, where participants paused in our conversations, and 1became more cornfortable with silence. While 1 continued retunYng

to the main themes of classroom behaviour, teacher-student relations, curriculum and

assesment with each of these participants and began to see patterns developing out of the participants' responses as a whole, 1 was surprised to realize that 1 was not getting bored with the procedure. Each participant brought with them some new information or point of view, which surprised, touched, or amused me, especially when their comments did not fit neatly into my themes.

One participant surprised me by the vehemence of his rernarks about the tensions that existed in the Sri ILankan cohort as their tirne in Canada wound dom. He complained that they were unable to work together, their egos were ninning rampant, and the group was dividing into belligerent cliques. Another participant touched me when she reflected on her roles as teacher and mother. She confided an incident to me involving her daughter back home. Her daughter infonned her that she had received a mark of 99 percent in Math on a recent examination. She explained to me that, instead of congratulating ber, she had responded with the question, "Where's the other one?" In recounting the story, and her reaction, this participant began to cry. It brought home to me how much she must be missing her family. A third participant happened to be the last one 1interviewed. We were both exhausted: 1fiom interviewing, she fiom having to complete the last of her term papers while packing for home. At one point in our conversation I asked her which courses she had taken over the school year. She stmggled to remember al1 eight of them. She got stuck after seven. We were both so tired that, after 1 prodded her and she remembered the name of the eighth course, we both started g;gglh3

Every academic researcher develops a relationship with his or her own work. My qualitative research involved researching, inte~ewingparticipants, transcribing, reviewing, scheduling more interviews, drawing out themes Eom the transcripts, revising my questions, and inte~ewingsome more. Like any relationship, there were good hes and there were bad times. The good times happened when 1was tuned into my interview participant, when the conversation moved between us easily, when 1was able to follow a hunch like a track through a thicket, so that both of us were surprised by the vista that suddenly opened up. The bad times happened when 1 felt overwhelmed by all my data, when 1could not see any pattern in it, when 1 was tired and 1preferred not to talk with yet another participant, when 1 had waited too long to transcribe the last interview and it was no longer fiesh in my memory, so that the phrase the participant is saying, on tape, was just a long mumble, no matter how many times 1 rewound and replayed it. And I had to enter kclear" in parentheses on the line in my transcript, adit felt like 1 had just put up a little tombstone to a moment that was lost, a marker to a little defeat, to another instance when 1did not get the words just right. And then 1 felt like 1could not stand the sight of my partner -my work - and allI wanted to do was nin away, or dream of running away.

merthe last inte~ewwas transcnbed, 1reread ail ten transcripts, spending a day between each one or two readings, just to think. Those days between readhgs were an important part of the process of distilhg the data down to its essential elements. 1 had

begm the data-gathering process with a clear agenda, only to be knocked onto a better

path when I actually dowed myself to hear what interested and excited the participants.

T'en,1 asked a series of set questions to each subsequent participant, but still tried to be

open to the unexpected. 1 had asked questions, listened, written, edited. And now, during

those days off, 1tried to do oothing, not even to think about the participants, but just wait

and let my subconscious do the work 1knew it would do, without wo-g about the

process. After 1hnished re-reading each interview, 1went over them again to draw out

data on the four themes that had evolved fiom the data, themes which 1had become

conscious of both through my own silence and through discussing the process with my

thesis director. (These four themes, to be explored in depth in the next two chapters, were

teacher-student relations, ciassroom practices, curriculum, and assessment.)

A drawback that 1 became aware of during this part of the process was the fact that 1could not go back and ask the participants to clear up some of my rnisunderstandings, or for more infoxmation. 1had been required to inte~ewthem while we were al1 'in the middle of the action' because of the timing of my project and the limited time that was available to them in Canada.

Even given the constraints 1chose, or was forced, to work with, 1found the process of qualitative methodology during these interviews to be very valuable because of its flexibilim It allowed for both action and reflection, the ideas and knowledge that were presented grew out of a shared experience between me and the participants, and it constantIy forced me to ask myseifthe larger questions, about what it meant to have

integrity as a researcher, about how 1 could mitigate the power I knew 1 wielded douig this kind of research, and about how the expenence was, in a most important way, about patience and letting go.

In the next chapter, 1 will explore my 'kdings. ' FINDNGS AND ANALYSIS

Introduction

Mer interviewing the thirteen mernbers of the Sri Lanka cohort, transcribing their interviews, and analyzing their rernarks, 1 found that most of what they had to Say fell into four general themes: student-teacher relations, classroom practices, assessment, and curriculum. Following is a presentation of these comments under each data-theme.

Student-Teacher Relations

Ten of the thirteen participants raised issues relating to student-teacher relations.

These comments fell into three main sub-themes: (a) student-teacher relations in Sri

Lanka, (b) student-teacher relations in Canada, and (c) how these experiences had effected how they felt about student-teacher relationships in the Sri Lankan context.

(a) Student-Teacher Relations in Sri Lanka

Participants discussed student-teacher relations in Sri Lanka Eom three different perspectives. Some gave anecdotes about their own experiences as students, at different levels of schooling. Some discussed the topic in more general terms. Yet others discussed the kind of relationships they trïed to maintain with their students.

Three participants related anecdotes about their lives as students. The first talked about how his parents reacted whenever he was disciplined in class in order to illustrate the strict relationship that existed between teachers and students (and the awe in which teachers were held by parents) when he was growing up. According to him, parents would bring their children to a teacher, saying "Master, you look &ter my son. Whatever

the thixig, you can punish." He remembered having gone home to tell his parents th2t he

had received a caning in class, 09to get another one fiom his father or rnother.

Another participant remembered once leaving her Grade 5 class without asking permission of her teacher. When she retumed to class and went to the teacher to give her excuse, she was told to stand in fkont of the class, was drilled with questions fkom the teacher, and then made to stand in the doorway of the classroom and Listen to the rest of the teacher's lecture. A third participant talked about a temble experience that stiU rankled him f?om his theas a university student. He had had a lot of confidence in his abilities in a genetics cIass. Once, he handed in an assigrment that he was sure would earn him a perfect grade, only to get it returned with a letter-grade of 'D.' He double- checked his class notes and could not find where he had made a single mistake. He became angry and went to see his professor in his office. He asked his teacher to explain where he had gone wrong, so he codd Ieam from his errors. Instead, his teacher responded with a curt demand, Tlease leave!" As this participant explained, he could not argue with him, "because otherwise we can't pass the degree." He concluded: "So, still I remember that experience."

While these participants related experiences that could be understood to have been negative, only one held a pdgeabout the way he had been treated. From their comments, the other two seemed to accept and in fact believe that the teacher was meant to act as a disciplinarian and the person who instills of moral values. This was the position taken by five other participants. One labelled the teacher-

student relationship '%ierarchical," and another claimed that a "very big gap" existed between the teacher and the students in her country. A third siunmed up the student7slife in this way: "You have to work hard; no fieedom; the student's self-esteem is not respected there. Punishing. And parents also support the teachers to punish physically."

A fourth participant stressed that Sn Laakan teachers maintained discipline and dominance. At the same tirne, participants linked this teacher discipline with the teacher's role of instilling moral values in their students, and especially their young pupils. As fifth explained, "Not in al1 cases, but in some cases, they don't know what is good and what is bad. So, there should be some formalities in that class."

It should corne as no surprise that the participants, al1 products of a schooI system that favoured teacher dominance, should perpetuate this role when they, themselves, became teachers. A participant stated that she had been "a Little strict" before coming to

Canada Another, who had himselfbeen humiliated by his professor in university, declared openly, "1 like to be dominant."

Three of the participants stressed that their positions as teachers af3orded them a certain degree of social standing. The first mentioned, with approval, how students, out of respect for her position, always greeted her in a formal way. The second boasted that in hisviUagehewasnothownsimplyas'~.,"butas"Mr. Sir."Thethirdspoke about teacher status in the following way: "...CW]e are maintainirig some kind of status there, among the students. The student do not look the teacher as fiiendsLïhey are hi&

level person."

(b) Student-Teacher Relations in Canada

Participants commented on student-teacher relations in Canada in two settiings: in the secondary school classes they had observed, and in terms of the relationships that existed between themselves and their professors in the Master of Education program at

York University.

Many of the participants observed secondary school classes in the Toronto area while in Canada, Some came away with negative feelings about what they had witnessed there: one female participant found some Canadian students "very aggressive" and labeled as "very terrible" the perceived lack of discipline in some of the schools. Another was also startled by the ccrudeness"of a Canadian student in one of the secondary schools she visited. "I noticed a lady teacher, she was coilecting her books," she explaiued, "and she...[g ot] to ... the class after the bell rang. At once, a boy came, and said very rudely,

'You're already five minutes late!' And no student could tell us Iike that!" Three other participants made a direct connection between the equality with which students were treated here and their lack of discipline in the classroom. One claimed that teachers were more respected in SnLanka; here, they were treated as "equal" to students. In another's opinion, while the Canadian school system "honoured students' fkeedom," it did not require them to work vigourously. He claimed to have been upset by the kinds of exchanges he had witnessed between students and teachers in the classroom on three different occasions, and joked 'Teachers have a high tolerance!" The last insisted that, while students here had more power than their counterparts in SnLanka did, and enjoyed more fieedom, they lacked discipline: they put their feet on their desks, threw their '%bats"

(caps) around the classroom, fooled around in fiont of their teachers, and left class whenever they wished, to go and smoke outside.

While the relationship between Canadian students and teachers might, in the opinion of most of the participants, have left a lot to be desired, for one participant at least, this relationship seemed better than theirs back home. She stressed that she had found Canadian primary school teachers especialiy devoted to their pupils. They were even more devoted than Sn Lankan teachers, she claimed, because, Sri Lankan teachers eedand lei? at the same time as their pupils, while their Canadian counterparts arrived before their pupils and leR afier them.

