Constructing a Global Framework for Analysis of Social Exclusion From and Within Learning Systems

通过关注边缘化和“教育贫困”及其对福祉和人类发展的影响，教育作为打击歧视、促进社会正义和消除贫困的进程的作用是无可争辩的。然而，越来越多的文献表明，由于未能兑现公平和社会正义的承诺，教育正在辜负最脆弱的群体，如女孩。鉴于识字率低与贫困和脆弱性之间的关联已被公认，迫切需要关注谁正在接受什么样的教育。在这项研究中，我们的目标是填补将平等定义为教育的主要目标的理想主义政策和评估进展情况之间存在的差距，这些政策仍然侧重于结构公平的孤立指标。为了实现这一点，我们需要一个理论和方法框架，不仅从学习系统中，而且在学习系统内，破译社会排斥的过程。在理论层面上，我们的研究将借鉴各种框架。首先，在社会公正的广阔领域内，我们的研究将参照能力方法(CA)，从微妙和多维的角度审视平等，在这种视角下，可以评估人类生活的质量、脆弱性和教育的价值。CA着重于发展机构和扩大选择和自由的各个方面，并将通过全面分析教育的社会、过程和赋权/分配作用，成为我们衡量教育政策的概念框架的基础。其次，社会排斥的概念将构成我们分析框架的支柱。为了更好地解释社会排斥，社会心理学理论将对我们的目标至关重要，即在包容性实践中拆解社会关系、信仰和实践，并确保包容性倡议的社会接受性和嵌入性。第三，我们的研究将对教育领域中流行的话语提出质疑。我们认为，教育政策和评估，特别是在地方和中等收入国家，仍然完全根据识字和算术成绩的主要指标来设计，保持了被视为理想主义的目标和基于指标的评估之间的脱节，即对什么是“进展”的评估。需要一种不同类型的信息来理解排除过程。研究方法将大力借鉴参与性研究领域，以更好地确定对不同脆弱性儿童的有意义的学习。首先，为了进行广泛的系统评估，我们将使用Eppi-Centre方法，该方法提供了评估优质教育的各种证据的具体工具。其次，我们将利用各种病例对照调查中有关教育的数据，分析各类残疾人士和女童之间持续存在的不平等现象，以说明不平等现象的复杂性。第三，根据前几个阶段的研究结果，我们将建立一个概念框架，并提出在下一阶段研究中试行的方法。这一方法将使用基于社会系统动力学思维的创新技术，并提出超越孤立指标的混合方法的新关联，以破译维持和永久维持社会排斥的因果因素。最后，研究将成立一个研究咨询小组，就项目的所有阶段提供反馈，以确保用户参与到不同的合作伙伴中。该小组由政策制定者和在实地工作的非政府组织组成，还将确保广泛传播调查结果和报告，并协助确定在下一阶段对该框架进行试点试验的实地地点。

The role of education as a process for fighting discrimination, promoting social justice and overcoming poverty has been indisputable through focus on marginalization and 'educational poverty' and its implications for well-being and human development. However, growing literature is showing that education is failing the most vulnerable groups, such as girls by falling short on promises of equity and social justice. With recognised associations between low literacy and poverty and vulnerability, there is urgent need to focus on who is receiving what education. In this research we aim to fill a gap that exists between idealistic policies that define equality as a main objective of education, and assessment of progress that remains focussed on isolated indicators of equity in access to structures. To achieve this, we need a theoretical and methodological framework that deciphers processes of social exclusion not just from, but also within learning systems. At the theoretical level, our research will draw upon various frameworks. Firstly, within broad realms of social justice, our research will look at equality with reference to the capabilities approach (CA) for a nuanced and multidimensional perspective within which quality of human life, vulnerability and value of education can be appraised. The CA focuses strongly on aspects of developing agency and expanding choices and freedoms and will be foundational to our conceptual framework for gauging education policies by allowing a comprehensive analysis of the instrumental social, process and empowerment/distributive roles of education. Secondly, the concept of social exclusion will constitute the backbone of our analysis framework. In order to better decipher social exclusion, theories of social psychology will be crucial to our aim of unpacking social relations, beliefs and practices amidst which inclusive practices are played out and ensuring the social acceptability and 'embeddedness' of inclusive initiatives. Thirdly, our research will question the prevalent discourses in the field of education. We argue that education policies and assessments, especially in LMICs, continue to be designed solely based on primary indicators of literacy and numeracy achievement, maintaining the disconnect between objectives viewed as idealistic and indicator-based evaluations of what constitutes 'progress'. There is a need for a different type of information to understand exclusion processes. The research methodology will strongly draw on the field of participatory research to better determine meaningful learning for children with different vulnerabilities. Firstly, in order to carry out an extensive systematic review, we will use the EPPI-Centre methodology, which provides specific tools to appraise various types of evidence on assessment of quality education. Secondly, using data on education from various case control surveys we will analyse inequalities that persist between individuals with various types of disabilities as well as girls, in order to illustrate the complexity of inequality. Thirdly, based on the findings from the previous stages, we will build a conceptual framework and propose methodology to be piloted in the next phases of the research. This methodology will use innovative techniques based on social systems dynamics thinking and propose new associations of mixed methods that look beyond isolated indicators to decipher the causal factors that sustain and perpetuate social exclusion. Finally, the research will ensure user involvement from various partners by constituting a Research Advisory Group that will provide feedback on all phases on the project. This group, consisting of policy makers and NGOs working on the field will also ensure that findings and reports are widely disseminated and assist in determining field sites for pilot testing of the framework in the next phases.