EDUCATIONAL REFORM IN LAOS: A CASE STUDY

Allan MacKinnon; Phonesavanh Thepphasoulithone

EDUCATIONAL REFORM IN LAOS: A CASE STUDY

Allan MacKinnon, Phonesavanh Thepphasoulithone

Abstract

This study examined Lao teachers’ experiences with school improvement efforts in the context of the classroom, school community, and professional development. The study focuses the subjective experiences of four exemplary teachers in one secondary school and one university in the Champasak Province of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Two of the teachers are high school teachers who are known to be outstanding teachers and leaders among their colleagues. Similarly, the two university-based educators are known to be outstanding teacher educators in their Faculty of Education. While consistent with the literature in recognizing general challenges to improvement and reform, this study demonstrates the complex interplay of diverse challenges within and across the contexts of classroom, school day-to-day practices and the professionalism the teachers have tried to develop; it contributes to knowledge in the field by providing teachers’ perspectives and voices about the complexities of educational improvement in schools in the Champasak Province in the southern part of the Lao PDR.

Keywords

school reform, curriculum studies, professional development, school improvement

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