By comparing teacher-student relationships they had enjoyed with their professors at the Canadian university, three participants' reactions were positive. One characterized this interaction as one of close Eendship. While he appreciated this, he had also had to stniggle with the cultural difference of being asked to address his professors here by tiieir given names rather than as "Doctor" or "Professor." He still found this difficult to do, even after seven months in the program. The second considered that his Canadian professors treated their students with equality. The third claimed that the Sri Lankan participants had become very good Enends with their Canadian pro fessors. (c) Transferabilîty

Two participants discussed the possibility of trying to make their student-teacher

relationships less formal. The htpraised how open and informal her professors here

had been - "all the thewe can go and ask anything!" -and reflected that students in

Sri Lanka "should bey' able to feel the same fi-eedom, instead of often being too scared of

their teachers to ask them anytlllng. The second claimed to have changed some of her

attitudes: '7 think we must build... more relationship with the students, like here," she

said, "Notso much, but more than ..." She laid her hands far apart on a desk. 'We are

here. In this moment, we are having some different gap but we have to decrease that," she

said, bringing her hands closer together.

Another participant, also showed conflicting reactions to this issue. On one hand,

she too, womed about facing disapproval fiom culleagues and students if she was seen to

be getting 900 closeyyto her students. Her colleagues would probably think that she was

trying to gain "cheap popularitf7; the boys in her class might take advantage of her new

behaviour and become Iazy. On the other hand, another participant stiIl hoped to form a

stronger ccconnection"not only with her students, '%ut with my kids, also."

Three other participants were opposed to changing their relationships with their

students. The fkst, who taught both at a Teachers' Training College and private tutorial school, claitned that he wanted to treat his students in a ftiendlier way. However, he opposed the idea of acting any differently towards his younger students, for fear that neighbours in bis village might gossip that he was favouring a particular male student because he was a homosexuai, or a particdar female student because he was mgto

find a young bride for one of his relatives. Fear of social opprobrium was also evident in

the second participant's remarks about the problem of inviting his teacher trainees to

change their attitudes and behaviour towards their young students. Echoing this opinion,

a second participant said, 'If...they go to school.,.school students are very sdl... So, if

they have good relations with them, there are a lot of gossips." A third, while

appreciating his Canadian professors' behaviour in their own context, also stressed that

he wished to maintain traditional Sri Lankan attitudes towards students. In this way, hîs

remarks serve as a summation of some of his colleagues' remarks:

Teacher's relationship is very close here. From the Canadian culture it's OK, but in our culture, Sinhala and Tamil both. 1 think we must have an ann's-length. So, it has to be continued. So, this too close type of thing, 1can't ... 1 admire this thing, but 1 can't introduce this there. .. 11. Classroorn Practices

Twelve participants spo ke about classroom practices. The main sub-themes were:

(a) classroom practices in Sri Lanka; (b) classroom practices in Canada; and (c) the

possibility of the participants applying some of the concepts and behaviours they had

leanied while in the Faculty of Education to their experiences in Sri Lanka.

(a) Classroorn Practices in Sri Lanka

In discussing classroom practices in Sn Lanka, one participant commented on the

2,500-year-old history of bls country, and of the lasting effects of the ancient tradition of the pm, or teacher, on present-day behaviour. He described the social relationship that existed between the guru and their followers, in the following way:

Guru means 'Teacher" and there's a teacher's home, also.-.From that the.. .the students who corne to that padicular place.. .There' s a known person. He's the gum and teacher. Then, nobody can ask any questions. He's the hown person. Whatever he tells, al1 are me! They should accept, Actualiy, fiom tirne to tirne, that guru concept went to the ...especidy the religious people: purisma. And, that brahman, it means the Tamil people, there's some people. Also, Muslim also there's some teachers.-.particular religious leaders. They are the bosses for that whole thing, not only education. So, actually, it went-.-goes and goes ... then, finally, the task, the teaching task, transmitted to the layman. Aithough they took this responsibility, they also practiced the same thing.

He stressed the social distance that existed between the guru and his followers:

the fact that the lecture method was the most popular, that students were not allowed to

question theù teacher, and that the teacher's word was considered infallible. By

cornparison, another participant downplayed the importance of the "guru-factor" in

modem Sri Lanka, pointing out that modem teachers considered themselves professionals

and eamed rnoney, whereas gurus acted out of a sense of service, and received alms.. She

also listed some of the characteristics of what, in her opinion, made for a 'good' teacher,

including hard work, cornmitment, subject-knowledge, and punctuality.

Interestingly, the classroom practices of the ancient gurus mentioned earlier by a participant, which included the lecture method, lack of questioning by students, and the aura of infallibilïty surrounding a teacher's pronouncements, were also mentioned by many of the participants when discussing their expenences in present-day Sn Lanka.

According to participants, the lecture method continued to be used widely in Sri Lanka, which they considered to be the quickest method to disseminate information where resources were lacking. One highiighted this relationship between lack of learning resources and the use of the lecture method when he compared the classroorn practices used in rural and urban schools. In dareas, in a context where most schools did not have any electricity, and thus lacked all but the most basic learning resources, the teacher still played 7he prominent.,.major role" in student learning. In contrast, in urbm areas, where students might have access to a "cornputer laboratory.. [a] good library. .. [and] mass media" he beiieved that classroom practices tended to be less teacher-centred.

This participant also commended his Sri Lankan university professors' hard work in the face of a lack of learning resources. His university lacked books and other resources, so that the other students were dependent on the lectures and notes their professors provided. He maintained that, even at present, this was the way most professors were required to work.

According to one participant, the effects of the lack of resources were especially apparent in distance education science courses, which were offered in centres across the island to untrained teachers already in the school system. They were provided with booklets, or 'modules' for each course they took. They studied fkom these independently, and then travelled to attend classes fiom 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends and holidays at various colleges. While distance education provided training for teachers who might not otherwise be able to study, a lack of laboratones resulted in the fact that many teachers graduating fi-om science courses without having had any hands-on training, "without touching anything practical."

However, even when teachiag resources were available in some schools, one participant claimed that they were often kept guarded by office staff. This afEected a Sn

Lankan participant's classroom practices, because even "[g]etting.. a [sheet ofl paper fiom the office is very big business! That's why we, mostly... that's why we try to work in that lecture [method] ." Other resources were equdly Mcdtto procure: overhead projectors were "always under lock and key" and had to be reserved two or three days ahead and office staff would not allow teachers to touch the photocopy machine, because, if anythixig broke, there wodd be no one around to repair it.

Another advantage claimed for the lecture method, besides its usefulness in schools which lacked learning resources, was that it was seen as being able to offer the most thorough way of imparting knowledge to students. In cornparing SnLankm and

Canadian student-knowledge, one participant stated that "when we compare... this classroom student's knowledge and our.Audents in Sri Lanka, their knowledge is more

[than Canadians'] ...because .-. always the lecture method." A second indirectly agreed with this assessment. He related a story about having met a Canadian student of Sri Lankan descent who was then in Grade 10, who had told him that they were covering information in that class that she had already learned in Grades 7,8, and 9 in Sri Lanka. He complained that students, generdy, were capable of grasping a lot more information and howledge each cIass period then they seemed to be receiving, that the Canadian system did not seem to be providing that much for the student. However, another also mentioned the negative effects of the lecture method, especially on younger students, when she said that "our students are fdup, actually." A third shared her opinion. She communicated the rampant boredom students felt when she said, "Sometimes, in our classes, teachers go on speaking and speaking and the child will have to go on listening and listening."

While the lecture method was the one most widely used in SnLanka, a few participants also taiked about occasionally using other methods as well. One of them mentioned using a combination of lecture and discussion method in his classes at a

Teachers Training College. In his course on Educational Psychology he also sometunes gave his teacher trainees tasks outside the classroom, such as observing and noting the classroom behaviour of a particular group of students, or of preparing and presenting on a researching topic (BK, 348- 352). PB also rnentioned having used pair and group work in his classes (PB, 138).

(b) Classroom Practices in Canada

The sub-theme of classroom practices in Canada was divided into participants' conments on their observations of Canadian cIassrooms in secondary schools and universi% and discussions about lmowledge they had acquire in pedagogy and methodo 10 gy.

One of the participant's comments about the science classes he had observed in some Canadian secondary schools were negative. He actuaily grew angy when he described aîtending a class where he "saw some teacher teach wrong facts." He believed that the teacher had mixed up the properties of endocrine and exocrine glands. He watched the Canadian teacher teach the lesson and give an assignment based on what he considered to be the wrong information, but he Mt that pointing out the error to the

Canadian teacher would embarrass her, so he said nothing. However, he commented that such a mistake wodd not pass unnoticed among Sn Lankan students: '?n our Sn Lanka, if one teacher teach like this, any wrong things, students will compare with... tuition teachers. Next day, teacher can't go to school. Very Wcult. They will laugh at them."

Another participant "âidn't think ...much about the " of one of the

Canadian secondary school teachers she had observed That teacher had presented some material on the board and then had asked students to go back to their desks and wrïte.

Instead of circulating to observe whether or not her students had understood the lesson, the teacher had just stood and watched fkom her place ne- the board. The Sri Lankan had walked around and observed that some of the twelve students were not writing anything.

She was upset by what she took to be the Canadian teacher's lack of caring. She commented upon the fact that, in Sri Lanka, teachers had to deal with classes of more than seventy students, and yet they dealt better with a.ll of them than had the Canadian teacher with only twelve students. She stressed the fact that she was not criticizing all

Canadian teachers -'Tm no t blaming.. .everybody" -but only some, who, given al1

'mese. ..facilities. ..should work more than this."

hasrnuch as DJ had not appreciated this particular teacher's classroom practices, she did insist that she believed that matbernatics was being taught in a much more in- depth way in Canada than in SnLanka 'You know," she said, "there [in Sri Lanka], in mathematics, when you are teaching shapes and all these things, you never go to that extent. No, we don't go to that extent! They are doing much more than us."

