Unfinished development work—One person’s journey and thoughts

Abstract

This essay reflects over 40 years of international educational development experiences in selected lower and lower middle-income countries (LMIC) out of 72 countries of all income levels where the author worked. Moses focuses on knowledge appropriate to a beginning or early career international education development professional. He discusses how someone may become an international development person including key categories to deal with: Education, Context, People, Institutions, and Technical that affect success and failure in development work. This includes crucial factors such as a detailed understanding of the context for a country, capacity for absorption, extent of essential education information, support for appropriate technology, information innovations including future use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)) and approaches that over time shape education delivery improvements. Moses pays particular attention to Sub-Saharan Africa, which is home to most LMICs, whose issues embody many of the challenges found in pursuing educational development. Additionally, the author discusses thoughts on challenges in leadership, government, donors, private sector, and political interactions that affect changes in the K-12 and related education sectors.