One participant spoke positively about having observed students give classroom presentations in different secondary schools, while two questioned the validity of using such a method. He wrote about the benefits of classroom presentations for students in a letter to his wife, also a teacher. He advised her not to worry so much about trying to teach everything found in the syllabus and to allow students the chance to research and give their own presentations:

1have found out that this is not the way. The thing is, you assign the task to the students... a little task. Don't think ... the students... don' t know this fact Actually, they. ..already lmow [it] . We think students are empty bottles, empty vessels we are going to fill. That o.id thing ..."

Thus, this participant had a positive reaction to the use of student presentations, because he believed that it empowered students with a greater consciousness of their ability to be independent leamers.

On the other han& a second suggested that Canadian teachers ended up covering less material in class by assigning students with presentations. In this way, Canadian teachers' workloads were "somewhat eased." He criticized student presentations for taking up a lot of class tirne. Also, while they involved students more actively in their

Ieaming, they provided a narrower scope than that which was possible through lecturing:

"To make presentations, to make this kind of activities here, student takes a lot of time. They are involving. Involving in the subject, but very narrow."

In terms of their experiences in a Canadian university setting, one participant praised the variety of rnethods used by his Canadian professors. He explained that, in his classes, "[a]ll are equal and..everybody is taking time and discussing. 1like that method-

The discussion is great, the questions. Then, the distribution of articles and discussing very.-. [many] things." Later in his inte~ewhe spoke about the balance that had been achieved between individual and group work in Canadian university cIassrooms. "Those two concepts mut be maintained," he said, ''Ithink both are essential."

(c) Applicability

Seven participants talked about the effects of being taught new methodologies in their subject-areas while at York. Each seemed pleased by the experience. Three participants in the group inte~ewdiscussed, in a very positive way, the Mathematics pedagogy course they were then taking. DF spoke about her assignmenf which was about teaching English through Maths. She was excited about the interaction possible between these two fields:

In our college, they are in separate streams, the Science stream and Maths stream. When 1 teach for Maths students, now they are also very good in English, 1 can use some mathematical activities to teach English, because they are interested.

She also spoke about being able to exploit her environment to teach Mathematics: Tow even these windows we cm see in a mathematical way," she said, pointing to a window in the residence room where the group interview was being held, and tracing a rectangle with her fïnger.

A second participant agreed whole-heartedly, saying that now they could see

everything in a mathematical way. A third's 'tision" of teaching Mathematics had also

been expanded by this course. He spoke of having been introduced to "[alnother philosophy... another vision" which he called c'ecological," explaining that Tverythmg is based on ecological perspectives. Man is not separated [fiom] man ...So,

education... shodd be that we belong to this whole universe."

Later, both the second and third participant talked about their reactions to developmental psychology. The third participant had focused on a child' s individual development in Sri Lanka AAer being introduced to new concepts of learning deghis

Canadian studies, he had corne to believe that a child developed better when interacting with a group. The second claimed that the most important thing she had learned fkom this course was that, the most important role a teacher had was to be a good listener, in order to help the child communicate more in class.

For yet another participant, the most important concept she had learned was scientific literacy and its application in the classroom. According to her, scientific literacy consisted of seven dimensions, including the "nature of science, science-related skills, values of science [and] attitudes of science." What was most important to her was that she had been required to consider science not in 'pure' terms, but rather how it related to the "social context.. .in real-life situations."

As a teacher educator in Physical Education, one participant had found two courses especially relevant to her subject. "Play, Language and Literacf' focused on how

play activities helped toddlers and young children in their social, mental, and emotional

development. This bolstered her understanding of the socialization involved in physical

education, especially in team sports. While participating in sports, students leamed to play according to the des. They also Iearned that their own actions had an affect on the

group as a whole, that they had a social value, and that they could cooperate to achieve their goals: "And there should be a leader and we have to obey that leader. And at the

same time we have our own role. So, then only, we have to go to a target." Thus, she had come to understand that sports had an educational value of their own, that education could be gained fiom more than just books.

From a course in "Issues in Digital Tecbnology," one of the participants had come to realize that computer technology could benefit Physical Education. Videotaping teachers in their practicum could help them "develop their teaching skills." Also, stude~ts couid be videotaped while playing sports and then shown their different plays, so that they could learn to correct their techniques. Finally, having video equipment would allow teachers to choose videotaped lectures fkom "outstanding teachers" fiom around the world.

A participant tied the possibility of introducing more individual, pair, and small- group work to his students directly to the fact that his college of education had just opened the only teachers' resource centre in the Centrat Province. Thanks to a gifi from a

European corporation, his students would have access to photocopy machines, facsimile machines and eleven cornputers:

Every facility, all faciIities are there now. So we are very happy. So I cm apply this method. Now, 1am going to do one..for example, PsychoIogy lesson. 1will take..J?iaget's development stages. 1 will take one note and photocopy it and distribute it among the students and ask them to read certain cases like that Then, there will be a new thing.

This participant felt hopefül about using these new resources to introduce different

classroom practices once he returned to Sri Lanka.

In the same way, lack of resources was considered the key factor inhibitkg

participants fkom believing they could apply changes to theîr classroom practices. One

participant said, candidly, that she was trying her best to change, at least a little. She

added, 'Tm not going to lie and Say I'm gohg to change everything" because her training

institute sbictly regulated her use of teaching resources, A second mentioned that he

hoped to enable his students to do more individual research. The problem was that his

school lacked libraries, Internet resources, and even Tamil-medium books. However, this

participant planned on having his students research newspapers and television programs.

m..a. Assessrnent

Six participants discussed assessment. The main sub-themes were (a) the types of

student assessment used in Sri Lanka; @) assessment in Canada and (c) the participants' reactions as to the viability of introducing some of the new methods of assessment they had been introduced to in Canada to SnLanka. (a) Assessment in Sri Lanka

Assessment issues in Sri Lanka fell into two categones -teacher expectations of student behaviour and assessment tools used in that comtry.

First, the respondents generally agreed that teachers in Sri Lanka tend not to praise student performance very much. Instead, "[w]hen their work is good, we Say, 'This is good, try to improve..."' one participant stated. She was sure that Sri Lankan teachers neither overestimated nor underestimated students, and that Sri Lankan teachers knew their students' levels of comprehension.

Another considered that Sri Lanka's educational system, was

exam-oriented, exam-centred and everybody is expected to caU up the syllabus [on] ...time and students are asked to rnemorize it. So, they have to memorize everything -the 'banking concept' ...Paulo Fnere's 'banking concept' -we have to put [it dl] ... on ...p aper.

Thus, teachers there teach to the test. The IÛll scope of knowledge was reduced to the memorization and the recall of facts. As one SnLankan put it, 'We are codortable lecturing because of the exam-oriented way."

The most common type of tests were siimmative, given at the end of the term or end of the year. Written tests were used up to the undergraduate university level, while graduate students were required to take a combination of oral and written examinations.

The concept of 'authentic' testing in Sri Lanka was mentioned by only one participant, within the context of the teaching practicum at his College of Education. The assessment form used there listed a series of charactenstics, including "the teacher's appearance... their clothes.. .theu voice, and.. .personalitf9 as well as their teaching skills.

It would appear that the value of a test in Sri Lanka has rested on its

standardkation rather than its authenticity. This is illustrated by one participant's

expenences as the administrator responsibIe for the five Tamil-medium teachers' training colleges under the Ministry of Education. Before she began working in that capacity, the

Minisîry's policy had been to require teacher-trainees to write two types of final summative exarns. The fïrst, worth fowpercent of the ha1grade, was an interna1 examination created individually by each of the five Tamil Colleges. The second, worth sixty percent, was a standardized examination created by the Ministry of Education itself.

One of the participants was not pleased with the intemal examinations created by the Tamil colleges. Their standards were too iow: when she read the question papers from the different colleges, she found that "some are very low level, some question papers are repeating the same question." According to her, one college in particdar had been doing

"disastrous things in evaluation." This participant decided to do away with the Colleges' internal final examinations and replace them with a standardized one created by the

Minisûy. She struck a cornmittee of Sinhalese- and Tamil-medium teacher-educators, divided the subjects among them, and asked them to create the new 'internal' exam. She was not sure whether she had proceeded correctly, but she felt that the faculty in each of the colleges should howhow the other faculties were grading their teacher trainees. In the end, she did not feel îhat the standard intemal examination had been a success. (b) Assesment in Canada

Comments on assessment in Canada fell in two sections: what participants

believed to be Canadian teachers' expectations of their students and some ofthe new

assessment tools the Sri Lankans were introduced to through Canadian universities.

Two participants felt that Canadian teachers praised theh students too readily.

According to one, if a teacher said "'excellent' to everything" it could lead students to overestimate themselves. The second was even more vehement in his opinion:

You see, for everythùlg here they Say 'Good!', 'ExcelIent!', 'Good effort! '. Excellent. Excellent question! Excellent mer.But in Sri Lanka, we are not tehglike that ...You [say] ... everything [is] good or excellent... always A, A-, A+.

Thus, both participants felt that teachers' expectations of students were too low here.

The participants were required to create a portfolio of their work during the five- week Orientation Program taught b y members of the Canadian Consortium of universities (Simon Fraser and York universities) in Colombo in 19%. Later, while attending York University, they were also introduced to other assessrnent tools, including rubrics and the Faculty of Education's teaching practicum assessment form.

One SnLankan teacher educator claimed that the first thing that had impressed him during the Orientation Programme had been the portfolio. Another spoke at length about how it had been used as a 'lcind of ongoing evaluation" tool. The participants themselves had been invohed in designing the evaluation criteria, for their portfolios, which were to be made up of six language components, Reflective Journal, and an Action Plan- The main advantage of the portfolio, according to this participant, was that it afforded students the opportunity to see the progress of their work "fkom [the] begiMi.ng and middle and end" of a course. Its second strength was that it empowered students in thek own learning, by enabling them to decide what pieces would best illustrate what they had leamed tbrough the process.

Fùialiy, another participant was also impressed by the teaching practicum assessment fom created by York's Faculty of Education. He claimed that "each and every skill" was measured.

(c) Reactions on Feasibility of Transference to Sn Lanka

The sub-theme of the reactions of the Sri Lankans to the possibility of introducïng these new assessment tools and concepts to Sri Lanka was divided into two sections, between those who felt it was positive and necessary and those who felt it would be a negative step.

Four participants spoke positively about the new concepts and tools in assessment which they wished to introduce to Sri Lanka The first, who had struggled to introduce a standardized internal test in the five Tamil Colleges wilich she administered, realized that these Colleges should be fkee to write their own internal final examinations and that authenticity was the most important consideration to take into account in this case:

[Elarlier... I thought that we shodd have a standardized internal examination for everybody. After coming here, &er 1leamed [about] this authentic assessment... 1 was thinking, 'What can I do?'. Now, 1thought it should be... separate. The colleges and teacher-educators can decide the thing, but 1 think each teacher- educator in our colleges should be educated to make their assessments more authentic. 1 think, instead of making all comrrion, [O fl making individual teacher-educators capable to make the assessrnent is the best thing.

She had Iearned to value authenticity as weU as standardkation in testing.

Three other participants spoke about their Action P f ans. These Action Plans, which had been part of their pordolios, were research proposals they had put forward to reform one aspect of the administration of the teacher training institutions to which they were attached. These three participants had chosen to focus on introducing new foms of assessment. The first discussed allowing cIassroom presentations and assessment rubrics, while the last two talked about the benefits of using portfolios in their classes.

One participant's research proposa1 involved introducing student presentations and assessment rubrics to his Teachers' Training College. He planned on including his teacher-trainees in each step of the process, which he described in the following way:

1 can ask my students to make classroom presentations. 1cm make [a] rubric to assist them ...before 1 introduce classroom presentations, 1ask them -Professor [O] taught me to do like that - 'Why [did] you corne here? What is your expectation?... In my min& 1 have me] presentation 1 want them to do. 1 [would] like to take that answer f?om them. Then, 1 can design methodology or what we can do, 1 think they will cooperate. Then 1 cm ask them to make the rubric, make the presentation, everything. They cm assess themselves. Peers- Then, 1 cm make this kind of analysis. And after that 1 can ask them to make an interview... forma1 interview. Mer, 1 can compare.

This participant seemed convinced of the benefits of introducing these new assessment practices. A principal talked about having the authority to base halfof the intemal final mark, worth 40 percent, on the continuous classroom assessment of his student teachers, and halfon a summative written examination. He realized that this reform, while needed, could only be partially successflll so long as the Ministry of Education continued to provide a summative exam worth 60 percent of the final grade.

FinaUy, another, who taught in a teachers ' training college speciaiizing in aesthetics (art, music, and dance), intended to replace assessment of the teacher trainees by teams of two teacher-educators with student portfolios. In this way, the teacher trainees themselves would be able to take part in deciding the evahation criteria to be used and required to give workshops to present the work they had chosen to be evaluated.

On the other hand, two participants insisted that introducing new methods of assessment would be very difficult, for two reasons: lack of time, and resistance to change on their part and on the part of the communities they served. The first confessed to being "confused about the portfolio thing," and did not feel that she could introduce it directly into her classroom, for fear that she would not have time to evaluate her students properly using these new methods. She said,'You hw,1 will have to schedule time, there. So, with...35 students, it's very hard to do this authentic assessment. It will be a big problem." While the second had given a detailed description of what he hoped to achieve in his Action Plan, he also voiced strong misgivings about the way continuous assessment might impact his relationships in the community. He stressed that life in bis comrnunity was based on a vast web of social connections. Students called him "Uncle" in the street; their parents considered him a fiiend They had visited his home and he had visited theirs. He was ahid that infroducing school based ( or continuous) classroom assessment would negatively affect these relationships. He described what continuous assessment uivolved: "School based assessment... that means continuous assessment. For each unit, there is ... [a] student and a mark and those marks are displayed in class. And ..A[these] marks are going to be added in the final." Faced with being the sole assessor of his students, who also happened to be the children of people he considered his fiends, womed about how he might react.

Would he favour those he liked best? How would his neighbows react if, on the basis of his assessment, one youth was able to enter university and another was not? He considered this to be "a very big disadvantage" of the proposed change in assessment. iv. Curriculum

The theme of curriculum was discussed by nine participants and was divided into three sub-themes: the curricula offered in different programs in Sri Lanka, the cumicula offered in schools in Canada, and the possibility of tramferring certain concepts and practices in curriculum planning to Sri Lanka.

(a) Curricula in Sri Lanka

The sub-theme of cwrîcula in Sri Lanka was divided into these three parts: a general introduction to the categories of primary and secondary schools in the country, a discussion of the cwricda offered in secondary schools, and a section on the curricula offered in teacher training institutions.

According to one participant, Sri Lanka's primary and secondary schools are divided into five categories, depending on the curricula offered and facilities provided.

These categories are 'National', '1 AB', '1 A/C7, '2', and '3.' National Schools are considered the '%ighest" because they offer the West range of courses, including al1 the

Science GCE 'A' levels, plus Math, Arts, and Commerce faculties. They also provide hostel service for students, Type 1 A/B schools offer Science 'A' levels, but sometimes do not have hostel facilities. Type 1 A/C schools offer 'A' levels in Commerce and Arts.

Type 2 schools provide up to GCE 'O' levels. Type 3 schools provide primary education.

This participant added that rural areas face discrimination because of the unequal distribution of the types of schools offered there. Rural schools tended to be Type 3

(primary), 2 (Ordinary or Junior Secondary) or 1 IVC, which offered 'A' levels in

Commerce and Arts, but not Science, and which did not offer students boarding facilities.

These schools also tended to have less resources. As BK put it: "[Tlhese students don't have much education facilities and actually, they can' t access.. .modern technology.

Sometimes they don't have... teIevision and other things."

Teacher-trainees, teachers who are chosen to attend the Teachers' Training

Colleges in their home provinces, continue to receive their salaries as teachers. Once they graduate, they are sent by the govermnent to a school district, where they are required to remain, b y law, for the next tbree years. However, because of nepotism, those graduate teachers who have family connections often end up being transferred out of rural area schools after only their fint year.

In terms of secondary school, this participant spoke of the demand for private tutorial schools, which provided 'cramniing' for 'A' level courses in the afternoons and evening. Courses in these tutorial schools tended to last twto years, but this participant had noticed a trend whereby students attended 'O' level classes for one year, went "to private tutoring in the other year" and came back to school only to take their 'A' level

As for teacher training institutions, it should be noted that dl3of the Sri Lankan participants were involved in teacher education, either as teacher educators, lecturers, or administrators. Eight participants were involved with Colleges of Education, three with

Teachers' Training Colleges, one with the National Institute of Education, and another with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

A participant involved with the administration of teacher practicurns stated that one of the main problems of teacher education in Sri Lanka was that the five separate institutions which provided teacher training did so using differing curricula:

There is a problem in teacher education... because separate institutes conduct teacher education courses. For example, universities conduct a post-graduate Diploma in Education couse. And also, there is an institute called Open University. Open University's also conducting another post-graduate Diploma in Education Cprogram]. National Institute of Education (NIE) is conducting another Diploma in Education course. There is no coordination between those institutes. It is a very big problem in our country, to develop teacher education. So, according to that reform procedure, they [the government] established a National Authority of Teacher Education. We cal1 it NATE ...NATE can coordinate these students. According to another participant, what differentiated these Diploma in Education programs was that the university program was offered in-class, while the Open

University offered a totally distance education course, and the NIE provided a mixed distance and in-class course. She later added that NATE would dso be responsible for coordinating the curricula offered at Colleges of Education. However, she revealed that

NATE had already run into resistance fiom the universities, because 'Wversity people" tended to consider themselves the elite.

Three participants, a principal and two teacher educators, discussed the curricula offered at Teachers' Training Colleges. The generic curriculum requires all students to take hvo Professional Development components (Educational Psychology and Principles of Education), four subject components (which are the same as those offered at 'A' levels and thus serve as "refieshel' courses for those students who already hold 'A' levels, but offer new infurmation to the rest of the students), and optional components.

One of the Sri Lankan respondents served as a principal of a teachers' training college which focused on primary school teacher training. Teacher-trainees were required to take the two Professional Development components; their four subject components were made up of Language, Mathematics, Environmental Studies, and

Primary Education and their optional courses included Physical Education, Religious

Education, and Aesthetics. On the other hand, a science teacher educator listed the curriculum at his Teachers' Training College as the Professional Development courses, and the four subject components as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Science Methodology. He did not name any optional courses. A third respondent, a teacher

educator in Professional Development as a Teachers Training College in Aesthetics,

iisted subject components in his school as Aa, Music, and Dancing, Optional courses at

his school included Religion and Languages.

Thus, the standard Teachers' Training Curriculum offers a common grounhg in

Professiond Development while donring for individual variation according to subject-

emphasis and school level (primary or secondary school) focus.

The Sn Lankan Ministry of Education struck Syllabus Reform Committees Ïn

1996 and 1997, to deal with the refonn of the curricula offered at secondary schools and

Colleges of Education, respectively. h 1996, representatives fiom secondary schools began meeting to refom their syllabuses- Zn 1997, the governent set up three Syllabus

Reform Cornmittees for Maths, Science, and Professional Areas (Psychology and

Sociology) in the Colleges of Education. These cornmittees were chaired by three

Canadian specialists who were hired by the Sri Lankan government in order to provide input about western methodologies.

Two rnernbers of the SnLankan cohort at York had sat on the Science Syllabus

Reform Cornmittee and had worked with the Canadian appointed to chair the cornmittee along with eight other representatives fkom the science faculties of Colleges of Education fiom across the country.

According to one participant, discussions revolved around cornbining Cheniistry,

Biology, and Physics courses into one General Science course. The theoretical justification behind this change was that it would a?.Iow students to understand scientifïc

phenornena in "a broder spectrum" by combining insights fkom all three fields.

According to one respondent, this major change was supposed to have been implemented

in 1999, while these subjects were stiU studying in Canada.

A third participant offered another perspective on the fimctioning of these

Syllabus Reform Cornmittees. He stated that he had accepted an invitation to participate

in one of the seminars of the Science syllabus reform committee, only to hd, upon his

arrival, that all proceedings were being held only in Sinhalese. He was the only one of his

five Tamil-speaking colleagues on the committee who could not understand Sinhalese.

He asked the organizers to conduct the meeting he was attending in Sinhalese and

English, but they refûsed. He stipulated that at the time of the meeting (which had

occurred about three years before his interview), promotion in education had depended,

in part, on being able to pass a second-language competency examination (in either

Sinhalese or Tamil). However, this rule had been abolished, so that candidates working in

either the Sinhalese or Tamil-medium were required ody to pass an English proficiency

test in order to pass their "efficiency bar" and be promoted.

(b) Curricula in Canada

One participant noticed two differences between Canadian and Sri Lankan secondary schools. The htwas that religion was not offered in the Canadian public secondary schools she observed, while in Sri Lanka, it was central to the public secondary schoo1 curriculum. The second difference was sociocultural. She found Canadian students in the secondary schools she had visited had little contact with the

natural world. She described their daily routine as being made up of going to school, watching television, and eahgat McDonald7srestaurants. By contrast, she stated that

students in Colombo were able to go out and play in nature, climb trees to pluck and eat their fit,and go hiking. They were more conscious of the natural world. This participant believed that the Sri Lankan educators codd show Canadian educators, who were more and more interested in an ecological pedagogy, how to value the natural world: "1N]ow you understand that you are lacking sometbing," she said in our discussion, "But we are still there. So we cm show something that you lost."

(c) Transferabiliéy of Concepts and Practices

Already discussed has been the very real impact made b y the three Canadians who chaired the Syllabus Reforrn Cornmittees in Maths, Science, and Professional Areas in Sri Lanka. One respondent stressed a possible outcorne of some of these refoms: that as Sn Lankan teachers began to change their teaching styles by encouraging more student-centred activïties, schooI administrators would be forced to change the curriculum. However, he also noted that this reform could ody corne about if those in authority (including the President and the Commissioner of Education) appointed those

Sri Lankans trained overseas to work with the Ministry of Education in order to change attitudes.

An administrator at a CoUege of Education, pointed out that his coileagues had been provided with an Ontario curricular document for each of their subject-areas. From studying the Ontario cumicula, they came to realize that subjects such as Sociology were

being taught in a Canadian context, "accordhg to the country's requirements and the

country's culture and the c0u.ntry7sinstitutions." This iosight into the sociocultural

foundations of one province's secondary school curricula had enabled them to be more

critical of their own govemment's attempts at the standardkation of curricula In this

participant's opinion, decisions about curricula were more under the control of social

elites in Sn Lanka than in Canada For exampie, he stated a change in the governing party

invariably led to a major overhaul of school curricula (He was apparently not aware that

the Ontario govemment had overhauled many aspects of the provincial education system,

including currïcula and testing, as a result of their conservative agenda.)

To sumrnarize, it is apparent that, while issues of curriculum, especially in the

context of teacher education, were Unportant to the Sn Lankan participants, they did not

seem to stir up as much debate as pedagogy or teacher-student relations. One reason for

this rnay have been that they felt they could daim some ownership of the c~culum

issue. They had ail been aware of the work of the Syllabus Refom Committees and two

participants had actually served on the science cornmittee, though a third had rehsed to

participate due to language issues. Thus, these participants' input had aiready been sought

in this area. Another reason for the general lack of interest in this data-theme may have been due to the fact that the c~culuoffered at the teachers' training colleges to which these participants belonged had remained unchanged. They might react more strongly if the National Authority of Teacher Education effect major changes in the curriculum in their institutions.

Analysis

David Hough, an Amencan educator, presented a paper entitled Ethnographies of

Learning: at the thirty-second annual meeting of the Teachers of EngIish to Speakers of

Other Languages (TESOL) in Orlando, Florida, in March 1997. Hough's paper examined

%ow culture in generd, and cultural change in particular, effect approaches and attitudes toward learning" (Hough, 1997, p. 1). 1intend to anaiyze these kdings fkom the Sri

Lankan Teacher Education and Teacher Deployment Projecflork University cohort within the context of hls approach.

Hough exphined that his htinternational experience was in Vietnam, fhm 1967 to 1968, where he had worked as a United States Navy photo journalist (Hough, 1997, p.

2). However, since the war ended, he had returned to Vietnam three &es, first in 1993, in order 'Yo get an idea of what kinds of education and training needs there might be," and the two thes subsequently to work with the Hue University of Pedagogy and the

Ministry of Education in helping design distance education materials (Hough, 1997, p. 3).

In Ethnographies of Leamin-;, Hough uses "Ploth published and experiential evidence" to support his contention that "changes in underlying technological and economic conditions create differing social behaviors, customs, values, beliefs, mythologies and psychologies.. .[and that] these changes are reflected in cuIturally distinct approaches toward learning" (Hough, 1997, p. 1). Kough's position is that these "cultwaliy distinct approaches" can be analyzed in tems of "[sluch major cross-cultural parameters as coUectivism versus individualism, power distance, availability and control of resources (including leaming resources), and sociohistoric contexts for leaming within the comtnunity" (Hough, 1997, p. 1).

Hough claims that the availability of resources effects ieaming and teaching relationships. In situations where "leamhg resources are limited ...the need for accuracy is great ... or the lehgtasks are directly related to production" certain kinds of learning and teaching relationships are likely to develop. These wiIl emphasize: group needs and cooperation, "[g]uidance by teachers or peers which pnoritizes explicit directions," extended observation, practice based on copying and rote memory, "intervention by a qualified adult or peer for the purpose of fixing, helping," and c'emotional support in the form of play, laughter, joking" (Hough, 1997, p. 7).

In situations where "leamhg resources are not as limited ...the need for accuracy is less critical, ordhe learning tasks are less closely tied to production," Hough suggests that the learning and teaching relationships that are likely to develop will feature different behaviours. They will emphasize "individualized learning needs and personal achievernent, open-ended questions which encourage discovery and critical thinking, observational behavior which requires students to take responsibility for their own learning, ample practice, with mistakes seen as part of the leaming process, minimal intervention, and independent social behavior" (Hough, 1997, pp. 7-8).

In discussing "collectivism versus individualism," Hough puts forward the idea that developing countries tend to hold to %aditional valuesy'based on coiiectivist relationships, whereas urban and industrialized Western countries tend to value individualism. Individudistic and collectivktic learning and teaching relationships differ, according to Hough, in the following four respects: (1) the individualistic stresses individual learning needs, whereas the coilectivistic ernphasizes the 'tiews, needs, and goals of some collective;" (2) in the individualistic, behaviour "cm be explained by the pleasure principle and the computation of personal profits and losses" including

"individual achievement" and relaxed and meaningfirl learning, while in the collectivistic, behaviour is understood to be "a function of noms and duties irnposed by the collective;"

(3) the individualistic stresses beliefs ''that distinguish the individual fkom the in-group" such as ''critical thinking" and c'individual responses;" the collectivistic, 'khat the individual and the collective have in c~mmoa;'' (4) the individualistic is characterized by social behaviour which is "independent and emotionally detached fiom the collective," while the collectivistic stresses "dependent, emotiondy attaches' social behaviour for those involved with the "in-group," but indifference and even hostility towards "out- group members" (Hough, 1997, pp. 8-9).

Finally, in his discussion of power distance and the control of resources, including lehgresources, Hough suggests that

the availability control of resources are sociohistorically tied to the development of class and hierarchies of power -and as such are in-exorably lulked to what, fiom a Vygotskian perspective, cm be termed 'learning as a dimension of social practice' (Lave and Wenger, 1996, p.47, quoted in Hough, 1997, p. 10). Hough thus acknowledges the effects of class and hierarchy on the distribution of learning resources in a society.

The Sri Lankan participants in my study were distinct because they were the ht group of overseas students to move together, as a cohort, through York University's

Master of Education degree program. As foreign educators, i.e, as both foreigners & educators, they were able to serve as excellent participants for a qualitative study of this kind. As foreign educators who became fluent English-speakers, these participants had the distinct advantage of being able to communicate not only what, but also how, they had leamed what they had leamed about education through their course-work and other experiences in Canada. As weU, they were able to explain how they rnight be able to apply this new lmowledge to their own teaching or administrative work upon their return to their country. As foreim educators, they had the advantage of being able to both experience their education in Canada and stand back and observe it through two distinct

'lenses', or educational understandings - Sri Lankan and Canadian.

In this section 1 will explore each of the four major data-themes raised by the Sri

Manparticipants (teacher-student relationships, classroom practices, assessment, and curriculum) within the fhmework of Hough's concepts about how the availability of resources, individualism and collectivism, and power distance and the control of learning resources effect the development of differing learning and teaching relationships. 1will do so for two reasons: fïrst, to better understand what the Sri Lankans were saying, thinking, or perceiving about their cross-cultural learning experiences, and second, to explore the extent to which Hough's more universal hework does and does not congrue with the Sri Lankan example.

1. Student-Teacher Relations

The participants' comments about student-teacher relations can be explored within Hough's fiamework of their sociohistorical context as well as by the clash between individualism and collectivism.

Many of the participants stressed that Sri Lankan teachers maintained an axm's- length approach in their relations with students. Recollections by four of the participants about some of their experiences as students illustrated how this behaviour was marked by aloohess, authoritarianism, and domination. That one of the participants, himself a victim of a university professor's scorn, should claim, in turn, to enjoy dominating his own students might simply be dismissed as a case of the victim becoming the victimizer.

However, exploring further, we fhd that these comments about being dominant in class are immediately foIlowed by others in which this participant boasts about being Iaiown, respectfdly, as '%Ir. -Sir" by the peopIe in his town. Thus, 1 believe this participant's comments link, at least in his own mind, his authontarian in-class behaviour with the maintenance of his social standing in the wider comunity. The power distance he exhibits in class resorces his social dominance.

Another way of analyzing these and simiIar comments by the participants is to view tbem within the fknework of collectivistic learning and teactiing relationships. According to Hough, behaviour under these conditions is understood to be "a fùnction of noms and duties imposed by the collective" (Hough, 1997, p. 8). In respect of this, we cm speculate that this participant continues to play a dominant role both in and out of class because he serves as a teacher, as an inculcator and representative of a value system which emphasizes the needs and goals of the collectivity over the those of the individual.

Thus, especially in the classroom, the teacher remains 'Sir' or 'Madam' (or 'Doctor' or

'Professor'), rather than an individual. That is not to Say that social relationships outside of the class are marked, necessady, by the same aloohess. In another part of his interview, for example, this same participant also codïded that his students called him by the more aectionate term 'Uncle' and that he was a fiequent guest at his students' families' home, as they were in his. Tbus, the relationship that exists between teachers and students is marked by a complex estabIished etiquette which discourages intimacy.

This view is supported by the opinion expressed by another participant, who stated that any attempt by a Sri Lankan teacher to form fiiendships with his or her students wodd be viewed b y other teachers, including herseIf', as a bid for "cheap popularity."

The participants' views of teacher-student relationships in the Canadian context were marked by a seeming contradiction. While they valued the "very good and democratic" way that their Canadian professors related to them, by encouraging them to share their experiences and ideas in class and by the way they made themselves available to meet with the participants outside of cIass the, the Sn Lanka.cohort did not seem keen on imitating this behaviour with their own students. Again, a participant's comments were telling, for he drew a distinction between becorning fiendlier with other

teachers and wishing to remain aloof fkom his students. From this, one can speculate that

the Sri Lankan cohort continued to view themselves as educators during their time in the

Master of Education degree program. Arnong teachers who treated them with equality,

they came to accept the possibility that they might themselves learn to behave in a more

collegial way with their peers. This new way of thinking did not, on the whole, seem to

extend to include deir relationships with their students.

The Sri Lankan cohort did exhibit a tendency (which Hough rnight clabto be

collectivist) to understand good behaviour in tems of following the noms set down by

the collective and to view as appropriate those beliefs which drew upon what the

individual and the collective had in common. This coilectivist understanding was

apparent in many of the participants' comments about the teacher-student relationships they had witnessed in Canadian secondary schools. These seem marked by the conviction that the fieedom Canadian students enjoyed in their relationships with their teachers, was, inevitably, abused. The general view was that Canadian secondary school students lacked discipline. This bias was clearly evident in the many examples given by one participant in particular. The participants tended to view the behaviour of Canadian secondary school students as disruptive to the class and demoralizing to the school collective. A few of the participants were most surprised that Canadian teachers did not scoId truant students in fiont of the class. In fact, they did not seem to scold them at dl.

The social behaviour the participants witnessed in some secondary schools in the Greater Toronto Area is perhaps more easily understood fkom the point of view of our own more individualistic leaming and teaching reIationships. Canadian secondary school students are f?ee to question, and even criticize, their teachers publicly. In class, a relaxed atmosphere is favoured, with students sitting as they wish and coming and going as they please (a situation some of the Sri Lankans viewed as ;iliarchic). Individual students strive to deheth& autonomy from ottiers by voicing their beliefs, rather than (as in the Sri

Lankan context) accepting a mode1 of behaviour imposed by the teacher. Social behaviour both and inside and outside the class is independent and emotionally detached

fiom the collective, rather than being emotionaliy attached to the institution of the school.

Thus, Hough's contention that "individualistic" and cccollectivistic"societies engender

different types of Ieaming and teaching relationships seems to be supported by the Sri

Lankan participants' comments about Canadian teacher-student relations.

Sri Lankan participants, on the whole, did not believe it would be possible to

engender closer relationships between teachers and students in their own country. One

participant's comments about teacher 's seeking "cheap popularitf ' fkom their students

has already been cited. Two other participants stressed the fact that a (male) teacher who

was seen to offer individual attention to (male) students could face social opprobrium, in

the fom of gossip as to his possible sexual orientation. Thus, both the community of

teachers and the comunity of parents would view this individual attention by a teacher

as a contravention of accepted social des. .. u. Classroom Practices

Classroom practices in Sri Lanka continue to be teacher-centred and lecture- driven, according to the participants. That the relationship between teachers and students in their country is marked by domination on the part of teachers was apparent fkom the participants' comments analyzed in the previous section. However, the source of this behaviour, and the basis of this teacher-centred pedagogy, could be pinpointed as the

'guru-factor' that one participant discussed. The sociohistorical position of the guru, who combined within himself the roles of priest and teacher, it is suggested, may have had a lasting effect on classroom practices in Sri Lanka down through the ages. The guni

employed the lecture method and was considered to be coxnmunicating 'hth,'' so that his

pronouncements were never questioned by his followers. While another participant

questioned the relevance of the 'guru-factor' in modem Sri Lanka, others suggested that

teachers there continued to follow, however unconsciously, classroorn practices similar to

those used by gurus.

While there may be sociohistorical reasons for these practices, a strong case may

also be made in support of Hough's contention that these traditional classroom practices

spring fiom a lack of resources, including learning resources, within Sri Lankan

communities. Hough maintains that the leaming and teaching relationships in a setting

where resources are lacking is marked by guidance by teachers which emphasized

explicit directions, as well as intervention by a qualified adult for the purpose of &hg

and helping (Hough, 1997, p.7). It is also marked by student practice based on copying

and rote memory. This combination of the use of explicit directions on the part of the

teacher (through lechiring), and practice based on copying and rote memorization on the part of the student, continues to be the nom in modern Sri Lanka.

The link between the lecture method and lack of learning resources was drawn again and again by other participants. In fact, the participant who most fully embraced the idea of providing his students with handouts and of having his students work in pairs was the one who was pleased to communicate the fact that his teacher training institution had just established a fùily operational teacher resource centre. At the same the, some of the participants were also quick to point out that the fact that Canadian teachers had access to

more leaming resources did not necessary imply that they were better teachers than Sri

Lankans.

This support for the lecture method also seemed to stem from the belief, arnong

some of the participants, that it offered the best way of communicating knowledge to

students. Participants, many of whom taught the 'hard' sciences, tended to understand

knowledge, especialIy subject-knowledge, as being made up of objective, quantifiable

facts. Knowledge was considered to be a product, the means of production, schools, and

the control of these means of production to rest with those with the most access to

learning resources, teachers. In this scenario, teacher-centred classroom practices were

understood to be the best method of disseminating facts.

This view of knowledge as being made up of objective facts was apparent fiom the comments of the science teacher trainer who criticized a Canadian secondary school biology teacher for mWng up the properties of enodocrine and exocrine glands. It codd also be seen in the way this same participant claimed that student presentations, besides taking up a lot of class tirne, did not provide as deep an understanding of subject-matter as that which could be provided by a teacher lecturing.

One of the ways that the Sri Lankan cohort had to negotiate between their Sri

Lankan concepts and understandings and their Canadian experiences was specifically around different concepts of knowing, and laiowiedge. The idea of knowledge as being equal to a collection of facts, which might be labeled a traditional concept, came up against a critical understanding of howledge in the classroom which values both the teacher' and the students' subjective experiences and feelings as well as their rational perceptions, and which understands knowledge to be socially constructed,

Student presentations, as welI as portfolios, are tools which illustrate this concept of knowledge as being bath a process and a personal construction. One participant encapsulated the conceptual shift he had been required to make in coming to understand the ramifications of student presentations. He wrote to his wife, who was also a teacher, not to think of her students as "empty vessels" in which she could pour her accumulated

Iaiowledge, but rather as individu& with their own personal experiences and sources of knowledge. The learning experience, this participant was suggesting, could be a shared one, created in a space where teachers and students respected each person's individuality, subjectivity, and knowledge.

While valuing Hough's categorizations as a means of andyzing the data-theme of ciassroom practices fkom the Sri Lankan cohoït, 1befieve the case made for an absolute relationship between the lack of learxling resources and teacher-centred classroom practices may be siruplistic. Some of the participants, reflecting on the implications of retuming to their schools to kdsuch leaming resources as photocopiers or cornputers present did suggest that the availability of these resources might induce them to fry a variety of more student-centred activïties. However, it is also possible that these participants (and, by extrapolation, Sri Lankan teachers generaily) might continue to use traditional teacher-centred classroom practices whether or not more learning resources were made available to them. They might use them, or use them in only limited ways, in an effort to maintain control of these resources and, thus, domination in their relationships with students. This possibility is suggested by the fact that, even in teacher training institutions where more Zeaming resources were available, they continued to be highly monitored, leading to the possibility that teachers might also try to control access to these resources by students.

Claiming that a simple causative relationship exists between a lack of resources and teacher-centred classroom behaviour, as Hough does, may reveal as much about his materialistic bias as it does about the complex sociohistoric forces at play in the Sri

Lankan educational system. The tradition of the gurus and other peripatetic wise men among the adherents of the various religions on the island, as weU as the more recent inauence of British public school teachers and principals during Sn Lanka's last colonial period, may have had a more lasting effect on teachers' self-images and practices than might a simple lack of resources. ... m. Assessrnent

Participants tied the popularity of lecturing to the fact that the Sri Lankan educational system was test-driven. Specifically, students are required to take summative written examinations at the end of each term and each school year, and some of the participants noted that a lot of information could be communicated by teachers through lecturing.

According to Hough, societies which lack learning resources tended to favour copying and rote memorization on the part of students. Ifso, an assessment system based

on written standardized examinations can be considered to be the easiest way of

measuring student knowledge. However, aven the fact that western students continue to

memorize by rote in most disciplines throughout the curriculum suggests that connning

the practice, as Hough does, to communities where learning resources are lacking is

somewhat sirnplistic.

Two of the most important assessment tools to which the participants were

introduced by York University faculty were the portfolio and assessment rubrics. With

portfolios, students are encouraged to work together to develop evaluation criteria for

their work. They must decide which of their work to include, and may be required to keep

a reflectivejournal about their learning experience. As well, they must present their

portfolio work, explain why they chose this work, and discuss their lehgprocesses at

the end of term. Each of the elements of a portfolio allows for learning situations that

Hough believes are valued in societies with ample resources. Individualized leaming

needs are emphasized, discovery learning and critical thinking are encouraged throughout

the process, and students are required to take responsibility for their own learning (and

evaluation). As well ample practice in the form of re-writes is encouraged. There is only minimal intervention on the part of the teacher and independent social behaviour is

fostered by the fact that students are fiee to choose their learning tasks in tems of the choice of work they wish to include.

The assessment rubnc also clearly reflects a western learning environment, in that students and teachers (rather than teachers alone) cooperate to deheate how student work is to be assessed. It is a 'transparent' form of assessment, in which students are clear about how they are to be evduated. The rubric also provides students with the opportunity to reflect on their works-in-progress. Finally, it stresses process as well as outcome by allowing students the chance to revise their work to meet the standards determined by the students and teacher of the class working together.

While many of the participants found portfofios and rubrics interesting concepts within the context of their studies at York University, a few expressed reservations about the feasibility of using them in their Sn Lankan educational settings. One participant worried about not having enough time to do individual authentic assessment for the 35 science students in her college of education while continuhg with the classroom practices she was already required to do. She felt ktrated by the fact that she faced the prospect of introducing authentic assessment, informed by western pedagogical biases, into a system still dominated by traditional classroom practices which took up all of her the.

Another participant criticized the practice of continuous assessment fiom a sociocultural perspective. While this form of assessment was being introduced by the Sri

Lankan govemment, it stemmed fiom a bias against the type of sumative examinations to which this participant had grown accustomed, and cm be considered a western innovation. In this participant's opinion, final examinations generated by both the govemment and his teacher training institution provided an unambiguous, 'objective' measurement of student performance- Continuous assessment, on the other hand, which would require him to assess his students fÏom his solitary 'subjective' point-of-view on many different occasions, rnight possibly effect detrimentally the close relationships he had built up with his students' families. He longed to maintain these relationships and valued thern as an important benefit accniing fiom fiis social position wifhin his comunity. While the families of his students could not hold him responsible for their children's failure on a standardized written examination, deymight blame him if the same faiiure were to be based on his subjective markhg scheme. Thus, this participant was concerned about how the introduction of continuous assessment might damage the dependent, emotionally attached social relationships he shared with his collectivist conununity- His concems highlight how assessment practices are shaped by a particular social environment, and how the introduction of new, 'imported' assessment tools might upset traditional social relationships. iv. Cunriculum

One participant's comments about rural schools being discriminated against, both in terms of their Iack of resources and their inability to retain the best teachers, is a clear example of how Hough's concept of power distance and the control of resources, here on a national scale, cm lead to glaring disparities in a country's educational system. The attempt by the National Authority of Teacher Education to standardize curricula and testing among the many teacher training institutions in the country, and the resistance it is facing fiom the universities can be understood, in tems of Hough's analysis, as a struggle between traditionaliy independent elite organizations and a central government that is seeking to control their resources and standardize their behaviour.

The decision by the Sri Lankan govenunent to appoint Canadians to chair the threc Syliabus Refom Cornmittees for Colleges of Education can be understood as an attempt by the Ministry of Education to gain expertise in western pedagogical practices, and thus as another facet of the massive reform of education now underway in that country. As well, being foreigners, these Canadian experts would also be seen to be impartial and not allied with any particular College of Education or faction within the hilinistry.

Also in terms of these comrnittees, NS's comments about the discrimination he felt as a Tamil-speaker from the Sinhalese-speaking majority in the Science Syllabus

Reform Cornmittee could easily serve as an example of the "indifferent, even hostile" b ehaviour of "in-group members" towards ccout-groupmembers" in Hough' s coLIectivistic communities (Hough, 2 997, p. 9).

Conclusion

1have used David Hough's Ethxmmaphies of Leamhg as a fiamework in which to analyze the four data-themes collected Erom qualitative inteniews with the 13 members of the Sri Lankan cohort in the Teacher Education and Teacher

Deploymenflork University project. For the purposes of analysis, Hough's work raises some interesting issues, especiaily in terms of the effects of resources, or the lack thereoc on learning and teaching relationships. To some extent however, 1 question the veracity of what Hough (citing Kachru,

1996) claims to be "the pedagogical assumptions held by the Western teaching

profession... based on individualistic relationships" (Hough, 1997, 8). 1 will critique each

of his points in turn.

Hough offers that "individual leaming needs" are emphasized in Western

societies, while "the views, needs, and goals of some collective" are valued in non-

Western societies. 1 believe that individual learning needs might be emphasized in certain

school settings under certain conditions (say, a private boarding school with a low

student-teacher ratio). 1 would dispute that this were the case in most public secondary

schools, however. In tems of university disciplines, a case cm again be put forward that

individual learning needs might be respected in certain iine arts or other creative

disciplines. However, the mode1 found in such disciplines as science or business

administration (two name but two) is one of large class sizes and rote memorization.

Very little effort can be expended to meet individual learning needs.

Hou& claims in his second point contrastïng hdividualistic and collectivistic

learning and teachuig relationships that behaviour in individualistic Westem societies is dominated b y the pleasure principle, whereas collectivist nomWestern societies stress that behavior "is a function of noms and duties imposed by the collective" (Hough,

1997, p. 8). Also, In his third point, Hough posits the position that individualistic societies tend to favour critical thinking and individual responses, whereas collectivist societies tend to stress 'khat the individual and the collective have in cornmon" (Hough,

1997, p. 8).

Hough seems to only scratch the surface on these issues. His categorization does

not deal in any critical way with the '%idden agenda" in Western schooling which has

been the subject of so much analysis by feminist, 'queer', and neo-manrist academics over

the last tlmty or more years. They have revealed many of the ways Westem societies

have tended to favour certain types of social constructs (male, heterosexual, white,

capitalistic) over others (fernale, homosexual, 'minority,' socialistic).

As for Hough's addendum to his fourth point, his contention that "in-

group"members in collectivist communities cm b e "indifferent, even hostile" to "out-

group members", 1 agah find this dichotomization facile. For example, Hough would

almost certainly agree that Canada favours individualism, and yet the hdifference, and even hostility of "in-group" rnembers towards "out-group" rnembers is certainly apparent as well. One bas just to walk down a city street in Toronto and note the condominiums being built behind the places, like bus shelters, where the homeless try to sIeep at night and are murdered, or die of fiostbite in the winter, to understand that.

Tn the next chapter, 1 will offer some conchions and speculations about the

Teacher Education and Teacher DeploymentNork University Project and the long-term effects of this project on the participants, York's Faculty of Education, and Sn Lanka's educational system. CHAPTER 8 CONCLUSION

The Teacher Education and Teacher Deplo yment (TETD)Nork University

Project cohort of Sri Lankan teacher educators and administrators was unique in a number of ways. They were the fbt group of overseas students to pass, as a cohort, through the Master of Education degree program offered by the Faculty of Education at

York University. They were the first group sponsored to corne to Canada to Mertheir studies by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Education as part of the Teacher Education and

Teacher Deployrnent Project, which was oxiiy one of a series of measures in a $79 million

US World Bank-funded educational reform package in Sri Lanka. The ethnic and culturai composition of the SnLankan cohort was also unique - Sinhalese and Tamil, Buddhist,

Hindu, Muslùn, and Christian. The members of the cohort leamed from their diversity as they lived, struggled, and studied together at York University for one year.

1have sought to analyze what the members of this group told me about what they had leamed, in terms of teacher-student relations, classroom practices, assessment, and curriculum, while studying in York University's Master of Education degree program. I have done so by placing the data-themes fiom their interviews within a senes of different contexts: the histoncal (in those chapters dealing with schooling and teacher education in

Sri Lanka), the sociopolitical (in those chapters on the political economy of international education projects), and the sociological (in the chapter analyzing their comments in tems of David Hough's Ethnogra~hiesof Learning). In historical terms, the SnLankan govenunent7s TETD Project and others, cm be seen as an attempt to deal with some of the long-term debilitating effects of colonial education on Sri Lanka's social, political, and economic Iife. The dualism wbich marked O schooling under the British had the effect of providing superior education to ody a smd elite of European colonizers and Europeanized SnLankans (trained, essentially, to take part in colonial administration) and substandard education to the vast majonty of

Sinhalese and Tamil youth. The granting of fkee education up to 'O' levels in 2944 had the effect of swelling the ranks of students in government schools, so that, since political independence in 1948, each successive government has stniggled with a lack of adequately trained teachers, a ssurplus of graduates from junior and senior secondary schools, inadequate technical and vocational training* and a university system which has accepted only a tiny segment (two to eight percent) of potential students.

Politically, disaffection among unemplo yed and underempIo yed Sinhalese and

Tamil youth, among other factors, has lead them to resort to extreme measures (including student revolution on the part of the first, and support for the Tamil Tigers on the part of the second). In tum, nationaI govemments have reacted in a number of ways, ranging fkom the passage of university admissions policies that discriminated against Tamil- medium students to the imposition of martial law.

The Sri Laakan Teacher Education and Teacher Deployment Project aims to do away with the backlog of untrained teachers in the system, improve training for teacher educators, standardize teacher education in the country through the establishment of the National Authority of Teacher Education (NATE), and make more equitable the

distribution of trained teachers to traditionally disadvantaged niral school.

The fact that NATE has met with resistance fiom some university administrators

suggests that the goverment may continue to face resistance as it seeks to standardize

teacher education institutions and curricula Given the traditional reluctance of new

teachers to move and work in disadvantaged rural areas and the nepotism that has

resulted in the bending of niles by teachers with advantageous personal connections,

suggests that the trend of having better-trained teachers in urban area schools may

continue.

In sociopolitXcal tenns, the Sri Lankan goveniment's acceptance of a massive

World Bank loan can be seen to tie it to the control of yet another foreign power. Sri

Lanka has struggled through colonial and post-colonial periods in its history. World Bank

fünding, under the aegis of the International Development Agency, while presumably new teachers must teach for their first three years, reform will probably corne slowly here as weli. necessary if the Sn Larkan govenunent is to alleviate some of the long-term effects of colonialisrn in its educational system, is dso hught with the very red effects of neo-colonialism. Funding brings with it "conditionalities," under which the Sri Lankan governent must agee to meet the requirernents set by the Washington-based bank group in order to continue to receive fünding. Ifit fails to do so to the satisfaction of these organizations, its fûnding cm be withdrawn (as has been twice threatened since the beginning of the Teacher Education and Teacher Deployment Project, according to a Canadian source).

A larger question is how the Sri Lankan educational system will be af3ected should the Teacher Education and Teacher Deployment Project as well as other World

Bank-hded projects corne to completion. Chossudovsky has pointed out that fieezing the number of graduates of teacher training colleges and increasing the student-teacher ratio are two explicit condition of World Bank social-sector adjustment loans

(Chossudovslcy, 1997, p. 7 1). The Teacher Education and Teacher Deployment Project' s hvlementation Pa~ersclearly state that teacher education institutions will be

'rationalized' fiom 3 1 to 19 and that student-teacher ratios are to nse fiom 24: 1 to 30: 1

(International Development Agency, 1996, p. 5, IO). Generally, the imposition of World

Bank macro-economic policy has resulted in drastic cuts to social spending, including education in developing corntries, which has in turn led to the destruction of primary education. 1s this what is in store for Sri Lanka?

The data-themes collected fiom qualitative interviews with the Sri Lankan participants seem to support Hough's contentions about power distance and the control of leaming resources, as well as his theory that lack of resources effects leaming and teaching relationships in a community. 1have also found some data to support Hough's speculations on the respective effects of individualkm and collectivism on leaming and teaching relationships, although 1 continue to find these distinctions selectively drawn, ethnocentric, and applied uncritically. Having dealt with the SnLankan participants' data in terms of the past and present contexts, 1 wish to end this study with comments about some of the outcornes, both positive and negative, achieved by the Teacher Education and Teacher

Deployment/York University Project, in terms of York University, the Faculty and students of the Master in Education degree program, and, finally, the participants.

On a positive note, this World Bank-funded project enabled York University to raise its profile intemationally, after it successfUly bid against universities kom around the world to offer this prograrn. It enabled the Faculty of Education to fill its Master of

Education degree prograrn courses and required both faculty and students to experience dealing with a large group of international students. The Sri Lankan cohort, moving as they did together through the program, required some faculty to mod* their course work, to be more explicit in their explanations and lectures, and to become more conscious of the role of cultural, historical, and social contexts in teaching and learning.

It also required Canadian students to deal with issues of inclusion, exclusion, racial and cultural differences, and the effects of colonialism on education. The Project provided some teachers fiom the York University English Language Institute with the chance to offer specialized training in English for Academic Purposes to the Sri Lankan cohort.

Finally, it allowed the SnLankan participants to acquaint themselves with Canada and

Canadian society, to engage with new ideas, concepts, and practices in a range of educational areas, and to be exposed to critical theory around the relationship of class, race, and gender to socialization and education. On the negative side, this project also raised hstration among some facewho

had never before had to deal with large groups of overseas students in their classes,

forced Canadian students to deal with issues of racism and other forms of intolerance,

and required the SnLankan participants to face the loneliness of being away fiom thek

families, the fiutration of constantly having to deal in a second language, the shock of a

Canadian winter, and the disorientation of their previously-held beliefs about the role of teachers and students and the practice of teaching.

The Sri Lankan cohort of thirteen teacher educators and educational administrators returned to their country in September 1999. Undoubtedly, they have had to undergo a process of 'reverse' culture shock as they reacquaint themselves with their society. In terms of their educational experience, they were introduced to new concepts and practices in student-teacher relations, classroom practices, assessrnent and curriculum while in Canada. Perhaps the Sn Laakan participants have been able to implement changes in these areas, even ifonly in ternis of tbeir own teaching or administrative work. Perhaps their experiences have been more ambivalent, or even negative, as they have dealt with the fiutration of being unable to apply their new ideas, or of have faced scom or jealousy fkom their colleagues that remained behind in the educationai system during the participants ' year in Canada.

The experiences of the TETWYork University cohort since their remto Sri

Lanka fall outside the puMew of this study, although it is my hope that my analysis will help deepen our understanding of the long-term implications of overseas education on both 'host' and 'recipient' corntries, especially in regards to teacher-training and - upgrading programs. BlsLIOGRAPHY

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Limited. ENDNOTES

1 A .Jeyatnam Wilson, in his Politics in Sri Lanka 1947-1979,writes, "In a plural society such as that of Sri Lanka, with soiidarity pattern based on shared language, ethnic identity, caste and religion commanding a loyalty rivaling at Ieast in some situations that which the nation itselfis able to generate, a national consensus on basic social and poiitical goals is hard to establish" (Wilson, 1979, p. 49).

2 Governor North wrote îhat the Superior Schools established for Sinhalese, Tamil and European youth were "likely to produce in a much shorter time than 1 expected a set of weU-quaI5ed candidates of all offices which are attainable by Burghers or by natives,. .and those of an infenor description are beginning to diaise in their neighbourhood the spirit of industry, religion and morality, and attachment to order and the present goveniment" (Ludowyk, 1967, p. 47).

3 That bhikkhus continue to wield enormous political power in SnLanka is apparent fÏom and Associated Press article of August 10,2000, "Sn Lanka Prime Minister Retires" in which it states that "On Tuesday, mesident] Kumuratunga feu 12 votes short in her attempt to push a new constitution through Parliament to give Tamils autonomy - but not independence - in the north and east, where most of them live. The attempt to give the Tamils, who are Hindus, autonomy angered senior Buddhist monks and the Sinhalese majority."

4 Ia the Ianguage debate in the House of Representatives in October, 1955, S-WKD. Bandaranaike said: "l believe that there are a not inconsiderable number of Tamils in this country out of a population of eight miliion Then there are forty or nfty miilion people adjoining, and what about all this Tamil literature, Tamil teachers, even the films, papers, magazines, so that Tamils in our country are not restricted to the northern and eastem provinces alone; there is a large number, 1suppose over ten Iakhs [1,000,000], in Sinhalese provinces. And what about the Indian labourers whose return is now fading into the dim and distant future (sic)?The fact that in towns and villages, in business houses and in boutiques most of the work is in the hands of Tamil-speaEng people will inevitably result in fear, and 1do not think an unjustified fear, of the inexorable shrinking of the Sinhalese Ianguage" (Quoted in Wilson, 1979, p. 19).

5 In a Ietter to the Ceylon Daily News on December 2, 1977, the new UNP Minister of Education wrote: "The entire question of the curriculum bas been severely cnticized both by parents and educationalists as having been unilaterally introduced by the Government without carefully examining (a) the suitabiIity of the subject matter (b) the books (c) the availability of teachers (d) the alignment of the NCGE examination with practices in other countries. At the new 'A' level provision will be made to promote students should they wish to sit the English (London external) 'A' level examinations, in Sn Lanka" (Lewin and Little, 1982, pp. 29-30). APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW PROTOCOLS

(NOTE: York University Faculty of Graduate Studies Ethical Review Cornmittee approval was granted May 3 1, 1999.)

Please tell me about your professional experience.

Can you tell me a little about the history of education in your ethnic co~zzm~~&~?

How would you characterize the relationship between teacher-educators and their students in Sri Lanka?

How would you characterize your own relationship with you student teachers?

Has anything you have learned in the program &ected your view of the teacher-student . relationship?

Do you believe your views on curriculum have changed? How?

Do you believe your views on assessrnent have changed? How?

What has surprised you the most about teachers or teaching in Canada?

What concepts or techniques do you think you cmapply once you return to Sri Lanka?

What do you think Sn Lankan teachers could teach Canadian teachers? APPENDIX B: INFORMED CONSENT FORM

The purpose of this project is the preparation of a thesis, as the final requirement toward an M.Ed Degree in Language, Culture and Teaching fkom York University in Toronto. The intention of this study is to interview up to five SnLankan teacher-educators over whether and how their perceptions have changed around the issues of teacher-student relations, curriculum, and assessment.

The procedure used in this study wîlI be the following: Each participants will be interviewed up to two times (in one hour sessions). These interviews will be audio-taped and transcribed and an analysis will then be Wntten about the hdings. Transcnpts wiU be shared only with faculty supervisor. Tapes and transcrïpts will be kept under lock and key. No names or identimg characteristics of the participants will be used and all interviews will be treated with the utmost confidentiality.

Some of the possible discornforts that might stem fiom this interview are that, if your identity becornes known to Sri Lanka.Ministry of Education offïcials, you might face some repercussions if you have been critical of the process of reform of the education system there, or if your reflections on your stay at York University are critical.

Benefits which might result fbm the study are a better understanding of language and cross-cultural issues faced by students and teachers in an international professionai development project in Education.

You have been chosen because you volunteered to be interviewed. As well, you help reflect the gender, religious, and ethnic diversity of the Sri Lanka.teacher-educators studying in the Master of Education degree program at York University

Your comments and the transcript of the taped interview will be treated in a confidentid rnanner. Although actual comments May be used in the final paper verbatim and other ideas expressed by you will be included, there will be no use of real names or statements which would identiQ you as a participant.

Participation in this study is strictly voluntary, and you rnay discontinue at any time.

You rnay contact me at (416-654-6695), or Professor Harry Smaller, PhD. at (416-736-50 1 8), or the Dean of the Graduate Program in Education, York University (426-736-5000) for mswers to any questions you may have about this study adorthe rights of participants. 1 ani Myaware of the nature and extent of my participation in this project as stated &ove. 1 hereby agree to participate in this project- 1 acknowledge that 1 have received a copy of this consent statement.

Signature of participant Date or legally authorized representative

Signature of the researcher